Dear Gunnar,

You are right, candra,bindu is the little dot above the crescent. See for example:

http://www.garretwilson.com/education/languages/hindi/devanagari/lesson5/candrabindu.html

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/stone-catend/tr5.htm

Sukhi

Piya

Gunnar Gllmo wrote:

> I agree with what is written below, also for another
> reason:
>
> The dot at the bottom is generally used to mark
> supradentals (.t, .th. .d, .dh, .n, .l). As the
> niggahiita marks the nasalization of the previous
> vowel (at least in theory - in practice it is often
> pronounced as the English ng-sound), it is not part of
> this series.
>
> In Sanskrit, the dot at the bottom is also used to
> mark vokalic .r and .l, true, and the sh-sound by .s;
> but these are not, as I see it, a parallell to the
> niggahitta/anusvaara, and in Pali these letters don't
> exist anyhow.
>
> Unfortunately, the m used with the dot can sometimes
> cause misconceptions among linguistic laymen; in some
> languages, the word "sa"ngha", through its alternative
> form "sa"mgha", has been imported as "samgha" or
> "samga"; but I dont know how to solve this problem, as
> it is not easy to change an established way of
> translitteration.
>
> By the way: does "Candrabindu" refer to the pure dot
> used in Devanagari for niggahitta/anusvaara in Pali,
> or to the dot over a curve (like a lying moon
> crescent) often met in Hindi and sometimes (I think)
> in Sanskrit?
>
> Gunnar
>
> --- Piya Tan <libris@...> skrev:
> > Dear Pali friends,
> >
> > The niggahiita .m is sometime written with the dot
> > (bindu) on top and
> > sometimes at the bottom. Usually, I see scholars
> > using the dot below
> > (inferior dot) the m. However, I do not see much
> > logic and less aesthetics
> > behind such a choice.
> >
> > The niggahiita is a nasal, and as such falls into
> > the same category as .n
> > (that is the guttural nasal), which always has a dot
> > above it (ie superior
> > dot). Using family resemblance, shouldn't we then
> > use the m with superior dot.
> >
> > Moreover, it is called "candra,bindu" (moon spot).
> > From good old Gaia, we
> > see the gentle Luna above us. Shouldn't the dot be
> > above the m "mountain" then?
> >
> > I think the m with a superior dot is has more
> > aesthetic appeal.
> >
> > Just a pedant's thought for the love of Pali.
> >
> > Oh yes, I would be very grateful if someone could
> > tell me how to get an "m
> > with a superior" dot in Times Norman & also SMALL
> > CAPITALS.
> >
> > Subham atthu
> >
> > Piya
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been
> > removed]
> >
> >
> >
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