--- rett <rett@...> skrev:

> >I have notice from recordings of Paali chanting
> that Shinhalese people
> >(in particular) pronounce the vowel 'a' differently
> for different
> >words, although the Paali textbooks do not indicate
> that there are two
> >pronunciations for the vowel 'a'.

I think there is a general tendency in Indo-Ariyan
languages to reduce short a to a shwa sound when not
stressed, or (in languages like Hindi) even to drop a
final a completely, like final e in French
(dharma>dharm). In modern Sinhalese I think short a is
pronounced as such when stressed and after h, elseway
as shwa, and this may have influenced Sinhalese
pronounciation of Pali.

Gunnar

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gunnargallmo@...