--- oselok <nibbanka@...> skrev:

> Currently Sanskrit texts are read with the
> Latin rules of
> accent, and the Pali texts are also read with these
> rules:
>
> 1) On the first syllable if the word has two
> syllables. e.g. dhAmma.
>
> 2) On the second syllable from the end of a
> polysyllabic word, if that
> is long. e.g. samAAdhi.
>
> 3) On the third syllable if the second from end is
> short. e.g. vipAssanaa.

I have been told that Sanskrit, unlike Latin, has also
a 4th rule:

4) On the fourth syllable from the end, if both the
third and the second are short.

I can't think up a Sanskrit example, but in Pali it
would be relevant in e. g. Arahati (not arAhati, as it
would have been according to the Latin rules).

But I think that in practice, when reciting Pali, one
quite simply stresses the long syllables (which means
that sometimes the stress is quite even, e. g. in the
Dhammapada line "appassaadaa dukkhaa kaamaa", with
eight long syllables in a row).

Gunnar

gunnargallmo@...