Mahinda has misquoted me. WhatI said was that the word chamhi is
problematic and I don't think it should be broken up as cha + mhi and
unlike nha, it is not initial. I don't think we can break it up as cha +
mhi,
but as cham+hi when we articulate it.

I think even in the case of nha and similar forms, when in final sandhi,
it is easier to pronounce with the n following the preceding syllable,
eg pa~n + ha, ta.n + haa etc,

Piya Tan

On Sat, Dec 6, 2008 at 11:51 AM, mahipaliha <mahipal6@...> wrote:

> Dear Florent, Jim and Piya
>
> To address a few points in this discourse:
> (1) Our problem related to words ferom a verse found in a cluster of
> texts having the interesting story of a family of ascetics who lived
> on lotus roots, how Sakka tested them by hiding the chief ascetic's
> sahre and how each one plus a friendly elephant tried to show his
> innocence- by making a binding declaration or sapatha. The verse
> gives the elephant's sapatha, appropriate to a lover of the delights
> of the forest."Let him who stole the the revered ascetic's food be
> taken from the lovely forest, tied hundreds of times with ropes,and
> prodded with spikes, to suffer the travails of living among human
> beings."
>
> (2) We had the question about chamhi. Other versions have chabbhi. It
> was asked whether chabbhi is the right form or chahi? Actually words
> for six include chahi/chabbhi, chasu/chassu. Chabbhi and chassu are
> phonetic evolutions from older Indo-Aryan words .sa.dbhi.h
> and .sa.t.su, whereas chahi and chasu are 'adjustments'
> or 'corrections' done in order to suit the grammatical rules that
> were enunciated much later, which assume stems and endings: stem cha-
> must give chahi and chasu. And this theory held. So we have thousands
> of such 'corrections' in the extant Pali texts. This is why some
> scholars would think that Pali is an artificail language.Yet,
> historical remnants of earlier more 'natural' forms are also legion.
>
> (1b) Skt version in Jaatakamaalaa has ".sa.dbhir d.r.dhai.h paaSa-
> 'satai.h sa bandham", whose first word is the equivalent of sabbhi.
>
> (2) Metre: The metre here is Indravajraa, which is a metre more
> familiar in ornate poetry. In this kind of Pali text, the metres are
> not perfectly followed. So we have short syllables where long ones
> would be regular. Also, since verses were, in oral tradition, simply
> recited, the reciter could always adjust the reading to make short
> look like long. In particular the last syllable would almost always
> be recited long, whether written long or not.
>
> (3) Piya thinks we don't have -mh- in Pali. amhe, tumhe, amhaaka.m,
> tumhaaka.m, tamhi, yamhi, gimha, gimhaana etc. etc.??
>
> Regards.
>
> Mahinda
>
>
>



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