Thanks Bryan,
I understand it a little better now, but still fuzzy on one thing.
Let me ask my question in a slightly different way. I'm a beginner
trying to speak the pali word "viriyabojjhanga". I go to the audio
dictionary to look it up, and I hear 4 different pronunciations. Which
of the 4 "j" sounds should I be imitating when I speak the word? Which
"j" sound is the preferred way?

http://studies.worldtipitaka.org/audio_alpha?page=1&op0=starts&filter0=v%C4%ABriya

vīriyasambojjhaṅgaṃ

vīriyasambojjhaṅgaratanassa

vīriyasambojjhaṅgasampayuttā

vīriyasambojjhaṅgo

On 2/12/2010 10:29 AM, Bryan Levman wrote:
>
> Hi Frank,
>
> bojjhaṅgaṃ comes from Vedic bodhi+aṅgaṃ = bojjhaṅgam (-dh- > -jjh- ;
> it probably went bodhi +anga > bodhyanga > bojjhanga, ). The -jjh- is
> still a stop (like -t- or -d-) but it has been "palatalized" (pushed
> further back in the throat towards the soft palate) because of the -i-
> changing to -y- (which it always does in Sanskrit when it ends one
> word and precedes another word starting with a vowel as in bodhi
> +aṅga). So it sounds like -tth- because it is a phonologically related
> sound, just further back in the mouth. Hope that helps.
>
> Metta, Bryan
>
> ________________________________
> From: Patrick Hall <pathall@... <mailto:pathall%40gmail.com>>
> To: Pali@yahoogroups.com <mailto:Pali%40yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Wed, February 10, 2010 11:23:51 PM
> Subject: Re: [Pali] pronunciation of jj in sambojjhanga
>
> Hi Frank,
>
> > What's really puzzling to me is in some of those words, the "jj" sound
> > is similar to a english "j" sound, in other words, it sounds like "ch",
> > in others it sounds like "t". Am I going mad?
>
> If you are I am too. ;-)
>
> The recording of "vīriyasambojjhaṅgaṃ" certainly seems to have a stop
> rather than an affricate to me. (Ie., it sounds like
> vīriyasambotthaṅgaṃ.)
>
> > BTW the audio dictionary at worldtipitaka is an awesome resource.
>
> I had never seen this, it's fantastic. (Though it's a bit of a shame
> that the IPA transliterations are images rather than actual Unicode.)
>
> -Pat
>
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