suttas 3-6: vowels & consonants

Dear group,

Let's take a closer look at the 41 sounds by dividing them into
two main groups: the 8 vowels (sara-s) and the 33 consonants
(vya~njana-s).

3. tattha.t.thaado saraa.

3. Therein the eight at the beginning (are) the vowels.

The eight vowels are: a aa i ii u uu e o.

tattha 'therein' means: among the 41 akkhara-s beginning with 'a'.
a..t.tha is 'eight'. 'aado 'at the beginning' is a singular locative
form of 'aadi' (neuter). saraa 'the vowels' is the masculine word
'saro' in the nominative plural.

4. ekamattaa aaditatiyapa~ncamaa rassaa.

4. Measuring one the first, third, & fifth are short.

The short vowels are: a i u.

ekamattaa is 'measuring one'. One measure is the time it takes for a
healthy body to blink the eyes once. aadi 'first' or beginning,
initial; tatiya 'third'; pa~ncama 'fifth'. rassaa 'short'.

5. a~n~ne dvimattaa diighaa.

5. The others, measuring two, are long.

The long vowels are: aa ii uu e o.

a~n~ne 'others' is one of the 27 pronouns and takes the 'e' ending for
the nom. and acc. plural in the masculine. dvimattaa 'measuring two
(dvi)'. These vowels are pronounced twice as long as a short vowel.
diighaa 'long'. It is probable that these suttas are taking rassa and
diigha as nouns (shorts & longs) and not adjectives as I have
translated them.

6. sesaa a.d.dhamattaa vya~njanaa.

6. The rest, measuring a half, are the consonants.

The (33) consonants are: ka kha ga gha "na, ca cha ja jha ~na, .ta
.tha .da .dha .na, ta tha da dha na, pa pha ba bha ma; ya ra la va sa
ha .la a.m

sesaa 'the rest' or remainder. a.d.dhamatta 'measuring a half
(a.d.dha)'. These take half as long to pronounce as a short vowel. The
consonant excludes the vowel accompanying it. vya~njanaa 'consonants'.
It will be noted that the 'by-' form is quite commonly seen in the
texts as in 'bya~njana' or 'byaapaada'. The 'vy-' is actually the
prefix 'vi' with the 'i' changed to 'y' before a vowel in accordance
with a sandhi rule.

Best wishes,
Jim