Re: the 41 sounds
From: Jonothan Abbott
Message: 22
Date: 2001-02-22
Re: the 41 sounds
From: Jonothan Abbott
Message: 22
Date: 2001-02-22
Jim
[Second try - y'day's reply seems not to have made it
to the list]
--- Jim Anderson <jima@...> wrote: > Jon,
>
> >Just having another look at L.1, I agree that
> 'sounds'
> >is a better description than 'alphabet', for the
> >reasons you have given.
>
> I thought that it would help to think of Pali more
> as a spoken
> language than a written one. The two terms 'va.n.na'
> and 'akkhara' can
> both be translated as 'sound' or 'letter' but the
> Saddaniti makes it
> quite clear that the terms are referring to sounds.
>
> Although language is for the most part conceptual,
> there are aspects
> of it that touches on dhammas in the ultimate sense
> such as sadda
> (ruupa) originating from citta (cittasamu.t.thaana,
> cittaja). There
> are some interesting notes on the production of
> (articulate) sounds
> just before the first sutta. eg. "Of the one
> thinking and reflecting
> (vitakkayato vicaarayato) thus:'I will say this', a
> sound is produced
> by the striking of the clung-to earth element with
> the arisen earth
> element born of citta in this and that place (of
> articulation)." This
> passage is a little out of my depth and so my
> translation is probably
> off the mark.
I am familiar with this passage or one like it from
another source, and i think you have captured the
meaning well.
My guess would be that 'clung-to earth element' is a
reference to the parts of the body used in making
speech, and 'earth element born of citta' to the
hardness conditioned by citta which in turn conditions
vaci-vinnatti (speech intimation).
Useful reminders of the non-selfness of speech.
> >Just for fun, could you parse the first sutta?
> It's
> >got me intrigued. Hope this is not jumping the gun
> >too much, but it might help give us a feel for the
> >language as we go along.
>
> 1. appabhutekataaliisa saddaa va.n.naa.
>
> 1. (The) forty-one sounds beginning with 'a' (are
> the)
> va.n.na-s.
>
> The old grammarians of Sanskrit and Pali wrote their
> sutras or suttas
> in a very concise way which are often difficult to
> decipher without
> the help of the commentary. For the first sutta the
> vutti expands it
> into something a little more comprehensible as
> follows:
>
> Bhagavato paavacane a-kaarappabhutii ekacattaaliisa
> saddaa va.n.naa
> naama bhavanti.
>
> So in the sutta the 'a' before ppabhut- represents
> the first sound of
> the 41 letters. You will note in the vutti
> 'a-kaara-'. Here, '-kaara-'
> (item) is used to specify one particular sound.
>
> 'pabhutii' is an adjective meaning 'beginning with'.
> It has the plural
> inflection 'ii' and modifies 'saddaa' (sounds). The
> double p
> in -ppabhutii is best explained by knowing the
> Sanskrit form
> 'prabh.rti'. The prefix 'pa' equals the Skt. 'pra'.
> When a word like
> pabhuti is preceded by an element ending in a
> (usually) short vowel
> like 'a' the 'p' is doubled and it helps to think of
> the second 'p' as
> representing the Skt. 'r' in 'pra'. This kind of
> doubling is very
> common in Pali. The long ii at the end of appabhutii
> has been elided
> in the sutta due to sandhi (euphonic combination).
> The 'e' of eka- has
> caused ii to disappear. The first chapter of the
> Suttamala volume of
> the Saddaniti is entitled the Sandhikappa which also
> includes the
> suttas on the Pali sounds. There are at least 160
> sandhi rules in it
> and we will look at some of them later on. The word
> 'appabhutekataaliisa' is actually two separate
> words: appabhutii
> ekataaliisa.
>
> 'ekataaliisa' means forty-one. eka (one) + taaliisa
> (forty). The usual
> word for forty is 'cattaaliisa' but I suppose
> Aggava.msa wanted
> something a little shorter and chose the one with
> the 'cat' lopped
> off.
>
> 'saddaa' is the nom. pl. form of 'sadda' (sound)
> which is a masculine
> word.
>
> 'va.n.naa' is also a masculine word and has the same
> inflection as
> saddaa. There is no copula verb in the sutta but it
> can be understood
> from the vutti. The Sanskrit counterparts of sadda
> and va.n.na are
> "sabda and var.na.
Thanks for your detailed and careful explanation. I
had not realized there would be so much work in it for
you - apologies for this. But very interesting (but
allow me a week or so to digest!).
> Best wishes,
> Jim
Many thanks, Jim
Jon
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