~n/.n

Dear Eisel, etc,

I checked the Patimokkha. In Patimokkha rule 71, two Siam Nikaya MSS and
one Siyam nikaaya based printed eds read paripa.nhitabba.m, all other
Sinhala MSS and other Burmese and Thai editions read paripa~nhitabba.m.
So, ~nh is used in Sinhala script.
Elsewhere, Sanghadisesa 3 & 4, we find that all Sinhalese MSS and
Burmese editions read -upasa.mhit-, while only the Thai editions and MS
read -upasa~nhit-.

Geiger (Pali Grammar para 50) writes:1. ''sn becomes ~nh (Pkt .nh):
pa~nha (AMg pa.nha) `question' = Skt pra''sna; pa''nhipa.n.nii (sic! not
pa.nhi-) (name of a plant) Abh 584 = Skt p.r''snipar.nii.

Maybe the .nh in pa.nhitabba.m in the Siam Nikaaya MSS, and in the
occurence Geiger disapproved of, is a survival from an older strata of
the Pali language. The characters .n and ~n are quite different in
Sinhala and so are their pronunciations, so it is difficult to explain
the change. The ~n in ~nh is clearly pronounced by the Sinhalese.

The l/.l and n/.n  alternations, especially the latter, appear to be
fairly common in Sinhala MSS. The written characters are quite distinct
and can't be mixed up. One monk told me that this mix up happened
because sometimes the text was being read out by one monk while the
other monk was writing the MS. As there is no difference in
pronunciation of these letters by Sinhalese speakers, the writer would
have mixed them up.  I don' t know if this argument is valid because
there seems to be no alternation of t/.t, which are also often
pronounced the same. There is a d/.d alternation such as in
addha/a.d.dha  though.

Best wishes,
                   Bh. Nyanatusita