SV: Eng translation of Kacc 1:1

--- In palistudy@yahoogroups.com, "Ole Holten Pind" <oleholtenpind@...> wrote:

> adha.hsthita, the Sanskrit equivalent of adho.thita, is found in a similar
> context in Vararuci's  Prakrit grammar (Praak.rtaprakaa.sa) III.2 . It
> denotes the second consonant of a cluster e.g. /p/ of uppala < Sanskrit
> utpala (lotus), which is written below the first /p/ of the cluster, thereby
> becoming "above"  ( upari ) the line, see op.cit.  III.1. Both terms occur
> in the ct. on Kacc 1.1.10-11. Now in the ct. on Kacc 11 ,  the illustration
> from Dhammapada 275 tatraayam aadi presupposes tatra + ayam etc. The vowel /a/
> is removed from the cluster /tr/ and put (i.e. written) above the line and
> combined with /a/ of ayam > aayam. In any case, Kacc is a late compilation,
> ca. 6-7th century AD.
>
> Ole Holten Pind 

      Though I am not familiar with Vararuci, and have no access to a copy at the moment, I
have no difficulty with what you say about consonant clusters like 'pp'.  They are indeed
often (though not always) written in a vertical arrangement.  But I do have difficulty
applying this to the example in Kacc 10, which has nothing to do with vertically arranged
consonant clusters, but with vowel sandhi in which 'a' followed by 'a' becomes 'aa'.  The
latter is never, so far as I am aware, written in two vertically arranged components,  Rather
the first 'a' is the inherent vowel, not written at all, and the second is written with a
separate `letter' which sometimes acts like a `dummy' consonant to which a diacritic vowel
mark may be added.  When they are combined into 'aa[, this is written with a diacritic
stroke following the consonant or cluster but not above or below it.

      It seems to me if we want to interpret what KV says in 10 and 11 with reference to
orthography, we need to know what orthography was in use when KV was compiled, or at
least what conventions it had for representing the results of sandhi.  Do we in fact know
anything which is not inferred from grammars like KV or Vararuci?  Eisel Mazard
sometimes refers to a convention for overlapping (or repeating?) syllables in compounds,
not seen in modern texts.  How is this relevant?

George Bedell