Re: Kc 29

Hi Bryan,

Jim:
<with respect to the group (vagga)
of the preceding voiced and unvoiced consonants (excluding the
niggahita), the first and third letters, respectively, go to the
double in some places when a vowel precedes.>

Bryan:
Thanks Jim, I'm getting there. So are the preceding voiced and
unvoiced consonants the unaspirated versions of these consonants? What
does niggahita mean?

Jim:
The niggahita (sometimes spelt niggahiita) is ".m" or the anusvara in
Sanskrit and is defined at Kc 8. The reason why I mentioned it was to
draw attention to it being left out of the list of 21 ghosa consonants
at Kc 9. The niggahita comes up again in the next sutta (Kc 30)

."pubbesaṃ byañjanānaṃ ghosāghosabhūtānaṃ" sounds too wide as it also
includes the unaspirated vagga consonants. Since my earlier response
I'm now considering the possibility of the genitive relation of the
above phrase to "tatiya-paṭhamakkharā" instead of "vagge". Some
further clarification is in order but I will need to do a bit of
research and thinking. I will let you know if I come up with a better
explanation (may take a day or two).

Jim