on the stress-accent in the modern indo-aryan vernaculars

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On the Stress-Accent in the Modern Indo-Aryan VernacularsAuthor(s): G. A. GriersonSource: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, (Jan., 1895), pp.139-147

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139

Art. V.?On the Stress-Accent in theModern Indo-AryanVernaculars. By G. A. Grierson, Ph.D., CLE.

[The following contractions have been used in this article:?IA Vs. = ModernIndo-Aryan Vernaculars; Skr., Sanskrit; Pr., Prakrit; Ap., Apabhramca;M., Mara$hi; O., Gujarati; IL, Hindi; B.t Bihar!; Bg., Bangali; P.,Panjab!; S., Sindhi; Ts., Tatsama; sTs., Scwi-Tatsaroa; Tbh., Tadbhnva;ZDMG., Zeitschrift der deutschcn Morgcnlandiachen Geulltchaft; H.C., Ilema*candra's Prakrit Grammar.]

The IAVs. closely follow the rules of the Sanskrit stress-accent(as distinct from the ancient musical accent) which have beennoted by Prof. Jacobi in ZDMG. xlvii. 574 and ff. Theonly difference is that the IAVs. do not usually throw theaccent further back than the antepenultimate if the wordends in a long syllable. The general rules are as follows:?

(1) The stress-accent falls on the penultimate if it belong. Examples?Skr. and Ts. kirti 'fame'; G. janii 'asacrificial thread'; M. gidh(a) 'a vulture'; hand 'one-eyed';S. rahdu 'a dweller'; H. asiijhd 'invisible'; kisan(a) 'ahusbandman'; B. chotdkkd 'small.'

(2) If the penultimate be short, the accent falls on theantepenultimate, provided that be long. Examples?Skr.and Ta. ktrtan(a) 'a report'; M. vdlan(a) 'inclination,'kdpar(a) 'clothea'; II. bdndhan(a) 'binding.'

(3) In any other case it is thrown back as far as possible?the limits being, in Sanskrit and Tss., and in IAV. wordsending in a short vowel, the last syllable but three; andin IAV. words ending in a long vowel, the antepenultimate.Examples?Skr. kutilata 'deceitfulness,' as a Ts. kuttTtd;M. kdr'va^a) 'a saw'; sTs. par9 bat (a) 'a mountain'; B.pdr9sat(a) 'touching'; H. tin'kd 'a straw,' bdl(a) 'force': butII.pah&c'nd (not pdhuc'nd) 'to arrive'; H. nikdVtd 'issuing.'

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140 STRESS-ACCENT IN THE

Sometimes, however, even an IAV. word, which has theaccent on the antepenultimate, may retain the accent onthe same syllable, when it becomes the last syllable butthree by the addition of a secondary suffix. This is byno means universal; pronunciation varying with differentpeople. Thus, H. titali 'a butterfly/ long form, properly,iitdliyd, but also sometimes titaliyd.

(4) If the accent does not fall on the first syllable ofa word, that syllable has a secondary accent. Thus, Skr.kulandm 'of families/ So IAV. rdhau, chdtdkkd, as above ;sTs. ddhtn(a) 9dependent on.'

(5) A tendency is observable from the earliest times toelide a short vowel following the accented syllable: thus,Skr. bhdgini or bhdgnl; Skr. phgaphdla, Pr. *pugphala,popphala\ Skr. surabhi, Pr. *surbhi, subbhi; Skr. Idvana,Pr. *ldma, *ldwna, Idna; Skr. jlvila, Pr. *jlia, jta. Inthe IAVs. the process is still carried on, but the neutralvowel is substituted for a, i, or u, instead of that vowelbeing altogether elided. Thus, M. kdr'vat 'a saw'; S.bigdd'nu ' to be spoiled'; B. ghor'vd 'a horse'; Skr.durbdlakah *weak/ Pr. dubbalad, H. dWld.1

The elision of t and u is more rare in the IAVs., andis restricted to special cases.

Examples are?Skr. bhdgini f sister' Pr. bdhinl H. bdh'nl, bdhan, orbdhin. Other dia

lects bdhin, but M.and B., to preservethe i, throw theaccent on it andlengthen it, bahin.

bddhirah 'deaf bdhiro H. bdhfrd or bdhird.

1 Jacobi gives ns parallel froni the Romnnce languages?Latin, verecundia;French, virgogne; Italian, vergogna ; Spanish, terguenza.



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MODERN INDO-ARYAN VERNACULARS. 1 ilSkr. prdthamah 'first' Ap.padharillau H. pah*la, but M.

pdhild, G. pdheld,and so on.vidyut 'lightning' b\jjulid H. bifli, but otherIAV. ?i/Wf.

Cases sometimes occur of the a being weakened to i or uinstead of the neutral vowel. The i change ismost commonin Sindhi, and the u in Barjgali. Examples?pippnlah 'a pipal tree' pippald S. pipiru.viralah 'rare' S. birilo.pdiyaram 'a cage' pdnjaram S. pijird.

dgnih' fire' sTs., Bg. dgun(i).calmali' a silk-cotton tree ' simbali Bg. simul.(6) In compound words, the first member retains its

own stress-accent as a secondary accent, the stress-accentof the second member being the stress-accent of the word:thus, II. pdn'sald 'a watering-place'; M. phuVmalt' a florist';

B. d-stijh(a) or d-si(jh'vd 'invisible.' This secondary accentI mark when necessary with the sign for a grave accent,but shall generally omit it.

This rule about compound words explains such apparentlyanomalous forms as the B. dcklildhu 'I saw,' and the manysimilar verbal forms in that language, in which the accentfalls on the penultimate or final syllable of the word. Theyare really compounds of the past participle [tlekhal(a)~], andold forms of the Vah ' to be,' dhu meaning ' I am/ and so on.

The tendency to drop the final vowel of the first memberof the compound [as in dekhal(a)+dhi7] dates from theearliest times. Thus, Skr. kumbha-kdrah 'a potter'; Pr.kumbha-aro or kiunbhdrd (against the usual custom, H.C.i. 8), IAV. kumhar(a); Skr. mvamdlikd 'jasmine'; Pr.*ndvmalid, mndumdlid, ndmttlid; Skr. prdtivecah, Pr. pdesoor pddiveso, H. pados(a). A long vowel in such a positionis first shortened and then elided: thus, Skr. dvdcatvdrhhcat;Pr. *bdydyd,lisam,bdydlisam; H. bydlis(a).



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(7) If the accent falls on a short vowel there is a tendencyto lengthen it; thus, Skr. dpagd or dpagd 'a river'; miisalaor miisala 'a club'; so also?

prdtipad 'first day of J pddivayd or 1 M. pdd*vd, but II.a fortnight I pddivayd ) pddibd,B. parol).hdstinl 'she elephant1 hdtthinl M. (with change ofaccent) hattin, butH. etc. hdth'nl.

(8) On the other hand the accent has a tendency toshorten a preceding long vowel; e.g. Skr. agaram oragaram 'a house'; Skr. dtikupyah or akupya (for aikapya)1very base'; so in IAV.?

kdslsam green vitriol' kdsisain H. kasls.ddhinah *dependent on ' sTs. adhln.devalayah ' temple' devetlao P. devald.

So M. bhik(a) 'begging,' bhikarl, G. bhikharl 'a beggar';M. kdm(a) 'work,' kamau 'that which earns.' Again, Skr.gen. karndsya 'of an ear'; Pr. dat. kanndssa or kdndsa ' toan ear'; M. kdnas(a) (sfTRTO) 'to an ear/ in which thefirst d is written long, but is pronounced short like thea in the Italian bdl/o. So also M. bhlk(a), dat. bhikes(a);

pik(a) ' a ripe crop/ dat. pikds(a); hdt(a) 'a hand/ dat.hdtas(a) as in kdnds(a).

(9) When a word begins with two long syllables, thesecond of which has the stress-accent, the secondary accenton the first syllable often attracts the first accent to itself,and the syllable which would ordinarily bear the stressaccent is shortened. Thus, Skr. dntta becomes in Pr. ania,Skr. pdniya, Pr. ptniya, and so on. So?dhhlayah *temple' H. decal, M. dical.kdydsthah 'a man of the

writer caste ' kayattho B. khyath.vdtulah *mad' radio M. barald, B. bdurd,S. bdvirO.



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MODERN INDO-ARYAN VERNACULARS. 143

(10) This even happens when the first syllable is short;e.g. Skr. dlika 'false/ Pr. dliya; Skr. mddhiika 'name ofa tree/ Pr. mdhua; so?

girtsah 'a kind of tree' siriso H. siris.dvltiyakah ' second' dktiyab 11. dutiyd.gdbhirakah 'deep' gdhirad H. gdhird.bdlivdrdah 'a bullock' bdillo IAV. bail or bail.(11) In Sanskrit and Prakrit there was also a secondaryaccent on the penultimate of a word. Thus, in kutildtd thea in the penultimate has more accent than the i in the

antepenultimate. Sometimes this secondary accent was sostrongly felt that it swallowed up the main stress-accent,and itself became the main accent, with the usual resultof lengthening the accented syllable. Thus, while on theone hand wo have jdlpdka 'talkative/ pdrvaltka l 'a rangeof mountains/ we have also jdlpdka, pdrvatlga, or parvatega'a mountaineer': so also we have rdthlka, or rdthina 'possessing a chariot/ and grdmlka 'a villager/ but also grdmtya,grdmeya, and grdmina; deiikd 'a goddess/ and divikd 'aqueen'; depka and defiya 'native'; saukhika and saiikhiya'pertaining to enjoyment'; vdrtira or vdrtira 'a quail';tidksdtrzya 'belong to an asterism/ but ndgartya 'belongingto a town'; kdrira and kdrtra 'the shoot of a bamboo.'

Again, valuta, or vdtiila 'inflated'; ulupin, or tildpin 'aguinea-pig'; vdrsuka 'rainy/ but tdvaduka 'loquacious';

jdgardka, butjdgaruka, notjagaruka 'waking.'In Pr. this is specially common in certain pleonasticterminations. One is -la or -lla. Thus, vijjuld 'lightning/pdttdlam 'a leaf/ pidlam 'yellow '; but pdllavilla 'a shoot/muhiilla 'aface/ hdtthulla 'a hand.' So Skr. dCrakulam,Pr. deullam; Skr. sdrvdtah, Pr. sdvvdttd; Skr. ekdtas, Pr.ekdttd; Skr. dnydtah, Pr. dnndtto. So also the suffix k:

1With reference to many of the following examples, it is hardly necessary topoint out the close connection between the terminations ika and iya.



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thus, Pr. Mdkam, or (Mg.) hdddkkam 'heart.' AccordingtoMdrkandeya, xii. 16, the rule is made general in MagadhIPrakrit, in which any vowel before the suffix ka may belengthened. Thus, Skr. Idvdnyakah, Mg. Pr. Idunndke, orIdttnndke 'lovely.'

This second accent on the penultimate reappears in severalof the IAVs. The Apabhraii^a Prakrit termination -dkubecomes (byr elision of the k) du, and theu o or a. So thetermination ikd becomes id or tyd, and thence i. In two

Western Vernaculars, i.e. Gujarati, and especially Marathi, curiously enough the MagadhI Prakrit custom hasobtained, and this secondary accent has swallowed upthe main accent of the word, and becomes itself the mainaccent, with the usual consequence of shortening the preceding syllable.1 So that dku and ikd become dku, an,and ikd, Id, and then a or


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MODERN INDO-ARYAN VERNACULARS. 145Skr. Ap. Pr. IAV.

curndlcah *lime' cunndii G. cund, M. ciina, but II. cdnd.ci'rdkah 'a leopard' clftdu M. cifd, but II. cftd.kitdkah 'a worm ' kiddii M. kird, but II. lira, S. kird.ciksitah 'learned' sikkhiu M. elkhd, but II. sikha.

mistdkah 'sweet' mitthdu M. mil ha, but II. tnithd.siicikah 'a tailor' sdeiii M. suet, but II. ,sw


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146 STRESS-ACCENT IN TIIEends in a short vowel, that vowel, under the influence ofthe stress or the secondary accent on the penultimate, hasa tendency to disappear.

Taking Tadbhava words first?These come to the IAVs.,though the Apabhramca Prakrit, and nouns pass into theIAVs. in the form of the nominative singular. Nearlyevery Apabhrarii9a word, and the nominative of everynoun in that language ended in a, i, or tt, or in one ofthese vowels nasalized. If one of these final vowels bepreceded by a consonant, under the influence of the accent,it disappears in the modern tongues. Thus?

Skr. Nom. Sg. Tr. Ap. Nom. Sg. IAV.

ghotah]. (horse' glwdo ghodu ghdd (ghor).pdrkati ' fig-tree

*pdkkadi pdkddi pdkad (pdkar).

bahuh 'arm' bahu bahu bdh.

The same applies to the cases iu which a verbal formends in a short vowel. Thus?Skr. Ap. Pr.

pdthasic thou read est' pddhdsi M. par has (or parhes).It will be seen that under the influence of the accent

there has been a regular weakening of the final vowel ateach of the last two stages. Prakrit has ghddd with thefinal o long, Apabhramca weakens it to u, and the IAVs.omit it altogether. There is a tendency in some dialectsto preserve the final vowel. It is especially the case inBg., and in the literary styles of most of the IAVs. Thisis due to the influence of purists who endeavour to preservethe Skr. pronunciation. In Bai|g?7ll and its sister languages,it is also due to other special reasons which need not bediscussed here. On the other hand, some languages arefond of shortening and eliding a final long vowel of a Ts.



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MODERN INDO-ARYAN VERNACULARS. 147

Thus, in Biharl the word for 'woman' is indifferentlyndrl (purist), ndri, or ndr (poetical and vulgar). In Sindhiand Ru^miri the final short vowel of Tadbhavas is preserved,but it is only very faintly pronounced. We meet theprocess, in fact, at an older stage, and can watch the vowelin the very act of disappearing.

In Tatsamas the result is the same. The noun is alsoused in its nominative form, and a final visarga

is omitted,as that letter has ceased to exist in the IAVs. We thusget?

Skr. Intermediate Stage. IAV.bdlah ' strength' bdla bdl or bdla.

mdtih 'mind9 mdtimat or mdti.vdstuh ' thing

' bdstu bast or bdstu.

The above remarks only refer to prose pronunciation.In prose these vowels, though they have disappeared, arenot elided, for they are still there, and again reappearin poetry, which always preserves the older forms of thelanguage. Thus?

Is Pronounced Is PronouncedIAV.u Proso. in Pot try.

^ft^f ghdr ghdra.^T^Rf pakar pakdra or pdkdri.

igrf^ bdh bdha or bdhu.

H^j$ parhas pdrhdsa.

dl bdla.iff?f mat mdti.

^mast bdstu.

on the stress-accent in the modern indo-aryan vernaculars

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