First, thank you for the many clear english and other languages sandhi examples. I don't know how you all answer so quickly and with perfect spelling. Presumably from years of typing up lectures or answering students emails..
Secondly, I want to explain to my sanskrit chanting but non-sanskrit knowing, non-linguistic audience how and why in the different mantras the word *namaḥ* is spelled and pronounced differently. Its easy to explain how *namaḥ* becomes *namas* in the phrase *namas te .* But with the other pronounciations there are some complications to explain. 1) *namaḥ śivāya* is overwhelmingly written *namaḥ śivāya* and rarely as *namaś śivāya* or *namaśśivāya .* In GRETIL there is *namaḥ śivāya *193 times, *namaś śivāya* 8 times, and *namaśśivāya* 0 times. But I've only heard the written *namaḥ śivāya* chanted as *nama śivāya *and never as *namaha śivāya* (i.e. with the visarga pronounced).. I had always assumed that what was happening was that the written *namaḥ śivāya *was being chanted as if it was the sandhi transformed *namaśśivāya* . How do Indians pronounce *namaḥ śivāya* when they chant it in a hymn or in a mantra? 2) Is there a way to explain the process how *namaḥ nārāyaṇāya *becomes *namo nārāyaṇāya* that would be understandable to someone who wasn't a linguist or a sanskritist. An explanation that would be understandable, but deeper than just stating the rule: *aḥ* becomes *o* before voiced consonants. Thanks again, Harry Spier
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