> On Aug 4, 2022, at 5:26 PM, Harry Spier via INDOLOGY > <[email protected]> wrote: > > 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?
Well … Tamilians pronounce it as namaccivāya (நமச்சிவாய). Regards, rajam > > 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 > > _______________________________________________ > INDOLOGY mailing list > [email protected] > https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology
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