[ iv ]
The distinction between श and ष is on the wane ; the probability, judging by the rules of pronunciation given by Panini is that ष in another form of the Persian kh mentioned above, as the discarded = क is that of the Arabic q and the similarly abandoned<प of the Persian ph or f.
The nasal letters again ङ, ञ, ण, न, have a tendency to run, all of them, into the single न, in the mouths of those who are not particularly careful. So in English, sounds which originally existed when such words as 'daughter' (Persian dukhtar, Samskrit duhita). and <night' ( Samskrit nakta ) &c. were brought over, have now disappeared except perhaps in some village dialects, though the spelling continues as before. The reason of this may be suggested thus. According to the variety of the aspects of consciousness embodied in a people will be the variety of sounds, or letters employed by them; as the one variety diminishes or expands so will the other : if the word laugh were pronounced as laugh as it probably was in the beginning, and as it is still by uneducated° people, it would imply a greater and a somewhat coarser heartiness; pronounced as laf it indicates a toning down of the uncontrolled animal spirit, into a much more mild and refined condition of feeling. In America, and in some English circles, it is becoming further shortened into laff. The Samskrit Alphabet :
SIMPLE COMPOUND.
Short Long Short Long.
Vowels : अ आ- ए=(अ or आ + इ or ई ) ऐ =(अ or आ + ए )
इ ई ओ = अ or आ+ उ or ऊ) औ'=(अ orआ+ ओ )
