पृष्ठम्:A Sanskrit primer (1901).djvu/२४५

Appendix. Hindu Names of Letters. The Findus call the different sounds, and the characters re- presenting them, by the word kära (maker') added to the sound of the letter, if a vowel, or to the letter followed by a, if a con- souant. Thus, a (both sound and character) is called akāra; ū, ūkära; k, kakāra; and so on. But sometimes kāra is omitted, and a, ū, ka, etc., are used alone. The r, however, is never called ra- kāra, but only ra or repha (“snarl'). The anusvāra and risurga are called by these names alone. Modern Hindu Accentuation of Sanskrit. In the pronunciation of Sanskrit almost all Brāhmans employ, with insignificant variations, an ictus-accent, which is quite different from the older musical accent (svara) described in Indian and European grammars, and employed nowadays exclusively in the rec- itation of the Veda The older system, moreover, as marked in the Vedic texts, has been subjected to very considerable modi- fications by the Hindus in the traditional recitations of the Vedic schools. The modern ictus-accent is weaker than that of English. The more important rules governing its use are as follows: 1. a. In primitive verbs and derivatives from them the root- syllable is usually accented. b. But the accent never goes further back than the fourth place, and seldom back of the third. It may rest on the third syllable only if the penult be short; on the fourth, only if both antepenult and penult be short; thus, kúranam, káranāt, but karaņéna; bódhati, kşipasi, náçyatha, but bodháraḥ, kşipámaḥ, naçyánti; dúhitā, dúhitaram, but duhitřnām. 2. Derivatives from nouns generally retain the accent of the Univ Calif - Digitized by Microsoft ®