End Notes

1 This is not something that affects BHS only, as is well-known the Vedic texts have also been Sanskritised according to the rules of the later language, see the extract from Arnold's book on Vedic Metre, elsewhere on this website.

2 A disclaimer is necessary at the outset: the metre is only a help in the reconstruction of the pronounication. In regard to certain features of the language of Udànavarga the metre is of no help at all.

Take the øloka pàdayuga: èãle pratiùñhito bhikùuè cittaü prajÿàü ca bhàvayet [156ab], a number of questions arise that the metre cannot help us with: were the sibilants distinguished by sound as in Sanskrit or assimilated to s as in Pàëi? was the pronounciation bhikùu or bhikkhu? was the vowel before anusvara in prajÿàü pronounced as long or short? was the word-final consonant in bhàvayet pronounced or not?

The metre cannot help us resolve these questions. But there are many other places where it does in fact help, and can therefore give us an idea of what the sound was, and this paper is concerned with those matters.

3 There is not one occurrence of the form bhoti (for bhavati) in Udànavarga, which as we can see must have been the actual pronounication in the majority of cases of this word.

4 This phenomena also occurs in Pàëi, e.g. Jà 487, vs 6 Kathaü bho bràhmaõo hoti, kathaü bhavati kevalã...In Pàëi it even occurs in prose, e.g. Atittàva, bhikkhave, khattiyaparisà hoti, atha ràjà cakkavattà tuõhã bhavati; perhaps for emphasis.

5 There are sometimes alternative ways of understanding these forms - see section 6 below and the commentary to the text.

6 For details about conjuncts not making position in Pàëi, see An Outline of the Metres in the Pàëi Canon 1.5 elsewhere on this website.

7 In the lists which follow the words are given in Indian alphabetical order.

8 There is no other conjunct with br in the text which is in critical position, so that the status of the conjunct cannot be generalized from this text alone.

9 But see the exception just below.

10 According to the analysis made here Edgerton's rather categorical statement (BHS Reader, p. vi) that ßAn initial consonant cluster never makes position (in BHS)û is incorrect - it is true that usually they do not make position, but there are many exceptions where they must in fact be making position for the metre to be correct. See e.g. 53c; 67c; 104c; 147d; 211c; 367d; 368d; 538c; 684c; 685c; 751c; 863d etc. etc.

11 In what follows I have seperated medials from initials.

12 In this examination I have counted the cadence of øloka; and the opening and cadence of Triùñubh, and Màtràcchandas lines; and the gaõas in Gaõacchandas metres as critical.

13 For more on svarabhakti see An Outline of the Metres in the Pàëi Canon 1.6.

14 The number of verses given as having resolution at the 7th, apart from the first one, are probably all to be corrected - see the notes to 401.iia (which covers the repetitions which follow).

15 That is, as far as we can reconstruct it, see note 1 above.