One: Scansion and Related Matters
1.8 Metrical licence
Besides these though, we also find many instances where words have been altered in certain ways in order to meet the needs of the metre, these can be summarised as follows:
1) Lengthening or shortening of vowels
2) Doubling or simplifying of consonants
3) Employing or dropping the niggahīta
It should be pointed out that these changes cannot occur arbitarily, but only in certain positions in words, which we may summarise thus:
1) End syllables are the ones most likely to be changed
2) Medial syllables only change where there is junction (either between words in compound, or between stem and affix)
3) Rarely, initial syllables may be changed also.