outline of gāndhārī grammar - stefan baums

Outline of Gāndhārī GrammarStefan Baums

(29 September 2019)

copy Stefan Baums 2010 2011 2019Distributed under the Creative Commons BY-ND license

1 The Sound System of GāndhārīOld Indo-Aryan and Gāndhāri share a system of five vowel sounds

front central backclose i umid e oopen ə

In OIA the vowels i [i] u [u] and a [ə] occur in short and long variants while e[eː] and o [oː] are always long In G as in other MIA dialects all five vowels occurin long and short variants OIA additionally has two diphthongs ai [əj] and au[əʋ]

Consonant sounds of Old Indo-Aryan (in this and the following table paren-theses indicate non-phonemic status)

labial dental alveolar retroflex palatal velar glottalplosive p pʰ b bʱ t tʰ d dʱ ʈ ʈʰ ɖ ɖʱ c cʰ ɟ k kʰ g gʱnasal m n ɳ (ɲ) ŋfricative s ʂ ccediltap ɾapproximant ʋ ʋ l j (h) ɦ

Consonant sounds of Gāndhārīlabial dental alveolar retroflex palatal velar glottal

plosive p pʰ b bʱ t tʰ d dʱ ʈ ɖ ɖʱ ʨ ʨʰ ʥ k kʰ g gʱnasal m mʱ n nʱ (ɳ) ɲ (ŋ)fricative (eth) s (z) ʂ (ʐ) ccedil (ʝ)tap ɾ (ɽ) (ɽʱ)approximant ʋ (ʋʱ) ʋ l j ɦ

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2 Sound Changes from Old Indo-Aryan to Gāndhārī21 Vowels211 MonophthongizationThe OIA diphthongs ai [əj] and au [əʋ] undergo monophthongization and mergewith the long vowels e [eː] and o [oː] This sound change is shared with the otherMIA languages

OIA traividyatā gt trevijada [tɾeːʋiʥːəethə] (cf P tevijjatā)OIA kauśalya gt kośala [koːʝəlːə] (cf P kosalla)

The OIA sound sequences aya [əjə] and ava [əʋə] are optionally contracted tothe long vowels e [eː] and o [oː] This sound change is mostly restricted to certainmorphological elements such as the stem termination of class 2 verbs (see sect 34)and the verbal prefix OIA ava- gt o- [oː] and is shared with other MIA languages

OIA darśayati gt daśedi [dəccedilːeːethe] (cf P dasseti)OIA saṃbhavati gt saṃbhodi [səmbʱoːethe] (cf P sambhoti)

212 Vocalization of ṛ [r]The OIA syllabic trill ṛ [r] undergoes vocalization The default outcome is thevowel i but after labial consonants and before labial vowels OIA ṛ [r] turns intou [u] At an intermediate stage of this vocalization process the vowel was pre-ceded (when medial) or followed (when initial) by a tap [ɾ] The vocalization a[ə] (without tap) occurs in loanwords from central MIA

OIA dṛṣṭa gt [dɾiʂʈə] gt diṭha [diʂʈə] (cf P diṭṭha)OIA ṛddhi gt [iɾdʱe] gt idhi [idʱːe] (cf P iddhi)OIA pṛcchati gt [pɾuʨʰːəethe] gt puchadi [puʨʰːəethe] (cf P pucchati)OIA ṛju-rarr uju [uʥːo] (cf P ujju)OIA tṛṣṇārarr taṣa [təʂɳə] (cf P taṇhā)

213 Law of Two MorasOIA syllables containing a long vowel and a closing consonant making a total ofthreemoras were subject to a generalMIA reduction to twomoras by shorteningof the vowel or by simplification of the following consonant cluster leading to anopen syllable Because long vowels are not marked in the Kharoṣṭhī script onlythe second effect of the Law of TwoMoras can be reliably observed in G (throughsubsequent weakening of the intervocalic consonant)

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OIA āsrava gt asava [aːzəʋə] (cf P āsava)OIA apāśrayati gt avaśedi [əʋaːʝeːethe] (cf P avasseti)OIA -asya gt -asa [aːzə] (cf P -assa)

214 Opening of Short VowelsThe OIA short vowels i and u are frequently opened to [e] and [o] in closed sylla-bles especially when followed by retroflex or aspirated consonants

OIA vāsiṣṭha gt vasiṭha [ʋaːzeʂʈə] (cf P vāsiṭṭha)OIA buddha gt budha [bodʱːə] (cf P buddha Bactrian βοδδο)

215 Reduction of Final VowelsWord-final long vowels (original or the result of MIA consonant loss) are short-ened and the close short vowels i and u are frequently opened to [e] and [o]

OIA pāṃsuḥ gt paṃsu [pəʋso] (cf P paṃsu)OIA abhūt gt ahu [əɦo] (cf P ahū)OIA prahāya gt prahaya [pɾəɦaːje] (cf P pahāya and sect 216)

216 Palatalization and Labialization of a [ə]In certain positions in the word short a [ə] is palatalized when adjacent to [j](whether original or the result of G consonant weakening) and labialized whenadjacent to [ʋ] Before [j] the palatalization result is [e] but after [j] it is [i] (whichturns into [e] whenword-final cf sect 215) Before [ʋ] the labialization result is [o]In some cases a [ə] following m [m] is labialized to u [u]

OIAudayāstagama gtudayastagama [uethejəstəjəmə] (cf Pudayatthagama)OIA āyatana gt ayadana [aːjiethənə] (cf P āyatana)OIA syāt gt siya [sije] (cf P siyā)OIA bhavati gt hovadi [ɦoʋəethe] (cf P bhavati)OIA samanvāgata gt samuṃnagada [səmunːaːjiethə] (cf P samannāgata)

22 ConsonantsConsonants undergo a variety of weakenings assimilations dissimilations andmetatheses The details of some of these processes (sectsect 223 2259) depend onwhether the sounds in question occur in normal position within a word or inweak terminational position

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221 Affrication of Palatal PlosivesThe palatal plosives undergo affrication to alveolo-palatal affricates

OIA citta gt cita [ʨitːə] (cf P citta)OIA cheda gt cheda [ʨʰeːethə] (cf P cheda)OIA jana gt jana [ʥənə] (cf P jana)

222 Merger of n [n] and ṇ [ɳ]The dental and retroflex nasals undergomerger the result of this merger is heretranscribed as n [n]

OIA kāraṇa gt karana [kaːɾənə] (cf P kāraṇa)OIA nidāna gt nidana [niethaːnə] (cf P nidāna)

223 Weakening and Strengthening of Medial Short ConsonantsWord-medial short plosives and fricatives undergo regular weakening when sur-rounded by vowels The unaspirated labial plosives p [p] b [b] are reduced to thelabial approximant v [ʋ] the palatal and velar plosives c [c] j [ɟ] k [k] g [g] to thepalatal approximant y [j] the unaspirated dental plosives t [t] d [d] to the dentalfricative d [eth] and the unaspirated retroflex plosives ṭ [ʈ] ḍ [ɖ] to the retroflextap ḍ [ɽ]

OIA lapana gt lavana [ləʋənə] (cf P lapana)OIA abandhana gt abaṃdhana [əʋəndʱənə] (cf P abandhana)OIA gocara gt gocara [goːjəɾə] (cf P gocara)OIA prajānāti gt prajanadi [pɾəjaːnaːethe] (cf P pajānāti)OIA loka gt loga [loːjə] (cf P loka)OIA rāga gt raga [ɾaːjə] (cf P rāga)OIA anupahata gt anuvahada [ənuʋəɦəethə] (cf P anupahata)OIA upādāna gt uvadana [uʋaːethaːnə] (cf P upādāna)OIA koṭi gt koḍi [koːɽe] (cf P koṭi)OIA pīḍā gt piḍa [piːɽə] (cf P pīḷā)

The aspirated dental plosives th [tʰ] dh [dʱ] are reduced to the dental frica-tive s [z] the aspirated retroflex plosives ṭh [ʈʰ] ḍh [ɖʱ] to the aspirated retroflextap ḍh [ɽʱ] and the aspirated velar plosives kh [kʰ] gh [gʱ] to the glottal phona-tion h [ɦ] The development of the aspirated labial plosives ph [pʰ] bh [bʱ] de-pends both on their position in the word and on their phonetic environmenttheir default reduction is the aspirated labial approximant vh [ʋʱ] but in weakterminational position and when adjacent to labial vowels they are reduced tothe glottal phonation h [ɦ]

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OIA śamatha gt śamasa [ccediləməzə] (cf P samatha)OIA nirodha gt nirosa [niɾoːzə] (cf P nirodha)OIA prauḍha gt proḍha [pɾoːɽʱə]OIA sukha gt suha [suɦə] (cf P sukha)OIA ogha gt oha [oːɦə] (cf P ogha)OIA abhijntildeā gt avhiṃntildea [əʋʱiɲːə] (cf P abhintildentildeā)OIA tribhiḥ gt trihi [tɾiːɦe] (cf P tīhi)OIA ubhaya gt uhaya [uɦəjə] (cf P ubhaya)

The dental fricative s [s] is voiced to s [z] the retroflex fricative ṣ [ʂ] to ṣ [ʐ]and the palatal fricative ś [ccedil] to ś [ʝ]

OIA bodhi gt bosi [boːze] (cf P bodhi)OIA puruṣa gt puruṣa [puruʐə] (cf P purisa)OIA ākāśa gt akaśa [aːjaːʝə] (cf P ākāsa)

The glottal phonation h [ɦ] remains regularly unchanged but is strength-ened to the velar fricative ś [ʝ] in one lexical item

OIA moha gtmoha [moːɦə] (cf P moha)OIA iha gt iśa [iʝə] (cf P iha)

224 Loss and Weakening of Final ConsonantsWord-final plosives and ḥ [h] are lost completely Theword-final nasalsm [m] andn [n] are lost after long vowels and weakened to the nazalized approximant [ʋ]after short vowels (but cf sect 311 on the analogical generalization of the direct-case ending o [o])

OIA tāvat gt tava [taːʋə] (cf P tāva)OIA parivrajet gt parivaje [pəɾiʋːəje] (cf P paribbaje)OIA samyak gt saṃma [səmːe] (cf P sammā)OIA agniḥ gt agi [əgːe] (cf P aggi)OIA mārgāḥ gtmaga [məgːə] (cf P maggā)OIA tṛṣṇānām gt taṣana [təʂɳaːnə] (cf P taṇhānaṃ)OIA skandhān gt kaṃdha [kəndʱə]OIA idam gt ida [iethəʋ] (cf P idaṃ)OIA asminrarr imaspi [iməspiʋ] (cf P imasmiṃ)

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225 Assimilation of Consonant Clusters1 Two Plosives or Two Nasals

Clusters of two plosives or two nasals undergo complete assimilation to along version of the second consonant

OIA satkāya gt sakaya [səkːaːjə] (cf P sakkāya)OIA udghāṭana gt ughaḍana [ugʱːaːɽənə] (cf P ugghāṭana)OIA mukta gtmuta [mutːə] (cf P mutta)OIA prāpta gt prata [pɾətːə] (cf P patta)OIA utpadyate gt upajadi [upːəʥːəethe] (cf P uppajjati)OIA labdha gt ladha [lədʱːə] (cf P laddha)OIA tanmaya gt taṃmaya [təmːəjə] (cf P tammaya)

2 Nasal + PlosiveClusters of a nasal with a following homorganic plosive generally remainunchanged but in the language of the Khotan Dharmapada (and occasion-ally in other texts) the nasal causes voicing of an unvoiced plosive andcomplete assimilation of a voiced plosive

OIA śānti gt śaṃti [ccedilənte] Dhp-GK śadi [ccedilənde] (cf P santi)OIA saṃstava gt saṃstava [səʋstəʋə] Dhp-GK sadhava [səndʱəʋə](cf P saṃthava and sect 22513)OIA vindati gt viṃdadi [ʋindəethe] Dhp-GK vinadi [ʋinːəethe] (cf Pvindati)OIA gandharva gtgaṃdhava [gəndʱəʋːə] Dhp-GK ganava [gənʱːəʋːə](cf P gandhabba)OIA piṇḍa gt piṃḍa [piɳɖə] Dhp-GK piṇa [piɳːə] (cf P piṇḍa)OIA saṃkalpa gt saṃkapa [səŋkəpːə] Dhp-GK sagapa [səŋgəpːə](cf P saṃkappa)OIA saṃskārararr saṃkhara [səŋkhaːɾə] Dhp-GK saghara [səŋgʱaːɾə](cf P saṃkhāra)OIA saṅga gt ṣaṃga [səŋgə] Dhp-GK ṣaga [ʂəŋːə] (cf P saṅga)OIA saṃgha gt saṃgha [səŋgʱə] Dhp-GK saḡa [səŋʱːə] (cf P saṃgha)

3 l [l] r [ɾ] ḥ [h] + ConsonantThe dental approximant l [l] the alveolar tap r [ɾ] and the glottal phonationḥ [h] undergo complete assimiliation to any following consonant

OIA vitarka gt vitaka [ʋitəkːə] (cf P vitakka and sect 24)OIA mārga gtmaga [məgːə] (cf P magga)

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OIA vartayati gt vatedi [vətːeːethe] (cf P vatteti)OIA tīrthika gt tithiga [titʰːijə] (cf P titthiya)OIA nirdeśa gt nideśa [nidːeːʝə] (cf P niddesa)OIA bahirdhā gt bahidha [bəɦidʱːə] (cf P bahiddhā)OIA asaṃtarpitararr asaṃtapayida [əzəntəpːəjiethə] (cf P asantap-pita)OIA caturbhiḥ gt caduhi [ʨːəethuːɦe] (cf P catūhi)OIA apragalbha gt apragabha [əpɾəgəbʱːə] (cf P appagabbha)OIA varṇa gt vaṃna [ʋənːə] (cf P vaṇṇa)OIA dharma gt dhaṃma [dʱəmːə] (cf P dhamma)OIA darśana gt daśana [dəccedilːənə] (cf P dassana)OIA sparśita gt phaṣida [pʰəʂːiethə] (cf P phassita)OIA caturṣu gt caduṣu [ʨəethuːʐo] (cf P catūsu)OIA duḥkha gt dukha [dukʰːə] (cf P dukkha)

4 s [s] ṣ [ʂ] ś [ccedil] + PlosiveThe clusters st [st] and ṣṭ [ʂʈ] are preserved unchanged and the cluster ṣṭh[ʂʈʰ] merges with [ʂʈ] The clusters sp [sp] and sth [stʰ] undergo assimila-tion to the aspirated plosives ph [pʰ] and th [tʰ] It is unclear whether theclusters sk [sk] and ṣk [ʂk] are preserved unchanged or assimilated to [kʰ]they are here transcribed as [sk] and [ʂk]

OIA sparśita gt phaṣida [pʰəʂːiethə] (cf P phassita)OIA vastu gt vastu [ʋəsto] (cf P vatthu)OIA upasthita gt uvaṭhida [uʋətʰːiethə] (cf P upaṭṭhita)OIA dṛṣṭi gt diṭhi [diʂʈe] (cf P diṭṭhi)OIA pratiṣṭhita gt pradiṭhida [pɾəethiʂʈiethə] (cf P patiṭṭhita)OIA skandha gt kaṃdha [skəndʱə] (cf P khandha)

5 Plosive + s [s] ṣ [ʂ]Where a plosive is followed by a fricative it undergoes partial assimilationadopting the point of articulation of the latter

OIA amatsarin gt amatsari [əmətsəɾe] (cf P amacchari)OIA yakṣa gt yakṣa [jəʈʂə] (cf P yakkha)

6 Plosive + l [l] r [ɾ] y [j] n [n] ntilde [ɲ]Clusters of plosives followed by r [ɾ] are preserved unchanged in clustersof plosives followed by l [l] the [l] changes to r [ɾ]

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OIA prajntildeā gt praṃntildea [pɾəɲːə] (cf P pantildentildeā)OIA brāhmaṇa gt braṃmana [bɾəmʱːənə] (cf P brāhmaṇa)OIA sūtra gt sutra [sutɾə] (cf P sutta)OIA dravya gt drava [dɾəʋːə] (cf P dabba)OIA agṛdhra gt agidhra [əgidʱɾə] (cf agiddha)OIA atikrama gt adikrama [əethikɾəmə] (cf P atikkama)OIA agra gt agra [əgɾə] (cf P agga)OIA śukla gt śukra [ccedilukɾə] (cf P sukka)

When a coronal (dental retroflex or palatal) plosive is followed by a coro-nal approximant or nasal (y [j] n [n] ntilde [ɲ]) they undergo mutual assimila-tion at the point of articulation of the second member of the cluster

OIA satya gt saca [səʨːə] (cf P sacca)OIA yathātathya gt yasatacha [jəzaːethəʨʰə] (cf P yathātaccha)OIA avidyā gt avija [əʋiʥːə] (cf P avijjā)OIA anumadhya gt anumaja [ənuməʝːə] (cf P anumajjha)OIA vimucyate gt vimucadi [ʋimuʨːəethe] (cf P vimuccati)OIA abhijntildeā gt avhiṃntildea [əʋʱiɲːə] (cf P abhintildentildeā)

When a non-coronal plosive is followed by a coronal approximant or nasalthey undergo complete assimilation resulting in a long version of the orig-inal plosive

OIA agni gt agi [əgːe] (cf P aggi)OIA saṃkhyāta gt saṃkhada [səŋkʰaːethə] (cf P saṅkhāta)OIA lipyate gt lipadi [lipːəethe] (cf P lippati)OIA abhyāsa gt abhasa [əbʱːaːzə]

7 s [s] ṣ [ʂ] ś [ccedil] + Nasal v [ʋ]Clusters of fricatives with non-labial nasals can assimilate the fricative tothe point of articulation of thenasal or undergo complete assimilation to along aspirated version of the nasal Both of these possibilities are reflectedin the modern Dardic languages

OIA sneha gt seha [sneːɦə] (cf P sineha)OIA praśna gt prasa [pɾəsnə] [pɾəɲʱːə] (cf P paṇha)OIA kṛṣṇa gt kiṣa [kiʂɳə] [kiɳːʱə] (cf P kaṇha)

In clusters of fricatives followed by the labial nasal m [m] the [m] is oc-cluded to the labial plosive p [p] Clusters of fricatives followed by the

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labial approximant v [ʋ] undergo the same development via an interme-diate merger of [ʋ] with [m]

OIA anusmṛti gt [ənusməethe] gt anuspadi [ənuspəethe] (cf P anus-sati)OIA svara gt [sməɾə] gt spara [spəɾə] (cf P sara)OIA āyuṣmānrarr ayaspa [aːjiʂpə] (cf P āyasmā)OIA kaśmīra gt [kəccedilmiːɾə] gt kaspira [kəccedilpiːɾə] (cf P kasmīra)OIA śāśvata gt [ccediləccedilməethə] gt saspada [ccediləccedilpəethə] (cf P sassata)

8 s [s] ṣ [ʂ] ś [ccedil] + l [l] r [ɾ] y [j]Clusters of fricatives with y [j] undergo complete assimilation In the caseof ṣy [ʂj] the second element determines a palatal outcome but in the caseof sy [sj] the dental articulation of the first element prevails

OIA niṣyandararr nisaṃda [nisːəndə] (cf P nissanda)OIA kāyasya gt kayasa [kaːjaːzə] (see sect 23 cf P kāyassa)OIA manuṣya gtmanuśa [mənuccedilːə] (cf P manussa)OIA paśyati gt paśadi [pəccedilːəethe] (cf P passati)

Clusters of fricatives with l [l] and r [ɾ] generally undergo complete as-similation to a retroflex fricative ṣ [ʂː] but in those cases where anotherretroflex sound occurs later in the word partial assimilation to a dental-alveolar cluster sr [sɾ] is the result

OIA anavasruta gt anavaṣuda [ənoʋəʂːuethə] (cf P anavassuta)OIA śrāvaka gt ṣavaga [ʂaːʋejə] (cf P sāvaka)OIA śreṣṭhin gt sreṭhi [sɾeʂʈe] (cf P seṭṭhi)OIA ślakṣṇa gt sraṣa [sɾəʂɳə] (cf P saṇha)

9 Plosive + m [m] v [ʋ]When a plosive is followed by the labial nasalm [m] the [m] is deoccludedto the labial approximant [ʋ] The development of clusters of plosives with[ʋ] depends on their position in the word In strong position they are pre-servedunchanged Inweak terminational position they undergo completeassimilation In general the assimilation result is a long version of the firstelement but in the case of ttv [tːʋ] (with a long dental plosive across mor-pheme boundary) the assimilation is mutual and results in a long labialplosive p [pː]

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OIA ātmā gt atva [ətʋə] (cf P attā)OIA tvam gt tva [tʋəʋ] (cf P tuvaṃ)OIA absolutive ending -tvā pradiṭhahita [pɾəethiʂʈəɦitːə] (cf P pati-ṭṭhahitvā)OIA arhattva gt arahapa [ərəɦəpːə] (cf P arahatta)OIA adhvan gt adhva [ədʱʋə] (cf P addhan)

10 Nasal + v [ʋ] y [j]When a coronal nasal is followed by the coronal approximant y [j] theyundergo mutual assimilation to a palatal nasal (cf sect 2256) When a non-coronal nasal is followed by a coronal approximant or vice versa they un-dergo complete assimilation in favor of the first element

OIA bhūmya gt bhuṃma [bʱumːə] (cf P bhumma)OIA samanvāgata gt samuṃnagada [səmunːaːjəethə] (cf P saman-nāgata)OIA anya gt aṃntildea [əɲːə] (cf P antildentildea)OIA puṇya gt puṃntildea [puɲːə] (cf P puntildentildea)

11 h [ɦ] + Nasal y [j]Clusters consisting of the glottal phonation h [ɦ] followed by a nasal un-dergo complete assimilation to an aspirated nasal The combination of h[ɦ] with following y [j] correspondingly undergoes assimilation to an as-pirated palatal approximant which is then further simplified to a palatalfricative

OIA gṛhṇāti gt giṃnadi [ginʱːaːethe] (cf P gaṇhāti)OIA brāhmaṇa gt braṃmana [bɾəmʱːənə] (cf P brāhmaṇa)OIA dahyamāna gt MIA [dəjʱːəmaːnə] gt daśamana [dəʝːəmaːnə](cf P dayhamāna)

12 Combinations of v [ʋ] l [l] r [ɾ] y [j]Combinations of the approximants v [ʋ] l [l] r [ɾ] and y [j] undergo com-plete assimilation according to the strength hierarchy [l] ndash [ʋ] ndash [j] ndash [ɾ] andirrespective of their sequential order

OIA sarva gt sava [səʋːə] (cf P sabba)OIA divya gt diva [diʋːə] (cf P dibba)OIA parivrajet gt parivaye [pəɾiʋːəje] (cf P paribbaje)OIA kalyāna gt kalana [kəlːaːnə] (cf P kalyāṇa)OIA paryeṣati gt payeṣadi [pəjːeːʐəethe] (cf P pariyesati)

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13 Three-Consonant ClustersClusters of three consonants show four different types of behavior If thelast element of the cluster is r [ɾ] thewhole cluster is preserved unchanged(cf sect 2256)

OIA strī rarr istri [istɾe] (cf P itthi)OIA mantra gtmaṃtra [məntɾə] (cf P manta)OIA indriya gt iṃdriya [indɾijə] (cf P indriya)OIA saṃgraha gt saṃgraha [səŋgrəɦə] (cf P saṅgaha)

In all other cases the position of the syllable boundary within the clusterdetermines its development If it falls between the first and second ele-ments then the last two elements combine independently The first ele-ment is dropped if it is a plosive

OIA sūkṣmailā gt suṣmela [suʂmeːlə]OIA ślakṣṇa gt sraṣa [sɾəʂɳə] (cf P saṇha)OIA ikṣvāku gt iṣmahu [iʂmaːɦo] (cf P okkāka)

and combines with the result of the first assimilation if it is a nasal or thenasal approximant [ʋ]

OIA saṃstava gt saṃstava [səʋstəʋə] Dhp-GK sadhava [səndʱəʋə](cf P saṃthava and sect 2252)OIA saṃsthāna gt saṃṭhaṇa [səntʰaːnə] (cf P saṃṭhāna)OIA saṃkṣepa gt saṃkṣeva [səɳʈʂeːʋə] (cf P saṃkhepa)OIA saṃkhyā gt saṃkha [səŋkʰə] (cf P saṅkhā)OIA saṃjntildeā gt saṃntildea [səɲːə] (cf P santildentildeā)OIA ākāśāntya gt akaśaṃca [aːjaːʝənʨə] (cf P ākāsantildeca)OIA saṃprakhyāna gt saṃprakhana [səmpɾəkʰːaːnə] (cf P saṃ-pakkhāna)

If the syllable boundary falls between the second and third elements thenthe first two elements combine independently and the third element isdropped

OIA vartman gt vaṭa [ʋəʈːə] (cf P vaṭṭa)

11

23 Transfer of Length from Consonants to VowelsIn some case endings and lexical items a short vowel followed by a long con-sonant is changed into the corresponding long vowel and short consonant Thistransfer of length applied at a linguistic stage prior to G and the short consonantsubsequently underwent the weakening processes characteristic of G

OIA gen sg ending -asya gt MIA [əsːə] gt MIA [aːsə] gt -asa [aːzə] (cf P-assa)OIA caturbhiḥ gt MIA [ʨətubʱːe] gt MIA [ʨətuːbʱe] gt caduhi [ʨəethuːɦe](cf P catūhi)OIA caturṣu gt MIA [ʨətuʂːo] gt MIA [ʨətuːʂo] gt caduṣu [ʨəethuːʐo] (cfP catūsu)OIA garbha gt MIA [gəbʱːə] gt MIA [gaːbʱə] gt gaha [gaːɦə] (cf P gabbha)

24 Metathesis and Copying of r [ɾ]The presence of the alveolar tap r [ɾ] in a word sometimes causes the appearanceof additional [ɾ] segments in other positions in the same word and sometimesthe original [ɾ] appears to be moved to another position The direction of bothprocesses is always from the end to the beginning of a word When an original r[ɾ] caused the appearance of another [ɾ] the former can subsequently undergoassimilation processes

OIA agṛdhra gt agrirdha [əgɾiɾdʱə] (cf P agiddha)OIA darśita gt draśida [dɾəccedilːiethə] (cf P dassita)OIA duṣkarararr drukara [dɾokːəɾə] (cf P dukkara)OIA pūrva gt prova [pɾoʋːə] (cf P pubba)OIA tatra gt tratra [tɾətɾə] (cf P tatra)

25 Remote Assimilation and Dissimilation of s [s] ś [ccedil]When aword contains both a palatal fricative ś [ccedil] and another palatal sound thefricative is frequently dissimilated to the dental fricative s [s]

OIA śuci gt suyi [suje] (cf P suci)OIA śāśvata gt saspada [səccedilpəethə] (cf P sassata)

Conversely when a word contains one palatal and one dental fricative thedental fricative can be assimilated to the palatal

OIA śāsana gt śaśana [ccedilaːʝənə] (cf P sāsana)OIA saṃśaya gt saṃśaya [ccediləʋccedilejə] (cf P saṃsaya)

12

26 Loss of Initial a [ə]Two word families show optional loss of initial a [ə]

OIA arhantrarr rahaṃta [ɾəhəntə] (cf P arahant)OIA arhattva gt rahapa [ɾəhəpːə] (cf P arahatta)OIA araṇya gt raṃntildea [ɾəɲːə] (cf P arantildentildea)

3 Inflexional MorphologyThe grammatical system of G is much simpler than that of OIA Nouns and adjec-tives have two genders (masculine and feminine) twonumbers (singular and plu-ral) and seven cases (direct instrumental dative ablative genitive locative vo-cative) Pronouns preserve separate nominative and accusative case formsVerbshave threepersons (first second third) twonumbers (singular andplural) threetenses and twomoods (present future past optative imperative) and two voices(active passive)

In the following paradigm tables gaps are left for forms that are not attestedin the sample of texts that this grammatical outline is based on and parenthesesindicate non-productive remnant forms

31 Nouns and Adjectives311 Masculine a Declension

singular pluraldirect -o [o] -am [əʋ] -a [ə] (-ani [aːne])instrumental -ena [eːnə] -ehi [eːɦe]dative -aya [aːjə]ablative -ado [aːetho] (a [ə])genitive -asa [aːzə] -ana [aːnə]locative -e [e] -aṃmi [əmʱːe] -eṣu [eːʐo]vocative -a [ə]

13

312 Masculine i Declensionsingular plural

direct -i [e] (-ino [ino]) -i [e]instrumentaldativeablativegenitive -isa [iːzə] (-ino [ino])locative

313 Masculine u Declensionsingular plural

direct -u [o] -u [o]instrumentaldativeablativegenitivelocative -uṃmi [umʱːe]

314 Feminine a Declensionsingular plural

direct -a [ə] -aya [aːjə] (-a [ə])instrumental -aya [aːje]dativeablative -aya [aːje]genitive -aya [aːje] -ana [aːnə]locative -aya [aːje] -aṣu [aːʐo]

315 Feminine i Declensionsingular plural

direct -i [e] -iya [iːjə]instrumental -iya [iːje] -ihi [iːɦe]dativeablative -iya [iːje]genitive -iya [iːje] -ina [iːnə]locative -iya [iːje]

14

316 Feminine u Declensionsingular plural

direct -u [o] -uva [uːʋə]instrumental -uva [uːʋə]dativeablativegenitive -uva [uːʋə]locative -uṣu [uːʐo]

317 Remnants of the Consonant DeclensionsThe following examples illustrate the preservation of isolated OIA consonant-declension forms in G

nom sg ātmā gt atva [ətʋə] instr sg ātmanā gt atvana [ətʋənə] gensg ātmanaḥ gt atvano [ətʋəno]instr sg karmanā gt kaṃmana [kəmːənə]acc sg kevalinam gt kevalino [keːʋəlino]gen sg smṛtyupasthānasamaṅginaḥ gtspaduvaṭhanasamaṃgino [spəethuʋətʰːaːnəsəməŋgino]nom sg prajntildeāvānrarr praṃntildeava [pɾəɲːəʋə]nom sg bhagavān gt bhagava [bʱəjiʋə]acc sg bhagavantam gt bhagavaṃto [bʱəjiʋənto]instr sg asatā gt asada [əzəethə]gen sg jāgrataḥrarr jagarado [ʥaːjəɾəetho]gen sg jānataḥ gt janado [ʥaːnəetho]acc sg bhagavataḥ gt bhagavado [bʱəjiʋəetho]acc sg jahataḥrarr jahanado [ʥəɦaːnəetho]gen pl tārayatām gt tarayada [taːɾəjiethə]gen pl mocayatām gtmoyayada [moːjəjiethə]gen pl śamayatām gt śamayada [ccediləməjiethə]instr sg manasā gtmanasa [mənəzə]

32 Pronouns321 Personal Pronounsnom aham rarr aha [əɦəʋ] acc mām gtma [məʋ] gen mama gtmama [məmə] megtme [me]nom tvam gt tva [tʋəʋ] acc tvām gt tva [tʋə]

15

322 Demonstrative Pronounssg m sg f pl m pl f

direct so [so] sa [sə] te [te] te [te]accusative ta [tə] ta [tə] te [te]instrumental tena [teːnə] taya [taːjə] tehi [teːɦe]dativeablative tado [taːetho]

(taspa [təspə])genitive tasa [taːzə] tasa [təsːə] teṣa [teːʐə]locative teṣu [teːʐo]

sg m sg f pl m pl fdirect eṣa [eːʐə] eṣa [eːʐə] ede [eːethe] ede [eːethe]

(eda [eːethə])accusative eda [eːethə] ede [eːethe]instrumental edena [eːetheːnə] taya [taːjə] tehi [teːɦe]dativeablativegenitive edasa [eːethaːzə]locative

sg m sg f pl m pl fdirect aya [əje] aya [əjə]

(ida [iethə])accusative ima [imə]instrumental imena [imeːnə]dativeablativegenitive asa [aːzə]locative imaspi [iməspe]

323 Relative Pronounsg m sg f pl m pl f

direct yo [jo] ye [ye]accusative ya [jə]instrumental yena [jeːnə] yehi [jeːɦe]dativeablative yado [jaːetho]genitive yasa [jaːzə]locative

16

324 Interrogative Pronounsg m sg f pl m pl f

direct ko [ko] ka [kə] ke [ke]ki [ke]

accusativeinstrumentaldativeablativegenitive kasa [kaːzə]locative

33 NumeralsThe following examples illustrate the numerals of G

dir eko [ekːo]dir duve [duʋe] instr duvehi [duʋeːɦe] gen duviṃna [duʋinːə]dir traye [tɾəje] instr trihi [tɾiːɦe] gen triṃna [tɾinːə]dirm catvari [ʨətʋaːɾe] f cadure [ʨəethuɾe] instr caduhi [ʨəethuːɦe]gen caduṃna [ʨəethunːə] loc caduṣu [ʨəethuːʐo]

34 Verbs341 Present and Past TenseLiterary G reflects the general MIA (and BHS) system of two productive conjuga-tion classes Class 1 has present stems that end in short a [ə] and forms a preteriteby subtraction of the stem vowel and addition of a set of i [e] endings (derivedfrom the OIA iṣ aorist) Class 2 has present stems that end in long a [aː] e [eː] or o[oː] and forms a preterite by addition of a set of -si [ze] -ṣi [ʐe] endings (derivedfrom the OIA siṣ aorist) The following table juxtaposes forms from several editedG texts to illustrate this system

17

present preteriteclass 1 avhinaṃdami [əʋʱinəndaːme] avhinaṃdi [əʋʱinənde]

upajadi [upːəʥːəethe] paḍipaji [pəɽiʋəʥːe]uvapajiṣu [uʋəʋəʥːiʐo]

parakramadi [pəɾaːkɾəməethe] avhikrami [əʋʱikɾəme]uvasaṃkrami [uʋəsəŋkɾəme]prakrami [pɾəkɾəme]

bhavayadi [bʱaːʋejəethe] bhavayi [bʱaːʋəje]bhaṣadi [bʱaːʐəethe] bhaṣiṣu [bʱaːʐiʐo]

paribhaṣisu [pəɾibʱaːʐiʐo]vaṃdadi [ʋəndəethe] vaṃdiṣu [ʋandiʐo]viharadi [viɦəɾaethe] vihari [ʋiɦəɾe]

class 2 deśedi [deːʝeːethe] deśeṣi [deːʝeːʐe]In less formal registers ofwrittenG (andpresumably in the spokenGdialects)

the past tense is primarily expressed by past participles and passive construc-tions

342 Future TenseThe future is formed by substituting the suffix OIA -iṣya- gt -iśa [iccedilːə] for thepresent stem vowel The first person singular has the endings -e [e] (probablyderived from the OIA middle ending) and -ami [aːme] the other persons havethe same endings as in the present tense Examples for the future tense are

kitiśe [kitːiccedilːe] (cf OIA kīrtayiṣyāmi P kittessaṃ)uvapajiśadi [uʋəʋəʥːiccedilːəethe] (cf OIA upapatsyate P upapajjissati)bhaviśadi [bʱəʋiccedilːəethe] (cf OIA bhaviṣyati P bhavissati)

343 OptativeThe optative has three productive formations The paradigm of the first forma-tion is based on the OIA third-person singular ending -et and is marked by -e[e]

parivaye [pəɾiʋːəje] (cf OIA parivrajet P paribbaje)The second optative formation is based on the OIA first-person singular end-

ing -eyam and third-person plural ending -eyuḥ and is marked by -eya [eːje]avhinaṃdeya [əʋʱinəndeːje] (cf OIA abhinandet P abhinandeyya)

The third formation adds the primary endings to the second formationsaṃkiliśeyadi [səŋkiliccedilːeːjeethe] (cf OIA saṃkliśyeta P saṅkilisseyyāti)

18

344 ImperativeThe singular imperative uses the ending -a [ə] for class 1 verbs and the ending-hi [ɦe] for class 2 verbs The plural ending for both classes is -sa [zə]

agacha [aːjəʨʰːə] (cf OIA āgaccha P āgaccha)vakarohi [ʋaːjəɾoːɦe] (cf OIA vyākarohi P viyākarohi)giṃnasa [ginʱːəzə] (cf OIA gṛhṇīta P gaṇhatha)

345 PassiveMany verbs employ inherited forms for the passive voice

diśadi [diccedilːəethe] (cf OIA dṛśyate P dissati)nihaṃntildeadi [niɦəɲːəethe] (cf OIA nihanyate P nihantildentildeati)

The productive passive formation uses the suffix -iya- [ije]

saṃhariyadi [səʋɦəɾijeethe] (cf OIA saṃhriyate P saṃhariyati)

4 The Kharoṣṭhī Writing SystemGāndhārī is written in the Kharoṣṭhī script Kharoṣṭhī is derived from the Ara-maic script as used in theAchaemenid empire ofwhichGandhāra formedaprovinceIt runs from right to left and uses the same systemof base signs and vowelmātrāsas the Brāhmī script and its descendants Normal Kharoṣṭhī does notmark vowelor consonant length The Kharoṣṭhī writing system has 42 base signs that weretraditionally arranged in the so-called arapacana order

no 1 2 3 4 5 6 7sign a ra pa ca na la da

no 8 9 10 11 12 13 14sign ba ḍa ṣa va ta ya ṭha

no 15 16 17 18 19 20 21sign ka sa ma ga tha ja śpa

no 22 23 24 25 26 27 28sign dha śa kha kṣa sta ntildea ṭa

19

no 29 30 31 32 33 34 35sign bha cha spa vha tsa gha ṭha

no 36 37 38 39 40 41 42sign ṇa pha ḱa za ĉa ṭa ḍha

The following table presents the same 42 signs rearranged in terms of thelater Indian varṇamālā system

aka ḱa kha ga ghaca ĉa cha ja za ntildeaṭa ḍa ḍha ṇata tha da dha napa pha ba bha maya ra la va vhaśa śpa ṣa sa spahakṣa tsa ṭha ṭha sta ṭa

The Kharoṣṭhī writing system has four vowel mātrās e i o u Initial vow-els are written by combining the base sign awith these vowel mātrās Kharoṣṭhīalso provides an anusvāra sign and later forms of the script occasionally use amarker for long vowels Four special strokes are used to mark preconsonantalr postconsonantal r postconsonantal v and postconsonantal y The first threeof these are secondarily used by some scribes to mark phonetic distinctions thatthe base signs of Kharoṣṭhī donot capture The lsquopreconsonantal rdiacriticrsquomarksconsonant length or a cluster The lsquopostconsonantal r diacriticrsquo marks weaken-ing of consonants and is conventionally transliterated as a subscript line (eg śa-masa for [ccediləməzə]) The lsquopostconsonantal v diacriticrsquo marks consonant length ora cluster and it is suggested to transliterate it as a circumflex accent (eg praŝafor [pɾəsnə]) To avoid some of the ambiguity of these various diacritics a super-script line eventually came to be used to mark consonant length or a cluster Inthemiddle period of Kharoṣṭhī (1st c BCE to 2nd c CE) several orthographic sys-tems competed with each other The main division is between minimal systemsthat use as few signs as possible and do not systematically write anusvāra (egthat of the scribe of BL Verse Commentary II) and phonetically precise systemsthat make extensive use of diacritics and anusvāra to capture the pronunciationof Gāndhārī (eg that of the scribe of the BL Saṃgītisūtra commentary) The fol-lowing table illustrates how Gāndhārī sounds and Kharoṣṭhī signs map to eachother in these two main systems In the last phase of Gāndhārī use in South Asia

20

(3rd c CE) Sanskritization became a major linguistic force and this is reflectedin the Kharoṣṭhī writing systemof the time by numerous Sanskritic spellings andthe introduction of new consonant conjuncts imitating those of Brāhmī

sound NirdL2 SaṅgCma a ai i iu u ue e eo o op p ppʰ ph phb b bbʱ bh bht t ttʰ th thd d ddʱ dh dhʈ ṭ ṭɖ ḍ ḍɖʰ ḍh ḍhʨ c cʨʰ ch chʥ j jk k kkʰ kh khg g ggʱ gh ghm m mṃmʱ m m mn ṇ ṇṃnʱ ṇ ṇɳ ṇ ṇɲ ntilde ntildeṃŋ mdash ṃ

21

sound NirdL2 SaṅgCmeth d ṯs s sz s sʂ ṣ ṣʐ ṣ ṣccedil ś śʝ ś śɾ r rɽ ḍ ḍɽʱ ḍh ḍhʋ v empty1 vʋʱ v vhʋ m empty m vṃl l lj y empty2 y ḵ3

ɦ h h

Special Signs for Length and Clusterssound NirdL2 SaṅgCmts ts tstʰː ṭh4 ṭhʈʂ kṣ kṣccedilʨ mdash ĉmʱː mdash mst st stsp sp śpsn s ŝʂɳ ṣ ṣccedilp sp śpʝː j ĵ

5 Further ReadingBailey H W 1946 ldquoGāndhārīrdquo Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies11 764ndash797

1Between o or u and another vowel2Between e or i and another vowel3When from OIA intervocalic k or g4When from OIA intervocalic sth or rth

22

Baums Stefan 2009 AGāndhārī Commentary on Early Buddhist Verses British LibraryKharoṣṭhī Fragments 7 9 13 and 18 PhD dissertation University of WashingtonBaums Stefan and Andrew Glass 2002ndash a A Dictionary of Gāndhārī httpsgan-dhariorgdictionarymdashmdashmdash 2002ndash b Bibliography of Gāndhārī Studies httpsgandhariorgbibliogra-phymdashmdashmdash 2002ndash c Catalog of Gāndhārī Texts httpsgandhariorgcatalogBrough John 1962 The Gāndhārī Dharmapada London Oriental series volume 7London Oxford University PressBurrow Thomas 1937 The Language of the Kharoṣṭhi Documents from Chinese Turk-estan Cambridge University PressEdgerton Franklin 1954 ldquoTheMiddle Indic Verb Systemrdquo In Johannes Schubertand Ulrich Schneider eds Asiatica Festschrift Friedrich Weller Zum 65 Geburtstaggewidmet von seinen Freunden Kollegen und Schuumllern pp 78ndash81 Leipzig Otto Har-rassowitzFussman Geacuterard 1989 ldquoGāndhārī eacutecrite gāndhārī parleacuteerdquo In Colette Caillat edDialectes dans les litteacuteratures indo-aryennes pp 433ndash501 Paris Institut de civilisa-tion indienneGlass Andrew 2000 A Preliminary Study of Kharoṣṭhī Manuscript Paleography MAthesis University of WashingtonHultzsch E 1925 Inscriptions of Asoka Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum vol IOxford Clarendon PressJohansson Karl Ferdinand 1892 ldquoDer dialekt der sogenannten Shāhbāzgarhi-redaktion der vierzehn edikte des koumlnigs Accedilōkardquo In Actes du Huitiegraveme congres in-ternational des orientalistes tenu en 1889 agrave Stockholmet agrave Christiania section II aryennepp 117ndash190 Leide E J BrillKonow Sten 1929 Kharoshṭhī Inscriptions with the Exception of Those of Aśoka Cor-pus inscriptionum Indicarum vol II part I Calcutta Government of India Cen-tral Publication Branch

See also the volumes in the Gandhāran Buddhist Texts series (University ofWashington Press) each of which contains grammatical sketches of the texts inquestions

23

2 Sound Changes from Old Indo-Aryan to Gāndhārī21 Vowels211 MonophthongizationThe OIA diphthongs ai [əj] and au [əʋ] undergo monophthongization and mergewith the long vowels e [eː] and o [oː] This sound change is shared with the otherMIA languages

OIA traividyatā gt trevijada [tɾeːʋiʥːəethə] (cf P tevijjatā)OIA kauśalya gt kośala [koːʝəlːə] (cf P kosalla)

The OIA sound sequences aya [əjə] and ava [əʋə] are optionally contracted tothe long vowels e [eː] and o [oː] This sound change is mostly restricted to certainmorphological elements such as the stem termination of class 2 verbs (see sect 34)and the verbal prefix OIA ava- gt o- [oː] and is shared with other MIA languages

OIA darśayati gt daśedi [dəccedilːeːethe] (cf P dasseti)OIA saṃbhavati gt saṃbhodi [səmbʱoːethe] (cf P sambhoti)

212 Vocalization of ṛ [r]The OIA syllabic trill ṛ [r] undergoes vocalization The default outcome is thevowel i but after labial consonants and before labial vowels OIA ṛ [r] turns intou [u] At an intermediate stage of this vocalization process the vowel was pre-ceded (when medial) or followed (when initial) by a tap [ɾ] The vocalization a[ə] (without tap) occurs in loanwords from central MIA

OIA dṛṣṭa gt [dɾiʂʈə] gt diṭha [diʂʈə] (cf P diṭṭha)OIA ṛddhi gt [iɾdʱe] gt idhi [idʱːe] (cf P iddhi)OIA pṛcchati gt [pɾuʨʰːəethe] gt puchadi [puʨʰːəethe] (cf P pucchati)OIA ṛju-rarr uju [uʥːo] (cf P ujju)OIA tṛṣṇārarr taṣa [təʂɳə] (cf P taṇhā)

213 Law of Two MorasOIA syllables containing a long vowel and a closing consonant making a total ofthreemoras were subject to a generalMIA reduction to twomoras by shorteningof the vowel or by simplification of the following consonant cluster leading to anopen syllable Because long vowels are not marked in the Kharoṣṭhī script onlythe second effect of the Law of TwoMoras can be reliably observed in G (throughsubsequent weakening of the intervocalic consonant)

2









3








4








5








6







7









8








9








10









11









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14






15










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21


ɦ h h




22



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3








4








5








6







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9








10









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21


ɦ h h




22



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4








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9








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21


ɦ h h




22



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5








6







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9








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16







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18












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21


ɦ h h




22



23








6







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9








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16







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18












19






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21


ɦ h h




22



23







7









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9








10









11









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15










16







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18












19






20



21


ɦ h h




22



23









8








9








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21


ɦ h h




22



23








9








10









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18












19






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21


ɦ h h




22



23








10









11









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14






15










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18












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21


ɦ h h




22



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