Guest guest Posted April 26, 2005 Report Share Posted April 26, 2005 Dear all, could anyone help me with this: do you pronounce the 'h with a dot underneath' at the end of a word by adding a vowel after it? I noticed on the MP3 it is done many times, but not all the time. Are there rules for this? thanks, Henny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 26, 2005 Report Share Posted April 26, 2005 Hiya there Henny, That is VERY short 'h' sound called visarga and take the sound of the vowel preceding it. (It sounds like we are just gasping slightly and is about half the sound of a normal short vowel) For example: Lakshmih(with a dot under h) sounds like 'lakshmihi' , as in lakshmihee . We just give a hint of the final "hi" , it is almost half the sound of "i'. Another example deva ucuh (with a dot under h) sounds like "ucuhu". Again the final "hu" is very short . A third example Sharanam gatah (with a dot under h) sounds like gataha. the "ha" is very quick and short. When chanted in a verse, the "ha" or "hi" or "hu" sound is barely audible. Hope this helps. Please let me know if I can clarify more. Veel Liefs Nanda , "henny_v_i" <HvI@S...> wrote: > > > Dear all, > > could anyone help me with this: do you pronounce the 'h with a dot > underneath' at the end of a word by adding a vowel after it? I noticed > on the MP3 it is done many times, but not all the time. Are there > rules for this? > > thanks, > Henny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 26, 2005 Report Share Posted April 26, 2005 Hiya 2u2, thank you, your explanation is, as always, very clear. It'll take a bit of practice to get the gasping right, but as I am also struggling with the 'bh' and other tricky combinations, while at the same time trying to get all the syllables out right, piece of cake.. veel liefs, Henny , "Nanda" <chandimaakijai> wrote: > > Hiya there Henny, > That is VERY short 'h' sound called visarga and take the sound of the > vowel preceding it. (It sounds like we are just gasping slightly and is about half the sound of a normal short vowel) > > For example: > > Lakshmih(with a dot under h) sounds like 'lakshmihi' , as in > lakshmihee . We just give a hint of the final "hi" , it is almost > half the sound of "i'. > > Another example > > deva ucuh (with a dot under h) sounds like "ucuhu". Again the final > "hu" is very short . > > A third example > Sharanam gatah (with a dot under h) sounds like gataha. the "ha" is > very quick and short. > > When chanted in a verse, the "ha" or "hi" or "hu" sound is barely audible. > Hope this helps. Please let me know if I can clarify more. > > Veel Liefs > Nanda , "henny_v_i" <HvI@S...> wrote: > > > > > > Dear all, > > > > could anyone help me with this: do you pronounce the 'h with a dot > > underneath' at the end of a word by adding a vowel after it? I > noticed > > on the MP3 it is done many times, but not all the time. Are there > > rules for this? > > > > thanks, > > Henny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 27, 2005 Report Share Posted April 27, 2005 Henny, I think there might be an element of tradition to this. I too have noticed that sometimes the aspiration is quite pronounced and sometimes it is missing altogether. I am of the opinion that such variations are passed down within the tradition. Chris , "henny_v_i" <HvI@S...> wrote: > > > Dear all, > > could anyone help me with this: do you pronounce the 'h with a dot > underneath' at the end of a word by adding a vowel after it? I noticed > on the MP3 it is done many times, but not all the time. Are there > rules for this? > > thanks, > Henny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 27, 2005 Report Share Posted April 27, 2005 There are lots of variations on how visarga is pronounced, just as there are variations on how anusvara (m with dot above or beneath) is pronounced. One general rule is that when visarga occurs in the middle of a chanted line, there is usually no "echoing" of the previous vowel. The echoing usually only happens when visarga occurs at the end of a line. When visarga occurs in the middle, its pronunciation often depends on which letter follows it. This is due to "sandhi", the changing of pronunciation of one sound due to proximity of other sounds. For example, take the following two lines of Purusha Suktam, where visarga is represented as capital H: Om sahasra shiirSaa puruSaH sahasraakSaH sahasrapaat In the first line, puruSaH would be pronounced "purushaha". In the second line, sahasraakSaH is pronounced more like "sahasraakshas". The visarga effectively changes to an s because of the s in sahasrapaat. Since these rules get kind of tricky, it's best to just listen to one's guru and emulate that as closely as one can. Jai Maa, Ekta --- Chris Kirner <chriskirner1956 wrote: > > > Henny, > > I think there might be an element of tradition to this. I too have > noticed that sometimes the aspiration is quite pronounced and > sometimes it is missing altogether. I am of the opinion that such > variations are passed down within the tradition. > > Chris > > > > , "henny_v_i" <HvI@S...> wrote: > > > > > > Dear all, > > > > could anyone help me with this: do you pronounce the 'h with a dot > > underneath' at the end of a word by adding a vowel after it? I noticed > > on the MP3 it is done many times, but not all the time. Are there > > rules for this? > > > > thanks, > > Henny > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 28, 2005 Report Share Posted April 28, 2005 Dear Friends, Om Namah Shivayah! Sri Desikachar has written a small book on pronunciation. I believe its called Vedic Companion to Chants. I bought it in Borders. In that he says that if the Visarga is in the middle of a verse and is followed by "sa", "sha" or "pa" it is suppressed, that is we don't say "aha" or "ah". What's interesting is that so far, in my limited reading almost 99% of the time the visarga in the middle of a verse is followed by "sa", "sha" or "pa". Somehow the sages who composed the verses have been able to maintain this. Hope I was not confusing. with love and prayers, srini , Eleathea Barraclough <eleathea> wrote: > > There are lots of variations on how visarga is pronounced, just as there are > variations on how anusvara (m with dot above or beneath) is pronounced. One > general rule is that when visarga occurs in the middle of a chanted line, there > is usually no "echoing" of the previous vowel. The echoing usually only happens > when visarga occurs at the end of a line. > > When visarga occurs in the middle, its pronunciation often depends on which > letter follows it. This is due to "sandhi", the changing of pronunciation of > one sound due to proximity of other sounds. For example, take the following two > lines of Purusha Suktam, where visarga is represented as capital H: > > Om sahasra shiirSaa puruSaH > sahasraakSaH sahasrapaat > > In the first line, puruSaH would be pronounced "purushaha". In the second line, > sahasraakSaH is pronounced more like "sahasraakshas". The visarga effectively > changes to an s because of the s in sahasrapaat. > > Since these rules get kind of tricky, it's best to just listen to one's guru > and emulate that as closely as one can. > > Jai Maa, > Ekta > > --- Chris Kirner <chriskirner1956> wrote: > > > > > > Henny, > > > > I think there might be an element of tradition to this. I too have > > noticed that sometimes the aspiration is quite pronounced and > > sometimes it is missing altogether. I am of the opinion that such > > variations are passed down within the tradition. > > > > Chris > > > > > > > > , "henny_v_i" <HvI@S...> wrote: > > > > > > > > > Dear all, > > > > > > could anyone help me with this: do you pronounce the 'h with a dot > > > underneath' at the end of a word by adding a vowel after it? I noticed > > > on the MP3 it is done many times, but not all the time. Are there > > > rules for this? > > > > > > thanks, > > > Henny > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 28, 2005 Report Share Posted April 28, 2005 Dear friends, thank you all for helping. It certainly seemed a simple enough question, but the answer has turned out to be not so simple. I'm sure there must be an element of tradition involved (and I'm sure, Chris, there are regional/sectarian differences I am blissfully unaware of). Thank you Ekta, for telling me about the 'sandhi'. I had never heard of it (and now I wish I never had ) And I am relieved to find that the sages have helped us by arranging it so that we almost never 'pronounce' the Visarga in the middle of a verse. Thank you for mentioning the book, Srini (I am going to rush to the library tomorrow to see if I can find it) and no, you were not confusing. The Visarga is. So I am going to take Ekta's advice and the guru's pronunciation as closely as I can, thank you all, with love, Henny , "ammasmkd" <r_srinivasan@e...> wrote: > Dear Friends, > > Om Namah Shivayah! > > Sri Desikachar has written a small book on pronunciation. I believe > its called Vedic Companion to Chants. I bought it in Borders. > > > In that he says that if the Visarga is in the middle of a verse and > is followed by "sa", "sha" or "pa" it is suppressed, that is we > don't say "aha" or "ah". > > What's interesting is that so far, in my limited reading almost 99% > of the time the visarga in the middle of a verse is followed > by "sa", "sha" or "pa". Somehow the sages who composed the verses > have been able to maintain this. > > Hope I was not confusing. > > with love and prayers, > srini > > > > , Eleathea Barraclough > <eleathea> wrote: > > > > There are lots of variations on how visarga is pronounced, just as > there are > > variations on how anusvara (m with dot above or beneath) is > pronounced. One > > general rule is that when visarga occurs in the middle of a > chanted line, there > > is usually no "echoing" of the previous vowel. The echoing usually > only happens > > when visarga occurs at the end of a line. > > > > When visarga occurs in the middle, its pronunciation often depends > on which > > letter follows it. This is due to "sandhi", the changing of > pronunciation of > > one sound due to proximity of other sounds. For example, take the > following two > > lines of Purusha Suktam, where visarga is represented as capital H: > > > > Om sahasra shiirSaa puruSaH > > sahasraakSaH sahasrapaat > > > > In the first line, puruSaH would be pronounced "purushaha". In the > second line, > > sahasraakSaH is pronounced more like "sahasraakshas". The visarga > effectively > > changes to an s because of the s in sahasrapaat. > > > > Since these rules get kind of tricky, it's best to just listen to > one's guru > > and emulate that as closely as one can. > > > > Jai Maa, > > Ekta > > > > --- Chris Kirner <chriskirner1956> wrote: > > > > > > > > > Henny, > > > > > > I think there might be an element of tradition to this. I too > have > > > noticed that sometimes the aspiration is quite pronounced and > > > sometimes it is missing altogether. I am of the opinion that such > > > variations are passed down within the tradition. > > > > > > Chris > > > > > > > > > > > > , "henny_v_i" <HvI@S...> wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > Dear all, > > > > > > > > could anyone help me with this: do you pronounce the 'h with a > dot > > > > underneath' at the end of a word by adding a vowel after it? I > noticed > > > > on the MP3 it is done many times, but not all the time. Are > there > > > > rules for this? > > > > > > > > thanks, > > > > Henny > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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