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Re: < Pronunciation #
|> Well, some explanation is required.
|>
|> Many Indian languages have the concept of half-consonents.
|> There are half and full consonents, and ones with "matra"
|> (the "a" in the end, pronounced as in art).
|>
|> There's this difference...
|>
|> I II III
|> Most SouthIndians Ram Rama Rama
|> Many others Ram Ram Rama
|>
|> I = Half consonent m
|> II = Full consonent m
|> III = Full m, with "matra"
|>
|> I belong to the "many others", and so when I say "Ramayana" is wrong,
|> I mean the last n WITH a matra is a wrong pronunciation.
|> I should have explained this in my 1st posting. Sorry.
|> All of us, I think, will agree that the last "a" is for making the "n"
|> a full consonent, and not to be pronounced as in "art".
|>
|> The pronunciation of Ram as RamA (A as in Art), I think, was a
|> British influence.
|>
Again, I think I must disagree. I have been taught a good deal of
the vedic scriptures in a very traditional manner (studying from
a guru in India as well as from my father), and the Sanskrit mantras
I have been taught all pronounce the final un-"matra"'d "a" stronger
than you have indicated. It is not as long as the long a matra, but
it is not just "uh" as an afterthought either.
But then again, I don't think that either is wrong, both have just
evolved differently. I do think that it's wrong to say this
pronunciation came from the british, though.
|> ---
|> On a lighter note, here's a question for those who retain
|> the last "a"...
|> Why not SANSKRITA?
|> (As far as I know, the t in the end is a FULL consonent)
|> :-)
Actually, to tell you the truth, the Malayalam word for sanskrit
is pronounced "samskritam", where that final "a" you jokingly added
is kept (the final m or n sound - i.e. raman, lakshmanan, etc. - is
common in malayalam). So some people do keep it.
Sekhar
rsn@eecs.berkeley.edu
