maadhav Posted February 9, 2004 Report Share Posted February 9, 2004 VEDIC ACCENTS: In order to have full conception of the inner meaning of the Vedic prose, poetry and lyric (the Yajus, the Rk, and eh Saman), one should be familiar not only with the grammar of the language, and the etymology of words, he should also be conversant with proper accentuations. The old interpreters of the Vedic verses have laid great emphasis on proper accentuations. Being the earliest divine human speech, the words of the Vedic language are in their most fluid and plastic state. A slight change of accents brings about very often a considerable change in the meaning of the words. And therefore, our ancestors, not only made heroic attempts to preserve the Vedic texts to this day by reciting and memorizing, they did their best to retain the accents also. Panini, the great grammarian and the author of Astadhyayi devotes a number of aphorisms in the 1st, 3rd, 6th, and 8th chapters, and Dayananda edited a collection of these Sutras, and published it under the title of the Sauvara with notes and explanations. … It must be remembered that the readings of the Vedic texts are of two types: . pATha (pd paQ), with each word (.) or term spoken clearly and distinctly,(.) and when these padas are connected together according to the rules of euphony or sandhi, we get the sa.nhitA pATha (s<ihta paQ); in fact, sandhi is the euphonic junction of final and initial letters in grammar grammar, (.)… Four types of accents - ..only vowels (..) are accentuated(.) (The accents are:) udAtta udAtta (%daÄ),anudAtta (AnudaÄ), svarita (Svirt), and kshaipra (]Eà). (Pg. 251.) Venkata Madhava has thus clearly stated, that if the accent differs, the interpretation should also be changed. - (Veda Prathisthana Publication New Delhi) Rgveda Samhita Vol. 1, Pg. 237 ============ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 9, 2004 Report Share Posted February 9, 2004 Thanks for the info Maadhav, could you give some more examples? thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 10, 2004 Report Share Posted February 10, 2004 it is hard to convey sound in writing. one has to hear it. if you find the book, read it. it would be too much work for me to gie examples. i only wish westerners (HK's) do not mispronounce sanskrit words when they preach to the hindus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.