LINGUINDIC

< All linguistic fields

Phonetics

Phonetics is the study of linguistic sound in its physical aspects, articulatory and auditory/acoustic. Already by an early period, the phonetic analysis of Sanskrit had reached an advanced stage in India. Śikṣā, the name of the phonetic and phonological tradition, literally means ‘instruction’, possibly reflecting both its importance as the first stage of linguistic education, and its priority in the historical development of linguistic analysis.

Surviving Śikṣā texts, which describe in detail the articulation of all Sanskrit sounds, are late, but must reflect a very early tradition, and evidence a sophisticated articulatory analysis. Famously, the Indian tradition accurately understood the articulatory process of voicing – i.e. vibration of the vocal chords – which was not understood in the Western tradition until the nineteenth century.

References

Allen, W.S. (1953), Phonetics in Ancient India. London: Oxford University Press.

Deshpande, M. (1976), 'On the Ṛkprātiśākhya 13.5–6.' Indian Linguistics 37: 171-181.

Journal Article

Deshpande, M. (2023), 'History of Linguistic Analysis in the Sanskrit Tradition in Premodern India, with a Brief Discussion of Vernacular Grammars. Part I: Ancient, Classical, and Medieval Periods.' In Waugh, Linda R.; Monville-Burston, Monique; Joseph, John E. (ed.), The Cambridge History of Linguistics, 77-101. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Paper In Edited Volume

Kielhorn, F. (1876), 'Remarks on the śikṣās.' The Indian Antiquary Vol. V (May-July): 193-200.

Journal Article

Kirste, J. (1890), 'Some Remarks on the Sarvasaṁmata-Śikshā.' Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes Vol. 4: 43-46.

Journal Article

Lowe, J.J. (2020), 'Segmental phonology in Ancient India?.' Language 96 (2): 97-113.

Journal Article

Mishra, Vidhata (1972), A critical study of phonetics. Varanasi: Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office.

van Nooten, B.A. (1973), 'The structure of a Sanskrit phonetic treatise.' Acta et commentationes Universitatis Tartuensis: Oriental Studies 2.2: 408-436.

Journal Article

Varma, Siddheshwar (1961), Critical Studies in the Observations of Indian Grammarians. Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal.

Whalen, D.H. (2019), 'Phonetics.' In Aronoff, Mark (ed.), Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics, 1-13. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://oxfordre.com/linguistics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.001.0001/acrefore-9780199384655-e-57..

Paper In Edited Volume

Texts

Aitareya Āraṇyaka

A piece of text

Chāndogya Upanisạd

A piece of text

Nāradaśikṣā

A piece of text

Pāṇinı̄yaśikṣā

A piece of text

Taittirīya Upaniṣad

A piece of text

Vyāsaśikṣā

A piece of text

Yājñavalkyaśikṣā

A piece of text

Āpiśaliśikṣā

A piece of text

Sanskrit Words

akṣarasamāmnāya

Inventory of sounds.

Having a nasal component.

Consisting of two sounds, i.e. diphthongs.

Voicing. Cf. aghoṣa (voiceless)

Tongue. Also in composition: the tip of the tongue (jihvāgra), almost the tip of the tongue (jihvopāgra), the underside of the tip of the tongue (jihvāgrādha), middle of the tongue (jihvāmadhya), t...

'Instrument', grammatical technical term. It also refers to the articulators involved in producing sounds.

Nasal. Also: anunāsika ‘having a nasal component’, and anusvāra (ṃ).

Words separated and pronounced in pausa.

Effort or manner of articulation.

Also called pārṣadas and present phonological descriptions from the four Vedas.

Aspirate. Also: mahāprāṇa ‘with greater prāṇa’ and alpaprāṇa ‘with less prāṇa’.

Compound vowels ( e/ai and o/au).

saṃhitāpāṭha

Contact sounds: stops and nasals.

Contact. Also the variants: īṣat-spṛṣṭa. (slight contact) and īṣad-vivṛta (slight openness). Contrary to: vivṛta or apṛṣta.

Place of articulation. These are: kaṇṭha ‘throat’, tālu ‘hard-palate’, mūrdhan ‘top of palate’, danta ‘teeth’, dantamūla ‘alveolar ridge’, oṣṭha ‘lips’, nāsikā ‘nose’, uras ‘chest’.

Vowels. It also refers to the tone.

Twin or transitional sounds.

It refers to the rudimentary instruction in pronunciation, which included instruction in individual sounds, accent, quantity, and chanting of Vedic verses.

Text Passages

From the text: Chāndogya Upanisạd

From the text: Aitareya Āraṇyaka

Linguistic Traditions

Prātiśākhya and śikṣā

Śikṣā (literally ‘instruction’, particularly ‘instruction in reciting’) is the native tradition of phonetics, teaching proper articulation and pronunciation of Vedic texts. Traditionall...