Pratyahara

(Introduced in Post 06: Sounds of a Colour Flock Together)

In a previous article (No.5) we saw Pāņini’s arrangement of the sounds of the language in the 14 Śivasūtra or Shiva-sutra (SEE also below), here are the 41 sub-sets identified by means of abbreviations termed the Pratyāhāra or Pratyahara (abbreviatory terms) used by Panini to denote apecific ranges within the shiva-sutras:

Five iT with one term each (subtotal 5 terms):

eŊ, yÑ, aŅ, ch^aV, aŢ (the first nasal Ŋ is velar –ng, Ñ is palatal, Ņ is retroflex)

One iT with 2 terms (subtotal 2):

jh^a Ś, bh^a Ś

Three iT with 3 terms each (subtotal 9):

aK, iK, uK; y^aŅ, aŅ, iŅ; n^aM, aM, y^aM  

Two iT with 4 terms each (subtotal 8):

aC, eC, aiC, iC; m^aY, jh^aY, kh^aY, y^aY

One iT with 5 terms (subtotal 5):

s^aR, y^aR, jh^aR, kh^aR, c^aR

Two iT with 6 terms each (subtotal 12):

Jh^a Ś, j^a Ś, b^a Ś, a Ś, h^a Ś, v^a Ś; aL, h^aL, ś^aL, v^aL, r^aL, jh^aL (Ś is palatal)

(Hence grand total of standard Pratyahara terms = 41)

The Shiva-sutras are repeated here for convenience, so that the sounds included within each range or pratyahara can be figured out.    

For instance, all the vowels are referred to by the code aC, which indicates the span from the first letter a of Śivasūtra 1 to the end-marker C of Śs 4; all the consonants are covered in the span h^a L, from the initial h^a of Śs 5 to end-marker L of Śs 14.  Everything together, from the initial a of Śs 1 to end-marker L of Śs 14 is aL, the set of all the vowels and consonants.

These are then the 14 Shiva-sutras (Śs):

1.       a i u Ņ (retroflex Ņ)…obviously the short vowel sounds, a and i and u, Ņ an iT symbol to show the end of that sequence;

2.       ŗ ļ K … the liquid half-consonants, ŗ and ļ, K is the iT ending the sequence;

3.       e o Ŋ…two medium-long vowels e and o (diphthongs in English?; there are no short e and o in Sanskrit, though there are in Tamil and other Dravidian languages);

4.       ai au C (C palatal, as in chair)… some  real diphthongs, ai and au, symbol C ending the set (an iT);

5.       h^a y^a v^a r^a Ţ (strarting the non-vowels, Ţ the end-marker; the superscript ^a to denote the small a-sound with each consonant, whereas the end-markers do not have it);

6.       l^a Ņ;

7.       ñ^a m^a n̊^a ņ^a n^a M (the nasals);

8.       jh^a bh^a Ñ (some voiced consonants, aspirated);

9.       gh^a ḑh^a dh^a Ş (voiced aspirated, end-marker retroflex spirant Ş);

10.   j^a b^a g^a ḑ^a d^a Ś (voiced unaspirated, end-marker palatal Ś);

11.   kh^a ph^a ch^a ţh^a th^a c^a ţ^a t^a V (unvoiced, some aspirated, some not);

12.   k^a p^a Y (unvoiced, unaspirated);

13.   ś^a  ş^a s^a R;

14.   h^a L.