2 CHARACTERS AND SOUNDS
a short a united with a following i becomes DEVANAGARI ê (equivalent to the French ai), and with u becomes DEV ô (equivalent to the French au); so that neither of the united elements is heard, but both melt into a third sound. In the second kind, a long â with a following i becomes DEV ai, and with u, DEV au, as in the German words waise, baum; so that the two elements form indeed one syllable, but are both audible. In order, however, to fix the observation on the greater weight of the a in this diphthong, we write âi for DEV, and âu for DEV. That in DEV ê and DEV ô a short, in DEV âi and DEV âu, a long a is bound up, I infer from this, that where, in order to avoid a hiatus, the last element of a diphthong merges into its corresponding semi-vowel, out of DEV ê and DEV ô proceed the sounds DEV ay and DEV av (with short a), but out of DEV âi and DEV âu proceed ây and âv. If, according to the rules of combination, a concluding DEV â, with an DEV i, DEV î, or DEV u, DEV û of a following word, be contracted, like the short a, into DEV ê and DEV ô, but not into DEV âi and DEV âu, this, in my view, is to be understood as if the long a, before its combination with the initial vowel of the following word, had shortened itself. This should the less surprise us, as the long a before a dissimilar vowel of an appended inflexion or a suffix entirely disappears; and, for example, DEV dadâ with DEV us makes neither DEV dadâus, nor DEV dadôs, but DEV dadus. The opinion I have already expressed on [G. Ed. p. 3.] this point I have since found confirmed by the Zend; in which AVESTAN âi always stands in the place of the Sanskṛit DEV âi, and AVE âo or AVE âu for DEV âu. In support, also, of my theory, appears the fact, that a concluding a (short or long) with a following DEV ê or DEV ô, becomes DEV âi and âu; of which it is to be understood, that the short a contained in ê and ô merges with the antecedent a into a long a, which then, with the i of the diphthong ê, becomes âi, and with the u of ô, becomes âu. For example, DEV mamâitat, from DEV mama êtat, is to be understood
