86. The essential difference of the two kinds of circumflex is shown clearly enough by these facts: 1. the independent circumflex takes the place of the acute as the proper accent of a word, while the enclitic is the mere shadow following an acute, and following it in another word precisely as in the same word; 2. the independent circumflex maintains its character in all situations, while the enclitic before a following circumflex or acute loses its circumflex character, and becomes grave; moreover, 3. in many of the systems of marking accent (below, 88), the two are quite differently indicated.
87. The accentuation is marked in manuscripts only of the older literature: namely, in the primary Vedic texts, or saṁhitās, in two of the Brāhmaṇas (Tāittirīya and Çatapatha), in the Tāittirīya-Araṇyaka, in certain passages of the Āitareya-Āraṇyaka, and in the Suparṇādhyāya. There are a number of methods of writing accent, more or less different from one another; the one found in manuscripts of the Rig-Veda, which is most widely known, and of which most of the others are only slight modifications, is as follows.
a. The acute syllable is left unmarked; the circumflex, whether independent or enclitic, has a short perpendicular stroke above; and the grave next preceding an acute or (independent) circumflex has a short horizontal stroke below. Thus,
अ॒ग्निम् agním; जु॒होति॑ juhóti; त॒न्वा॑ tanvā̀; क्व॑ kvà.
b. But the introductory grave stroke below cannot be given if an acute syllable is initial; hence an unmarked syllable at the beginning of a word is to be understood as acute; and hence also, if several grave syllables precede an acute at the beginning of a sentence, they must all alike have the grave sign. Thus,
इन्द्रः॑ índraḥ; ते té; क॒रि॒ष्यसि॑ kariṣyási; तु॒वि॒जा॒ता tuvijātā́.
c. All the grave syllables, however, which follow a marked circumflex are left unmarked, until the occurrence of another accented syllable causes the one which precedes it to take the preparatory stroke below. Thus,
सु॒दृशी॑कसंदृक् sudṛ́çīkasaṁdṛk;
but
सु॒दृशी॑कसंदृ॒ग्गवा॑म् sudṛ́çīkasaṁdṛg gávām.
d. If an independent circumflex be followed by an acute (or by another independent circumflex), a figure 1 is set after the former circumflexed vowel if it be short, or a figure 3 if it be long, and the signs of accent are applied as in the following examples:
अ॒प्स्व१॒न्तः apsv à1ntáḥ (from apsú antáḥ);
रा॒यो॒३॒वनिः rāyò3 vániḥ (from rāyó avániḥ).
