synopsis of the phonological rules for
Transforming Sanskrit into Pāḷi
A synopsis of the phonological rules for transforming Sanskrit into Pāḷi.
from Wikipedia
(retrieved, August 1st, 2018)
Pāḷi and Sanskrit are very closely related and the common characteristics of Pāḷi and Sanskrit were always easily recognized by those who are familiar with both. Indeed, a very large proportion of Pāḷi and Sanskrit word-stems are identical in form, differing only in details of inflection.
Technical terms from Sanskrit were converted into Pāḷi by a set of conventional phonological transformations. These transformations mimicked a subset of the phonological developments that had occurred in Proto-Pāḷi. Because of the prevalence of these transformations, it is not always possible to tell whether a given Pāḷi word is a part of the old Prakrit lexicon, or a transformed borrowing from Sanskrit.
However, the existence of a Sanskrit word regularly corresponding to a Pāḷi word is not always secure evidence of the Pāḷi etymology, since, in some cases, artificial Sanskrit words were created by back-formation from Prakrit words.
The following phonological processes are not intended as an exhaustive description of the historical changes which produced Pāḷi from its Old Indic ancestor, but rather are a summary of the most common phonological equations between Sanskrit and Pāḷi, with no claim to completeness.
Vowels and Diphthongs
Sanskrit ai and au always monophthongize to Pāḷi e and o, respectively
Examples:
maitrī → mettā
auṣadha → osadha
Sanskrit aya and ava likewise often reduce to Pāḷi e and o
Examples:
dhārayati → dhāreti
avatāra → otāra
bhavati → hoti
Sanskrit avi becomes Pāḷi e (i.e. avi → ai → e)
Example:
sthavira → thera
Sanskrit appears in Pāḷi as a, i or u, often agreeing with the vowel in the following syllable. also sometimes becomes u after labial consonants.
Examples:
kta → kata
tṣṇa → taṇha
smti → sati
ṣi → isi
dṣṭi → diṭṭhi
ddhi → iddhi
ju → uju
spṣṭa → phuṭṭha
vddha → vuddha
Sanskrit long vowels are shortened before a sequence of two following consonants.
Examples:
kṣānti → khanti
rājya → rajja
īśvara → issara
tīrṇa → tiṇṇa
pūrva → pubba
Consonants
Sound changes
The Sanskrit sibilants ś, ṣ, and s merge as Pāḷi s
Examples:
śaraṇa → saraṇa
doṣa → dosa
The Sanskrit stops ḍ and ḍh become ḷ and ḷh between vowels (as in Vedic)
Examples:
cakravāḍa → cakkavāḷa
virūḍha → virūḷha
Assimilations, General Rules
Many assimilations of one consonant to a neighboring consonant occurred in the development of Pāḷi, producing a large number of geminate (double) consonants. Since aspiration of a geminate consonant is only phonetically detectable on the last consonant of a cluster, geminate kh, gh, ch, jh, ṭh, ḍh, th, dh, ph and bh appear as kkh, ggh, cch, jjh, ṭṭh, ḍḍh, tth, ddh, pph and bbh, not as khkh, ghgh etc.
When assimilation would produce a geminate consonant (or a sequence of unaspirated stop+aspirated stop) at the beginning of a word, the initial geminate is simplified to a single consonant.
Examples:
prāṇa → pāṇa (not ppāṇa)
sthavira → thera (not tthera)
dhyāna → jhāna (not jjhāna)
jñāti → ñāti (not ññāti)
When assimilation would produce a sequence of three consonants in the middle of a word, geminates are simplified until there are only two consonants in sequence.
Examples:
uttrāsa → uttāsa (not utttāsa)
mantra → manta (not mantta)
indra → inda (not indda)
vandhya → vañjha (not vañjjha)
The sequence vv resulting from assimilation changes to bb
Examples:
sarva → savva → sabba
pravrajati → pavvajati → pabbajati
divya → divva → dibba
nirvāṇa → nivvāṇa → nibbāna
Total Assimilation
Total assimilation, where one sound becomes identical to a neighboring sound, is of two types: progressive, where the assimilated sound becomes identical to the following sound; and regressive, where it becomes identical to the preceding sound.
Regressive Assimilations
Internal visarga assimilates to a following voiceless stop or sibilant
Examples:
duḥkta → dukkata
duḥkha → dukkha
duḥprajña → duppañña
niḥkrodha (=niṣkrodha) → nikkodha
niḥpakva (=niṣpakva) → nippakka
niḥśoka → nissoka
niḥsattva → nissatta
In a sequence of two dissimilar Sanskrit stops, the first stop assimilates to the second stop
Examples:
vimukti → vimutti
dugdha → duddha
utpāda → uppāda
pudgala → puggala
udghoṣa → ugghosa
adbhuta → abbhuta
śabda → sadda
In a sequence of two dissimilar nasals, the first nasal assimilates to the second nasal
Examples:
unmatta → ummatta
pradyumna → pajjunna
j assimilates to a following ñ (i.e., jñ becomes ññ)
Examples:
prajñā → paññā
jñāti → ñāti
The Sanskrit liquid consonants r and l assimilate to a following stop, nasal, sibilant, or v
Examples:
mārga → magga
karma → kamma
varṣa → vassa
kalpa → kappa
sarva → savva → sabba
r assimilates to a following l
Examples:
durlabha → dullabha
nirlopa → nillopa
d sometimes assimilates to a following v, producing vv → bb
Examples:
udvigna → uvvigga → ubbigga
dvādaśa → bārasa (besides dvādasa)
t and d may assimilate to a following s or y when a morpheme boundary intervenes
Examples:
ut+sava → ussava
ud+yāna → uyyāna
Progressive Assimilations
Nasals sometimes assimilate to a preceding stop (in other cases epenthesis occurs)
Examples:
agni → aggi
ātman → atta
prāpnoti → pappoti
śaknoti → sakkoti
m assimilates to an initial sibilant
Examples:
smarati → sarati
smti → sati
Nasals assimilate to a preceding stop+sibilant cluster, which then develops in the same way as such clusters without following nasals
Examples:
tīkṣṇa → tikṣa → tikkha
lakṣmī → lakṣī →lakkhī
The Sanskrit liquid consonants r and l assimilate to a preceding stop, nasal, sibilant, or v
Examples:
prāṇa → pāṇa
grāma → gāma
śrāvaka → sāvaka
agra → agga
indra → inda
aśru → assu
pravrajati → pavvajati → pabbajati,
y assimilates to preceding non-dental/retroflex stops or nasals
Examples:
cyavati → cavati
jyotiṣ → joti
rājya → rajja
matsya → macchya → maccha
lapsyate → lacchyate → lacchati
abhyāgata → abbhāgata
ākhyāti → akkhāti
saṁkhyā → saṅkhā (but also saṅkhyā)
ramya → ramma
y assimilates to preceding non-initial v, producing vv → bb
Examples:
divya → divva → dibba
veditavya → veditavva → veditabba
bhāvya → bhavva → bhabba
y and v assimilate to any preceding sibilant, producing ss
Examples:
paśyati → passati
śyena → sena
aśva → assa
īśvara → issara
kariṣyati → karissati
tasya → tassa
svāmin → sāmī
v sometimes assimilates to a preceding stop
Examples:
pakva → pakka
catvāri → cattāri
sattva → satta
dhvaja → dhaja
Partial and Mutual Assimilation
Sanskrit sibilants before a stop assimilate to that stop, and if that stop is not already aspirated, it becomes aspirated; e.g. śc, st, ṣṭ and sp become cch, tth, ṭṭh and pph
Examples:
paścāt → pacchā
asti → atthi
stava → thava
śreṣṭha → seṭṭha
aṣṭa → aṭṭha
sparśa → phassa
In sibilant-stop-liquid sequences, the liquid is assimilated to the preceding consonant, and the cluster behaves like sibilant-stop sequences; e.g. str and ṣṭr become tth and ṭṭh
Examples:
śāstra → śasta → sattha
rāṣṭra → raṣṭa → raṭṭha
t and p become c before s, and the sibilant assimilates to the preceding sound as an aspirate (i.e., the sequences ts and ps become cch)
Examples:
vatsa → vaccha
apsaras → accharā
A sibilant assimilates to a preceding k as an aspirate (i.e., the sequence kṣ becomes kkh)
Examples:
bhikṣu → bhikkhu
kṣānti → khanti
Any dental or retroflex stop or nasal followed by y converts to the corresponding palatal sound, and the y assimilates to this new consonant, i.e. ty, thy, dy, dhy, ny become cc, cch, jj, jjh, ññ; likewise ṇy becomes ññ. Nasals preceding a stop that becomes palatal share this change.
Examples:
tyajati → cyajati → cajati
satya → sacya → sacca
mithyā → michyā → micchā
vidyā → vijyā → vijjā
madhya → majhya → majjha
anya → añya → añña
puṇya → puñya → puñña
vandhya → vañjhya → vañjjha → vañjha
The sequence mr becomes mb, via the epenthesis of a stop between the nasal and liquid, followed by assimilation of the liquid to the stop and subsequent simplification of the resulting geminate.
Examples:
āmra → ambra → amba
tāmra → tamba
Epenthesis
An epenthetic vowel is sometimes inserted between certain consonant sequences. As with , the vowel may be a, i, or u, depending on the influence of a neighboring consonant or of the vowel in the following syllable. i is often found near i, y, or palatal consonants; u is found near u, v, or labial consonants.
Sequences of stop + nasal are sometimes separated by a or u
Example:
ratna → ratana
padma → paduma (u influenced by labial m)
The sequence sn may become sin initially
Examples:
snāna → sināna
sneha → sineha
i may be inserted between a consonant and l
Examples:
kleśa → kilesa
glāna → gilāna
mlāyati → milāyati
ślāghati → silāghati
An epenthetic vowel may be inserted between an initial sibilant and r
Example:
śrī → sirī
The sequence ry generally becomes riy (i influenced by following y), but is still treated as a two-consonant sequence for the purposes of vowel-shortening
Examples:
ārya → arya → ariya
sūrya → surya → suriya
vīrya → virya → viriya
a or i is inserted between r and h
Example:
arhati → arahati
garhā → garahā
barhiṣ → barihisa
There is sporadic epenthesis between other consonant sequences
Examples:
caitya → cetiya (not cecca)
vajra → vajira (not vajja)
Other Changes
Any Sanskrit sibilant before a nasal becomes a sequence of nasal followed by h, i.e. ṣṇ, sn and sm become ṇh, nh, and mh
Examples:
tṣṇa → taṇha
uṣṇīṣa → uṇhīsa
asmi → amhi
The sequence śn becomes ñh, due to assimilation of the n to the preceding palatal sibilant
Example:
praśna → praśña → pañha
The sequences hy and hv undergo metathesis
Examples:
jihvā → jivhā
ghya → gayha
guhya → guyha
h undergoes metathesis with a following nasal
Example:
ghṇāti → gaṇhāti
y is geminated between e and a vowel
Examples:
śreyas → seyya
Maitreya → Metteyya
Voiced aspirates such as bh and gh on rare occasions become h
Examples:
bhavati → hoti
-ebhiṣ → -ehi
laghu → lahu
Dental and retroflex sounds sporadically change into one another
Examples:
jñāna → ñāṇa (not ñāna)
dahati → ḍahati (besides Pāḷi dahati)
nīḍa → nīla (not nīḷa)
sthāna → ṭhāna (not thāna)
duḥkta → dukkaṭa (besides Pāḷi dukkata)
Exceptions
There are several notable exceptions to the rules above; many of them are common Prakrit words rather than borrowings from Sanskrit.
ārya → ayya (besides ariya)
guru → garu (adj.) (besides guru (n.))
puruṣa → purisa (not purusa)
vkṣa → rukṣa → rukkha (not vakkha)