Four: Index and Glossary
(Roman order of letters)

Addhasamavutta (ardhasamavṛtta)

a metre having two dissimilar lines repeated to make up a verse e.g. Siloka, Vetālīya, see also 2.20ff

akkharacchandas (akṣaracchandas), see vaṇṇacchandas

anacrusis

one or two extra syllables at the beginning of a line, before the metre proper begins.

anceps ⏓

indicates that the syllable may be heavy or light in the stated position. In the Pāḷi canonical period the last syllable in a line is nearly always considered to be heavy, and sometimes the first syllable too, see pādādigaru & pādantagaru.

Anuṭṭhubha (Anuṣṭubh), see 2.3ff

1) this is a Vedic metre originally having a samavutta structure ⏓−⏓−¦⏑−⏑× (x 4). Over time variations from this basic pattern started to emerge, which eventually gave rise to a new metre having two dissimilar lines, the Siloka. As this was a gradual evolution at which point we should declare the metre to have gone over from Anuṭṭhubha to Siloka is a moot point. But the general position is that in the Pāḷi canonical period we find that we are dealing with the new metre, which has an Addhasamavutta structure (see the Appendix for more details).

2) The name is also used when describing a variation that occurs in the odd lines of Siloka metre, which shows the same structure as the line illustrated above, and which is therefore the same as the Siloka even line.

3) Also used as a generic name applied to any metre having 8 syllables to the line.

anusvara, see niggahīta

Aparavatta (Aparavaktra) 2.22

Āpātalikā 2.13

Ariyā (Āryā) 2.17

1) a gaṇacchandas metre having two dissimilar lines with a matta count of 30 + 27

2) sometimes the name is used generically to refer to any gaṇacchandas metre.

assimilation

euphonic change whereby one consonant takes the form of another which follows or precedes it e.g. ud + ghāta > ugghāta

br, see 1.5

Brahatī, generic name for metres having 9 syllables to the line

bar metres, see gaṇacchandas

break

the middle part of the Tuṭṭhubha and other similar metres, see 2.6

brevis in longo

a light syllable that is counted as heavy, see pādādigaru & pādantagaru below

cadence

the closing rhythm of a line, or pair of lines

diaeresis, see yati

catalectic

having an incomplete number of syllables or mattā (opp: acatalectic, complete).

chandas

1) prosody, metre

2) sometimes is used loosely to indicate merely the number of syllables in a line

cheda, pause, see also yati

closed syllable see 1.1

conjunct consonants

two (or more) consonants which are not separated by a vowel e.g. -tt- in mettā, -ndr- in indriya.

contraction

change from original two short vowels (usually separated by a semivowel) to one long one e.g. aya > e, ava > o. This sometimes makes sense of otherwise metrically ‘wrong’ verses.

Dodhaka 2.21

dīgha (dīrgha)

used to refer to a naturally long vowel, not to be confused with garu (heavy) which refers to metrical weight

digraphs

two letters that indicate but one sound, see 1.2

elision

the loss of a syllable, or part of a syllable, at the beginning or end of a word (which sometimes happens m.c.)

epenthesis

the insertion of a vowel between two consonants for euphonic reasons, see sarabhatti

euphony

ease of pronounciation, see also sandhi

even line = posterior line = the second line in a pādayuga

fixed metre

vaṇṇacchandas type 2, see 2.20ff

foot

a division of a line of poetry, usually consisting of 3 syllables, see also gaṇa

gaṇa, a bar or section

1) in gaṇacchandas metre this refers to a bar which seems to be derived from musical structure. These gaṇas accurately reflect the rythmic structure of the metres. There are five such gaṇas, which are given here with their Sanskrit and Greek names.

jagaṇa ⏑−⏑ amphibrachys

bhagaṇa −⏑⏑ dactylus

sagaṇa ⏑⏑− anapaest

sabbagaru −− spondee

sabbalahu ⏑⏑⏑⏑ proceleusmaticus

 

2) a division consisting of 3 syllables which is a kind of shorthand used to describe the vaṇṇacchandas metres. There are 8 such gaṇas which are used in Classical Indian theory:

jagaṇa ⏑−⏑ amphibrachys

bhagaṇa −⏑⏑ dactylus

sagaṇa ⏑⏑− anapæst

yagaṇa ⏑−− bacchius

ragaṇa −⏑− cretius, amphimacer

tagaṇa −−⏑ palimbacchius

magaṇa −−− molossus

nagaṇa ⏑⏑⏑ tribrachys

 

in the descriptions that occur in the Indian prosodies these are normally indicated as ja, bha, sa, etc.

la(hu) ⏑ and ga(ru) − are used to describe the end syllable(s);

(note: ⏑− = iambus; −⏑ = trochee; −− = spondee; ⏑⏑ = pyrrhic)

Although these signs can be used to describe the alternation of heavy and light syllables quite accurately, they often disguise the underlying structure of the metres, so that e.g. Indavajirā is described as being ta ta ja ga ga, which when written out gives the pattern:

−−⏑¦−−⏑¦⏑−⏑¦−−,

this gives the impression that there are rhythmic patterns in the metre which do not, in fact, appear. The structure is better defined like this:

−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−,

which better reflects the rhythm.

gaṇacchandas

name of a class of metres built around the first of the gaṇa principles outlined above, there are about 450 gaṇacchandas verses in the canon, see 2.15ff

garu

a heavy syllable metrically, see 1.1ff

gāthā

variously translated as verse, stanza, or strophe. A gāthā normally consists of 4 lines, sometimes 6, though occasionally we come across a verse which is defective in this regard

geyya

literally singable, in the tradition signifies a type of composition of mixed prose and verse, some of which at least may have been ‘performed’ to illustrate points of Buddhist doctrine or folklore. Sagāthavagga of Saṁyuttanikāya contains many examples of geyya

Gīti

literally song 2.17ff cf. also Old Gīti 2.16

Gubbinī (Gurviṇi)

a gaṇacchandas hypermetre 2.19

half-verse (or half-stanza etc.) see pādayuga

haplography

omission of a syllable by accident when it appears twice in a word

hiatus

1) a gap

2) two vowels in succession without an intervening consonant

hypermetre

1) a class of metres composed using extendable forms, see 2.19

2) having a syllable, or syllables additional to the normal metre (even a line showing syllabic resolution may be referred to as hypermetric)

ictus

in metre a syllable that is stressed or emphasized (ictus strictly speaking does not apply to Pāḷi verse composition, but it is sometimes mentioned in the literature).

Jagatī

1) a syllabic metre 2.6ff

2) a generic name for any metre having 12 syllables to the line

Jāti

1) another name for the measure metres

2) another name for Upajāti

junction, see sandhi

kabba (kāvya),

literature

lahu (laghu)

a light syllable metrically, see 1.1ff

Māgadhikā (a.k.a. Māgadhī)

another name for Vetālīya (2.10), presumably because Magadhi is where the metre originated

mattā (mātrā)

literally a measure, light syllables are counted as one mattā, heavy ones as two

mattāchandas (mātrāchandas), measure metre 2.9ff

there are about 400 verses in mattāchandas metre in the canon

measure metre, see mattāchandas above

metathesis

exchange of syllabic position e.g. kariyā > kayirā

metrical licence, see 1.8ff

metri causa,

the metre is the cause (of a change in word form)

mora = mattā = a measure

musical metres

refers to the mattāchandas and gaṇacchandas metres which have been derived under the influence of musical structures

new metres

refers to the mattāchandas, gaṇacchandas, and fixed vaṇṇacchandas metres

niggahīta

the pure nasal sound. Only occurs normally after a short vowel (i.e as aṁ, iṁ, & uṁ), but then makes that syllable heavy metrically, sometimes also referred to as anusvara (the Sanskrit name for this sound), see 1.1 & 1.11

odd line = prior line = the first line in a pādayuga

Old Gīti (a.k.a. Old Āryā)

the earliest form of gaṇacchandas metre 2.16

Opacchandasaka (Aupacchandasaka) 2.10

opening

the beginning section of a line, may be followed by a break and cadence as in Tuṭṭhubha and related metres, or simply by a cadence as in Siloka and the mattāchandas metres

open syllable, see 1.1

pāda

a line of verse

pādādigaru

a light syllable that is counted as heavy (see brevis in longo) because it stands at the beginning of a line (this is sometimes seen in early gaṇacchandas verses)

pādantagaru

a light syllable that is counted as heavy (see brevis in longo) because it stands at the end of a line, see 2.9

pādayuga

1) a pair of lines

2) sometimes loosely used to refer to a line in gaṇacchandas verse

pajja (padya)

verse (as opposed to gajja [gadya], prose)

Pamitakkharā (Pramitākṣarā) 2.21

Panti (Pāṅkti),

generic name for metres having 10 syllables to the line

partial vowels, see sarabhatti

pathyā

the normal structure of a line (as opposed to vipulā, variation), see 2.3

pause, cheda (see also yati)

position

for syllables not making position see 1.5

posterior pāda = even line = the second line in a pādayuga

prior pāda = odd line = the first line in a pādayuga

Pupphitaggā (Puṣpitāgrā) 2.12

rassa

a naturally short vowel, not to be confused with lahu, which refers to metrical weight

Rathoddhatā 2.12

recitor’s remarks 1.13

redundant syllable

a syllable extra to the metre

replacement, see 1.14ff

resolution, see 1.14, 1.15; 2.4; 2.15

Rucirā 2.8

samavutta (samavṛtta)

a metre having the same line repeated (normally four times) to make up a verse e.g. Tuṭṭhubha, Rucirā, Pamitakkharā, see also 2.20ff

samprasāna, reduction

a phonetic change whereby a semi-vowel is reduced to its vowel equivalent e.g. ya > ī; va > ū.

sandhi

refers to the junction between words, and the euphonic changes that take place accordingly

sara (svara),

vowel; (vyañjana, consonant)

sarabhatti (svarabhakti)

literally a broken vowel, an anaptyctic or epenthetic vowel, see 1.6

scansion

metrical analysis, see 1.1ff

Siloka (Śloka)

see 1.3ff

stanza, see gāthā

strophe, see gāthā

Svāgatā 2.14

syllable

can be defined as a word, or a part of a word, which can be uttered with a single effort of the voice

syllabic metres, vaṇṇacchandas type 1, see 2.1ff

syncopation

a change in the order of syllables, which produces a different rhythm e.g.−−⏑⏑ > −⏑−⏑ see 2.10

ti

quotation marker 1.13

Tuṭṭhubha (Triṣṭubh) 2.6ff

also sometimes used as a generic name for any metre having 11 syllables to the line

Uggatā (Udgatā) 2.23

Uggīti (Udgīti) 2.17

Upagīti 2.17

Upajāti 2.8

sometimes loosely referred to as Tuṭṭhubha

Upaṭṭhitā 2.21

Upaṭṭhitappacupita (Upasthitapracupita) 2.23

Vaṁsaṭṭhā (Vaṁśasthā) 2.8

sometimes loosely referred to as Jagatī

vaṇṇacchandas (varṇacchandas), the syllablic metres, there are two types:

1) the flexible syllabic metres e.g. Siloka, Tuṭṭhubha, in which the syllabic patterns are still somewhat variable, see 2.1ff

2) the fixed syllabic metres, in which all, or nearly all, of the syllables are of fixed quantity e.g. Vaṁsaṭṭhā, Uggatā, see 2.20ff

vaṛṇaka

a descriptive compound having an extendable metrical structure, see 2.19

Veḍha 2.19

Vegavatī, see Āpātalikā 2.13

Vetālīya (Vaitālīya) 2.10

vipulā, variation (as opposed to pathyā, normal) 2.4

visamavutta (visamavṛtta)

a verse with 4 dissimilar lines 2.23ff

vutta (vṛtta)

a fixed syllablic metre, vaṇṇacchandas type 2

vutti

the weight of a syllable

yati, diaeresis

a word break (not a pause as sometimes stated). Occasionally the word break is hidden or concealed (avyakata) in a compound

last updated: January 2006