Lesson 11. A 11. A. 1 Visarga Sandhi This is most conveniently presented directly in tabular form: Final Vowel -as -as Vs 1 Vr 2 Next Initial Sound -o'- -a Vr Vr a- -a -a -Vr -Vr any vowel other than a -o -a -V 3 -V 3 r- -o -a -Vr -Vr any other ghosa vyahjana -as -as -Vs -Vs c/ch- -as -as -Vs -Vs t/th- -as -as -Vs -Vs t/th- -ah -ah -Vh -Vh any other aghosa vyahjana -ah -ah -Vh -Vh avasana (e.g. II ) 1 -Vs = any vowel except a or a before the final s. 2 -Vr = any vowel before the final r. 3 A ^ followed by another ^ is elided, and a preceding 3T ^ or 3 lengthened. Note: The words ^T: or ^": followed by hrasva 3T becomes WS' or ^TTS'; before any other letter the visarga is dropped. The table is simple enough. Basically a final s or r becomes r before a voiced (ghosa) sound (which includes the vowels, of course); the exceptions to this are: 1. -as before a ghosa consonant becomes -o; the -s is dropped before a vowel, unless that vowel is hrasva 3T in which case °"3TO+3r > becomes °"3TT^°. 2. where the final is -r and the following word begins with r- (a disallowed combination), the first r is dropped, and the preceding vowel, if a i or u, is lengthened. And the final s or r becomes a visarga before an unvoiced (aghosa) sound (whether a consonant or a pause in sound); the exception to this, is that before c/ch t/th or t/th, it is replaced with a sibilant (s s or s) of the same mouth position as that of the following consonant. One very important point to note about this table, is the last row: an avasana is a pause or stop in speech, as for example at the end of a sentence or line of poetry.
