1.6.

Sandhi

The Sanskrit word “sandhi” is used to describe the modification of grammatical forms

when they come together in a sentence. It may be translated as ‘junction’. The rules concerning

sandhi in Pāḷi may be divided into rules of vowel sandhi and rules on mixed sandhi, involving a

vowel and a consonant. Consonantal sandhi does not occur in Pāḷi. All of the following rules

deal exclusively with so-called “external sandhi”. Here, only the sandhi involving words will be

discussed — the sandhi of compounds will be discussed in the chapter on stem formation.

Word sandhi is not as strict in Pāḷi as it is in Sanskrit; it only takes place in certain cases,

and the manuscripts vary greatly concerning its use. In prose, it is almost always confined to

indeclinables and pronouns, in juxtaposition or in connection with a verb or a noun, as, for

instance, in my ayaṁ = me ayaṁ; yan mūna = yad mūna; tasseva = tassa eva. The particles that

are most often found in sandhi are ca, iti (ti), api (pi), and eva, as in: kathañ ca = kathaṁ ca;

kiñcid eva = kiñci eva; tathāpi = tathā api; etc. The negative na, when followed by a vowel, is

generally contracted to n’ as in: n’atthi; n’eva; etc.

The other cases of word sandhi in prose, without any indeclinable or pronoun, are divided

into three categories: (1) a vocative beginning with a vowel is preceded by a word ending in a

vowel, as in gacch’āvuso; pañcah’Upāli; etc.; (2) a verb is preceded or followed by a noun in

grammatical relation to it, as in asana vuṭṭhāya; upajjhāyass’ārocesuṁ; etc.; (3) two nouns are in

grammatical relation, as in dukkhass’antaṁ; dvīh’ākārehi.

In verse, word sandhi is much more frequent than is prose, under the influence of

metrical requirements. In later texts, it is not uncommon for whole syllables to be lost in sandhi

when it is required by the meter, as in chaṅgula = chaḍaṅgula, etc.

A. Vowel Sandhi:

The rules regarding vowel sandhi are as follows:

1. a + a or ā becomes ā when followed by a single consonant, as in nāhosi = na + ahosi;

nāsakkhi = na + asakkhi. When followed by a double consonant, an apostrophe is generally

put after the ending consonant of the first word to show that a vowel has been dropped, as in

n’atthi = na + atthi; pan’aññaṁ = panna + aññaṁ. In a few cases, ā is also found before a

double consonant, as in nāssa = na + assa. A short a is also found before a single consonant

in a few instances, such as in c’ahaṁ = ca + ahaṁ; n’ahosi = na + ahosi.

becomes āti when preceded by a, as in Tissāti = Tissa + iti. However, i is elided by a

preceding a in yena’me = yena + ime; pana’me = pana + ime. Finally, ā + i sometimes

becomes ī, as in seyyathīdaṁ = seyyathā + idaṁ.

3. a or ā + u or ū becomes o, as in nopeti = na + upeti; pakkhanditodadhiṁ = pakkhanditā +

udadhiṁ. In rare cases, ū occurs instead, as in cūbhayaṁ = ca + ubhayaṁ.

4. a is frequently lost when followed by i or u, as in passath’imaṁ = passatha + imaṁ; yass’

indriyāni = yassa + indriyāni.

5. a is generally lost before e and o, as in gaṇhath’etaṁ = gaṇhatha + etaṁ; iv’otataṁ = iva +

otataṁ.

6. i, u, or e are sometimes lost after ā, as in disvā’panissayaṁ = disvā + upanissayaṁ; sutvā’va

= sutvā + eva. In general, ā is lost before or a long vowel or before a short vowel followed

by a double consonant, as in tath’eva = tathā + eva; tay’ajja = tayā + ajja; in rare cases, ā is

also lost before a short vowel followed by a single consonant, as in muñcitv’ahaṁ = muñcitvā

+ ahaṁ.

7. i is generally lost before a following vowel, whether short or long, as in gacchām’ahaṁ =

gacchāmi + ahaṁ; idān’ime = idāni + ime; dasah’upāgata = dasahi + upāgata; etc. Some-

times, i remains, and the following vowel is lost, as in phalanti’saniyo = phalanti + asaniyo;

idāni’ssa = idāni + assa. i + a occasionally becomes ā, as in kiñcāpi = kiñci + api; pāhaṁ =

pi + ahaṁ.

8. ī is seldom lost. There are, however, a few cases of loss, such as: tuṇh’assa = tuṇhī + assa;

dassāhaṁ = dāsī + ahaṁ.

9. i + i becomes ī, as in palujjīti = palujji + iti. i preceded by t (or tt) and followed by another

vowel may become y, as in jīvanty elaka = jīvanti + elaka; gutty atha = gutti + atha. In

general, however, the cluster ty is changed to cc, especially when the first word is iti, as in

iccevaṁ < ity evaṁ = iti + evaṁ. api followed by a vowel may become app, as in app eva =

api + eva.

10. u is lost before a vowel, as in samet’āyasmā = sametu + āyasmā; tās’eva = tāsa + eva. In

rare cases, a following vowel is lost, as in nu’ttha = nu + attha; kinnu’mā = kinnu + imā. u +

i sometimes becomes ū, as in sadhūti = sadhu + iti. Before a or e, u can be changed to v, as

in vatthv ettha = vatthu + ettha; sesesv ayaṁ = sesesu + ayaṁ.

m’āsi = me + āsi; sac’assa = sace + assa. Sometimes, a following vowel is lost, as in te’me

= te + ime; sace’jja = sace + ajja. Occasionally, e + a becomes ā, as in sacāyaṁ = sace +

ayaṁ. e can also be turned into y and a following a lengthened when a single consonant

follows, as in tyāhaṁ = te + ahaṁ; myāyaṁ + me + ayaṁ; tyāssa = te + assa — an exception

is ty ajja = te + ajja.

12. o is lost before a long or short vowel followed by a double consonant, as in kut’ettha = kuto +

ettha; tay’assu = tayo + assu; tat’uddhaṁ = tato + uddhaṁ. A following vowel is sometimes

lost, as in so’haṁ = so + ahaṁ; cattāro’me = cattāro + ime, etc. o + a becomes ā, as in

dukkhāyaṁ = dukkho + ayaṁ. o can also be turned into v and a following a lengthened when

a single consonant follows, as in yvāhaṁ = yo + ahaṁ; svāssu = so + assu; khvāssa = kho +

assa — exceptions include khvassa (with short a) = kho + assa; yveva = yo + eva.

13. y and v are often inserted when two vowels come together to avoid a hiatus. y is inserted

between a word ending in a or ā when followed by idaṁ or any of the oblique cases of this

pronoun which begin with i, as in na yidaṁ = na + idaṁ; mā yime = mā + ime; yatha yidaṁ =

yathā + idaṁ (with shortening of the final ā). The same process takes place with eva and iva,

the latter of which, however, is changed to viya by metathesis. When a or ā is followed by u

or ū, v may be inserted, as in bhantā vudikkhati = bhantā + udikkhati.

14. Sometimes, an m is inserted between two vowels, as in parigaṇiya-m-asesaṁ = parigaṇiya +

asesaṁ; idha-m-āhu = idha + āhu. On the other hand, an r is inserted if the following word

is iva, as in āragge-r-iva = āragge + iva; sāsapo-r-iva = sāsapo + iva; sikhā-r-iva = sikhā +

iva. A preceding final ā is shortened before this r in yatha-r-iva = yathā + eva; tatha-r-iva =

tathā + eva.

15. In a great many cases, a lost consonant is restored in order to avoid a hiatus, as in yasmād

apeti; etc.
1. Phonology 7

B. Mixed Sandhi:

Original double consonants simplified through assimilation at the beginning of a word

can once again be doubled after a word ending in a vowel, as in yatra tthitaṁ = yatra + thitaṁ

(Sanskrit yathra sthitam). This is often done in verse when a long syllable is required.

In a few cases, a lost final consonant is restored before another consonant, as in yāvañ

c’idaṁ = yāva + ca + idaṁ; etc.

Sometimes, niggahīta (ṁ) replaces another consonant, and, when standing before a

vowel, the original consonant can be restored, as in tad for taṁ, yad for yaṁ, sakid for sakiṁ, etc.

In verse, when a short syllable is required by the meter, niggahīta (ṁ) can be lost before a

consonant, as in no ce muñceyya’candimaṁ = no ce muñceyyaṁ + candimaṁ, or the whole

syllable may be dropped, as in piyān’adassanaṁ for piyānaṁ; pāpān’akaraṇaṁ for pāpānaṁ;

etc. When the niggahīta is dropped, the remaining a can be contracted with a following a,

becoming ā, as in labheyyāhaṁ = labheyyaṁ + ahaṁ; idāhaṁ = idaṁ + ahaṁ.

In late texts only, a vowel following niggahīta can be lost, as in cīrassaṁ’dhunā for

adhunā.

1.7. Accent

No doubt, Pāḷi had a distinctive system of accentuation, but this is no longer known.

Consequently, the recitation of the texts, and even the pronunciation of individual letters, can

differ considerably from region to region.

In reading or reciting the texts, it is now customary to emphasize all long syllables. ■