In some places a hard initial is softened: that is, T changes into D; or P into B, &c. Thus d«S» tfa Tammudu ' a younger brother' changes into &:&>&> dammudu, &*$)&> povuta ' to go' becomes aS^^Ai bovuta, *&>&> ' to fall' becomes w£bi> baduta, and ifooHoAj caluguta 'to be' becomes X"ex»d&j galuguta. But a soft letter is never changed into a hard one.
The expressions dentals, palatals, labials, &c, which are used in Sanscrit Grammar are needless here: or belong only to the rules (at the close of the volume) regarding Sanscrit words.
In expressing the sounds in English letters, the spelling used in the works of Colebrooke, Jones, Wilson, and Wilkins is the most convenient.
The rules for spelling, which Native grammarians inculcate, are tediously minute, and widely different from those used in ordinary writing; which they consider beneath their notice; giving rules for the poetical dialect alone. Accordingly their rules are of little use to a foreigner ; and my object being to assist the foreigner, the present grammar is so constructed as to meet his wants: the rules for the poetical dialect are therefore removed from the beginning to the end of the grammar. Indeed, we need notice no rules of permutation but those requisite for finding words in the dictionary.
The alphabet exhibits the capitals or first forms. The secondary form of £} » being «/ this is added to the consonants. In some grammars all the consonants are exhibited without vowels attached: but it seems useless to give forms that are not in use.
Six consonants ojL\D5 -^ £? £x? fi^ ©Jr, gha, pa, pha, sha, sa, ha, use this sign, as here shewn, above the letter; but written without touching it. If they were joined, the letter itself would change; thus, •& ■$ are pa, sa; but s5 $ are va, na.
The sound of £3 A is that used in about, around. Thus the name MuS'jSoa is pronounced Alacananda. "^O Nala, the name of a certain prince, is sounded like the Latin Nulla. ^j-°0 Hari, a name of Vishnu, is pronounced like the English word hurry. OsbSg*? Amara cosha (the-title of a Dictionary) is written Ummuru Koshu by those who prefer that mode of spelling.
In common writing, the letters often take other shapes. Thus
