Alternate pronunciation of some Sanskrit words

[Radhakrishna Warrier]

I have heard many people, including people well versed in Sanskrit pronounce the Sanskrit word sahasra (सहस्र) as sahastra (सहस्त्र).  Is the latter pronunciation (as sahastra) valid?  Do any ancient Sanskrit grammar or other Sanskrit texts say that sahastra is a valid alternate pronunciation of sahasra?  Or is it because of confusion?  Could it also be due to the written forms of these words in some Indian scripts appearing very similar – example Devanagari सहस्र and सहस्त्र or Gujarati સહસ્ર and સહસ્ત્ર?  I haven’t heard Malayalis pronouncing sahasram as sahastram probably because in written Malayalam these two words are quite distinct (സഹസ്രം,  സഹസ്ത്രം).

In a similar vein, I have heard people well versed in Sanskrit pronouncing words like phala as fala.  My understanding is that there is only “ph” pronunciation and no “f” pronunciation in Sanskrit.  But do any ancient Sanskrit texts say that “f” is a valid alternate pronunciation of “ph”?  I was under the impression that the “f” pronunciation is some sort of “hypercorrection” indulged by many.  Could it also be because of the prestige once accorded to Persian, and now English, and also because of the Urdu leaning Bollywood, that the “f” pronunciation might appear more prestigious (and fashionable) to these people compared to the “ph” pronunciation which might be looked down as “desi”, or “village” pronunciation?  However, I haven’t come across those who are well versed in Urdu confusing “ph” and “f” probably because these are very distinct in written Urdu ( پھ  ف).

 

Regards,

Radhakrishna Warrier

[Mathukumalli Vidyasagar]

Dear Shri Warrier,

I can't claim to be "well-versed in Sanskrit," but here are my views for whatever they are worth.

I have heard anyone pronounce "sahasra" as "sahastra."  And I always make it a point to say "pha" instead of "fa."  Sounds such as "fa, wa, za" came through Persian and didn't exist in Sanskrit.  But for many decades in Hindi-speaking areas, I know that schoolchildren were taught "pa, fa, ba, bha, ma", essentially legitimizing the replacement of "pha" by "fa".  The reason could be as you said.

Best regards.

Sagar

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[Narayan Prasad]

<< Or is it because of confusion?  Could it also be due to the written forms of these words in some Indian scripts appearing very similar – example Devanagari सहस्र and सहस्त्र or Gujarati સહસ્ર and સહસ્ત્ર?>>

Exactly.

<<Could it also be because of the prestige once accorded to Persian, and now English, and also because of the Urdu leaning Bollywood, that the “f” pronunciation might appear more prestigious (and fashionable) to these people compared to the “ph” pronunciation which might be looked down as “desi”, or “village” pronunciation?>>

No. It is the unconscious influence of mainly English. It is in no way a prestigious issue.

I remember very well when in my French class 42 years ago, I pronounced Julie as Zulie. The teacher was just telling me to correct this pronunciation by her way of pronunciation. But I was unable to understand what was wrong with my pronunciation. After quite some I could realize the mistake of "J" being pronounced as "Z".

Regards

Narayan Prasad

[kenp]

Here are some links.

https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/sahasra

https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/sahastra

Ph/f

https://www.spellzone.com/unit-05/page9.cfm

https://teflpedia.com/Unvoiced_labiodental_fricative

[L Srinivas]

Prakritization and hypercorrection are also processes which need to be considered.

Whenever one goes from Chennai to Tirupati, one can hear two place names  being routinely pronounced differently by the locals, both pilgrims as well as transport operators. These are the names of the temple towns, Kalahasti and Tiruchanur. One can hear kāḷāstri  for Kalahasti and cittānūr  for Tiruchanur.

Hope this helps,

Srini