Why all Interrogatives in Sanskrit begin with क ka

Dr.Sampadananda Mishra

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Mar 12, 2016, 6:35:49 AM3/12/16

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Do you know why all the interrogative sounds in Sanskrit (कः, का, किम्, कुत्र, कुतः, कथम्, कदा, किमर्थम्, कति, कियत्, क्व ) begin with the sound क (ka)? Is there a logic to this?

I had this question in my mind from my childhood. And I had received the following answer to this question a few years back as a result of my contemplation.

"The logic here is that, the sound क (ka), phonetically, is the first consonantal sound, not just of Sanskrit but of the entire humanity. In Sanskrit Alphabet it is placed immediately after the vowels. The nature of vowels is that they are free flowing sounds without any obstruction. But the consonants are sounds produced by solid contact or obstruction of the air at different places. Among all the pure consonantal sounds it is क (ka) which is produced at the first position when the root of the tongue comes in contact with the soft palate. The speech organs in the human mouth are designed in such a manner that the speech sounds can be produced by manipulating the air at certain possible positions in the mouth. And the ancient Indian phoneticians have identified five distinct positions in the mouth among which the place from where the sound ka is produced is the first position. It is for the first time, if we go systematically producing the fundamental sounds in the Sanskrit Alphabet, that with क (ka) one experiences the obstruction. There cannot be any pure consonant that can be produced from a position below where from we say ka. So ka is the first consonant. Here the free flow of air that happens in the case of vowels is stopped for the first time.

If we consider the nature of question as to stop the free flow of thoughts and then it befits to make interrogative words beginning with the sound क (ka).

Is it not interesting?

In the table below I have tried to show how the interrogatives in other languages too begin with ka.

(Sampadananda Mishra)

INDO – EUROPEAN LANGUAGES

BALTO – SLAVIC FAMILY

ITALIC FAMILY

GERMANIC FAMILY

SANSKRIT

LITHUANIAN

RUSSIAN

BULGARIAN

ITALIAN

SPANISH

GERMAN

ENGLISH

कः kah/

का kaa

Kas ?

Kto?

Koĭto?

Chi?

¿Quien?

Wer?

Who?

किम् kim

Ką?

Kakiye?

Kakvo?

Che cosa?

¿Qué?

Was?

What?

कुत्र kutra

Kur?

Gde?

Kŭdeto?

Dove?

¿Dónde?

Woher?

Where?

कुतः kutah

Iš kur?

Otkuda?

Ot kŭde?

Da dove?

¿De donde?

Wovon?

From where?

कथम् katham

Kaip ?

Kak?

Kak ?

Come?

¿Cómo?

Wie?

How?

किमर्थम्kimartham

Kodėl ?

Zachem?

Zashto?

Perché?

¿Por qué?

Warum?

Why/what for

कति kati

Kiek?

Skol'ko?

Kolko?

Quanti?

¿Cuántos?

Wie viele?

How many?

कियत् kiyat

Kiek?

Skol'ko?

Kolko?

Quanto?

¿Cuánto cuesta?

Wie viel?

How much?

क्व kva

Where

कदा kadaa

Kada?

Kogda?

Koga?

Quando?

Cuando?

Wann?

When?

Satish Kumar Dogra

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Mar 12, 2016, 7:25:33 AM3/12/16

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Mishra Ji,

What you say points to one thing: most languages focus on one particular sound as the starting sound for question words. To say that this sound is 'k' in all languages may not be correct. In English it is 'wh' in Tamil it is 'எ' E.g எப்படி (eppadi - how) எப்பொழுது (eppozhuthu - when) என்ன (enn - what) எதற்கு (etharku - what for) எங்கே (enge - where) எவ்வாறு (evvaaru - in what manner) எது (ethu - which one) etc. Interestingly the word for 'why' is ஏன் (prnounced yein) which is the दीर्घ ए instead of the ह्रस्व ए of the other question-formers.

But your observation certainly is significant, because it points out an important feature that almost all languages use one particular sound as a question-marker. Perhaps the first users of languages found one type of articulation easier. In Tamil the sound 'e' involved just the opening of the mouth. In English, 'wh' involved just opening the lips. And in Sanskrit, 'k' required the removing of the block of the vocal cavity.

Regards,

Dogra

============================================
Read my websites:
Sanskrit: sweetsanskrit.blogspot.in/
English: satishkumardogra.com

Tamil: dogratamil.com

My contact number:
+91 98400 93148

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Hnbhat B.R.

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Mar 12, 2016, 8:03:04 AM3/12/16

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In Sanskrit, all the interrogatives are derived from किम् which is Interrogative pronoun adding certain suffixes to get the senses.

As pronjun, it follows different genders and numbers according the number and gender agreement.

क:, कौ, के in masculine gender.का, के, काः in feminine gender, किम्, के, कानि in neuter gender, all will be translated by interrogative pronoun who in all cases, and in Hindi कौन. क्या,

कस्मिन् काले - कदा, कर्हि, कस्मिन् देशे - कुत्र

These are few instances derived from किम् and cannot be different from क्.

Damodara Dasa

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Mar 12, 2016, 8:59:20 AM3/12/16

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Hare Krishna.
Dear Dr.Sampadanandaji,

Interesting explanation and observation. I never thought before in these lines.

I seek one clarification. It is not only 'ka' that is produced from
obstructing air at this position (kantha); 'kha', 'ga', and 'gha' are
also produced from the same place isn't it?

Thankyou,
Damodara Das

> *INDO – EUROPEAN LANGUAGES*
>
>
>
>
>
> *BALTO – SLAVIC FAMILY*
>
> *ITALIC FAMILY*
>
> *GERMANIC FAMILY*
>
> *SANSKRIT*
>
> *LITHUANIAN*
>
> *RUSSIAN*
>
> *BULGARIAN*
>
> *ITALIAN*
>
> *SPANISH*
>
> *GERMAN*
>
> *ENGLISH*

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Bijoy Misra

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Mar 12, 2016, 8:59:37 AM3/12/16

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Dear Sampad and friends,

We are also looking into it. It appears neurological for the precise reasons you have mentioned.

The connection could be how the sounds form as the infant grows. The "ka" sound could be the

first effect on the infant on the "awareness" of the external universe. The "ka" is adopted in the

meaning of the universe in older languages. The transition of "awareness" to "interrogation" is

the formation of speech that tries to interpret the awareness. This research is new. I would

have more to say in a year.

Best regards,

Bijoy Misra

Dr.BVK Sastry (G-Mail-pop)

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Mar 12, 2016, 9:31:02 AM3/12/16

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Namaste

On the question < why all the interrogative sounds in Sanskrit (कः, का, किम्, कुत्र, कुतः, कथम्, कदा, किमर्थम्, कति, कियत्, क्व ) begin with the sound क (ka)? Is there a logic to this? > :

Two ways of responding:

A) Natural Language Way: The given word of a language has the meaning assigned by the language user community. If the base ( Pratipadika /Sarvanama) started with ‘ Ka’ the grammar process derivatives are most likely to have the same sound continuing in the same meaning !

Will this be a universal rule, even within Samskrutham ? Certainly not ! Take the processing of the word ‘Asmat ( I) and Yushmat (you) ’- where the derived words do not always begin with ‘a’ or ‘yu’ !

B) Technical way, which may be interpreted as ‘Forced’ Or ‘ Mystic’ ! : - Samskruth language is unique with the spiritual inquiry / enquiry on ‘Kam’ (= Brahma) and ‘Kham’ (= Brahma).

The primary focus of ‘Questioning’ is visioned in ‘Kasmai Devaya Havishaa vidhema’ – For Whom, For Which Divine, For which benefit - shall we propitiate ?

The primary debate is ‘KoyamAtmeti Vayam upAsmahe’ ? before giving a conclusion !

The explanation < क (ka), phonetically, is the first consonantal sound, not just of Sanskrit but of the entire humanity. > is fine as long as one is focused on < Human Voice mechanism and normal articulation process’. But why <rest of the humanity speaking with non-Sanskrit languages had different words for expressing interrogation > needs to be further investigated.

Regards

BVK Sastry

Dr.Sampadananda Mishra

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Mar 12, 2016, 10:48:34 AM3/12/16

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What is important is the first sound...

Dr.Sampadananda Mishra

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Mar 12, 2016, 11:01:43 AM3/12/16

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Dear Satish ji,
with regard to English 'wh' I gathered following information from Wiki source: What is now English ⟨wh⟩ originated as the Proto-Indo-European consonant *kʷ (whose reflexes came to be written ⟨qu⟩ in Latin and the Romance languages). In the Germanic languages, in accordance with Grimm's Law, Indo-European voiceless stops became voiceless fricatives in most environments. Thus the labialized velar stop *kʷ initially became presumably a labialized velar fricative *xʷ in pre-Proto-Germanic, then probably becoming *[ʍ] – a voiceless labio-velar approximant – in Proto-Germanic proper. The sound was used in Gothic and represented by the symbol known as hwair; in Old English it was spelled as ⟨hw⟩. The spelling was changed to ⟨wh⟩ in Middle English, but the pronunciation remained [ʍ].

Because Proto-Indo-European interrogative words typically began with *kʷ, English interrogative words (such as who, which, what, when, where) typically begin with ⟨wh⟩ ...

With regard to the South Indian languages I am yet to get some insights...

...

Satish Kumar Dogra

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Mar 12, 2016, 12:02:39 PM3/12/16

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Mishra Ji,

Such tracing of sounds is often very tricky, and one doesn't know how far one can take these as true history and how much of it is intelligent guess-work.

For instance, in Tamil (for that is the only South Indian language I know, but I know others are similar), the word இந்த (intha) which means 'this' could have come from इदम्. and then this same word could have given rise to the questions by a slight modification of the first sound from இந்த (inth) meaning this to எந்த (entha) meaning which. Then the word 'entha' could have given the other question words.

All this sounds logical, but where is the proof? In fact, if you go to some of the scholarly Tamil groups, you find people constantly trying to show how all languages including Sanskrit derived from Tamil. This type of one-upmanship among languages tends to take away the scientific research orientation from historical linguistics.

But what is undeniable and a good takeaway from this discussion is that there are patterns in languages that need to be discovered and studied for their functionality in making a language effective as a system of communication. I did such a study in Tamil although I did not publish it. There are interesting ways in which written Tamil changes into spoken Tamil. I do not know how much Tamil you know. There is a word ஆச்சு (aachchu) which is the spoken version of the written word ஆயிற்று (aayittru) and there is a word வந்தாச்சு (vanthaachchu) which is the spoken version of வந்து ஆயிற்று (vantha aayittru) which literally means 'the act of coming has happened'. There are many such expressions where even the native speakers who are not linguists are not aware of how the written and the spoken relate to each other.

Regards,

Dogra

Regards,

Dogra

============================================
Read my websites:
Sanskrit: sweetsanskrit.blogspot.in/
English: satishkumardogra.com

Tamil: dogratamil.com

My contact number:
+91 98400 93148

--

N.R.Joshi

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Mar 12, 2016, 5:16:59 PM3/12/16

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March 12, 2016

Dear Scholars B,Mishra, Dr Sampadanand, BVK, Now you all coming to my VARNAVAADA.

N.R.Joshi

---------- Original Message ----------
From: Bijoy Misra <misra...@gmail.com>
To: Bharatiya Vidvat parishad <bvpar...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: {भारतीयविद्वत्परिषत्} Why all Interrogatives in Sanskrit begin with क ka

Date: Sat, 12 Mar 2016 07:28:50 -0500

Dear Sampad and friends,

We are also looking into it. It appears neurological for the precise reasons you have mentioned.

The connection could be how the sounds form as the infant grows. The "ka" sound could be the

first effect on the infant on the "awareness" of the external universe. The "ka" is adopted in the

meaning of the universe in older languages. The transition of "awareness" to "interrogation" is

the formation of speech that tries to interpret the awareness. This research is new. I would

have more to say in a year.

Best regards,

Bijoy Misra

Perché?

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Bijoy Misra

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Mar 12, 2016, 7:59:27 PM3/12/16

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Dear Dr Joshi,

You never revealed the full story of Varnavada.

Please post.

Thank you.

BM

Bijoy Misra

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Mar 12, 2016, 7:59:27 PM3/12/16

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Phonetics as a science is in its infancy. There is not much work on the Indian languages.

There are empirical observations that all world languages could have a common origin

and they distort sounds with migration. On has to be extremely analytic on these

investigations. If you go to South East Asia, you would see many words sound differently.

While a primitive language was possibly created from the first principles, the rest imitate

by hearing. So you may make efforts to discover what that primitive language was

in case you appreciate the hypothesis. It most likely was in India.

I must add that the western linguistics does not want to acknowledge an origin.

But it also does not have a theory on the evolution. You may read the paper

I posted in a different thread.

shivraj singh

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Mar 12, 2016, 9:06:09 PM3/12/16

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On Sunday, March 13, 2016 1:02 AM, Satish Kumar Dogra <dogra...@gmail.com> wrote

Mishra Ji,

Such tracing of sounds is often very tricky, and one doesn't know how far one can take these as true history and how much of it is intelligent guess-work.

For instance, in Tamil (for that is the only South Indian language I know, but I know others are similar), the word இந்த (intha) which means 'this' could have come from इदम्. and then this same word could have given rise to the questions by a slight modification of the first sound from இந்த (inth) meaning this to எந்த (entha) meaning which. Then the word 'entha' could have given the other question words.

All this sounds logical, but where is the proof? In fact, if you go to some of the scholarly Tamil groups, you find people constantly trying to show how all languages including Sanskrit derived from Tamil. This type of one-upmanship among languages tends to take away the scientific research orientation from historical linguistics.

But what is undeniable and a good takeaway from this discussion is that there are patterns in languages that need to be discovered and studied for their functionality in making a language effective as a system of communication. I did such a study in Tamil although I did not publish it. There are interesting ways in which written Tamil changes into spoken Tamil. I do not know how much Tamil you know. There is a word ஆச்சு (aachchu) which is the spoken version of the written word ஆயிற்று (aayittru) and there is a word வந்தாச்சு (vanthaachchu) which is the spoken version of வந்து ஆயிற்று (vantha aayittru) which literally means 'the act of coming has happened'. There are many such expressions where even the native speakers who are not linguists are not aware of how the written and the spoken relate to each other.

----------------------------

Shivraj: 1) What is the significance of difference in spoken and written tamil words?

2) Since they are different what do you think caused the corruption/difference between the two?

3) Do you observe similar situation in other indian languages?

Satish Kumar Dogra

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Mar 13, 2016, 12:35:06 AM3/13/16

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Dear Shri Shivaraj,

My personal opinion is that the difference between written and spoken Tamil arose because of the rigid attitude towards correctness taken by the scholars. Language changes by its own intrinsic force. You cannot stop the changes. Once a group of people insist upon purity of the language, a gap arises between the language used by the scholars and that used by the common man. The spoken Tamil is like the so many dialects of Hindi, such as Haryanavi, Rajasthani etc. It is a distortion of the written. For example, a word like पोकिरीरगला in written becomes पोरींगला in spoken.

Written Tamil is treated as standard Tamil and is used in the speeches on the stage, in discussions in the legislative assembly and on some other formal occasions. Till three decades ago, a large part of the film dialogues also used to be in Written Tamil. Now that the culture of blogs is gaining popularity, youngsters use the spoken version as their written Tamil. Even on stage, many speakers shuttle between the written and the spoken. The local people distinguish these two as Standard Tamil and Colloquial Tamil. The trend towards using spoken Tamil even in magazines is on the increase. A day may come when the spoken version wins out or the two merge.

There is in this perhaps a lesson for the Sanskrit-lovers too. Several versions of Sanskrit are emerging. Some try to follow the ancient models, while others mix Hindi words and use a simpler version of grammar. My personal opinion is that initially we need to maintain a relaxed attitude and encourage the use of Sanskrit even it is not written or spoken in strict accordance with rules. The need of the day is that more and more people should read, write and speak Sanskrit.

Regards,

Dogra

==========================================

Read my websites:
English: satishkumardogra.com

Tamil: dogratamil.com

My contact number:
+91 98400 93148

Dr.Sampadananda Mishra

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Mar 13, 2016, 10:14:26 AM3/13/16

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Dear Joshi ji,
is it published somewhere...do let us know what is your VARNAVAADA....

regards

...

N.R.Joshi

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Mar 14, 2016, 5:50:03 PM3/14/16

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March 14, 2016

Dear Dr. Sampadananda,

My papers are published by Dhimahi (from Kerala) and one paper by BORI on Sphota demystified. I may send you a copy of BORI paper. If you can contact officials of DHIMAHI publication (annual), you may find out which issues contain my papers. I am in USA. Sometimes I do not get mail from them, sometimes it get lost. I may send another paper to you soon.

I enjoyed your table of comparison of Sanskrit interrogatives with those from other (Indo-European) languages. Here is question. Lithuanian language appears closer to Sanskrit. Do you have any explanation for that situation? Thanks.

--

N.R.Joshi

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Mar 14, 2016, 6:35:49 PM3/14/16

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March 14, 2016

Dear Dr. B. Mishra,

All Pratishaakyaas (Like Rig Pratishaakya), all Shiks'has (many of them) offer in details of phonetics of Sanskrit. I assume you are familiar with them. See also Dr. Allan's book.

VarNa maala (periodic table of phonemes or VarNas) was presented by Kaatyaayana in Vaajaseniya Pratishaakhya.

Mendeleeva got his idea of Chemical periodic table from VarNamaala.

My VarNavaada is based on it. There is difference between Phonetics and Phonemics. Thanks .N.R.Joshi

Scholars may correct me. N.R. Joshi

---------- Original Message ----------
From: Bijoy Misra <misra...@gmail.com>
To: Bharatiya Vidvat parishad <bvpar...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: {भारतीयविद्वत्परिषत्} Why all Interrogatives in Sanskrit begin with क ka

Date: Sat, 12 Mar 2016 15:42:51 -0500