Editing Pali (section)

==Phonology==

{{IPA notice}}

===Vowels===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
!rowspan="2"|Height
!Colspan="4"|Backness
|-
!Front
!Central
!Back
|-
!High
|{{IPA link|i}} {{grapheme|i}}<br />{{IPA link|iː}} {{grapheme|ī}}
|style="background:silver"|
|{{IPA link|u}} {{grapheme|u}}<br />{{IPA link|uː}} {{grapheme|ū}}
|-
!Mid
|{{IPA link|e}}, {{IPA link|eː}} {{grapheme|e}}
|{{IPA link|ɐ}} {{grapheme|a}}
|{{IPA link|o}}, {{IPA link|oː}} {{grapheme|o}}
|-
!Low
|style="background:silver"|
|{{IPA link|aː}} {{grapheme|ā}}
|style="background:silver"|
|}

Vowels may be divided in two different ways:

## pure vowels: ''a, ā, e, o''
## sonant vowels: ''i, ī, u, ū''<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Perniola |first=Vito |title=A Grammar of the Pali Language |year=1997 |isbn=0860133540 |pages=103 |publisher=Pali Text Society}}</ref>
# 
## vowels short by nature: ''a, i, u''
## vowels long by nature: ''ā, ī, ū''
## vowels of variable length: ''e, o''<ref name=":0" />

Long and short vowels are only contrastive in open syllables; in closed syllables, all vowels are always short. Short and long '''e''' and '''o''' are in complementary distribution: the short variants occur only in closed syllables, the long variants occur only in open syllables. Short and long '''e''' and '''o''' are therefore not distinct phonemes.

''e'' and ''o'' are long in an open syllable: at the end of a syllable as in [ne-tum̩] เนตุํ 'to lead' or [so-tum̩] โสตุํ 'to hear'.<ref name=":0" /> They are short in a closed syllable: when followed by a consonant with which they make a syllable as in [upek-khā] 'indifference' or [sot-thi] 'safety'.<ref name=":0" />

''e'' appears for ''a'' before doubled consonants:

: ''seyyā'' = Skt. ''śayyā'' 'bed'
: ''pheggu'' = Skt. ''phaigu'' 'empty, worthless'<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Geiger |first=Wilhelm |title=Pali Literature and Language 2nd edition |date=October 1996 |publisher=Orintal Books Reptint Corporation Delhi_6 |isbn=8170690773 |pages=65}}</ref>

The vowels ⟨i⟩ and ⟨u⟩ are lengthened in the flexional endings including: ''-īhi, -ūhi and -īsu''<ref name=":1" />

A sound called ''[[anusvara|anusvāra]]'' (Skt.; Pali: ''[[Anusvara|niggahīta]]''), represented by the letter '''{{Transliteration|sinh|ISO|ṁ|}}''' (ISO 15919) or '''{{Transliteration|sinh|ISO|ṃ}}''' (ALA-LC) in romanization, and by a raised dot in most traditional alphabets, originally marked the fact that the preceding vowel was nasalized. That is, '''{{Transliteration|sinh|ISO|aṁ}}''', '''{{Transliteration|sinh|ISO|iṁ}}''' and '''{{Transliteration|sinh|ISO|uṁ}}''' represented {{IPA|[ã]}}, {{IPA|[ĩ]}} and {{IPA|[ũ]}}. In many traditional pronunciations, however, the anusvāra is pronounced more strongly, like the velar nasal {{IPA|[ŋ]}}, so that these sounds are pronounced instead {{IPA|[ãŋ]}}, {{IPA|[ĩŋ]}} and {{IPA|[ũŋ]}}. However pronounced, '''{{Transliteration|sinh|ISO|ṁ}}''' never follows a long vowel; '''ā, ī''' and '''ū''' are converted to the corresponding short vowels when {{Transliteration|sinh|ISO|ṁ}} is added to a stem ending in a long vowel, e.g. '''{{Transliteration|sinh|ISO|kathā + ṁ}}''' becomes '''{{Transliteration|sinh|ISO|kathaṁ}}''', not {{Transliteration|sinh|ISO|*kathāṁ}}, '''{{Transliteration|sinh|ISO|devī + ṁ}}''' becomes '''{{Transliteration|sinh|ISO|deviṁ}}''', not *{{Transliteration|sinh|ISO|devīṁ}}.

'''Changes of vowels due to the structure of the word'''

'''Final vowels'''

The final consonants of the Sanskrit words have been dropped in Pali and thus all the words end in a vowel or in a nasal vowel: ''{{IAST|kāntāt}} -> kantā 'from the loved one{{'}}''; ''{{IAST|kāntāṃ}} -> {{IAST|kantaṃ}} 'the loved one{{'}}''

The final vowels were usually weak in pronunciation and hence they were shortened: ''akārsit -> akāsi 'he did'.''<ref name=":0" />

===Consonants===

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! colspan="3" |
! [[labial consonant|Labial]]
! [[dental consonant|Dental]]/<br />[[alveolar consonant|alveolar]]
! [[Retroflex]]
! [[Postalveolar consonant|Post-alveolar]]/<br />[[palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! [[velar consonant|Velar]]
! [[glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! rowspan="5" | [[Stop consonant|Stop]]
! colspan="2" | [[nasal stop|Nasal]]
| {{IPA link|m}} {{grapheme|m}}
| {{IPA link|n}} {{grapheme|n}}
| {{IPA link|ɳ}} {{grapheme|ṇ}}
| {{IPA link|ɲ}} {{grapheme|ñ}}
| ({{IPA link|ŋ}} {{grapheme|ṅ}})
|
|-
! rowspan="2" | <small>[[voiceless]]</small>
! <small>unaspirated</small>
| {{IPA link|p}} {{grapheme|p}}
| {{IPA link|t}} {{grapheme|t}}
| {{IPA link|ʈ}} {{grapheme|ṭ}}
| {{IPA link|tʃ}} {{grapheme|c}}
| {{IPA link|k}} {{grapheme|k}}
|
|-
! <small>[[Aspiration (phonetics)|aspirated]]</small>
| {{IPA link|pʰ}} {{grapheme|ph}}
| {{IPA link|tʰ}} {{grapheme|th}}
| {{IPA link|ʈʰ}} {{grapheme|ṭh}}
| {{IPA link|tʃʰ}} {{grapheme|ch}}
| {{IPA link|kʰ}} {{grapheme|kh}}
|
|-
! rowspan="2" | <small> [[voice (phonetics)|voiced]]</small>
! <small>unaspirated</small>
| {{IPA link|b}} {{grapheme|b}}
| {{IPA link|d}} {{grapheme|d}}
| {{IPA link|ɖ}} {{grapheme|ḍ}}
| {{IPA link|dʒ}} {{grapheme|j}}
| {{IPA link|ɡ}} {{grapheme|g}}
|
|-
! <small>[[Aspiration (phonetics)|aspirated]]</small>
| {{IPA link|bʱ}} {{grapheme|bh}}
| {{IPA link|dʱ}} {{grapheme|dh}}
| {{IPA link|ɖʱ}} {{grapheme|ḍh}}
| {{IPA link|dʒʱ}} {{grapheme|jh}}
| {{IPA link|ɡʱ}} {{grapheme|gh}}
|
|-
! colspan="3" | [[Fricative]]
|
| {{IPA link|s}} {{grapheme|s}}
|
|
|
| {{IPA link|h}} {{grapheme|h}}
|-
! colspan="2" rowspan="3" | [[Approximant]]
! <small>[[Central consonant|central]]</small>
| {{IPA link|ʋ}} {{grapheme|v}}
|
| {{IPA link|ɻ}} {{grapheme|r}}
| {{IPA link|j}} {{grapheme|y}}
|
|
|-
! <small>[[Lateral consonant|lateral]]</small>
|
| {{IPA link|l}} {{grapheme|l}}
| ({{IPA link|ɭ}} {{grapheme|ḷ}})
|
|
|
|-
! <small>lateral [[Aspiration (phonetics)|aspirated]]</small>
|
|
| ({{IPA link|ɭʱ}} {{grapheme|ḷh}})
|
|
|
|}

Among the labial consonants, {{IPA|[ʋ]}} is [[Labiodental consonant|labiodental]] and the rest are [[Bilabial consonant|bilabial]]. Among the dental/alveolar consonants, the majority is dental but {{IPA|[s]}} and {{IPA|[l]}} are [[Alveolar consonant|alveolar]].

Of the sounds listed above only the three consonants in parentheses, '''ṅ''', '''ḷ''', and '''ḷh''', are not distinct [[phoneme]]s in Pali: '''ṅ''' only occurs before velar stops, while '''ḷ''' and '''ḷh''' are [[intervocalic]] [[allophone]]s of single '''ḍ''' and '''ḍh'''.

In the Pali language, the consonants may be divided according to their strength or power of resistance. The strength decreases in the order of: ''mutes, sibilant, nasals, l, v, y, r''

When two consonants come together, they are subject to one of the following change:

# they are [[assimilation (phonology)|assimilated]] to each other
# they are first adapted and then assimilated to each other
# they give rise to a new consonant group
# they separated by the insertion of an [[epenthesis|epenthetic vowel]]
# they are sometimes interchanged by [[metathesis (linguistics)|metathesis]]<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Perniola |first=Vito |title=A Grammar of the Pali Language |year=1997 |isbn=0860133540 |pages=9, 10, 11 |publisher=Pali Text Society}}</ref>

Aspirate consonants

when one of the two consonants is the sibilant s, then the new group of consonants has the aspiration in the last consonant: ''as-ti (root: √as) > atthi'' 'is'

the sibilant s, followed by a nasal, is changed to h and then it is transposed after the nasal (metathesis): ''akas-ma > akah-ma > akamha'' 'we did'<ref name=":2" />

'''Alternation between ''y'' and ''v'''''

Pali v appears for Skr. y. For instance, ''āvudha -> āyudha'' 'weapon'; ''kasāva -> kasāya'' 'dirt, sin'. After the svarabhakti-vowel I there appear v instead of y as in ''praṭyamsa -> pativimsa.''<ref name=":1" />

'''Alternation between ''r'' and ''l'''''

Representation of ''r'' by ''l'' is very common in Pali, and in Pkr. it is the rule for Magadhi, although this substitution occurs sporadically also in other dialect. This, initially, in ''lūjjati -> rūjyate 'falls apart{{'}}''; sometimes both forms with l and r occur in Skr.: ''lūkha -> lūksa, rūksa 'gross, bad{{'}}''<ref name=":1" />