Shiksha - Revision history

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2023-07-05T17:50:45Z

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			{{Short description\|Vedic era study of phonetics and phonology, one of six Vedangas}}
	{{other uses}}		{{other uses}}
	{{distinguish\|Shiksa}}		{{distinguish\|Shiksa}}
	[[File:1877 CE manuscript copy of ancient Yajnavalkya Shiksha, Vajasaneyi Siksa, Vedic Traisvarya Laksana, Vedanga, Benares Sanskrit College, Sanskrit, Devanagari.jpg\|thumb\|upright=1.25\|A page from the ''Yajnavalkya Shiksha'' manuscript (Sanskrit, Devanagari). This text is also called ''Vajasaneyi Shiksha'' and ''Traisvarya Lakshana''.]]		[[File:1877 CE manuscript copy of ancient Yajnavalkya Shiksha, Vajasaneyi Siksa, Vedic Traisvarya Laksana, Vedanga, Benares Sanskrit College, Sanskrit, Devanagari.jpg\|thumb\|upright=1.25\|A page from the ''Yajnavalkya Shiksha'' manuscript (Sanskrit, Devanagari). This text is also called ''Vajasaneyi Shiksha'' and ''Traisvarya Lakshana''.]]
	{{Hindu scriptures}}		{{Hindu scriptures}}
	'''''Shiksha''''' ({{lang-sa\|शिक्षा}} [[IAST]]: {{IAST\|śikṣā}}) is a Sanskrit word, which means "instruction, lesson, learning, study of skill".<ref name=mmwsat1070>Sir Monier Monier-Williams, [http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia/ebooks/mw/1100/mw__1103.html Siksha], A DkSanskrit-English Dictionary: Etymologically and Philologically Arranged with Special Reference to Cognate Indo-European Languages, Oxford University Press (Reprinted: Motilal Banarsidass), {{ISBN\|978-8120831056}}, page 1070</ref>{{Sfn\|Annette Wilke\|Oliver Moebus\|2011\|pp=492–493 with footnotes}}<ref name="Banerji1989p323"/> It also refers to one of the six [[Vedanga]]s, or limbs of Vedic studies, on [[phonetics]] and [[phonology]] in [[Sanskrit]].<ref name="Banerji1989p323">{{cite book\|author=Sures Chandra Banerji\|title=A Companion to Sanskrit Literature\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JkOAEdIsdUsC\|year=1989\|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass\|isbn=978-81-208-0063-2\|pages=323–324}}</ref><ref name=jameslochtefeldsca629/>		'''''Shiksha''''' ({{lang-sa\|शिक्षा}}, [[IAST]] and [[ISO 15919\|ISO]]: {{IAST\|śikṣā}}) is a Sanskrit word, which means "instruction, lesson, learning, study of skill".<ref name=mmwsat1070>Sir Monier Monier-Williams, [http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia/ebooks/mw/1100/mw__1103.html Siksha], A DkSanskrit-English Dictionary: Etymologically and Philologically Arranged with Special Reference to Cognate Indo-European Languages, Oxford University Press (Reprinted: Motilal Banarsidass), {{ISBN\|978-8120831056}}, page 1070</ref>{{Sfn\|Annette Wilke\|Oliver Moebus\|2011\|pp=492–493 with footnotes}}<ref name="Banerji1989p323"/> It also refers to one of the six [[Vedanga]]s, or limbs of Vedic studies, on [[phonetics]] and [[phonology]] in [[Sanskrit]].<ref name="Banerji1989p323">{{cite book\|author=Sures Chandra Banerji\|title=A Companion to Sanskrit Literature\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JkOAEdIsdUsC\|year=1989\|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass\|isbn=978-81-208-0063-2\|pages=323–324}}</ref><ref name=jameslochtefeldsca629/>

	''Shiksha'' is the field of Vedic study of sound, focussing on the letters of the Sanskrit alphabet, accent, quantity, stress, melody and rules of euphonic combination of words during a Vedic recitation.<ref name="Banerji1989p323"/>{{Sfn\|Annette Wilke\|Oliver Moebus\|2011\|pp=477–495}} Each ancient Vedic school developed this field of ''Vedanga'', and the oldest surviving phonetic textbooks are the ''Pratishakyas''.{{Sfn\|Annette Wilke\|Oliver Moebus\|2011\|pp=492–493 with footnotes}} The ''Paniniya-Shiksha'' and ''Naradiya-Shiksha'' are examples of extant ancient manuscripts of this field of Vedic studies.<ref name="Banerji1989p323"/>{{Sfn\|Annette Wilke\|Oliver Moebus\|2011\|pp=477–495}}		''Shiksha'' is the field of Vedic study of sound, focussing on the letters of the Sanskrit alphabet, accent, quantity, stress, melody and rules of euphonic combination of words during a Vedic recitation.<ref name="Banerji1989p323"/>{{Sfn\|Annette Wilke\|Oliver Moebus\|2011\|pp=477–495}} Each ancient Vedic school developed this field of ''Vedanga'', and the oldest surviving phonetic textbooks are the ''Pratishakyas''.{{Sfn\|Annette Wilke\|Oliver Moebus\|2011\|pp=492–493 with footnotes}} The ''Paniniya-Shiksha'' and ''Naradiya-Shiksha'' are examples of extant ancient manuscripts of this field of Vedic studies.<ref name="Banerji1989p323"/>{{Sfn\|Annette Wilke\|Oliver Moebus\|2011\|pp=477–495}}
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	==Sound and alphabet==		==Sound and alphabet==
	{{more citations needed section\|date=March 2016}}		{{more citations needed section\|date=March 2016}}
	Traditionally [[syllables]] (not letters) in Sanskrit are called [[Aksara\|''Akshara'']], meaning "imperishable (entity)": "atoms" of speech, as it were. These aksharas are classified mainly into two types:<ref name="ReferenceA">"Siddhanta Kaumudi" by Bhattoji Diksita and "Laghu Siddhanta Kaumudi", by Varadaraja.</ref>		Traditionally [[syllables]] (not letters) in Sanskrit are called [[Aksara\|''Akshara'']], meaning "imperishable (entity)": "atoms" of speech, as it were. These aksharas are classified mainly into two types:<ref name="ReferenceA">"[[Siddhanta Kaumudi]]" by Bhattoji Diksita and "[[Laghu Siddhanta Kaumudi]]", by Varadaraja.</ref>
	* '''Svara''' ([[Shiva Sutra\|pratyahara]] ''ach''): [[Vowel]]		* '''Svara''' ([[Shiva Sutra\|pratyahara]] ''ach''): [[Vowel]]
	* '''Vyanjana''' (pratyahara ''hal''): [[Consonant]]		* '''Vyanjana''' (pratyahara ''hal''): [[Consonant]]
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	* '''{{IAST\|Pluta}}''': Prolonged vowel, Tri-mātra ([[pluti\|{{IAST\|pluti}}]])		* '''{{IAST\|Pluta}}''': Prolonged vowel, Tri-mātra ([[pluti\|{{IAST\|pluti}}]])
	We see that each vowel can be pronounced in three ways according to the duration of articulation.		We see that each vowel can be pronounced in three ways according to the duration of articulation.
	The unit of time is a ''mātra'', which is approximately 0.2 seconds. It is approximately 0.2 seconds because 1 prana (1 respiration) is 10 long syllables or approximately 4 seconds<ref>{{cite journal\|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/592174\|at=p. 149\|jstor=592174\|last1=Burgess\|first1=Ebenezer\|title=Translation of the Sûrya-Siddhânta, A Text-Book of Hindu Astronomy; with Notes, and an Appendix\|journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society\|year=1858\|volume=6}}</ref> and a long syllable is counted as two morae (mātra),<ref>[[Sanskrit prosody#Nomenclature]]</ref>{{Circular reference\|date=February 2021}} thus 4÷(10×2) = 0.2.		The unit of time is a ''mātra'', which is approximately 0.2 seconds. It is approximately 0.2 seconds because 1 prana (1 respiration) is 10 long syllables or approximately 4 seconds<ref>{{cite journal\|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/592174\|at=p. 149\|jstor=592174\|last1=Burgess\|first1=Ebenezer\|title=Translation of the Sûrya-Siddhânta, A Text-Book of Hindu Astronomy; with Notes, and an Appendix\|journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society\|year=1858\|volume=6\|doi=10.2307/592174 }}</ref> and a long syllable is counted as two morae (mātra),<ref>[[Sanskrit prosody#Nomenclature]]</ref>{{Circular reference\|date=February 2021}} thus 4÷(10×2) = 0.2.

	Each vowel can be further classified into two types based on the manner of pronunciation:		Each vowel can be further classified into two types based on the manner of pronunciation:
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	\| pa		\| pa
	\|-		\|-
	! ''[[Plosive\|~~Sparśam~~]]'', [[Unvoiced\|Śvāsa]], [[Unaspirated\|Mahāprāṇa]]		! ''[[Plosive\|Sparśa]]'', [[Unvoiced\|Śvāsa]], [[Unaspirated\|Mahāprāṇa]]
	\| kha		\| kha
	\| cha		\| cha
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	[[Category:Phonetics]]		[[Category:Phonetics]]
	[[Category:History of linguistics]]		[[Category:History of linguistics]]
			[[Category:Language and mysticism]]

imported>Skyerise: /* Etymology */ doesn't get bold except in lead

2021-07-19T18:20:05Z

Etymology: doesn't get bold except in lead

New page

{{other uses}}
{{distinguish|Shiksa}}
[[File:1877 CE manuscript copy of ancient Yajnavalkya Shiksha, Vajasaneyi Siksa, Vedic Traisvarya Laksana, Vedanga, Benares Sanskrit College, Sanskrit, Devanagari.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|A page from the ''Yajnavalkya Shiksha'' manuscript (Sanskrit, Devanagari). This text is also called ''Vajasaneyi Shiksha'' and ''Traisvarya Lakshana''.]]
{{Hindu scriptures}}
'''''Shiksha''''' ({{lang-sa|शिक्षा}} [[IAST]]: {{IAST|śikṣā}}) is a Sanskrit word, which means "instruction, lesson, learning, study of skill".<ref name=mmwsat1070>Sir Monier Monier-Williams, [http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia/ebooks/mw/1100/mw__1103.html Siksha], A DkSanskrit-English Dictionary: Etymologically and Philologically Arranged with Special Reference to Cognate Indo-European Languages, Oxford University Press (Reprinted: Motilal Banarsidass), {{ISBN|978-8120831056}}, page 1070</ref>{{Sfn|Annette Wilke|Oliver Moebus|2011|pp=492–493 with footnotes}}<ref name="Banerji1989p323"/> It also refers to one of the six [[Vedanga]]s, or limbs of Vedic studies, on [[phonetics]] and [[phonology]] in [[Sanskrit]].<ref name="Banerji1989p323">{{cite book|author=Sures Chandra Banerji|title=A Companion to Sanskrit Literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JkOAEdIsdUsC|year=1989|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-0063-2|pages=323–324}}</ref><ref name=jameslochtefeldsca629/>

''Shiksha'' is the field of Vedic study of sound, focussing on the letters of the Sanskrit alphabet, accent, quantity, stress, melody and rules of euphonic combination of words during a Vedic recitation.<ref name="Banerji1989p323"/>{{Sfn|Annette Wilke|Oliver Moebus|2011|pp=477–495}} Each ancient Vedic school developed this field of ''Vedanga'', and the oldest surviving phonetic textbooks are the ''Pratishakyas''.{{Sfn|Annette Wilke|Oliver Moebus|2011|pp=492–493 with footnotes}} The ''Paniniya-Shiksha'' and ''Naradiya-Shiksha'' are examples of extant ancient manuscripts of this field of Vedic studies.<ref name="Banerji1989p323"/>{{Sfn|Annette Wilke|Oliver Moebus|2011|pp=477–495}}

''Shiksha'' is the oldest and the first auxiliary discipline to the [[Vedas]], maintained since the Vedic era.{{Sfn|Annette Wilke|Oliver Moebus|2011|pp=492–493 with footnotes}} It aims at construction of sound and language for synthesis of ideas, in contrast to grammarians who developed rules for language deconstruction and understanding of ideas.{{Sfn|Annette Wilke|Oliver Moebus|2011|pp=492–493 with footnotes}} This field helped preserve the Vedas and the Upanishads as the canons of [[Hinduism]] since the ancient times, and shared by various [[Hindu]] traditions.<ref name="Scharfe1977p78"/>{{Sfn|Guy L. Beck|1995|pp=35–36}}

==Etymology==
''Shiksha'' literally means "instruction, lesson, study, knowledge, learning, study of skill, training in an art".<ref name=mmwsat1070/> It also refers to one of the six [[Vedanga]]s, which studies sound, Sanskrit phonetics, laws of euphonic combination (''sandhi''), and the science of making language pleasant and understood without mistakes.<ref name=jameslochtefeldsca629/> ''Shiksha'' as a supplemental branch of the [[Vedas]], included teaching proper articulation and pronunciation of Vedic texts.<ref name=jameslochtefeldsca629>James Lochtefeld (2002), "Shiksha" in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 2: N-Z, Rosen Publishing, {{ISBN|0-8239-2287-1}}, page 629</ref> It was one of six fields of supplemental studies, others being grammar (Vyakarana), prosody (Chandas), ritual (Kalpa), etymology (Nirukta) and astrology (Jyotisha, calculating favorable time for rituals).<ref name=jameslochtefeldsca629/>

The roots of ''Shiksha'' can be traced to the [[Rigveda]] which dedicates two hymns 10.125 and 10.71 to revere sound as a goddess, and links the development of thought to the development of speech.{{Sfn|Guy L. Beck|1995|pp=35–39}} The mid 1st-millennium BCE text [[Taittiriya Upanishad]] contains one of the earliest description of ''Shiksha'' as follows,

{{Quote|
<poem>
{{lang|sa|ॐ शीक्षां व्याख्यास्यामः ।
वर्णः स्वरः । मात्रा बलम् ।
साम सन्तानः । इत्युक्तः शीक्षाध्यायः ॥ १ ॥}}

Om! We will explain the Shiksha.
Sounds and accentuation, Quantity (of vowels) and the expression (of consonants),
Balancing (Saman) and connection (of sounds), So much about the study of Shiksha. || 1 ||
</poem>
|Taittiriya Upanishad 1.2, Shikshavalli|Translated by [[Paul Deussen]]<ref>Paul Deussen (1997 Reprint), Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120814684}}, page 222</ref><ref name="Banerji1989p323"/>}}

Annette Wilke and Oliver Moebus date the Shiksha text of the Taittiriya Vedic school to be from 600 BCE at the latest.{{Sfn|Annette Wilke|Oliver Moebus|2011|p=477 with footnotes}} Texts such as this established, among other things, a rational order of the Sanskrit alphabet, state Wilke and Moebus. Other texts, such as ''Vyasa-Siksa'' of the Krishna [[Yajurveda]], were composed later.{{Sfn|Annette Wilke|Oliver Moebus|2011|p=477 with footnotes}}

The ancient Vedic schools developed major treatises analyzing sound, vowels and consonants, rules of combination and pronunciation to assist clear understanding, to avoid mistakes and for resonance (pleasing to the listener).{{Sfn|Annette Wilke|Oliver Moebus|2011|pp=477–493}} These texts include ''Samhita-pathas'' and ''Pada-pathas'', and partially or fully surviving manuscripts include ''Paniniya Shiksha'', ''Naradiya Shiksha'', ''Bharadvaja Shiksha'', ''Yajnavalkya Shiksha'', ''Vasishthi Shiksha'', ''Parashari Shiksha'', ''Katyayani Shiksha'' and ''Manduki Shiksha''.<ref name="Banerji1989p323"/><ref>{{cite book|author=Kireet Joshi|title=The Veda and Indian Culture: An Introductory Essay|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1CJlM2nhlt0C&pg=PA96|year=1991|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-0889-8|pages=96–97}}</ref>

==History==
{{Quote box
|quote = '''Speech and soul?'''
<poem>
Having intellectually determined the object to be communicated to others, the soul urges the mind in order to give expression, i.e., to vocalize the thought rising within. The mind so stimulated acts upon the physical fire which in its turn brings about a movement in the region of internal air. The internal air thus moved gets upward till it reaches the vocal apparatus.
</poem>
|source = —''Pāninīya-śikṣā''{{Sfn|Guy L. Beck|1995|p=38}}
|bgcolor=#FFE0BB
|width=30%
|align = right
}}
''Shiksha'', states Hartmut Scharfe, was the first branch of linguistics to develop as an independent Vedic field of study among the Vedangas.<ref name="Scharfe1977p78"/> This is likely because Vedas were transmitted from one generation to the next by oral tradition, and the preservation and the techniques of preservation depended on phonetics, states Scharfe.<ref name="Scharfe1977p78">{{cite book|author=Hartmut Scharfe|title=Grammatical Literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2_VbnWkZ-SYC&pg=PA207|year=1977|publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag|isbn=978-3-447-01706-0|pages=78–79}}</ref>

The earliest [[Brahmanas]] – a layer of text within the [[Vedas]], include some terms of art in the Vedic phonetics, such as ''Varna'' and ''Avasana''. The ''Shiksha'' field was likely well developed by the time [[Aranyaka]]s and [[Upanishad]]s layer of the Vedas were being composed.<ref name="Scharfe1977p78"/> The alphabet had been categorized by this time, into vowels (''svara''), stops (''sparsha''), semivowels (''antastha'') and spirants (''ushman'').<ref name="Scharfe1977p78"/> The field was fundamental to the ancient study of linguistics, and it developed as an interest and inquiry into sounds rather than letters.<ref name="Scharfe1977p78"/> ''Shiksha'', as described in these ancient texts, had six chapters – ''varna'' (sound), ''svara'' (accent), ''matra'' (quantity), ''bala'' (strength, articulation), ''saman''(recital) and ''samtana'' (connection between preceding and following sounds).<ref name="Scharfe1977p78"/>

The insights from this field, states Scharfe, "without doubt was applied by Vedic scholars to the art of writing". It also impacted the development of Indic scripts and evolution of language in countries that sought Indian texts or were influenced by Indian religions.<ref name="Scharfe1977p78"/> According to Scharfe, and other scholars, the insights developed in this field, over time, likely also influenced phonetic scripts in parts of East Asia, as well as Arabic grammarian [[Al-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi|Khalil]] in 8th-century CE.<ref name="Scharfe1977p80">{{cite book|author=Hartmut Scharfe|title=Grammatical Literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2_VbnWkZ-SYC&pg=PA207|year=1977|publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag|isbn=978-3-447-01706-0|pages=79–80}}</ref><ref>Hans Jensen (1969), Sign, Symbol and Script, 3rd Edition, Putnam Publishers, {{ISBN|978-0044000211}}, Chapter: ''On the influence of Sanskrit upon phonetic studies in Chinese and Japanese''</ref>

==Discussion==
{{Quote box
|quote = '''Shiksha and the Sanskrit alphabet'''
<poem>
A strictly symmetrical [Sanskrit] alphabet definitely has practical advantages in language teaching, but this is almost certainly not the reason for its highly complex structure. (...) A better explanation of the structural density is the striving for perfect and beautifully formed representation of the object of study. The rule of the grammarians show a similar striving for order.
</poem>
|source = —Annette Wilke and Oliver Moebus{{Sfn|Annette Wilke|Oliver Moebus|2011|p=479}}
|bgcolor=#FFE0BB
|width=30%
|align = right
}}
The ''Shiksha'' field of Vedic studies arranged the Sanskrit alphabet in a rational order, state Wilke and Moebus, each mapped to the anatomical nature of human sounds, from the back to the front – throat (at the very back), palate, palatal ridge, teeth and lips.{{Sfn|Annette Wilke|Oliver Moebus|2011|p=478}} The letters of the Sanskrit alphabet were further organized by the Vedic scholars into a magic square, making symmetrical and resonant alternate readings of the letters possible, such as top to bottom in addition to left to right.{{Sfn|Annette Wilke|Oliver Moebus|2011|pp=478–479}} Further, the ''Shiksha'' scholars added ''Mudra'' (hand signs) to go with each sound, thereby providing a visual confirmation and an alternate means to check the reading integrity by the audience, in addition to the audible means.{{Sfn|Annette Wilke|Oliver Moebus|2011|p=479}}

These Mudras continue to be part of the classical Indian dance tradition.{{Sfn|Annette Wilke|Oliver Moebus |2011|pp=479–480}} This interplay of the gesture and sound in Sanskrit recital, state Wilke and Moebus, is similar to the gesture of a conductor and the sound produced by music players in any classical orchestra.{{Sfn|Annette Wilke|Oliver Moebus|2011|p=480}} In Sanskrit, the posture of the performer is an added dimension to those of pronunciation and gesture, together these empowered muscular memory with acoustic memory in the Hindu tradition of remembering and transmitting Sanskrit texts from one generation to the next, state Wilke and Moebus.{{Sfn|Annette Wilke|Oliver Moebus|2011|p=480}}

The methodical phonetic procedure developed by ''Shiksha'' helped preserve the Vedas without the slightest variants in the most faithful way possible.{{Sfn|Annette Wilke|Oliver Moebus|2011|p=495}} It made the Vedas and embedded Principal Upanishads the canonical scriptures of Hinduism. The rules and symmetric of Siksa helped the student to master enormous volumes of knowledge, and use the embedded codes and rules to self check his memory.{{Sfn|Annette Wilke|Oliver Moebus|2011|p=495}}

However, state Wilke and Moebus, the Shiksha methodology has been not just highly technical, it has strong aesthetic "sensuous, emotive" dimension, which foster thinking and intellectual skills in a participatory fashion.{{Sfn|Annette Wilke|Oliver Moebus|2011|p=499}} The reciter's mind and body are engaged, making language and sound as an emotional performance.{{Sfn|Annette Wilke|Oliver Moebus|2011|p=499}} The study of phonetics functioned to transform a Vedic text, which traditionally was composed as language-music, into a musical performance.{{Sfn|Annette Wilke|Oliver Moebus|2011|pp=500–501}} Individual sounds in the Sanskrit have independent personalities, and the reciter helps develop their character and their timbre, state Wilke and Moebus. Naradiya Siksa, a phonetics treatise on the [[Sama Veda]] explains this aspects of phonology with various similes, such as,

{{Quote|
Just as a tigress takes her cubs tightly in her teeth without hurting them, whilst fearing that she might drop them and injure them, so one should approach the individual syllables.
|Naradiya Siksa 2.8.31|Translated by Annette Wilke and Oliver Moebus,{{Sfn|Annette Wilke|Oliver Moebus|2011|p=500}}}}

===Pratishakhyas===
Pratisakhyas are the oldest ''Shiksha'' textbooks of each branch of the Vedas.{{Sfn|Annette Wilke|Oliver Moebus|2011|p=492}} Later Shiksha texts are more specialized and systematic, and often titled with suffix "Shiksha", such as the Naradiya-Shiksha, Vyasa-Shiksha, Pari-Shiksha and Sarvasammata-Shiksha.{{Sfn|Annette Wilke|Oliver Moebus|2011|pp=492–493}}

The [[Pratisakhya|Pratishakhyas]], which evolved from the more ancient Vedic Texts [[padapatha]]s (''{{IAST|padapāṭha}}'') around 800 BCE, deal with the manner in which the Vedas are to be enunciated. There are separate Pratishakhyas for each Veda. They complement the books called Shiksha written by various authorities. Several Pratishakhyas have survived into the modern era, and these texts refine the structure of sound at different levels of nuance, some adding many more letters to the basic set in the Sanskrit alphabet:<ref name=egenesp152>{{cite book|author=Thomas Egenes|title=Introduction to Sanskrit|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZAu6xhfb4bUC&pg=PA152|year=1996|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-1693-0|pages=152–154}}</ref>
* [[Rigveda]]-Pratishakya: 47 letters<ref name=egenesp152/>
* [[Shukla Yajurveda]]-Pratishakhya: 65 letters<ref name=egenesp152/>
* [[Taittiriya]] (Krishna Yajurveda) Pratishakhya: 52 letters<ref name=egenesp152/>
* [[Atharvaveda]]-Pratishakhya (Shaunakiya shakha)
* [[Samaveda]]-Pratishakhya (Rig-tantra): 57 letters (Pushpasutra is the second Pratishakhya of Samaveda)<ref>{{cite book| author=Kireet Joshi| title=The Veda and Indian Culture: An Introductory Essay| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1CJlM2nhlt0C| year=1991| publisher=Motilal Banarsidass| isbn=978-81-208-0889-8| page=103}}</ref>
* Paniniya-Shiksha: 63 or 64 letters<ref name=egenesp152/>

The Shiksha Texts and the Pratishakhyas led to great clarity in understanding the surface structure of language. For clarity of pronunciation, they broke up the large Vedic [[compound word|compound]]s into [[word stem]]s, prefixes, and suffixes. Certain styles of recitation (''{{IAST|pāṭha}}''), such as the ''{{IAST|jaṭāpāṭha}},'' involved switching syllables, repeating the last word of a line at the beginning of the next, and other permutations. In the process, a considerable amount of [[morphology (linguistics)|morphology]] is discussed, particularly regarding the combination of sequential sounds, which leads to the modalities of [[sandhi]]. The Samaveda Pratishakhya, one of the earliest,<ref>Staal, J. F., ''The Fidelity of Oral Tradition and the Origins of Science''. North-Holland Publishing Company, 1986.</ref> organizes the [[stop consonant]] sounds into a 5x5 ''varga'' or square:

{| class="wikitable" align=center style = " background: transparent; "
|+ The magic square within Sanskrit alphabet{{Sfn|Annette Wilke|Oliver Moebus|2011|pp=477–479}}
|-style="text-align: center;"
! style="background: #ffad66;" |Gutturals
| ka || kha || ga || gha || ṅa
|-style="text-align: center;"
! style="background: #ffad66;" |Palatals
| ca || cha || ja || jha || ña
|-style="text-align: center;"
! style="background: #ffad66;" |Retroflex
| ṭa || ṭha || ḍa || ḍha || ṇa
|-style="text-align: center;"
! style="background: #ffad66;" |Dentals
| ta || tha || da || dha || na
|-style="text-align: center;"
! style="background: #ffad66;" |Labials
| pa || pha || ba || bha || ma
|}

The alphabet is designed such that the difference between sounds is preserved whether you recite it horizontally or vertically. It was extended and completed with [[fricative]]s and [[sibilant]]s, [[semi-vowel]]s, and [[vowel]]s, and was eventually codified into the [[Brahmi alphabet]], which is one of the most systematic sound-to-writing mappings. Scholar Frits Staal has commented, "Like Mendelejev’s Periodic System of Elements, the varga system was the result of centuries of analysis. In the course of that development the basic concepts of phonology were discovered and defined.<ref>Frits Staal, ''The science of language'', Chapter 16 in [[Gavin Flood]], The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism [[Blackwell Publishing]], 2003, 599 pages {{ISBN|0-631-21535-2}}, p. 352.</ref>

The Varga system and the Pratishakshyas, contributions of the Shiksha texts, are elaborate systems which deal with the generation and classification of sound.

===Other Shiksha texts===
{{more citations needed section|date=March 2016}}
In addition, several Shiksha texts exist, most of them in metrical verse form but a few in sutra form. The following list contains some of these surviving texts (English translation of Paniniya Siksa.pdf): Amoghanandini Shiksha, Apisali Shiksha (in sutra form), Aranya Shiksha, Atreya Shiksha, Avasananirnyaya Shiksha, Bharadvaja Shiksha, Chandra Shiksha of Chandragomin (sutra form), Charayaniya Shiksha, Galadrka Shiksha, Kalanirnya Shiksha, Katyayani Shiksha, Kaundinya Shiksha, Keshavi Shiksha, Kramakarika Shiksha, Kramasandhaana Shiksha, Laghumoghanandini Shiksha, Lakshmikanta Shiksha, Lomashi Shiksha, Madhyandina Shiksha, Mandavya Shiksha, Mallasharmakrta Shiksha, Manasvaara Shiksha, Manduki Shiksha, Naradiya Shiksha, Paniniya Shiksha (versified), Paniniya Shiksha (in sutra form), Paniniya Shiksha (with accents), Parashari Shiksha, Padyaatmika Keshavi Shiksha, Pari Shiksha, Pratishakhyapradipa Shiksha, Sarvasammata Shiksha, Shaishiriya Shiksha, Shamaana Shiksha, Shambhu Shiksha, Shodashashloki Shiksha, Shikshasamgraha, Siddhanta Shiksha, Svaraankusha Shiksha, Svarashtaka Shiksha, Svaravyanjana Shiksha, Vasishtha Shiksha, Varnaratnapradipa Shiksha, Vyaali Shiksha, Vyasa Shiksha, Yajnavalkya Shiksha

Although many of these Shiksha texts are attached to specific Vedic schools, others are late texts.

==Sound and alphabet==
{{more citations needed section|date=March 2016}}
Traditionally [[syllables]] (not letters) in Sanskrit are called [[Aksara|''Akshara'']], meaning "imperishable (entity)": "atoms" of speech, as it were. These aksharas are classified mainly into two types:<ref name="ReferenceA">"Siddhanta Kaumudi" by Bhattoji Diksita and "Laghu Siddhanta Kaumudi", by Varadaraja.</ref>
* '''Svara''' ([[Shiva Sutra|pratyahara]] ''ach''): [[Vowel]]
* '''Vyanjana''' (pratyahara ''hal''): [[Consonant]]

''Svara aksharas'' are also known as ''prana akshara''; i.e., they are main sounds in speech, without which speech is not possible. [[Pāṇini]] referred to ''svara'' as ''ac pratyahara''. Later they became known as ''ac Akshara''.

''Vyanjana'' means embellishment, i.e., consonants are used as embellishment in order to yield [[sonorant]] vowels. They are also known as ''Prani akshara''; that is, they are like a body to
which life (''svara'') is added. Pāṇini's name for ''vyanjana'' was ''Hal Pratyahara'', which were later referred to as ''Hal akshara''.

''Vyanjana aksharas'' are divided into three types:
* '''Sparśa''': [[Stop consonant|Stop]]
* '''Antastha''': [[Approximant]]
* '''Uṣman''': [[Sibilant]]
Sparsa aksharas include syllables from ''ka'' to ''ma''; they are 25 in number. Antastha aksharas include syllables ''ya'', ''ra'', ''la'' and ''va''. Usman aksharas include ''śa'', ''ṣa'', ''sa'' and ''ha''.

===Vowels===
{{main|Vedic accent}}
Each vowel can be classified into three types based on the duration of pronunciation (''[[morae]]''):
* '''Hrasva''': [[Short vowel]], Eka-mātra
* '''Dīrgha''': [[Long vowel]], Dvi-mātra
* '''{{IAST|Pluta}}''': Prolonged vowel, Tri-mātra ([[pluti|{{IAST|pluti}}]])
We see that each vowel can be pronounced in three ways according to the duration of articulation.
The unit of time is a ''mātra'', which is approximately 0.2 seconds. It is approximately 0.2 seconds because 1 prana (1 respiration) is 10 long syllables or approximately 4 seconds<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/592174|at=p. 149|jstor=592174|last1=Burgess|first1=Ebenezer|title=Translation of the Sûrya-Siddhânta, A Text-Book of Hindu Astronomy; with Notes, and an Appendix|journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society|year=1858|volume=6}}</ref> and a long syllable is counted as two morae (mātra),<ref>[[Sanskrit prosody#Nomenclature]]</ref>{{Circular reference|date=February 2021}} thus 4÷(10×2) = 0.2.

Each vowel can be further classified into two types based on the manner of pronunciation:
: '''Mukha''': [[Oral vowel|Oral]] (open)
: '''Nāsika''': [[Nasal vowel|Nasal]] (all vowels are considered phonemically oral)

Each vowel can also be classified into three types, that is, pronounced in three ways, based on accent of articulation. This feature was lost in [[Classical Sanskrit]], but used in reciting [[Vedas|Vedic]] and [[Upanishad]]ic [[hymn]]s and [[mantra]]s.{{citation needed|date=March 2016}}
: '''Udātta''': high pitch
: '''Anudātta''': low pitch
: '''Svarita''': descending pitch (usually follows high pitch)

===Articulation===
Generally, in [[articulatory phonetics]], the [[place of articulation]] (or ''point of articulation'') of a consonant is the point of contact, where an obstruction occurs in the vocal tract between an active (moving) articulator (typically some part of the tongue) and a passive (stationary) articulator (typically some part of the roof of the mouth).{{citation needed|date=March 2016}}

But according to Indian linguistic tradition,<ref name="ReferenceA"/> there are five ''passive'' places of articulation:
: '''{{IAST|Kaṇṭhya}}''': [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
: '''Tālavya''': [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
: '''Mūrdhanya''': [[Retroflex consonant|Retroflex]]
: '''Dantya ''': [[Dental consonant|Dental]]
: '''Ōṣṭhya ''': [[Labial consonant|Labial]]

Apart from that, other articulations are combinations of the above five places:{{citation needed|date=March 2016}}
: '''Dant'oṣṭhya''': [[Labio-dental]] (E.g.: v)
: '''Kanthatālavya''': e.g.: [[Diphthong]] e
: '''Kaṇṭhōṣṭhya''': labial-velar (E.g.: Diphthong o)

There are three ''active'' places of articulation:
: '''Jihvāmūla''': [[dorsal consonant|tongue root]], for [[velar]]
: '''Jihvāmadhya''': [[laminal|tongue body]], for [[palatal]]
: '''Jihvāgra''': [[Apical consonant|tip of tongue]], for [[Retroflex consonant|cerebral]] and [[Dental consonant|dental]]
: '''{{IAST|Adhōṣṭha}}''': [[lower lip]], for [[Labial consonant|labial]]

Effort (or [[Manner of articulation|manner]]) of articulation ('''{{IAST|Uccāraṇa Prayatna}}''') is of two types for consonants,{{citation needed|date=March 2016}}
: '''Bāhya Prayatna''': External effort
:: '''{{IAST|Spṛṣṭa}}''': [[Plosive]]
:: '''{{IAST|Īshat Spṛṣṭa}}''': [[Approximant]]
:: '''{{IAST|Īshat Saṃvṛta}}''': [[Fricative]]
: '''Abhyantara Prayatna''': Internal effort
:: '''Alpaprāṇa''': [[Unaspirated]]
:: '''Mahāprāṇa''': [[Aspiration (phonetics)|Aspirated]]
:: '''Śvāsa''': [[Unvoiced]]
:: '''Nāda''': [[Voiced]]

===Articulation of consonants===
Articulation of consonants will be a logical combination of components in the two prayatnas.{{citation needed|date=March 2016}} The below table gives a view upon articulation of consonants.

{|class="wikitable"
|+ Samskrita Vyanjana Ucchārana Pattika<ref>"Telugulo Chandovisheshaalu", Page 127 (In Telugu).</ref>
|-
! {{IAST|Prayatna Niyamāvalī}}
! [[Velar consonant|{{IAST|Kanthya}}]] ({{IAST|jihvāmūla}})
! [[Palatal consonant|{{IAST|Tālavya}}]] ({{IAST|jihvāmadhya}})
! [[Retroflex consonant|{{IAST|Mūrdhanya}}]] ({{IAST|jihvāgra}})
! [[Dental consonant|{{IAST|Dantya}}]] ({{IAST|jihvāgra}})
! [[Labiodental consonant|{{IAST|Dantoṣṭya}}]]
! [[Labial consonant|{{IAST|Oṣṭya}}]] ({{IAST|adhosta}})
|-
! ''[[Plosive|Sparśa]]'', [[Unvoiced|Śvāsa]], [[Unaspirated|Alpaprāṇa]]
| ka
| ca
| {{IAST|ṭa}}
| ta
| —
| pa
|-
! ''[[Plosive|Sparśam]]'', [[Unvoiced|Śvāsa]], [[Unaspirated|Mahāprāṇa]]
| kha
| cha
| {{IAST|ṭha}}
| tha
| —
| pha
|-
! ''[[Plosive|Sparśa]]'', [[Voiced|Nāda]], [[Unaspirated|Alpaprāṇa]]
| ga
| ja
| {{IAST|ḍa}}
| da
| —
| ba
|-
! ''[[Plosive|Sparśa]]'', [[Voiced|Nāda]], [[Unaspirated|Mahāprāṇa]]
| gha
| jha
| {{IAST|ḍha}}
| dha
| —
| bha
|-
! ''[[Plosive|Sparśa]]'', [[Voiced|Nāda]], [[Unaspirated|Alpaprāṇa]], [[Nasal stop|Anunāsika]], [[Liquid consonant|Drava]], [[Frication|Avyāhata]]
| {{IAST|ṅa}}
| ña
| {{IAST|ṇa}}
| na
| —
| ma
|-
! ''[[Plosive|Antastha]]'', [[Voiced|Nāda]], [[Unaspirated|{{IAST|Alpaprāṇa}}]], [[Liquid consonant|Drava]], [[Frication|Avyāhata]]
| —
| ya
| ra ([[Rhotics|Lunthita]])
| la ([[Lateral consonant|Pārśvika]])
| va
| —
|-
! ''[[Plosive|{{IAST|Ūṣman}}]]'', [[Unvoiced|Śvāsa]], [[Unaspirated|{{IAST|Mahāprāṇa}}]], [[Frication|Avyāhata]]
| [[Visarga]]
| śa
| {{IAST|ṣa}}
| sa
| —
| —
|-
! ''[[Plosive|Ūṣman]]'', [[Voiced|Nāda]], [[Unaspirated|Mahāprāṇa]], [[Frication|Avyāhata]]
| ha
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|}

==See also==
* [[Shiva Sutra]]
* [[Nandinagari]]
* [[Devanagari]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

===Bibliography===
*{{cite book| author1=Annette Wilke| author2=Oliver Moebus| title=Sound and Communication: An Aesthetic Cultural History of Sanskrit Hinduism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KZCMe67IGPkC| year=2011| publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=978-3-11-018159-3}}
*{{cite book|author=Guy L. Beck|title=Sonic Theology: Hinduism and Sacred Sound|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZgybmMnWpaUC&pg=PA35|year=1995|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-1261-1}}
*{{cite book |first=Manmohan |last=Ghosh |publisher=University of Calcutta |title=Pāņinīya-Śikṣā |year=1938 |url=https://archive.org/details/PaniniyaShiksha/page/n0/mode/2up}}
*{{Google books|Bd5Vr7FR-OsC|The Tâittirîya-Prâtiçâkhya: With Its Commentary, the Tribhâshyaratna}}, William Whitney (1871)

==External links==
*[http://www.sanskritweb.net/yajurveda/tp-comb.pdf Taittiriya-Pratisakhya], WD Whitney, Journal of the American Oriental Society

{{Hindudharma}}

[[Category:Vedangas]]
[[Category:Hindu texts]]
[[Category:Phonetics]]
[[Category:History of linguistics]]