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The [[pitch accent]] of [[Vedic Sanskrit]], or '''Vedic accent''' for brevity, is traditionally divided by [[Sanskrit grammar]]ians into three qualities, '''''udātta''''' उदात्त "raised" ([[acute accent]], high pitch), '''''anudātta''''' अनुदात्त "not raised" (from अ(न्)- ([[negative prefix]]) + उदात्त) (unstressed, or low pitch, [[grave accent]]) and '''''svarita''''' स्वरित "sounded" (high falling pitch, corresponds to the Latin [[circumflex]] accent). It is most similar to the pitch-accent system of modern-day [[Japanese pitch accent|Japanese]].

==Accents==
In Vedic Sanskrit, most of the words have one accented syllable, which is traditionally called ''udātta'' ("raised") and written with an [[acute accent|acute mark]] {{angle bracket|◌́}} in the transcription. The position of that accent in inherited words generally reflects the position of [[Proto-Indo-European accent]], which means it was ''free'' and so not phonologically predictable from the shape of the word. Some words ([[finite verb]]s of [[main clause]]s, [[vocative case|vocative]]s that do not occur sentence initially, and certain pronouns and particles) do not have an accented syllable, consisting of unaccented syllables.

Unaccented syllables are called ''anudātta'' ("not raised") and are not marked in the transcription. Phonetically, accented Rigvedic syllable was characterized by height (rather than prominence) as a "high tone", immediately falling in the next syllable. The falling tone in the post-tonic syllable is called ''svarita'' ("sounded"). For example, in the first [[pada (foot)|pada]] of the [[Rigveda]], the transliteration
:''{{IAST|agním īḷe puróhitaṃ}}'' अग्निम् ईळे पुरोहितं (classical: अग्निम् ईडे पुरोहितं)
:"[[Agni]] I praise, the [[purohita|high priest]]."
means that the eight syllables have an intonation of
:A-U-S-A-A-U-S-A (where A=anudātta, U=udātta, S=svarita),
or iconically,
:<tt>_¯\__¯\_</tt>
''{{IAST|īḷe}}'' ईळे (classical: ईडे) is a finite verb and thus has no ''udātta'', but its first [[syllable]] is ''svarita'' because the previous syllable is ''udātta''. [[Vedic meter]] is independent of Vedic accent and exclusively determined by syllable weight, so that metrically, the pada reads as
:<tt>-.--.-.x</tt> (the second half-pada is [[Iamb (foot)|iambic]]).

When the [[Vedas]] were composed, ''svarita'' was not phonologically relevant. However, linguistic changes in [[speech|oral]] transmission of the [[samhita]] before it was written down, mostly by the loss of syllabicity of high vowels when followed by a vowel, the tone has become relevant and is called an ''independent svarita''. In transcription, it is written as a [[grave accent|grave mark]] {{angle bracket|◌̀}}. Such ''svarita'' may follow an ''anudātta''. For example, in RV 1.10.8c,
:''{{IAST|jéṣaḥ súvarvatīr apá}}'' जेषः सुवर्वतीर् अप
:U-S-U-S-A-A-A-U
:<tt>¯\¯\___¯</tt>
became
:''{{IAST|jéṣaḥ svàrvatīr apá}}''
:U-S-'''S'''-A-A-A-U
:<tt>¯\\___¯</tt>

Independent svarita is caused by [[sandhi]] of adjacent vowels. There are four variants of it:
*''{{IAST|jātya}}'' (= "[[innate]]") (from changes within a word, as in ''{{IAST|kvà}}'' for ''{{IAST|kúa}}'', as in the example above (''u'' becomes ''v'' before a vowel)
*''{{IAST|kṣaipra}}'' (= "caused by quickness") (''u'' becoming ''v'' or ''i'' becoming ''y'' where two words meet, as in ''{{IAST|vy-ā̀pta}}'' for ''{{IAST|ví-āpta}}'') (''i'' becomes ''y'' before a vowel)
*''{{IAST|praśliṣṭa}}'' (= "coalescence") (vowel contraction where two words meet, as in ''{{IAST|divī̀va}}'' for ''{{IAST|diví-iva}}'')
*''{{IAST|abhinihita}}'' (= "close contact") ([[prodelision]] with [[avagraha]], where two words meet, as in ''{{IAST|tè-'bruvan}}'' for ''{{IAST|té-abruvan}}'').
Independent svarita occurs about 1300 times in the [[Rigveda]], or in about 5% of [[pada (foot)|pada]]s.

==Notation==
In [[Latin script]] transcription, udātta is marked with an acute accent, independent svarita is marked with a grave accent, and other syllables are unaccented, and not marked.

In [[Devanagari]] editions of the [[Rigveda samhita]]:
*''svarita'' is marked with a small upright stroke above a syllable: ◌॑ ([[Unicode]]: U+0951).
*''anudātta'' is marked.
** If it is right before an ''udātta'' or an independent ''svarita'', it is marked with a horizontal line below the syllable: ◌॒ ([[Unicode]]: U+0952).
** If the first syllable in a ''pada'' is ''anudātta'', that syllable and all following syllables that are ''anudātta'' are marked with the horizontal line up to but not including the first syllable not an ''anudātta''.
* If an independent ''svarita'' syllable is right before an ''udātta'' syllable, instead of putting the ''anudātta'' mark and the ''svarita'' mark on the same syllable, a numeral 1 (१) (if the ''svarita'' vowel is short) or a numeral 3 (३) (if the ''svarita'' vowel is long) is written between the syllables in question, and the numeral bears both the ''svarita'' mark and the ''anudātta'' mark: अ॒प्सु (''apsú'') + अ॒न्तः (''antáḥ'') → अ॒प्स्व१॒॑न्तः (''apsvà''(1)''ntáḥ''), or क्व॑ (''kvà'') + इ॒दानीं॑ (''idā́nīṃ'') → क्वे३॒॑दानीं॑ (''kvè''(3)''dā́nīṃ'') <ref>''A Vedic Grammar for Students'', by Arthur Anthony Macdonnell, [[Motilal Banarsidass]]</ref>
*All other syllables are unmarked.

==See also==
* [[Proto-Indo-European accent]]
*[[Pitch-accent language]]
*[[Proto-Slavic language#Pitch_accent|Mobile accent in Slavic]]
* {{IAST|[[Śikṣā]]}}
* [[Vedic chant]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*http://www.evertype.com/standards/iso10646/pdf/vedic/Vedic_accents_doc.pdf

[[Category:Sanskrit grammar]]
[[Category:Vedas]]
[[Category:Tone (linguistics)]]
[[Category:Indian poetics]]
[[Category:Poetic rhythm]]
[[Category:Indo-European phonologies]]

Vedic accent - Revision history

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