A Malayalam and English dictionary/Notes by the publisher

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A Malayalam and English dictionary രചന:ഹെർമൻ ഗുണ്ടർട്ട് (1872)

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[ 13 ] NOTES BY THE PUBLISHER.

1. The Transliteration, adopted for the leading words upon Dr. Lepsius's system, is mainly given to assist European students of the language, who may feel the need of such a help. This system follows the pronunciation and is fully explained under the head "Trans- literation". Foreign words are usually trans- literated in their original shape. 2. Sanscrit Roots. It is necessary to make a few remarks regarding the form of the Sanscrit roots and words which are given in this Dictionary. In the South of India the Grammar of Pāṇini is alone studied, and it is indeed the greatest work on Sanscrit Grammar, but roots and words are not always given here in the forms which a student of Pāṇini would expect. In every grammar it is necessary to adopt some conventional way of indicating the changes that roots and words formed from them undergo, and for this purpose there is in Pāṇini's Grammar an elaborate apparatus of letters added to roots, and which are called anubandha, and even letters which form part of the root itself are arbitrarily changed. So we find in the Dhātu-pāṭha (or list of roots) šṭhā for sthā, and hṛṅ for hṛ. The Grammars of Vopadēva, šāka- ṭāyana etc. have a totally different set of such letters, Philologists in Europe have found that it is an improvement to change the Indian sys- tem in some respects, and the authors of the St. Petersburg Dictionary * of Sanscrit, which is by far the best and most complete, have adopted this view. Philologists have come to the conclusion that the vowels ṛ, ṝ and ḷi are not primitive, so

in this Dictionary Dr. Gundert generally gives words according to this view as adopted by the authors of the St. Petersburg Dictio- nary. The roots which end in the above vowels will here be found ending in r, e.g. d ṛ is given as dar; d h ṛ as dhar; h ṛ as har. So also the numerous nouns signifying an agent which end in ṛ would here be given as ending in ar; e.g. kartṛ as kartar. So also diphthongs which terminate roots in the dhātupāṭha are considered as secondary, and thus instead of gai we find gā; and sā instead of sō. Natives of India who consult Dr. Gundert's work must not be led away by the idea that the only right or possible ways of representing Sans- crit roots and words are those which Indian Grammarians have found convenient. A little experience will convince them that the contrary is the case. 3. The Dravidian element in Sanscrit. A number of words apparently of Sanscrit origin have, on closer examination, turn- ed out to be merely sanscritized Dravidian words. The author of this Dictionary, in a German paper on this subject, has pointed out* many such words e.g. kēyūram, putraṅ, markaḍam, viraḷam, etc. Their reception and especially that of puttaɤam into Sans- crit may, as the author observed, be considered a strong proof of a once flourishing literary period in the Deccan, whenever that time may have been.—Sometimes the words or roots of both languages coincide, without however justi-

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fying the prima facie conclusion that the one has borrowed from the other. Further, words commonly taken as Dravidian, will be found to have been imported; doubts regarding the origin of others are still entertained. The study and comparison of the Dravidian tongues, though at present carried on by a very few only, will, it is hoped, result in throwing more light on this in- teresting subject. 4. In the arrangement of the Al- phabet a slight but rational deviation, affecting the sequence of 2 letters, has been found necessary, viz: a) ക്ഷ, being a compound letter (= ക+ഷ) and consequently akin to ക്ര etc., has been plac- ed under and at the end of ക. –b) റ follows half r (1), which partakes of the ര & റ sounds, comp. വേർതിരിക്ക, വേൎത്തിരിക്ക, വേറുത്തിരിക്ക. 5. The long vowels ē (േ) and ō (േ-ാ) have been used consistently throughout the Dictionary in order to put an end to doubt and vagueness. Their general introduction into writing and printing is highly desirable. 6. Regarding the doubling of con- sonants in Malayāḷam composition, some diffi- culties were experienced. a) In Malayāḷam Compound Nouns, as a rule, the consonant is doubled after the long vowels ā, ī, ū, ē, ei, palatal a, i, full u, the final consonants r, l, ḷ,ḻ , after m dropped in Mal. or Sanscr, Nouns (മരത്തോപ്പു M., ഭസ്മക്കൊട്ട S. and M.). It occurs often after short pure a, seldom after ụ, fluctuates with i, e.g. വഴിക്കേടു and വഴികേടു (മുനി പ്പെരുമാൾ, ബുദ്ധിതിരക്കു S. and M.) even after dropped m, e.g. അകതാർ, is often optional after final consonants, e.g. തട്ടി ന്മേൽ കളി, മുൾചെടി etc., not observed in കൈകാൎയ്യം etc. b) In Compounds of Nouns and verbs, e.g. മതിപോരുക, കൈതൊഴുക, reduplication is not required; it may however occur after Accusatives; with some adverbial participles

as e.g. തങ്ങളെക്കൊണ്ടു, എന്നെച്ചൊല്ലി etc. it cannot be spared. c) In Compounds of Verbs with Verbs redu- plication is necessary after the Infinitive, e.g. വെളുക്കത്തേച്ചു and the past tense in i, e.g. തിക്കിത്തിരക്കി etc. In the case of ആയി the metre decides it, e.g. p. 127 ഉണ്ണിത്വമായിക്ക ഴിയും, p. 153 ഊഴരായിചെന്നു (=യ്. യ്ച) etc. These rules and their exceptions, as set forth by the author of this Dictionary in his Malayā- ḷam Grammar (see Sandhi § 87, Samāsarūpam §§ 162 - 169) and sanctioned by the language, have, in all doubtful cases, been the guides of the readers of the proofs who are acquainted with North & South Malayāḷam. 7. A complete list of Abbreviations of grammatical and technical terms, works of re- ference, etc. is given separately. Besides these recourse has been had to 4 modes of shortening words in quotations, viz: a) A fullstop after the first syllable implies the whole word which, in this case, is not affected by affixes, Sandhi, etc., e.g. ബുദ്ധി മോ.(ശം), ന.(ടപ്പു)കടിയാന്മാർ, ശ.(ക്തി)ക്ക ടുത്ത, വാ.(യു)വിന്റെ, വ.(ടിവു)മാനാൻ, വി.(രുതു)ം, വി.(രുതു)ടയ, വ.(രിക)യില്ല etc. b) An apostrophe (') after the first syllable points to the omission of one or more letters in the body of the word, e.g. മോ'(ക്ഷ) ത്തെ, മോ'(ക്ഷ)ങ്ങൾ, അ'(ഭ്യാസ)വും, വി' (ശ്രമി)ച്ചാൻ, വീ'(ളു)വാൻ, വേ'(ർവിടു)ന്നി ല്ല, വി'(ശ്വൈക)നാഥൻ etc. c) The dash(—) marks the omission of either the first member of a compound, e.g. പ ഞ്ഞി: –ക്കുരു = പഞ്ഞിക്കുരു, or of the last one, e.g. പാല: ദേവ – = ദേവപാല etc. d) A dash (—), hyphen (-) or ellipsis (...) in a quotation shows that a word or words have been omitted. 8. The virāma (˘) indicates: a) That the consonant over which it is plac- ed is to be pronounced without any vowel

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after it, e.g., കീഴ്, ശുഭ്. It is used also to indicate an arbitrary division of words in a sentence which would otherwise be written continuously, e.g. തരളം p. 432 പ രബ്രഹ്മത്തോട് ഒന്നിച്ച് അദ്വൈതമായി reads: പരബ്രഹ്മത്തോടൊന്നിപ്പദ്വൈതമാ യി. This is done for the convenience, of the reader. b) To show the real and accurate pronun- ciation of the half u as ụ. It is used also where by the ordinary orthography this is improperly written as a, e.g. where അവൎക്ക instead of അവൎക്കു is found, we write അവൎക്ക്. 9. The mark of quotation (“ ”) either points to a literal meaning, ƒ.i. p. 991 വേതാ ണ്ഡം "bather', or to a word received into Eng- lish, ƒ.i. "godown” fr. കിടങ്ങു etc. 10. The different species of animals, plants etc. which come under the same genus in Mala- yāḷam are mostly to be found under the leading word, see ƒ. i. II, മാൻ, ചിറാക, താളി, വണ്ടി, വ സൂരി, etc. some of these for linguistic or other reasons may appear under the qualifying word which forms the first member of the compound, ƒ.i. വെള്ളപ്പച്ച. Parts of plants etc. are enumerated under their respective leading words, see ƒ. i. വാഴ, തു ലാം etc., and are besides to be found separately. Certain Compounds, which are not to be found under the ƒirst word, should be looked for under the second, ƒ.i. സൂചിമെതിയടി is to be found under മെതിയടി, ചിത്തരംഗം under അ രംഗം, ഉപവീതം under വീതം etc.—Moreover less common Sanscrit words compounded with one or more prefixes may be found under the simpler words: അവ്യാഹൃതം under വ്യാഹൃതം, അ തിസമ്മോദം under സമ്മോദം, സവിസ്മിതം under വിസ്മിതം, സുവ്രതികൻ under വ്രതികൻ, etc.

Again regarding a number of Sanscrit compounds, ƒ.i. വി–ദ്രുമം, വി–പ്ര–ലംബം etc. additional in- formation may be gathered by referring to the simple word. 11. It need scarcely be said that, in seeking for certain compounds under their leading words, care must be taken to find out the proper one, ƒ.i. whether മനശ്ശില belongs to മനസ്സു, മ ന, or മനം, വെള്ളെഴുത്തു to വെള്ളം or വെള്ള, ആ ട്ടുകൊറ്റൻ to ആടു or ആട്ടു etc. In fact every leading article should be read through whenever the Dictionary is consulted. By doing this the student will soon be able to find each word in its appointed place, ƒ.i. V.N.വെപ്പു and CV. വെപ്പിക്ക under വെക്ക, the v. a കഴി ക്ക and അടെക്ക under കഴിയുക and അടയുക, നിറെക്ക under നിറ etc., the v. n. നിറക്ക under നിറം, നിറയുക, under നിറ etc. Matter, which may be omitted in the alphabetical list subjoined to leaders will be found under their definition. This way of using the Dictionary recommends itself also on other grounds. Hints thrown out here and there in the Dictionary are intended to foster a spirit of enquiry. 12. The Appendix furnishes supple- mentary matter in alphabetical order. Though the Publisher as well as the Editor, the Rev. E. Diez, Palghaut, and their respective native assistants have spared no pains to render the book as correct as possible, yet on account of the complicated nature of the work, the typographical difficulties, the distance of the Editor from the Press, and the delay in obtaining information from the author, now in Germany, on doubtful points, a number of errors have crept into the print, which have also been noticed in the Appendix, for the most part from notes furnished by the author.