Course Content

The course begins with a detailed study of hal-sandhi, or consonant sandhi, as expounded in the Laghu Siddhānta Kaumudī. This section explores how adjacent consonants interact at word and morpheme boundaries, leading to voicing, substitution, assimilation, or elision. Special attention is given to the behavior of stops, sibilants, semivowels, and nasals, and to the phonetic rationale underlying these changes, as explained through key Pāṇinian rules.

The syllabus then proceeds to nasal and anusvāra sandhi, addressing the conditions under which final nasals are replaced by anusvāra and the principles governing homorganic nasal substitution (parasavarṇa). Both obligatory and optional forms are studied, with illustrative examples drawn from classical Sanskrit usage, enabling students to recognize acceptable variants and apply the rules correctly in practice.

Finally, the course covers visarga sandhi, examining the origin and phonetic nature of the visarga and its transformations in different phonological environments. Students study the substitution of visarga by s, r, ś, or ṣ, as well as cases of retention or elision, depending on the following sound. The application of major Pāṇinian sūtras governing visarga changes is emphasized, along with their relevance to accurate recitation and textual interpretation.