deriv SD cv (14) ashtadhyayi.com hei.de L 14 ETT STT a 1.1.9 ALPH OLDHOMEPAGE NEWHOMEPAGE

tulyAsya-prayatnaM savarNam

तुल्यास्यॱप्रयत्नं सवर्णम् ONPANINI 11009

Sounds with same position and openness are called /savarNa.

Two letters are /savarNa ("have the same color", "are homorganic") when they are said with the same position and the same openness.

t th d dh n त्थ्द्ध्न् are /savarNa to each other because tongue is touching teeth in all — exact same position (teeth), and exact same openness (fully closed). In the n न् some air goes out through the nose, but that doesn't matter.

s स् and t त् have the same position (teeth) but not the same openness — t त् is closed while s स् is bit open. Therefore they are not /savarNa.

i इ and I ई are /savarNa, same position and openness. They differ in duration, but that does not matter.

I ई and e ए are not /savarNa because e ए is more open, even though duration and position are the same.

There are some exceptions to this rule:

1. e ai o au ए ऐ ओ औ are never /savarNa to anything, not even to themselves.
2. By rule aa, a अ and A आ are /savarNa of each other, even though in actual speech they differ in openness.
3. By rule nAjjhalau >, i इ is not savarNa to z श्, and R ऋ not to r र्, even thought they have the same position and openness.
4. By a /vArttika, R ऋ and L ऌ are savarNa.

The /savarNahood of R ऋ and L ऌ has two purposes. First, it makes rule uraNraparaH manage the change of L ऌ into al अल् too. Secondly, it makes the sandhi of R ऋ and L ऌ be RR ॠ.