— 8 —
5. Which are the semi-consonants?
'Am' and 'ah'.
6. How many consonants are there?
ka, kha, ga, gha, nga,
cha, chha, ja, jha, ńa
ṭa, ṭha ḍa, ḍha, ṇa,
ta, tha da, dha, na,
pa, pha, ba, bha, ma,
ya, ra, r̥a, la, va, zha, ḷa,
ša, sha, sa, ha, ksha.
These thirty-seven are consonants.
7. Of these consonants how many are pure Dravidian
letters?
ka, cha ṭa, ta, pa, r̥a,
nga, ńa, ṇa na, ma, (n),
ya, ra, la, va, zha, ḷa.
These eighteen are pure Dravidian letters.
8. How many of these are Sanskrit letters?
| kha, ga, gha, chha, ja, jha, ṭha, ḍa, ḍha, |
tha, da, dha, pha, ba, bha, ša, sha, sa, ha, ksha. |
These twenty are Sanskrit letters.
N. B. The short vowel 'a' is inherent in all consonants that
have not any other vowel expressed. Hence these so-called letters
are really syllables. Consonants destitute of a following vowel
have another form.
