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The group of letters

The group of letters (Skt. vyañjanakāya; Tib. yi ge’i tshogs) is one of the three groups of traditional grammar.

The Sutra of Letters

The analysis in this section is done mainly according to the Sutra of Letters (Skt. Varṇasūtra; Tib. yi ge’i mdo), with backtranslation to the Sanskrit based on reading Ballantyne’s translation of the Laghu Kaumudi and on Apte’s 14th entry for sthānam.

Letters (Skt. vyañjana, varṇa, akṣara; Tib. yi ge) have 3 causes:

  1. place (Skt. sthāna; Tib. gnas)
    1. chest (Skt. ura; Tib. brang)
    2. throat (Skt. kaṇṭha; Tib. mgrin pa)
    3. head (Skt. śiras; Tib. mgo)
    4. tongue root (Skt. jihvāmūla; Tib. lce’i rtsa ba)
    5. teeth (Skt. danta; Tib. so)
    6. nose (Skt. nāsikā; Tib. sna)
    7. lips (Skt. oṣṭha; Tib. mchu)
    8. palate (Skt. tālu; Tib. rkan)
  2. instrument (Skt. karaṇa; Tib. byed pa)
  3. effort (Skt. prayatna; Tib. rab tu rtsol ba)
    • inner (Skt. ābhyantara; Tib. nang)
      1. closed (Skt. saṃvṛta; Tib. dog pa)
      2. open (Skt. vivṛta; Tib. yangs pa)
      3. touching (Skt. spṛṣṭa; Tib. reg pa)
      4. slightly touching (Skt. īṣatspṛṣṭa; Tib. cung zad reg pa)
    • outer (Skt. bāhya; Tib. phyi)
      • non-resonant (Skt. aghoṣa; Tib. dbyangs med pa)
      • barely aspirated (Skt. alpaprāṇa; Tib. srog chung ngu)
      • very aspirated (Skt. mahāprāṇa; Tib. srog chen po)
      • resonant (Skt. ghoṣa; Tib. dbyangs dang ldan pa)
      • warm (Skt. uṣman; Tib. dro ba)

There are 3 vowel lengths:

  1. short (Skt. hrasva; Tib. thung ba)
  2. long (Skt. dīrgha; Tib. ring ba)
  3. prolated (Skt. pluta; Tib. shin tu ring po)

And 3 vowel tones:

  1. low (Skt. anudātta; Tib. thur du sbyin pa)
  2. high (Skt. udātta; Tib. gyen du sbyin pa)
  3. straight (Skt. svarita; Tib. thad kar sbyin pa)

Through the combination of length and tone there are 9 forms of a vowel, and through the combination of those with either the presence of nasality (Skt. anunāsikatva; Tib. sna ldan dang bcas pa) or the absence of nasality (Skt. ananunāsikatva; Tib. sna ldan dang bral ba), there are a maximum of 18 forms for a given vowel letter.

The Weapon-Like Door of Speech

The analysis in this section is done on the basis of the Weapon-Like Door of Speech (Skt. Vacanamukhayudhopama; Tib. smra ba’i sgo mtshon cha lta bu) by Smṛtijñānakīrti.