Re: Virama (was: New and Improved Script....)
| From: | BP Jonsson <bpj@...> |
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| Date: | Tuesday, March 21, 2000, 10:45 |
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At 12:57 20.3.2000 -0800, Barry Garcia wrote:
>CONLANG@LISTSERV.BROWN.EDU writes:
> >Wouldn't know. I call it "virama" when I have reason to call it
> >something.
>
>I call it virama because it's much shorter than "vowel killer".
It is derived from a Sanskrit verb _ramyate_ meaning 'come to/be at rest';
with _vi-_ prefixed the verb means 'to cease'. The nominal derivative
_(vi)raama_ isnt tecnically a gerund, but it acts as one here. As a
grammatical/orthoepical term _viraama_ means 'pause'.
/BP
"Doubt grows with knowledge" -Goethe