6. Indology 63
t h e W e s t e r n Scholars. Detail study of i n d i v i d u a l t a l e - t y p e will amply r e w a r d t h e scholars in finding out new facts. Kaarle K r o h n ( 1863-1933), w h o first applied t h e historic-geographic m e t h o d to t h e study of the folktale held t h a t only by special studies of each story, based on as a large n u m b e r of versions as possible, could one h o p e to a p p r o a c h a real knowledge of t h e facts.
T h e t y p e - m o t i f classification of Indian folklore materials will lead to another stimulating study in w h i c h t h e late Professor
M a u r i c e Bloomfield, t h e doyen of Indologists and his c o - w o r k e r s are pioneers This relates to t h e study of some significant t r a i t s i n a group of tales as in Bloomfield's O n Talking Bird in H i n d u Fiction ; on recurring psychic motifs in H i n d u fiction of laughter and cry m o t i f ; on a r t of entering another's body ; D o h a d a or craving of p r e g n a n t w o m a n ; on overhearing as a motif of H i n d u fiction etc.
It is t r u e t h a t a tale primarily provides e n t e r t a i n m e n t or gives aesthetic pleasure. O n careful analysis, h o w e v e r , it will b e a p p a r e n t t h a t many tales c o n t a i n elements w h i c h may h a v e been " survivals "
of beliefs, customs, superstitions, rituals, magic and earlier age.
Professor E b e r h a r d considers folktale materials a fossilised social and religious history. T o him folktale is a key to unlock t h e door of intellectual and spiritual history of a n a t i o n and a tool to i n t e r p r e t many of t h e concepts and t e c h n i q u e propounded by Freud and o t h e r psychoanalists. Stith T h o m s o n observes t h a t w h e n t h e folklorists has done his best to discover all t h e f a c t s about t h e life history of t h e tale, there may be room f o r t h e psychologists, t h e sociologists and t h e anthropologists. A l t h o u g h folktale cannot be substituted f o r history, it c a n nevertheless c o n t r i b u t e valuable i n f o r m a t i o n about people and their way of life and t h o u g h t w h i c h t h e historian is not likely to o b t a i n i n any o t h e r way. History i n t e r p r e t e d
t h r o u g h m y t h , legend, and anecdote reveals basic emotional elements of. fear, hatred, love, affection, pride and courage. It needs no emphasis to illustrate t h a t folktale and folklore in all countries keep t h e past alive as it was f e l t by c o m m o n f o l k . By its very n a t u r e m y t h , legend and tale constitute living c u l t u r a l history of a c o u n t r y .
1 6
Vowel assimilation in Bengali and Munda H e r m a n n BERGER, Calcutta, I n d i a
From t h e earliest times Bengali has had a predilection for assi
milation of vowels. T h e r e are t w o main types. T h e first t y p e c o n v e r t s a into o, when t h e vowel of t h e next syllable is e i t h e r i or u (ohdkto " d e v o t e d " , b u t bhokti " d e v o t i o n " , kdre " m a k e s " , b u t koruk " he shall make " ), and e becomes se b e f o r e all o t h e r vowels,
Originalveröffentlichung in: Dandekar, R.N. (Hrsg.): Summaries of papers. New Delhi, 1964, S. 63-64
64 Summaries of Papers
except before i and u ( dsekhe " he sees dsekho " see ! ", b u t dekhi
" I see dekhuk " he shall see " ). T h e second type, w h i c h is m u c h older and arose as early as in Early Middle Bengali, converts o and e i n t o u and i b e f o r e u and i, and u and i become o and e before other vowels, except before i and u, This change affects especially t h e verbal system ( cf. curi " I steal ", b u t core he steals ", kinuk " he shall buy ", b u t kene " he buys " e t c . ) . Both types are remarkable f o r t h e fact t h a t w i t h t h e m it is not t h e palatal or labial articulation w h i c h are assimilated— as i n o t h e r systems of vowel harmony ( f . i.
in Old H i g h G e r m a n or T u r k i s h ) —, b u t t h e degree of t h e a p e r t u r e of t h e m o u t h . Close phenomena corresponding to these are f o u n d in M u n d a . I n Santali special vowels occur before i and u, w h i c h P . O . Bodding calls " r e s u l t a n t v o x e l s " and which seem to b e articulated w i t h a narrower a p e r t u r e of t h e m o u t h ( w h i c h is actually caused by t h e raising of t h e t o n g u e ) t h a n t h e ordinary vowels. T h e second t y p e is already P r o t o - M u n d a . I n t h e P r o t o - M u n d a words r e c o n s t r u c t e d by H . J. P i n n o w in his " K h a r i a Phonology " there are many examples of t h e sequence u-i, i - u etc.
and o - e, o - a etc., b u t very few of o - i, i - o, o - u, u - o and no case at all of e - i, i - e, e - u, u - e. As at least t h e second type of assimilation is much older in M u n d a t h a n in Bengali, it is clear t h a t t h e latter has been influenced by M u n d a and not t h e way round.
1 7
The Legend of Suparna through the Ages H . L. N. BHARATI, Hoshiarpur, India.
T h e purpose of my approach to t h e subject Suparna is to t r a c e t h e development of t h e legend and conceptions of Suparna f r o m t h e Veda to Classical period, thereby ascribing a divine origin and definite and i n d e p e n d e n t position to Suparna in t h e whole of Indian Literature. T h e following points are examined :—
L References to Suparna in t h e Vedic Texts — C o n c e p t i o n of t h e word Suparna — T h e bird that brings Soma from heaven ( also called Syena ).
II. References to Suparna in Post-Vedic texts namely Epics ( t h e Ramayana and t h e Mahabharata ) a n d P u r a n a s — t h e i r narration of t h e legend — Suparnadhyaya — I n w h a t respects they are different f r o m each other and their development in comparison with the Vedic data—Change in conception of Suparna — G a r u d a t h a t brings Amrta — Father of Sampati and Jatayu of Valmiki Ramayana — Various phases of Suparna.
