The long and pluta [extra-long] pronunciations of saḿvrta [closed] a, vivrta [open] a and tiryak [distorted] a – as well as of saḿvrta á, vivrta á and long á – cannot be properly indicated in the Bengali, Urdu or Hindi alphabets or in various other prevalent alphabets of the world. But it can be done to some extent with the help of lupta a [diminished a], lupta á [diminished á] or, if necessary, other lupta vowels.

There is a definite need for the use of the extra-long a and á vowels – at least in the case of saḿgiita. The inadequacy of letters [to express mental feelings] in general conversation is much more prominent in the case of music. In the Bengali alphabet, this inadequacy can be made up to some extent by the uses of the diminished a, the diminished á, the long a, the long á, the extra-long a, the extra-long á, etc. But not all alphabets of the world have this convenience. Symbols similar to lupta a can be used with various other vowels [to represent long or extra-long vowels]; if used with music, both the teachers and the students of music will be immensely benefited⁽¹⁾ . But I do not find any need to introduce these diminished signs for ordinary or colloquial language.

If I write in Bengali script – áji ele tumi kár mukh cáhi balo, tumi balo – then it does not indicate any elongated expression. But if the same expression is written as– á-áj-i-i ele-e ká-ár mukh cá-áh-i ba-alo tumi ba-alo – then one can get some idea how it was actually pronounced in an elongated manner. So I say again that this convention need not be introduced for ordinary language, but should be introduced for song and recitation. Yet in the practical world, that is, in ordinary language, also, there is some degree of need for diminished a or diminished á, which I mentioned while explaining about the a vowel.

Just as the a sound is the acoustic root of the first note śad́aja (śad́aja or khaŕaja, but the kha is not the kha of ka varga) of the musical octave, similarly the letter á is the acoustic root of second note rśabha (according to Yajurveda, rkhabha will also do, but this kha is not the kha of ka varga). This acoustic root á controls rśabha directly and also indirectly controls gándhára (gá), madhyama (má), paiṋcama (pá), dhaevata (dhá) and niśáda or nikháda (ni). Except in the Rgveda, we commonly find the use of the note ni in the minor scale as well as the same note in the natural major scale (komala ni and sádhárań ni). In the older school of the Rgveda, the subdued variation of the note ni (kad́i ni) was also current, which was pronounced through both sides of the palate. The seven Vedic notes, the seven Tantric notes and two ideational notes – this constituted the sixteen notes which was known as the ́system of sixteen sounds’ (śoŕasha dhvanikalá) in Indo-Aryan science of phonetics. In accordance with the waxing and waning of the moon, and because of the increase and decrease of the duration of [the day and the night], different hours for singing different rágas and rágińiis⁽²⁾ were prescribed.

Footnotes

(1) It is worth mentioning in this context that the author, while giving tunes for the Prabháta Saḿgiita that he composed, introduced the use of an extra-long á sound to be sung in the kheyál style at the end of the first line of each antará [stanza]. He made this singing system a requirement for all of the 5018 songs. –Trans.

(2) Modes of Indian classical Music. Rágas are the six Principal modes, and rágińiis are the thirty-six modes secondary to the Principal modes. Each rága or rágińii is a rhythmic or melodic pattern used as the basis for improvisation. –Trans.