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ArchivesRe: Ashika, Geetha
in reply to a message by mirfak
Both names are used in India.
Geetha is a variant transcription of Gita. As to -th- vs -t-: to explain I need to tell you what it is and what it is not because in Indian languages many more distinctions are phonemic.
Consider the four sounds: (i) retroflex unvoiced unaspirated stop (say hard t with too much breathing out, tongue rolled up to touch inside far away from the teeth): sounds somewhat like, but harder than the t- in ten; (ii) retroflex unvoiced aspirated stop (same as above, but with a distinct puff of breath, as if you spoke the h along); (iii) dental unvoiced unaspirated stop (the softer t as the French speak in je t'aime), and (iv) the dental unvoiced aspirated stop (the same but with a puff of breath): sounds like the th- in think if you speak it without the lips touching the teeth. All of these are distinct from the voiced variants (v) the retroflex voiced unaspirated, somewhat harder than d- in dog with tongue curled up, (vi) retroflex voiced aspirated (I have not heard any voiced aspirate in any language around here: it is adding the puff of breath to the above), (vii) the dental voiced unaspirated stop (like th in the) and (viii) the dental voiced aspirated stop (again, add a puff of breath).
In North India, (i) and (iii) are transliterated as t, (ii) and (iv) as th, (v) and (vii) as d, and (vi) and (viii) as dh. In South India, (i) and (ii) are transliterated as t, (iii) and (iv) as th, (v) and (vi) as d, and (vii) and (viii) as dh. The difference is because of the differing importance of the feature contrast given by aspiration.
In case of gita, the sound is (iii) above. So, you can see it will be written t in North India and th in the South when writing in the Roman script.
As to i vs. ee: the vowel was long in Sanskrit (like in teeth). But in parts of East India, all vowels are pronounced short. In much of North Indian transliteration, vowel length is inconsistently marked. So, one gets an -i-. South Indian tends to mark the vowel length more often, and uses -ee- for the long sound.
The last -A is open as in English car.
The root of the word is the verb gai to sing; gItA is that which is sung, and most commonly refers to a particular holy book.
For Ashika, I would guess it comes from the Urdu Ashiq (lover) (also in Persian, Arabic, Turkish etc.). This has the long open A- at the beginning and the end.
Geetha is a variant transcription of Gita. As to -th- vs -t-: to explain I need to tell you what it is and what it is not because in Indian languages many more distinctions are phonemic.
Consider the four sounds: (i) retroflex unvoiced unaspirated stop (say hard t with too much breathing out, tongue rolled up to touch inside far away from the teeth): sounds somewhat like, but harder than the t- in ten; (ii) retroflex unvoiced aspirated stop (same as above, but with a distinct puff of breath, as if you spoke the h along); (iii) dental unvoiced unaspirated stop (the softer t as the French speak in je t'aime), and (iv) the dental unvoiced aspirated stop (the same but with a puff of breath): sounds like the th- in think if you speak it without the lips touching the teeth. All of these are distinct from the voiced variants (v) the retroflex voiced unaspirated, somewhat harder than d- in dog with tongue curled up, (vi) retroflex voiced aspirated (I have not heard any voiced aspirate in any language around here: it is adding the puff of breath to the above), (vii) the dental voiced unaspirated stop (like th in the) and (viii) the dental voiced aspirated stop (again, add a puff of breath).
In North India, (i) and (iii) are transliterated as t, (ii) and (iv) as th, (v) and (vii) as d, and (vi) and (viii) as dh. In South India, (i) and (ii) are transliterated as t, (iii) and (iv) as th, (v) and (vi) as d, and (vii) and (viii) as dh. The difference is because of the differing importance of the feature contrast given by aspiration.
In case of gita, the sound is (iii) above. So, you can see it will be written t in North India and th in the South when writing in the Roman script.
As to i vs. ee: the vowel was long in Sanskrit (like in teeth). But in parts of East India, all vowels are pronounced short. In much of North Indian transliteration, vowel length is inconsistently marked. So, one gets an -i-. South Indian tends to mark the vowel length more often, and uses -ee- for the long sound.
The last -A is open as in English car.
The root of the word is the verb gai to sing; gItA is that which is sung, and most commonly refers to a particular holy book.
For Ashika, I would guess it comes from the Urdu Ashiq (lover) (also in Persian, Arabic, Turkish etc.). This has the long open A- at the beginning and the end.
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Replies
Thank you! I was hoping you'd give me a thorough explanation like that. ♥
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