Of the various transliteration formats for the pali language, there is agreement regarding the roman script diacritics. Variations within other transliteration formats are typically minor (such as Velthuis regarding ^n "n and 'n) and are typically due to the limitations of a particular medium. Each tends to approximate the established roman script diacritics:
| ṭhāna |
vyañjana |
sara |
| phuṭṭha |
īsaka |
sākara |
| aghosa |
ghosavant |
nāsika |
rassa |
dīgha |
asamāna |
| sithila |
dhanita |
sithila |
dhanita |
| kaṇṭhaja |
k |
kh |
g |
gh |
ṅ |
h |
|
a |
ā |
e |
kaṇṭhatatāluja |
| tāluja |
c |
ch |
j |
jh |
ñ |
y |
|
i |
ī |
| muddhaja |
ṭ |
ṭh |
ḍ |
ḍh |
ṇ |
r ḷ ḷh |
|
|
|
ạ ị ụ |
niggahīta |
| dantaja |
t |
th |
d |
dh |
n |
l |
s |
u |
ū |
o |
kaṇṭhoṭṭhaja |
| oṭṭhaja |
p |
ph |
b |
bh |
m |
v |
|
|
|
But, what about the m?
The nasal m known as a niggahita is the cause of some disagreement and is represented in roman diacritics with at least four variations:
It is my understanding that the niggahiita is comparable to the sanskrit anunasika or candrabindu (moon dot). The anunasika is represented by a cresent and dot above a vowel and indicates a nasal vowel. The anusvara is a simple dot above which indicates a nasal consonant.
| oँ |
अँ |
Devanagari Candrabindu |
| oं |
अं |
Devanagari Anusvara |
Source: alanwood.net
The PTS (Pali Text Society), whose works are often the lithmus test or standard because of its early attempts to encode the pali for western consumption, employs an eng (ŋ) while many other authors have chosen to disagree about ^m (ṁ) and .m (ṃ). A small minority employ an m-eng (ɱ).
According to at least one source, the niggahita is a muddhaja (head-born, cerebrals, retroflex). And, in conformance with others in that group, should have the dot below.
However, instead of an M with a dot above or below, why do we use an M
at all? It is never by itself. It can not be pronounced without a
vowel, and confuses first-time readers. Perhaps, it is more logical to
drop the M and place a dot below the vowel (.a .i .u). Conveniently,
these vowels are all found in Unicode Latin Extended Additional range
U+1E00 - U+1EFF.
|
ahaṃ kevaṭṭagāmasmiṃ ahuṃ kevaṭṭadārako.
|
|
ahạ kevaṭṭagāmasmị ahụ kevaṭṭadārako.
|
ṭhāna (place of articulation)
vyañjana (consonants)
sara (vowels)
phuṭṭha (stops)
aghosa (voiceless)
ghosavant (voiced)
nāsika (voiced nasal)
īsaka (voiced semi-vowels: y,v liquids: r, l, ḷ, ḷh, aspiration: h)
sākara (voiceless sibilant)
sithila (non-aspirate)
dhanita (aspirate)
rassa (short)
dīgha (long)
asamāna (compound)
niggahīta (pure nasal)
kaṇṭhaja (throat-born, gutturals, velar)
kaṇṭhatāluja (throat-palate born, gutturo-palatal)
tāluja (palate-born, palatals)
muddhaja (head-born, cerebrals, retroflex)
dantaja (tooth-born, dentals)
kaṇṭhoṭṭhaja (throat-lip born, gutturo-labial)
oṭṭhaja (lip born, labials)
Material taken from: here
