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[∅]→[m]Certainty: 4/5Commonality: 1/5

Nasal Epenthesis Epenthesis Indo-Aryan

Empty sound / Zero to Bilabial nasal

Epenthesis of [m] is a rare historical development, documented in the transition from Sanskrit to Middle Indo-Aryan (Pali and Prakrit).

Phonetic Effects

Nasal Epenthesis, Anusvara

Language Examples

Sanskrit to Pali / Prakrit Indo-Aryan

mahiṣa (Sanskrit 'buffalo')→mahiṃsa (Pali)— Nasal [m] inserted before fricative; the anusvara (ṃ) represents the epenthetic nasal consonant.

mr- cluster→mb- (via epenthesis)— Sanskrit mr → Pali mb: epenthetic stop inserted between nasal and liquid, with subsequent changes.

Related Transformations

More Indo-Aryan Shifts

[ai] → [e] — Monophthongization [∅] → [ŋ] — Epenthesis [kʰ] → [tʃ] — Palatalization [ə] → [r] — Intrusive R [ai] → [ɛ] — Monophthongization

Sources & References

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110870930

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