On the metrics and origin of Rig-Vedic ná ‘like,as’

Summary Beginning with the synchronic metrical distribution of ná and ná ‘NEG’, we attempted to formulate, first, certain principles of Rig-Vedic exegesis (which we applied to several obscure or hitherto imperfectly understood passages), and second, a theory concerning the origin of the comparative function of ná. Unlike previous explanations, the theory described above accounts in a systematic way for the formal, functional, and metrical features of ná. We considered, in addition, the following theoretical points: possible implications of ná phraseology for the historical analysis of Rig-Vedic meters; the lack of universal principles, as yet, for predicting the direction and nature of secondary marking in the case of functional split of a particle; the interaction of secondary phraseological patterns with original phraseology, resulting in synchronic irregularity in metrical distribution. Finally, we suggested that the syntactic behavior of ná and ná ‘NEG’ confirms the theory presented here concerning the origin of ná.