Note 34 — Chapter XII · MEASURES AND WEIGHTS OF SOME BRITISH DOMINIONS
Reading edition
The difficulty in representing the sound á, ah, in English letters led to a general substitution of aw. Hence ‘cawny, maund, ghaut (steep), pawni (water), cawn (khan),’ &c.; all these words having an a, or ah, vowel. The Anglo-Indian also says seer for sér.