The evolution of spoken sounds is complicated, however I think that the transformation of vowel *o passes three major stages:pun•dit
noun \ˈpən-dət\
Definition of PUNDIT
1
: PANDIT
2
: a learned man : TEACHER
3
: a person who gives opinions in an authoritative manner usually through the mass media : CRITIC
Someone who is an expert in a subject, and is often asked to talk to the public about that subject
Origin of PUNDIT
Hindi paṇḍit, from Sanskrit paṇḍita, from paṇḍita learned
First Known Use: 1672
(1)The *o changes an *a. (2) the *a changes to an *e. (3)The *e changes to an *ə.
(1) The *o changes to an *u. (2) The *u changes to an *a.(3) The *a changes to an *e.
I like also to give you some grains of a radically different direction of what scholars actually believe about the ‘pundit’ etymology. I think it emerged from other development and makes the association with the meaning “to know how to create or produce something by working’. I think it descended in the strait line from ‘pun’ and ‘di’.
Albanian language;
1. /pun(ë)/ (noun) -‘ Work’
2. /punoj, punue/(verb) -‘to work’
3. /di/(verb) ‘to know’
4. /i dit / (geg), (adj) , ‘erudite, knowledgeable’.