Difference between revisions of "Sanskrit" - New World Encyclopedia

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{{Infobox Language
 
{{Infobox Language
 
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'''Sanskrit''' ({{lang|sa|संस्कृता वाक्}} ''{{IAST|saṃskṛtā [[Vāc|vāk]]}}'', for short {{lang|sa|संस्कृतम्}} ''{{IAST|saṃskṛtam}}'') is an ancient Indo-European [[classical language]] of [[South Asia]], a [[liturgical language]] of [[Hinduism]] and [[Buddhism]] primarily, and utilized occasionally in [[Jainism]]. It is one of the twenty-two [[official languages of India]], and an ancestor of the modern [[Indo-Aryan]] languages. Its position in the [[culture]]s of [[South Asia|South]] and [[Southeast Asia]] is akin to that of [[Latin]] and [[Greek language|Greek]] in [[Europe]] and it has [[Proto-language (historical linguistics)|evolved]] into, as well as influenced, many modern languages of the world. It appears in pre-Classical form as [[Vedic Sanskrit]], which was a spoken language for centuries before the ''[[Vedas]]'' were written down. Around 600 B.C.E., in the classical period of [[Iron Age India|Iron Age]] [[Ancient India]], Sanskrit began the transition from a primary language to a second language of religion and learning, used by the educated elite. [[Classical Sanskrit]] is defined by the the oldest surviving Sanskrit grammar ,   [[Pāṇini|{{unicode|Pāṇini}}]]'s ''[[Ashtadhyayi|{{unicode|Aṣṭādhyāyī}}]]'' (''"Eight-Chapter Grammar"'') dating to around the [[fifth century B.C.E..]].  
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'''Sanskrit''' ({{lang|sa|संस्कृता वाक्}} ''{{IAST|saṃskṛtā [[Vāc|vāk]]}}'', for short {{lang|sa|संस्कृतम्}} ''{{IAST|saṃskṛtam}}'') is an ancient Indo-European [[classical language]] of [[South Asia]], a [[liturgical language]] of [[Hinduism]] and [[Buddhism]] primarily, and utilized occasionally in [[Jainism]]. It is one of the twenty-two [[official languages of India]], and an ancestor of the modern [[Indo-Aryan]] languages. Its position in the [[culture]]s of South and [[Southeast Asia]] is akin to that of [[Latin]] and [[Greek language|Greek]] in [[Europe]] and it has [[Proto-language (historical linguistics)|evolved]] into, as well as influenced, many modern languages of the world. It appears in pre-Classical form as [[Vedic Sanskrit]], which was a spoken language for centuries before the ''[[Vedas]]'' were written down. Around 600 B.C.E., in the classical period of [[Iron Age India|Iron Age]] [[Ancient India]], Sanskrit began the transition from a primary language to a second language of religion and learning, used by the educated elite. [[Classical Sanskrit]] is defined by the the oldest surviving Sanskrit grammar, [[Pāṇini|{{unicode|Pāṇini}}]]'s ''[[Ashtadhyayi|{{unicode|Aṣṭādhyāyī}}]]'' ''("Eight-Chapter Grammar")'' dating to around the fifth century B.C.E.
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{{toc}}
 
The corpus of [[Sanskrit literature]] encompasses a rich tradition of poetry and [[Sanskrit drama|drama]] as well as scientific, technical, [[Hindu philosophy|philosophical]] and [[Hindu scriptures|religious]] texts. Today, Sanskrit continues to be widely used as a ceremonial language in Hindu religious rituals in the forms of [[stotra|hymns]] and [[mantra]]s. Spoken Sanskrit is still in use in a few traditional institutions in India, and there are some attempts at [[Sanskrit revival|revival]].  
 
The corpus of [[Sanskrit literature]] encompasses a rich tradition of poetry and [[Sanskrit drama|drama]] as well as scientific, technical, [[Hindu philosophy|philosophical]] and [[Hindu scriptures|religious]] texts. Today, Sanskrit continues to be widely used as a ceremonial language in Hindu religious rituals in the forms of [[stotra|hymns]] and [[mantra]]s. Spoken Sanskrit is still in use in a few traditional institutions in India, and there are some attempts at [[Sanskrit revival|revival]].  
  
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The scope of this article is the Classical Sanskrit language as laid out in the grammar of [[Panini (grammarian)|Panini]], around 500 B.C.E...
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The scope of this article is the Classical Sanskrit language as laid out in the grammar of [[Panini (grammarian)|Panini]], around 500 B.C.E.
  
 
== History ==
 
== History ==
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[[Image:Devimahatmya Sanskrit MS Nepal 11c.jpg|right|thumb|400px|[[Devimahatmya]] manuscript on palm-leaf, in an early [[Bhujimol]] script, [[Bihar]] or [[Nepal]], [[11th century]].]]
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[[Image:Devimahatmya Sanskrit MS Nepal 11c.jpg|right|thumb|400px|[[Devimahatmya]] manuscript on palm-leaf, in an early [[Bhujimol]] script, [[Bihar]] or [[Nepal]], eleventh century.]]
  
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The language name ''{{unicode|saṃskṛtam}}'' is derived from the past participle ''{{unicode|saṃskṛtaḥ}}'' 'self-made, self-done' of the verb ''{{unicode|saṃ(s)kar-}}'' 'to make self', where ''{{unicode|saṃ-}}'' 'with, together, self' and ''(s)kar-'' 'do, make'. In modern usage, the verbal adjective ''{{unicode|saṃskṛta-}}'' has come to mean "cultured." The language referred to as ''{{unicode|saṃskṛtā vāk}}'' "the language of cultured" has by definition always been a "high" language, used for religious and learned discourse and contrasted with the languages spoken by the people. It is also called ''deva-bhā{{Unicode|ṣ}}ā'' meaning "language of the gods."  
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The language name ''{{unicode|saṃskṛtam}}'' is derived from the past participle ''{{unicode|saṃskṛtaḥ}}'' "self-made, self-done" of the verb ''{{unicode|saṃ(s)kar-}}'' "to make self," where ''{{unicode|saṃ-}}'' "with, together, self" and ''(s)kar-'' "do, make." In modern usage, the verbal adjective ''{{unicode|saṃskṛta-}}'' has come to mean "cultured." The language referred to as ''{{unicode|saṃskṛtā vāk}}'' "the language of cultured" has by definition always been a "high" language, used for religious and learned discourse and contrasted with the languages spoken by the people. It is also called ''deva-bhā{{Unicode|ṣ}}ā'' meaning "language of the gods."  
  
 
Sanskrit does not belong to the [[Indo-Iranian languages|Indo-Iranian]] sub-family of the [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] family of languages. It is part of the '''[[Satem]]''' group of Indo-European languages, which also includes the [[Balto-Slavic languages|Balto-Slavic]] branch.
 
Sanskrit does not belong to the [[Indo-Iranian languages|Indo-Iranian]] sub-family of the [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] family of languages. It is part of the '''[[Satem]]''' group of Indo-European languages, which also includes the [[Balto-Slavic languages|Balto-Slavic]] branch.
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===Vedic Sanskrit===
 
===Vedic Sanskrit===
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Sanskrit, as defined by {{unicode|[[Pāṇini]]}}, had evolved out of the earlier "Vedic" form. '''Vedic Sanskrit''' is the language of the earliest religious texts of India, the ''[[Vedas]],'' a large collection of hymns, incantations, and religio-philosophical discussions which are the the [[shruti]] texts of [[Hinduism]]. It is an archaic form of [[Sanskrit]], an early descendant of [[Proto-Indo-Iranian]], attested during the period between roughly 1700 B.C.E. (early [[Rigveda]]) and 600 B.C.E. ([[Sutra]] language) <ref>e.g. Witzel (1989)</ref>. It is closely related to [[Avestan language|Avestan]], the oldest preserved [[Iranian language]].  
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Sanskrit, as defined by {{unicode|[[Pāṇini]]}}, had evolved out of the earlier "Vedic" form. '''Vedic Sanskrit''' is the language of the earliest religious texts of India, the ''[[Vedas]],'' a large collection of hymns, incantations, and religio-philosophical discussions which are the the [[shruti]] texts of [[Hinduism]]. It is an archaic form of [[Sanskrit]], an early descendant of [[Proto-Indo-Iranian]], attested during the period between roughly 1700 B.C.E. (early [[Rigveda]]) and 600 B.C.E. ([[Sutra]] language).<ref> Michael Witzel, ''Inside the Texts Beyond the Texts New Approaches to the Study of the Vedas'' (Harvard University Press, 1997, ISBN 978-1888789034)</ref> It is closely related to [[Avestan language|Avestan]], the oldest preserved [[Iranian language]].  
  
 
Scholars often distinguish [[Vedic Sanskrit]] and Classical or "Paninian" Sanskrit as separate dialects. Vedic Sanskrit differs from Classical Sanskrit to an extent comparable to the difference between Homeric Greek and Classical Greek; they are very similar and only differ in a few points of [[phonology]], [[vocabulary]], and [[grammar]]. Vedic Sanskrit had a [[pitch accent]] which could even change the meaning of the words, and was still in use in Panini's time, as we can infer by his use of devices to indicate its position. At some latter time, this was replaced by a stress accent limited to the second to fourth syllables from the end. Today, the pitch accent can be heard only in the traditional Vedic chantings. Vedic Sanskrit often allowed two like vowels to come together without merger during Sandhi (composition of words and phrases).
 
Scholars often distinguish [[Vedic Sanskrit]] and Classical or "Paninian" Sanskrit as separate dialects. Vedic Sanskrit differs from Classical Sanskrit to an extent comparable to the difference between Homeric Greek and Classical Greek; they are very similar and only differ in a few points of [[phonology]], [[vocabulary]], and [[grammar]]. Vedic Sanskrit had a [[pitch accent]] which could even change the meaning of the words, and was still in use in Panini's time, as we can infer by his use of devices to indicate its position. At some latter time, this was replaced by a stress accent limited to the second to fourth syllables from the end. Today, the pitch accent can be heard only in the traditional Vedic chantings. Vedic Sanskrit often allowed two like vowels to come together without merger during Sandhi (composition of words and phrases).
  
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Classical Sanskrit is considered to have descended from Vedic Sanskrit. Modern linguists regard the metrical hymns of the [[Rigveda]] Samhita as the earliest, composed by many authors over centuries of oral tradition. The end of the Vedic period is marked by the composition of the [[Upanishads]], which form the concluding part of the Vedic corpus in the traditional compilations. The current hypothesis holds that the Vedic form of Sanskrit survived until the middle of the first millennium B.C.E... Around 600 B.C.E., in the classical period of [[Iron Age India|Iron Age]] [[Ancient India]], Sanskrit began the transition from a first language to a second language of religion and learning, marking the beginning of the Classical period.
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Classical Sanskrit is considered to have descended from Vedic Sanskrit. Modern linguists regard the metrical hymns of the [[Rigveda]] Samhita as the earliest, composed by many authors over centuries of oral tradition. The end of the Vedic period is marked by the composition of the [[Upanishads]], which form the concluding part of the Vedic corpus in the traditional compilations. The current hypothesis holds that the Vedic form of Sanskrit survived until the middle of the first millennium B.C.E. Around 600 B.C.E., in the classical period of [[Iron Age India|Iron Age]] [[Ancient India]], Sanskrit began the transition from a first language to a second language of religion and learning, marking the beginning of the Classical period.
 
   
 
   
 
===Classical Sanskrit===
 
===Classical Sanskrit===
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Classical Sanskrit is defined by the the oldest surviving Sanskrit grammar , [[Pāṇini|{{unicode|Pāṇini}}]]'s ''[[Ashtadhyayi|{{unicode|Aṣṭādhyāyī}}]]'' ("''Eight-Chapter Grammar"'') dating to circa the [[fifth century B.C.E..]]. It is essentially a prescriptive grammar, an authority that defines rather than describes correct Sanskrit, although it contains descriptive parts, mostly to account for Vedic forms that had already passed out of use in Panini's time.
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Classical Sanskrit is defined by the the oldest surviving Sanskrit grammar, [[Pāṇini|{{unicode|Pāṇini}}]]'s ''[[Ashtadhyayi|{{unicode|Aṣṭādhyāyī}}]]'' ("''Eight-Chapter Grammar"'') dating to circa the fifth century B.C.E. It is essentially a prescriptive grammar, an authority that defines rather than describes correct Sanskrit, although it contains descriptive parts, mostly to account for Vedic forms that had already passed out of use in Panini's time.
  
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A significant form of post-Vedic Sanskrit is found in the Sanskrit of the [[Hindu Epics]], the ''[[Ramayana]]'' and ''[[Mahabharata]]''. The deviations from {{Unicode|[[Pāṇini]]}} in the epics are generally considered to be the result of interference from ''prakrits'', or "innovations"<ref>Oberlies, "A Grammar of Epic Sanskrit," p.XXIX</ref>  and not pre-Paninean" usages. Traditional Sanskrit scholars call such deviations ''aarsha'' (आर्ष), or "of the [[rishi]]s," the traditional title for the ancient authors. In some contexts there are more "prakritisms" (borrowings from common speech) than in Classical Sanskrit proper. There is also a language called "[[Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit]]" by modern scholars, which is actually a ''[[prakrit]]'' ornamented with Sanskritized elements (see also [[termination of spoken Sanskrit]]). According to Tuwari <ref>Tuwari, Bholanath. 1978. Bhasha-vigyan. Illahabad: Kitab Mahal.[1955] 2004</ref>, there were four principal dialects of Sanskrit; ''{{IAST|paścimottarī}}'' (Northwestern, also called Northern or Western), ''{{IAST|madhyadeśī}}'' (Middle Country), ''{{IAST|pūrvi}}'' (Eastern) and ''{{IAST|dakṣiṇī}}'' (Southern, originating in the Classical period). The first three are even attested in the Vedic ''{{IAST|[[Brāhmaṇa]]s}}'', of which the first one was regarded as the purest (''{{IAST|Kauṣītaki Brāhmaṇa, 7.6}}).
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A significant form of post-Vedic Sanskrit is found in the Sanskrit of the [[Hindu Epics]], the ''[[Ramayana]]'' and ''[[Mahabharata]]''. The deviations from {{Unicode|[[Pāṇini]]}} in the epics are generally considered to be the result of interference from ''prakrits,'' or "innovations"<ref>Thoams Oberlies, ''A Grammar of Epic Sanskrit'' (de Gruyter, 2003, ISBN 978-3110144482), XXIX.</ref>  and not pre-Paninean" usages. Traditional Sanskrit scholars call such deviations ''aarsha'' (आर्ष), or "of the [[rishi]]s," the traditional title for the ancient authors. In some contexts there are more "prakritisms" (borrowings from common speech) than in Classical Sanskrit proper. There is also a language called "[[Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit]]" by modern scholars, which is actually a ''[[prakrit]]'' ornamented with Sanskritized elements (see also [[termination of spoken Sanskrit]]). According to Tuwari,<ref>Bholanath Tiwari, ''Bhasha-vigyan'' (Illahabad: Kitab Mahal, 1978).</ref> there were four principal dialects of Sanskrit; ''{{IAST|paścimottarī}}'' (Northwestern, also called Northern or Western), ''{{IAST|madhyadeśī}}'' (Middle Country), ''{{IAST|pūrvi}}'' (Eastern) and ''{{IAST|dakṣiṇī}}'' (Southern, originating in the Classical period). The first three are even attested in the Vedic ''{{IAST|[[Brāhmaṇa]]s}}'', of which the first one was regarded as the purest (''{{IAST|Kauṣītaki Brāhmaṇa, 7.6}}).
  
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===European Scholarship===
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===European scholarship===
 
European scholarship in Sanskrit, begun by [[Heinrich Roth]] (1620–1668) and [[Johann Ernst Hanxleden]] (1681–1731), is regarded as being responsible for the discovery of the [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] [[language family]] by [[William Jones (philologist)|Sir William Jones]], and played an important role in the development of Western [[linguistics]].
 
European scholarship in Sanskrit, begun by [[Heinrich Roth]] (1620–1668) and [[Johann Ernst Hanxleden]] (1681–1731), is regarded as being responsible for the discovery of the [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] [[language family]] by [[William Jones (philologist)|Sir William Jones]], and played an important role in the development of Western [[linguistics]].
  
 
[[William Jones (philologist)|Sir William Jones]], speaking to the [[Asiatic Society]] in Calcutta (now [[Kolkata]]) on February 2, 1786, said:
 
[[William Jones (philologist)|Sir William Jones]], speaking to the [[Asiatic Society]] in Calcutta (now [[Kolkata]]) on February 2, 1786, said:
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:''"The Sanskrit language, whatever be its antiquity, is of a wonderful structure; more perfect than the [[Greek language|Greek]], more copious than the [[Latin]], and more exquisitely refined than either, yet bearing to both of them a stronger affinity, both in the roots of verbs and in the forms of grammar, than could possibly have been produced by accident; so strong, indeed, that no [[philology|philologer]] could examine them all three, without believing them to have sprung from [[Proto-Indo-European language|some common source]], which, perhaps, no longer exists."''
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<blockquote>The Sanskrit language, whatever be its antiquity, is of a wonderful structure; more perfect than the [[Greek language|Greek]], more copious than the [[Latin]], and more exquisitely refined than either, yet bearing to both of them a stronger affinity, both in the roots of verbs and in the forms of grammar, than could possibly have been produced by accident; so strong, indeed, that no [[philology|philologer]] could examine them all three, without believing them to have sprung from [[Proto-Indo-European language|some common source]], which, perhaps, no longer exists.</blockquote>
  
 
== Phonology==
 
== Phonology==
 
{{IPA notice}}
 
{{IPA notice}}
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Classical Sanskrit distinguishes about thirty-six [[phoneme]]s. There is, however, some [[allophone|allophony]] and the writing systems used for Sanskrit generally indicate this, thus distinguishing forty-eight [[phone|sounds]]  
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Classical Sanskrit distinguishes about thirty-six [[phoneme]]s. There is, however, some [[allophone|allophony]] and the writing systems used for Sanskrit generally indicate this, thus distinguishing forty-eight [[phone|sounds]]  
  
 
The sounds are traditionally listed in the order [[vowel]]s ''(Ach)'', [[diphthong]]s ''(Hal)'', [[anusvara]] and [[visarga]], [[Plosive consonant|plosive]]s (Sparśa) and [[nasal consonant|nasal]]s (starting in the back of the mouth and moving forward), and finally the [[liquid consonants|liquid]]s and [[fricative]]s, written in [[IAST]] as follows (see the tables below for details):
 
The sounds are traditionally listed in the order [[vowel]]s ''(Ach)'', [[diphthong]]s ''(Hal)'', [[anusvara]] and [[visarga]], [[Plosive consonant|plosive]]s (Sparśa) and [[nasal consonant|nasal]]s (starting in the back of the mouth and moving forward), and finally the [[liquid consonants|liquid]]s and [[fricative]]s, written in [[IAST]] as follows (see the tables below for details):
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:{{Unicode|y r l v}}; {{Unicode|ś ṣ s h}}
 
:{{Unicode|y r l v}}; {{Unicode|ś ṣ s h}}
 
An alternate traditional ordering is that of the [[Shiva Sutra]] of {{Unicode|[[Pāṇini]]}}.
 
An alternate traditional ordering is that of the [[Shiva Sutra]] of {{Unicode|[[Pāṇini]]}}.
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===Vowels===
 
===Vowels===
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** The diacritic {{Unicode|ं}} called ''anusvāra'', ([[IAST]]: {{Unicode|ṃ}}). It is used both to indicate the nasalization of the vowel in the syllable ({{IPA|[◌̃]}} and to represent the sound of a syllabic {{IPA|/n/}} or {{IPA|/m/}}; e.g. {{Unicode|पं}} {{IPA|/pəŋ/}}.
 
** The diacritic {{Unicode|ं}} called ''anusvāra'', ([[IAST]]: {{Unicode|ṃ}}). It is used both to indicate the nasalization of the vowel in the syllable ({{IPA|[◌̃]}} and to represent the sound of a syllabic {{IPA|/n/}} or {{IPA|/m/}}; e.g. {{Unicode|पं}} {{IPA|/pəŋ/}}.
 
** The diacritic {{Unicode|ः}} called ''visarga'', represents {{IPA|/əh/}} ([[IAST]]: {{Unicode|ḥ}}); e.g. {{Unicode|पः}} {{IPA|/pəh/}}.
 
** The diacritic {{Unicode|ः}} called ''visarga'', represents {{IPA|/əh/}} ([[IAST]]: {{Unicode|ḥ}}); e.g. {{Unicode|पः}} {{IPA|/pəh/}}.
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** The diacritic {{Unicode|ँ}} called ''chandrabindu'', not traditionally included in Devanagari charts for Sanskrit, is used interchangeably with the ''anusvāra'' to indicate nasalization of the vowel, primarily in Vedic notation; e.g. {{Unicode|पँ}} {{IPA|/pə̃/}}.
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** The diacritic {{Unicode|ँ}} called ''chandrabindu'', not traditionally included in Devanagari charts for Sanskrit, is used interchangeably with the ''anusvāra'' to indicate nasalization of the vowel, primarily in Vedic notation; for example, {{Unicode|पँ}} {{IPA|/pə̃/}}.
 
* If a lone consonant needs to be written without any following vowel, it is given a ''halanta/virāma'' diacritic below ({{Unicode|प्}}).
 
* If a lone consonant needs to be written without any following vowel, it is given a ''halanta/virāma'' diacritic below ({{Unicode|प्}}).
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* The vowel {{IPA|/aː/}} in Sanskrit is realized as being more central and less back than the closest English approximation, which is {{IPA|/ɑː/}}. But the grammarians have classified it as a back vowel. (Tiwari, [1955] 2004).
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* The vowel {{IPA|/aː/}} in Sanskrit is realized as being more central and less back than the closest English approximation, which is {{IPA|/ɑː/}}. But the grammarians have classified it as a back vowel.
 
* The ancient Sanskrit grammarians classified the vowel system as velars, retroflexes, palatals and plosives rather than as back, central and front vowels. Hence {{Unicode|ए}} and {{Unicode|ओ}} are classified respectively as palato-velar (a+i) and labio-velar (a+u) vowels respectively. But the grammarians have classified them as [[diphthong]]s and in prosody, each is given two ''mātrās''. This does not necessarily mean that they are proper diphthongs, but neither excludes the possibility that they could have been proper diphthongs at a very ancient stage (see above). These vowels ''are'' pronounced as long {{IPA|/eː/}} and {{IPA|/oː/}} respectively by learned Sanskrit Brahmans and priests of today. Other than the "four" diphthongs, Sanskrit usually disallows any other diphthong—vowels in succession, where they occur, are converted to [[semivowel]]s according to [[sandhi]] rules.
 
* The ancient Sanskrit grammarians classified the vowel system as velars, retroflexes, palatals and plosives rather than as back, central and front vowels. Hence {{Unicode|ए}} and {{Unicode|ओ}} are classified respectively as palato-velar (a+i) and labio-velar (a+u) vowels respectively. But the grammarians have classified them as [[diphthong]]s and in prosody, each is given two ''mātrās''. This does not necessarily mean that they are proper diphthongs, but neither excludes the possibility that they could have been proper diphthongs at a very ancient stage (see above). These vowels ''are'' pronounced as long {{IPA|/eː/}} and {{IPA|/oː/}} respectively by learned Sanskrit Brahmans and priests of today. Other than the "four" diphthongs, Sanskrit usually disallows any other diphthong—vowels in succession, where they occur, are converted to [[semivowel]]s according to [[sandhi]] rules.
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* In the Devanagari script used for Sanskrit, whenever a consonant in a word-ending position is without any ''virāma'' (freely standing in the orthography: {{Unicode|प}} as opposed to {{Unicode|प्}}), the neutral vowel [[schwa]] ({{IPA|/ə/}}) is automatically associated with it—this is of course true for the consonant to be in any position in the word. Word-ending schwa is always short. But the IAST '''a''' appended to the end of masculine noun words rather confuses the foreigners to pronounce it as {{IPA|/ɑː/}}—this makes the masculine Sanskrit words sound like feminine! e.g., '''shiva''' must be pronounced as {{IPA|/ɕivə/}} and not as {{IPA|/ɕivɑː/}}. Tiwari ([1955] 2004) argues that in Vedic Sanskrit, अ indicated short {{IPA|/ɑ/}}, and became centralized and raised in the era of the Prakrits.
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* In the Devanagari script used for Sanskrit, whenever a consonant in a word-ending position is without any ''virāma'' (freely standing in the orthography: {{Unicode|प}} as opposed to {{Unicode|प्}}), the neutral vowel [[schwa]] ({{IPA|/ə/}}) is automatically associated with it—this is of course true for the consonant to be in any position in the word. Word-ending schwa is always short. But the IAST '''a''' appended to the end of masculine noun words rather confuses the foreigners to pronounce it as {{IPA|/ɑː/}}—this makes the masculine Sanskrit words sound like feminine words, for example, '''shiva''' must be pronounced as {{IPA|/ɕivə/}} and not as {{IPA|/ɕivɑː/}}.  
  
 
===Consonants===
 
===Consonants===
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===Phonology and Sandhi===
 
===Phonology and Sandhi===
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The Sanskrit vowels are as discussed in the section above. The long syllabic l ({{unicode|ḹ}}) is not attested, and is only discussed by grammarians for systematic reasons. Its short counterpart {{unicode|ḷ}} occurs in a single root only, {{unicode|kḷp}} "to order, array." Long syllabic r ({{unicode|ṝ}}) is also quite marginal, occurring in the genitive plural of r-stems (e.g. ''{{unicode|mātṛ}}'' "mother" and ''{{unicode|pitṛ}}'' "father" have gen.pl. ''{{unicode|mātṝṇām}}'' and ''{{unicode|pitṝṇām}}''). {{unicode|i, u, ṛ, ḷ}} are vocalic allophones of consonantal {{unicode|y, v, r, l}}. There are thus only 5 invariably vocalic [[phoneme]]s,
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The Sanskrit vowels are as discussed in the section above. The long syllabic l ({{unicode|ḹ}}) is not attested, and is only discussed by grammarians for systematic reasons. Its short counterpart {{unicode|ḷ}} occurs in a single root only, {{unicode|kḷp}} "to order, array." Long syllabic r ({{unicode|ṝ}}) is also quite marginal, occurring in the genitive plural of r-stems (for example, ''{{unicode|mātṛ}}'' "mother" and ''{{unicode|pitṛ}}'' "father" have gen.pl. ''{{unicode|mātṝṇām}}'' and ''{{unicode|pitṝṇām}}''). {{unicode|i, u, ṛ, ḷ}} are vocalic allophones of consonantal {{unicode|y, v, r, l}}. There are thus only 5 invariably vocalic [[phoneme]]s,
 
:{{unicode|a, ā, ī, ū, ṝ}}.
 
:{{unicode|a, ā, ī, ū, ṝ}}.
  
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[[Visarga]] {{unicode|ḥ}} {{Unicode|ः}} is an [[allophone]] of {{unicode|r}} and {{unicode|s}}, and [[anusvara]] {{unicode|ṃ}}, Devanagari {{Unicode| ं}} of any nasal, both in [[pausa]] (ie, the nasalized vowel). The exact pronunciation of the three sibilants may vary, but they are distinct phonemes. An aspirated voiced sibilant {{IPA|/zʱ/}} was inherited by [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]] from Proto-Indo-Iranian but lost shortly before the time of the Rigveda (aspirated fricatives are exceedingly rare in any language). The [[retroflex consonant]]s are somewhat marginal phonemes, often being conditioned by their phonetic environment; they do not continue a [[PIE]] series and are often ascribed by some linguists to the [[substratum|substratal]] influence of [[Dravidian languages|Dravidian]]. The nasal {{IPA|[ɲ]}} is a conditioned allophone of {{IPA|/n/}} ({{IPA|/n/}} and {{IPA|/ɳ/}} are distinct phonemes—{{unicode|aṇu}} 'minute', 'atomic' [nom. sg. neutr. of an adjective] is distinctive from {{unicode|anu}} 'after', 'along'; phonologically independent {{unicode|/ŋ/}} occurs only marginally, e.g. in {{unicode|prāṅ}} 'directed forwards/towards' [nom. sg. masc. of an adjective]). There are thus 31 consonantal or semi-vocalic phonemes, consisting of four/five kinds of stops realized both with or without aspiration and both voiced and voiceless, three nasals, four semi-vowels or liquids, and four fricatives, written in [[IAST]] transliteration as follows:
+
[[Visarga]] {{unicode|ḥ}} {{Unicode|ः}} is an [[allophone]] of {{unicode|r}} and {{unicode|s}}, and [[anusvara]] {{unicode|ṃ}}, Devanagari {{Unicode| ं}} of any nasal, both in [[pausa]] (ie, the nasalized vowel). The exact pronunciation of the three sibilants may vary, but they are distinct phonemes. An aspirated voiced sibilant {{IPA|/zʱ/}} was inherited by [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]] from Proto-Indo-Iranian but lost shortly before the time of the Rigveda (aspirated fricatives are exceedingly rare in any language). The [[retroflex consonant]]s are somewhat marginal phonemes, often being conditioned by their phonetic environment; they do not continue a [[PIE]] series and are often ascribed by some linguists to the [[substratum|substratal]] influence of [[Dravidian languages|Dravidian]]. The nasal {{IPA|[ɲ]}} is a conditioned allophone of {{IPA|/n/}} ({{IPA|/n/}} and {{IPA|/ɳ/}} are distinct phonemes—{{unicode|aṇu}} "minute," "atomic" [nom. sg. neutr. of an adjective] is distinctive from {{unicode|anu}} "after," "along;" phonologically independent {{unicode|/ŋ/}} occurs only marginally, for example, in {{unicode|prāṅ}} "directed forwards/towards" [nom. sg. masc. of an adjective]). There are thus 31 consonantal or semi-vocalic phonemes, consisting of four/five kinds of stops realized both with or without aspiration and both voiced and voiceless, three nasals, four semi-vowels or liquids, and four fricatives, written in [[IAST]] transliteration as follows:
 
:{{unicode|k, kh, g, gh; c, ch, j, jh; ṭ, ṭh, ḍ, ḍh; t, th, d, dh; p, ph, b, bh; m, n, ṇ; y, r, l, v; ś, ṣ, s, h}}
 
:{{unicode|k, kh, g, gh; c, ch, j, jh; ṭ, ṭh, ḍ, ḍh; t, th, d, dh; p, ph, b, bh; m, n, ṇ; y, r, l, v; ś, ṣ, s, h}}
 
or a total of 36 unique Sanskrit phonemes altogether.
 
or a total of 36 unique Sanskrit phonemes altogether.
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==Writing System==
 
==Writing System==
−
[[Image:Kashmir Sharada MS.jpg|thumb|240px|[[Kashmir]]i [[Shaivaite]] manuscript in the [[Sharada script]] (17th or 18th century)]]
+
[[Image:Kashmir Sharada MS.jpg|thumb|240px|[[Kashmir]]i [[Shaivaite]] manuscript in the [[Sharada script]] (seventeenth or eighteenth century)]]
  
−
Historically, Sanskrit was not associated with any particular script. The emphasis on orality, not textuality, in the Vedic Sanskrit tradition was maintained through the development of early classical [[Sanskrit literature]]. When Sanskrit was written, the choice of writing system was influenced by the regional scripts of the scribes. As such, virtually all of the major writing systems of South Asia have been used for the production of Sanskrit manuscripts. Since the late nineteenth century, [[Devanagari]] has been considered as the ''de facto'' writing system for Sanskrit,<ref>Sanskrit Grammar, William Dwight Whitney, 1889</ref>, possibly because of the European practice of printing Sanskrit texts in the script.
+
Historically, Sanskrit was not associated with any particular script. The emphasis on orality, not textuality, in the Vedic Sanskrit tradition was maintained through the development of early classical [[Sanskrit literature]]. When Sanskrit was written, the choice of writing system was influenced by the regional scripts of the scribes. As such, virtually all of the major writing systems of South Asia have been used for the production of Sanskrit manuscripts. Since the late nineteenth century, [[Devanagari]] has been considered as the ''de facto'' writing system for Sanskrit,<ref>William Dwight Whitney, ''Sanskrit Grammar'' (Dover Publications, 2003, ISBN 978-0486431369).</ref> possibly because of the European practice of printing Sanskrit texts in the script.
  
−
Writing came relatively late to India, introduced from the [[Middle East]] by traders around the fifth century B.C.E., according to a hypothesis by [[Thomas William Rhys Davids|Rhys Davids]]. Even after the introduction of writing, oral tradition and memorization of texts remained a prominent feature of Sanskrit literature. In northern India, there are [[Brahmi]] inscriptions dating from the third century B.C.E. onwards, the oldest appearing on the famous [[Edicts of Ashoka|Prakrit pillar inscriptions]] of king [[Ashoka]]. Roughly contemporary with the Brahmi, the [[Kharosthi]] script was used. Later (ca. fourth to eighth centuries C.E.) the [[Gupta script]], derived from Brahmi, became prevalent. From around the eighth century, the [[Sharada script]] evolved out of the Gupta script, and was mostly displaced in its turn by [[Devanagari]] from about the twelfth century, with intermediary stages such as the [[Siddham]] script. In Eastern India, the [[Bengali language|Bengali]] script and, later, the [[Oriya]] script, were used.
+
Writing came relatively late to India, introduced from the [[Middle East]] by traders around the fifth century B.C.E., according to a hypothesis by [[Thomas William Rhys Davids|Rhys Davids]]. Even after the introduction of writing, oral tradition and memorization of texts remained a prominent feature of Sanskrit literature. In northern India, there are [[Brahmi]] inscriptions dating from the third century B.C.E. onwards, the oldest appearing on the famous [[Edicts of Ashoka|Prakrit pillar inscriptions]] of king [[Ashoka]]. Roughly contemporary with the Brahmi, the [[Kharosthi]] script was used. Later (c. fourth to eighth centuries C.E.) the [[Gupta script]], derived from Brahmi, became prevalent. From around the eighth century, the [[Sharada script]] evolved out of the Gupta script, and was mostly displaced in its turn by [[Devanagari]] from about the twelfth century, with intermediary stages such as the [[Siddham]] script. In Eastern India, the [[Bengali language|Bengali]] script and, later, the [[Oriya]] script, were used.
  
 
In the south where [[Dravidian languages]] predominate, scripts used for Sanskrit include [[Kannada script|Kannada]] in [[Kannada language|Kannada]] and [[Telugu language|Telugu]] speaking regions, [[Telugu script|Telugu]] in Telugu and [[Tamil language|Tamil]] speaking regions, [[Malayalam language|Malayalam]] and [[Grantha script|Grantha]] in Tamil speaking regions.  
 
In the south where [[Dravidian languages]] predominate, scripts used for Sanskrit include [[Kannada script|Kannada]] in [[Kannada language|Kannada]] and [[Telugu language|Telugu]] speaking regions, [[Telugu script|Telugu]] in Telugu and [[Tamil language|Tamil]] speaking regions, [[Malayalam language|Malayalam]] and [[Grantha script|Grantha]] in Tamil speaking regions.  
Line 265: Line 264:
  
 
====Romanization====
 
====Romanization====
−
 
 
Since the late eighteenth century, Sanskrit has been [[transliteration|transliterated]] using the [[Latin alphabet]]. The system most commonly used today is the [[IAST]] (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration), which has been the academic standard since 1912. [[ASCII]]-based transliteration schemes have evolved due to difficulties representing Sanskrit characters in computer systems. These include [[Harvard-Kyoto]] and [[ITRANS]], a lossless transliteration scheme that is used widely on the Internet, especially in Usenet and in email, for considerations of speed of entry as well as rendering issues. With the wide availability of [[Unicode]]-aware web browsers, IAST has become common online.
 
Since the late eighteenth century, Sanskrit has been [[transliteration|transliterated]] using the [[Latin alphabet]]. The system most commonly used today is the [[IAST]] (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration), which has been the academic standard since 1912. [[ASCII]]-based transliteration schemes have evolved due to difficulties representing Sanskrit characters in computer systems. These include [[Harvard-Kyoto]] and [[ITRANS]], a lossless transliteration scheme that is used widely on the Internet, especially in Usenet and in email, for considerations of speed of entry as well as rendering issues. With the wide availability of [[Unicode]]-aware web browsers, IAST has become common online.
  
Line 272: Line 270:
 
==Grammar==
 
==Grammar==
 
{{main|Sanskrit grammar}}
 
{{main|Sanskrit grammar}}
−
===Grammatical Tradition===
+
===Grammatical tradition===
  
−
Sanskrit grammatical tradition ('''{{unicode|vyākaraṇa}}''', one of the six [[Vedanga]] disciplines) began in late [[Vedic India]] and culminated in the '''{{unicode|[[Aṣṭādhyāyī]]}}''' of {{unicode|[[Pāṇini]]}}, which consists of 3990 sutras (ca. [[fifth century B.C.E.]]). After a century {{unicode|Pāṇini}} (around 400 B.C.E.) Kātyāyana composed Vārtikas on Pāninian sũtras. [[Patañjali]], who lived three centuries after Pānini, wrote the ''{{unicode|[[Mahābhāṣya]]}}'', the "Great Commentary" on the {{unicode|Aṣṭādhyāyī}} and Vārtikas. Because of these three ancient [[Sanskrit grammarians]] this grammar is called '''Trimuni Vyākarana'''. To understand the meaning of sutras, Jayaditya and Vāmana wrote the commentry named Kāsikā  in 600 C.E.. Paninian grammar is based on fourteen [[Shiva]] sutras (aphorisms); here the whole Mātrika ([[alphabet]]) is abbreviated. This abbreviation is called Pratyāhara.<ref>Kashinath V. Abhyankar, ''A dictionary of Sanskrit Grammar'', Gaekwad's Oriental Series, No. 134, Oriental Institute, Baroda, 1986</ref>
+
Sanskrit grammatical tradition ('''{{unicode|vyākaraṇa}}''', one of the six [[Vedanga]] disciplines) began in late [[Vedic India]] and culminated in the '''{{unicode|[[Aṣṭādhyāyī]]}}''' of {{unicode|[[Pāṇini]]}}, which consists of 3990 sutras (c. [[fifth century B.C.E.]]). After a century {{unicode|Pāṇini}} (around 400 B.C.E.) Kātyāyana composed Vārtikas on Pāninian sũtras. [[Patañjali]], who lived three centuries after Pānini, wrote the ''{{unicode|[[Mahābhāṣya]]}}'', the "Great Commentary" on the {{unicode|Aṣṭādhyāyī}} and Vārtikas. Because of these three ancient [[Sanskrit grammarians]] this grammar is called '''Trimuni Vyākarana.''' To understand the meaning of sutras, Jayaditya and Vāmana wrote the commentry named Kāsikā  in 600 C.E.. Paninian grammar is based on fourteen [[Shiva]] sutras (aphorisms); here the whole Mātrika ([[alphabet]]) is abbreviated. This abbreviation is called Pratyāhara.<ref>Kashinath V. Abhyankar, ''A Dictionary of Sanskrit Grammar'' (Baroda: Oriental Institute, 1986).</ref>
  
 
===Verbs===
 
===Verbs===
−
 
 
====Classification of verbs====
 
====Classification of verbs====
−
Sanskrit has ten classes of [[verb]]s divided into in two broad groups: [[athematic]] and [[Vowel stem|thematic]]. The thematic verbs are so called because an ''a'', called the [[theme vowel]], is inserted between the stem and the ending. This serves to make the thematic verbs generally more regular. [[exponent (linguistics)|Exponents]] used in verb [[grammatical conjugation|conjugation]] include [[Prefix (linguistics)|prefix]]es, [[suffix]]es, [[infix]]es, and [[reduplication]]. Every root has (not necessarily all distinct) zero, [[guna|gu{{Unicode|ṇ}}a]], and [[vrddhi|v{{Unicode|ṛ}}ddhi]] grades. If V is the vowel of the zero grade, the gu{{Unicode|ṇ}}a-grade vowel is traditionally thought of as a + V, and the v{{Unicode|ṛ}}ddhi-grade vowel as ā + V.
+
Sanskrit has ten classes of [[verb]]s divided into in two broad groups: [[athematic]] and [[Vowel stem|thematic]]. The thematic verbs are so called because an ''a,'' called the [[theme vowel]], is inserted between the stem and the ending. This serves to make the thematic verbs generally more regular. [[exponent (linguistics)|Exponents]] used in verb [[grammatical conjugation|conjugation]] include [[Prefix (linguistics)|prefix]]es, [[suffix]]es, [[infix]]es, and [[reduplication]]. Every root has (not necessarily all distinct) zero, [[guna|gu{{Unicode|ṇ}}a]], and [[vrddhi|v{{Unicode|ṛ}}ddhi]] grades. If V is the vowel of the zero grade, the gu{{Unicode|ṇ}}a-grade vowel is traditionally thought of as a + V, and the v{{Unicode|ṛ}}ddhi-grade vowel as ā + V.
  
−
====Tense Systems====
+
====Tense systems====
−
The verbs [[tense]]s, which express more distinctions than simply temporal sequence,   are organized into four 'systems' (as well as [[gerund]]s and [[infinitive]]s, and forms such as [[intensive]]s/[[frequentative]]s, [[desiderative]]s, [[causative]]s, and [[benedictive]]s derived from more basic forms) based on the different stem forms (derived from verbal roots) used in conjugation. There are four tense systems:
+
The verbs [[tense]]s, which express more distinctions than simply temporal sequence, are organized into four "systems" (as well as [[gerund]]s and [[infinitive]]s, and forms such as [[intensive]]s/[[frequentative]]s, [[desiderative]]s, [[causative]]s, and [[benedictive]]s derived from more basic forms) based on the different stem forms (derived from verbal roots) used in conjugation. There are four tense systems:
 
*Present ([[Present tense|Present]], [[Imperfect tense|Imperfect]], [[Imperative mood|Imperative]], [[Optative mood|Optative]])
 
*Present ([[Present tense|Present]], [[Imperfect tense|Imperfect]], [[Imperative mood|Imperative]], [[Optative mood|Optative]])
 
*[[Perfect tense|Perfect]]
 
*[[Perfect tense|Perfect]]
 
*[[Aorist tense|Aorist]]
 
*[[Aorist tense|Aorist]]
 
*[[Future]] ([[Future tense|Future]], [[Conditional]])
 
*[[Future]] ([[Future tense|Future]], [[Conditional]])
−
 
−
 
  
 
=====Present system=====
 
=====Present system=====
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For athematic verbs, the present tense stem may be formed through
 
For athematic verbs, the present tense stem may be formed through
−
*2) No modification at all, for example ''ad'' from ''ad'' 'eat'.
+
*2) No modification at all, for example ''ad'' from ''ad'' "eat."
−
*3) Reduplication prefixed to the root, for example ''juhu'' from ''hu'' 'sacrifice'.
+
*3) Reduplication prefixed to the root, for example ''juhu'' from ''hu'' "sacrifice."
−
*7) Infixion of ''na'' or ''n'' before the final root consonant (with appropriate sandhi changes), for example ''rundh'' or ''ru{{Unicode|ṇ}}adh'' from ''rudh'' 'obstruct'.
+
*7) Infixion of ''na'' or ''n'' before the final root consonant (with appropriate sandhi changes), for example ''rundh'' or ''ru{{Unicode|ṇ}}adh'' from ''rudh'' "obstruct."
−
*5) Suffixation of ''nu'' (gu{{Unicode|ṇ}}a form ''no''), for example ''sunu'' from ''su'' 'press out'.
+
*5) Suffixation of ''nu'' (gu{{Unicode|ṇ}}a form ''no''), for example ''sunu'' from ''su'' "press out."
−
*8) Suffixation of ''u'' (gu{{Unicode|ṇ}}a form ''o''), for example ''tanu'' from ''tan'' 'stretch'. For modern linguistic purposes it is better treated as a subclass of the 5th. ''tanu'' derives from ''tnnu'', which is [[zero-grade]] for *''tannu'', because in the [[Proto-Indo-European language]] [m] and [n] could be vowels, which in Sanskrit (and Greek) change to [a]. Most members of the 8th class arose this way; ''kar'' = "make," "do" was 5th class in [[Vedic language|Vedic]] (''krnoti'' = "he makes"), but shifted to the 8th class in Classical Sanskrit (''karoti'' = "he makes")
+
*8) Suffixation of ''u'' (gu{{Unicode|ṇ}}a form ''o''), for example ''tanu'' from ''tan'' "stretch." For modern linguistic purposes it is better treated as a subclass of the 5th. ''tanu'' derives from ''tnnu'', which is [[zero-grade]] for *''tannu'', because in the [[Proto-Indo-European language]] [m] and [n] could be vowels, which in Sanskrit (and Greek) change to [a]. Most members of the 8th class arose this way; ''kar'' = "make," "do" was 5th class in [[Vedic language|Vedic]] (''krnoti'' = "he makes"), but shifted to the 8th class in Classical Sanskrit (''karoti'' = "he makes")
−
*9) Suffixation of ''nā'' (zero-grade ''nī'' or ''n''), for example ''krī{{Unicode|ṇ}}a'' or ''krī{{Unicode|ṇ}}ī'' from ''krī'' 'buy'.
+
*9) Suffixation of ''nā'' (zero-grade ''nī'' or ''n''), for example ''krī{{Unicode|ṇ}}a'' or ''krī{{Unicode|ṇ}}ī'' from ''krī'' "buy."
  
 
For thematic verbs, the present tense stem may be formed through
 
For thematic verbs, the present tense stem may be formed through
−
*1) Suffixation of the thematic vowel ''a'' with gu{{Unicode|ṇ}}a strengthening, for example, ''bháva'' from ''bhū'' 'be'.
+
*1) Suffixation of the thematic vowel ''a'' with gu{{Unicode|ṇ}}a strengthening, for example, ''bháva'' from ''bhū'' "be."
−
*6) Suffixation of the thematic vowel ''a'' with a shift of accent to this vowel, for example ''tudá'' from ''tud'' 'thrust'.
+
*6) Suffixation of the thematic vowel ''a'' with a shift of accent to this vowel, for example ''tudá'' from ''tud'' "thrust."
−
*4) Suffixation of ''ya'', for example ''dī́vya'' from ''div'' 'play'.
+
*4) Suffixation of ''ya'', for example ''dī́vya'' from ''div'' "play."
  
−
The tenth class described by native grammarians refers to a process which is derivational in nature, and thus not a true tense-stem formation. It is formed by suffixation of ''ya'' with gu{{Unicode|ṇ}}a strengthening and lengthening of the root's last vowel, for example ''bhāvaya'' from ''bhū'' 'be'.
+
The tenth class described by native grammarians refers to a process which is derivational in nature, and thus not a true tense-stem formation. It is formed by suffixation of ''ya'' with gu{{Unicode|ṇ}}a strengthening and lengthening of the root's last vowel, for example ''bhāvaya'' from ''bhū'' "be."
  
 
=====Perfect system=====
 
=====Perfect system=====
 
The perfect system includes only the [[perfect tense]]. The stem is formed with reduplication as with the present system.
 
The perfect system includes only the [[perfect tense]]. The stem is formed with reduplication as with the present system.
  
−
The perfect system also produces separate "strong" and "weak" forms of the verb — the strong form is used with the singular active, and the weak form with the rest.
+
The perfect system also produces separate "strong" and "weak" forms of the verb—the strong form is used with the singular active, and the weak form with the rest.
  
 
=====Aorist system=====
 
=====Aorist system=====
−
The [[aorist]] system includes aorist proper (with past indicative meaning, e.g. ''abhū{{Unicode|ḥ}}'' "you were") and some of the forms of the ancient injunctive (used almost exclusively with ''mā'' in prohibitions, e.g. ''mā bhū{{Unicode|ḥ}}'' "don't be"). The principal distinction of the two is presence/absence of an augment – ''a-'' prefixed to the stem.
+
The [[aorist]] system includes aorist proper (with past indicative meaning, e.g. ''abhū{{Unicode|ḥ}}'' "you were") and some of the forms of the ancient injunctive (used almost exclusively with ''mā'' in prohibitions, for example, ''mā bhū{{Unicode|ḥ}}'' "don't be"). The principal distinction of the two is presence/absence of an augment – ''a-'' prefixed to the stem.
−
 
+
The aorist system stem actually has three different formations: The simple aorist, the reduplicating aorist (semantically related to the causative verb), and the sibilant aorist. The simple aorist is taken directly from the root stem (for example, ''bhū-'': ''a-bhū-t'' "he was"). The reduplicating aorist involves reduplication as well as [[vowel reduction]] of the stem. The sibilant aorist is formed with the suffixation of ''s'' to the stem.
−
The aorist system stem actually has three different formations: the simple aorist, the reduplicating aorist (semantically related to the causative verb), and the sibilant aorist. The simple aorist is taken directly from the root stem (e.g. ''bhū-'': ''a-bhū-t'' "he was"). The reduplicating aorist involves reduplication as well as [[vowel reduction]] of the stem. The sibilant aorist is formed with the suffixation of ''s'' to the stem.
 
  
 
=====Future system=====
 
=====Future system=====
Line 370: Line 364:
 
|-
 
|-
 
! Second Person
 
! Second Person
−
| dhí, hí, — || tám || tá || svá || ā́thām || dhvám
+
| dhí, hí,—|| tám || tá || svá || ā́thām || dhvám
 
|-
 
|-
 
! Third Person
 
! Third Person
Line 459: Line 453:
 
|}
 
|}
  
−
===Nominal Inflection===
+
===Nominal inflection===
−
{{stubsection}}
+
Sanskrit is a highly [[inflection|inflected]] language with three [[grammatical gender]]s (masculine, feminine, neuter) and three numbers (singular, plural, [[dual grammatical number|dual]]). It has eight [[grammatical case|cases]]: [[nominative case|Nominative]], [[vocative case|vocative]], [[accusative case|accusative]], [[instrumental case|instrumental]], [[dative case|dative]], [[ablative case|ablative]], [[genitive case|genitive]], and [[locative case|locative]].
−
 
 
−
Sanskrit is a highly [[inflection|inflected]] language with three [[grammatical gender]]s (masculine, feminine, neuter) and three numbers (singular, plural, [[dual grammatical number|dual]]). It has eight [[grammatical case|cases]]: [[nominative case|nominative]], [[vocative case|vocative]], [[accusative case|accusative]], [[instrumental case|instrumental]], [[dative case|dative]], [[ablative case|ablative]], [[genitive case|genitive]], and [[locative case|locative]].
 
  
−
The number of actual [[declension]]s is debatable. [[Panini (grammarian)|Panini]] identifies six ''karakas'' corresponding to the nominative, accusative, dative, instrumental, locative, and ablative cases [http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/epc/srb/cyber/man3.html]. Panini defines them as follows (Ashtadhyayi, I.4.24-54):
+
The number of actual [[declension]]s is debatable. [[Panini (grammarian)|Panini]] identifies six ''karakas'' corresponding to the nominative, accusative, dative, instrumental, locative, and ablative cases. Panini defines them as follows (Ashtadhyayi, I.4.24-54):
  
−
# ''Apadana'' (lit. 'take off'): "(that which is) firm when departure (takes place)." This is the equivalent of the ablative case, which signifies a stationary object from which movement proceeds.
+
# ''Apadana'' (lit. "take off"): "(that which is) firm when departure (takes place)." This is the equivalent of the ablative case, which signifies a stationary object from which movement proceeds.
−
# ''Sampradana'' ('bestowal'): "he whom one aims at with the object." This is equivalent to the dative case, which signifies a recipient in an act of giving or similar acts.
+
# ''Sampradana'' ("bestowal"): "He whom one aims at with the object." This is equivalent to the dative case, which signifies a recipient in an act of giving or similar acts.
−
# ''Karana'' ("instrument") "that which effects most." This is equivalent to the instrumental case.
+
# ''Karana'' ("instrument") "That which effects most." This is equivalent to the instrumental case.
−
# ''Adhikarana'' ('location'): or "substratum." This is equivalent to the locative case.
+
# ''Adhikarana'' ("location"): Or "substratum." This is equivalent to the locative case.
−
# ''Karman'' ('deed'/'object'): "what the agent seeks most to attain." This is equivalent to the accusative case.
+
# ''Karman'' ("deed/object"): "What the agent seeks most to attain." This is equivalent to the accusative case.
−
# ''Karta'' ('agent'): "he/that which is independent in action." This is equivalent to the nominative case. (On the basis of Scharfe, 1977: 94)
+
# ''Karta'' ("agent"): "He/that which is independent in action." This is equivalent to the nominative case. (On the basis of Scharfe, 1977: 94)
  
 
Possessive ''(Sambandha)'' and vocative are absent in Panini's grammar.
 
Possessive ''(Sambandha)'' and vocative are absent in Panini's grammar.
Line 477: Line 469:
 
In this article they are divided into five declensions. The declension to which a noun belongs to is determined largely by form.
 
In this article they are divided into five declensions. The declension to which a noun belongs to is determined largely by form.
  
−
====Basic Noun and Adjective Declension ====
+
====Basic noun and adjective declension ====
 
The basic scheme of suffixation is given in the table below—valid for almost all nouns and adjectives. However, according to the gender and the ending consonant/vowel of the uninflected word-stem, there are predetermined rules of compulsory ''sandhi'' which would then give the final inflected word. The parentheses give the case-terminations for the neuter gender, the rest are for masculine and feminine gender. Both devanagari script and IAST transliterations are given.
 
The basic scheme of suffixation is given in the table below—valid for almost all nouns and adjectives. However, according to the gender and the ending consonant/vowel of the uninflected word-stem, there are predetermined rules of compulsory ''sandhi'' which would then give the final inflected word. The parentheses give the case-terminations for the neuter gender, the rest are for masculine and feminine gender. Both devanagari script and IAST transliterations are given.
 
{|class="wikitable"
 
{|class="wikitable"
Line 697: Line 689:
 
|}
 
|}
  
−
See also [[Devi inflection]], [[Vrkis inflection]].
+
===Personal pronouns and determiners===
−
 
 
−
===Personal Pronouns and Determiners===
 
 
{{main|Sanskrit pronouns and determiners}}
 
{{main|Sanskrit pronouns and determiners}}
 
The first and second person pronouns are declined for the most part alike, having by [[analogy]] assimilated themselves with one another.
 
The first and second person pronouns are declined for the most part alike, having by [[analogy]] assimilated themselves with one another.
Line 795: Line 785:
  
 
; {{unicode|[[Dvandva]]}} (co-ordinative)
 
; {{unicode|[[Dvandva]]}} (co-ordinative)
−
: These consist of two or more [[noun]] stems, connected in sense with 'and'. There are mainly two kinds of ''dvandva'' constructions in Sanskrit. The first is called ''itaretara dvandva'', an enumerative compound word, the meaning of which refers to all its constituent members. The resultant compound word is in the dual or plural number and takes the gender of the final member in the compound construction. e.g. ''rāma-lakşmaņau'' – Rama and Lakshmana, or ''rāma-lakşmaņa-bharata-śatrughnāh'' – Rama, Lakshmana, Bharata and Satrughna. The second kind is called ''samāhāra dvandva'', a collective compound word, the meaning of which refers to the collection of its constituent members. The resultant compound word is in the singular number and is always neuter in gender. e.g. ''pāņipādam'' – limbs, literally hands and feet, from pāņi = hand and pāda = foot. According to some grammarians, there is a third kind of dvandva, called ''ekaśeşa dvandva'' or residual compound, which takes the dual (or plural) form of only its final constituent member, e.g. ''pitarau'' for mātā + pitā, mother + father, i.e. parents. According to other grammarians, however, the ''ekaśeşa'' is not properly a compound at all.
+
: These consist of two or more [[noun]] stems, connected in sense with 'and'. There are mainly two kinds of ''dvandva'' constructions in Sanskrit. The first is called ''itaretara dvandva,'' an enumerative compound word, the meaning of which refers to all its constituent members. The resultant compound word is in the dual or plural number and takes the gender of the final member in the compound construction. for example, ''rāma-lakşmaņau''—Rama and Lakshmana, or ''rāma-lakşmaņa-bharata-śatrughnāh'' – Rama, Lakshmana, Bharata and Satrughna. The second kind is called ''samāhāra dvandva,'' a collective compound word, the meaning of which refers to the collection of its constituent members. The resultant compound word is in the singular number and is always neuter in gender. For example, ''pāņipādam''—limbs, literally hands and feet, from pāņi = hand and pāda = foot. According to some grammarians, there is a third kind of dvandva, called ''ekaśeşa dvandva'' or residual compound, which takes the dual (or plural) form of only its final constituent member, for example, ''pitarau'' for mātā + pitā, mother + father, i.e. parents. According to other grammarians, however, the ''ekaśeşa'' is not properly a compound at all.
 
; {{unicode|[[Bahuvrīhi]]}} (possessive)
 
; {{unicode|[[Bahuvrīhi]]}} (possessive)
−
: Bahuvrīhi, or "much-rice," denotes a rich person—one who has much rice. Bahuvrīhi compounds refer (by example) to a compound noun with no head—a compound noun that refers to a thing which is itself not part of the compound. For example, "low-life" and "block-head" are bahuvrihi compounds, since a low-life is not a kind of life, and a block-head is not a kind of head. (And a much-rice is not a kind of rice.) Compare with more common, headed, compound nouns like "fly-ball" (a kind of ball) or "alley cat" (a kind of cat). Bahurvrīhis can often be translated by "possessing..." or "-ed"; for example, "possessing much rice," or "much riced."
+
: Bahuvrīhi, or "much-rice," denotes a rich person—one who has much rice. Bahuvrīhi compounds refer (by example) to a compound noun with no head—a compound noun that refers to a thing which is itself not part of the compound. For example, "low-life" and "block-head" are bahuvrihi compounds, since a low-life is not a kind of life, and a block-head is not a kind of head. (And a much-rice is not a kind of rice.) Compare with more common, headed, compound nouns like "fly-ball" (a kind of ball) or "alley cat" (a kind of cat). Bahurvrīhis can often be translated by "possessing…" or "-ed;" for example, "possessing much rice," or "much riced."
 
; [[Tatpurusha|{{unicode|Tatpuruṣa}}]] (determinative)
 
; [[Tatpurusha|{{unicode|Tatpuruṣa}}]] (determinative)
−
: There are many tatpuru{{Unicode|ṣ}}as (one for each of the nominal cases, and a few others besides); in a tatpuru{{Unicode|ṣ}}a, the first component is in a case relationship with another. For example, a doghouse is a dative compound, a house ''for'' a dog. It would be called a "caturtitatpuru{{Unicode|ṣ}}a" (caturti refers to the fourth case—that is, the dative). Incidentally, "tatpuru{{Unicode|ṣ}}a" is a tatpuru{{Unicode|ṣ}}a ("this man"—meaning someone's agent), while "caturtitatpuru{{Unicode|ṣ}}a" is a [[Karmadharya|karmadhārya]], being both dative, and a tatpuru{{Unicode|ṣ}}a. An easy way to understand it is to look at English examples of tatpuru{{Unicode|ṣ}}as: "battlefield," where there is a genitive relationship between "field" and "battle," "a field of battle"; other examples include instrumental relationships ("thunderstruck") and locative relationships ("towndwelling").
+
: There are many tatpuru{{Unicode|ṣ}}as (one for each of the nominal cases, and a few others besides); in a tatpuru{{Unicode|ṣ}}a, the first component is in a case relationship with another. For example, a doghouse is a dative compound, a house ''for'' a dog. It would be called a "caturtitatpuru{{Unicode|ṣ}}a" (caturti refers to the fourth case—that is, the dative). Incidentally, "tatpuru{{Unicode|ṣ}}a" is a tatpuru{{Unicode|ṣ}}a ("this man"—meaning someone's agent), while "caturtitatpuru{{Unicode|ṣ}}a" is a [[Karmadharya|karmadhārya]], being both dative, and a tatpuru{{Unicode|ṣ}}a. An easy way to understand it is to look at English examples of tatpuru{{Unicode|ṣ}}as: "battlefield," where there is a genitive relationship between "field" and "battle," "a field of battle;" other examples include instrumental relationships ("thunderstruck") and locative relationships ("towndwelling").
 
; {{unicode|[[Karmadhāraya]]}} (descriptive)
 
; {{unicode|[[Karmadhāraya]]}} (descriptive)
−
: The relation of the first member to the last is appositional, attributive or adverbial, e. g. uluka-yatu (owl+demon) is a demon in the shape of an owl.
+
: The relation of the first member to the last is appositional, attributive or adverbial, for example, uluka-yatu (owl+demon) is a demon in the shape of an owl.
 
; [[Amredita|{{unicode|Amreḍita}}]] (iterative)
 
; [[Amredita|{{unicode|Amreḍita}}]] (iterative)
−
: Repetition of a word expresses repetitiveness, e. g. dive-dive 'day by day', 'daily'.
+
: Repetition of a word expresses repetitiveness, for example, dive-dive "day by day," "daily."
 
;[[Dvigu]]
 
;[[Dvigu]]
  
 
===Syntax===
 
===Syntax===
−
{{stubsection}}
 
 
Because of Sanskrit's complex declension system the [[word order]] is free (with tendency toward [[Subject Object Verb|SOV]]).
 
Because of Sanskrit's complex declension system the [[word order]] is free (with tendency toward [[Subject Object Verb|SOV]]).
  
Line 871: Line 860:
  
 
==Influence==
 
==Influence==
−
=== Modern India ===
+
=== Modern India ===
−
====Influence on Vernaculars====
+
====Influence on vernaculars====
−
Sanskrit's greatest influence, presumably, is that which it exerted on languages that grew from its vocabulary and grammatical base. Especially among élite circles in India, Sanskrit is prized as a storehouse of scripture and the language of prayers in [[Hinduism]]. It is used as a liturgical language of [[Hinduism]] and [[Buddhism]], and utilized occasionally in [[Jainism]]. Similar to the way in which [[Latin]] influenced European languages and Classical Chinese influenced East Asian languages, Sanskrit has influenced most Indian languages. While vernacular prayer is common, Sanskrit [[mantra]]s are recited by millions of Hindus and most temple functions are conducted entirely in Sanskrit, often Vedic in form. Of modern day Indian languages, while Hindi and Urdu tend to be more heavily weighted with [[Arabic language|Arabic]] and [[Persian language|Persian]] influence, [[Nepali language|Nepali]], Bengali, [[Assamese language|Assamese]], [[Konkani]] and [[Marathi]] still retain a largely Sanskrit vocabulary base. The national anthem, ''[[Jana Gana Mana]]'', is written in a literary form of Bengali (known as ''shuddha bhasha''), Sanskritized so as to be recognizable, but still archaic to the modern ear. The national song of India, ''[[Vande Mataram]]'', originally a poem composed by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and taken from his book called '[[Anandamath]]', is in a similarly highly Sanskritized Bengali. [[Malayalam language|Malayalam]], [[Telugu language|Telugu]] and [[Kannada language|Kannada]] also combine a great deal of Sanskrit vocabulary.
+
Sanskrit's greatest influence, presumably, is that which it exerted on languages that grew from its vocabulary and grammatical base. Especially among élite circles in India, Sanskrit is prized as a storehouse of scripture and the language of prayers in [[Hinduism]]. It is used as a liturgical language of Hinduism and [[Buddhism]], and utilized occasionally in [[Jainism]]. Similar to the way in which [[Latin]] influenced European languages and Classical Chinese influenced East Asian languages, Sanskrit has influenced most Indian languages. While vernacular prayer is common, Sanskrit [[mantra]]s are recited by millions of Hindus and most temple functions are conducted entirely in Sanskrit, often Vedic in form. Of modern day Indian languages, while Hindi and Urdu tend to be more heavily weighted with [[Arabic language|Arabic]] and [[Persian language|Persian]] influence, [[Nepali language|Nepali]], Bengali, [[Assamese language|Assamese]], [[Konkani]] and [[Marathi]] still retain a largely Sanskrit vocabulary base. The national anthem, ''[[Jana Gana Mana]],'' is written in a literary form of Bengali (known as ''shuddha bhasha''), Sanskritized so as to be recognizable, but still archaic to the modern ear. The national song of India, ''[[Vande Mataram]]'', originally a poem composed by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and taken from his book called '[[Anandamath]]', is in a similarly highly Sanskritized Bengali. [[Malayalam language|Malayalam]], [[Telugu language|Telugu]] and [[Kannada language|Kannada]] also combine a great deal of Sanskrit vocabulary.
  
 
Sanskrit is one of the twenty-two [[official languages of India]], and an ancestor of the modern [[Indo-Aryan]] languages. It has the same status in [[Nepal]] as well.
 
Sanskrit is one of the twenty-two [[official languages of India]], and an ancestor of the modern [[Indo-Aryan]] languages. It has the same status in [[Nepal]] as well.
  
−
==== Revival Efforts ====
+
==== Revival efforts ====
 
The [[1991 Indian census]] reported 49,736 fluent speakers of Sanskrit. Since the 1990s, efforts to revive spoken Sanskrit have been increasing. Many organizations like the ''Samskrta Bharati'' are conducting Speak Sanskrit workshops to popularize the language. The ''[[CBSE]]'' (Central Board of Secondary Education) in India has made Sanskrit a third language (though schools have the option to adopt it or not, the other choice being the state's own official language) in the schools it governs. In such schools, learning Sanskrit is an option for grades 5 to 8 (Classes V to VIII). This is true of most schools, including but not limited to Christian missionary schools, which are also affiliated to the [[ICSE]] board, especially in those states where the official language is [[Hindi]]. [[Sudharma]], the only daily newspaper in Sanskrit, has been published out of [[Mysore]] in [[India]] since the year 1970.
 
The [[1991 Indian census]] reported 49,736 fluent speakers of Sanskrit. Since the 1990s, efforts to revive spoken Sanskrit have been increasing. Many organizations like the ''Samskrta Bharati'' are conducting Speak Sanskrit workshops to popularize the language. The ''[[CBSE]]'' (Central Board of Secondary Education) in India has made Sanskrit a third language (though schools have the option to adopt it or not, the other choice being the state's own official language) in the schools it governs. In such schools, learning Sanskrit is an option for grades 5 to 8 (Classes V to VIII). This is true of most schools, including but not limited to Christian missionary schools, which are also affiliated to the [[ICSE]] board, especially in those states where the official language is [[Hindi]]. [[Sudharma]], the only daily newspaper in Sanskrit, has been published out of [[Mysore]] in [[India]] since the year 1970.
  
−
Sanskrit is spoken natively by the population in [[Mattur]] village in central [[Karnataka]]. Inhabitants of all castes learn Sanskrit starting in childhood and converse in the language. [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1199965,curpg-1.cms]
+
Sanskrit is spoken natively by the population in [[Mattur]] village in central [[Karnataka]]. Inhabitants of all castes learn Sanskrit starting in childhood and converse in the language.<ref>Times of India, [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1199965,curpg-1.cms This village speaks god's language.] Retrieved November 18, 2007.</ref>
  
−
===Symbolic Usage===
+
===Symbolic usage===
 
In the Republic of India and Indonesia, Sanskrit phrases are widely used as mottoes for various educational and social organizations (much as [[Latin]] is used by some institutions in the West). The [[motto]] of the Republic is also in Sanskrit.
 
In the Republic of India and Indonesia, Sanskrit phrases are widely used as mottoes for various educational and social organizations (much as [[Latin]] is used by some institutions in the West). The [[motto]] of the Republic is also in Sanskrit.
  
−
; [[Republic of India]] : ''[[Satyameva Jayate]]''
+
; [[Republic of India]]: ''[[Satyameva Jayate]]''
−
; [[Nepal]] : ''Janani Janmabhūmis ca Svargād api garīyasi'' "Mother and motherland are greater than heaven"  
+
; [[Nepal]]: ''Janani Janmabhūmis ca Svargād api garīyasi'' "Mother and motherland are greater than heaven"  
−
; [[Goa]] : ''Sarve Bhadrāni Paśyantu Mā Kaścid Duhkhabhāg bhavet''
+
; [[Goa]]: ''Sarve Bhadrāni Paśyantu Mā Kaścid Duhkhabhāg bhavet''
 
; [[Life Insurance Corporation of India]] : ''Yogakshemam Vahāmyaham''
 
; [[Life Insurance Corporation of India]] : ''Yogakshemam Vahāmyaham''
−
; [[Indian Navy]] : ''Shanno Varuna''
+
; [[Indian Navy]]: ''Shanno Varuna''
−
; [[Indian Air Force]] : ''Nābha Sparsham Dīptam''
+
; [[Indian Air Force]]: ''Nābha Sparsham Dīptam''
−
; [[Indian Police]] : ''sadd rakshanay khalah nighranayah''
+
; [[Indian Police]]: ''sadd rakshanay khalah nighranayah''
−
; [[Indian Coast Guard]] : ''Vayam Rakshāmaha''
+
; [[Indian Coast Guard]]: ''Vayam Rakshāmaha''
−
; [[All India Radio]] : ''Bahujana-hitāya bahujana-sukhāya''
+
; [[All India Radio]]: ''Bahujana-hitāya bahujana-sukhāya''
−
; [[Indonesian Navy]] : ''Jalesveva Jayamahe''
+
; [[Indonesian Navy]]: ''Jalesveva Jayamahe''
−
; [[Aceh Province]] : Pancacita
+
; [[Aceh Province]]: Pancacita
  
 
Many of the post–Independence educational institutions of national importance in India and Sri Lanka have Sanskrit mottoes.  
 
Many of the post–Independence educational institutions of national importance in India and Sri Lanka have Sanskrit mottoes.  
  
−
=== Interactions with Eastern and Southeastern Asiatic Languages ===
+
=== Interactions with eastern and southeastern Asiatic languages ===
−
Sanskrit and related languages have also influenced their Sino-Tibetan-speaking neighbors to the north through the spread of [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] texts in translation.<ref>"Siddham; an essay on the history of Sanskrit studies in China and Japan," [[Robert van Gulik]], Nagpur, International Academy of Indian Culture, 1956.</ref> Buddhism was spread to [[China]] by [[Mahayana|Mahayanist]] missionaries mostly through translations of [[Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit]] and Classical Sanskrit texts, and many terms were transliterated directly and added to the [[Chinese language|Chinese]] vocabulary. Although Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit is not Sanskrit, properly speaking, its vocabulary is substantially the same, both because of genetic relationship, and because of conscious imitation on the part of composers. Buddhist texts composed in Sanskrit proper were primarily found in philosophical schools like the [[Madhyamaka]].
+
Sanskrit and related languages have also influenced their Sino-Tibetan-speaking neighbors to the north through the spread of [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] texts in translation.<ref>Robert van Gulik, "Siddham; an essay on the history of Sanskrit studies in China and Japan," ''International Academy of Indian Culture,'' 1956.</ref> Buddhism was spread to [[China]] by [[Mahayana|Mahayanist]] missionaries mostly through translations of [[Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit]] and Classical Sanskrit texts, and many terms were transliterated directly and added to the [[Chinese language|Chinese]] vocabulary. Although Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit is not Sanskrit, properly speaking, its vocabulary is substantially the same, both because of genetic relationship, and because of conscious imitation on the part of composers. Buddhist texts composed in Sanskrit proper were primarily found in philosophical schools like the [[Madhyamaka]].
  
−
The [[Thai language]] contains many [[loan word]]s from Sanskrit. For example, in Thai, the [[Raavana|Rāvana]], the legendary emperor of Lanka, is called 'Thoskanth' which is a derivation of his Sanskrit name 'Dashakanth' ("of ten necks"). The influence extends as far as the [[Philippines]], where the Tagalog for 'teacher' is 'gurò' from 'guru,' probably acquired from the [[Hindu]] seafarers who traded there. Many Sanskrit loanwords are also found in [[Malay language|traditional Malay]] and [[Indonesian language|Modern Indonesian]], [[Old Javanese]] language (close to 50%<ref>According to [[P.J. Zoetmulder]] in the introduction of his Old Javanese - English dictionary (1982); "Of the more than 25,500 entries in this dictionary, over 12,600, that is almost half of the total number, go back, directly or indirectly, to a Sanskrit original." (page IX)</ref>) and [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]].
+
The [[Thai language]] contains many [[loan word]]s from Sanskrit. For example, in Thai, the [[Raavana|Rāvana]], the legendary emperor of Lanka, is called 'Thoskanth' which is a derivation of his Sanskrit name "Dashakanth" ("of ten necks"). The influence extends as far as the [[Philippines]], where the Tagalog for 'teacher' is 'gurò' from 'guru,' probably acquired from the [[Hindu]] seafarers who traded there. Many Sanskrit loanwords are also found in [[Malay language|traditional Malay]] and [[Indonesian language|Modern Indonesian]], [[Old Javanese]] language (close to 50 percent) and [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]].
  
−
===Modern Usage ===
+
===Modern usage ===
 
Many of India's scientific discoveries and developments are named in Sanskrit, as a counterpart of the western practice of naming scientific developments in Latin or Greek. The Indian guided [[missile]] program that was commenced in 1983 by [[DRDO]] has named the five missiles (ballistic and others) that it has developed as [[Prithvi]], [[Agni]], [[Akash]], [[Nag]] and [[Trishul]]. India's first modern fighter [[aircraft]] is named [[Tejas]]. This practice is usually followed in scientific institutions in India also.
 
Many of India's scientific discoveries and developments are named in Sanskrit, as a counterpart of the western practice of naming scientific developments in Latin or Greek. The Indian guided [[missile]] program that was commenced in 1983 by [[DRDO]] has named the five missiles (ballistic and others) that it has developed as [[Prithvi]], [[Agni]], [[Akash]], [[Nag]] and [[Trishul]]. India's first modern fighter [[aircraft]] is named [[Tejas]]. This practice is usually followed in scientific institutions in India also.
  
 
Recital of Sanskrit [[shloka]]s as background chorus in [[film]]s, [[television]] advertisements and as slogans for corporate organizations has become a trend.
 
Recital of Sanskrit [[shloka]]s as background chorus in [[film]]s, [[television]] advertisements and as slogans for corporate organizations has become a trend.
  
−
Sanskrit has also made an appearance in Western pop music in recent years, in two recordings by [[Madonna (entertainer)|Madonna]]. One, "Shanti/Ashtangi," from the 1998 album "Ray of Light," is the traditional [[Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga]] chant (referenced above) set to music. The second, "Cyber-raga," released in 2000, is a Sanskrit-language ode of devotion to a higher power and a wish for peace on earth. The climactic battle theme of The [[Matrix Revolutions]] features a choir singing Sanskrit prayer in the closing titles of the movie. Composer [[John Williams]] also featured a choir singing in Sanskrit for [[Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace]].
+
Sanskrit has also made an appearance in Western pop music in recent years, in two recordings by [[Madonna (entertainer)|Madonna]]. One, "Shanti/Ashtangi," from the 1998 album "Ray of Light," is the traditional [[Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga]] chant (referenced above) set to music. The second, "Cyber-raga," released in 2000, is a Sanskrit-language ode of devotion to a higher power and a wish for peace on earth. The climactic battle theme of The [[Matrix Revolutions]] features a choir singing Sanskrit prayer in the closing titles of the movie. Composer [[John Williams]] also featured a choir singing in Sanskrit for [[Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace]].
  
 
The [[Sky One]] version of the title sequence in season one of [[Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)|Battlestar Galactica 2004]] features  the [[Gayatri Mantra]], taken from the [[Rig Veda]] (3.62.10). The composition was written by miniseries composer [[Richard Gibbs]].
 
The [[Sky One]] version of the title sequence in season one of [[Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)|Battlestar Galactica 2004]] features  the [[Gayatri Mantra]], taken from the [[Rig Veda]] (3.62.10). The composition was written by miniseries composer [[Richard Gibbs]].
  
−
===Computational Linguistics===
+
===Computational linguistics===
−
There have been proposals to use Sanskrit as a [[metalanguage]] for knowledge representation in e.g. [[machine translation]], and other areas of [[natural language processing]], because of its highly regular structure.<ref>first suggested by {{cite journal
+
There have been proposals to use Sanskrit as a [[metalanguage]] for knowledge representation in e.g. [[machine translation]], and other areas of [[natural language processing]], because of its highly regular structure. Classical Sanskrit is a regularized, prescriptivist form abstracted from the much more irregular and richer [[Vedic Sanskrit]]. This leveling of the grammar of Classical Sanskrit occurred during the Brahmana phase, after the language had fallen out of popular use.
−
| author = Rick Briggs of the NASA Ames Research Center
 
−
| date = Spring 1985
 
−
| title = Knowledge Representation in Sanskrit and Artificial Intelligence
 
−
| journal = AI Magazine
 
−
| volume = 6
 
−
| issue = 1
 
−
| url = http://www.gosai.com/science/sanskrit-nasa.html
 
−
| accessdate = 2006-09-26
 
−
}}</ref> Classical Sanskrit is a regularized, prescriptivist form abstracted from the much more irregular and richer [[Vedic Sanskrit]]. This leveling of the grammar of Classical Sanskrit occurred during the Brahmana phase, after the language had fallen out of popular use.
 
−
 
 
−
==Notes==
 
−
<references/>
 
−
==References==
 
−
* Burrow, T. 1955. ''The Sanskrit language''. Great languages. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 81-208-1767-2
 
−
* Hall, Bruce Cameron. 1992. ''Sanskrit pronunciation''. Pasadena, Calif: Theosophical University Press. ISBN:1557000212 9781557000217
 
−
* Coulson, Michael, Richard Gombrich, and James D. Benson. 1992.'' Sanskrit an introduction to the classical language.'' Sevenoaks: Teach Yourself. ISBN:0340568674 : 9780340568675
 
−
* ''Devavāṇīpraveśikā: An Introduction to the Sanskrit Language'' – Robert P. Goldman – ISBN 0-944613-40-3
 
−
* Kale, Moreshwar Ramchandra. 1960. ''A higher Sanskrit grammar.'' Delhi: R.M. Lal.ISBN 81-208-0178-4
 
−
* Macdonell, Arthur Anthony. 1927. ''A Sanskrit grammar for students''. London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press. ISBN 81-246-0094-5
 
−
* Maurer, Walter Harding. 1995. ''The Sanskrit language an introductory grammar and reader''. Surrey: Curzon Press. ISBN:0700703527 9780700703524
 
−
* ''Conversational Sanskrit'' – Dr. Vagish Shastri – ISBN 81-85570-12-4
 
−
* भाषा विज्ञान ''(Bhasha-vigyan)'' Tuwari, Bholanath. 1978. 2004. Illahabad: Kitab Mahal. ISBN 81-225-0007-2
 
−
* ''A Practical Grammar Of The Sanskrit Language Arranged With Reference To The Classical Languages Of Europe For The Use Of English Students '' - [[Monier Monier-Williams]] (1846) [http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC03325543&id=REQhAAAAMAAJ&dq=Monier-Williams]
 
−
 
 
−
;Grammars
 
−
*W. D. Whitney, ''Sanskrit Grammar: Including both the Classical Language and the Older Dialects''
 
−
*W. D. Whitney, ''The Roots, Verb-Forms and Primary Derivatives of the Sanskrit Language: (A Supplement to His Sanskrit Grammar)''
 
−
*Wackernagel, Debrunner, ''[[Altindische Grammatik]]'', Göttingen.
 
−
**vol. I. phonology [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN1421247127&id=mWaIUMIoUvkC&dq=Altindische] [[Jacob Wackernagel]] (1896)
 
−
**vol. II.1. introduction to morphology, nominal composition, Wackernagel (1905) [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN1421247100&id=qql6RRqTAuIC&dq=Altindische]
 
−
**vol. II.2. nominal suffixes, J. Wackernagel and [[Albert Debrunner]] (1954)
 
−
**vol. III. nominal inflection, numerals, pronouns, Wackernagel and Debrunner (1930)
 
−
*B. Delbrück, ''Altindische Tempuslehre'' (1876) [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN1421246880&id=_-9K_xT8OBAC&dq=Altindische]
 
−
 
 
−
;Dictionaries
 
−
*[[Otto Böhtlingk]], [[Rudolph Roth]], ''Petersburger Wörterbuch'', 7 vols., 1855-75
 
−
*Otto Böhtlingk, ''Sanskrit Wörterbuch in kürzerer Fassung'' 1883–86 (1998 reprint, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi)
 
−
*[[Monier Monier-Williams]], ''Sanskrit-English Dictionary'' (1898, 1899)
 
−
*[[Manfred Mayrhofer]], ''Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindischen'', 1956-76
 
−
*Manfred Mayrhofer, ''Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen'', 3 vols., 2742 pages, 2001, ISBN 3-8253-1477-4
 
  
 
== See also ==
 
== See also ==
Line 964: Line 913:
 
* [[Indo-European languages]]
 
* [[Indo-European languages]]
 
* [[Languages of India]]
 
* [[Languages of India]]
 +
 
==Notes==
 
==Notes==
 
<references/>
 
<references/>
−
==Bibliography==
 
−
;Introductions
 
−
* ''The Sanskrit Language'' – T. Burrow – ISBN 81-208-1767-2
 
−
* ''Sanskrit Pronunciation'' – Bruce Cameron – ISBN 1-55700-021-2
 
−
* ''Teach Yourself Sanskrit'' – Prof. M. Coulson – ISBN 0-340-85990-3
 
−
* ''Devavāṇīpraveśikā: An Introduction to the Sanskrit Language'' – Robert P. Goldman – ISBN 0-944613-40-3
 
−
* ''A Higher Sanskrit Grammar'' – M. R. Kale – ISBN 81-208-0178-4
 
−
* ''A Sanskrit Grammar for Students'' – A. A. Macdonell – ISBN 81-246-0094-5
 
−
* ''The Sanskrit Language: An Introductory Grammar and Reader'' – Walter Harding Maurer – ISBN 0-7007-1382-4
 
−
* ''Conversational Sanskrit'' – Dr. Vagish Shastri – ISBN 81-85570-12-4
 
−
* भाषा विज्ञान ''(Bhasha Vigyan)''—Bholanath Tiwari—[1955] 2004—ISBN 81-225-0007-2
 
−
* ''A Practical Grammar Of The Sanskrit Language Arranged With Reference To The Classical Languages Of Europe For The Use Of English Students '' - [[Monier Monier-Williams]] (1846) [http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC03325543&id=REQhAAAAMAAJ&dq=Monier-Williams]
 
  
−
;Grammars
+
==References==
−
*W. D. Whitney, ''Sanskrit Grammar: Including both the Classical Language and the Older Dialects''
+
* Abhyankar, Kashinath V. ''A Dictionary of Sanskrit Grammar''. Baroda: Oriental Institute, 1986.
−
*W. D. Whitney, ''The Roots, Verb-Forms and Primary Derivatives of the Sanskrit Language: (A Supplement to His Sanskrit Grammar)''
+
* Burrow, T. ''The Sanskrit Language''. London: Faber and Faber, 1955. ISBN 8120817672.
−
*Wackernagel, Debrunner, ''[[Altindische Grammatik]]'', Göttingen.
+
* Coulson, Michael, Richard Gombrich, and James D. Benson. ''Sanskrit: An Introduction to the Classical Language.'' Sevenoaks: Teach Yourself, 1992. ISBN 978-0340568675.
−
**vol. I. phonology [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN1421247127&id=mWaIUMIoUvkC&dq=Altindische] [[Jacob Wackernagel]] (1896)
+
* Goldman, Robert P. ''Devavāṇīpraveśikā: An Introduction to the Sanskrit Language.'' Berkeley, CA: Center for South Asia Studies, University of California, 1999. ISBN 0944613403.
−
**vol. II.1. introduction to morphology, nominal composition, Wackernagel (1905) [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN1421247100&id=qql6RRqTAuIC&dq=Altindische]
+
* Hall, Bruce Cameron. ''Sanskrit Pronunciation''. Pasadena, CA: Theosophical University Press, 1992. ISBN 978-1557000217.  
−
**vol. II.2. nominal suffixes, J. Wackernagel and [[Albert Debrunner]] (1954)
+
* Kale, Moreshwar Ramchandra. ''A Higher Sanskrit Grammar.'' Delhi: R.M. Lal, 1960. ISBN 8120801784.
−
**vol. III. nominal inflection, numerals, pronouns, Wackernagel and Debrunner (1930)
+
* Macdonell, Arthur Anthony. ''A Sanskrit Grammar for Students''. London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1927. ISBN 8124600945.
−
*B. Delbrück, ''Altindische Tempuslehre'' (1876) [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN1421246880&id=_-9K_xT8OBAC&dq=Altindische]
+
* Maurer, Walter Harding. ''The Sanskrit Language: An Introductory Grammar and Reader.'' Surrey: Curzon Press, 1995. ISBN 978-0700703524.
−
 
+
* Oberlies, Thoams. ''A Grammar of Epic Sanskrit''. de Gruyter, 2003. ISBN 978-3110144482.
−
;Dictionaries
+
* Shastri, Vagish. ''Vāgyoga Conversational Sanskrit.'' Varanasi: Vāgyoga Chetanāpitham, 2000. ISBN 8185570124.
−
*[[Otto Böhtlingk]], [[Rudolph Roth]], ''Petersburger Wörterbuch'', 7 vols., 1855-75
+
* Tiwari, Bholanath. ''Bhasha-vigyan.'' Illahabad: Kitab Mahal, 1978.
−
*Otto Böhtlingk, ''Sanskrit Wörterbuch in kürzerer Fassung'' 1883–86 (1998 reprint, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi)
+
* Whitney, William Dwight. ''Sanskrit Grammar''. Dover Publications, 2003. ISBN 978-0486431369
−
*[[Monier Monier-Williams]], ''Sanskrit-English Dictionary'' (1898, 1899)
+
* Williams, Monier. ''A Practical Grammar Of The Sanskrit Language Arranged With Reference To The Classical Languages Of Europe For The Use Of English Students.'' Oxford University Press, 1857.
−
*[[Manfred Mayrhofer]], ''Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindischen'', 1956-76
+
* Witzel, Michael. ''Inside the Texts Beyond the Texts New Approaches to the Study of the Vedas''. Harvard University Press, 1997. ISBN 978-1888789034.
−
*Manfred Mayrhofer, ''Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen'', 3 vols., 2742 pages, 2001, ISBN 3-8253-1477-4
 
  
 
== External links ==
 
== External links ==
 +
All links retrieved December 22, 2022.
  
−
{{cleanup-spam|section}}
+
*[http://americansanskrit.com/ American Sanskrit Institute]. 
−
{{Interwiki|code=sa}}
+
*{{ethnologue|code=san}}  
−
{{Wikibookspar||Sanskrit}}
+
*[http://hinduwisdom.info/Sanskrit.htm Sanskrit: The Language of Ancient India].  
−
 
+
*[http://www.sub.uni-goettingen.de/ebene_1/fiindolo/gretil.htm GRETIL: Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages], a cumulative register of the numerous download sites for electronic texts in Indian languages.  
−
*[http://samskrita-bharati.org/ Samskrita Bharati]
+
*[http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/index.htm Sanskrit texts at Sacred Text Archive].
−
*[http://mandalar.com/DisplayJ/Bonji/index6_E.html Sanskrit Siddham (Bonji) Numbers]
+
*[http://claysanskritlibrary.org Clay Sanskrit Library] publishes Sanskrit literature with facing-page text and translation. Also offers searchable corpus and numerous downloadable materials.  
−
*[http://americansanskrit.com/ American Sanskrit Institute]  
+
*[https://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/MWScan/tamil/index.html Sanskrit and Tamil Dictionaries], searchable.  
−
*{{ethnologue|code=san}}
+
*[http://sanskrit.inria.fr/DICO/ The Sanskrit Heritage Dictionary].
−
*[http://hinduwisdom.info/Sanskrit.htm Sanskrit: The Language of Ancient India]
+
*[http://sanskritdict.20m.com/sanskrit.htm Sanskrit Dictionary].
−
*[http://iit.edu/~laksvij/language/sanskrit.html Transliterator] from [[romanized]] to [[Unicode]] Sanskrit
+
*[http://selfdiscoveryportal.com/cmSanskrit.htm Glossary of Sanskrit Terms].
−
*[http://baraha.com/ Sanskrit transliterator] with font conversion to Latin and other Indian Languages
+
*[http://bhagavata.org/downloads/sanskritgrammar.pdf Harivenu Dâsa: An Introductory Course based on S'rîla Jîva Gosvâmî's Grammar], a vaishnava version of Pânini's grammar (pdf-file).
−
*[http://www.unics.uni-hannover.de/nhtcapri/sanskrit-alphabet.html Sanskrit Alphabet] in Devanagari, Gujarati, Thai scripts with an extensive list of Devanagari and Gujarati conjuncts
+
*[http://warnemyr.com/skrgram/ An Analytical Cross Referenced Sanskrit Grammar] By Lennart Warnemyr. Phonology, morphology and syntax, written in a semiformal style with full paradigms.  
−
*[http://thestatesman.net/page.arcview.php?id=169574 "Sanskrit as a career option.."]. The Statesman.
 
−
*[http://myweb.uiowa.edu/pjai/Sanskrit/SanskritStudies.htm Academic Courses on Sanskrit Around The World]
 
−
 
 
−
=== Sanskrit Documents ===
 
−
*[http://sanskrit.gde.to/ Sanskrit Documents]: Documents in ITX format of Upanishads, Stotras etc. and a metasite with links to translations, dictionaries, tutorials, tools and other Sanskrit resources.
 
−
 
 
−
*[http://uwest.edu/sanskritcanon/index.html Digital Sanskrit Buddhist Canon]
 
−
 
 
−
*[http://www.sub.uni-goettingen.de/ebene_1/fiindolo/gretil.htm GRETIL: Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages], a cumulative register of the numerous download sites for electronic texts in Indian languages.
 
−
 
 
−
*[http://www.granthamandira.org/index.php?sessionid=1e28fd1e2b89440cf2e17e3ce6be8b7b Gaudiya Grantha Mandira] - A Sanskrit Text Repository.  This site also provides encoding converter.
 
−
 
 
−
*[http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/index.htm Sanskrit texts at Sacred Text Archive]
 
−
 
 
−
*[http://claysanskritlibrary.org Clay Sanskrit Library] publishes Sanskrit literature with facing-page text and translation. Also offers searchable corpus and numerous downloadable materials.
 
−
 
 
−
=== Dictionaries ===
 
−
*[http://webapps.uni-koeln.de/tamil/ Monier-Williams Dictionary], searchable
 
−
*[http://ibiblio.org/sripedia/ebooks/mw/0000/ Monier-Williams Dictionary], printable
 
−
*[http://indica-et-buddhica.org/sections/repositorium-preview/materials/dictionaries/monier-williams-sanskrit-english-dict-html Monier-Williams: DICT & HTML], downloadable
 
−
*[http://spokensanskrit.de Online Hypertext Dictionary]
 
−
*[http://sanskrit.inria.fr/DICO/ The Sanskrit Heritage Dictionary]
 
−
*[http://sanskritdict.20m.com/sanskrit.htm Sanskrit Dictionary]
 
−
*[http://selfdiscoveryportal.com/cmSanskrit.htm Glossary of Sanskrit Terms]
 
−
*[http://atmajyoti.org/sw_glossary.asp A Brief Sanskrit Glossary] with the meanings of common Sanskrit spiritual terms. Recently updated.
 
−
 
 
−
=== Primers ===
 
−
*[http://chitrapurmath.net/sanskrit/step-by-step.htm Sanskrit Self Study] An introduction to Sanskrit Language in 64 self study lessons by Chitrapur Math
 
−
*[http://sanskrit.farfromreal.com Discover Sanskrit] A concise study of the Sanskrit language
 
−
*[http://bhagavata.org/downloads/sanskritgrammar.pdf Harivenu Dâsa: An Introductory Course based on S'rîla Jîva Gosvâmî's Grammar], a vaishnava version of Pânini's grammar (pdf-file)
 
−
*[http://sanskrit-lamp.org/ A Sanskrit Tutor]
 
−
*[http://www.education.nic.in/htmlweb/sanskrit_audio_index.htm Sanskrit Audio Lessons from NCERT]
 
−
*[http://samskrita-bharati.org/newsite/publications.php#bestseller Samskrit Video Lessions]
 
−
*[http://utexas.edu/cola/centers/lrc/eieol/vedol-0-X.html Ancient Sanskrit Online] from the University of Texas at Austin
 
−
 
 
−
=== Grammars ===
 
−
*[http://warnemyr.com/skrgram/ An Analytical Cross Referenced Sanskrit Grammar] By Lennart Warnemyr. Phonology, morphology and syntax, written in a semiformal style with full paradigms.
 
  
 
{{Indo-Iranian languages}}
 
{{Indo-Iranian languages}}
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[[Category:languages]]
  
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[[Category:Classical languages]]
 
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[[Category:Languages of India]]
 
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[[Category:Sanskrit|*]]
 
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[[Category:Indo-Aryan languages]]
 
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[[Category:Endangered languages]]
 
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Latest revision as of 03:16, 23 December 2022

Sanskrit
संस्कृतम् saṃskṛtam 
Pronunciation: [sə̃skɹ̩t̪əm]
Spoken in: India, Nepal
Total speakers: 49,736 fluent speakers (1991 Indian census)
Language family: Indo-European
 Indo-Iranian
  Indo-Aryan
   Sanskrit 
Writing system: Devanāgarī and several other Brāhmī-based scripts 
Official status
Official language of: Flag of India India (one of the scheduled languages), Flag of Nepal Nepal
Regulated by: no official regulation
Language codes
ISO 639-1: sa
ISO 639-2: san
ISO 639-3: san
Indic script
 This page contains Indic text. Without rendering support you may see irregular vowel positioning and a lack of conjuncts. More...

Sanskrit (संस्कृता वाक् saṃskṛtā vāk, for short संस्कृतम् saṃskṛtam) is an ancient Indo-European classical language of South Asia, a liturgical language of Hinduism and Buddhism primarily, and utilized occasionally in Jainism. It is one of the twenty-two official languages of India, and an ancestor of the modern Indo-Aryan languages. Its position in the cultures of South and Southeast Asia is akin to that of Latin and Greek in Europe and it has evolved into, as well as influenced, many modern languages of the world. It appears in pre-Classical form as Vedic Sanskrit, which was a spoken language for centuries before the Vedas were written down. Around 600 B.C.E., in the classical period of Iron Age Ancient India, Sanskrit began the transition from a primary language to a second language of religion and learning, used by the educated elite. Classical Sanskrit is defined by the the oldest surviving Sanskrit grammar, Pāṇini's Aṣṭādhyāyī ("Eight-Chapter Grammar") dating to around the fifth century B.C.E.

The corpus of Sanskrit literature encompasses a rich tradition of poetry and drama as well as scientific, technical, philosophical and religious texts. Today, Sanskrit continues to be widely used as a ceremonial language in Hindu religious rituals in the forms of hymns and mantras. Spoken Sanskrit is still in use in a few traditional institutions in India, and there are some attempts at revival.

The scope of this article is the Classical Sanskrit language as laid out in the grammar of Panini, around 500 B.C.E.

History

Devimahatmya manuscript on palm-leaf, in an early Bhujimol script, Bihar or Nepal, eleventh century.

The language name saṃskṛtam is derived from the past participle saṃskṛtaḥ "self-made, self-done" of the verb saṃ(s)kar- "to make self," where saṃ- "with, together, self" and (s)kar- "do, make." In modern usage, the verbal adjective saṃskṛta- has come to mean "cultured." The language referred to as saṃskṛtā vāk "the language of cultured" has by definition always been a "high" language, used for religious and learned discourse and contrasted with the languages spoken by the people. It is also called deva-bhāṣā meaning "language of the gods."

Sanskrit does not belong to the Indo-Iranian sub-family of the Indo-European family of languages. It is part of the Satem group of Indo-European languages, which also includes the Balto-Slavic branch.

When the term arose in India, "Sanskrit" was not thought of as a specific language set apart from other languages, but rather as a particularly refined or perfected manner of speaking. Knowledge of Sanskrit was a marker of social class and educational attainment and the language was taught mainly to members of the higher castes, through close analysis of Sanskrit grammarians such as Pāṇini. Sanskrit, as the learned language of Ancient India, thus existed alongside the Prakrits (vernaculars), which evolved into the modern Indo-Aryan languages (Hindi, Nepali, Assamese, Marathi, Konkani, Urdu, and Bengali).

Vedic Sanskrit

Sanskrit, as defined by Pāṇini, had evolved out of the earlier "Vedic" form. Vedic Sanskrit is the language of the earliest religious texts of India, the Vedas, a large collection of hymns, incantations, and religio-philosophical discussions which are the the shruti texts of Hinduism. It is an archaic form of Sanskrit, an early descendant of Proto-Indo-Iranian, attested during the period between roughly 1700 B.C.E. (early Rigveda) and 600 B.C.E. (Sutra language).[1] It is closely related to Avestan, the oldest preserved Iranian language.

Scholars often distinguish Vedic Sanskrit and Classical or "Paninian" Sanskrit as separate dialects. Vedic Sanskrit differs from Classical Sanskrit to an extent comparable to the difference between Homeric Greek and Classical Greek; they are very similar and only differ in a few points of phonology, vocabulary, and grammar. Vedic Sanskrit had a pitch accent which could even change the meaning of the words, and was still in use in Panini's time, as we can infer by his use of devices to indicate its position. At some latter time, this was replaced by a stress accent limited to the second to fourth syllables from the end. Today, the pitch accent can be heard only in the traditional Vedic chantings. Vedic Sanskrit often allowed two like vowels to come together without merger during Sandhi (composition of words and phrases).

Classical Sanskrit is considered to have descended from Vedic Sanskrit. Modern linguists regard the metrical hymns of the Rigveda Samhita as the earliest, composed by many authors over centuries of oral tradition. The end of the Vedic period is marked by the composition of the Upanishads, which form the concluding part of the Vedic corpus in the traditional compilations. The current hypothesis holds that the Vedic form of Sanskrit survived until the middle of the first millennium B.C.E. Around 600 B.C.E., in the classical period of Iron Age Ancient India, Sanskrit began the transition from a first language to a second language of religion and learning, marking the beginning of the Classical period.

Classical Sanskrit

Classical Sanskrit is defined by the the oldest surviving Sanskrit grammar, Pāṇini's Aṣṭādhyāyī ("Eight-Chapter Grammar") dating to circa the fifth century B.C.E. It is essentially a prescriptive grammar, an authority that defines rather than describes correct Sanskrit, although it contains descriptive parts, mostly to account for Vedic forms that had already passed out of use in Panini's time.

A significant form of post-Vedic Sanskrit is found in the Sanskrit of the Hindu Epics, the Ramayana and Mahabharata. The deviations from Pāṇini in the epics are generally considered to be the result of interference from prakrits, or "innovations"[2] and not pre-Paninean" usages. Traditional Sanskrit scholars call such deviations aarsha (आर्ष), or "of the rishis," the traditional title for the ancient authors. In some contexts there are more "prakritisms" (borrowings from common speech) than in Classical Sanskrit proper. There is also a language called "Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit" by modern scholars, which is actually a prakrit ornamented with Sanskritized elements (see also termination of spoken Sanskrit). According to Tuwari,[3] there were four principal dialects of Sanskrit; paścimottarī (Northwestern, also called Northern or Western), madhyadeśī (Middle Country), pūrvi (Eastern) and dakṣiṇī (Southern, originating in the Classical period). The first three are even attested in the Vedic Brāhmaṇas, of which the first one was regarded as the purest (Kauṣītaki Brāhmaṇa, 7.6).

European scholarship

European scholarship in Sanskrit, begun by Heinrich Roth (1620–1668) and Johann Ernst Hanxleden (1681–1731), is regarded as being responsible for the discovery of the Indo-European language family by Sir William Jones, and played an important role in the development of Western linguistics.

Sir William Jones, speaking to the Asiatic Society in Calcutta (now Kolkata) on February 2, 1786, said:

The Sanskrit language, whatever be its antiquity, is of a wonderful structure; more perfect than the Greek, more copious than the Latin, and more exquisitely refined than either, yet bearing to both of them a stronger affinity, both in the roots of verbs and in the forms of grammar, than could possibly have been produced by accident; so strong, indeed, that no philologer could examine them all three, without believing them to have sprung from some common source, which, perhaps, no longer exists.

Phonology

Note: This page or section contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. See International Phonetic Alphabet for a pronunciation key.

Classical Sanskrit distinguishes about thirty-six phonemes. There is, however, some allophony and the writing systems used for Sanskrit generally indicate this, thus distinguishing forty-eight sounds

The sounds are traditionally listed in the order vowels (Ach), diphthongs (Hal), anusvara and visarga, plosives (Sparśa) and nasals (starting in the back of the mouth and moving forward), and finally the liquids and fricatives, written in IAST as follows (see the tables below for details):

a ā i ī u ū ṛ ṝ ḷ ḹ ; e ai o au
ṃ ḥ
k kh g gh ṅ; c ch j jh ñ; ṭ ṭh ḍ ḍh ṇ; t th d dh n; p ph b bh m
y r l v; ś ṣ s h

An alternate traditional ordering is that of the Shiva Sutra of Pāṇini.

Vowels

The vowels of Classical Sanskrit with their word-initial Devanagari symbol, diacritical mark with the consonant प् (/p/), pronunciation (of the vowel alone and of /p/+vowel) in IPA, equivalent in IAST and ITRANS and (approximate) equivalents in English are listed below:

Letter Diacritical mark with “प्” Pronunciation Pronunciation with /p/ IAST equiv. ITRANS equiv. English equivalent (GA unless stated otherwise)
अ प /ɐ/ or /ə/ /pɐ/ or /pə/ a a short near-open central vowel or schwa: u in bunny or a in about
आ पा /aː/ /paː/ ā A long open back unrounded vowel: a in father (RP
इ िप /i/ /pi/ i i short close front unrounded vowel: i in fin
ई पी /iː/ /piː/ ī I long close front unrounded vowel: ee in feet
उ पु /u/ /pu/ u u short close back rounded vowel: oo in foot
ऊ पू /uː/ /puː/ ū U long close back rounded vowel: oo in cool
ऋ पृ /ɻ/ /pɻ/ ṛ R short retroflex approximant: r in burl
ॠ पॄ /ɻː/ /pɻː/ ṝ RR long retroflex approximant r in burl
ऌ पॢ /ɭ/ /pɭ/ ḷ LR short retroflex lateral approximant (no English equivalent)
ॡ पॣ /ɭː/ /pɭː/ ḹ LRR long retroflex lateral approximant
ए पे /eː/ /peː/ e e long close-mid front unrounded vowel: a in bane (some speakers)
ऐ पै /əi/ /pəi/ ai ai a long diphthong: i in ice, i in kite (Canadian English)
ओ पो /oː/ /poː/ o o long close-mid back rounded vowel: o in bone (some speakers)
औ पौ /əu/ /pəu/ au au a long diphthong: Similar to the ou in house (Canadian English)

The long vowels are pronounced twice as long as their short counterparts. Also, there exists a third, extra-long length for most vowels, called pluti, which is used in various cases, but particularly in the vocative. The pluti is not accepted by all grammarians.

The vowels /e/ and /o/ continue as allophonic variants of Proto-Indo-Iranian /ai/, /au/ and are categorized as diphthongs by Sanskrit grammarians even though they are realized phonetically as simple long vowels. (See above).

Additional points:

  • There are some additional signs traditionally listed in tables of the Devanagari script:
    • The diacritic ं called anusvāra, (IAST: ṃ). It is used both to indicate the nasalization of the vowel in the syllable ([◌̃] and to represent the sound of a syllabic /n/ or /m/; e.g. पं /pəŋ/.
    • The diacritic ः called visarga, represents /əh/ (IAST: ḥ); e.g. पः /pəh/.
    • The diacritic ँ called chandrabindu, not traditionally included in Devanagari charts for Sanskrit, is used interchangeably with the anusvāra to indicate nasalization of the vowel, primarily in Vedic notation; for example, पँ /pə̃/.
  • If a lone consonant needs to be written without any following vowel, it is given a halanta/virāma diacritic below (प्).
  • The vowel /aː/ in Sanskrit is realized as being more central and less back than the closest English approximation, which is /ɑː/. But the grammarians have classified it as a back vowel.
  • The ancient Sanskrit grammarians classified the vowel system as velars, retroflexes, palatals and plosives rather than as back, central and front vowels. Hence ए and ओ are classified respectively as palato-velar (a+i) and labio-velar (a+u) vowels respectively. But the grammarians have classified them as diphthongs and in prosody, each is given two mātrās. This does not necessarily mean that they are proper diphthongs, but neither excludes the possibility that they could have been proper diphthongs at a very ancient stage (see above). These vowels are pronounced as long /eː/ and /oː/ respectively by learned Sanskrit Brahmans and priests of today. Other than the "four" diphthongs, Sanskrit usually disallows any other diphthong—vowels in succession, where they occur, are converted to semivowels according to sandhi rules.
  • In the Devanagari script used for Sanskrit, whenever a consonant in a word-ending position is without any virāma (freely standing in the orthography: प as opposed to प्), the neutral vowel schwa (/ə/) is automatically associated with it—this is of course true for the consonant to be in any position in the word. Word-ending schwa is always short. But the IAST a appended to the end of masculine noun words rather confuses the foreigners to pronounce it as /ɑː/—this makes the masculine Sanskrit words sound like feminine words, for example, shiva must be pronounced as /ɕivə/ and not as /ɕivɑː/.

Consonants

IAST and Devanagari notations are given, with approximate IPA values in square brackets.

Labial
Ōshtya 		Labiodental
Dantōshtya 		Dental
Dantya 		Retroflex
Mūrdhanya 		Palatal
Tālavya 		Velar
Kanthya 		Glottal
Stop
Sparśa 		Unaspirated
Alpaprāna 		p प [p] b ब [b] t त [t̪] d द [d̪] ṭ ट [ʈ] ḍ ड [ɖ] c च [c͡ç] j ज [ɟ͡ʝ] k क [k] g ग [g]
Aspirated
Mahāprāna 		ph फ [pʰ] bh भ [bʱ] th थ [t̪ʰ] dh ध [d̪ʱ] ṭh ठ [ʈʰ] ḍh ढ [ɖʱ] ch छ [c͡çʰ] jh झ [ɟ͡ʝʱ] kh ख [kʰ] gh घ [gʱ]
Nasal
Anunāsika 		m म [m] n न [n̪] ṇ ण [ɳ] ñ ञ [ɲ] ṅ ङ [ŋ]
Semivowel
Antastha 		v व [ʋ] y य [j]
Liquid
Drava 		l ल [l] r र [r]
Fricative
Ūshman 		s स [s̪] ṣ ष [ʂ] ś श [ɕ] ḥ ः [h] h ह [ɦ]

The table below shows the traditional listing of the Sanskrit consonants with the (nearest) equivalents in English/Spanish. Each consonant shown below is deemed to be followed by the neutral vowel schwa (/ə/), and is named in the table as such.

Plosives – Sprshta
Unaspirated
Voiceless
Alpaprāna Śvāsa 		Aspirated
Voiceless
Mahāprāna Śvāsa 		Unaspirated
Voiced
Alpaprāna Nāda 		Aspirated
Voiced
Mahāprāna Nāda 		Nasal
Anunāsika Nāda
Velar
Kantya 		क
/kə/; English: skip 		ख
/kʰə/; English: cat 		ग
/gə/; English: game 		घ
/gʱə/; somewhat similar to English: doghouse 		ङ
/ŋə/; English: ring
Palatal
Tālavya 		च
/cə/; English: exchange 		छ
/cʰə/; English: church 		ज
/ɟə/; ≈English: jam 		झ
/ɟʱə/; somewhat similar to English: hedgehog 		ञ
/ɲə/; English: bench
Retroflex
Mūrdhanya 		ट
/ʈə/; No English equivalent 		ठ
/ʈʰə/; No English equivalent 		ड
/ɖə/; No English equivalent 		ढ
/ɖʱə/; No English equivalent 		ण
/ɳə/; No English equivalent
Apico-Dental
Dantya 		त
/t̪ə/; Spanish: tomate 		थ
/t̪ʰə/; Aspirated /t̪/ 		द
/d̪ə/; Spanish: donde 		ध
/d̪ʱə/; Aspirated /d̪/ 		न
/n̪ə/; English: name
Labial
Ōshtya 		प
/pə/; English: spin 		फ
/pʰə/; English: pit 		ब
/bə/; English: bone 		भ
/bʱə/; somewhat similar to English: clubhouse 		म
/mə/; English: mine
Non-Plosives/Sonorants
Palatal
Tālavya 		Retroflex
Mūrdhanya 		Dental
Dantya 		Labial/
Glottal
Ōshtya
Approximant
Antastha 		य
/jə/; English: you 		र
/rə/; English: trip (Scottish English) 		ल
/l̪ə/; English: love 		व (labio-dental)
/ʋə/; English: vase
Sibilant/
Fricative
Ūshman 		श
/ɕə/; English: ship 		ष
/ʂə/; Retroflex form of /ʃ/ 		स
/s̪ə/; English: same 		ह (glottal)
/ɦə/; English behind

Phonology and Sandhi

The Sanskrit vowels are as discussed in the section above. The long syllabic l (ḹ) is not attested, and is only discussed by grammarians for systematic reasons. Its short counterpart ḷ occurs in a single root only, kḷp "to order, array." Long syllabic r (ṝ) is also quite marginal, occurring in the genitive plural of r-stems (for example, mātṛ "mother" and pitṛ "father" have gen.pl. mātṝṇām and pitṝṇām). i, u, ṛ, ḷ are vocalic allophones of consonantal y, v, r, l. There are thus only 5 invariably vocalic phonemes,

a, ā, ī, ū, ṝ.

Visarga ḥ ः is an allophone of r and s, and anusvara ṃ, Devanagari ं of any nasal, both in pausa (ie, the nasalized vowel). The exact pronunciation of the three sibilants may vary, but they are distinct phonemes. An aspirated voiced sibilant /zʱ/ was inherited by Indo-Aryan from Proto-Indo-Iranian but lost shortly before the time of the Rigveda (aspirated fricatives are exceedingly rare in any language). The retroflex consonants are somewhat marginal phonemes, often being conditioned by their phonetic environment; they do not continue a PIE series and are often ascribed by some linguists to the substratal influence of Dravidian. The nasal [ɲ] is a conditioned allophone of /n/ (/n/ and /ɳ/ are distinct phonemes—aṇu "minute," "atomic" [nom. sg. neutr. of an adjective] is distinctive from anu "after," "along;" phonologically independent /ŋ/ occurs only marginally, for example, in prāṅ "directed forwards/towards" [nom. sg. masc. of an adjective]). There are thus 31 consonantal or semi-vocalic phonemes, consisting of four/five kinds of stops realized both with or without aspiration and both voiced and voiceless, three nasals, four semi-vowels or liquids, and four fricatives, written in IAST transliteration as follows:

k, kh, g, gh; c, ch, j, jh; ṭ, ṭh, ḍ, ḍh; t, th, d, dh; p, ph, b, bh; m, n, ṇ; y, r, l, v; ś, ṣ, s, h

or a total of 36 unique Sanskrit phonemes altogether.

The phonological rules to be applied when combining morphemes to a word, and when combining words to a sentence are collectively called sandhi "composition." Texts are written phonetically, with sandhi applied (except for the so-called padapāṭha).

Writing System

Kashmiri Shaivaite manuscript in the Sharada script (seventeenth or eighteenth century)

Historically, Sanskrit was not associated with any particular script. The emphasis on orality, not textuality, in the Vedic Sanskrit tradition was maintained through the development of early classical Sanskrit literature. When Sanskrit was written, the choice of writing system was influenced by the regional scripts of the scribes. As such, virtually all of the major writing systems of South Asia have been used for the production of Sanskrit manuscripts. Since the late nineteenth century, Devanagari has been considered as the de facto writing system for Sanskrit,[4] possibly because of the European practice of printing Sanskrit texts in the script.

Writing came relatively late to India, introduced from the Middle East by traders around the fifth century B.C.E., according to a hypothesis by Rhys Davids. Even after the introduction of writing, oral tradition and memorization of texts remained a prominent feature of Sanskrit literature. In northern India, there are Brahmi inscriptions dating from the third century B.C.E. onwards, the oldest appearing on the famous Prakrit pillar inscriptions of king Ashoka. Roughly contemporary with the Brahmi, the Kharosthi script was used. Later (c. fourth to eighth centuries C.E.) the Gupta script, derived from Brahmi, became prevalent. From around the eighth century, the Sharada script evolved out of the Gupta script, and was mostly displaced in its turn by Devanagari from about the twelfth century, with intermediary stages such as the Siddham script. In Eastern India, the Bengali script and, later, the Oriya script, were used.

In the south where Dravidian languages predominate, scripts used for Sanskrit include Kannada in Kannada and Telugu speaking regions, Telugu in Telugu and Tamil speaking regions, Malayalam and Grantha in Tamil speaking regions.

Phrase sanskrit.png
Sanskrit in modern Indian scripts. May Śiva bless those who take delight in the language of the gods. (Kalidasa)


Romanization

Since the late eighteenth century, Sanskrit has been transliterated using the Latin alphabet. The system most commonly used today is the IAST (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration), which has been the academic standard since 1912. ASCII-based transliteration schemes have evolved due to difficulties representing Sanskrit characters in computer systems. These include Harvard-Kyoto and ITRANS, a lossless transliteration scheme that is used widely on the Internet, especially in Usenet and in email, for considerations of speed of entry as well as rendering issues. With the wide availability of Unicode-aware web browsers, IAST has become common online.

European scholars in the nineteenth century generally preferred Devanagari for the transcription and reproduction of whole texts and lengthy excerpts. However, references to individual words and names in texts composed in European languages were usually represented with Roman transliteration. From the mid twentieth century, textual editions edited by Western scholars have mostly been in romanized transliteration.

Grammar

Grammatical tradition

Sanskrit grammatical tradition (vyākaraṇa, one of the six Vedanga disciplines) began in late Vedic India and culminated in the Aṣṭādhyāyī of Pāṇini, which consists of 3990 sutras (c. fifth century B.C.E.). After a century Pāṇini (around 400 B.C.E.) Kātyāyana composed Vārtikas on Pāninian sũtras. Patañjali, who lived three centuries after Pānini, wrote the Mahābhāṣya, the "Great Commentary" on the Aṣṭādhyāyī and Vārtikas. Because of these three ancient Sanskrit grammarians this grammar is called Trimuni Vyākarana. To understand the meaning of sutras, Jayaditya and Vāmana wrote the commentry named Kāsikā in 600 C.E.. Paninian grammar is based on fourteen Shiva sutras (aphorisms); here the whole Mātrika (alphabet) is abbreviated. This abbreviation is called Pratyāhara.[5]

Verbs

Classification of verbs

Sanskrit has ten classes of verbs divided into in two broad groups: athematic and thematic. The thematic verbs are so called because an a, called the theme vowel, is inserted between the stem and the ending. This serves to make the thematic verbs generally more regular. Exponents used in verb conjugation include prefixes, suffixes, infixes, and reduplication. Every root has (not necessarily all distinct) zero, guṇa, and vṛddhi grades. If V is the vowel of the zero grade, the guṇa-grade vowel is traditionally thought of as a + V, and the vṛddhi-grade vowel as ā + V.

Tense systems

The verbs tenses, which express more distinctions than simply temporal sequence, are organized into four "systems" (as well as gerunds and infinitives, and forms such as intensives/frequentatives, desideratives, causatives, and benedictives derived from more basic forms) based on the different stem forms (derived from verbal roots) used in conjugation. There are four tense systems:

  • Present (Present, Imperfect, Imperative, Optative)
  • Perfect
  • Aorist
  • Future (Future, Conditional)
Present system

The present system includes the present and imperfect tenses, the optative and imperative moods, as well as some of the remnant forms of the old subjunctive. The tense stem of the present system is formed in various ways. The numbers are the native grammarians' numbers for these classes.

For athematic verbs, the present tense stem may be formed through

  • 2) No modification at all, for example ad from ad "eat."
  • 3) Reduplication prefixed to the root, for example juhu from hu "sacrifice."
  • 7) Infixion of na or n before the final root consonant (with appropriate sandhi changes), for example rundh or ruṇadh from rudh "obstruct."
  • 5) Suffixation of nu (guṇa form no), for example sunu from su "press out."
  • 8) Suffixation of u (guṇa form o), for example tanu from tan "stretch." For modern linguistic purposes it is better treated as a subclass of the 5th. tanu derives from tnnu, which is zero-grade for *tannu, because in the Proto-Indo-European language [m] and [n] could be vowels, which in Sanskrit (and Greek) change to [a]. Most members of the 8th class arose this way; kar = "make," "do" was 5th class in Vedic (krnoti = "he makes"), but shifted to the 8th class in Classical Sanskrit (karoti = "he makes")
  • 9) Suffixation of nā (zero-grade nī or n), for example krīṇa or krīṇī from krī "buy."

For thematic verbs, the present tense stem may be formed through

  • 1) Suffixation of the thematic vowel a with guṇa strengthening, for example, bháva from bhū "be."
  • 6) Suffixation of the thematic vowel a with a shift of accent to this vowel, for example tudá from tud "thrust."
  • 4) Suffixation of ya, for example dī́vya from div "play."

The tenth class described by native grammarians refers to a process which is derivational in nature, and thus not a true tense-stem formation. It is formed by suffixation of ya with guṇa strengthening and lengthening of the root's last vowel, for example bhāvaya from bhū "be."

Perfect system

The perfect system includes only the perfect tense. The stem is formed with reduplication as with the present system.

The perfect system also produces separate "strong" and "weak" forms of the verb—the strong form is used with the singular active, and the weak form with the rest.

Aorist system

The aorist system includes aorist proper (with past indicative meaning, e.g. abhūḥ "you were") and some of the forms of the ancient injunctive (used almost exclusively with mā in prohibitions, for example, mā bhūḥ "don't be"). The principal distinction of the two is presence/absence of an augment – a- prefixed to the stem. The aorist system stem actually has three different formations: The simple aorist, the reduplicating aorist (semantically related to the causative verb), and the sibilant aorist. The simple aorist is taken directly from the root stem (for example, bhū-: a-bhū-t "he was"). The reduplicating aorist involves reduplication as well as vowel reduction of the stem. The sibilant aorist is formed with the suffixation of s to the stem.

Future system

The future system is formed with the suffixation of sya or iṣya and guṇa.

Verbs: Conjugation

Each verb has a grammatical voice, whether active, passive or middle. There is also an impersonal voice, which can be described as the passive voice of intransitive verbs. Sanskrit verbs have an indicative, an optative and an imperative mood. Older forms of the language had a subjunctive, though this had fallen out of use by the time of Classical Sanskrit.

Basic conjugational endings

Conjugational endings in Sanskrit convey person, number, and voice. Different forms of the endings are used depending on what tense stem and mood they are attached to. Verb stems or the endings themselves may be changed or obscured by sandhi.

Active Middle
Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural
Primary First Person mi vás más é váhe máhe
Second Person si thás thá sé ā́the dhvé
Third Person ti tás ánti, áti té ā́te ánte, áte
Secondary First Person am vá má í, á váhi máhi
Second Person s tám tá thā́s ā́thām dhvám
Third Person t tā́m án, ús tá ā́tām ánta, áta, rán
Perfect First Person a vá má é váhe máhe
Second Person tha áthus á sé ā́the dhvé
Third Person a átus ús é ā́te ré
Imperative First Person āni āva āma āi āvahāi āmahāi
Second Person dhí, hí,— tám tá svá ā́thām dhvám
Third Person tu tā́m ántu, átu tā́m ā́tām ántām, átām

Primary endings are used with present indicative and future forms. Secondary endings are used with the imperfect, conditional, aorist, and optative. Perfect and imperative endings are used with the perfect and imperative respectively.

Present system conjugation

Conjugation of the present system deals with all forms of the verb utilizing the present tense stem (explained under Tense Stems above). This includes the present tense of all moods, as well as the imperfect indicative.

Athematic inflection

The present system differentiates strong and weak forms of the verb. The strong/weak opposition manifests itself differently depending on the class:

  • The root and reduplicating classes (2 & 3) are not modified in the weak forms, and receive guṇa in the strong forms.
  • The nasal class (7) is not modified in the weak form, extends the nasal to ná in the strong form.
  • The nu-class (5) has nu in the weak form and nó in the strong form.
  • The nā-class (9) has nī in the weak form and nā́ in the strong form. nī disappears before vocalic endings.

The present indicative takes primary endings, and the imperfect indicative takes secondary endings. Singular active forms have the accent on the stem and take strong forms, while the other forms have the accent on the endings and take weak forms.

Indicative
Active Middle
Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural
Present First Person dvéṣmi dviṣvás dviṣmás dviṣé dviṣváhe dviṣmáhe
Second Person dvékṣi dviṣṭhás dviṣṭhá dvikṣé dviṣā́the dviḍḍhvé
Third Person dvéṣṭi dviṣṭás dviṣánti dviṣṭé dviṣā́te dviṣáte
Imperfect First Person ádveṣam ádviṣva ádviṣma ádviṣi ádviṣvahi ádviṣmahi
Second Person ádveṭ ádviṣṭam ádvisṭa ádviṣṭhās ádviṣāthām ádviḍḍhvam
Third Person ádveṭ ádviṣṭām ádviṣan ádviṣṭa ádviṣātām ádviṣata

The optative takes secondary endings. yā is added to the stem in the active, and ī in the passive.

Optative
Active Middle
Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural
First Person dviṣyā́m dviṣyā́va dviṣyā́ma dviṣīyá dviṣīvahi dviṣīmahi
Second Person dviṣyā́s dviṣyā́tam dviṣyā́ta dviṣīthās dviṣīyāthām dviṣīdhvam
Third Person dviṣyā́t dviṣyā́tām dviṣyus dviṣīta dviṣīyātām dviṣīran

The imperative takes imperative endings. Accent is variable and affects vowel quality. Forms which are end-accented trigger guṇa strengthening, and those with stem accent do not have the vowel affected.

Imperative
Active Middle
Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural
First Person dvéṣāṇi dvéṣāva dvéṣāma dvéṣāi dvéṣāvahāi dvéṣāmahāi
Second Person dviḍḍhí dviṣṭám dviṣṭá dvikṣvá dviṣāthām dviḍḍhvám
Third Person dvéṣṭu dviṣṭā́m dviṣántu dviṣṭā́m dviṣā́tām dviṣátām

Nominal inflection

Sanskrit is a highly inflected language with three grammatical genders (masculine, feminine, neuter) and three numbers (singular, plural, dual). It has eight cases: Nominative, vocative, accusative, instrumental, dative, ablative, genitive, and locative.

The number of actual declensions is debatable. Panini identifies six karakas corresponding to the nominative, accusative, dative, instrumental, locative, and ablative cases. Panini defines them as follows (Ashtadhyayi, I.4.24-54):

  1. Apadana (lit. "take off"): "(that which is) firm when departure (takes place)." This is the equivalent of the ablative case, which signifies a stationary object from which movement proceeds.
  2. Sampradana ("bestowal"): "He whom one aims at with the object." This is equivalent to the dative case, which signifies a recipient in an act of giving or similar acts.
  3. Karana ("instrument") "That which effects most." This is equivalent to the instrumental case.
  4. Adhikarana ("location"): Or "substratum." This is equivalent to the locative case.
  5. Karman ("deed/object"): "What the agent seeks most to attain." This is equivalent to the accusative case.
  6. Karta ("agent"): "He/that which is independent in action." This is equivalent to the nominative case. (On the basis of Scharfe, 1977: 94)

Possessive (Sambandha) and vocative are absent in Panini's grammar.

In this article they are divided into five declensions. The declension to which a noun belongs to is determined largely by form.

Basic noun and adjective declension

The basic scheme of suffixation is given in the table below—valid for almost all nouns and adjectives. However, according to the gender and the ending consonant/vowel of the uninflected word-stem, there are predetermined rules of compulsory sandhi which would then give the final inflected word. The parentheses give the case-terminations for the neuter gender, the rest are for masculine and feminine gender. Both devanagari script and IAST transliterations are given.

Singular Dual Plural
Nominative
(Karta) 		-स् -s
(-म् -m)		 -औ -au
(-ई -ī)		 -अस् -as
(-इ -i)
Accusative
(Karma) 		-अम् -am
(-म् -m)		 -औ -au
(-ई -ī)		 -अस् -as
(-इ -i)
Instrumental
(Karana) 		-आ -ā -भ्याम् -bhyām -भिस् -bhis
Dative
(Sampradana) 		-ए -e -भ्याम् -bhyām -भ्यस् -bhyas
Ablative
(Apadana) 		-अस् -as -भ्याम् -bhyām -भ्यस् -bhyas
Genitive
(Sambandha) 		-अस् -as -ओस् -os -आम् -ām
Locative
(Adhikarana) 		-इ -i -ओस् -os -सु -su
Vocative -स् -s
(- -)		 -औ -au
(-ई -ī)		 -अस् -as
(-इ -i)

a-stems

A-stems (/ə/ or /aː/) comprise the largest class of nouns. As a rule, nouns belonging to this class, with the uninflected stem ending in short-a (/ə/), are either masculine or neuter. Nouns ending in long-A (/aː/) are almost always feminine. A-stem adjectives take the masculine and neuter in short-a (/ə/), and feminine in long-A (/aː/) in their stems. This class is so big because it also comprises the Proto-Indo-European o-stems.

Masculine (kāma-) Neuter (āsya- 'mouth') Feminine (kānta- 'beloved')
Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural
Nominative kā́mas kā́māu kā́mās āsyàm āsyè āsyā̀ni kāntā kānte kāntās
Accusative kā́mam kā́māu kā́mān āsyàm āsyè āsyā̀ni kāntām kānte kāntās
Instrumental kā́mena kā́mābhyām kā́māis āsyèna āsyā̀bhyām āsyāìs kāntayā kāntābhyām kāntābhis
Dative kā́māya kā́mābhyām kā́mebhyas āsyā̀ya āsyā̀bhyām āsyèbhyas kāntāyai kāntābhyām kāntābhyās
Ablative kā́māt kā́mābhyām kā́mebhyas āsyā̀t āsyā̀bhyām āsyèbhyas kāntāyās kāntābhyām kāntābhyās
Genitive kā́masya kā́mayos kā́mānām āsyàsya āsyàyos āsyā̀nām kāntāyās kāntayos kāntānām
Locative kā́me kā́mayos kā́meṣu āsyè āsyàyos āsyèṣu kāntāyām kāntayos kāntāsu
Vocative kā́ma kā́mau kā́mās ā́sya āsyè āsyā̀ni kānte kānte kāntās

i- and u-stems

i-stems
Masc. and Fem. (gáti- 'gait') Neuter (vā́ri- 'water')
Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural
Nominative gátis gátī gátayas vā́ri vā́riṇī vā́rīṇi
Accusative gátim gátī gátīs vā́ri vā́riṇī vā́rīṇi
Instrumental gátyā gátibhyām gátibhis vā́riṇā vā́ribhyām vā́ribhis
Dative gátaye, gátyāi gátibhyām gátibhyas vā́riṇe vā́ribhyām vā́ribhyas
Ablative gátes, gátyās gátibhyām gátibhyas vā́riṇas vā́ribhyām vā́ribhyas
Genitive gátes, gátyās gátyos gátīnām vā́riṇas vā́riṇos vā́riṇām
Locative gátāu, gátyām gátyos gátiṣu vā́riṇi vā́riṇos vā́riṣu
Vocative gáte gátī gátayas vā́ri, vā́re vā́riṇī vā́rīṇi
u-stems
Masc. and Fem. (śátru- 'enemy') Neuter (mádhu- 'honey')
Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural
Nominative śátrus śátrū śátravas mádhu mádhunī mádhūni
Accusative śátrum śátrū śátrūn mádhu mádhunī mádhūni
Instrumental śátruṇā śátrubhyām śátrubhis mádhunā mádhubhyām mádhubhis
Dative śátrave śátrubhyām śátrubhyas mádhune mádhubhyām mádhubhyas
Ablative śátros śátrubhyām śátrubhyas mádhunas mádhubhyām mádhubhyas
Genitive śátros śátrvos śátrūṇām mádhunas mádhunos mádhūnām
Locative śátrāu śátrvos śátruṣu mádhuni mádhunos mádhuṣu
Vocative śátro śátrū śátravas mádhu mádhunī mádhūni

Long Vowel-stems

ā-stems (jā- 'progeny') ī-stems (dhī- 'thought') ū-stems (bhū- 'earth')
Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural
Nominative jā́s jāú jā́s dhī́s dhíyāu dhíyas bhū́s bhúvāu bhúvas
Accusative jā́m jāú jā́s, jás dhíyam dhíyāu dhíyas bhúvam bhúvāu bhúvas
Instrumental jā́ jā́bhyām jā́bhis dhiyā́ dhībhyā́m dhībhís bhuvā́ bhūbhyā́m bhūbhís
Dative jé jā́bhyām jā́bhyas dhiyé, dhiyāí dhībhyā́m dhībhyás bhuvé, bhuvāí bhūbhyā́m bhūbhyás
Ablative jás jā́bhyām jā́bhyas dhiyás, dhiyā́s dhībhyā́m dhībhyás bhuvás, bhuvā́s bhūbhyā́m bhūbhyás
Genitive jás jós jā́nām, jā́m dhiyás, dhiyā́s dhiyós dhiyā́m, dhīnā́m bhuvás, bhuvā́s bhuvós bhuvā́m, bhūnā́m
Locative jí jós jā́su dhiyí, dhiyā́m dhiyós dhīṣú bhuví, bhuvā́m bhuvós bhūṣú
Vocative jā́s jāú jā́s dhī́s dhiyāu dhíyas bhū́s bhuvāu bhúvas

ṛ-stems

ṛ-stems are predominantly agental derivatives like dātṛ 'giver', though also include kinship terms like pitṛ́ 'father', mātṛ́ 'mother', and svásṛ 'sister'.

Singular Dual Plural
Nominative pitā́ pitárāu pitáras
Accusative pitáram pitárāu pitṝ́n
Instrumental pitrā́ pitṛ́bhyām pitṛ́bhis
Dative pitré pitṛ́bhyām pitṛ́bhyas
Ablative pitúr pitṛ́bhyām pitṛ́bhyas
Genitive pitúr pitrós pitṝṇā́m
Locative pitári pitrós pitṛ́ṣu
Vocative pítar pitárāu pitáras

Personal pronouns and determiners

The first and second person pronouns are declined for the most part alike, having by analogy assimilated themselves with one another.

Note: Where two forms are given, the second is enclitic and an alternative form. Ablatives in singular and plural may be extended by the syllable -tas; thus mat or mattas, asmat or asmattas.

First Person Second Person
Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural
Nominative aham āvām vayam tvam yuvām yūyam
Accusative mām, mā āvām, nau asmān, nas tvām, tvā yuvām, vām yuṣmān, vas
Instrumental mayā āvābhyām asmābhis tvayā yuvābhyām yuṣmābhis
Dative mahyam, me āvābhyām, nau asmabhyam, nas tubhyam, te yuvābhyām, vām yuṣmabhyam, vas
Ablative mat āvābhyām asmat tvat yuvābhyām yuṣmat
Genitive mama, me āvayos, nau asmākam, nas tava, te yuvayos, vām yuṣmākam, vas
Locative mayi āvayos asmāsu tvayi yuvayos yuṣmāsu

The demonstrative ta, declined below, also functions as the third person pronoun.

Masculine Neuter Feminine
Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural
Nominative sás tāú té tát té tā́ni sā́ té tā́s
Accusative tám tāú tā́n tát té tā́ni tā́m té tā́s
Instrumental téna tā́bhyām tāís téna tā́bhyām tāís táyā tā́bhyām tā́bhis
Dative tásmāi tā́bhyām tébhyas tásmāi tā́bhyām tébhyas tásyāi tā́bhyām tā́bhyas
Ablative tásmāt tā́bhyām tébhyam tásmāt tā́bhyām tébhyam tásyās tā́bhyām tā́bhyas
Genitive tásya táyos téṣām tásya táyos téṣām tásyās táyos tā́sām
Locative tásmin táyos téṣu tásmin táyos téṣu tásyām táyos tā́su

Compounds

One other notable feature of the nominal system is the very common use of nominal compounds, which may be huge (10+ words) as in some modern languages such as German. Nominal compounds occur with various structures, however morphologically speaking they are essentially the same. Each noun (or adjective) is in its (weak) stem form, with only the final element receiving case inflection. Some examples of nominal compounds include:

Dvandva (co-ordinative)
These consist of two or more noun stems, connected in sense with 'and'. There are mainly two kinds of dvandva constructions in Sanskrit. The first is called itaretara dvandva, an enumerative compound word, the meaning of which refers to all its constituent members. The resultant compound word is in the dual or plural number and takes the gender of the final member in the compound construction. for example, rāma-lakşmaņau—Rama and Lakshmana, or rāma-lakşmaņa-bharata-śatrughnāh – Rama, Lakshmana, Bharata and Satrughna. The second kind is called samāhāra dvandva, a collective compound word, the meaning of which refers to the collection of its constituent members. The resultant compound word is in the singular number and is always neuter in gender. For example, pāņipādam—limbs, literally hands and feet, from pāņi = hand and pāda = foot. According to some grammarians, there is a third kind of dvandva, called ekaśeşa dvandva or residual compound, which takes the dual (or plural) form of only its final constituent member, for example, pitarau for mātā + pitā, mother + father, i.e. parents. According to other grammarians, however, the ekaśeşa is not properly a compound at all.
Bahuvrīhi (possessive)
Bahuvrīhi, or "much-rice," denotes a rich person—one who has much rice. Bahuvrīhi compounds refer (by example) to a compound noun with no head—a compound noun that refers to a thing which is itself not part of the compound. For example, "low-life" and "block-head" are bahuvrihi compounds, since a low-life is not a kind of life, and a block-head is not a kind of head. (And a much-rice is not a kind of rice.) Compare with more common, headed, compound nouns like "fly-ball" (a kind of ball) or "alley cat" (a kind of cat). Bahurvrīhis can often be translated by "possessing…" or "-ed;" for example, "possessing much rice," or "much riced."
Tatpuruṣa (determinative)
There are many tatpuruṣas (one for each of the nominal cases, and a few others besides); in a tatpuruṣa, the first component is in a case relationship with another. For example, a doghouse is a dative compound, a house for a dog. It would be called a "caturtitatpuruṣa" (caturti refers to the fourth case—that is, the dative). Incidentally, "tatpuruṣa" is a tatpuruṣa ("this man"—meaning someone's agent), while "caturtitatpuruṣa" is a karmadhārya, being both dative, and a tatpuruṣa. An easy way to understand it is to look at English examples of tatpuruṣas: "battlefield," where there is a genitive relationship between "field" and "battle," "a field of battle;" other examples include instrumental relationships ("thunderstruck") and locative relationships ("towndwelling").
Karmadhāraya (descriptive)
The relation of the first member to the last is appositional, attributive or adverbial, for example, uluka-yatu (owl+demon) is a demon in the shape of an owl.
Amreḍita (iterative)
Repetition of a word expresses repetitiveness, for example, dive-dive "day by day," "daily."
Dvigu

Syntax

Because of Sanskrit's complex declension system the word order is free (with tendency toward SOV).

Numerals

The numbers from one to ten:

  1. éka-
  2. dva-
  3. tri-
  4. catúr-
  5. páñcan-
  6. ṣáṣ-
  7. saptán-
  8. aṣṭá-
  9. návan-
  10. dáśan-

The numbers one through four are declined. Éka is declined like a pronominal adjective, though the dual form does not occur. Dvá appears only in the dual. Trí and catúr are declined irregularly:

Three Four
Masculine Neuter Feminine Masculine Neuter Feminine
Nominative tráyas trī́ṇi tisrás catvā́ras catvā́ri cátasras
Accusative trīn trī́ṇi tisrás catúras catvā́ri cátasras
Instrumental tribhís tisṛ́bhis catúrbhis catasṛ́bhis
Dative tribhyás tisṛ́bhyas catúrbhyas catasṛ́bhyas
Ablative tribhyás tisṛ́bhyas catúrbhyas catasṛ́bhyas
Genitive triyāṇā́m tisṛṇā́m caturṇā́m catasṛṇā́m
Locative triṣú tisṛ́ṣu catúrṣu catasṛ́ṣu

Influence

Modern India

Influence on vernaculars

Sanskrit's greatest influence, presumably, is that which it exerted on languages that grew from its vocabulary and grammatical base. Especially among élite circles in India, Sanskrit is prized as a storehouse of scripture and the language of prayers in Hinduism. It is used as a liturgical language of Hinduism and Buddhism, and utilized occasionally in Jainism. Similar to the way in which Latin influenced European languages and Classical Chinese influenced East Asian languages, Sanskrit has influenced most Indian languages. While vernacular prayer is common, Sanskrit mantras are recited by millions of Hindus and most temple functions are conducted entirely in Sanskrit, often Vedic in form. Of modern day Indian languages, while Hindi and Urdu tend to be more heavily weighted with Arabic and Persian influence, Nepali, Bengali, Assamese, Konkani and Marathi still retain a largely Sanskrit vocabulary base. The national anthem, Jana Gana Mana, is written in a literary form of Bengali (known as shuddha bhasha), Sanskritized so as to be recognizable, but still archaic to the modern ear. The national song of India, Vande Mataram, originally a poem composed by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and taken from his book called 'Anandamath', is in a similarly highly Sanskritized Bengali. Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada also combine a great deal of Sanskrit vocabulary.

Sanskrit is one of the twenty-two official languages of India, and an ancestor of the modern Indo-Aryan languages. It has the same status in Nepal as well.

Revival efforts

The 1991 Indian census reported 49,736 fluent speakers of Sanskrit. Since the 1990s, efforts to revive spoken Sanskrit have been increasing. Many organizations like the Samskrta Bharati are conducting Speak Sanskrit workshops to popularize the language. The CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) in India has made Sanskrit a third language (though schools have the option to adopt it or not, the other choice being the state's own official language) in the schools it governs. In such schools, learning Sanskrit is an option for grades 5 to 8 (Classes V to VIII). This is true of most schools, including but not limited to Christian missionary schools, which are also affiliated to the ICSE board, especially in those states where the official language is Hindi. Sudharma, the only daily newspaper in Sanskrit, has been published out of Mysore in India since the year 1970.

Sanskrit is spoken natively by the population in Mattur village in central Karnataka. Inhabitants of all castes learn Sanskrit starting in childhood and converse in the language.[6]

Symbolic usage

In the Republic of India and Indonesia, Sanskrit phrases are widely used as mottoes for various educational and social organizations (much as Latin is used by some institutions in the West). The motto of the Republic is also in Sanskrit.

Republic of India
Satyameva Jayate
Nepal
Janani Janmabhūmis ca Svargād api garīyasi "Mother and motherland are greater than heaven"
Goa
Sarve Bhadrāni Paśyantu Mā Kaścid Duhkhabhāg bhavet
Life Insurance Corporation of India
Yogakshemam Vahāmyaham
Indian Navy
Shanno Varuna
Indian Air Force
Nābha Sparsham Dīptam
Indian Police
sadd rakshanay khalah nighranayah
Indian Coast Guard
Vayam Rakshāmaha
All India Radio
Bahujana-hitāya bahujana-sukhāya
Indonesian Navy
Jalesveva Jayamahe
Aceh Province
Pancacita

Many of the post–Independence educational institutions of national importance in India and Sri Lanka have Sanskrit mottoes.

Interactions with eastern and southeastern Asiatic languages

Sanskrit and related languages have also influenced their Sino-Tibetan-speaking neighbors to the north through the spread of Buddhist texts in translation.[7] Buddhism was spread to China by Mahayanist missionaries mostly through translations of Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit and Classical Sanskrit texts, and many terms were transliterated directly and added to the Chinese vocabulary. Although Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit is not Sanskrit, properly speaking, its vocabulary is substantially the same, both because of genetic relationship, and because of conscious imitation on the part of composers. Buddhist texts composed in Sanskrit proper were primarily found in philosophical schools like the Madhyamaka.

The Thai language contains many loan words from Sanskrit. For example, in Thai, the Rāvana, the legendary emperor of Lanka, is called 'Thoskanth' which is a derivation of his Sanskrit name "Dashakanth" ("of ten necks"). The influence extends as far as the Philippines, where the Tagalog for 'teacher' is 'gurò' from 'guru,' probably acquired from the Hindu seafarers who traded there. Many Sanskrit loanwords are also found in traditional Malay and Modern Indonesian, Old Javanese language (close to 50 percent) and Vietnamese.

Modern usage

Many of India's scientific discoveries and developments are named in Sanskrit, as a counterpart of the western practice of naming scientific developments in Latin or Greek. The Indian guided missile program that was commenced in 1983 by DRDO has named the five missiles (ballistic and others) that it has developed as Prithvi, Agni, Akash, Nag and Trishul. India's first modern fighter aircraft is named Tejas. This practice is usually followed in scientific institutions in India also.

Recital of Sanskrit shlokas as background chorus in films, television advertisements and as slogans for corporate organizations has become a trend.

Sanskrit has also made an appearance in Western pop music in recent years, in two recordings by Madonna. One, "Shanti/Ashtangi," from the 1998 album "Ray of Light," is the traditional Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga chant (referenced above) set to music. The second, "Cyber-raga," released in 2000, is a Sanskrit-language ode of devotion to a higher power and a wish for peace on earth. The climactic battle theme of The Matrix Revolutions features a choir singing Sanskrit prayer in the closing titles of the movie. Composer John Williams also featured a choir singing in Sanskrit for Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.

The Sky One version of the title sequence in season one of Battlestar Galactica 2004 features the Gayatri Mantra, taken from the Rig Veda (3.62.10). The composition was written by miniseries composer Richard Gibbs.

Computational linguistics

There have been proposals to use Sanskrit as a metalanguage for knowledge representation in e.g. machine translation, and other areas of natural language processing, because of its highly regular structure. Classical Sanskrit is a regularized, prescriptivist form abstracted from the much more irregular and richer Vedic Sanskrit. This leveling of the grammar of Classical Sanskrit occurred during the Brahmana phase, after the language had fallen out of popular use.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Michael Witzel, Inside the Texts Beyond the Texts New Approaches to the Study of the Vedas (Harvard University Press, 1997, ISBN 978-1888789034)
  2. ↑ Thoams Oberlies, A Grammar of Epic Sanskrit (de Gruyter, 2003, ISBN 978-3110144482), XXIX.
  3. ↑ Bholanath Tiwari, Bhasha-vigyan (Illahabad: Kitab Mahal, 1978).
  4. ↑ William Dwight Whitney, Sanskrit Grammar (Dover Publications, 2003, ISBN 978-0486431369).
  5. ↑ Kashinath V. Abhyankar, A Dictionary of Sanskrit Grammar (Baroda: Oriental Institute, 1986).
  6. ↑ Times of India, This village speaks god's language. Retrieved November 18, 2007.
  7. ↑ Robert van Gulik, "Siddham; an essay on the history of Sanskrit studies in China and Japan," International Academy of Indian Culture, 1956.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Abhyankar, Kashinath V. A Dictionary of Sanskrit Grammar. Baroda: Oriental Institute, 1986.
  • Burrow, T. The Sanskrit Language. London: Faber and Faber, 1955. ISBN 8120817672.
  • Coulson, Michael, Richard Gombrich, and James D. Benson. Sanskrit: An Introduction to the Classical Language. Sevenoaks: Teach Yourself, 1992. ISBN 978-0340568675.
  • Goldman, Robert P. Devavāṇīpraveśikā: An Introduction to the Sanskrit Language. Berkeley, CA: Center for South Asia Studies, University of California, 1999. ISBN 0944613403.
  • Hall, Bruce Cameron. Sanskrit Pronunciation. Pasadena, CA: Theosophical University Press, 1992. ISBN 978-1557000217.
  • Kale, Moreshwar Ramchandra. A Higher Sanskrit Grammar. Delhi: R.M. Lal, 1960. ISBN 8120801784.
  • Macdonell, Arthur Anthony. A Sanskrit Grammar for Students. London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1927. ISBN 8124600945.
  • Maurer, Walter Harding. The Sanskrit Language: An Introductory Grammar and Reader. Surrey: Curzon Press, 1995. ISBN 978-0700703524.
  • Oberlies, Thoams. A Grammar of Epic Sanskrit. de Gruyter, 2003. ISBN 978-3110144482.
  • Shastri, Vagish. Vāgyoga Conversational Sanskrit. Varanasi: Vāgyoga Chetanāpitham, 2000. ISBN 8185570124.
  • Tiwari, Bholanath. Bhasha-vigyan. Illahabad: Kitab Mahal, 1978.
  • Whitney, William Dwight. Sanskrit Grammar. Dover Publications, 2003. ISBN 978-0486431369
  • Williams, Monier. A Practical Grammar Of The Sanskrit Language Arranged With Reference To The Classical Languages Of Europe For The Use Of English Students. Oxford University Press, 1857.
  • Witzel, Michael. Inside the Texts Beyond the Texts New Approaches to the Study of the Vedas. Harvard University Press, 1997. ISBN 978-1888789034.

External links

All links retrieved December 22, 2022.

Indo-Iranian languages
Indic (Indo-Aryan)
  • Old: Sanskrit: Vedic Sanskrit - Classical Sanskrit · (Indo-Aryan superstrate in Mitanni)
  • Middle: Prakrit: Pāli - Maharashtri - Magadhi
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Iranian
  • Eastern: Avestan · Bactrian · Pamir (Shughni, Sarikoli, Wakhi) · Pashto · Scythian - Ossetic · Sogdian - Yaghnobi
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Dardic
Dameli · Domaaki · Gawar-Bati · Kalash · Kashmiri · Khowar · Kohistani · Nangalami · Pashayi · Palula · Shina · Shumashti
Nuristani
Askunu · Kamkata-viri · Tregami · Vasi-vari · Waigali

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