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Pa?ini
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(IAST: , Devanagari: ; a patronymic meaning "descendant of ") was an Ancient Indian Sanskrit grammarian from Pushkalavati, Gandhara (fl. 4th century BCE).
He is known for his Sanskrit grammar, particularly for his formulation of the 3,959 rules of Sanskrit morphology in the grammar known as Ashtadhyayi (meaning "eight chapters"), the foundational text of the grammatical branch of the Vedanga, the auxiliary scholarly disciplines of Vedic religion.
The Ashtadhyayi is one of the earliest known grammars of Sanskrit, although he refers to previous texts like the Unadisutra, Dhatupatha, and Ganapatha.
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(IAST: , Devanagari: ; a patronymic meaning "descendant of ") was an Ancient Indian Sanskrit grammarian from Pushkalavati, Gandhara (fl. 4th century BCE).
He is known for his Sanskrit grammar, particularly for his formulation of the 3,959 rules of Sanskrit morphology in the grammar known as Ashtadhyayi (meaning "eight chapters"), the foundational text of the grammatical branch of the Vedanga, the auxiliary scholarly disciplines of Vedic religion.
The Ashtadhyayi is one of the earliest known grammars of Sanskrit, although he refers to previous texts like the Unadisutra, Dhatupatha, and Ganapatha. It is the earliest known work on descriptive linguistics, generative linguistics, and together with the work of his immediate predecessors (Nirukta, Nighantu, Pratishakyas) stands at the beginning of the history of linguistics itself.
's comprehensive and scientific theory of grammar is conventionally taken to mark the end of the period of Vedic Sanskrit, by definition introducing Classical Sanskrit.
On Monday, August 30, 2004, the Department of Posts of the Government of India, released a Rs. 5 postage stamp to honor .
Date and context
Nothing definite is known about 's life, not even the century he lived in. The scholarly mainstream favours a 4th century BC floruit, corresponding to Pushkalavati, Gandhara. Contemporary to the Nanda Dynasty ruling the Gangetic plain, but a 5th or even late 6th century BC date cannot be ruled out with certainty. According to a verse in the Panchatantra, he was killed by a lion. According to Xuanxang (Hieun-Tsang), a statue of him existed at Salatura, the place of his birth.
's grammar defines Classical Sanskrit, so that by definition lived at the end of the Vedic period: he notes a few special rules, marked chandasi ("in the hymns") to account for forms in the Vedic scriptures that had fallen out of use in the spoken language of his time, indicating that Vedic Sanskrit was already archaic, but still a comprehensible dialect.
An important hint for the dating of is the occurrence of the word (in 4.1.49, either "Greek woman", or "Greek script"). There would have been no first-hand knowledge of Greeks in Gandhara before the conquests of Alexander the Great in the 330s BC, but it is likely that the name was known via Old Persian yauna, so that the occurrence of taken in isolation allows for a terminus post quem as early as 520 BC, i.e. the time of the conquest of Darius the Great.
It is not certain whether used writing for the composition of his work, though it is generally agreed that he did use a form of writing, based on references to words such as "script" and "scribe" in his Ashtadhyayi. It is believed that a work of such complexity would have been very difficult to compile without written notes, though some have argued that he might have composed it with the help of a group of students whose memories served him as 'notepads'. Writing first reappears in India (since the Indus script) in the form of the script from ca. the 6th century BC, though these early instances of the Brahmi script are from Tamil Nadu in southern India, quite distant from Gandhara in northwestern India.
While 's work is purely grammatical and lexicographic, cultural and geographical inferences can be drawn from the vocabulary he uses in examples, and from his references to fellow grammarians.
Deities referred to in his work include Vasudeva (4.3.98). The concept of dharma is attested in his example sentence (4.4.41) dharmam carati "he observes the law".
The Ashtadhyayi
The Ashtadhyayi (IAST: A??adhyayi Devanagari: ???????????)) is the central part of 's grammar, and by far the most complex. It is at once the most exhaustive as well as the shortest grammar of Classical Sanskrit. It takes material from the lexical lists (Dhatupatha, Ganapatha) as input and describes algorithms to be applied to them for the generation of well-formed words. It is highly systematised and technical. Inherent in its generative approach are the concepts of the phoneme, the morpheme and the root, only recognized by Western linguists some two millennia later. His rules have a reputation for perfection — that is, they are claimed to describe Sanskrit morphology fully, without any redundancy. A consequence of his grammar's focus on brevity is its highly unintuitive structure, reminiscent of contemporary "machine language" (as opposed to "human readable" programming languages). His sophisticated logical rules and technique have been widely influential in ancient and modern linguistics.
The Ashtadhyayi consists of 3,959 sutras () or rules, distributed among eight chapters, which are each subdivided into four sections or padas (padani).
From example words in the text, and from a few rules depending on the context of the discourse, additional information as to the geographical, cultural and historical context of can be discerned.
The rules
The first two sutras are as follows:
- 1.1.1
- 1.1.2
In these sutras, the capital letters are special meta-linguistic symbols; they are called IT markers or, in later writers such as Katyayana and Patanjali, anubandhas (see below). The and refer to Shiva Sutras 4 ("ai, au, ") and 3 ("e, o, "), respectively, forming what are known as the pratyaharas 'comprehensive designations' , . They denote the list of phonemes and respectively. The ?? (T) appearing in both sutras is also an IT marker: It is defined in sutra 1.1.70 as indicating that the preceding phoneme does not represent a list, but a single phoneme, encompassing all supra-segmental features such as accent and nasality. For further example, ??? () and ??? () represent ? and ? respectively.
Therefore, the two sutras consist of a term, followed by a list of phonemes; the final interpretation of the two sutras above is thus:
- 1.1.1: (the technical term) (denotes the phonemes) .
- 1.1.2: (the technical term) (denotes the phonemes) .
At this point, one can see they are definitions of terminology: and are the terms for the full and the lengthened ablaut grades, respectively.
List of IT markers
its or anubandhas are defined in P. 1.3.2 through P. 1.3.8. These definitions refer only to items taught in the grammar or its ancillary texts such at the ; this fact is made clear in P. 1.3.2 by the word upadese, which is then continued in the following six rules by , Ellipsis. As these anubandhas are metalinguistic markers and not pronounced in the final derived form,pada (word), they are elided by P. 1.3.9 - 'There is elision of that (i.e. any of the preceding items which have been defined as an it).' Accordingly, the anubandhas as defined by are as follows:
1) Nasalized vowels, e.g. bhañjO. Cf. P. 1.3.2.
2) A final consonant (haL). Cf. P. 1.3.3.
2a) except a dental, m and s in verbal or nominal endings. Cf. P. 1.3.4.
3) Initial ñi . Cf. P 1.3.5
4) Initial of a suffix (pratyaya). Cf. P. 1.3.6.
5) Initial palatals and cerebrals of a suffix. Cf. P. 1.3.7
6) Initial l, s, and k but not in a taddhita 'secondary' suffix. Cf. P. 1.3.8.
A few example of elements that contain its are as follows:
- nominal desinence
- strong case endings
- elision
- active marker
- Desiderative
- Causative
- -stems
- verbal desinence
- Aorist
- Precative
- class of verbal stems (1.1.20)
- (1.4.7)
Auxiliary texts
's Ashtadhyayi has three associated texts. The Shiva Sutras are a brief but highly organized list of phonemes. The Dhatupatha and Ganapatha are lexical lists, the former of verbal roots sorted by present class, the latter a list of nominal stems grouped by common properties.
Shiva Sutras
The Shiva Sutras describe a phonemic notational system in the fourteen initial lines preceding the Ashtadhyayi. The notational system introduces different clusters of phonemes that serve special roles in the morphology of Sanskrit, and are referred to throughout the text. Each cluster, called a pratyahara ends with a dummy sound called an anubandha (the so calledIT index), which acts as
a symbolic referent for the list. Within the main text, these clusters, referred through the anubandhas, are related to various grammatical functions.
Use the Pratyahara Decoder at http://www.sktutilities.com/pratyaharaAction.do to understand them paradigmatically. It is also available for Free Download as a Java Utility from the same Web Site.
Dhatupatha
The Dhatupatha (dhatupatha) is a lexicon of Sanskrit verbal roots subservient to the Ashtadhyayi. It is organized by the ten present classes of Sanskrit, i.e. the roots are grouped by the form of their stem in the present tense.
The ten present classes of Sanskrit are:
- 1. (root-full grade thematic presents)
- 2. (root presents)
- 3. (reduplicated presents)
- 4. (ya thematic presents)
- 5. (nu presents)
- 6. (root-zero grade thematic presents)
- 7. (n-infix presents)
- 8. (no presents)
- 9. (ni presents)
- 10. (aya presents, causatives)
Most of these classes are directly inherited from Proto-Indo-European. The small number of class 8 verbs are a secondary group derived from class 5 roots, and class 10 is a special case, in that any verb can form class 10 presents, then assuming causative meaning. The roots specifically listed as belonging to class 10 are those for which any other form has fallen out of use (causative deponents, so to speak).
Ganapatha
The Ganapatha () is a list of groups of primitive nominal stems used by the Ashtadhyayi.
Commentary
After , the ("great commentary") of Patañjali on the Ashtadhyayi is one of the three most famous works in Sanskrit grammar. It was with Patañjali that Indian linguistic science reached its definite form. The system thus established is extremely detailed as to shiksha (phonology, including accent) and vyakarana (morphology). Syntax is scarcely touched, but nirukta (etymology) is discussed, and these etymologies naturally lead to semantic explanations. People interpret his work to be a defense of , whose Sutras are elaborated meaningfully. He also attacks Katyayana rather severely. But the main contributions of Patañjali lies in the treatment of the principles of grammar enunciated by him.
Editions
- Otto Böhtlingk, Panini's Grammatik 1887, reprint 1998 ISBN 3875481984
- Katre, Sumitra M., Astadhyayi of Panini, Austin: University of Texas Press, 1987. Reprint Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1989. ISBN 0292703945
- Misra, Vidya Niwas, The Descriptive Technique of Panini, Mouton and Co., 1966.
and the
The learned Indian curriculum in late classical times had at its heart a system of grammatical study and linguistic analysis. The core text for this study was the of , the sine qua non of learning. This grammar of had been the object of intense study for the ten centuries prior to the composition of the . It was plainly ’s purpose to provide a study aid to ’s text by using the examples already provided in the existing grammatical commentaries in the context of the gripping and morally improving story of the . To the dry bones of this grammar has given juicy flesh in his poem. The intention of the author was to teach this advanced science through a relatively easy and pleasant medium. In his own words:
This composition is like a lamp to those whose those who perceive the meaning of words and like a hand mirror for a blind man to those without grammar.
This poem, which is to be understood by means of a commentary, is a joy to those sufficiently learned: through my fondness for the scholar I have here slighted the dullard.
22.33–34.
The traditional story given to account for the technical or shastric nature of the poem goes that ’s class on grammar was one day disturbed by an elephant ambling between him and his pupils. This bestial interruption necessitated an interdiction of study for a year as prescribed by the solemn law books. To ensure that no vital study time was lost our poem was composed as a means of teaching grammar without resorting to an actual grammatical text.
and the | | | Topic |
|---|
“Diverse Rules” | | 1.1-5.96 | n/a | Miscellaneous sutras |
"The Illustration of Particular Topics" | | 5.97-100 | 3.2.17-23 | | | 5.104-6.4 | 3.1.35-41 | The suffix am in the periphrastic perfect | | 6.8-10 | 1.4.51 | Double accusatives | | 6.16-34 | 3.1.43-66 | Aorists using sIC substitutes for the affix CLI | | 6.35-39 | 3.1.78 | The affix SnaM for the present tense system of class 7 verbs | | 6.46-67 | 3.1.96-132 | | | 6.71-86 | 3.1.133-150 | | | 6.87-93 | 3.2.1-15 | | | 6.94-111 | 3.2.28-50 | Words formed with affixes KHaS and KhaC | | 6.112-143 | 3.2.51-116 | | | 7.1-25 | 3.2.134-175 | | | 7.28-34 | 3.3.1-21 | | | 7.34-85 | 3.3.18-128 | The affix GhaÑ | | 7.91-107 | 1.2.1-26 | | | 8.1-69 | 1.3.12-93 | Atmanepada (middle voice) affixes | | 8.70-84 | 1.4.24-54 | The use of cases under the adhikara ‘karake’ | | 8.85-93 | 1.4.83-98 | karmapravacaniya prepositions | | 8.94-130 | 2.3.1-73 | vibhakti, case inflection | | 9.8-11 | 7.2.1-7 | | | 9.12-22 | 7.2.8-30 | | | 9.23-57 | 7.2.35-78 | | | 9.58-66 | 8.3.34-48 | | | 9.67-91 | 8.3.55-118 | Retroflexion of s | | 9.92-109 | 8.4.1-39 | Retroflexion of n | |
and modern linguistics
, and the later Indian linguist Bhartrihari, had a significant influence on many of the foundational ideas proposed by Ferdinand de Saussure, professor of Sanskrit, who is widely considered the father of modern structural linguistics. While this is maintained by Prem Singh in his foreword to the reprint edition of the German translation of ’s Grammar in 1998,
George Cardona warns against an overestimation: "As far as I am able to discern upon rereading Saussure's Memoire, however, it shows no direct influence of Paninian grammar. Indeed, on occasion, Saussure follows a path that is contrary to Paninian procedure." (cf. Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 120, No. 3, (Jul. - Sep., 2000), p. 465) On the other hand, the influence of on the founding father of American structuralism, Leonard Bloomfield, is very clear, see e.g. his 1927 paper "On some rules of Panini" (Journal of the American Oriental Society Vol. 47 pp 61-70).
Noam Chomsky has always acknowledged his debt to for his modern notion of an explicit generative grammar. In Optimality Theory, the hypothesis about the relation between specific and general constraints is known as "Panini's Theorem on Constraint Ranking". grammars have also been devised for non-Sanskrit languages. His work was the forerunner to modern formal language theory (mathematical linguistics) and formal grammar, and a precursor to computing.
's use of metarules, transformations, and recursion together make his grammar as rigorous as a modern Turing machine. The Backus-Naur form (Panini-Backus form) or BNF grammars used to describe modern programming languages have significant similarities to grammar rules. 's grammar can be considered to be the world's first formal system, well before the 19th century innovations of Gottlob Frege and the subsequent development of mathematical logic. To design his grammar, used the method of "auxiliary symbols," in which new affixes are designated to mark syntactic categories and the control of grammatical derivations. This technique was rediscovered by the logician Emil Post and is now a standard method in the design of computer programming languages.
See also
- Sanskrit grammarians*Pingala
- Text in Devanagari (on Wikisource)
External links
- , at the MacTutor History of Mathematics archive
- simulates the Paninian Process of word formation
- , a software on Sanskrit grammar, based on Panini's Sutras
- Forizs, L.
- Video interview with Partha Niyogi on computers and Panini's grammar
- with the Mahabhashya and Kashika commentaries, along with the Nyasa and Padamanjara commentaries on the Kashika. (PDF) Sanskrit.
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