Sanskrit grammar

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Sanskrit grammar

The main features of the grammar of SanskritSanskrit

The Sanskrit language is a classical language of India, a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, and one o...
are a complex verbal system, rich nominal declension, and extensive use of compound nouns. The grammar of Sanskrit was studied and codified by Sanskrit grammarians over two millennia ago,

Grammatical tradition

Sanskrit grammatical tradition (, one of the six VedangaVedanga

The Vedanga are six auxiliary disciplines for the understanding and tradition of the Vedas....
disciplines) began in late Vedic India and culminated in the of (ca. 5th century BC), which consists of 3990 sutras (rules). After a century from (around 400 BC) Katyayana composed Vartikas on an sutra. PatañjaliPatañjali

Patajali is the compiler of the Yoga Sutra, a major work containing aphorisms on the practical and philosophical wisdom rega...
, who lived three centuries after , wrote the , the "Great Commentary" on the and Vartikas. Because of these three ancient Sanskrit grammarians this grammar is called Trimuni Vyakarana (i.e., grammar of three sages). To understand the meaning of sutras, Jayaditya and Vamana had written a commentry Kasika 600 AD. 's (12th century AD) commentary on Patañjali's also exerted much influence on the development of grammar. But more influential was the Rupavatara of Buddhist scholar Dharmakirti which popularised simplified versions of Sanskrit grammar. After these ancient and early mediaeval scholars, the most influential work was Siddhanta Kaumudi (and its various versions) of , which is still regarded as a must for Sanskrit scholars.

an grammar is based on 14 Shiva sutras. Here whole Matrika is abbreviated. This abbreviation is called PratyaharaPratyahara

Pratyahara is the fifth element among the Eight stages of Patanjali's Ashtanga Yoga....
.

Indian grammatical tradition surives to the present day, with scholars such as Vagish ShastriVagish Shastri Overview

Vagish Shastri is an international Sanskrit grammarian, eminent linguist, Tantric and yogi....
, who has developed a mnemonic method.

Verbs

Classification of verbs

Sanskrit has ten classes of verbVerb

A verb is a part of speech that usually denotes action , occurrence , or a state of being ....
s (plus one used in the Vedas : the lakar)divided into in two broad groups: athematicAthematic

In the Indo-European languages, thematic roots are those roots that have a "theme vowel"; a vowel sound that is always p...
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. ExponentsExponent (linguistics) Summary

An exponent is a phonological manifestation of a morphosyntactic property....
used in verb conjugationGrammatical conjugation

In linguistics, conjugation is the creation of derived forms of a verb from its principal parts by inflection ....
include prefixPrefix (linguistics)

In linguistics, a prefix is a type of affix that precedes the morphemes to which it can attach....
es, suffixSuffix

This article discusses suffixes in linguistics....
es, infixInfix

Infix has similar meanings in linguistics and mathematics. ...
es, and reduplicationReduplication Overview

Reduplication, in linguistics, is a morphological process in which the root or stem of a word, or only part of it, is repeat...
.

Tense systems

The verbs tenseTense

In linguistics, the term tense may refer to two unrelated concepts:...
s (a very inexact application of the word, since more distinctions than simply tense are expressed) are organized into four 'systems' (as well as gerundGerund

In linguistics, a gerund is a kind of verbal noun that exists in some languages....
s and infinitiveInfinitive

In grammar, infinitive is the name for certain verb forms that exist in many languages....
s, and such creatures as intensiveIntensive

In grammar, an intensive form of a word is one which denotes stronger or more forceful action as compared with the root on w...
s/frequentativeFrequentative

In grammar, a frequentative form of a word is one which indicates repeated action....
s, desiderativeFacts About Desiderative

In linguistics, a desiderative form is one that has the meaning of "wanting to X"....
s, causativeCausative

A causative form, in linguistics, is an expression of an agent causing or forcing a patient to perform an action....
s, and benedictiveBenedictive

The benedictive mood is found in Sanskrit, although extremely rarely....
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
Perfect
Aorist
FutureFuture

In a linear conception of time, the future is the portion of the timeline that has yet to occur, i.e....

Present system

The present system includes the presentPresent tense

The present tense is the tense that is often used to express:...
and imperfectImperfect tense

The imperfect tense, in the classical grammar of several Indo-European languages, denotes a past tense with an imperfective ...
tenses, the optativeOptative mood

The optative mood is a grammatical mood that indicates a wish or hope....
and imperativeImperative mood

The imperative mood is a grammatical mood that expresses direct commands or requests....
moods, as well as some of the remnant forms of the old subjunctiveSubjunctive mood

In grammar, the subjunctive mood is a verbal mood that exists in many languages....
. The tense stem of the present system is formed in various ways. The numbers are the native grammarians' numbers for these classes.

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 aoristAorist

Aorist is a term used in certain Indo-European languages to refer to a particular grammatical tense and/or aspect....
system includes aorist proper (with past indicative meaning, e.g. abhu "you were") and some of the forms of the ancient injunctive (used almost exclusively with ma in prohibitions, e.g. ma bhu "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 sibilant aorist, and the reduplicating aorist, which is semantically related to the causative verb.

Future system

The future system is formed with the suffixation of sya or iya and gua. Verbs then conjugate as though they were thematic verbs in the present system. The imperfect of the future system is used as a conditional.

Verbs: Conjugation

Each verb has a grammatical voiceGrammatical voice

In grammar, the voice of a verb describes the relationship between the action that the verb expresses and the participants ...
, 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 optativeOptative mood

The optative mood is a grammatical mood that indicates a wish or hope....
and an imperative moodImperative mood Overview

The imperative mood is a grammatical mood that expresses direct commands or requests....
. Older forms of the language had a subjunctiveSubjunctive mood

In grammar, the subjunctive mood is a verbal mood that exists in many languages....
, though this had fallen out of use by the time of Classical Sanskrit.

Basic conjugational endings

Conjugational endings in Sanskrit convey personGrammatical person Overview

Grammatical person, in linguistics, is deictic reference to the participant role of a referent, such as the speaker, the add...
, numberGrammatical number

In linguistics, the term grammatical number refers to ways of expressing quantity by inflecting words....
, and voiceGrammatical voice

In grammar, the voice of a verb describes the relationship between the action that the verb expresses and the participants ...
. 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	a´the	dhvé
	Third Person	ti	tás	ánti, áti	té	a´te	ánte, áte
Secondary	First Person	am	vá	má	í, á	váhi	máhi
	Second Person	s	tám	tá	tha´s	a´tham	dhvám
	Third Person	t	ta´m	án, ús	tá	a´tam	ánta, áta, rán
Perfect	First Person	a	vá	má	é	váhe	máhe
	Second Person	tha	áthus	á	sé	a´the	dhvé
	Third Person	a	átus	ús	é	a´te	ré
Imperative	First Person	ani	ava	ama	ai	avahai	amahai
	Second Person	dhí, hí, —	tám	tá	svá	a´tham	dhvám
	Third Person	tu	ta´m	ántu, átu	ta´m	a´tam	ántam, átam

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.

Nominal inflection

Sanskrit is a highly inflectedInflection

In grammar, inflection or inflexion is the modification or marking of a word to reflect grammatical information, such ...
language with three grammatical genderGrammatical gender

In linguistics, the term gender refers to various forms of expressing biological or sociological gender by inflecting words....
s (masculine, feminine, neuter) and three numbers (singular, plural, dual). It has eight casesGrammatical case

In grammar, the case of a noun or pronoun indicates its grammatical function in a greater phrase or clause; such as the role...
: nominativeNominative case

The nominative case is a grammatical case for a noun, which generally marks the subject of a verb, as opposed to its object...
, vocativeVocative case

The vocative case is the case used for a noun identifying the person being addressed and/or occasionally the determiners o...
, accusativeAccusative case

The accusative case of a noun is the grammatical case used to mark the direct object of a transitive verb....
, instrumentalInstrumental case

In linguistics, the instrumental case indicates that a noun is the instrument or means by which the subject achieves or...
, dativeDative case

The dative case is a grammatical case generally used to indicate the noun to whom something is given....
, ablativeAblative case

In linguistics, ablative case is a name given to cases in various languages whose common thread is that they mark motion a...
, genitiveGenitive case

In grammar, the genitive case is the case that marks a noun as being the possessor of another noun....
, and locativeLocative case

Locative is a case which indicates a location....
.

The number of actual declensionDeclension

In linguistics, declension is a paradigm of inflected nouns and adjectives....
s is debatable. Panini identifies six karakas corresponding to the nominative, accusative, dative, instrumental, locative, and ablative cases . 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.
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.
("instrument") "that which effects most." This is equivalent to the instrumental case.
('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.
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 '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.
(-? -i)>(-? -i)>(-? -i)>(-? -i)>(-? -i)>(-? -i)>

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative (Karta)	-?? -s (-?? -m)
Accusative (Karma)	-??? -am (-?? -m)
Instrumental (Karana)	-? -a
Dative (Sampradana)	-? -e
Ablative (Apadana)	-??? -as
Genitive (Sambandha)	-??? -as
Locative (Adhikarana)	-? -i
Vocative	-?? -s (- -)

a-stems

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

	Masculine (kama-)			Neuter (asya- 'mouth')			Feminine (kanta- 'beloved')
	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ka´mas	ka´mau	ka´mas	asyàm	asyè	asya`ni	kanta	kante	kantas
Accusative	ka´mam	ka´mau	ka´man	asyàm	asyè	asya`ni	kantam	kante	kantas
Instrumental	ka´mena	ka´mabhyam	ka´mais	asyèna	asya`bhyam	asyaìs	kantaya	kantabhyam	kantabhis
Dative	ka´maya	ka´mabhyam	ka´mebhyas	asya`ya	asya`bhyam	asyèbhyas	kantayai	kantabhyam	kantabhyas
Ablative	ka´mat	ka´mabhyam	ka´mebhyas	asya`t	asya`bhyam	asyèbhyas	kantayas	kantabhyam	kantabhyas
Genitive	ka´masya	ka´mayos	ka´manam	asyàsya	asyàyos	asya`nam	kantayas	kantayos	kantanam
Locative	ka´me	ka´mayos		asyè	asyàyos		kantayam	kantayos	kantasu
Vocative	ka´ma	ka´mau	ka´mas	a´sya	asyè	asya`ni	kante	kante	kantas

i- and u-stems

i-stems
	Masc. and Fem. (gáti- 'gait')			Neuter (va´ri- 'water')
	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	gátis	gáti	gátayas	va´ri
Accusative	gátim	gáti	gátis	va´ri
Instrumental	gátya	gátibhyam	gátibhis		va´ribhyam	va´ribhis
Dative	gátaye, gátyai	gátibhyam	gátibhyas		va´ribhyam	va´ribhyas
Ablative	gátes, gátyas	gátibhyam	gátibhyas		va´ribhyam	va´ribhyas
Genitive	gátes, gátyas	gátyos	gátinam
Locative	gátau, gátyam	gátyos
Vocative	gáte	gáti	gátayas	va´ri, va´re

u-stems
	Masc. and Fem. (sátru- 'enemy')			Neuter (mádhu- 'honey')
	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	sátrus	sátru	sátravas	mádhu	mádhuni	mádhuni
Accusative	sátrum	sátru	sátrun	mádhu	mádhuni	mádhuni
Instrumental		sátrubhyam	sátrubhis	mádhuna	mádhubhyam	mádhubhis
Dative	sátrave	sátrubhyam	sátrubhyas	mádhune	mádhubhyam	mádhubhyas
Ablative	sátros	sátrubhyam	sátrubhyas	mádhunas	mádhubhyam	mádhubhyas
Genitive	sátros	sátrvos		mádhunas	mádhunos	mádhunam
Locative	sátrau	sátrvos		mádhuni	mádhunos
Vocative	sátro	sátru	sátravas	mádhu	mádhuni	mádhuni

Long Vowel-stems

	-stems ( 'progeny')			-stems ( 'thought')			( 'earth')
	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative						dhíyas			bhúvas
Accusative				dhíyam		dhíyas	bhúvam		bhúvas
Instrumental				dhiya´
Dative	jé
Ablative	jás
Genitive	jás	jós			dhiyós			bhuvós
Locative	jí	jós			dhiyós			bhuvós
Vocative	ja´s					dhíyas			bhúvas

-stems

-stems are predominantly agentalAgent (grammar)

In linguistics, a grammatical agent is the participant of a situation that carries out the action in this situation....
derivatives like dat 'giver', though also include kinship terms like pit´ 'father', mat´ 'mother', and svás 'sister'.

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	pita´	pitárau	pitáras
Accusative	pitáram	pitárau
Instrumental	pitra´
Dative	pitré
Ablative	pitúr
Genitive	pitúr	pitrós
Locative	pitári	pitrós
Vocative	pítar	pitárau	pitáras

Numerals

The numbers from one to ten are:

éka
dvá
trí
catúr
pañca
?á?
saptá, sápta
a??á, á??a
náva
dása

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.

Personal Pronouns and Determiners

The first and second person pronouns are declined for the most part alike, having by analogyAnalogy

Analogy is either the cognitive process of transferring information from a particular subject to another particular subject,...
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	avam	vayam	tvam	yuvam	yuyam
Accusative	mam, ma	avam, nau	asman, nas	tvam, tva	yuvam, vam
Instrumental	maya	avabhyam	asmabhis	tvaya	yuvabhyam
Dative	mahyam, me	avabhyam, nau	asmabhyam, nas	tubhyam, te	yuvabhyam, vam
Ablative	mat	avabhyam	asmat	tvat	yuvabhyam
Genitive	mama, me	avayos, nau	asmakam, nas	tava, te	yuvayos, vam
Locative	mayi	avayos	asmasu	tvayi	yuvayos

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	taú	té	tát	té	ta´ni	sa´	té	ta´s
Accusative	tám	taú	ta´n	tát	té	ta´ni	ta´m	té	ta´s
Instrumental	téna	ta´bhyam	taís	téna	ta´bhyam	taís	táya	ta´bhyam	ta´bhis
Dative	tásmai	ta´bhyam	tébhyas	tásmai	ta´bhyam	tébhyas	tásyai	ta´bhyam	ta´bhyas
Ablative	tásmat	ta´bhyam	tébhyam	tásmat	ta´bhyam	tébhyam	tásyas	ta´bhyam	ta´bhyas
Genitive	tásya	táyos		tásya	táyos		tásyas	táyos	ta´sam
Locative	tásmin	táyos		tásmin	táyos		tásyam	táyos	ta´su

Syntax

Because of Sanskrit's complex declension system the word orderWord order

Word order, in linguistic typology, refers to the order in which words appear in sentences across different languages....
is free (with tendency toward SOVSubject Object Verb

In linguistic typology, Subject Object Verb is the type of languages in which the subject, object, and verb of a sentence ap...
).

Literature

Sanskrit 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 GrammatikAltindische Grammatik

The Altindische Grammatik is the monumental Sanskrit grammar by Jacob Wackernagel , after his death continued by Albert ...
, Göttingen.

vol. I. phonology Jacob WackernagelJacob Wackernagel

Jacob Wackernagel was an Indo-Europeanist and scholar of Sanskrit....
(1896)
vol. II.1. introduction to morphology, nominal composition, Wackernagel (1905)
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)

Topics in Sanskrit morphology and syntax

Frits StaalFrits Staal

Frits Staal is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy and South & Southeast Asian Studies at the University of California, Berkele...
, Word order in Sanskrit and Universal Grammar, Foundations of Language, supplementary series 5, Springer (1967), ISBN 978-9027705495.