Devavāṇīpraveśikā Lesson 4 (3rd ed., pp. 47-78)Parts of Speech & the Sanskrit Sentence

Includes 7 paradigms to memorize: present tense of verbs bhāṣ, vad, as; declension of nouns puruṣaḥ, pustakam and of pronouns aham, tvam

Preliminary Remarks

1. Weʼve now covered the three introductory topics: phonology, scripts and sandhi.

2. Now that we know these basic “tools,” we begin studying the language itself.

3. Pattern for remainder of course: (a) I introduce topics in lectures; (2) you work through corresponding sections in textbook with great care; (c) you complete assigned exercises; (d) we go over these in class; (e) cycle begins again.

4. Each lesson will include nominal or verbal paradigms to be memorized and in many cases, other grammatical rules or patterns. This is not optional: you must memorize the paradigms from a given lesson before we begin the next lesson, as that lesson will have more paradigms. This where the course gets intense. Start your index card file if you havenʼt already. Practise your paradigms daily by writing and reciting them. Guideline: when you can write out a paradigm three times, quickly, with zero errors, youʼve got it memorized, though youʼll need to “reinforce” that knowledge regularly.

5. I will not specifically require you to memorize vocabulary, though the more you learn the faster you will be able to complete the exercises and the more quickly you will be able to read. Each lesson has a Sanskrit-English glossary of new words introduced in that lesson. For the English-Sanskrit translations, there is a glossary at the back of the book.

Overview of Topics in Lesson 4 (paragraph numbers below refer to DVP 3rd ed.)

4.0-4.3. Conjugation and declension; definitions of finite verb, nominal, adverbial.

4.4-4.18. The Sanskrit verbal system; finite verb and its role in the Skt. sentence; person, number, tense, mode, voice (including Ubhayapada-dhātus); cf. active/passive to active/middle.

4.19-20. Introduction to vartamāne laṭ/present indicative: verbal endings P and Ā, paradigm patterns.

4.21-22. Paradigms to memorize: representative regular laṭ verbs: roots vad (P), bhāṣ (Ā), “speak,” with notes on morphological patterns.

4.23-24. Paradigm to memorize: laṭ of irregular root as, “be”.

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4.25-32. The Sanskrit noun: gender, number, case (liṅga, vacana, vibhakti); citation forms for a-stem (1-1) and non-a-stem nouns (stem-form and 1-1).

4.33-36. Nominal paradigms to memorize: puruṣaḥ (masc.), pustakam (neut.)

4.37-38. Parts of Speech: kriyāpada/action word & kartṛ/agent, sakarmaka & akarmaka/ transitive & intransitive roots, karman/direct object.

4.39-43. Declension/vibhakti: the 7 + 1 cases/vibhaktis and their functions; nominative, accusative, instrumental, genitive cases.

4.44 Flexibility of Word Order due to highly inflected nature of language; nominal prose word order: kartṛ/agent > object > verb vs. English agent > verb > object; free word order of metrical texts.

4.45-46. Personal pronouns: memorize paradigms for aham/I and tvam/you.

4.47. Particles: sma, makes laṭ past tense; iti, marker for direct speech.

Detailed Treatment of Topics in Lesson 4

1. Three main categories of words: nominal (nouns, adjectives), verbal (conjugated forms of verbal roots/dhātus) and adverbial (indedlinables).

These categories are formal rather than functional. For example, grammatically, participles, i.e., verbal adjectives, are treated as nominals, but function as verbals.

2. Finite verb/tiṅanta: varies according to person, number, tense, mode, voice.Nominal/subanta: varies according to case, number, gender.Adverbial/avyayapada: invariable, except in accordance with the rules of sandhi.'3. Finite verbs: generated from several hundred, mostly monosyllabic roots/dhātus. Ten classes or conjugations of such roots, classified on the basis of the rules that govern generating the finite forms from the roots. Classes 1, 4, 6, 10 follow very similar rules.

4. Finite verb, expressed or implied, constitutes heart of the Sanskrit sentence. All other words, except nominals in the genitive case/ṣaṣṭhi-vibhakti, can be understood in relation to the finite verb. As in English, a single finite verb can constitute a full sentence.

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Examples from §4.5:

प"याम: ।'ह(य) ।''अि,म ।''-य.त् ।'िछ(दि(त । क4र6य4त'। भवत9 ।' अग;छत् । जगाम ।In order: we see; she, he it is killed ; I am; he, she it should abandon; they cut; he, she, it will do; let it be; he, she it went; he, she, it went.

5. Each such final verbal form encodes six categories of information:a. the action, i.e., go, speak, do, cut, etc.—this is simply the meaning of the root.b. the person, i.e., 1st, 2nd, 3rd but in Skt. we learn conjugations in reverse order.c. number of actors or agents, i.e., singular, dual, plurald. mode or way speaker intends/presents the action, i.e., description/narration, prescription, command, wish, etc.e. tense, i.e., past, present, future in relation to position in time of speaker.f. voice, i.e., active or passive, e.g., Rāma kills the demon vs. The demon is killed by Rāma.

6. Person is used as in English or French, except (1) Skt. has singular, dual and plural; (2) prathama-puruṣa = 3rd person; madhyama-puruṣa = 2nd person; uttama-puruṣa = 1st person.

Note: we memorize and refer to verbal paradigms (conjugations) in the traditional Indian manner: prathama-puruṣa, madhyama-puruṣa, uttama-puruṣa = in English order, 3rd person, 2nd person, 1st person.

7. Number: singular, dual, plural = eka-vacana, dvi-vacana, bahu-vacana, i.e., speech for one, speech for two, speech for many.

Number indicates the number of agents of a given finite verb (or in the case of a passive verb, the number of objects; more on this when we do the passive).

Examples: ''''श9को वद4त । ' ''''श9कौ वदतः । '''''''''''' श9का वदि(त । ' ' The parrot speaks. The two parrots speak. The parrots speak.

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8. Tense indicates the time of the action of state expressed by the verb relative to the position in time of the speaker: as in English, past, present, future = bhūta-kāla, vartamāna-kāla, bhaviṣyat-kāla. There are three Skt. tenses that refer to past events (imperfect, perfect, aorist). However, in classical Sanskrit, these all mean simply “past,” in contrast to Vedic and English, where the different past tenses have clearly distinguishable meanings.

Examples using the root/dhātu gam: ग;छ4त gacchati, “he goes”; अग;छत् agacchat, “she went”; गिम6य4त gamiṣyati, “he will go”; जगाम “she went”.

9. Mode specifies “how a finite verb is to be used or how the agent/subject is related to the action. Principle modes of the Skt. finite verb: indicative—description, narration; imperative—injunction, command; optative: exhortation, prescription; conditional—as in English “if” clauses. Examples:

Indicative: रामो वनB ग;छ4त । rāmo vanaṃ gacchati, “R. goes to the forest.”

Imperative: C राम वनB ग;छ । he rāma vanaṃ gaccha. “Rāma! Go to the

forest!” Optative: रामो वनB ग;Dत् । rāmo vanaṃ gacchet. “R. should go to the forest.”

Conditional (rare): रामEFGHाभ4व6यIावणः सीतM नNवाह4र6यत् । rāmaś

cet tatrābhaviṣyad rāvaṇaḥ sītāṃ naivāhariṣyat. “If R. had been there, Rāvaṇa would not have abducted Sītā.”

10. Voice: In Vedic, the earliest extant form of Sanskrit, voice was both a formal (grammatical) and a semantic (meaningful) feature of the language. Classical Sanskrit has largely lost the semantic distinction, but has kept the formal distinction throughout the verbal system, according to which a verb is conjugated either as Parasmaipada, ʻword for anotherʼ or as Ātmanepada, ʻword for oneʼs self.ʼ Western grammars use the terms active for P. and middle for Ā., but we shall use the Indian terms to avoid confusion with active and passive forms of verbs, which are common to both Sanskrit and English.

Many verbs are conjugated as both P. and Ā.—ubhayapada, ʻword for both,ʼ but our textbook presents verbs only in the pada in which they most commonly occur.

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Of the hundreds of roots and the thousands of possible verb forms they could theoretically generate, “only a small portion are very common and need to be mastered in the first year.”

In addition, over time, classical Sanskrit used more and more nominal forms (participles) to denote actions and fewer and fewer finite forms, which further reduces the number of finite verb forms in common usage.

11. Present Indicative or Vartamāne laṭ वत#मा& लट्

This is the “simple present” use for description, narration of actions, states or events occurring in the present or, at times, in the immediate past or future. It also serves as the present continuous (-ing forms), since like French and unlike English, Sanskrit does not have a separate construction corresponding to “I am going”, “He is speaking”, etc.

The laṭ is formed by adding the laṭ terminations to the present stem, which is formed in various ways from the verbal root/dhātu, e.g., root bhāṣ, ʻspeakʼ > present stem bhāṣa-. The different classes of root have different rules for forming the present stem.

पर,Oपद Parasmaipada Terminations for Vartamāne Laṭ वतPमाQ लट ्

एकवचन Singular

4Vवचन Dual बXवचन Plural

Yथमप9[ष 3rd -4त / -ti -तः / -taḥ -अि(त / -anti

म]यमप9[ष 2nd -4स / -si -थः / -thaḥ -थ / -tha

उGमप9[ष 1st -िम / -mi -वः / -vaḥ -मः / -maḥ

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आ-मQपद Ātmanepada Terminations for Vartamāne Laṭ वतPमाQ लट्

एकवचन Singular

4Vवचन Dual बXवचन Plural

Yथमप9[ष 3rd -) / -te आ) / āte -अ() / -ante

म]यमप9[ष 2nd -` / -se आa / āthe -]b / -dhve

उGमप9[ष 1st -ए / -e -वC / -vahe -मC / -mahe

Examples:

रामो वनB ग;छ4त । rāmo vanaṃ gacchati (p-e laṭ P. / 3rd sg. pres. P. of root

gam), R. goes to the forest.

सीतालcमणाव4प वनB ग;छतः । sītālakṣmaṇāv api vanaṃ gacchataḥ (p-d laṭ

P. / 3rd dual pres. P. of root gam), Sītā and Lakṣmaṇa also go to the forest.

सी) dक भाष` । sīte kiṃ bhāṣase (m-e laṭ Ā / 2nd sg. pres. Ā of root bhāṣ),

Sītā, what are you saying?

यH ग;छि(त वीरा,तHा4प ग;छाeयहम् । yatra gacchanti vīrās tatrāpi

gacchāmy aham (p-b laṭ P. and u-e laṭ P. / 3rd pl. P. pres. & 1st sg. pres. P. of root gam), Wherever the heroes go, there, too, I go.

साध9 वयम4प ग;छामः । sādhu vayam api gacchāmaḥ (u-b P. laṭ / 1st pl. pres.

P. of root gam), Good! We, too, are going.

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Patterns worth noting: Note the short i ending for all singular P. forms; the e ending for all Ā forms; the penultimate t in 3rd pl. / p-b forms, both P. and Ā; the penultimate s in m-e / 2nd sg., both P. and Ā.

12. Present indicative / laṭ paradigms to memorize: vad (P) and bhāṣ (Ā):

Vartamāne laṭ of root vad (P), ʻsay,

speakʼएकवचन Singular

4Vवचन Dual बXवचन Plural

Yथमप9[ष 3rd वद4त वदतः वदि(त

म]यमप9[ष 2nd वद4स वदथः वदथ

उGमप9[ष 1st वदािम वदावः वदामः

Vartamāne laṭ of root bhāṣ (Ā), ʻsay, speakʼ

एकवचन Singular

4Vवचन Dual बXवचन Plural

Yथमप9[ष 3rd भाष) भाषF) भाष()

म]यमप9[ष 2nd भाष` भाषFa भाष]b

उGमप9[ष 1st भाषF भाषावC भाषामC

Important Rules for forming the Present Indicative / laṭ

1. Vowel a becomes ā when followed by m- or v-initial endings, i.e., u-d and u-b P and Ā.2. Before p-b endings, final vowel a of present stem is dropped: gaccha + anti > gacchanti, “They go”; bhāṣa + ante > bhāṣante, “They speak.”

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3. Before u-e Ā ending the final a of the present stem is dropped: manya + e > manye, “I think”; bhāṣa + e > bhāṣe, “I speak.” 4. The initial ā of the p-d and m-d Ā ending becomes e and the final a of the present stem is dropped: bhāṣa + āte > bhāṣ + ete > bhāṣete; bhāṣa + āthe > bhāṣ + ethe > bhāṣethe.5. After any letter but a, the nasal n of the p-b Ā ending -ante is lost. For example the P. form of the root yuj, ʻjoin, unite, yokeʼ: pres. stem yuñj + 3rd pl. ending -anti > yuñjanti, but for Ā of same root, pres. stem yuñj + 3rd pl. ending -ante > yuñjate.

13. The Verbal Root अस् (प), ʻto beʼ

This is Sanskritʼs copula, used, much as in English, to state “A is/are B.” Sanskrit does not require this verb to actually appear in the sentence, so often it is implied. When a sentence has no explicit finite verb or substitute for a finite verb (participle), then you should suspect an implied form of the root as. As in many languages, the verb “to be” is an irregular conjugation; nevertheless, the characteristic laṭ endings are apparent.

Laṭ / pres. indic. paradigm for verbal root as (P). Memorize immediately.

Vartamāne laṭ of root as (P), ʻto beʼ एकवचन

Singular

4Vवचन Dual बXवचन Plural

Yथमप9[ष 3rd अि,त ,तः सि(त

म]यमप9[ष 2nd अ4स ,थः ,थ

उGमप9[ष 1st अि,म ,वः ,मः

Note: Because the copula is optional, at times only the context can tell us whether a sequence like daśaratho nṛpaḥ means (a) D. is king or (b) D. the king.

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Examples:

अ,-यि,म(gh नiपः । asty asmin deśe nṛpaḥ. “There is, in this country, a

king.”

,वगj सि(त gवाः । svarge santi devāḥ. “The gods are in heaven.”

रामो नiपः । rāmo nṛpaḥ. “R. is king” or “R. the king. . .”

काका: कk6णाः । kākāḥ kṛṣṇāḥ. “Crows are black” or “The black crows. . .”

वानरो ऽि,म, वानरो ऽहम् । vānaro ʼsmi and vānaro ʼham both mean “I am

a monkey.”

14. The Sanskrit Noun: Declension / -वभि0त / Vibhakti

We have seen that finite verbs encode information for person, number, tense, mode and voice and that a verbal paradigm contains nine forms: 3 persons x 3 numbers.

Nominals—nouns and adjectives—encode case, number and gender: 8 cases, 3 numbers (as with verbs) and 3 genders (masc., fem., neut.). Thus a nominal paradigm contains 24 forms: 8 cases x 3 numbers.

Liṅga िल1ग Gender

As in German and Old English, three genders: masculine, feminine, neuter; or, in Sanskrit, puṃliṅga, strīliṅga, napuṃsakaliṅga. Typically, people and animals take the gender appropriate to their sex, but otherwise gender in Sanskrit is purely “grammatical,” i.e., arbitrary. Therefore, when you learn a noun, you must also learn its gender. Adjectives have no inherent gender: they duplicate the case, number and gender of the nouns they modify.

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Examples showing both “natural” and “arbitrary” gender10: प9[षः (प9B); gवी (mी); भायn (mी); क(या (mी); िमHम् (नप9B); o(थः (प9B); प9,तकम् (नप9B)। English translations In order: man/person; goddess/queen;

wife; girl/daughter; friend; book; book.

वचन / Number

Nouns, like verbs, encode information for number: singular, dual, plural.

Example: ajaḥ (1-1m), goat; ajau (1-2m), 2 goats; ajāḥ (1-3m), goats (3 or more).

Verbs and their subjects (in an active sentence) or objects (in a passive sentence: Lesson 9) must always agree in number. Examples:

puruṣo gacchati, the man goes; puruṣau gacchataḥ, the two men go; puruṣā gacchanti, the men go.

-वभि0त / Vibhakti / Case

Cases, or more specifically, case endings, are suffixes affixed to nouns and adjectives that define their function in a sentence, that define the relation of that noun or adjective to the verb or to another noun.

In terms of their function, case endings in Sanskrit are comparable to word order and prepositions in English.

See list, definitions and examples of case at §4.29, pp. 60–61.

Prathamā/Nominative: indicates word is the grammatical subject of the verb; agent or logical subject in an active sentence, direct object in a passive sentence.

Dvitīyā/Accusative: indicates word is direct object of a verb.

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Tṛtīyā/Instrumental: indicates word is the “instrument” of an action; includes sense of English words by, with, through, due to, because of; can also have sense of “accompany”: rāmo lakṃaṇena vanaṃ gacchati, “Rāma goes to the forest with Lakṣmaṇa.”

Caturthī/Dative: indicates word is an indirect object; corresponds to English to, for; also used for objects of reverence, e.g., śivāya namaḥ, “Reverence to Śiva!”

Pañcamī/Ablative: indicates source, origin, cause; some overlap with instrumental; corresponds to English words from, due to, because of.

Saṣṭhi/Genitive: indicates possession; corresponds to ʼs, of; used together with forms of verbal roots as and bhū, corresponds to English verb “have”, e.g. mūrkhasya prajñā nāsti, literally, “Of the fool there is not wisdom,” or in normal English, “A fool has no wisdom.” Note: unique among the cases, the genitive relates to another nominal item, not to the verb.

Saptamī/Locative: indicates location in time or space; corresponds to English on, in, at, among; can also mean “with respect to”, “with reference to.”

Saṃbodhana/Vocative: Not properly a case, since it does not participate in the grammar of the sentence, but it is part of most nominal paradigms and for practical purposes, we memorize it as the eighth case—although it only differs from the nominative in the singular. Vocative is used to indicate direct address, e.g., ईqर मM Hा4ह । īśvara māṃ trāhi, “Lord, rescue me!” or C राम वनB ग;छ । he rāma vanaṃ gaccha, “O Rāma, go to the forest.”

Example of use of cases in a sentence (from p. 61, §4.29 of textbook):

With sandhi:

दशरथ,य वचनB r9-वा नगराि(नःसi-य लाcमणFन सCहाग-य धमnय वQ वस4त रामः ।

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Without sandhi:

दशरथ,य वचनम् r9-वा नगरात ्4नःसi-य लाcमणFन सह इह आग-य धमnय वQ वस4त रामः ।

Showing noun case forms:

daśarathasya (6-1m) vacanaṃ (2-1n) śrutvā, nagarān (5-1n) niḥsṛtya, lakṣmaṇena (3-1m) sahehāgatya, dharmāya (4-1m) vane (7-1n) vasati rāmaḥ (1-1m).

Having heard Daśarathaʼs (6-1m) speech (2-1n), having come out from the city (5-1n), and having come here with Lakṣmaṇa (3-1m), Rāma (1-1m) lives in the forest (7-1n) for the sake of righteousness. (4-1m).

§4.30. Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra as illustration of vocative/saṃbodhana. For our purposes, it is best to regard the voc. as the eighth case.

§4.31-32. There are several declensions in Skt. These are classified based upon their predeclension stem final and gender.

In this course, nouns are cited as follows:

1. For a-stem nouns, learn and refer to the noun in its nominative singular form (prathamā vibhakti, bahuvacana) in absolute final position. Knowing this form, you will also know the gender of the noun. Examples: puruṣaḥ, pustakam / प9[षः, प9,तकम्

Nouns ending in other vowels or consonants should be learned and cited both in the stem-form and in the nominative singular: Examples:

4पतi/4पता, pitṛ/pitā (masc., father); राजन/्राजा, rājan/rājā (masc., king), tuन/्tu, brahman/brahma (neut., brahman); tuन/्tuा, brahman/brahmā (mac., Brahmā).

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§4.33. Memorize the declensions of प56षः puruṣaḥ (masc.) and प59तकम ्pustakam (neut.). Important: memorize case-by-case across, i.e., puruṣaḥ, puruṣau, puruṣāḥ; puruṣam, puruṣau, puruṣān, etc.

Abbreviations: once you start translating Sanskrit sentences, you will need to label each word in order to help you understand the functions of the individual words and how these functions relate to once another.

Use the following system for nominals: e.g., for puruṣaḥ, 1-1m = nom. sg. masc.; for pustakaiḥ, 3-3n = instr. pl. neut., etc.

For finite verbs, use the following notation: e.g., for gacchati, 3rd sg. pres. P. = 3rd person singular present indicative Parasmaipada; for bhāṣāmahe 1st pl. pres. Ā = 1st person plural present indicative Ātmanepada.

As you can see from the paradigms in the textbook, each Sanskrit nominal has, potentially, 24 forms (8 cases x 3 numbers).

Note, however, that:

1. masculine and neuter nouns with the same stem final differ only in the nominative and accusative cases.2. the vocative or saṃbodhana differs from the nominative only in the singular. 3. for most nouns, the instrumental, dative and ablative dual are the same, as are the genitive and locative dual, and the dative and ablative plural.

§4.37. Parts of speech: kriyāpada and kartṛ

The Skt. term for the role the finite verb plays in a sentence is kriyāpada or “action word.” This word expresses the action or state indicated by the given dhātu or verbal root.

The kartṛ or agent or subject denotes the person, thing, place, concept that carries out the action or experiences the condition expressed by the verbal root.

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The kartṛ is always the agent of the action of the verbal root in active and passive sentences alike. We can say, in active construction, rāmaḥ sītāṃ vadati, “Rāma speaks to Sītā,” or in passive construction, sītā rāmeṇa udyate, “Sītā is spoken to by Rāma.” But Rāma remains the kartṛ or logical subject or agent in both cases. This is because although the grammar of the two sentences are different—the nominals are in different cases and the form of the verb is different—but the same action is described: Rāma is performing the action of speaking to Sītā in both versions.

§4.38. Sakarmaka (transitive) and Akarmaka (intransitive) roots and the Karman (direct object)

Dhātus are distinguished according to whether or not they take a karman or direct object. If they do they are transitive/sakarmaka; if not, intransitive/akarmaka. In an active sentence, this karman is placed in the accusative case.

Sakarmaka example: rāmo nṛpaṃ paśyati, R. sees the king. “King” is the direct object or karman of the verb paśyati.

Somewhat irregularly, compared to the practise in English, the goals or destinations of verbs of motion (like the verb gam, gacchati) are also placed in the acc. case: rāmo vanaṃ gacchati.

§4.40-43. Further explanations of nom., acc. and genitive cases.

§4.40. Nominative case denotes the grammatical subject of a finite verb in a clause or sentence. It is also uses as the citation case for the noun.

See examples in this paragraph: नiपो वद4त । tाuणौ नiपB प"यतः । तH प9,तका4न न सि(त ।

§4.41. Accusative case used for direct object of a transitive/sakarmaka verb or the goal of a verb of motion:

प9[षो मiगB हि(त । tाuणाः प9,तका4न प"यि(त । रामो वनB ग;छ4त ।

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Accusative can also be used with words meaning units of time to indicate duration.

रामः सBव-सरB वQ वस4त, “Rāma lives for a year in the forest.”

Accusative singular as adverb (avyayapada or indeclinable):

अि,त नiपो दशरथो नाम । “There is a king, Daśaratha by name.”

दशरथः स5ख< जीव4त । “Daśaratha lives happily.”

§4.42 Instrumental Case/Tṛtīyā Vibhaktiḥ

1. Agency (by, through, using): शvण हि(त बालकम् । He kills the boy with an arrow. śareṇa hanti bālakam.

2. Accompaniment (frequently with avyayapadas saha, samam, sākam).

दशर@न सह सBवद4त tाuणः । daśarathena saha saṃvadati brāhmaṇaḥ.

“The Brahmin converses with Daśaratha.”

रामो लBमणDन सह वनB ग;छ4त । rāmo lakṣmaṇena saha vanaṃ gacchati.

“Rāma, accompanied by Lakṣmaṇa, goes to the forest.”

3. Denotes agent/kartṛ in passive constructions (covered in Lesson 9).

4. Avyayapada vinā + instrumental (or accusative or ablative) = “without, excluding.”

बालFन -वना वनB ग;छ4त tाuणः ।bālakena vinā vanaṃ gacchati brāhmaṇaḥ. “The Brahmin goes to the forest without the boy.

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5. Avyayapada alam + instrumental = “Enough of X” in a dismissive or contemptuous sense.

अलमQन मwखPवचQन । alam anena mūrkhavacanena! “Enough of this

foolʼs talk!”

6. Interrogative pronoun kim + instrumental = “Whatʼs the use of X?”

4कमQन प9,तyन । kim anena pustakena. “Whatʼs the use of this book?”

4.43. The Genitive Case / Ṣaṣṭhī Vibhaktiḥ /

1. Primary sense: possession: “of” or “apostrophe s.” Usually placed before the noun it modifies. Unlike other cases, the genitive relates directly to another noun, not, like the other cases, to the verb.

दशरथो राम,य 4पता । daśaratho rāmasya pitā.

“Daśaratha [is] Rāmaʼs father.”

tाuण,य प9H,य िमHम् । brāhmaṇasya putrasya mitram.

“The friend of the son of the Brahmin” or “the Brahminʼs sonʼs friend.”

2. Genitive + nominative + verb “to be” = English verb “have.”

tाuण,य प9Hो नाि,त । brāhmaṇasya putro nāsti. Literally, “Of the

Brahmin no son there is” = “The Brahmin has no son” or “The Brahmin does not have a son.”

Note: Possessor placed in genitive case, that which is possessed in the nominative as the subject of the verb “to be.”

daśarathasya dve pustake [implied 3rd du. pres. of root as: staḥ]. “D. has two books.”

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ब9z,य महा4व{ाि,त । buddhasya mahāvidyāsti. “Of the Buddha, great

knowledge there is” = “The Buddha possesses great knowledge.”

4.44. Word Order: Subject-Object-Verb, but very flexible.

The following all mean “Rāma sees the deer.”

रामो मiगB प"य4त । मiगB प"य4त रामः । प"य4त रामो मiगम् ।rāmo mṛgaṃ paśyati. mṛgaṃ paśyati rāmaḥ. paśyati rāmo mŗgam.

Note necessary differences in sandhi.

1. SOV is the basic prose word order—cf. English SVO—but because the case endings specify the function of each declined word in relation especially to the verb, word order can be almost whatever the writer or speaker wants, for stylistic or rhetorical or metrical reasons.

When translating, keep all modifiers of a given noun near that noun.

Place genitives before the noun they modify.

Place nouns and adjectives in oblique cases (those other than nom. or acc.) before the accusative/direct object.

रा|सानM नiपो दशरथ,य प9HB रामB सरोषB प"य4त ।rākṣasānāṃ nṛpo (agent, 1-1m) daśarathasya putraṃ rāmaṃ (direct objects, 2-1m) saroṣaṃ (adverb/avyayapada) paśyati (verb, 3rd sg. pres. P. of root dṛś).

“The king of the demons views Daśarathaʼs son Rāma with anger.”

2. Exception: forms of the root as (P.) as first word in a narrative, along the lines of “Once upon a time there was. . .”

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अि,त नiपो दशरथो नाम । asti nṛpo daśaratho nāma. “There is a king

named Daśaratha.”

4.45-46. Personal Pronouns: 1st person aham, 2nd person tvam

As in English, personal pronouns are pervasive in Sanskrit.

Memorize the paradigms of aham and tvam immediately.

Note 1: 1st and 2nd person pronouns do not distinguish gender.

Note 2: in contrast to nouns, pronouns, including aham and tvam, do not have a separate vocative case.

Note 3: The “enclitic” or abbreviated forms in the acc., dat. and gen., sg. and pl., have the same meaning as the full forms, but cannot be used as the first word in a sentence or when the pronoun is used emphatically.

Note 4: There are only three different dual forms, though 7 cases.

Note 5: Be careful to distinguish, at least in reading and writing, long and short vowels, aspirated and unaspirated consonants.

Examples:

यwयB gवा(वदथ ।yūyaṃ devān vadatha. “You [plural] speak to the gods.”

अह}व स-यB प"यािम ।aham eva satyaṃ paśyāmi. “I alone see the truth.”

प9,तक~ नः पठ4त । pustakaṃ naḥ paṭhati. “He reads our book.”

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4.47. Particles/Nipāta

Although the vast majority of Sanskrit words are declined nominals or conjugated verbals, the language also employs many avyayapadas that are called particles or nipāta. Hereʼs two:

1. Present Indicative (laṭ) + sma = simple past tense.

रामो वनB ग;छ4त = “R. goes to the forest,” but रामो वनB ग;छ4त ,म = “R.

went to the forest.”

Not used a great deal, but common in the introduction to Buddhist sūtras:

एकि,म(सम� भगवा(ब9zो राजगiC 4वहर4त ,म ।ekasmin bhagavān buddho rājagṛhe viharati sma. “On one occasion the Lord Buddha was staying in Kingston.”

2. Iti / “thus, so” / इ-त as marker for direct speech

Functions as “quotation mark” after direct speech.

Used pervasively, since Sanskrit seldom uses indirect speech.

Sets off independent sentences-within-sentences.

Note: When thereʼs an “iti” in a sentence, youʼll know you have two independent sentences making up the larger sentence, each with its own independent grammatical structure of agent, object and verb.

नiपो ऽहिम4त वद4त दशरथः । Literally, “ ʻThe king am I.ʼ Thus spoke

Daśaratha.” More idiomatically, “D. said, ʻI am the king.ʼ ”

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