Introduction to the Technique of Paninian GrammarBhagawan (Lord) Panini – as he is reverentially called by Sanskrit Pundits – like most names found in Ancient Indian History is of uncertain date. We have some evidence that he was born in what us today the North West Frontier Province of Modern Pakistan in a village called Shalatur. Scholars have surmised the 5th Century B.C.E as a possible period of his existence. But he could have been earlier. Lord Panini is one of the greatest geniuses to have emerged from the subcontinent of India who had a formative and sustaining influence on Indian Culture and Civilization. He ranks amongst Patanjali, Nagarjuna and Tulsidas, men who made an original and revolutionary contribution to World Civilization. It is no exaggeration to say that Indian Civilization rests on the shoulders of Panini. In a short grammatical treatise called the Ashtadhyayi – or the Book in Eight Chapters -, he codified all the rules that govern the concurrent spoken Sanskrit of his times. Thus he made the Sanskrit Language systematic and free from ambiguity. This gave the Sanskrit Language a precise structure and no place for variant spellings or forms making it a meticulous tool for higher philosophical speculations and other kinds of scientific and scholarly work. With such a standardized language, much like Modern English, interregional communication and textual interpretation became unequivocal and free from vagueness. It is no wonder that Hindu India continued using Sanskrit well into the end of Nineteenth Century as the Official Language of its Courts and Religious Institutions because of its well-organized structure. His grammatical treatise has been rightfully called ‘one of the greatest monuments of human intelligence’ by the American Linguist Leonard Bloomfield (quoted in ‘Panini: A Survey of Research, George Cardona, pg 243). Need for a Sanskrit Grammar There is much truth in the saying that ‘Necessity is the Mother of Invention’ and in the case of Sanskrit Grammar and Linguistics nothing is truer. But what was the necessity? Being of little pragmatic value, not one of the great ancient civilizations of ancient China, Middle East, Ancient Egypt, Europe( with the partial exception of Greece ) have pondered upon the linguistics principles which govern human speech; but Panini’s Ashtadhyayi is a mine of information on grammar, phonology, semantics, morphology etc. The question arises why Panini and other scholars before him were trying to understand human speech, sound patterns, compounding, tenses, sandhi (euphonic combination), word roots etc. The answer lies in the Vedas – a set of three, later four – tomes which were revered as the word of GOD. The ritual called ‘Yagna’ was the most important religious practice of the ancient Aryans and was central to the communities’ spiritual and intellectual life. Just as technology and science are the chief focus of the modern world, Yagna was the chief focus of the ancient Aryans. This ritual, which is as much part of modern Hindu religion as millennia before, consists of a fire Altar over which Vedic hymns are chanted to honor the sectarian deities like Agni (the Fire God), Indra ( God of Material Prosperity and Rain ), Saraswati( Goddess of Learning ) etc. It was believed that even a single syllable along with the tones - which disappeared later and are not seen in any modern Indian language including the Prakrits - ill-pronounced would gain the wrath of the deities and lead to rebirth in Hell. Making matters worse, writing down the Vedas was prohibited as was transmitting it to non-Brahmins. The Vedic meters called Mantras are said to loose their efficacy if they are written down and must be received orally only from a wise Brahmin Guru. Mantras pronounced in the prescribed manner unerringly can alter the shape of the Universe, upset the laws of Karma and bestow spiritual and material blessings like longevity of life and wisdom to the officiating priest and his client. Besides destroying enemies and curing illnesses. A well-known parable in the Mahabhashya commentary relates how the demon Vritra mispronounced a single tone in the compound word ‘Indra-shatru’ (enemy of Indra) while offering oblations with the chant ‘indrashatrurvardhasva’ (may (I) - the ‘destroyer of Indra’ - prosper) thereby altering the meaning to (may ‘Indra, the destroyer’ prosper) leading to the mantra empowering Indra, the god of the Noble Deities and Vritra’s slaying by the former. Nagarjuna, called the greatest Buddhist philosopher, has described his philosophy Madhyamika as something which misunderstood can be fatal like a snake held from the wrong end or a mantra mispronounced. Contemporary practitioners and scholars like Swami Agehananda Bharati (Austria-born Indologist and Anthropologist who ordained as a Hindu Sanyasin and wrote prolifically) and Frits Staal (Netherlands-born Professor Emeritus, Department of South and South Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley, Vedic Scholar par excellence) affirm that this indeed is the case with mantric praxis. To ensure that posterity does not get a corrupted version of their mantric corpus, the learned Brahmins tried to ponder on the phonological and grammatical principles which govern human speech. A pre-paninian grammatical work by Yaska called ‘Nirukta’, survives which gives us a glimpse of their proto-grammatical musings. Over time knowledge accumulated, theories refined, more discoveries made, culminating in the Grammatical system of Panini who derives many of his methods and terminologies from his predecessor which were doubtless many as he himself quoted around ten ancient authorities( Sphotayana, Yaska, Galava etc ). (na tathA bAdhate yathA bAdhati bAdhate) Structure of the Ashtadhyayi (Book in Eight Chapters) The Book Ashtadhyayi is divided into eight chapters -hence the name. proper usage ) as much as your bAdhati( wrong form) hurts me(bAdhate). Each chapters is divided into Four Quarters (or Foot like that of mammals) containing unequal numbers of Sutras – or aphorisms. like saying have you drunken .your milk). There is a popular anecdote of the Weight-carrying Brahmin which shows the intolerance for non-standard usage. wrong usage though intelligible. The Brahmin replied. It is said of him that the shortening of his text by one syllable in his work gave him the pleasure of the Birth of a Son. theories and rules.besides having a mnemonic value . An old Brahmin was carrying a very heavy load on his shoulders and walking when a man sees him and asks ‘Does not that heavy weight hurt you (bAdhati. Pundits began saying ‘apaniniyam na prayunjeet’ – Do not use non-Paninian forms. This is in keeping with the Sutra-style of writing which is traditionally described in the shloka as: alpakSharamasandigdham saarvatdvishvatomukham | Astobhamanavadyam cha sutram sutravido viduh || A Sutra is one which is: (1) Expressed in few syllables (2) Free from Ambiguity (3) Comprehensive (4) Universal (5) Without inserted meaningless terms (6) Irreproachable More than two-and-a-half-millennia of scholarship has attested that Panini’s sutras have seldom strayed from any of these aforementioned characteristics. .instead of drunk. packed with linguistic and grammatical observation.This unprecedented work of Sanskrit Grammar and Linguistics – a fruit of a tradition of several centuries of grammatical thinking – wiped out without a trace all other parallel systems of learning grammar of which several comprehensive systems were extant during Panini’s time and became the sole standard followed ever after. Brevity is the principal feature of this work and Panini has gone to such an incredible level in attaining it that this book is one of the marvels of aphoristic writings in the history of mankind. it does not hurt me( bAdhate. The Entire book is in pithy aphorisms which .is a metalanguage having the structure of algebraic formulas. Hence. number and gender of compounds. Patanjali. some centuries later. Abbreviatory Devices Used in Ashtadhyayi Panini has used several ingenious devices to achieve economy of words and syllables.accents. even phonemes.VII (a) rules dealing with doubling. Ram Nath Sharma’s ‘The Ashtadhyayi of Panini’) Panini has divided the Ashtadhyayi into two basic organizational units: the ‘sapadasaptadhyayi’ (the first seven chapters and first quarter of the Eighth) and the ‘tripadi’ (the remaining three quarters of the eighth). augment(agama). incorporating the scholia (Vartikas) of Katyayana. derivation of nominal stems ending in an affix termed taddhita Book VI. replacements relative to roots. items ending in a ‘kRt’ or ‘ting’ Book IV-V (a) rules dealing with the derivation of a pada ending in a ‘sup’. The foremost amongst these techniques are the Siva-Sutra-pratyahara system. These two are blind to the effects of each other. ‘deletion by ‘luk’. phonological operations relative to a pre-suffixial base(anga) suT (b) rules dealing with operations relative to affixes and augments Book VIII (a) rules dealing with dvitva (Doubling) relative to a pada. atmane-parasmaipada and karakas(Syntax) Book II (a) rules dealing with compounding. nominal inflections. samprasarana. feminine affixes. Proper Understanding of Grammar is believed to be attained by the diligent study of Mahabhashya and Grammar is also referred to as Trimuni-Vyakarana or the Grammar of the Three Sages. Contents of Ashtadhyayi The following is a topical arrangement of the chapters of Ashtadhyayi: Book I (a) the samjna sutras(lexical items) and paribhasha sutras(meta-rules) (b) rules dealing with extension. accent relative to a pada (b) rules dealing with miscellaneous operations relative to a pada and a non-pada. Book III (a) rules dealing with the derivation of roots ending in affixes ‘san’ etc. The Siva Sutras . (adapted from Prof. samhita.This treatise is unintelligible without the help of a proper Commentary. did this commendable task in his Mahabhashya. ’au’). Each of the fourteen groups contains an extraneous phoneme appended at the end technically called an ‘it’ (meaning going away or disappearing) or marker and has a merely indicatory role and is not part of the set. Panini was saved from coining forty-two new terms and also from the awkward way of listing them. ‘o’. This can be cumbersome and is done away with the shorthand notation ‘ec’ which is technically called a pratyahaara and generated using the afore-listed Siva-Sutras. ‘ai’. ‘au’) not including the markers which are merely indicatory. ‘ai’. . Thus. If Panini wants to bring up a discussion of say. These fourteen Siva aphorisms are: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 0 11 1 2 1 3 1 4 Class of Phonemes Simple vowels Simple vowels Dipthongs Dipthongs Semi-vowels Semi-vowel Nasals Voices aspirated stops Voices aspirated stops Voices non-aspirated stops Member Phonemes ‘a’ ‘i’ ‘u’ ‘R’ ‘lR’ ‘e’ ‘o’ ‘ai’ ‘au’ ‘h’ ‘y’ ‘v’ ‘r’ ‘l’ ‘J’ ‘m’ ‘G’ ‘N’ ‘n’ ‘jh’ ‘bh’ ‘gh’ ‘Dh’ ‘dh’ ‘j’ ‘b’ ‘g’ ‘D’ ‘d’ ‘it’ or markers ‘N’ ‘k’ ‘G’ ‘c’ ‘T’ ‘N’ ‘m’ ‘J’ ‘S’ ‘z’ Voiceless aspirated stops Voiceless non-asp. Thus ‘ec’ is a short-from notation for all phonemes between ‘e’ and ‘c’ (‘e’.Of unknown authorship the fourteen Siva Sutra or Siva aphorisms are a catalog of phonemes divided into 14 sets. They are in essence a reordering of the traditional enumeration of the Devanagari alphabets (akshar-samamnaaya). ‘hl’ means all consonants. In this way tens of pratyahaaras can be generated though Panini only used forty-two. he has two options. ‘jh-y’ all stops etc. To find out what ‘ec’ signifies the first phoneme ‘e’ should be searched amongst the Column entitled ‘member phonemes’ and it is located at the beginning of Sutra number 3. dipthongs. The second phoneme ‘c’ should be searched amongst the Column ‘markers or ‘it’s’ and can be found in the fourth row. ‘o’. stops ‘kh’ ‘ph’ ‘ch’ ‘Th’ ‘th’ ‘c’ ‘T’ ‘t’ ‘k’ ‘p’ ‘v’ ‘y’ spirants ‘z’ ‘S’ ‘s’ ‘r’ spirant ‘h’ ‘l’ Harvard Kyoto Transliteration Scheme has been used. Similarly. coin a term for ‘dipthongs’ or list them (‘e’. Similarly ‘ting’ (‘tiJ’ in HK) is an abbreviatory term for the eighteen root-affixes {‘tip’. {‘su’.1 Pratyayah (affixes) 3. To complete the meaning of this sutra we have to refer to preceding sutras: 3.’m’ are indicated in short form by ‘pu’. ‘tas’ ‘jhi’ …. Give John a Cow. similarly ‘ku’. ‘mahing’} generated by using ‘ti’ of ‘tip’ and appended to ‘ng’ of ‘mahing’.1.69). ‘nI’ for the affixes ‘nISh’ and ‘nIp’ and ‘nIn’ Technique of Ellipsis: Anuvrittis (recurrence) Yet another method for achieving brevity is ellipsis or stating rules only partially. Hence pa-varga phonemes ‘p’.’ph’.1. Sentence (c) must borrow both ‘give’ and ‘blanket’ to be intelligible.1.96 tavyat-tavya-anIyarah (the affixes ‘tavyat’. Also to Paul Sentence (a) is complete in itself. ‘chAp’. The rest of the terms are supplied by words which have already occurred before. ‘su’ of item one and ‘p’ the marker phoneme of last item ‘sup’ together generate the abbreviation ‘sup’ . b. ‘am’. ‘anIyar’. ‘tavya’. Consider sutra: 3. ‘anIyar’) This sutra merely mentions three affixes: ‘tavyat’.1. ‘chu’. ‘sup’ } are a set of twenty-one affixes which denote case relations. Given the sets of varga-consonants. ‘zas’…… ‘os’. one can refer to each set by its first-element and the phoneme ‘u’.’vahi’. A blanket to Peter c.91 Dhatoh (regarding Verbal Root) Once we utilize terms from these we get the expanded meaning: .1. Similarly. To understand (b) we have to borrow the verb ‘give’ from the preceding context. consider the following example: a.2 Parascha (and are afterwards) 3. ‘au’. ‘DAp’. Ellipsis is technically referred to by as ‘anuvritti (recurrence)’.’bh’. Another abbreviatory rule is given by sutra ‘aNudita savarNasya (1.. ‘Tu’ and ’tu’. ‘jas’.’b’. For example.Other Abbreviatory Techniques: If a list of related affixes are introduced. ‘tavya’. Another technique involves denoting a set of items by their shared common sounds: for example ‘Ap’ collectively for the affixes ‘TAp’. To understand ellipsis. the initial phoneme of the first item and the marker-phoneme of the last item in the list will mean an abbreviation for the entire list. ‘auT’. He has made very extensive use of anuvritti and there are very few sutras which do not borrow terms from prior sutra.78 is a listing of eighteen post-verbal affixes. where item X is a substituend because it has been stated in the genitive case Hence ‘L’s’ implies that in an operation if we encounter the affix ‘L’ it must be replaced by any one of {‘tip’.vahimahing’ (3. Unique System of Notation Panini has used the inflections of the Sanskrit Language to indicate special operations. ‘anIyar’ (3. For example in rule 1.66) imply a right context such that in a grammatical operation something applies to what precedes.77 translated into plain English will look like ‘L’s’. This can be symbolically represented as X-gen. (1) samjna sutras or technical rules: rules which assign a term for a given entity.1 the term vriddhi is coined meaning the set of phonemes ‘aa’. there are obvious advantages to it and aid in the understanding of the purport of the Sutra.77 we have to invoke the meta-rule.67) imply a left context: such that in a grammatical operation something applies to what follows and meaningless locative endings (tasminniti nirdishte pUrvasya. Panini has not hinted to any such classification and it is strictly Post-Paninian.91) Thus Panini has saved at least three words in one sutra. ‘ai’.4. However.1. Modern Paniniyas have added few more types to the traditional six-fold classification.4.1.The affixes (3.49) A meaningless genitive implies an item ‘that will be replaced’.2) a Verbal Root (3. 1. ’mahing’}. understanding ellipsis is crucial to understanding the Ashtadhyayi.1) {‘tavyat’. ‘au’.4.’tas’…. Types of Rules Traditionally.4.78) 3. scholars have classified the Sutras into six types. They have been compared to the Backus-Naur Notation of Modern .1.77) ‘tiptas…. ‘tavya’.1.1. To understand 3. Hence. These two sutras don’t make much sense.96)} occur (introduced by convention) after (3. Similarly meaningless ablative endings (tasmaditi uttarasya. ‘shashthi sthaneyoga’ (1. 1.1. 3. Consider ‘lasya’ (3.4.’vahi’.1.1. 3. The word is meaningless unless understood to imply that rules till 3. Sutra ‘sheSo ghyasakhi’ (1.117 are under its domain and every rule described between 3. For example. To account for more than two forms of a word. the original set of elements which ‘ghi’ would contain has been restricted by sutra 1.3. For example. (7) vibhasha or optional rules: Sometimes more than two rules can apply to a given operation and hence two forms of a word are possible. immediately negates this rule for nominal affixes whose consonants end with ‘t’.31 ‘vibhasha jasi’ states that the set of pronouns catalogued in . For example. native speakers take liberties which are as common in English as Sanskrit. For example. This is hardly unusual.’dh’ ‘n’ .1.Computer Science. (6) nishedh sutras or negation rules: rules which negate the provisions made by a previous Sutra. Adkikaras have domains which are not always well defined and only the commentaries like Kasika and Mahabhashya have to be consulted to understand their scope. (5) adhikAra rules or heading rules: these rules are similar to a heading in modern books. since rules are only stated partially. Example ‘vartamAne laT’: To indicate the present tense. the rules that appear later shall apply.4.4.91 to 3. Also.4. rule 3. rule 1.3 ‘halantyam’ states that ending consonants of affixes should be treated as markers. Therefore.8 and therefore 1.4 ‘na vibhaktau tusmaah’.4.8) however declares that the word pati will be termed ‘ghi’ only if it used in a Compound and not independently. But subsequent rule 1. rule 1.117 is formulated to describe Dhatus. ‘underapplication’ and ‘impossible application’. ‘th’. For example. Subsequent sutra ‘patiH samAsa eva’ (1.4. all rules will pertain to it and also use parts or whole of that rule’s words to complete their meaning (refer to ‘Anuvritti’ above). (4) niyama rules or restriction rules: rules which restrict the scope of other rules. the ‘phrase’ ‘dhatoh’ has to be supplied – along with other phrases from other adhikaras which may come within the domain and extend beyond – to make these rules a complete sentence. (2) paribhasha sutras or interpretive rules or meta-rules: rules which provide a check on the operational rules so that they do not suffer from ‘over-application’. use the affix ‘laT’.’s’.91 is ‘dhatoh’ (Verbal Roots). Panini uses Vibhasha rules to state that alternate forms are also possible. ‘vipratishedhe param kaaryam’: when two rules are equally applicable.1. All other rules assist the operational rules. (3) vidhi sutra or operational rules: these form the core of the grammar. Within the domain of an adhikara. hence disappear. ‘m’. ‘d’.8 is a niyama sutra.1. because language being a living entity.7) states that terms – other than those already discussed ending in ‘i’ or ‘u’ are to be considered ‘ghi’ except the word ‘sakhi’.4. Panini and all the commentators have given us no indication that they are supposed to be anything but synonyms. in the domain of sutra ‘avayayIbhAva’ (2. Example of Paninian Derivation: Siddhis of verb-form paThati (reads. speaking unconsciously. For example. all the elements of tishthadgu-group are to be considered avayayibhava) he merely states that all the thirty-three elements of the ‘tishThadgu’ group listed in the Gana-Path (Catalog of nominals) are to be considered avayayibhava. (9) nipAtan or ad hoc rules: Certain nominal and verbal forms are underivable by any rules.17. But the modern scholar Paul Kiparsky has wondered how could this be so.4. Hence this is an atidesh sutra. as all the native speakers of a language. Such sutras are termed nipAtan.5).85 ‘loTo langvat’( the loT’s are like lang ) loT lakAr affixes are being given all the attributes unique to lang lakAr affixes. Three terms. because Panini has vowed to eliminate every needless extraneous syllable and their must be a deeper reason to suggest the use of three different terms. Panini accounts by just mentioning them.1. Elements of set ‘tishThadgu’ are said to be avyayIbhAva by nipAtan. Hence he has propounded the hypothesis in his wellargued study ‘Panini as a Variationist’ that the three terms ‘va’. compounds (samas) of the type avayayi-bhava are being discussed.Example: in rule 3. Panini’s Grammatical Engine generates these correct forms from his rules. ‘anyatarasyam’ refer respectively to three different kinds of options: those that are preferable(va). anyatarasyam’ and ‘va’ are used to indicate optionality. (8) atidesh sutras or extension rules: A rule is termed atidesha if it transfers certain qualities or operation to something for which they did not previously qualify. . Such forms. those that are marginal(vibhasha)and those that are simple options(anyatarasyam). He discusses many rules which qualify a compound to be called avayayibhava.the ‘sarva’ group when compounding with other words to become dvandva class of compounds and related to ‘jas’ affixes will optionally not be considered compounds. in Sutra: ’tishThadguprabhRtIni cha’ (2. If this is true than Kiparsky has shown us something which twenty-five hundred years of scholarship has overlooked. ‘vibhasha’. However. similar to how a Computer code using programmatic instructions generates desired output. Present Tense) When natives of Sanskrit uses sentences like ‘sah paThati’( he reads) they are. singular person.1. This is generally accomplished by the use of affixes ‘vat’/’mat’ ( like). ‘vibhasha’. Dhatoh(3. the ‘Lat’ affix should be used.3) The ending consonant is a marker.3.78) . 5 ‘paTh’ + ‘lan’ ‘updeshe ach anunasika it’(1.2.3.3. One good reason for this is that the nasal makes pronunciation so difficult.3.E.1 and 3.2 ) A nasalized vowel (the ‘an’ of paThan’) is a marker. this is the verbal root as it is listed in Panini’s Dhatu-path and all forms of ‘paThan’ in speech are inflections of it.3.) and no manuscript has been discovered to date with the nasal’s displayed. Only now. So this rule further makes a provision that affixes will be appended at the end and not the beginning.2. ‘tasya lopaH (1. Besides its only role is as a marker which indicates elision.2) The ‘laT’ affix is actually ‘lanT’ with a nasal ‘n’.123) To indicate present tense. a dot above the phonemes) had fallen into disuse.91) Since ‘paTh’ is a dhatu (verbal root) its operations come under the domain of this heading sutra.1. the ‘an’ of ‘lan’ disappears by 1. Hence the new form is ‘paTh’ + ‘lat’ and not ‘lat’ + paTh’ ‘halantyam’(1.2) An affix is always appended at the end of the stem.3. ‘parascha’( 3. 2 ‘paTh’ 3 ‘paTh’ 4 ‘paTh’ + ‘laT’ ‘updeshe ach anunasika ita’( 1.1. 6 ‘paTh’ + ‘l’ ‘lasya’( 3.Siddhi (Derivation) of paThati ‘paThan’. it is eligible for Verbal operations. Hence. ‘Pratyayah’.9) Markers are subject to elision. 1 ‘paTha n’ ‘bhUvAdayo dhAtavah’ (1.9) Markers are subject to elision. The tradition of showing the nasal vowel( indicated by the sign of Chandra-bindu. ‘vartamAne Lat’(3. Hence the ‘an’ of ‘paThan’ should disappear .3. even by the time Vaman and Jayaditya wrote their commentary called ‘Kasika’(6th Century C.4.1.4. Hence the ‘t’ of ‘lat’ disappears.1) This sutra establishes that ‘paTh’ is a verbal root.77) ’tip-tas-jhi-sip-thas-tha-mib-vas-mas-ta-AtAm-jha-thAs-athAmdhvam-iD-vahi-mahing’(3. ‘tasya lopaH (1. and we can now eliminate the last nine affixes which are atmanepaada.78) Now the next step becomes: ‘paTh’ + [ l -> {tip|tas|jhi|sip|thas|tha|mib|vas|mas|ta|AtAm|jha|thAs| athAm|dhvam|iD|vahi|mahing’}] And our task is to choose exactly one affix that will append to ‘paTh’ in place of ‘l’ such that the inflection will take a parasmaipada ending (which is the ending the given root is assigned in the Dhatu-path Catalog and also found in Native Speech) and denote third person and single number. Therefore. The ‘l’ is replaced by any one of 18 affixes enlisted in the subsequent sutra ‘tip-tas-jhi-…-vahi-mahing’(3. According to it. atmanepada or parsmaipada endings (b) single. Hence the meta-rule ‘shaSthi sthAneyogA’ (1. dual or plural number (c) first.1. ‘laH parasmaipadam’ (1. it will take one of the first nine affixes only. ( Permutations: 3*3*2=18.4. the next step now is reduced to.99) The substituends of ‘l’ are termed ‘parasmaidpada’. subsequent sutra – which is a niyama sutra – restricts parasmaidpada term for the first nine only. hence ‘l’ is a substituend. by assigning the last nine the term atmanepada.4. According to this Sutra all the 18 affixes – being substituends of l – are now parasmaidpada. However. ‘kAnach’ are termed atmanepadam.49) has to be invoked. items in the genitive case indicate ‘substituends’.100) ‘tang’ –a pratyAhARa formed by the ‘ta’ of the tenth affix and the ‘ng’ of the eighteenth and last affix ‘mahing’ indicating the last nine affixes – and the affixes ‘shAnach’. ‘paTh’ is a parasmaipada root.‘lasya’ above is meaninglessly in the genitive case. paTh’ + [ l -> {tip|tas|jhi|sip|thas|tha|mib|vas|mas} ] . Since.4. middle or third person.78) depending on whether the root has to indicate (a).4. ‘tangAnau-Atmanepadam’ (1. hence the 18 affixes enlisted in Rule 3. 4.108) In the rest of the cases.Now Sutra 1. Sutra 1.4.108. thas. Thus.4. the six affixes categorized as madhyama (middle person) can be used. ‘me’ is co-referential with a verb or its meaning is implicitly stated.101 is invoked ‘tingastrINItrINI pratham-madhyam-uttamAH (1. the new distribution can be illustrated by the following Table: Person Prathma (third person) Madhyama (middle person) Uttama (first person) Parasmai-pada Triplet tip. use ‘prathma’(third person) Since. tha Atmanepada Triplet ta.4.4.101) The triplets of ‘ting’ in both parasmaipada and atmanepada are termed prathama (third person-madhyam (middle person) -uttama (first person) respectively. mas iD. athAm. dhvam mib. tas. a new distribution pattern now emerges: Person Parasmai-pada Triplet Single Dual Plural Atmanepada Triplet Single Double Plural . mahing Sutra 1. Thus. ‘paThati’ is not co-referential with ‘you’ or ‘me’ and neither of these two meanings are implicitly assumed.4. This sutra is followed by Sheshe prathamaH (1. AtAm. Similarly. jhi sip. we have further narrowed our search for the correct substituend to: ‘paTh’ + l-> -> {tip|tas|jhi} ‘tani-eka-vacahna-dvi-vachana-bahu-vachanAni-ekashaH’ (1. ‘paTh’ qualifies for prathama endings by 1. vahi. jha thAs. dvi-vachana(dual number) and bahu-vachana(plural) respectively.101) Each one of the three members of the triplets mentioned before in 1. vas. Thus. If the word ‘you’ is co-referential to a verb or is implicitly stated.4. the six affixes categorized as ‘uttama’ first person) can be used.103 discusses usages which determine the choice of middle person endings.105 states that if the word.4.100 are termed eka-vachana(single number ). . Hence. Hence the phoneme ‘sh’ disappears. This rule – a samjna sutra – classifies ting as a ‘sArvadhatuka’.8) This rule identifies the ‘sh’ of ‘shap’ as a marker. only the first affix ‘tip is in the Column for Single Number. all nominal and verbal bases inflect and conjugate. These millions of morphological and phonological forms they assume in everyday speech (loka) are accounted for in A.Prathma (third person) Madhyama (middle person) Uttama (first person) tip tas jhi ta AtAm sip thas tha thAs athAm mib vas mas iD vahi Since. now mandates that the infix (vikarana) ‘shap’ must be introduced before the ‘sarvadhatuka’ affix ‘tip’. and parasmaipada ending.123) ‘tip’ affix is a member of the set ‘ting’. 7 8 9 1 0 1 1 ‘paTh’ + ‘tip’ ‘paTh’ + ‘shap’ + ‘tip’ ‘paTh’ + ‘sha’ + ‘ti’ ‘paTh’ + ‘a’ + ‘ti’ ‘paTha ti’ ‘ting shit sArvadhatukam’(3. Amongst the three remaining affixes ‘tip/tas/jhi’. Reinvoking sutra 1. all operations on the sarvadhatuka class of roots will now operate on: “ ‘paTh’ + ‘tip’ ” ‘kartari shap’ This rule. Single Number. in ‘saH paThati’. we are ready to merge the three to form paThati (reads). Akin to how ‘paThan’ conjugates into ‘paThati’.4.3. ‘paTh’ must take an affix denoting Single number. paTh will accept ‘tip’ to indicate third person. a direct result of the preceding rule. It has been correctly derived using the Grammar Engine of Panini and corresponds exactly to the manner it is spoken by the natives Reads.3 as in operation # 3.3. the marker ‘p’ in both ‘shap’ and ‘tip’ disappear ‘lashaku ataddhite’ (1. Hence.’s algebra-like Derivational System explaining each phonological and morphological change in proper steps by giving relevant sutras (just as above). Finally. (He reads) there is only one person. Appreciating Panini’s Task in Codifying a Complicated Language like Sanskrit In English. . as also by its gender and number (singular/double/plural). Only if it confirms to all the rules laid down will that word or phrase be recognized as correct (sadhu). Panini didn’t allow one exception to be missed out from his comprehensive system. rule anudattatangit Atmanepadam (1. However. Panini takes this into account and creates one unique rule for that one anomalous word. Sing. Panini’s Grammar Engine simulates natural speech in a manner very similar to the methods of the Modern Discipline of programming.. Historians of both Computer Programming and Linguistics should study Panini and ascertain whether it is appropriate to recognize him as the Father of these two disciplines. . Sometimes.) that are marked by the sign indicating low-pitch(anudatta) or have the marker (ng) appended to them take atmanepada endings.12) states that verbal roots in the Dhatu-path (the catalog of all known verbal roots which are around 2000 and is ancillary to A.. ’aa’ Masc. native speakers in speech conjugate atmanepada endings if ‘ji’ is preceded by preverbs ‘vi’ and ‘par’. it will not make any difference in the structure of the sentence if I were to say instead ‘Mary’s book’. Panini took this irregular behavior into account and coded rule viparAbhyAm jeH (1.Each and every Sanskrit word or phrase to be considered correct (sadhu) must be subjected to the aforementioned stepwise process. The verbal root ‘ji’ is not marked with either anudatta or ‘ng’ in the Dhatu-path and in regular usage does not have atmanepada endings (it takes parasmaidpada endings). ’a’ Seetaayaah pustakam Hareh pustakam Patayuh pustakam ‘aa’ -> ‘yaah’ ‘i’ -> ‘eh’ ‘i’ -> ‘ayuh’ Seetaa’s book Harm’s book Husband’s book Fem. Masc.. And in turn each and every form generated by his Engine must correspond to the spoken language (loka) exactly which Paniniyas consider the only valid proof (pramana) of correct speech. ‘u’ . in Sanskrit the case-ending will differ according to the terminal phoneme of the nominal stem. however this is not possible and one word in an infinite set does not yield to the patterns. For example. Guroh pustakam ‘u’ -> ‘oh’ Guru(Teacher)’s book Masc. Thus. and ‘Antonio’s book’.. However.3. Sing. Ending Phoneme. Some examples of this diversity are: Sanskrit Statement TP -> APICR* English Equivalent Ramasya pustakam ‘a’ -> ‘sya’ Rama’s book Gender.3. Sing. if I were to make a sentence like ‘John’s book’.19). ‘i’ Masc. Number. Sing. ‘i’. Sing. ‘Lizzy’s book’. Therefore. . Consider the following in English. ‘u’ Rajnah pustakam ‘an’ -> ‘nah’ Masc. Now look at equivalent forms in Sanskrit. it is Panini’s job to formulate a number of rules that will account for all the ‘x’ number of inflections. (1) ‘at’ -> atti* (eats). The actual number of distinct examples may run into more than one hundred forms all of which indicate the idea of someone possessing something.Madhunah pustakam ‘u’ -> ‘unah’ Madhu’s book Fem. (3) ‘hu’ -> juhoti(offers [an oblation]).. The case of the verbal roots and affixes is equally complicated. He has to study this list and discover the underlying phonological and morphological patterns. . ‘n’ tasya pustakam ‘t’ -> ‘sya’ Rajan’s ( King’s) book His ( tat ) book Masc. he must first have an exhaustive listing of each and every known inflection– in our case the singular genitive – of the Nominal Stems. Sing. the native speakers uses unconsciously. (3) offer -> offers. Sing. he creates rules. (4) drink -> drinks.. a book. Panini provides only one affix for indicating a singular genitive case relationship: ‘nas’ (Jas in HK Scheme of Transliteration). in our case.> Altered Phoneme Indicating Case Relationship Please note: the paradigms shown above are far from being a complete listing of the known inflections of the genitive case in Sanskrit. (1) eat -> eats . But ‘nas’ is only one of twenty-one affixes introduced in rule ‘su-au-jas-am-autshas…. . Sing. (2) gain -> gains. (2) ‘labh’ -> labhate(gains).2) which govern the Sanskrit case-endings. Every exceptional case (apavaada) has to be accounted for. (4) ‘pA’ -> pibati (drinks). Once he has discovered the patterns. (5) ‘paTh’ -> paThati(reads) (6) ‘chur’ -> chorayati *bold and italicized text indicates changes due to conjugation . In order to achieve this. (5) read -> reads Conjugating a verb to imply present Continuous Tense is as simple as appending an ‘s’.1. ‘t’ *TP -> APICR = Terminal Phoneme . All twenty one of these combine with nominal stems and each one of them generates hundreds of variant case-ending morphs as in the illustrated example of the affix ‘nas’ (Jas).’(4. Some of these are borrowed from ancient authorities (pUrva-AchArya).. Each of these ganas are classified on the basis of distinct augments(‘shap’. Imperative Mood. ‘bha’). present tense( laT lakAr’). We have endings such as ‘ti’. ‘shyan’.’ayati’. sometimes uses them without explicitly stating their meaning .implying . The Dhatu-Path lists about 1967 verb roots (2014 including kaNDvAdi roots) divided into 10 conjugation classes (gaNas) to undergo peculiar operations.oti’. For example: paTh* + shap** + tip = paThati. Present Tense. ‘(He) is offering (oblations). (You should) read. Future Tense *Verbal Root placed in the gana ‘Tanu-adi’ gana **u is the unique infix for members of the ‘Tanu-adi’ gana hu* + shlu** + tip = juhoti. ‘ati’. First Person hu + shlu + tip = juhotu. ‘spreads’: Present Tense tan + u + shya + tip= tanishyati. He read. These eighteen affixes get modified in ten ways( 10 * 18 = 180 ) to yield meaning indicating various tenses and moods. the infix which appends exclusively to the ‘Bhu-adi’ group tan* + u** + tip = tanoti. not one of them terminates analogously. such as past tense ( ‘lan’-lakaar).Unlike English. Present tense paTh + shap + Nal (modification of tip) = papaTh. (They) are offering (oblations). Plural hu + shlu + mip = juhomi. ** shap. Present Tense. ‘ju. ‘Ti’. (I) am offering (oblations). ‘(He) is reading. (They) should offering (oblations). These verbal roots interact with the postverbal affixes (the set of ‘tings’) which are eighteen in number. which are sometimes meaningful (like samhita. ‘will spread’. ‘ate’. ‘shah’. Singular. anunasika) and sometimes meaningless (like ‘ghu’. He sometimes defines them. samprasaran. One reason for divergent forms is that the verbs belong to a different gana or group. ‘shnam’. Present Tense. Historical Past (for historical characters like ‘Lord Buddha read’) paTh + shap + yaasuT + suT = paThet. zero(luk) etc ) that tend to append to the verbal bases resulting in distinct grammatical operations. ‘bati’. historical past tense( ‘liT’ lakaar). Third Person hu + shlu + jhi = juhvati. ‘shnuh’. Third Person *Verbal Root placed in the gana ‘juhoti-adi’ gana **shlu is the unique infix for members of the ‘juhoti-adi’ gana and tend to elision Summary of the Major Topics of Ashtadhayi Sanjna or Terms: Panini has coined several technical terms in his A. Plural. Injunctive Mood *Verbal Root placed in the gana ‘Bhu-adi’. imperative mood ( ‘loT’ lakaar). For example.25) enumerates the two constituents of finite set ‘niShTha’.108) – are morphophonological alterations that occur between terminal and initial phonemes of juxtaposed words (external Sandhi) or between morphemes within words (internal Sandhi). vRddhi: = {‘A’. Their can hardly be a sentence where at least one instance of Sandhi is not observable. For example: Tat + Shivah = tachchhivah phoneme ’t’ transforms into ‘ch’ and phoneme ‘sh’ transforms into ‘chh’ (3) Visarga Sandhi: between Visargas (roughly like the ‘h’ sound in English) and other phonemes. Sandhis – given by Panini’s Sutra ‘paraH sannikarshaH samhita’ (1. ‘kta-ktavatu niShTha’ (1. ‘au’} Panini has used more than one-hundred technical terms and the first two quarters of Chapter 1 concentrate on Sanjnakaran or Terminology-coining. this tendency for phonemes to fuse when in close proximity is extravagantly copious. niShTha: = {kta.1. Sandhi (Euphonic Combination): In English. And if the term refers to sets of grammatical items he merely lists the members that constitute that finite set indicated by the Sanjna. the terminal phoneme ‘m’ of ‘aham’ (I) fuses with the initial phoneme ‘A’ of Agachchhami (am coming) to become ‘ahamAgachchhami’.1) phonemes ‘A’ ‘ai’ and ‘au’ are termed VRddhi.101) ) the two phonemes ‘A’ and ‘A’ fuse to become one phoneme ‘A’ (2) Consonant Sandhi: between consonants or between a vowel and a consonant. a statement like ‘Who is going?’ in the speech of some native speakers often becomes ‘Who’s going’. if not more. ‘ai’.1. For example: tadA Agachhet (Come then) becomes tadA + Agachhet = tadAgachhet ( by the rules ‘akaH savarNe dIrghaH(6. Sandhis have been popularly classified into three types: (1) Vowel Sandhi: between two vowels. In Sanskrit.1. For example. For Example in Harih avadat (Hari spoke) Harih + avadat = Hariravadat .that the term was in current usage and widely known. in the sentence aham Agachhami (I am coming).4. ktavatu} ‘vRddhirADaich’ (1. The Visarga sound ‘h’ is transformed into the phoneme ‘r’. 2nd kind) UPAPADA (Compounds containing a upapada) BAHUVRIIHI or SAMAANAADHIKARANA ATTRIBUTIVE (The members --generally two-. However. 1st kind) GATI (Prepositional. Compounds are classified into the following four types: (1) avyayibhava(first term dominates in the final meaning of the compound) (2) tatpuruSha(the last term dominates in the overall meaning of the compound) (3) bahuvrIhi(neither dominate) (4) dvandva(meaning of both terms dominates) SANSKRIT COMPOUND S DVANDVÁ or COPULATIVE ITARETARA SAMAAHAARA EKASHESA TATPURUSA (Inflectional) TATPURUSA or DETERMINATIVE NAN (Negative) Accusative Instrumental Dative Ablative Genitive Locative KARMADHAARAYA Dvigu (Appositional) PRAADI (Prepositional. Banabhatta. Excesses of usage for rhetorical purposes are as frequent as with Sandhi. the celebrated court-poet of King Harshavardhana of Kannauj in his 7th Century Sanskrit Novel ‘Kadambari’ wrote several pages which consist of what is technically one single word using the principles of Sandhi and Compounding. frying-pan etc. Compound Words (Samaas) English has numerous compound words like class-room. Writers freely use compound words of their own coining using Panini’s Compounding rules without any fear of unintelligibility. foot-ball.are in apposition . Compounding is peculiar to the idiom of Sanskrit usage. These have chiefly evolved out of human-usage and are not the conscious coining of linguists. Sandhi can be used to make long strings of compound words and many poets have exploited this innate potential of their language. sanskrit-sanscrito. There are nearly one hundred and twenty-two Krit affixes described by Panini. These are mostly appended to verbal roots.to one another) VYADHIKARANA (The members --generally two-.com. includes the unadi group. ** ArdhadhAtuka affixes which include the Dhatu-affixes *** sArvadhAtuka which includes tings and the sh-marked vikaranas (augments) The major group of affixes are discussed below: (1) kRt or primary Affixes: They serve to form derived nominal bases and generally denote objects of acts or abstract acts themselves.ar/english/sanskrit/sanskrit8intro. Sanskrit Affixes kRt taddhita Others kRtya tadrAja **Ardha nishThA vibhakti ***sArva sat gha Feminine * sh-marked Others * sh-marked sArvadhAtuka and ArdhadhAtuka krt Affixes. *from http://www.are not in apposition to one another) AVYAYIIBHAAVA or ADVERBIAL . Panini has described three hundred and seventy-five affixes of which ninety percent are those classed in krT and taddhita categories.html Affixation (the pratyayas): Discoveries of Sanskrit affixes and their meanings have been instrumental in enhancing the deeper knowledge of Sanskrit words and have made possible neologisms using the principles established by P. In the chart above I have divided them into four groups: . Examples: TAp. adhikaraN Karaka (locative case) The genitive (sambaandh) case is not recognized as a Karaka because it does not directly participate in the action denoted by the sentence. kartA Karaka (corresponds to the nominative case) 2. paTh + si = paThasi (you read). ‘tavya’. chha. (3) Feminine.. Other examples are ‘Nich’. Inadequacies could either be due to changes that had crept into Sanskrit over the period of time . (5) Sup: These twenty-one affixes append to substantives and are responsible for Nominal Inflections. If you want to express "a desire to do". (2) taddhita or Secondary affixes: They also serve to form derived nominal bases but are appended to substantives to change the meaning of the nominal in different ways. (4) Ting: These eighteen affixes append to verbal roots and are responsible for verbal inflections. ‘yat’. sampradAna Karaka (dative case) 5. he desires to do). chap etc. Dhatu affix ‘san’ is appended and yields ‘chikIrSati’. kha. (b) nishTha: kta and ktavatu are the only two elements of this group. atsuch. There are six karakas in Sanskrit. ‘Nyat’ and ‘kelimar’ are kRtyas and are used in the sense of ‘should be done’. 1100 rules in the A. DAp. ‘kyap’. (He wants to do. The total number of taddhita affixes is two-hundred and seventeen. Example RAma + TA = RAmeNa (done by Rama). (d) shit sArvadhAtuk and ArdhadhAtuk affixes: several in number and includes the Unadis which are extremely irregular in behaviour. Examples are aN. ‘anIyar’. These are: 1. (c) sat: shatR and shAnach are the two elements of this group. The sages Katyayana and Patanjali have been mentioned previously. Post-Paninian Scholarship The study of Panini’s Grammar had spawned a vast commentarial literature in the past. (6) DhAtu: These affixes form derivative verbs from primitive roots. ‘san’ etc Karakas: Karakas are the equivalent of case relationships and are syntacto-semantic in Panini’s system. covering most of the fourth and fifth chapter deal with taddhita affixes. apAdAna Karaka (ablative case) 6.a primitive root) can conjugate into ‘karoti’ (does). etc.(a) kRtya: The seven affixes ’tavyat’. ‘yang. Example. Converts a given word from the masculine to the feminine gender. For example: "kR" (to do -. must do. Katyayana intended to improve upon some of Panini’s rules where he felt they were inadequate. karan Karaka (instrumental case) 4. karma Karaka (accusative case) 3. Example: kR + tavya = kartavya. Udyot Commentary ). He has merely commented upon 1500 Paninian sutras in about 4000 vartikas (scholia) which are mostly one-liners. The Mahabhashya is an extremely elegantly written treatise. anyatarasyam)( ‘Panini as a Variationist’) . Paribahshendu-Shekhar. Kaiyata(‘Pradeep’ Commentary on Mahabhashya). Patanjali has commented upon 1701 sutras in 85 chapters called day-sessions (ahnikas). In modern times. it became the most important pedagogical text and replaced traditional teaching of Grammar through A. The research P. Devashthale. Roodenberg. The latter have leashed a diatribe of vehemence on its methods and equated the downfall of Indian Culture with the emergence of the Prakriya Schools in the 11th Century. Kaunda Bhatt(Vyakarana Bhushan Sara) Nagesh( Voluminous author on Sanskrit Grammar. scientific and detail-oriented.between Katyayana and Panini or due to the oversights of Panini himself. VamanaJayaditya(Authors of Kashika).D. Special mention must be made of the Siddhanta Kaumudi of Bhattoji Dikshit written in the seventeenth century by a learned Brahmin of Maharashtra which revolutionized the way Grammar was taught in the length and breadth of the entire subcontinent. without regard to its spatial order. chief amongst them LaghushabdenduShekhar. Many modern scholars like Ram Nath Sharma and the Arya Samajis likes Brahma Dutt Jijnasu and Yuddhishthir Mimansaka consider the SK’s prakriya system unscientific even unfortunate. and full of charming anecdotes and maxims Prominent names besides the three sages are Bhartrihari(Vakyapadiya). Ram Nath Sharma. Scholars have written lengthy books to discuss the use and significance of single words like ‘cha’ (and). Joshi. some of the world’s most brilliant linguists . The commentary is in the form of a discourse between a student. a teacher’s aide and a teacher. Another purpose was to provide with fresh linguistic insights. Following the ‘Prakriya’ School which emphasizes derivation of correct forms above others and teaches the A. S. has inspired is extremely meticulous. the optionality-signifying words( va.both Indian and Western have studied Panini and produced a plethora of novel research. Bhattoji Dikshit( author of Siddhanta Kaumudi ). composed in a very simple yet subtle style. Madhav Deshpande. the markers (‘The Anubabdhas of Panini’). Paniniyas such as George Cardona. regarded as the second most important grammatical text after the Ashtadhyayi. Ashok Aklujkar etc have written very precise treatises and laid bare all the intricacies of the technique in English so that a modern student has no longer to depend on his teacher or a cryptic Sanskrit commentary and can comprehend the intricacies of Sanskrit Grammar from his reading desk. vibahsa. These vartikas are not an independent treatise and are only found in the commentary of Patanjali. The use of mythological paradigms by Bhattoji to illustrate rules has done much to increase its popularity amongst teachers who consider it a text with a dual aim: teaching of grammar and inculcating religiosity. the Mahabhashya. etc.1 ‘samarthah padavidhi’) was the norm rather than the exception. pg 243). .1. its technique is so interesting in itself that one can study it for the mere pleasure of learning a very engaging and intellectual system which American Linguist Leonard Bloomfield felt was ‘one of the greatest monuments of human intelligence’ (quoted in ‘Panini: A Survey of Research. Summing up my paper I would like to mention the A. Modern Civilization with its rapid means of communications and transmittal of knowledge has catalyzed this process. George Cardona. There is nothing new in this as from the times of Patanjali itself. exhaustive discussion on single sutras (example Samarthanhnika: single chapter on Sutra 2. is not only the most important means for a proper understanding of the Sanskrit Language and Grammar.