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Sanskrit Grammatical Terminology
{
"data": {
"General": {
"intro": "<p>These are general terms which apply to various aspects of Sanskrit grammar.</p>",
"glossary": [
{
"id" : "prakrtih",
"skt" : "prakr̥tiḥ",
"eng" : "base",
"comm" : "That to which an <a href='#pratyayah'>affix</a> is added. A base can be nominal (see <a href='#pratipadikam'>nominal stem</a>) or verbal. This is a synonym of <a href='#angam'>aṅgam</a>."
},
{
"id" : "samanadhikaranah",
"skt" : "samānādhikaraṇaḥ",
"eng" : "coreferential",
"comm" : "Literally “having the same substrate.” Two linguistic forms are coreferential they identify the same entity. See also <a href='#vyadhikaranah'>non-coreferential</a>."
},
{
"id" : "vyadhikaranah",
"skt" : "vyadhikaraṇaḥ",
"eng" : "non-coreferential",
"comm" : "The opposite of <a href='#samanadhikaranah'>coreferential</a>."
},
{
"id" : "angam",
"skt" : "aṅgam",
"eng" : "base",
"comm" : "That to which an <a href='#pratyayah'>affix</a> is added. A base can be nominal (see <a href='#pratipadikam'>nominal stem</a>) or verbal. This is a synonym of <a href='#prakrtih'>prakr̥tiḥ</a>."
},
{
"id" : "pratyayah",
"skt" : "pratyayaḥ",
"eng" : "affix",
"comm" : "That which is added to <a href='#prakrtih'>base</a>. Typically an affix follows its base, and hence it can be described as a suffix."
},
{
"id" : "nipatah",
"skt" : "nipātaḥ",
"eng" : "particle",
"comm" : ""
},
{
"id":"ekavacanam-n",
"skt":"ēkavacanam",
"eng":"singular",
"comm":""
},
{
"id":"dvivacanam-n",
"skt":"dvivacanam",
"eng":"dual",
"comm":""
},
{
"id":"bahuvacanam-n",
"skt":"bahuvacanam",
"eng":"plural",
"comm":""
},
{
"id":"samkhya",
"skt":"saṅkhyā",
"eng":"number",
"comm":""
}
]
},
"Phonology": {
"intro": "",
"glossary": [
{
"id" : "ghosah",
"skt" : "ghōṣaḥ",
"eng" : "voicing",
"comm" : "Vibration of the vocal cords, which is either present (<a href='#ghosavat'>voiced</a>) or absent (<a href='#aghosah'>unvoiced</a>) in a phoneme."
},
{
"id" : "ghosavat",
"skt" : "ghōṣavān",
"eng" : "voiced",
"comm" : "A phoneme that is pronounced with <a href='#ghosah'>voicing</a>. This includes all <a href='#svarah'>vowels</a>, all <a href='#antahsthah'>semivowels</a>, all <a href='#anunasikah'>nasals</a>, and half of the <a href='#sparsah'>stop</a> consonants, as well as <i>h</i>."
},
{
"id" : "aghosa",
"skt" : "aghōṣaḥ",
"eng" : "voiceless",
"comm" : "A phoneme that is pronounced without <a href='#ghosah'>voicing</a>. This includes half of the <a href='#sparsah'>stop</a> consonants, and all of the <a href='#usman'>sibilants</a>."
},
{
"id" : "visargah",
"skt" : "visargaḥ",
"eng" : "visarga",
"comm" : "A voiceless, placeless, aspiration, written <i>ḥ</i>, which is of the allophones of <i>s</i> and <i>r</i> at the end of a word. Also called <i>visarjanīyaḥ</i>. See also: <a href='#upadhmaniya'>upadhmānīyaḥ</a> and <a href='#jihvamuliyah'>jihvāmūlīyaḥ</a>."
},
{
"id" : "pranah",
"skt" : "prāṇaḥ",
"eng" : "aspiration",
"comm" : "An exhalation of breath that accompanies the pronunciation of sound. <a href='#sparsah'>Stop</a> consonants are either <a href='#alpapranah'>unaspirated</a> or <a href='#mahapranah'>aspirated</a>."
},
{
"id" : "alpapranah",
"skt" : "alpaprāṇaḥ",
"eng" : "unaspirated",
"comm" : "Literally “with small <a href='#pranah'>aspiration</a>.” Half of the <a href='#sparsa'>stop</a> consonants are unaspirated."
},
{
"id" : "mahapranah",
"skt" : "mahāprāṇaḥ",
"eng" : "aspirated",
"comm" : "Literally “with large <a href='#pranah'>aspiration</a>.” Half of the <a href='#sparsa'>stop</a> consonants are aspirated."
},
{
"id" : "svarah-1",
"skt" : "svaraḥ",
"eng" : "accent",
"comm" : "Sanskrit words generally have one syllable of accentual prominence, which is linked in the Indian grammatical tradition to a vowel. The accented vowel, which has a high pitch in the R̥gvēdic recitation tradition, is called <a href='#udattah'>udātta</a>; unaccented vowels are called <a href='#anudattah'>anudatta</a>. See also <a href='#svaritah'>svarita</a>."
},
{
"id" : "svarah",
"skt" : "svaraḥ",
"eng" : "vowel",
"comm" : "A sound that is pronounced with a completely unobstructed flow of air, which can form the nuclear of a <a href='#aksarah'>syllable</a>. See also: <a href='#ac'>a-C</a>."
},
{
"id" : "vyanjanah",
"skt" : "vyañjanaḥ",
"eng" : "consonant",
"comm" : "A sound that cannot form the nucleus of <a href='#aksarah'>syllable</a>, and therefore requires the accompaniment of a <a href='#svarah'>vowel</a> in order to be produced. Hence the name: “that which manifests [a vowel sound].” See also: <a href='#hal'>h<span class='pron'>a</span>-L</a>."
},
{
"id" : "antahsthah",
"skt" : "antaḥsthaḥ",
"eng" : "semivowel",
"comm" : "Literally “standing between [vowels and consonants].” A sound that has the articulatory features of a vowel but does not stand in the nucleus of a <a href='#aksarah'>syllable</a>. See also: <a href='#ik'>y<span class='pron'>a</a>-Ṇ</a>."
},
{
"id" : "sparsah",
"skt" : "sparśaḥ",
"eng" : "stop",
"comm" : "Also called “occlusive.” A sound wherein the flow of air is completely occluded by the <a href='#sthanam'>organs of articulation</a>. All stops are <a href='#vyanjanah'>consonants</a>."
},
{
"id" : "svaritah",
"skt" : "svaritaḥ",
"eng" : "circumflex",
"comm" : "An accent that results from the combination of an <a href='#udattah'>accented</a> and <a href='#anudattah'>unaccented</a> vowel in <a href='#sandhih'>sandhi</a>. It is usually pronounced with a rising and falling tone."
},
{
"id" : "anudattah",
"skt" : "anudāttaḥ",
"eng" : "unaccented",
"comm" : "In the Indian tradition, any vowel in a word that is not associated with either a rising <a href='#svarah-1'>pitch accent</a> (<a href='#udattah'>udātta</a>) or a rising and falling accent (<a href='#svaritah'>svaritaḥ</a>); in modern terms, the entire syllable is probably to be described as unaccented."
},
{
"id" : "udattah",
"skt" : "udāttaḥ",
"eng" : "accented",
"comm" : "In the Indian tradition, the vowel with which a rising <a href='#svarah-1'>pitch accent</a> is associated; in modern terms, the entire syllable is probably to be described as accented."
},
{
"id" : "ac",
"skt" : "a-C",
"eng" : "vowel",
"comm" : "Pāṇini’s abbreviation for <a href='#svarah'>vowels</a>."
},
{
"id" : "hal",
"skt" : "h<span class='pron'>a</span>-L",
"eng" : "consonant",
"comm" : "Pāṇini’s abbreviation for a <a href='#vyanjanah'>consonant</a>."
},
{
"id" : "yan",
"skt" : "y<span class='pron'>a</span>-Ṇ",
"eng" : "semivowel",
"comm" : "Pāṇini’s abbreviation for a <span class='#antahsthah'>semivowel</a>."
}
]
},
"Nouns": {
"intro": "<p>Nominal forms are typically called <i>nāmāni</i>, or, following Pāṇini’s terminology, <i>sU-P</i>, “[forms that terminate in one of] the declensional endings.” This section will also cover most indeclinables (<a href='#avyayam'>avyayāni</a>).",
"glossary": [
{
"id": "pratipadikam",
"skt": "prātipadikam",
"eng": "nominal stem",
"comm": ""
},
{
"id": "avyayam",
"skt": "avyayam",
"eng": "indeclinable",
"comm": ""
},
{
"id": "sup",
"skt" : "s<span class='anu'>U</span>-<span class='anu'>P</span>",
"eng" : "noun",
"comm" : "Literally, “[that which terminates in] one of the declensional endings.”"
},
{
"id": "ghi",
"skt" : "ghi",
"eng" : "i/u-stem",
"comm" : "Pāṇini’s technical term for a <a href='#pratipadikam'>nominal stem</a> ending in a short <i>i</i> or <i>u</i>, which triggers special endings."
},
{
"id": "nadi",
"skt" : "nadī",
"eng" : "derivative ī/ū-stem",
"comm" : "Pāṇini’s technical term for a <a href='#pratipadikam'>nominal stem</a> ending in a long <i>ī</i> or <i>ū</i>, which are all feminine and almost always polysyllabic. This class largely coincides with feminine stems built using <a href='#stripratyayah'>feminine suffixes</a>, and hence it can be characterized as a set of ‘derivative’ stems. Membership in this class of stems triggers special endings."
},
{
"id": "stripratyayah",
"skt": "strīpratyayaḥ",
"eng": "feminine suffix",
"comm": "Any one of a number of suffixes added onto nominal stems (<a href='#taddhitah'>taddhitāḥ</a>) which primary serve to form a feminine stem."
},
{
"id" : "vibhakti",
"skt" : "vibhaktiḥ",
"eng" : "case suffix",
"comm" : "An inflectional ending used in nominal forms (thus also called a declensional ending) which primarily expresses the grammatical category of case."
},
{
"id" : "prathama",
"skt" : "prathamā (vibhaktiḥ)",
"eng" : "nominative case",
"comm" : ""
},
{
"id" : "dvitiya",
"skt" : "dvitīyā (vibhaktiḥ)",
"eng" : "accusative case",
"comm" : ""
},
{
"id" : "trtiya",
"skt" : "tr̥tīyā (vibhaktiḥ)",
"eng" : "instrumental case",
"comm" : ""
},
{
"id" : "caturthi",
"skt" : "caturthī (vibhaktiḥ)",
"eng" : "dative case",
"comm" : ""
},
{
"id" : "pancami",
"skt" : "pañcamī (vibhaktiḥ)",
"eng" : "ablative case",
"comm" : ""
},
{
"id" : "sasthi",
"skt" : "ṣaṣthī (vibhaktiḥ)",
"eng" : "genitive case",
"comm" : ""
},
{
"id" : "saptami",
"skt" : "saptamī (vibhaktiḥ)",
"eng" : "locative case",
"comm" : ""
},
{
"id" : "sambodhanam",
"skt" : "saṁbōdhanam",
"eng" : "vocative",
"comm" : ""
},
{
"id" : "sambuddhih",
"skt" : "saṁbuddhiḥ",
"eng" : "vocative",
"comm" : ""
}
]
},
"Verbs": {
"intro": "<p>Verbal forms are typically called <i>ākhyātāni</i>, or, following Pāṇini’s terminology, <i>ti-Ṅ</i>, “[forms that terminate in one of] the finite verbal endings. The category of verbal forms is, however, larger than that of <i>finite</i> verbal forms. This section will therefore also include primary verbal derivatives that are, despite being non-finite, often used as the verbal predicate of a sentence.</p>",
"glossary": [
{
"id" : "dhatuh",
"skt": "dhātuḥ",
"eng": "verbal root",
"comm": ""
},
{
"id":"prathamapurusah",
"skt":"prathamapuruṣaḥ",
"eng":"third person",
"comm":""
},
{
"id":"madhyamapurusah",
"skt":"madhyamapuruṣaḥ",
"eng":"second person",
"comm":""
},
{
"id":"uttamapurusah",
"skt":"uttamapuruṣaḥ",
"eng":"first person",
"comm":""
},
{
"id" : "upasargah",
"skt": "upasargaḥ",
"eng": "preverb",
"comm": ""
},
{
"id" : "vikaranah",
"skt": "vikaraṇaḥ",
"eng": "present stem formant",
"comm": ""
},
{
"id" : "tin",
"skt": "ti-Ṅ",
"eng": "finite verb",
"comm": "A form that terminates in a finite verbal ending, which expresses the categories of tense and mood (combined into one of the <a href='#lakarah'>lakārāḥ</a>) as well as <a href='#purusah'>person</a> and <a href='#sankhya-v'>number</a>."
},
{
"id" : "lakarah",
"skt": "lakāraḥ",
"eng": "tense-aspect-mood",
"comm": "Pāṇini uses forms beginning with the sound <i>l</i> to represent conjugational systems, which we would call combinations of tense, mood, and aspect (or <a href='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tense%E2%80%93aspect%E2%80%93mood'>TAM</a>). The TAM systems that Pāṇini defines are: <a href='#lat'>laṭ</a>, <a href='#lan'>laṅ</a>, <a href='#lun'>luṅ</a>, <a href='#lit'>liṭ</a>, <a href='#lot'>lōṭ</a>, <a href='#lrt'>lr̥ṭ</a>, <a href='#lin'>liṅ</a>, <a href='#let'>lēṭ</a>, <a href='#lut'>luṭ</a>, and <a href='#lrn'>lr̥ṅ</a>."
},
{
"id" : "lat",
"skt": "laṭ",
"eng": "present indicative",
"comm": "The <a href='#lakarah'>lakāraḥ</a> for the present indicative. It refers to present time."
},
{
"id" : "lan",
"skt": "laṅ",
"eng": "imperfect indicative",
"comm": "The <a href='#lakarah'>lakāraḥ</a> for the imperfect indicative. It refers to time in the recent past."
},
{
"id" : "lun",
"skt": "luṅ",
"eng": "aorist indicative",
"comm": "The <a href='#lakarah'>lakāraḥ</a> for the aorist indicative. It refers to time in the past, without further specification."
},
{
"id" : "lit",
"skt": "liṭ",
"eng": "perfect indicative",
"comm": "The <a href='#lakarah'>lakāraḥ</a> for the perfect indicative. It refers to time in the past, usually in the distant past, beyond the speaker’s own experience."
},
{
"id" : "lin",
"skt": "liṅ",
"eng": "present optative",
"comm": "The <a href='#lakarah'>lakāraḥ</a> for the optative, which is almost always formed from the present stem in classical Sanskrit. It is the primary <i>irrealis</i> form, with the senses of obligation, permission, potentiality, and counterfactuality."
},
{
"id" : "kta",
"skt": "Kta",
"eng": "past absolutive participle",
"comm": "A verbal adjective formed by the affixation of <i>tá</i> to a verbal root in the zero grade. The alignment pattern of this participle is absolutive: generally, it describes the <a href='#kartr'>agent</a> of an <a href='#akarmakam'>intransitive</a> verb, or the <a href='#karma'>patient</a> of a <a href='#sakarmakam'>transitive</a> verb. It can be used either attributively or predicately."
},
{
"id" : "krtya",
"skt": "kr̥tyaḥ",
"eng": "potential absolutive participle",
"comm": "A verbal adjective formed by the affixation of one of a number of suffixes, all of which express the notion of futurity, potentiality, or obligation. These suffixes all take absolutive alignment: that is, they describe the <a href='#kartr'>agent</a> of an <a href='#akarmakam'>intransitive</a> verb, or the <a href='#karma'>patient</a> of a <a href='#sakarmakam'>transitive</a> verb. They can be used either attributively or predicately. Some examples of such suffixes include: <a href='#aniyar'>anīyaR</a>, <a href='#nyat'>ṆyaT</a> and <a href='#yat'>yaT</a>, <a href='#kyap'>KyaP</a>, <a href='#tavya'>tavya</a> and <a href='#tavyat'>tavyaT</a>."
}
]
},
"Compounds": {
"intro": "<p>Compounds refer to two nominal forms (<a href='#sup'>sU-P</a>) combined into a single form.</p>",
"glossary": [
{
"id" : "tatpurusah",
"skt" : "tatpuruṣaḥ",
"eng" : "endocentric compound",
"comm" : ""
},
{
"id" : "upapadatatpurusah",
"skt" : "upapadatatpuruṣaḥ",
"eng" : "subordinate-word endocentric compound",
"comm" : ""
},
{
"id" : "karmadharayah",
"skt" : "karmadhārayaḥ",
"eng" : "coreferential endocentric compound",
"comm" : ""
},
{
"id" : "vibhaktitatpurusah",
"skt" : "vibhaktipuruṣaḥ",
"eng" : "case-relation endocentric compound",
"comm" : ""
},
{
"id" : "bahuvrihih",
"skt" : "bahuvrīhiḥ",
"eng" : "exocentric compound",
"comm" : ""
},
{
"id" : "dvandvah",
"skt" : "dvandvaḥ",
"eng" : "copulative compound",
"comm" : ""
}
]
},
"Syntax": {
"intro": "",
"glossary": [
{
"id" : "sakarmakah",
"skt" : "sakarmakaḥ",
"eng" : "transitive",
"comm" : "Describes a verbal root which can take a <a href='#karma'>patient</a> as one of its core arguments, either as the accusative object in the <a href='#kartariprayogah'>agentive construction</a> or as the nominative subject in the <a href='#karmaniprayogah'>patentive construction</a>."
},
{
"id" : "akarmakah",
"skt" : "akarmakaḥ",
"eng" : "intransitive",
"comm" : "Describes a verbal root that takes a single core argument, which is generally called the <a href='#kartr'>agent</a>, although the agent may often be better characterized as an ‘experiencer’ or ‘undergoer.’ Such verbs cannot take an accusative object."
},
{
"id" : "dvikarmakah",
"skt" : "dvikarmakaḥ",
"eng" : "ditransitive",
"comm" : "Describes a verbal root that can take <i>three</i> core arguments: one <a href='#kartr'>agent</a> and two <a href='#karma'>patients</a>."
},
{
"id" : "kartariprayogah",
"skt" : "kartari prayōgaḥ",
"eng" : "agentive construction",
"comm" : "A construction wherein the verbal predicate (whether represented by a finite verb or not) expresses the <a href='#kartr'>agent</a> of the verbal action."
},
{
"id" : "karmaniprayogah",
"skt" : "karmaṇi prayōgaḥ",
"eng" : "patientive construction",
"comm" : "A construction wherein the verbal predicate (whether represented by a finite verb or not) expresses the <a href='#kartr'>patient</a> of the verbal action."
},
{
"id" : "prayojakakartr",
"skt" : "prayōjakakartr̥",
"eng" : "impelling agent",
"comm" : "In a causative construction, the agent who causes the <a href='#prayojyakartr'>impelled agent</a> to perform the verbal action."
},
{
"id" : "prayojyakakartr",
"skt" : "prayōjyakakartr̥",
"eng" : "impeled agent",
"comm" : "In a causative construction, the agent who is caused to perform the verbal action by the <a href='#prayojakakartr'>impelling agent</a>."
},
{
"id" : "karma",
"skt" : "karma",
"eng" : "patient",
"comm" : "One of the <a href='#karakam'>participant roles</a>: the one which is most affected by the action of the verb."
},
{
"id" : "kartr",
"skt" : "kartr̥",
"eng" : "agent",
"comm" : "One of the <a href='#karakam'>participant roles</a>: the one which carries out the action of the verb."
},
{
"id" : "karanam",
"skt" : "karaṇam",
"eng" : "instrument",
"comm" : "One of the <a href='#karakam'>participant roles</a>: the one by means of which the action of the verb is brought about."
},
{
"id" : "sampradanam",
"skt" : "saṁpradānam",
"eng" : "recipient",
"comm" : "One of the <a href='#karakam'>participant roles</a>: the one which is receives or benefits from the action of the verb."
},
{
"id" : "karakam",
"skt" : "kārakam",
"eng" : "participant role",
"comm" : "Every action involves a number of participants which are spoken of in terms of these abstract semantic categories: they include <a href='#kartr'>agent</a>, <a href='#karma'>patient</a>, <a href='#karanam'>instrument</a>, <a href='#sampradanam'>recipient</a>, etc. These abstract categories are mapped onto nominal and verbal forms morphologically and syntactically."
}
]
}
}
}
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