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Perfect Tense

Sun, 06/16/2019 - 03:18 — antardhvani

The Perfect Tense undergoes a transformation known as a non-conjugational transformation, and is known as liT-lakAr ( लिट् लकार ) in the Ashtadhyayi ( see [1] and [2] for examples ). In ArdhadhAtuka transformations, the verb root does not undergo class-specific transformations seen in the conjugational transformations.

Parasmaipada Atmanepada
Person Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural
First (I) a va ma First (I) e vahe mahe
Second (II) tha athus a Second (II) the Athe dhve
Third (III) a atus us Third (III) e Ate ire

There are two kinds of Perfect Tense - Reduplicative Perfect and Periphrastic Perfect.

Reduplicative Perfect Tense:

In the common case, Reduplicative Perfect Tense is applicable to mono-syllabic verbs that have a single vowel and start with a consonant - but there are exceptions. The initial syllable of the verb root is reduplicated (in a manner very similar to, but with some differences, to the reduplication of Class 3 verbs) and attached as a prefix with a vowel. There are a large number of special cases for which the reader may refer to an advanced grammar text. The example below (dA - 'to give') shows the additional rules applicable to a vowel-final verb.

Example

Parasmaipada dA (1:P:to give) Atmanepada dA (1:A:to give)
Person Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural
First (I) dadO dadiva dadima First (I) dade dadivahe dadimahe
Second (II) daditha dadathus dada Second (II) dadithe dadAthe dadidhve
Third (III) dadO dadatus dadus Third (III) dade dadAte dadire

Periphrastic Perfect Tense:
In the Periphrastic Perfect Tense, 'Am' is first affixed to the verb root, followed by the reduplicated perfect of 'kRu' ('chakRu'), 'bhU' ('babhU'), or 'as' ('As'). Finally, the Perfect Tense affix is added (see the table above). Additional rules apply for uncommon cases, such as the vowel-initial verb 'uSH' shown in the example below.

Example

Parasmaipada uSH (1:P:to praise) Atmanepada ID (2:A:to praise)
Person Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural
First (I) oSHANchakAra oSHANchakRuva oSHANchakRuma First (I) IDANchakre IDANchakRuvahe IDANchakRumahe
Second (II) oSHANchakartha oSHANchakrathus oSHANchakra Second (II) IDANchakRuSHe IDANchakrAthe IDANchakRuDhve
Third (III) oSHANchakAra oSHANchakratus oSHANchakrus Third (III) IDANchakre IDANchakrAte IDANchakrire

References

  1. [jrb1995] Ballantyne J.. Laghu Kaumudi of Varadaraja: A Sanskrit grammar. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers:New Delhi; 1995.
  2. [Kale1995] Kale M.. A Higher Sanskrit Grammar. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers; 1995.