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Verb affixes

Sun, 04/28/2019 - 11:11 — antardhvani

Sanskrit Verb Conjugation is known as 'tiNanta prakaraNNam' (i.e. 'tiN'-final production). The following table lists the abstract verbal grammatical affixes, known as 'tiN pratyaya'. The {3.4.78: tiptasjhisipthasthamibvasmastAtAmjhathAsAthAmdhvamiDvahimahiN} sutra lists the abstract conjugation affixes, starting with 'ti' and ending with 'N'; hence the name 'tiN'. (refer [1] for more details) .

Parasmaipada

Person Singular Dual Plural
Third (III) tip tas jhi
Second (II) sip thas tha
First (I) mip vas mas

Atmanepada (comparable with the Greek 'Middle' i.e. a reflexive verb that acts on the subject or e.g. 'He bought [himself] a book.' )

Person Singular Dual Plural
Third (III) ta AtAm jha
Second (II) thAs AthAm dhvam
First (I) iT vahi mahi

These are abstract affixes that undergo a number of transformations before the concrete affix is arrived at.

Concrete affixes are presented on subsequent pages (for each conjugation). However, these pages are only meant for quick reference; the reader must study advanced grammar texts for details on special conditions and exceptions.

Illustration:

As an illustration, let us consider the 'tip' III-Person Singular Present Tense Conjugation (III-S-Present) of the Class 1 verb root 'bhU' (to be:1:Parasmaipada). While the abstract affix for III-S is 'tip' (see the Parasmaipada table above), the resultant concrete conjugation term ('bhavati') is arrived at after the application of several Paninian sutras shown below:

Step Pattern Sutra Comment Result
0 bhU Start the Conjugation
1 bhU
  • {1.3.1: bhUvAdayo dhAtavaHa}
  • {3.4.69: laHa karmaNNi cha bhAve chA'karmakebhyaHa}
  • {3.2.123: vartamAne laT}
    		•  recognize 'bhU' as a 'dhAtu' verb root, with Agent (kartari), and add the Present Tense verb affix bhU+laT
    2 bhU+laT
  • {1.3.2: upadeshe'janunAsika it}
  • {1.3.3: halantyam}
  • {1.3.9: tasya lopaHa}
    		•  drop the indicatory letters 'a' and 'T' from the affix 'laT' bhU+l
    3 bhU+l
  • {1.4.99: laHa parasmEpadam}
  • {1.3.78: sheSHAt kartari parasmEpadam}
  • {3.4.78: tiptisjhisipthasthamipvasmastAtAmjhathAsAthAmdhvamiDvahimahiN}
  • {1.4.101: tiNstrINNi trINNi prathamamadhyamottamAHa}
  • {1.4.102: tAnyekavachanadvivachanabahuvachanAnyekashaHa}
  • {1.4.108: sheSHe prathamaHa}
    		•  replace the 'l' with 'tip' which is the affix for Parasmaipada Third Person Singular.
    • Note that {1.4.101} and {1.4.102} tells us that the abstract affixes in {3.4.78} should be treated as a 3x3 matrix with the rows representing 3rd, 2nd, and 1st Persons, and columns representing Singular, Dual, and Plural Numbers.
    		 bhU+tip
    4 bhU+tip
  • {3.4.113: tipshitsArvadhAtukam}
  • {3.1.68: kartari shap}
    		•  label 'tip' as a 'sArvadhAtuka', and thereafter insert the affix 'shap' after the verb root (due to the presence of a sArvadhAtuka verb affix and an Agent) bhU+shap+tip
    5 bhU+shap+tip
  • {1.1.3: iko guNNavRuddhO}
  • {7.3.84: sArvadhAtukArdhadhAtukayoHa}
    		•  apply 'guNNa' to the final-vowel 'U' of the verb root 'bhU' bho+shap+tip
    6 bho+shap+tip
  • {1.3.2: upadeshe'janunAsika it}
  • {1.3.3: halantyam}
  • {1.3.9: tasya lopaHa}
    		•  drop the indicatory letters 'sh' and 'p' from the affixes 'shap' and 'tip' bho+a+ti
    7 bho+a+ti
  • {6.1.78: echo'yavAyAvaHa}

    		•  transform bho+a=bhava bhavati
    8 bhavati Conjugation completed

    References

    1. [jrb1995] Ballantyne J.. Laghu Kaumudi of Varadaraja: A Sanskrit grammar. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers:New Delhi; 1995.