Vedic Sanskrit grammar
is the Indo-Aryan language used in the religious hymns known as the Vedas, composed from the early-to-mid 2nd millennium through to the mid 1st millennium, BCE. It was a spoken language during that period. Its grammar differs in certain respects from the grammar of the later Classical Sanskrit.
Differences from Classical Sanskrit
Compared with Classical Sanskrit, Vedic had a subjunctive mood absent in Pāṇini's grammar and generally believed to have disappeared by then at least in common sentence constructions. All tenses could be conjugated in the subjunctive and optative moods, in contrast to Classical Sanskrit, with no subjunctive and only a present optative. However, the old first-person subjunctive forms were used to complete the Classical Sanskrit imperative. The three synthetic past tenses were still clearly distinguished semantically in Vedic. A fifth mood, the injunctive, also existed.Long-i stems differentiate the Devi and Vrkis feminines, a difference lost in Classical Sanskrit.
- The subjunctive mood of Vedic was also lost in Classical Sanskrit. Also, there was no fixed rule about the use of various tenses.
- There were more than 12 ways of forming infinitives in Vedic, of which Classical Sanskrit retained only one form.
- Nominal declinations and verbal conjugation also changed pronunciation, although the spelling was mostly retained in Classical Sanskrit. E.g., along with the Classical Sanskrit's declension of deva- as devaḥ—devau—devāḥ, Vedic additionally allowed the forms daivaḥ—daivā—daivāsaḥ. Similarly Vedic has declined forms such as asmai, tvai, yuṣmai, tvā, etc. for the first and second person pronouns, not found in Classical Sanskrit. The obvious reason is the attempt of Classical Sanskrit to regularize and standardize its grammar, which simultaneously led to a purge of older Proto-Indo-European forms.
- To emphasize that Proto-Indo-European and its immediate daughters were essentially end-inflected languages, both Proto-Indo-European and Vedic had independent prefix-morphemes. Such prefixes could come anywhere in the sentence, but in Classical Sanskrit, it became mandatory to attach them immediately before the verb.
Morphology
Nouns
Vedic is a highly inflected language with three grammatical genders and three numbers. It has eight cases: nominative, vocative, accusative, instrumental, dative, ablative, genitive, and locative.In this article nouns are divided into five declensions. The declension which a noun belongs to is determined largely by form.
The basic declension suffix scheme for nouns and adjectives
The basic scheme is given in the table below — valid for almost all nouns and adjectives. However, according to the gender and the ending consonant/vowel of the uninflected word-stem, there are predetermined rules of compulsory sandhi which would then give the final inflected word.| Singular | Dual | Plural | |
| Nominative | -ः -ḥ | -ौ -āu | -ाः -aḥ |
| Vocative | -Ø | -ौ -āu | -ाः -aḥ |
| Accusative | -म -m | -ौ -āu | -ाः -aḥ |
| Instrumental | -ा -ā | -भ्याम् -bhyām | -भिः -bhiḥ |
| Dative | -े -ai | -भ्याम् -bhyām | -भयः -bhyaḥ |
| Ablative | -ः -aḥ | -भ्याम् -bhyām | -भयः -bhyaḥ |
| Genitive | -ः -aḥ | -ोः -auḥ | -ाम् -ām |
| Locative | -ि -i | -ोः -auḥ | -सु -su |
a-stems
A-stems comprise the largest class of nouns. As a rule, nouns belonging to this class, with the uninflected stem ending in short-a, are either masculine or neuter. Nouns ending in long-ā are almost always feminine. A-stem adjectives take the masculine and neuter in short-a, and feminine in long-ā in their stems. This class is so big because it also comprises the Proto-Indo-European o-stems.i- and u-stems
ī- and ū -stems
Ī- and ū -stems are only feminine.and -stems
ṛ-stems are predominantly agental derivatives like neut. dātṛ 'giver', though also include kinship terms like masc. pitṛ 'father', naptṛ 'nephew', bhrātṛ" 'brother' and fem. mātṝ 'mother', duhitṝ 'daughter' and svasṝ'' 'sister'.Monosyllabic stems
Compounds
One other notable feature of the nominal system is the very common use of nominal compounds, which may be huge as in some modern languages such as German. Nominal compounds occur with various structures, however morphologically speaking they are essentially the same. Each noun is in its stem form, with only the final element receiving case inflection. Some examples of nominal compounds include:; Dvandva द्वन्द्व
; Bahuvrīhi बहुव्रीहि
; Tatpuruṣa तत्पुरुष
; Karmadhāraya कर्मधारय
; Amraiḍita अम्रेडित
; Dvigu द्विगु
Personal pronouns and determiners
The first and second person pronouns are declined for the most part alike, having by analogy assimilated themselves with one another.Note: Where two forms are given, the second is enclitic and an alternative form. Ablatives in singular and plural may be extended by the syllable -tas; thus mat or mattas, asmat or asmattas.
The demonstrative ta, declined below, also functions as the third person pronoun.
Interrogative pronoun ka 'what' is declined in the same way, except neuter Sg.Nom./Acc. having kim form.
Numerals
Cardinal numbers
The cardinal numbers from one to ten are:- aika
- dvāu
- tri
- catur
- pañca
- ṣaṣ
- sapta
- aṣṭāu
- nava
- daśa
The numbers from 11 to 19 are:
aikādaśam, dvādaśam, trayaudaśam, caturdaśam, pañcadaśam, ṣauḍaśam, saptadaśam, aṣṭādaśam, navadaśam.
The tens from 20 to 90 are:
viṃśati, triṃśat, catvāriṃśat, pañcāśat, ṣaṣṭi, saptati, aśīti, navati.
The joint numbers:
21 - aikaviṃśati, 22 - dvāviṃśati, 23 - trayauviṃśati,..., 26 - ṣaḍviṃśati,..., but 82 - dvāśīti, 83 - trayāśīti, 88 - aṣṭāśīti.
The hundreds are:
śatam, dvai śatai, trīṇi śatāni / tri śatam, etc.
1000 - sahasra.
Ordinal numbers
The ordinal numbers from one to ten are:- prathamas, -ā
- dvitīyas, -ā
- tṛtīyas, -ā
- caturthas, -ī
- pañcamas, -ī
- ṣaṣṭhas, -ī
- saptamas, -ī
- aṣṭamas, -ī
- navamas, -ī
- daśamas, -ī
11. - aikādaśas,... 20. - viṃśatitamas, 30. - triṃśattamas, 40. - catvāriṃśattamas, 50. - pañcāśattamas, 60. - ṣaṣtitamas, 70. - saptatitamas, 80. - aśītitamas, 90. - navatitamas, 100. - śatatamas, 1000. - sahasratamas.
Verbs
Classification of verbs
Sanskrit has ten classes of verbs divided into two broad groups: athematic and thematic. The thematic verbs are so called because an a, called the theme vowel, is inserted between the stem and the ending. This serves to make the thematic verbs generally more regular. Exponents used in verb conjugation include prefixes, suffixes, infixes, and reduplication. Every root has zero, guṇa, and vṛddhi grades. If V is the vowel of the zero grade, the guṇa-grade vowel is traditionally thought of as a + V, and the vṛddhi-grade vowel as ā + V.| Vowel grade | a, - | i, ī | u, ū | ṛ, ṝ | ḷ |
| Short diphthong grade | a, ai | ai | au | ar | al |
| Long diphthong grade | ā, āi | āi | āu | ār | āl |
Tense systems
The verbs tenses are organized into four 'systems' based on the different stem forms used in conjugation. There are four tense systems:The present system includes the present tense, the imperfect, and the optative and imperative moods, as well as some of the remnant forms of the old subjunctive. The tense stem of the present system is formed in various ways. The numbers are the native grammarians' numbers for these classes.
For thematic verbs, the present tense stem may be formed through:
- 1. Suffixation of the thematic vowel a with guṇa strengthening, for example, bháva- from bhū 'be', bhara- from ' 'bring'.
- 6. Suffixation of the thematic vowel a with a shift of accent to this vowel, for example tudá- from tud 'thrust'.
- 4. Suffixation of ya, for example dī́ vya- from div 'play', paśya- from pś 'see'.
- 2. No modification at all, for example ad- from ad 'eat'.
- 3. Reduplication prefixed to the root, for example juhu- from hu 'sacrifice', dadhā- from dhā 'put'.
- 7. Infixion of ná or n before the final root consonant, for example rundh- or ruṇadh- from rudh 'obstruct', yunaj- from yuj 'join'.
- 5. Suffixation of nu, for example sunu- from su 'press out', ' from 'strew'.
- 8. Suffixation of u, for example tanu- from tan 'stretch'. For modern linguistic purposes it is better treated as a subclass of the 5th. tanu- derives from tnnu-, which is zero-grade for *tannu-, because in the Proto-Indo-European language and could be vowels, which in Sanskrit change to . Most members of the 8th class arose this way; kar- 'make, do' was 5th class in Vedic, but shifted to the 8th class in Classical Sanskrit
- 9. Suffixation of nā, for example krīṇa- or krīṇī- from krī 'buy', pūna- from pū 'clean'.
- 10. This class described by native grammarians refers to a process which is derivational in nature, and thus not a true tense-stem formation. It is formed by suffixation of ya with guṇa or vṛddhi strengthening and lengthening of the root's last vowel, for example bhāvaya- from bhū 'be', pūjaya- from pūj 'honour', cauraya- from cur 'steal', dāvaya- from du 'burn'.
- The root and reduplicating classes are not modified in the weak forms, and receive guṇa in the strong forms.
- The nasal class is not modified in the weak form, extends the nasal to ná in the strong form.
- The nu-class has nu in the weak form and náu in the strong form.
- The nā-class has nī in the weak form and nā́ in the strong form. nī disappears before vocalic endings.
Perfect system
The perfect system also produces separate "strong" and "weak" forms of the verb — the strong form is used with the singular active, and the weak form with the rest.
The perfect in the Sanskrit can be in form of the simple perfect and the periphrastic perfect.
The Simple Perfect can form an augmented Pluperfect, and beyond the indicative mood it can also form Perfect Subjunctives, Optatives, and Imperatives. All of these are lost in Classical Sanskrit, when it forms only indicatives.
The simple perfect is the most common form and can be made from most of the roots. The simple perfect stem is made by reduplication and if necessary by stem lengthening. The conjugated form takes special perfect endings. The periphrastic perfect is used with causative, desiderative, denominative and roots with prosodic long anlauted vowel. Only few roots can form both the simple and the periphrastic perfect. These are ' 'carry', ' 'burn', vid 'know', bhi 'to be afraid', hu 'sacrifice'.
Aorist system
The aorist system includes aorist proper and some of the forms of the ancient injunctive. The principal distinction of the two is presence/absence of an augment – a- prefixed to the stem.The aorist system stem actually has three different formations: the simple aorist, the reduplicating aorist, and the sibilant aorist. The simple aorist is taken directly from the root stem. The reduplicating aorist involves reduplication as well as vowel reduction of the stem. The sibilant aorist is formed with the suffixation of s to the stem. The sibilant aorist by itself has four formations:
- athematic s-aorist
- athematic iṣ-aorist
- athematic siṣ-aorist
- thematic s-aorist
Future system
Conjugation
Each verb has a grammatical voice, whether active, passive or middle. There is also an impersonal voice, which can be described as the passive voice of intransitive verbs. Sanskrit verbs have an indicative, an optative and an imperative mood. Older forms of the language had a subjunctive, though this had fallen out of use by the time of Classical Sanskrit.Basic conjugational endings
Conjugational endings in Vedic convey person, number, and voice. Different forms of the endings are used depending on what tense stem and mood they are attached to. Verb stems or the endings themselves may be changed or obscured by sandhi.Primary endings are used with present indicative and future forms. Secondary endings are used with the imperfect, conditional, aorist, and optative. Perfect, imperative and subjunctive endings are used with the perfect, imperative and subjunctive respectively.
In present and imperfect indicative singular active forms have the accent on the stem and take strong forms, while the other forms have the accent on the endings and take weak forms.
In imperative accent is variable and affects vowel quality. Forms which are end-accented trigger guṇa strengthening, and those with stem accent do not have the vowel affected.
The Passive voice forms for all tenses and moods are made by adding -ya- to the zero-grade stem and then adding the middle voice ending of appropriate tense and mood.
The Causative is made by adding the suffix aya to the vṛddhi form. For example, karauti 'he does/makes', and kārayati 'he lets do/make'.
The Desiderative is made by reduplication of the root and the suffix sa. For example, karauti 'he does, makes', and ' 'he wishes to do/make'. It can be also combined with causative, e.g. kārayati 'he lets do' and ' 'he wishes to let to do'.
The Intensive describes a repeated or particularly intensive activity. With verbs of the movement it means "back and forth". The intensive is formed by reduplication of the root and the suffix ya with middle endings for thematic stems, and without suffix and active endings for athematic stems. For example, bhramati 'it curves around', and 'it curves cross and crosswise around'.
Examples of conjugation
; bhū - 'to be'The present indicative takes primary endings.
The imperfect takes secondary endings and adds augment a- before stem.
The aorist takes secondary endings.
| Simple aorist | Benedictive / Precative | Injunctive / Prohibitive |
| abhū- | bhūyā- | bhū- |
The perfect takes perfect endings.
The optative takes secondary endings. -ya- is added to the stem both in the active and the middle. In some forms the cluster ya is dropped out.
The imperative takes imperative endings.
The subjunctive takes subjunctive endings.
The future takes primary endings. -iṣya- is added to the stem, both in the active and the middle/passive.
The second or periphrastic future is made by adding suffix tṝ to the stem and the short as 'to be' form, except 3rd person, both singular and plural, having feminine ṝ-stem nominative endings, e.g., bhavi- + tā + asmi = bhavitāsmi, but bhavi- + tā/tārāu/tāras = bhavitā/bhavitārāu/bhavitāras. The passive forms are identical to the middle forms.
The conditional takes secondary endings. -iṣya- is added to the stem, both in the active and the middle/passive.
The following stems can take all endings.
| Passive | Causative | Desiderative | Intensive |
| bhūya- | bhāvaya- | bubhūṣa- | baubhavī- |
| Infinitive | Absolutive |
| bhūtum, bhavitum | bhūtvā, -bhūya |
; as - 'to be'
The as 'to be' has the long and the short form. The long form is very rarely used.
Syntax
Because of Vedic's complex declension system the word order is free.Grammars
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Morphology