Questions tagged [sanskrit]
For questions about Sanskrit, the Ancient Classical language of Northern India.
54
questions
1
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1answer
71 views
Standardized and ambiguity-free language
Is there exist a language (the natural or the constructed one) with a completely standardized and ambiguity-free rules, and which is suitable for the modern use?
I am wondering for a language which ...
3
votes
1answer
83 views
Do Old Indian words with voiceless aspirated stops have cognates in other branches of Indogermanic?
Inspired by this answer by Arnaud Fournet I have this question: Do Old Indic (Vedic, Sankrit) words beginning with a voiceless aspirated stop (like ph, th, or kh) have cognates in other branches of ...
0
votes
1answer
98 views
Possible absolute synonymy in PIE for 'night'?
I recently came across this post (question attached). But this rule seems to struggle once it comes to the Sanskrit - Indo-Aryan side of the family (PIE) , for example ratri in Sanskrit and raat in ...
0
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1answer
53 views
Given a name in sanskrit, how to find what to call the son or daughter of that person. What is the grammatical rule for forming such words? [closed]
Example:-
Kunti-- Kauntey
anjana-- aanjane
What are the rules
-1
votes
1answer
45 views
Universal Grammar or Other Area of Study
So, what I am wondering about is what I should look up to study the following. From my understanding, there is a limited number of ways languages are implemented. That is, there is a set of abstract ...
3
votes
2answers
241 views
Why does Sankr. नक्ति (nákti) not show Satemization
Did Sanskrit नक्ति (nákti) "night", PIE *nókʷts, not participate in the kentum-satem split? Why? Is it a loan? There are at least two synonyms, if that makes any difference.
I have no actual reason ...
4
votes
1answer
126 views
Possible extrapolation of old German word “hansa” to protogermanic and possibly common root with Sanskrit “sangha”
I came across a discussion about if "Lufthansa" means air-Swan, inspired by the sanskrit word hansa swan. Which is of course wrong as it has its origins in the old german word hansa for group or ...
1
vote
1answer
121 views
Does Sanskrit निस् • (nis) “out, forth, away” come from PIE *ni- “in; down?” with meaning shift from “in” to “out”?
निस्·nis "out, forth, away" > nirvana "to blow out, extinguish; out of breath?"
नि·ni "down, back, in, into" < PIE *h₁én "in; down?"
My question is whether these words are from the same PIE root? ...
0
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2answers
102 views
Doesn't Sanskrit use adpositions of any kind?
For some reason, the Wikipedia article makes no mention of any adpositions of any kind. I find it highly unbelievable that the language makes no use of such. It has a case system, but there's only 8 ...
0
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2answers
251 views
Can you help identify a strange Devanagari symbol in a book that doesn't look like any Devanagari letters [closed]
In a book Shaktapramode (example page) there is a strange symbol
that I have never encountered before.
Here it is in the context: .
Does anybody know what it signifies? Thank you!
4
votes
1answer
595 views
In what way is Japanese related to Sanskrit?
The Wikipedia says that Japanese katakana vowels “The gojūon inherits its vowel and consonant order from Sanskrit practice. “. Could expert explains this in easy language?
0
votes
3answers
416 views
Soft consonants in Devanagari [closed]
Can someone tell me what are the soft consonants in Devanagari?
This link gives me a list of the devanagari soft consonants. However, is this the complete list? I find in other sources another list. ...
1
vote
1answer
76 views
Evolution of perfective aspect from Sanskrit derivational suffix -ka in Modern Indo-Aryan languages
It is well attested that the Sanskrit derivational suffix -ka for adjectives together with the syntesized participle on nominals like krta-ka>done, evolved as the possessive case marker in modern Indo-...
2
votes
3answers
976 views
Anunasika(Chandrabindu) in Vowels (Sanskrit)
Someone said Anunasika is like trying to say something entirely in nasal voice. So let’s say I want to pronounce a vowel ‘U’kara with Chandrabindu on top of it. I know it’s should be completely a ...
-1
votes
1answer
173 views
How should I pronounce double consonant in a Sanskrit word? [closed]
The visarga in रामः शेते is facing Sh so it should change to Sh, right? And we get the one word रामश्शेते Raamashshete, but I am not sure how it should be pronounced. Should the dobule Sh be mingled ...
4
votes
1answer
121 views
Good recent historical grammar of Sanskrit, preferably in English?
Does there exist a reliable, reasonably up-to-date historical-comparative grammar of Sanskrit written in English? Failing that, what are the standard works for historical Sanskrit phonology and ...
5
votes
1answer
377 views
How many “principal parts” do Sanskrit verbs have?
What is the minimum number of forms that one needs to memorize in order to be able to fully conjugate a Sanskrit verb? I've found differing answers: some say six, others ten, and in fact, I personally ...
2
votes
1answer
135 views
Does Sanskrit really have a large proportion of borrowings from non IE stock?
A comment on an answer to anoher question about Lithuanian suggests that 'quite a large number of words was borrowed from non-IE languages'.
While some words in Sanskrit indeed seem to have Fenno-...
1
vote
2answers
180 views
Difference in translating Sanskrit words कोप [kopa] and क्रोध [krodha]
Translationg the terms makes a semantic rendering important. The English resourse translates क्रोध [krodha] as 'anger' wrath, passion, etc.' with the same definition for कोप [kopa] plus defining it ...
0
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1answer
363 views
Etymology of Sanskrit नारक / नरक [nāraka / naraka]
If the word नर [nara], sometimes represented as नार [nāra] primarly means 'man, human, person' and the word नारक / नरक [nāraka / naraka] means 'hell', 'infernal' and/or 'inhabitant of hell', then ...
0
votes
1answer
128 views
Is there a difference between 'doot' (दूत) and 'dut' (दुत) in Sanskrit? [closed]
I recently came across a verse from RigVeda
यदक्रन्दः परथमं जायमान उद्यन समुद्रादुत वा पुरीषात |
शयेनस्य पक्षा हरिणस्य बाहू उपस्तुत्यं महि जातं ते अर्वन ||
Now, I can understand उद्यन समुद्रादुत (...
1
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4answers
3k views
Is Thai language related or a descendant of Sanskrit?
Why is the Thai language classified as Sino-Tibetan/Sino-Burmese when its script looks like Sanskrit to me?
2
votes
2answers
541 views
Advice on voiced and unvoiced in sanskrit sounds
I am trying to learn Sanskrit alphabets, and want to see how I can pronounce the consonants. Then I noticed that when pronouncing the consonants, which are voiced and unvoiced, my vocal chords are ...
4
votes
1answer
187 views
what about ophis Python==ahi Budhnya?
in short : is the equation ὄφις Πύθων == अहि बुध्न्य ahi budʰnya widely accepted by scholars ?
Python and Ahi Budhnya/Ahirbudhnya are both a famous serpent, the first one in the Greek mythology, the ...
5
votes
2answers
559 views
Sanskrit pangram joke?
There are claims that the sanskrit/devanagari pangram (with natural sanskrit phonetic alphabet order):
कः खगौघाङचिच्छौजा झाञ्ज्ञोऽटौठीडडण्ढणः।
तथोदधीन् पफर्बाभीर्मयोऽरिल्वाशिषां सहः॥
whose IAST ...
5
votes
3answers
261 views
Etymology of Ancient Greek interrogative particle ἆρα
The Ancient Greek interrogative ἆρα is strikingly similar to modern Persian āyā.
Both words exclusively signal yes/no questions, and almost always begin the sentence. There is an accent on the first ...
1
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1answer
158 views
Origin of gen./abl. “pitur” genitive of “pitā́” (“father”) in Sanskrit
How did the Sanskrit gen./abl. singular of pitr-/pitā́ ("father") came to be pitur (and the genitive of the entire noun class as well, of course)? The evolution of all other forms (even pitā́, which ...
2
votes
1answer
155 views
Gemination in Sanskrit and Pali
The Thai vocabulary consists of a lot of Pali and Sanskrit words. Their spelling is preserved, but not their pronunciation (so that for example, originally dental and retroflex stops except those both ...
2
votes
3answers
447 views
Why does IAST exist when IPA is there?
When IPA can incorporate most of the sounds with Roman like symbols. Why do we need IAST?
Why do we need yet another standard for representing Indic scripts/sounds? If non phone-city of Roman ...
3
votes
0answers
156 views
The etymology of Sanskrit jāla 'web'
I am looking for an etymology on the Sanskrit word jāla 'web'. What is the origin of it? I am trying to find a parallel in other Indo-European languages but no luck so far.
0
votes
1answer
89 views
Conjugation of the word प्रकटयमास [closed]
I have been reading Sudharma and I have encountered a new type of words such as प्रकटयमास, प्रकटयमासुः and समादिदिशुः. I know what the roots mean. What I don't know is what type of conjugation is ...
3
votes
1answer
135 views
What's a good source to say if a word is masculine or feminine in Sanskrit?
I trying to write a few verses and knowing the gender might change the meaning. A good source to Sanskrit grammar would also be accepted!
1
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1answer
95 views
what is the difference between ind. and indecl. in Sanskrit?
In spokensanskrit.de, there are words that are marked as ind. and indecl.
For example, indecl. stands for indeclinable words in Sanskrit such as तावत्.
The same word is also marked ind. Could anybody ...
2
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2answers
174 views
History of Preverbs in Indo-European
As you may know, quite some of the IE languages know preverbs, who may modify the meaning of a verbal root. I would like to know more about the interrelation of the various preverbs found in these ...
1
vote
1answer
133 views
Grammatical mistake in the Gita
I am studying Sanskrit. I encountered a sentence in verse 19 of chapter 1 of the Bhagavad gita - as it is. The sloka is as follows:
स घोषो धार्तराष्ट्राणां हृदयानि व्यदारयत्।
नभश्च पृथिवीं चैव तुमुलो...
0
votes
1answer
91 views
Components of सर्वस्याऽपि
I am trying to study Sanskrit. I am right now reading the following article on Shivaji in Sanskrit. There is a sentence सर्वस्याऽपि दोषिणः योग्यं दण्डं विदधाति। I get what it means, roughly that every ...
1
vote
1answer
547 views
Is there any Sanskrit-Greek-Latin-English dictionary available?
Is there any Sanskrit-Greek-Latin-English dictionary [including online] available? I am so much interested in etymological study. I will be grateful for any help.
1
vote
1answer
177 views
Meaning of “Elin”
Elin is supposed to mean "Woman of Intelligence" in Sanskrit see http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/0/Elin. However, I was not able to verify this independently in Sanskrit dictionaries on the web ...
-3
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1answer
171 views
Was sanskrit first complex language [closed]
I believe a complex language in necessary for a religious ideology involving man, mind, awareness, material world, immaterial world and such to be passed on. Was sanskrit the first language that was ...
2
votes
2answers
715 views
External sandhi rule for final visarga followed by r?
The picture at the bottom is taken from Introduction To Sanskrit by Egenes Thomas, in which we see that, if a vowel different from a or aa precedes the visarga, and if the initial lettre of the ...
4
votes
5answers
784 views
Can words have multiple, different origins
In the yoga context, it is common for gurus to give multiple origins of a specific word in order to 'dig' a deep meaning.
For example, let us take the word मन्त्र.
Here is a first explanation from ...
5
votes
1answer
248 views
What language is this character from?
A colleague of mine owns a ring and asked me what language this character is from:
I speak Japanese so I could pretty much rule out that and Chinese (her first guess). It's not Korean nor Thai either;...
5
votes
2answers
474 views
Why are these Sanskrit words in the nominative case
I'm studying the Sanskrit mantra that starts with asato ma:
असतो मा सद् गमय asato mā sad gamaya
तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय tamaso mā jyotirgamaya
मृत्योर्मा अमृतं गमय mṛtyormā amṛtaṃ ...
4
votes
5answers
1k views
Are Armenian գունդ (gund) and Sanskrit गिन्दुक (ginduka) related?
I was just looking at the words for "ball" in many languages.
I noticed that Armenian has a word գունդ gund and Hindustani has a word गेंद / گیند gẽnd.
I didn't spot any other language with a ...
9
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5answers
10k views
Why are many ancient languages so complicated compared to many modern languages?
Many ancient languages have a structure that is more complex than that of the "respective" modern languages. Modern languages like English have simpler structure, without case, gender or declination, ...
2
votes
0answers
2k views
Is there any relation between Sanskrit 'kalam' of Kalamasutra and Arabic 'al-kalam'?
In this text, acknowledged by both Theravada and Mahayana traditions as sacred, Buddha gives his speech to Kalamas. According to the dictionaries, the primal Sanskrit meaning of the word कलम (kalama) ...
4
votes
2answers
213 views
Internal vedic sandhi: t-s or th-s? (Sanskrit, Devanagari)
For the sandhi in the Vedas and Aranyakas which of the following is more correct (i.e. t-s or th-s):
स॒र्वेऽस्मात्स्यन्द॑न्ते॒
sa̱rve'smātsyanda̍nte̱
स॒र्वेऽस्माथ्स्यन्द॑न्ते॒
sa̱rve'...
4
votes
1answer
2k views
How is Sanskrit “va” supposed to be pronounced?
I'm confused as to how I'm to pronounce Sanskrit's "v" letter. My teacher mostly pronounces it as a "w" in words such as "deva", "svara" or "dvipa" but invariably utters a "v" in syllables "vra" or "...
3
votes
2answers
636 views
Vedic sandhi: ḥ-s or ss? (Sanskrit, Devanagari)
For the sandhi in the Vedas and Aranyakas which of the following is more correct (i.e. ḥ s or ss):
रुद्रः सन्महो
rudraḥ sanmaho
रुद्रस्सन्महो
rudrassanmaho
This example is from the Mahanarayana ...
5
votes
2answers
321 views
The shout symbol?
wikipedia : Devnagari :- : "The avagraha ऽ (usually transliterated with an apostrophe) is a Sanskrit punctuation mark for the elision of a vowel in sandhi: एकोऽयम् ekoyam (< ekas + ayam) "this one"...
