privative a with finite verb

[Jan E.M. Houben]

Louis Renou, Grammaire sanscrite, Paris 1961, p. 175, emphasizing the extreme rareness of this formation, refers to the example in this Vaarttika: 
"un Vaart. connaît le tour pejoratif et sans doute vulgaire akaro.si Pat., cf. Franke BB XXIII 171." 
Moreover, Renou refers among other places to the Mahaabhaarata, d.r;syate 'd.r;syate caapi Mhbh XIII 14 160 (I did not check the critical edition); to a rare form in the Kaavyas: asp.rhayati ;Si;s[upaalavadha?], to a usage by ;Sa:nkara cited in Deussen's System Ved. 39 Franke ZDMG XLVIII 85 (contesté Thibaud ib. 540). 
Whether other "artificial" finite verb-compounds such as pacati-pacatitaraam (MBhaa.sya on 8.1.4) were ever used outside grammarians' discussions I don't know, I did not find it in Renou's grammar. 
Jan Houben
 
Prof. Dr. Jan E.M. Houben,
Directeur d Etudes
Chaire: Sources et Histoire de la Tradition Sanskrite
Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, SHP
A la Sorbonne,45-47, rue des Ecoles,
75005 Paris -- France. 
JEMHouben at gmail.com
www.jyotistoma.nl


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----- Original Message ----
From: Bob Hueckstedt <rah2k at VIRGINIA.EDU>
To: INDOLOGY at liverpool.ac.uk
Sent: Tuesday, September 25, 2007 8:34:38 PM
Subject: Re: privative a with finite verb


See Astadhyayi 6.3.73 (72 in Kielhorn's edition of the Mahabhasya) 
nalopo na~na.h. The varttika on that sutra calls for the inclusion of 
the a-privative even with finite verbs. The Mahabhasya on that varttika 
gives as examples:

    apacasi vai tva.m jaalma
    akaro.si vai tva.m jaalma

I do recall seeing such a usage outside grammatical texts, but I don't 
recall where.

Bob Hueckstedt

L.S. Cousins wrote:
> Jonathan,
> 
> BHSD (s.v. a-) says this occurs rarely in Skt and refers to Renou's 
> grammar p. 175. There are quite a few examples for Pali given in CPD 
> under its fourth a- s.v. 7.
> 
> Lance
> 
>> Friends,
>>
>> I have the impression that I have seen, in Buddhist texts at least,
>> privative a affixed to finite verbs (but my memory gets worse and 
>> worse, and
>> maybe I'm imagining this...). Now I have a passage which may need
>> emendation, or perhaps not, if it can be demonstrated that such forms 
>> exist,
>> whether Paninian or not. (This may even be discussed in Wackernagel, for
>> instance, but I'm not sure I  would even know how to look for it...). Any
>> advice will be much appreciated!
>>
>> JAS


       
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