[INDOLOGY] Sanskrit grammatical terms

Wed Jun 20 13:20:28 UTC 2018

Dear all,

It is worth keeping in mind that (an)at/(an)adanta etc. are entirely formal
in Pāṇini's grammar and have been rightly translated as "that which ends
(or does not end) in shot a." What specifically ends (or does not end) in
short a must be ascertained from the larger context of the sūtra. For
example,  P. 7.1.5 ātmanepadeṣv anataḥ prescribes that at (and not ant) be
substituted for jh in jha, the suffix for the 3rd person plural ātm. (or
1st person if we wish to be Pāṇinian) given in P. 3.4.78. anataḥ, "of that
which does not end in short a," modifies aṅga, "stem," (not specified to
either a verbal or a nominal form), which is continued from P. 6.4.1
aṅgasya. This is how Pāṇini formulates a rule that one might give to
students as: in the non-thematic verbal classes, there is no n in the 3rd
person pl. ātm., as apposed to labhante, padyante, etc. of the thematic
classes.  But Pāṇini's rule extends beyond the present tense stems and in
fact should not be strictly associated with anything other than "that which
does not end in short a" because it is by this same rule that aorist forms
are distinguished as well: adikṣanta vs. aneṣata, etc. If we wish to use
thematic and non-thematic as a sort of  equivalent for Pāṇinian
(an)at/(an)adanta, then it is crucial to include all places in the verbal
paradigm where being (an)adanta comes into play.   On the other hand, just
a few sūtras later, at is used in reference to a nominal form in P. 7.1.9
ato bhisa ais, in which case at (= adanta) again modifies aṅga but one that
is now nominal. The rule prescribes the substitution of ais for bhis, the
latter of which is the basic ending for the instrumental plural (tṛtīyā
vibhakti), hence devaiḥ and not devabhiḥ*. In any case, at/adanta is
neither restricted to nominal or verbal forms nor the present stem.

I find Abhyankar's entry on adanta somewhat misleading, as least as quoted,
and not terribly informative of how (an)at/(an)adanta is used in in the
Aṣṭādhyāyī. The business about "roots of the tenth conjugation which are
given with the letter a at their end which is not looked upon as mute
(it)..." is a bit recherché and refers to a list of roots in the curādi
gaṇa of the Pāṇinian dhātupāṭha. In Liebich's edition it begins on p. 190
with the head adantāḥ ita ā gaṇāntād ...  The reason, I believe, that he
gives slightly obscure references is that he was looking for specific
instances of adanta in the Aṣṭādhyāyī and not at, which, however, is
usually to be understood as adanta. The opening sentence of his entry,
nonetheless, repeats more or less the translation that has already been
said: "ending with the short vowel a".

All systems of grammar are fictional, and in teaching Sanskrit or whatever
language, the terminology and categories that make the most sense in a
specific context should be used. Comparison of preexisting systems, such as
that of Pāṇini (we should also recall that there are other systems with
different terminology and different definitions for the same Pāṇinian
terms), should only be undertaken once the object of comparison is well
understood and beginning Sanskrit is usually not the place to begin such a
comparison. I do, however, support familiarization with Pāṇinian
terminology but as it is defined by Pāṇini himself, not in reference to
Latinate terms.

All the Best,
Victor

On Wed, Jun 20, 2018 at 7:08 AM Chlodwig H Werba via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info> wrote:

> Dear Colleagues,
> In the given context, Andrew is -- pace Matthew -- absolutely right:
> Every historical linguist not only in the 19th cent., but also nowadays
> (as myself in the field of Indo-Iranian studies) would classify the
> inherited skt. devá- as a thematic noun and, e.g., its derivational
> basis in Proto-Indo-European, being continued in Vedic Skt. by
> dyáv-/div-´ 'heaven', as an athematic one.
> With best regards
> Chlodwig H. Werba
>
>
> Am 20.06.2018 12:53, schrieb Matthew Kapstein via INDOLOGY:
> > Dear Andrew,
> >
> > You write that:
> >
> > "thematic" and "athematic" in the usage of most European grammars
> > simply mean "ending in -a" and "not ending in -a," which is captured
> > in traditional Sanskrit grammar by "at" (see 7.2.80 and 81), or
> > "adanta-" if you like to be more explicit....
> >
> > Here is what Abhyankar, A Dictionary of Sanskrit Grammar, p. 13, has
> > to say about adanta:
> >
> > "ending with the short vowel a ... a term applied to nouns of that
> > kind, and roots of the tenth conjugation..."
> >
> > This is surely not what the 19th c. grammarians had in mind in
> > dividing the Skt. verb system according to the categories of thematic
> > and athematic (none of them would have spoken of deva- as "a thematic
> > noun"!)
> >
> > It seems a good example of Victor Davella's point about mixing up the
> > terminology of differing systems.
> >
> > best,
> >
> > Matthew
> >
> > Matthew Kapstein
> > Directeur d'études,
> > Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes
> >
> > Numata Visiting Professor of Buddhist Studies,
> > The University of Chicago
> >
> > -------------------------
> >
> > FROM: INDOLOGY <indology-bounces at list.indology.info> on behalf of
> > Andrew Ollett via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info>
> > SENT: Tuesday, June 19, 2018 12:08:58 PM
> > TO: indology
> > SUBJECT: Re: [INDOLOGY] Sanskrit grammatical terms
> >
> > There are real vaiyākaraṇas on the list, but for what it is worth,
> > "thematic" and "athematic" in the usage of most European grammars
> > simply mean "ending in -a" and "not ending in -a," which is captured
> > in traditional Sanskrit grammar by "at" (see 7.2.80 and 81), or
> > "adanta-" if you like to be more explicit, and "present stem" is a
> > slightly more narrow version of the verbal stem to which
> > sārvadhātuka affixes are added (more narrow because there are
> > sārvadhātuka suffixes that wouldn't be considered part of the
> > present system, like khaś). I have to say, though, that I would also
> > appreciate some information about whether this identification holds.
> > Max Müller translated ārdhadhātuka and sārvadhātuka as "general
> > or unmodified" tenses and "special or modified" tenses respectively.
> >
> > 2018-06-19 18:08 GMT+02:00 Edeltraud Harzer via INDOLOGY
> > <indology at list.indology.info>:
> >
> >> Hello McComas,
> >> A glossary of grammatical Sanskrit terms is appended to the textbook
> >> in Robert Goldman’s _Devavāṇīpraveśikā_ starting on p. 403.
> >> They are in Sanskrit with a straight English translation at times
> >> and other times they are just explained. If your colleague is not
> >> very familiar with Sanskrit grammatical terms, it may not be easy
> >> always to find the term as in the example of the present tense:
> >> _vartamāne_ _laṭ_ directs you to _laṭ_ on the preceding page.
> >> Many of the translations/explanations terms are easily found by
> >> going through the four ad half pages of the glossary.
> >>
> >> Wishing good luck to your colleague's enterprise.
> >>
> >> Edeltraud harzer
> >>
> >> University of Texas at Austin
> >> Austin, USA
> >>
> >>> On Jun 18, 2018, at 7:35 PM, McComas Taylor via INDOLOGY
> >>> <indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> Dear Friends
> >>>
> >>> A Cambodian colleague is translating Gonda's grammar of Sanskrit
> >>> into Khmer. She would like to use Sanskrit grammatical terms where
> >>> possible.
> >>>
> >>> She is asking for help with the following terms:
> >>>
> >>> present stem
> >>>
> >>> thematic and athematic verb classes
> >>>
> >>> If some kind person could respond to me, I'll forward the
> >>> information to her.
> >>>
> >>> With thanks in advance
> >>>
> >>> Yours
> >>>
> >>> McComas
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>>
> >>> McComas Taylor, SFHEA
> >>> Associate Professor, Reader in Sanskrit
> >>> College of Asia and the Pacific
> >>> The Australian National University, Tel. + 61 2 6125 3179
> >>> Website: https://sites.google.com/site/mccomasanu/ [1]
> >>> Address: Baldessin Building 4.24, ANU, ACT 0200
> >>>
> >>> Ask me about my new project:
> >>> 'TRANSLATING THE VIṢṆU PURĀṆA'
> >>>
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