Grammar of the Vedic language

This article treats the grammar of the Vedic language, which was used to compose religious hymns known as the Vedas in the early-to-mid 2nd to mid 1st millennium BCE, and was a spoken language in that period.

Grammar

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 (imperfect, perfect and aorist) were still clearly distinguished semantically in (at least the earliest) 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 (luṇ, laṇ and liṭ).
• 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 devas—devau—devās, Vedic additionally allowed the forms daivas—daivā—daivāsas. 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 (especially for verbs) could come anywhere in the sentence, but in Classical Sanskrit, it became mandatory to attach them immediately before the verb.

Phonology

Vedic differs from Classical Sanskrit to an extent comparable to the difference between Homeric Greek and Classical Greek. Tiwari ([1955] 2005) lists the following principal differences between the two:

• Vedic had a voiceless bilabial fricative ([ɸ], called upadhmānīya) and a voiceless velar fricative ([ɸ], called jihvāmūlīya)—which used to occur when the breath visarga (अः) appeared before voiceless labial and velar consonants respectively. Both of them were lost in Classical Sanskrit to give way to the simple visarga - upadhmaniya occurs before p and ph, jihvamuliya before k and kh.
• Vedic had a retroflex lateral approximant ([ ɭ ]) as well as its aspirated counterpart [ɭʰ] (ळ्ह), which were lost in Classical Sanskrit, to be replaced with the corresponding plosives [ɖ] (ड) and [ɖʱ] (ढ). (Varies by region; vedic pronunciations are still in common use in some regions, e.g. southern India, including Maharashtra.)
  Vedic also had a separate symbol ळ for retroflex l, an intervocalic allophone of ḍ, transliterated as ḷ or ḷh. In order to disambiguate vocalic l from retroflex l, vocalic l is sometimes transliterated with a ring below the letter, l̥; when this is done, vocalic r is also represented with a ring, r̥, for consistency (c.f. ISO 15919).
• The pronunciations of syllabic [r̩] (ऋ), [l̩] (लृ) and their long counterparts no longer retained their pure pronunciations, but had started to be pronounced as short and long [ɽi] (रि) and [li] (ल्रि). (Varies by region; vedic pronunciations are still in common use in some regions, e.g. southern India, including Maharashtra)
• The vowels e (ए) and o (ओ) were actually realized in Vedic as diphthongs [ai] and [au], but they became pure monophthongs [eː] and [oː] in Classical Sanskrit. In this article these diphthongs are written in the original pronunciation, i. e., ai and au.
• The vowels ai (ऐ) and au (औ) were actually realized in Vedic as long diphthongs [aːi] (आइ) and [aːu] (आउ), but they became short diphthongs [ai] (अइ) and [au] (अउ) in Classical Sanskrit. In this article these diphthongs are written in the original pronunciation, i. e., āi and āu.
• The Prātishākhyas claim that the dental consonants were articulated from the root of the teeth (dantamūlīya), but they became pure dentals later. This included the [r], which later became retroflex.
• Vedic had a pitch accent which could even change the meaning of the words, and was still in use in Panini's time, as we can infer by his use of devices to indicate its position. At some latter time, this was replaced by a stress accent limited to the second to fourth syllables from the end. Today, the pitch accent can be heard only in the traditional Vedic chantings.
  Since a small number of words in the late pronunciation of Vedic carry the so-called "independent svarita" on a short vowel, one can argue that late Vedic was marginally a tonal language. Note however that in the metrically restored versions of the Rig Veda almost all of the syllables carrying an independent svarita must revert to a sequence of two syllables, the first of which carries an udātta and the second a (so called) dependent svarita. Early Vedic was thus definitely not a tone language but a pitch accent language. See Vedic accent.
  Pitch accent was not restricted to Vedic: early Sanskrit grammarian Panini gives (1) accent rules for the spoken language of his (post-Vedic) time and (2) the differences of Vedic accent. We have, however, no extant post-Vedic text with accents.
• The pluti vowels (trimoraic vowels) were on the verge of becoming phonological during middle Vedic, but disappeared again.
• Vedic often allowed two like vowels to come together without merger during Sandhi.

Morphology

Nouns

Vedic is a highly inflected language with three grammatical genders (masculine, feminine, neuter) and three numbers (singular, plural, dual). 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. The parentheses give the case-terminations for the neuter gender, the rest are for masculine and feminine gender. When two or three forms are given, the first is masculine (and neuter), but the second and third - feminine.

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	-s (-m)	-āu, -ī, -ū ( -nī)	-as ( -ni)
Vocative	-s (-)	-āu, -ī, -ū (-nī)	-as ( -ni)
Accusative	-am (-m)	-āu, -ī, -ū (-nī)	-n, -as ( -ni)
Instrumental	-nā, -yā	-bhyām	-bhis
Dative	-ai	-bhyām	-bhyas
Ablative	-as	-bhyām	-bhyas
Genitive	-as	-aus	-nām
Locative	-i, -ām	-aus	-su

a-stems

A-stems ([a] and [ɑː]) comprise the largest class of nouns. As a rule, nouns belonging to this class, with the uninflected stem ending in short-a ([a]), are either masculine or neuter. Nouns ending in long-ā ([ɑː]) are almost always feminine. A-stem adjectives take the masculine and neuter in short-a ([a]), and feminine in long-ā ([ɑː]) in their stems. This class is so big because it also comprises the Proto-Indo-European o-stems.

	Masculine (vīra 'man, husband')			Neuter (dina 'day')			Feminine (bhāryā 'woman, wife')
	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	vīras	vīrāu	vīrās(as)	dinam	dinai	dināni	bhāryā	bhāryai	bhāryās
Vocative	vīra!	vīrāu!	vīrās(as)!	dina!	dinai!	dināni!	bhāryai!	bhāryai!	bhāryās!
Accusative	vīram	vīrāu	vīrān	dinam	dinai	dināni	bhāryām	bhāryai	bhāryās
Instrumental	vīrainā	vīrābhyām	vīrāis	dinainā	dinābhyām	dināis	bhāryāyā	bhāryābhyām	bhāryābhis
Dative	vīrāya(i)	vīrābhyām	vīraibhyas	dināya(i)	dinābhyām	dinaibhyas	bhāryāyāi	bhāryābhyām	bhāryābhyas
Ablative	vīrāt	vīrābhyām	vīraibhyas	dināt	dinābhyām	dinaibhyas	bhāryāyās	bhāryābhyām	bhāryābhyas
Genitive	vīrasya(s)	vīrayaus	vīrānām	dinasya(s)	dinayaus	dinānām	bhāryāyās	bhāryayaus	bhāryānām
Locative	vīrai	vīrayaus	vīraiṣu	dinai	dinayaus	dinaiṣu	bhāryāyām	bhāryayaus	bhāryāsu

i- and u-stems

i-stems

	Masc. (pati 'host, husband')			Neuter (vāri 'water')			Fem. (mati 'thought')
	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	patis	patī	patayas	vāri	vāriṇī	vārīṇi	matis	matī	matayas
Vocative	patai!	patī!	patayas!	vāri, vārai!	vāriṇī!	vārīṇi!	matai!	matī!	matayas!
Accusative	patim	patī	patīn	vāri	vāriṇī	vārīṇi	matim	matī	matīs
Instrumental	patinā	patibhyām	patibhis	vāriṇā	vāribhyām	vāribhis	matyā	matibhyām	matibhis
Dative	patayai	patibhyām	patibhyas	vāriṇai	vāribhyām	vāribhyas	matyāi	matibhyām	matibhyas
Ablative	patais	patibhyām	patibhyas	vāriṇas	vāribhyām	vāribhyas	matyās	matibhyām	matibhyas
Genitive	patais	patyaus	patīnām	vāriṇas	vāriṇaus	vāriṇām	matyās	matyaus	matīnām
Locative	patāu	patyaus	patiṣu	vāriṇi	vāriṇaus	vāriṣu	matyām	matyaus	matiṣu

u-stems

	Masc. (vāyu 'wind')			Neuter (madhu 'honey')			Fem. (śatru 'she-enemy')
	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	vāyus	vāyū	vāyavas	madhu	madhunī	madhūni	śatrus	śatrū	śatravas
Vocative	vāyau!	vāyū!	vāyavas!	madhu!	madhunī!	madhūni!	śatrau!	śatrū!	śatravas!
Accusative	vāyum	vāyū	vāyūn	madhu	madhunī	madhūni	śatrum	śatrū	śatrūs
Instrumental	vāyuṇā	vāyubhyām	vāyubhis	madhunā	madhubhyām	madhubhis	śatrvā	śatrubhyām	śatrubhis
Dative	vāyavai	vāyubhyām	vāyubhyas	madhunai	madhubhyām	madhubhyas	śatrvāi	śatrubhyām	śatrubhyas
Ablative	vāyaus	vāyubhyām	vāyubhyas	madhunas	madhubhyām	madhubhyas	śatrvās	śatrubhyām	śatrubhyas
Genitive	vāyaus	vāyvaus	vāyūnām	madhunas	madhunaus	madhūnām	śatrvās	śatrvaus	śatrūṇām
Locative	vāyāu	vāyvaus	vāyuṣu	madhuni	madhunaus	madhuṣu	śatrvām	śatrvaus	śatruṣu

ī- and ū -stems

Ī- and ū -stems are only feminine.

	ī-stems (patnī 'hostess, wife')			ū-stems (vadhū 'bride')
	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	patnī	patnyāu	patnyas	vadhūs	vadhvāu	vadhvas
Vocative	patni!	patnyāu!	patnyas!	vadhu!	vadhvāu!	vadhvas!
Accusative	patnīm	patnyāu	patnīs	vadhūm	vadhvāu	vadhūs
Instrumental	patnyā	patnībhyām	patnībhis	vadhvā	vadhūbhyām	vadhūbhis
Dative	patnyāi	patnībhyām	patnībhyas	vadhvāi	vadhūbhyām	vadhūbhyas
Ablative	patnyās	patnībhyām	patnībhyas	vadhvās	vadhūbhyām	vadhūbhyas
Genitive	patnyās	patnyaus	patnīnām	vadhvās	vadhvaus	vadhūnām
Locative	patnyām	patnyaus	patnīṣu	vadhvām	vadhvaus	vadhūṣu

ṛ and ṝ-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'.

	Masculine (pitṛ 'father')			Neuter (dātṛ 'giver')			Feminine (mātṝ 'mother')
	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	pita	pitarāu	pitaras	dātṛ	dātṛṇī	dātṝṇi	mātā	mātārāu	mātāras
Vocative	pítar!	pitarāu!	pitaras!	dātṛ!	dātṛṇī!	dātṝṇi!	mātār!	mātārāu!	mātāras!
Accusative	pitaram	pitarāu	pitṝn	dātṛ	dātṛṇī	dātṝṇi	mātāram	mātārāu	mātṝs
Instrumental	pitrā	pitṛbhyām	pitṛbhis	dātṛṇā	dātṛbhyām	dātṛbhis	mātārā	mātṝbhyām	mātṝbhis
Dative	pitrai	pitṛbhyām	pitṛbhyas	dātṛṇai	dātṛbhyām	dātṛbhyas	mātārai	mātṝbhyām	mātṝbhyas
Ablative	pitur, pitras	pitṛbhyām	pitṛbhyas	dātṛṇas	dātṛbhyām	dātṛbhyas	mātāras	mātṝbhyām	mātṝbhyas
Genitive	pitur, pitras	pitraus	pitṝṇām	dātṛṇas	dātṛṇaus	dātṝṇām	mātāras	mātaraus	mātṝṇām
Locative	pitari	pitraus	pitṛṣu	dātṛṇi	dātṛṇaus	dātṛṣu	mātārām	mātaraus	mātṝṣu

Monosyllabic stems

Long vowel stems

	ā-stems (jā 'prodigy')			ī-stems (strī 'woman, wife')			ū-stems (bhū 'earth')
	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	jās	jāu	jās	strīs	striyāu	striyas	bhūs	bhuvāu	bhuvas
Vocative	jās!	jāu!	jās!	strīs!	striyāu!	striyas!	bhūs!	bhuvāu!	bhuvas!
Accusative	jām	jāu	jās, jas	striyam	striyāu	striyas	bhuvam	bhuvāu	bhuvas
Instrumental	jā	jābhyām	jābhis	striyā	strībhyām	strībhis	bhuvā	bhūbhyām	bhūbhis
Dative	jai	jābhyām	jābhyas	striyai, striyāi	strībhyām	strībhyas	bhuvai, bhuvāi	bhūbhyām	bhūbhyas
Ablative	jas	jābhyām	jābhyas	striyas, striyās	strībhyām	strībhyas	bhuvas, bhuvās	bhūbhyām	bhūbhyas
Genitive	jas	jaus	jānām, jām	striyas, striyās	striyaus	striyām, strīnām	bhuvas, bhuvās	bhuvaus	bhuvām, bhūnām
Locative	ji, jām	jaus	jāsu	striyi, striyām	striyaus	strīṣu	bhuvi, bhuvām	bhuvaus	bhūṣu

Diphthong stems

	āu-stems (nāu 'ship, boat')			au-stems (gau 'cow, bull')
	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	nāus	nāvāu	nāvas	gāus	gāvāu	gāvas
Vocative	nāus!	nāvāu!	nāvas!	gāus!	gāvāu!	gāvas!
Accusative	nāvam	nāvāu	nāvas	gāvam, gām	gāvāu	gāvas, gās
Instrumental	nāvā	nāubhyām	nāubhis	gavā	gaubhyām	gaubhis
Dative	nāvai	nāubhyām	nāubhyas	gavai	gaubhyām	gaubhyas
Ablative	nāvas	nāubhyām	nāubhyas	gavas, gaus	gaubhyām	gaubhyas
Genitive	nāvas	nāvaus	nāvām	gavas, gaus	gavaus	gavām
Locative	nāvi, nāvām	nāvaus	nāuṣu	gavi, gavām	gavaus	gauṣu

Compounds

One other notable feature of the nominal system is the very common use of nominal compounds, which may be huge (10+ words) as in some modern languages such as German. Nominal compounds occur with various structures, however morphologically speaking they are essentially the same. Each noun (or adjective) is in its (weak) stem form, with only the final element receiving case inflection. Some examples of nominal compounds include:

Dvandva (co-ordinative)

These consist of two or more noun stems, connected in sense with 'and'. There are mainly two kinds of dvandva constructions in Sanskrit. The first is called itaraitara dvandva, an enumerative compound word, the meaning of which refers to all its constituent members. The resultant compound word is in the dual or plural number and takes the gender of the final member in the compound construction. e.g. rāma-lakṣmaṇāu – Rama and Lakshmana, or rāma-lakṣmaṇa-bharata-śatrughnāh – Rama, Lakshmana, Bharata and Satrughna. The second kind is called samāhāra dvandva, a collective compound word, the meaning of which refers to the collection of its constituent members. The resultant compound word is in the singular number and is always neuter in gender. e.g. pāṇipādam – limbs, literally hands and feet, from pāṇi 'hand' and pāda 'foot'. According to some grammarians, there is a third kind of dvandva, called aikaśaiṣa dvandva or residual compound, which takes the dual (or plural) form of only its final constituent member, e.g. pitarau for mātā + pitā, mother + father, i.e. parents. According to other grammarians, however, the aikaśaiṣa is not properly a compound at all.

Bahuvrīhi (possessive)

Bahuvrīhi, or "much-rice", denotes a rich person—one who has much rice. Bahuvrīhi compounds refer (by example) to a compound noun with no head -- a compound noun that refers to a thing which is itself not part of the compound. For example, "low-life" and "block-head" are bahuvrihi compounds, since a low-life is not a kind of life, and a block-head is not a kind of head. (And a much-rice is not a kind of rice.) Compare with more common, headed, compound nouns like "fly-ball" (a kind of ball) or "alley cat" (a kind of cat). Bahurvrīhis can often be translated by "possessing..." or "-ed"; for example, "possessing much rice", or "much riced".

Tatpuruṣa (determinative)

There are many tatpuruṣas (one for each of the nominal cases, and a few others besides); in a tatpuruṣa, the first component is in a case relationship with another. For example, a doghouse is a dative compound, a house for a dog. It would be called a "caturthitatpuruṣa" (caturthi refers to the fourth case—that is, the dative). Incidentally, "tatpuruṣa" is a tatpuruṣa ("his man"—meaning someone's agent), while "caturthitatpuruṣa" is a karmadhārya, being both dative, and a tatpuruṣa. An easy way to understand it is to look at English examples of tatpuruṣas: "battlefield", where there is a genitive relationship between "field" and "battle", "a field of battle"; other examples include instrumental relationships ("thunderstruck") and locative relationships ("towndwelling").

Karmadhāraya (descriptive)

The relation of the first member to the last is appositional, attributive or adverbial, e. g. uluka-yatu (owl+demon) is a demon in the shape of an owl.

Amraiḍita (iterative)

Repetition of a word expresses repetitiveness, e. g. dinai dinai 'day by day', 'day after day', 'daily'.

Dvigu

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.

	First Person			Second Person			Third Person
	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular
Nominative	aham	āvām	vayam (asmās)	tvam	yuvām	yūyam (yuṣmās)	svam
Accusative	mām, mā	āvām, nāu	asmān, nas	tvām, tvā	yuvām, vām	yuṣmān, vas	svām, svā
Instrumental	mayā	āvābhyām	asmābhis	tvayā	yuvābhyām	yuṣmābhis	svayā
Dative	mahyam, mai	āvābhyām, nāu	asmabhyam (-s), nas	tubhyam, tai	yuvābhyām, vām	yuṣmabhyam (-s), vas	subhyam, sai
Ablative	mat	āvābhyām	asmat (asmabhyas)	tvat	yuvābhyām	yuṣmat (yuṣmabhyas)	svat
Genitive	mama, mai	āvayaus, nāu	asmākam, nas	tava, tai	yuvayaus, vām	yuṣmākam, vas	sava, sai
Locative	mayi	āvayaus	asmāsu	tvayi	yuvayaus	yuṣmāsu	svayi

The demonstrative ta, declined below, also functions as the third person pronoun.

	Masculine			Neuter			Feminine
	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	tas, sas	tāu	tai	tat	tai	tāni	tā, sā	tai	tās
Accusative	tam	tāu	tān	tat	tai	tāni	tām	tai	tās
Instrumental	taina	tābhyām	taibhis, tāis	taina	tābhyām	taibhis, tāis	tayā	tābhyām	tābhis
Dative	tasmāi	tābhyām	taibhyas	tasmāi	tābhyām	taibhyas	tasyāi	tābhyām	tābhyas
Ablative	tasmāt	tābhyām	taibhyas	tasmāt	tābhyām	taibhyas	tasyās	tābhyām	tābhyas
Genitive	tasya(s)	tayaus	taiṣām	tasya(s)	tayaus	taiṣām	tasyās	tayaus	tāsām
Locative	tasmin	tayaus	taiṣu	tasmin	tayaus	taiṣu	tasyām	tayaus	tāsu

Interrogative pronoun ka 'what' is declined in the same way, except neuter Sg.Nom./Acc. having kim (also kam, kad) form.

Numerals

Cardinal numbers

The cardinal numbers from one to ten are:

1. aika
2. d(u)vāu
3. tri
4. catur
5. pañca
6. ṣaṣ
7. sapta
8. aṣṭāu
9. nava
10. daśa

All numbers are declinable. Aika is declined like a pronominal adjective, though the dual form does not occur. D(u)vāu appears only in the dual. Tri, catur and ṣaṣ are declined irregularly. The numbers from 5 to 19 do not have any difference in genders.

	Three			Four			Six
	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine	M.N.F.
Nominative	trayas	trīṇi	tisrás	catvā́ras	catvā́ri	catasras	ṣaṭ
Accusative	trīn	trīṇi	tisrás	catúras	catvā́ri	catasras	ṣaṭ
Instrumental	tribhís	tribhís	tisṛ́bhis	catúrbhis	catúrbhis	catasṛ́bhis	ṣaḍbhis
Dative	tribhyás	tribhyás	tisṛ́bhyas	catúrbhyas	catúrbhyas	catasṛ́bhyas	ṣaḍbhyas
Ablative	tribhyás	tribhyás	tisṛ́bhyas	catúrbhyas	catúrbhyas	catasṛ́bhyas	ṣaḍbhyas
Genitive	triyāṇā́m	triyāṇā́m	tisṛṇā́m	caturṇā́m	caturṇā́m	catasṛṇā́m	ṣaṇṇām
Locative	triṣú	triṣú	tisṛ́ṣu	catúrṣu	catúrṣu	catasṛ́ṣu	ṣaṭsu

The numbers from 11 to 19 are:

aikādaśam, dvādaśam, trayaudaśam, caturdaśam, pañcadaśam, ṣauḍaśam, saptadaśam, aṣṭādaśam, navadaśam.

The tens from 20 to 90 are:

(d)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:

1. prathamas, -ā
2. dvitīyas, -ā
3. tṛtīyas, -ā
4. caturthas, -ī
5. pañcamas, -ī
6. ṣaṣṭhas, -ī
7. saptamas, -ī
8. aṣṭamas, -ī
9. navamas, -ī
10. daśamas, -ī

Other numbers:

11. - aikādaśas, ... 20. - viṃśatitamas (viṃśas), 30. - triṃśattamas (triṃśas), 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 (not necessarily all distinct) 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.

Grades

Vowel (zero) grade	a, -	i, ī	u, ū	ṛ, ṝ	ḷ
Short diphthong (Guṇa) grade	a, ai	ai	au	ar	al
Long diphthong (Vṛddhi) grade	ā, āi	āi	āu	ār	āl

Tense systems

The verbs tenses (a very inexact application of the word, since more distinctions than simply tense are expressed) are organized into four 'systems' (as well as gerunds and infinitives, and such creatures as intensives/frequentatives, desideratives, causatives, and benedictives derived from more basic forms) based on the different stem forms (derived from verbal roots) used in conjugation. There are four tense systems:

• Present (Present, Imperfect, Imperative, Optative)
• Perfect
• Aorist
• Future (Future, Conditional)

Present system

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 bhṛ (guṇa form bhar-) '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'.

For athematic verbs, the present tense stem may be formed through:

• 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 (with appropriate sandhi changes), for example rundh- or ruṇadh- from rudh 'obstruct', yunaj- from yuj 'join' (yunakti 'he joins').
• 5. Suffixation of nu (guṇa form náu), for example sunu- from su 'press out', stṛnau- from stṛ 'strew' (stṛnumaḥ 'we strew', stṛnvanti 'they strew').
• 8. Suffixation of u (guṇa form au), 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 [m] and [n] could be vowels (i.e. [am], [an]), which in Sanskrit (and Greek) change to [a]. Most members of the 8th class arose this way; kar- 'make, do' was 5th class in Vedic (krnauti 'he makes'), but shifted to the 8th class in Classical Sanskrit (karauti 'he makes')
• 9. Suffixation of nā (zero-grade nī or n), 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- (< bāu-a-ya-) from bhū 'be', pūjaya- from pūj 'honour', cauraya- from cur (guṇa form caur-) 'steal', dāvaya- from du (vṛddhi form dāv-) 'burn'.

The present system also differentiates strong and weak forms of the verb. The strong/weak opposition manifests itself differently depending on the class:

• The root and reduplicating classes (2 & 3) are not modified in the weak forms, and receive guṇa in the strong forms.
• The nasal class (7) is not modified in the weak form, extends the nasal to ná in the strong form.
• The nu-class (5) has nu in the weak form and náu in the strong form.
• The nā-class (9) has nī in the weak form and nā́ in the strong form. nī disappears before vocalic endings.

Perfect system

The perfect is only used in the indicative. The stem is formed with reduplication as with the present 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 only perfect is in the indicative. 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 (except a/ā). Only few roots can form both the simple and the periphrastic perfect. These are bhṛ 'carry', uṣ 'burn', vid 'know', bhi 'to be afraid', hu 'sacrifice'.

Aorist system

The aorist system includes aorist proper (with past indicative meaning, e.g. abhūs 'you were') and some of the forms of the ancient injunctive (used almost exclusively with mā in prohibitions, e.g. mā bhūs 'don't be'). 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 (semantically related to the causative verb), and the sibilant aorist. The simple aorist is taken directly from the root stem (e.g. bhū-: a-bhū-t 'he was'). 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

The future system is formed with the suffixation of -sya- or -iṣya- and guṇa, both in the simple future and conditional. There exists also so called periphrastic future, which is made by adding suffix tṝ to the stem and the short as 'to be' form.

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.

	Person	Active			Middle
		Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural
Primary	1.	-mi	-vás	-más	-ái	-váhai	-máhai
	2.	-si	-thás	-thá	-sái	-ā́ thai, -áithai	-dhvái
	3.	-ti	-tás	-ánti, -áti	-tái	-ā́ tai, -áitai	-ántai, -átai
Secondary	1.	-am	-vá	-má	-í, -á, - ái	-váhi	-máhi
	2.	-s	-tám	-tá	-thā́ s	-ā́ thām, -áithām	-dhvám
	3.	-t	-tā́ m	-án, -ús	-tá	-ā́ tām, -áitām	-ánta, -áta, -rán
Perfect	1.	-a	-vá	-má	-ái	-váhai	-máhai
	2.	-tha	-áthus	-á	-sái	-ā́ thai, -áithai	-dhvái
	3.	-a	-átus	-ús	-ái	-ā́ tai, -áitai	-rái
Imperative	1.	-āni	-va	-ma	-āi	-vahāi	-mahāi
	2.	-dhí, -hí, –	-tám	-tá	-svá	-ā́ thām, -áithām	-dhvám
	3.	-tu	-tā́ m	-ántu, -átu	-tā́ m	-ā́ tām, - áitām	-ántām, -átām
Subjunctive	1.	-ā, -āni	-vá	-má	-āi	-váhāi	-máhāi, -máhai
	2.	-si, -s	-thás	-thá	-sāi, -sái	-ā́ithai	-dhvā́i
	3.	-ti, -t	-tás	-(á)n	-tāi, -tái	-ā́itai	-ántai, -ánta

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 cikīrṣati 'he wishes to do/make'. It can be also combined with causative, e.g. kārayati 'he lets do' and cikārayiṣati 'he wishes to let to do'.

The Intensive (or sometimes called Frequentative) 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 baṃbhramyatai 'it curves cross and crosswise around'.

Examples of conjugation

bhū - 'to be'

The present indicative takes primary endings.

Present, Indicative

Person	Active			Middle
	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural
1.	bhavāmi	bhavāvas(i)	bhavāmas(i)	bhav(ām)ai	bhavāvahai	bhavāmahai
2.	bhavasi	bhavathas	bhavatha	bhavasai	bhavaithai	bhavadhvai
3.	bhavati	bhavatas	bhavanti	bhavatai	bhavaitai	bhavantai

The imperfect takes secondary endings and adds augment a- before stem.

Imperfect, Indicative

Person	Active			Middle
	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural
1.	ábhavam	ábhavāva	ábhavāma	ábhav(ām)ai	ábhavāvahi	ábhavāmahi
2.	ábhavas	ábhavatam	ábhavata	ábhavathās	ábhavaithām	ábhavadhvam
3.	ábhavat	ábhavatām	ábhavan	ábhavata	ábhavaitām	ábhavanta

The aorist takes secondary endings.

Aorist stems

Simple aorist	Benedictive / Precative	Injunctive / Prohibitive
abhū-	bhūyā-	(mā) bhū-

The perfect takes perfect endings.

Perfect

Person	Active			Middle
	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural
1.	babhūva	babhūviva	babhūvima	babhūvai	babhūvivahai	babhūvimahai
2.	babhū(vi)tha	babhūthus	babhūva	babhūsai	babhūvaithai	babhūvadhvai
3.	babhūva	babhūtus	babhūvus	babhūvai	babhūvaitai	babhūrai

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.

Optative

Person	Active			Middle
	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural
1.	bhavaiyām	bhavai(yā)va	bhavai(yā)ma	bhavaiya(m)	bhavai(yā)vahi	bhavai(yā)mahi
2.	bhavai(ya)s	bhavai(ya)tam	bhavai(ya)ta	bhavai(ya)thās	bhavaiyāthām	bhavai(ya)dhvam
3.	bhavai(yā)t	bhavai(ya)tām	bhavaiyus	bhavai(ya)ta	bhavaiyātām	bhavairan

The imperative takes imperative endings.

Imperative

Person	Active			Middle
	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural
1.	bhavāni, bhava	bhavāva	bhavāma	bhav(ām)āi	bhavāvahāi	bhavāmahāi
2.	bhava(hi), bhavatāt	bhavatam	bhavata	bhavasva(m)	bhavaithām	bhavadhvam
3.	bhavatu	bhavatām	bhavantu	bhavatām	bhavaitām	bhavantām

The subjunctive takes subjunctive endings.

Subjunctive

Person	Active			Middle
	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural
1.	bhavā(ni)	bhavāva	bhavāma	bhav(ām)āi	bhavāvahāi	bhavāmahāi
2.	bhavas(i)	bhavāthas	bhavātha	bhavāsāi	bhavāithai	bhavadhvāi
3.	bhavat(i)	bhavātas	bhavān	bhavātāi	bhavāitai	bhavanta(i)

The future takes primary endings. -iṣya- is added to the stem, both in the active and the middle/passive.

Future, Indicative

Person	Active			Middle/Passive
	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural
1.	bhaviṣyāmi	bhaviṣyāva	bhaviṣyāma	bhaviṣy(ām)ai	bhaviṣyāvahai	bhaviṣyāmahai
2.	bhaviṣyasi	bhaviṣyathas	bhaviṣyatha	bhaviṣyasai	bhaviṣyaithai	bhaviṣyadhvai
3.	bhaviṣyati	bhaviṣyatas	bhaviṣyanti	bhaviṣyatai	bhaviṣyaitai	bhaviṣyantai

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.

Periphrastic future

Person	Active			Middle/Passive
	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural
1.	bhavitāsmi	bhavitāsvas	bhavitāsmas	bhavitāsmai	bhavitāsvahai	bhavitāsmahai
2.	bhavitāsi	bhavitāsthas	bhavitāstha	bhavitāsai	bhavitāsāthai	bhavitā(sa)dhvai
3.	bhavitā	bhavitārāu	bhavitāras	bhavitā	bhavitārāu	bhavitāras

The conditional takes secondary endings. -iṣya- is added to the stem, both in the active and the middle/passive.

Conditional

Person	Active			Middle/Passive
	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural
1.	ábhaviṣyam	ábhaviṣyāva	ábhaviṣyāma	ábhaviṣy(ām)ai	ábhaviṣyāvahi	ábhaviṣyāmahi
2.	ábhaviṣyas	ábhaviṣyatam	ábhaviṣyata	ábhaviṣyathās	ábhaviṣyaithām	ábhaviṣyadhvam
3.	ábhaviṣyat	ábhaviṣyatām	ábhaviṣyan	ábhaviṣyata	ábhaviṣyaitām	ábhaviṣyanta

The following stems can take all endings.

Other stems

Passive	Causative	Desiderative	Intensive
bhūya-	bhāvaya-	bubhūṣa-	baubhavī-

Participles

Present participle			Past participle		Future participle		Gerund	Perfect participle
Active	Middle	Passive	Active	Passive	Active	Passive	Passive	Active	Middle
bhava(n)tas, -ī	bhavāmānas, -ā	bhūyamānas, -ā	bhūtava(n)tas, -ī	bhūtas, -ā	bhaviṣya(n)tas, -ī	bhavitavyas, -ā	bhāvyas, -ā	babhūvas, babhūṣī	babhūvānas, -ā

Undeclinable forms

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.

Present, Indicative

Person	Active						Middle
	Long form			Short form			Long form			Short form
	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural
1.	asāmi	asāvas	asāmas	asmi	svas	smas	as(ām)ai	asāvahai	asāmahai	hai	svahai	smahai
2.	asasi	asathas	asatha	asi	sthas	stha	asasai	asāthai	asadhvai	sai	sāthai	dhvai
3.	asati	asatas	asanti	asti	stas	santi	asatai	asātai	asantai	stai	sātai	santai

Imperfect, Indicative

Person	Active						Middle
	Long form			Short form			Long form			Short form
	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural
1.	āsam	asāva	āsāma	āsam	asva	āsma	āsāmai	āsāvahi	āsāmahi	āsmai	āsvahi	āsmahi
2.	āsīs	āsatam	āsata	āsīs	āstam	āsta	āsathās	āsaihām	āsadhvam	āsthās	āsaithām	āsadhvam
3.	āsīt	āsatām	āsan	āsīt	āstām	āsan	āsata	āsaitām	āsanta	āsta	āsaitām	āsanta

Syntax

Because of Vedic's complex declension system the word order is free (with tendency toward SOV).

See also

• Vedic
• Classical Sanskrit
• Old Persian grammar
• Vedic accent

References

• Ernst Wilhelm Oskar Windisch, Berthold Delbrück, Die altindische Wortfolge aus dem Catagathabrahmana
• Arthur Anthony Macdonell, Vedic Grammar (1910)
• Arthur Anthony MacDonell, A Vedic Grammar for Students. Bombay, Oxford University Press. (1916/1975)
• Bruno Lindner, 'Altindische Nominalbildung: Nach den S̆amhitas dargestellt (1878)
• Michael Witzel, Tracing the Vedic dialects in Dialectes dans les litteratures Indo-Aryennes ed. Caillat, Paris, 1989, 97–265.
• Müller M., Sanskrit Grammatik, Leipzig (1868)
• Renou L., Grammaire de la langue védique, Paris (1952)
• William Dwight Whitney, Sanskrit Grammar. 5th edn. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. (1924) [1st ed. 1879]

External links

Grammars

• Charles Wikner "A Practical Sanskrit Introductory"
• A vaishnava version of Pānini's grammar: Harivenu Dāsa "An Introductory Course based on Šrīla Jīva Gosvāmī's Grammar"

Phonology

• Vedic Accents
• Frederik Kortlandt "Accent and ablaut in the Vedic verbs"
• Melissa Frazier "Accent in Proto-Indo-European Athematic Nouns and Its Development in Vedic"
• Arthur Anthony Macdonell "A Vedic Grammar for Students: Appendix II: Vedic Metre"

Morphology

• Julia Papke "Order and Meaning in Sanskrit Preverbs"
• Paul Kiparsky "The Vedic Injunctive: Historical and Synchronic Implications"
• Paul Kiparsky "Aspect and Event Structure in Vedic"
• V. Swaminathan "Panini’s Understanding of Vedic Grammar"
• Daniel Baum "The Imperative in the Rigveda"
• "The «Virtually Unknown» Benedictive Middle in Classical Sanskrit"
• The Sanskrit Heritage Site