Sanskrit grammar basics please
Answers
Introduction:
Sanskrit language has scripts or alphabets for writing, and grammaticalrules for sentence formation, just like any other language (English for example). Inthis chapter we will get an overview of this. The details with their grammatical ruleswill be covered in subsequent chapters.
Alphabets & Their Classification:
In Sanskrit language
Devanagari Script
is the mostlyused script for writing. Most of the Sanskrit literature are in this script. Following isthe list of the alphabets in their correct order.
अ
a
आ
aa
इ
i
ई
ii
उ
u
ऊ
uu
ऋ
RRi
ॠ
RRI
ए
e
ऐ
ai
ओ
o
औ
au
क
k
ख
kh
ग
g
घ
gh
ङ
N^
च
ch
छ
chh
ज
j
झ
jh
ञ
JN
ट
T
ठ
Th
ड
D
ढ
Dh
ण
N
त
t
थ
th
द
d
ध
dh
न
n
प
p
फ
ph
ब
b
भ
bh
म
m
य
y
र
r
ल
l
व
v
श
sh
ष
Sh
स
s
ह
h
ksh
dny
All these alphabets are classified into two major groups i.e.,
•
Vowels or
वरवणवरवणवरवणवरवण
(svaravarNa):
Alphabets starting from
अ
(a) till
औ
(au) are thevowels. These are further classified into
व
(hrasva) and
दघ
(diirgha). The
दघ
(diirgha) are pronounced double the length (or time) of
व
(hrasva).
व
hrasva
अ
a
आ
aa
इ
i
उ
u
ए
e
ऐ
ai
ओ
o
औ
au
दघ
diirgha
ई
ii
ऊ
uu
ऋ
RRi
ॠ
RRI
•
•
Consonants or
यजनवणयजनवणयजनवणयजनवण
(vyaJNjanavarNa):
Alphabets starting from
क
(k) till
(dny) are the consonants. Some of the consonants are further classified intodifferent groups called
वग
(varga). Following table has this classification.Some of the gramatical rules for
Euphonic Combination
or
सिध
(sandhi) and
Compound Words
or
समास
(samaasa) are based on these
वग
(varga).
कवग
kavarga
क
k
ख
kh
ग
g
घ
gh
ङ
N^
चवग
chaavarga
च
ch
छ
chh
ज
j
झ
jh
ञ
JN
टवग
Taavarga
ट
T
ठ
Th
ड
D
ढ
Dh
ण
N
तवग
त
थ
द
ध
न
tavarga t th d dh n
पवग
pavarga
प
p
फ
ph
ब
b
भ
bh
म
m
We will refere these classifications, while covering the
Euphonic Combination
or
सिध
(sandhi) and
Compound Words
or
समास
(samaasa).
Sentence Formation Overview:
In Sanskrit just like any other language (English forexample) a sentence is made of different elements. The elements are "Subject","Object", and "Verb". A sentence may or may not have an Object in it.Lets study the following English sentence to understand these basic elements better.
The boy is reading a book.
In the sentence "boy" is the "Subject", "reading" is "Verb" and the "book" is the"Object".
The boy is reading a book.--- ------- -----| | |Subject Verb Object
•
If we ask the question "who is reading?", the answer that comes is "the boy".So, the "boy" here is the Subject. It is also called the "Noun".
•
The answer that comes in response to question "what is the boy doing?" is"reading". The "reading" here is the "Verb".
•
Similarly the answer to "what is the boy reading?" is "book". The "book"becomes the "Object".Now study the following statement.
The boy is laughing.
In the sentence "boy" is the "Subject", "laughing" is "Verb". But, there is no "Object"in this sentence.
The boy is laughing.--- -------| |Subject Verb
•
If we ask the question "what is the boy laughing?", no answer comes fromthis. So, laughing becomes an "Intranstive Verb".
•
However in the first sentence "what is the boy reading?" gives answer "book".In this case the "reading" becomes a "Transitive Verb".Now that we have understood the basic elements of a sentence, we will begin withmore details of Sanskrit language.