Basics
Verb conjugation in Sanskrit involves the interplay of five 'dimensions', number, person, voice, mood and tense, with the following variables: Further,Building blocks
Roots
The starting point for the morphological analysis of the Sanskrit verb is theStems and stem formation
Before the final endings — to denote number, person etc can be applied, additional elements may be added to the root. Whether such elements are affixed or not, the resulting component here is the stem, to which these final endings can then be added. : The following types of treatment are possible on the root to form the stem:No Treatment
The personal endings are directly affixed to the root with no prior modification, subject to any internal sandhi rules in the process. With a few exceptions, the root keeps the accent and guṇa grade in the three persons of the active, while elsewhere the termination takes on the accent and the root grade is weakened. There are around 130 roots in Sanskrit that come under this class. Sanskrit is unique among the ancient Indo-European languages to have largely preserved this system, which has largely died out in the others. Since adding endings to the root is complicated by phonological changes, the tendency right from the Proto-Indo-European stage has been to use athematic processes instead.Burrow, §7.8Suffixion
AInfixion
Another treatment also from Proto-Indo-European is inserting an exponent within the root itself. All roots undergoing this treatment end in consonants. In weak forms, the infix is simply a nasal (''n'', ''ñ'', ''ṇ'', ''ṅ''), while in strong forms this expands to ''-ná-'' and bears the accent.Accent and gradation
During conjugation, the accent might fall either on the root vowel or on the ending. Among thematic verbs, some roots always get the accent, accompanied by a strengthening of the grade to guṇa or vṛddhi, while in others it always falls on the ending. In non-thematic cases, the position of the accent varies. The general rule for variable-accent verbs is that in the indicative the stem has the accent and the guṇa grade in the three persons of the singular active, and that in the dual and plural of the active and the whole of the middle, the accent falls on the ending and the stem is in its weak form.Reduplication
The root might be subject to reduplication, wherein a part of it is prefixed to itself in the process of forming the stem. For roots beginning in a consonant, that initial consonant, or a modified form of it, is taken, while for those beginning in a vowel, it's the very vowel. The potential modifications that might be made to the prefix consonant can be seen in some typical examples below:Augment
Roots are prefixed with an ''á-'' (from PIE ''é-'') in preterite formations (imperfect, aorist, pluperfect, conditional). The augment without exception bears the accent in these forms. When the root starts with any of the vowels ''i-'', ''u-'' or ''ṛ'', the vowel is subject to vṛddhi and not guṇa. * icch·á·ti -> aí·cch·a·t * urṇó·ti -> aú·rṇo·t * ṛdh·nó·ti -> ā́r·dh·no·tVoice
Sanskrit has in the present inherited two sets of personal endings from its parent Proto-Indo-European, one for thePersonal endings
Conjugational endings in Sanskrit 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. The theoretical forms of the endings are as follow: Primary endings are used with present indicative and future forms. Secondary endings are used with the imperfect, conditional, aorist, and optative. Perfect and imperative endings are used with the perfect and imperative respectively.Verb classes
Based on the treatment they undergo to form the stem, the roots of the Sanskrit language are arranged by the ancient grammarians in ten classes or ''gaṇa''s, based on how they form the present stem, and named after a verb typical to each class. No discoverable grammatical principle has been found for the ordering of these classes. This can be rearranged for greater clarity into non-thematic and thematic groups as summarized below:''Seṭ'' and ''aniṭ'' roots
Sanskrit roots may also be classified, independent of their ', into three groups, depending on whether they take the vowel ' before certain tense markers. Since the term used for this vowel byConjugation
Scope
As in kindred Indo-European languages, conjugation is effected using the above building blocks across the tenses, moods, voices, persons and numbers, yielding, in Sanskrit, a huge number of combinations. Where the forms take personal endings, in other words when it complements a subject, these are called finite forms. Sanskrit also has a few subjectless, i.e., non-finite forms. In the standard scenario, the following forms are seen in Classical Sanskrit: Furthermore, Sanskrit has so-called ''Secondary'' conjugations: * Passive * Intensive * Desiderative * Causative * Denominative The non-finite forms are: * Participles * Infinitive * GerundPrincipal parts
It is difficult to generalize how manyPresent system
The present system includes theThematic classes
All thematic classes have invariant stems and share the same inflectional endings. To demonstrate, observe the conjugation of the Cl. 1 verb ''√bhū- bháv-''. Note that this root is gunated and holds the stress within the root syllable.Present
The present indicative takes primary endings.Imperfect
The imperfect takes the augment and secondary endings. The augment always bears the accent with no exceptions.Optative
The present optative takes the suffix ''-e'' and athematic secondary endings.Imperative
The imperative has its own set of special endings. Some of these forms are relics from an original subjunctive.Athematic classes
Present
The present indicative used the strong stem in the singular and the weak elsewhere. For ''√kṛ-'' used as example here, the weak stem final ''-u-'' is sometimes omitted before endings in ''-v-'' and ''-m-''. The alternate forms for class 3 (reduplicating class) are shown with ''hu-''.Imperfect
The imperfect uses the two stems in the same way as the present.Optative
The optative takes the suffix ''-yā́-'' in the active, and ''-ī-'' in the middle; the stem in front of them is always the weak one. Here the final ''-u-'' of the ''kuru-'' stem is again irregularly dropped.Imperative
The imperative uses the strong stem in all of the 1st person forms, as well as the 3rd person singular active. The 2nd person active may have no ending (class 5, class 8), ''-dhi'' (most of class 3,7, as well as class 1 ending in consonants), or ''-hi'' (class 9, class 3 in ''ā'', and class 1 in vowels; these classes usually ended inPerfect system
The perfect system includes only the perfect. The stem is formed with reduplication; the reduplicated vowel is usually ''a'', but ''u'' or ''i'' for verbs containing them. This system also produces separate "strong" and "weak" forms of the verb — the strong ''guṇa'' form is used with the singular active, and the weak zero-grade form with the rest. In some verbs, the 3rd and optionally 1st person are further strengthened until the root syllable becomes heavy. Most verbs ending in consonants behave as ''seṭ'' in the perfect tense in front of consonant endings. ''√kṛ-'' shown here is one of the exceptions.Aorist system
The aorist system includes aorist proper (with past indicative meaning, e.g. ''abhūḥ'' 'you were') and some of the forms of the ancient injunctive (used almost exclusively with ''mā'' in prohibitions, e.g. ''mā bhūḥ'' 'don't be'). The principle distinction of the two is the presence/absence of an augment – ''á-'' 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.Root aorist
This aorist is formed by directly adding the athematic secondary endings to the root. Originally this type also had different strong and weak stems for the singular and plural, but verbs that both allow this distinction and utilize this type of aorist are exceptionally rare. From ''√gam-'' and ''√dā-'' ; the latter takes ''-us'' in the 3rd person plural. Known instances of weak stems from the Veda include ''avṛjan'' from ''√vṛj-'' in the plural active, ''adhithās'' from ''√dhā-'' in the singular middle, and various forms from ''√kṛ-'' . Middle voice forms of this class are almost nonexistent in the classical period, being suppleted by those of the sibilant classes.a-root aorist
This class is formed with a thematized zero-grade root, and takes regular thematic endings. From ''√sic-'' :s-aorist
This is the most productive aorist class for regular ''aniṭ'' verbs, made by suffixing ''s'' to the root. All active voice forms use the ''vṛddhi'' grade, and middle forms use the weakest grade that produces a heavy root syllable; ''√kṛ-'' and some verbs in ''ā'' may irregularly use zero grade in place of the latter. From ''jī-'' : From ''√tud-'' :is-aorist
This aorist form contains the suffix ''-iṣ-'' and is the productive form of regular ''seṭ'' verbs. The strong active stem is usually strengthened until the root syllable is heavy, and the weak middle stem usually assumes the ''guṇa'' grade. Some verbs in ''a'' followed by a single consonant, such as ''grah-'' , do not take additional strengthening in the active. From ''√pū-'' :sis-aorist
This small class is characterized by a reduplicated ''-siṣ-'' suffix, and is only used in the active voice; the s-aorist is usually used in the middle by verbs that take this formation. From ''√yā-'' :sa-aorist
This formation is used with a small number of verbs ending in consonants which can form the cluster ''kṣ'' when an ''-s-'' is added. It takes a mixture of thematic and athematic endings. From ''√diś-'' :Future system
Simple future
The simple future stem is formed with the suffix ''-sya-'' or ''-iṣya-'' and the ''guṇa'' grade of the root. From ''√kṛ-'' :Periphrastic future
The periphrastic future is formed by first deriving the ''agentive'' noun from the root using ''-tṛ'', and attaching forms of the verb ''as-'' 'to be' as auxiliary, in the first and second persons. In the third person, the masculine form of the agentive noun stands in for all actors, masculine, feminine or neuter. From ''√dā-'' : The medio-passive forms are hardly ever found in the literature.Conditional
There is also a conditional, formed from the future stem as the imperfect is formed from a thematic present stem. Rarely used in Classical Sanskrit, the conditional refers to hypothetical actions.Secondary Conjugation
Sanskrit verbs are capable of a second category of conjugation wherein the root takes on a modified or extended meaning. These are: # Passive # Intensive # Causative # Desiderative # DenominativePassive
The passive is very similar in formation to the dív-class (4th) already seen above, with the primary difference that the -yá- always bears the accent. The root is in its weak form, and the middle endings are used. From ''√han-'' :Intensive
The intensive is formed by reduplicating the root and is conjugated like a class-2 verb. Thus for ''√vid'', we have ''véved-'', ''vevid-'':Participles
Past participles
Past participles are formed directly from verbal roots for most verbs in most cases (except for verbs of the tenth ''gaṇa'', which form them from the present stem). They have a perfective sense, in that they refer to actions that are completed. They can freely substitute for finite verbs conjugated in the past sense.Past passive participles
Sanskrit inherits two suffixes from Proto-Indo-European used to form verbal adjectives and the past passive participle: ''*-tó-'' and ''*-nó-''. The first can be seen in the root 'to come' forming ''*gʷm̥-tó-'', which in Sanskrit becomes ''gatá-'' '(having) gone', and in Latin . The second method is less frequent but can be seen in PIE 'to split' giving ''*bʰid-nó-'', in Sanskrit ''bhin-ná-'' '(having been) split', cognate with English ''bitten''. In Sanskrit thus the past passive participle is formed by adding "-tá-" , or "-ná-", to a root in its weakest grade when weakening is applicable (e.g. samprasāraṇa). For ''seṭ'' roots, the augment ''i'' is inserted before the suffix. The resulting form is an adjective and modifies a noun either expressed or implied. The past passive participle can usually be translated by the corresponding English past passive participle: * ''likh·i·táḥ śabdaḥ'' – 'the written word' * ''kṛ·táṃ kāryam''- 'a done deed' When used with transitive (''sakarmaka'') verbs, the standard passive meaning can be achieved; the agent, if used, is placed in the instrumental case: * ''rākṣaso rāmeṇa hataḥ'' – 'The rākṣasa (demon) was killed by Rāma' Note that rakṣasa is the direct object (karman) of the verbal action expressed in √han "to kill" and the agent (kartṛ) of the same action, Rāma, occurs in the instrumental case. When made from an intransitive (''akarmaka'') or neuter verb, the same participle has no passive, but an indefinite past sense: * ''rāmo vane sthitaḥ'' – 'Rama stood in the forest' (from √sthā – 'to stand, stay')Past active participles
The past participle could be extended by adding the possessive suffix ''-vant-'': ''kṛ·tá·vant-'' – 'one who has something (or things) done'. This naturally takes on the function of the active past participle. This is a linguistic innovation within the Indo-Aryan branch, and the first purely participial formation of this character appears in the Atharvaveda. Later on this formation (''-tá·vant-'' or ''-ná·vant-'') comes to be used independently, with the copula understood, in place of an active preterite: * ''na mām kaścid dṛṣ·ṭá·vān'' – 'no one has seen me' -> 'no one saw me'.Present participle
Unlike the past participles, the present participle is formed from the present stem of the verb, and is formed differently depending on whether the verb is ''parasmaipada'' or ''ātmanepada''. The present participle can never substitute for a finite verb. It is also inherently imperfective, indicating an action that is still in process at the time of the main verb.Present active participle
In theory, the present active participle is the addition of ''-ant'' to a form of the root. In practice however, this participle can simply be made by dropping the -i from the 3rd person plural in the present indicative. This gives us the masculine singular form of the participle. Thus, * bháv·anti -> bháv·ant- * kur·v·ánti -> kur·v·ánt- The weak form is ''-at-'' The feminine is formed as ''-antī́'' in some roots, and as ''-atī́'' in others.Present middle participle
This participle is formed by adding ''-māna-'' to a thematic stem and ''-āná-'' to an athematic stem in the weak form. Thus for ''√bhū-'' and ''√kṛ-'': * bháv·a·māna- * kur·v·āṇá-Future participles
Formed from the future stem just as the present participle is formed from the present stem, the future participle describes an action that has not yet happened, but that may in the future.Future active participle
Just as in the present, it can be formed by simply dropping the ''-i'' of the third-person plural. Thus, * kar·iṣy·ánti -> kar·iṣy·ánt- * bhav·iṣy·ánti -> bhav·iṣy·ánt- The feminines are in either ''-ántī'' or ''-atī́'' although the latter is extremely rare.Future middle participle
Similarly, the middle form is obtained by adding ''-māna-'' to the future stem. So we have: * kar·iṣyá·māṇa- * bhav·iṣyá·māṇa-Gerundive
ThePerfect participle
The perfect participle is a past active participle, but is very rarely used in classical Sanskrit. This is formed by adding ''-vā́ṅs'' in the active and ''-āná'' in the middle voice to the weak form of the perfect stem, as seen, for example in the third person active. The feminine forms are ''-uṣī́'' and ''-ānā́''. Thus, * √bhū- -> babhū·vā́ṅs-, babhū·vāná- * √kṛ- -> cakṛ·vā́ṅs-, cakr·āṇá-Aorist participle
The aorist participle used in Vedic was lost in Classical Sanskrit.Other non-finite forms
Infinitive
The infinitive originates as the accusative form of an old verbal noun. The ending ''-tum'', similar to the LatinGerund
There exists a non-finite form in Sanskrit termed ''gerund'' or ''absolutive'' which is analysed differently from theComprehensive example
The following table is a partial listing of the major verbal forms that can be generated from a single root. Not all roots can take all forms; some roots are often confined to particular stems. The verbal forms listed here are all in the third person singular, and they can all be conjugated in three persons and three numbers.Whitney, ch. 8–15. * Root: ''√bhū-'', a class I thematic verb root. * Present: ''bháv·a-'' * Passive: ''bhū·yá-'' * Future: ''bhav·iṣyá-'' * Perfect: ''babhūv-'' * Aorist: ''bhū-'' * Desiderative: ''bubhū·ṣ-'' * Intensive: ''bóbho ~ bóbhū-'' * Causative: ''bhāv·áya-'' When there are two forms in one cell of this table, the first one is active, the second one middle. Taking into account the fact that the participial forms each decline in seven cases in three numbers across three genders, and the fact that the verbs each conjugate in three persons in three numbers, the primary, causative, and desiderative stems for this root when counted together have over a thousand forms.See also
*Notes
Glossary
Traditional glossary and notes
Brahmic notes
References
Bibliography
* * * * * * Macdonell, A. A. ''A Sanskrit Grammar for Students.'' London: Oxford UP, 1927. () * * ''Sanskrit Grammar for Beginners'' - Müller F., Max - * Goldman, Robert P. & Sally J. ''.'' Berkeley: Center for South Asian Studies, 2004. () * ''Introduction to Indo-European Linguistics'' (''Einführung in die vergleichende Sprachwissenschaft'') – Szemerényi, Oswald J.L. – 4th Ed – Oxford University Press – * {{cite book , first1=Michael , last1=Meier-Brügger , author1-link=Michael Meier-Brügger , first2=Matthias , last2=Fritz , first3=Manfred , last3=Mayrhofer , author3-link=Manfred Mayrhofer , title=Indo-European Linguistics , at=L 315 , year=2003 , publisher=Walter de Gruyter , isbn=3-11-017433-2 , location=Berlin; New York * ''A Sanskrit-English Dictionary'' - Sir Monier Monier-Williams - Oxford Clarendon Press * ''Wilson Sanskrit-English Dictionary''External links