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A dvandva ('pair' in
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
) is a linguistic compound in which multiple individual nouns are concatenated to form an agglomerated compound word in which the conjunction has been elided to form a new word with a distinct semantic field. For instance, the individual words 'brother' and 'sister' may in some languages be agglomerated to 'brothersister' to express "siblings". The grammatical number of such constructs is often plural or dual. The term dvandva was borrowed from Sanskrit, a language in which these compounds are common. Dvandvas also exist in
Avestan Avestan ( ) is the liturgical language of Zoroastrianism. It belongs to the Iranian languages, Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family and was First language, originally spoken during the Avestan period, Old ...
, the Old Iranian language related to Sanskrit, as well as in numerous
Indo-Aryan languages The Indo-Aryan languages, or sometimes Indic languages, are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. As of 2024, there are more than 1.5 billion speakers, primarily concentrated east ...
descended from the
Prakrit Prakrit ( ) is a group of vernacular classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages that were used in the Indian subcontinent from around the 5th century BCE to the 12th century CE. The term Prakrit is usually applied to the middle period of Middle Ind ...
s. Several far-eastern languages such as Chinese, Japanese, Atong (a Tibeto-Burman language of India and Bangladesh) and
Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, people from the Korean peninsula or of Korean descent * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Korean **Korean dialects **See also: North–South differences in t ...
also have dvandvas. Dvandvas may also be found occasionally in European languages, but are relatively rare. Examples include: * Atong ''achu-ambi'' ("grandfather-grandmother") for "ancestors". * Azerbaijani ''ər-arvad'' ("husband-wife") for "married couple". *
Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...
''anai-arrebak'' ("brothers and sisters"). * and Japanese , for "landscape, scenery" (lit. "mountains and rivers"). * Finnic ''maa-ilma'' ("land-air") for "world". * Friulian ''marimont'' ("sea-world") for "the entire world, the universe". * Georgian: (ded-mama) (lit. mother-father) for ''parents'', (da-ʒma) (lit. sister-brother) for ''siblings'' *
Modern Greek Modern Greek (, or , ), generally referred to by speakers simply as Greek (, ), refers collectively to the dialects of the Greek language spoken in the modern era, including the official standardized form of the language sometimes referred to ...
for "cutlery" (lit. "fork-knife"), for "married couple" (lit. "husband-wife"). * Leti ''leli masa'' (lit. 'ivory gold') for "treasure" *
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
''mātāpitarau'' "parents" (lit. 'mother-father'). *
Nahuatl Nahuatl ( ; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahuas, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller popul ...
''in xochitl in cuicatl'' (lit. 'the flower, the song') for "poetry" *
Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...
''tatemame'' (papa-mama) for "parents". ''Dvandva''s should not be confused with
agglutination In linguistics, agglutination is a morphology (linguistics), morphological process in which words are formed by stringing together morphemes (word parts), each of which corresponds to a single Syntax, syntactic feature. Languages that use agglu ...
, which also concatenates words but is a different process.


Sanskrit

There are two or three kinds of dvandva compounds in Sanskrit, depending on classification.


Itaretara dvandva

The first, and most common kind, the ''itaretara (<''itara-itara'') dvandva'', is an enumerative compound word, the meaning of which refers to all its constituent members. The resultant compound word is in the dual or plural depending on the total number of described individuals. It takes the gender of the final member in the compound construction. Examples: * ''rāma-lakṣmaṇau'' (dual) "
Rama Rama (; , , ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the seventh and one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu. In Rama-centric Hindu traditions, he is considered the Supreme Being. Also considered as the ideal man (''maryāda' ...
and
Lakshmana Lakshmana (, ), also known as Laxmana, Lakhan, Saumitra, and Ramanuja, is the younger brother of Rama in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He is considered as an incarnation of Shesha, the lord of serpents. Lakshmana was married to Urmila, and i ...
" * '' Hariharau'' (dual) "
Hari Hari () is among the primary epithets of the Hindu preserver deity Vishnu, meaning 'the one who takes away' (sins). It refers to the one who removes darkness and illusion, the one who removes all obstacles to spiritual progress. The name Ha ...
and Hara (
Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...
)" * ''ācārya-śiṣyau'' (dual) 'teacher and student' * ''rāma-lakṣmaṇa-bharata-śatrughnāh'' (plural) "Rama, Lakshmana, Bharata and
Shatrughna ''Shatrughna'' (, ), also known as Ripudaman, is the younger brother of Rama, and King of Mathura, Madhupura and Vidisha, in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He is considered as an incarnation of the Sudarshana Chakra of god Vishnu, and was married ...
" * ''nar-āśva-ratha-dantinaḥ'' (plural) "men, horses, chariots, and elephants" * ''deva-manuṣyāḥ'' (plural) "gods and humans" Compare Greek Αβαρόσλαβοι "the Avars and the Slavs (two distinct tribes acting as a unit)", similarly with case and number marking displayed only on the last part of the compound, the first having the form of the word root) Itaretaras formed from two kinship terms behave differently, in that the first word is not in the compound form but in the nominative (singular). * ''mātā-pitarau'' "mother and father"


Samāhāra dvandva

The second, rarer kind is called samāhāra dvandva and is 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. Examples: * ''pāṇipādam'' 'limbs', literally 'hands and feet', from ''pāṇi'' 'hand' and ''pāda'' 'foot' Compare Modern Greek ανδρόγυνο "husband and wife" or μαχαιροπίρουνο "cutlery" (literally "knife-forks"), similarly always in the neuter singular (plural marking would refer to several couples or cutlery sets).


Ekaśeṣa dvandva

According to some grammarians, there is a third kind called ''ekaśeṣa dvandva'' "residual compound". It is formed like an itaretara, but the first constituent is omitted. The remaining final constituent still takes the dual (or plural) number. According to other grammarians, however, the ekaśeṣa is not properly a compound at all. An example: * ''pitarau'' 'parents', from ''mātā'' 'mother' + ''pitā'' 'father'


See also

* Difrasismo *
Merism Merism (, ) is a rhetorical device (or figure of speech) in which a combination of two ''contrasting parts'' of the whole refer to the whole. For example, in order to say that someone "searched everywhere", one could use the merism "searched hig ...


References

* * {{cite book, title=A Sanskrit Grammar for Students, first=Arthur A., last=MacDonell, publisher=DK Printworld, date=2 February 2004, isbn=81-246-0095-3 Linguistic morphology Sanskrit grammar