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{{Infobox Language
<!-- See [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Indian cities]] for details -->{{Infobox Indian Jurisdiction |
|name=Sanskrit
native_name = Utran |
|nativename={{lang|sa|संस्कृतम्}} ''{{IAST|saṃskṛtam}}''
type = city |
|pronunciation=[sə̃skɹ̩t̪əm]
latd = 21.23 | longd = 72.87|
|region=[[India]]
locator_position = right |
|speakers=49,736 fluent speakers (1991 [[Indian census]])
state_name = Gujarat |
|familycolor=Indo-European
district = [[Surat district|Surat]] |
|fam2=[[Indo-Iranian languages|Indo-Iranian]]
leader_title = |
|fam3=[[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]]
leader_name = |
|script=[[Devanāgarī]] and several other [[Brāhmī script|Brāhmī]]-based scripts
altitude = 12|
|nation=One of the 22 scheduled languages of [[India]]
population_as_of = 2001 |
|iso1=sa|iso2=san|iso3=san
population_total = 12,894|
|notice=Indic}}
population_density = |

area_magnitude= sq. km |
'''Sanskrit''' ({{lang|sa|संस्कृता वाक्}} ''{{IAST|saṃskṛtā [[Vāc|vāk]]}}'', for short {{lang|sa|संस्कृतम्}} ''{{IAST|saṃskṛtam}}'') is a historical [[Indo-Aryan language]], a [[liturgical language]] of [[Hinduism]] and other [[Indian religions]],<ref> [[Buddhism]]: besides [[Pali]], see [[Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit]]; [[Jainism]]: e.g. [[Tattvartha Sutra]] and [[Mahapurana (Jainism)|Mahapurana]], besides Shauraseni and Ardha-Magadhi Prakrit; [[Sikhism]]: see [[Sikh scriptures]]</ref> and one of the 22 [[official languages of India]].<ref>[http://india.gov.in/govt/documents/english/7thSch-AppV_219-280.pdf Indian Constitution Art.344(1) & Art.345]</ref>
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area_telephone = |
'''Classical Sanskrit''' is the standard register as laid out in the grammar of {{IAST|[[Pāṇini]]}}, around the [[4th century BCE]]. Its position in the [[culture]]s of [[South Asia|South]] and [[Southeast Asia]] is akin to that of [[Latin]] and [[Greek language|Greek]] in [[Europe]] and it has significantly influenced most modern [[languages of India]].<ref name = Staal/>
postal_code = |

vehicle_code_range = |
The pre-Classical form of Sanskrit is known as [[Vedic Sanskrit]], with the language of the [[Rigveda]] being the oldest and most archaic stage preserved, its oldest core dating back to as early as 1500 BCE,<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Macdonell|2004|p=?}}</ref> qualifying Rigvedic Sanskrit as the oldest attestation of any [[Indo-Iranian language]], and one of the earliest attested members of the [[Indo-European language family]].<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Burrow|2001|p=?}}</ref>
sex_ratio = |

unlocode = |
The corpus of [[Sanskrit literature]] encompasses a rich tradition of poetry and [[Sanskrit drama|drama]] as well as scientific, technical, [[Hindu philosophy|philosophical]] and [[Hindu scriptures|Hindu religious]] texts. Today, Sanskrit continues to be widely used as a ceremonial language in Hindu religious rituals in the forms of [[stotra|hymns]] and [[mantra]]s. Spoken Sanskrit is still in use in a few traditional institutions in India, and there are some attempts at [[Sanskrit revival|revival]].
website = |
==Etymology==
footnotes = |
The Sanskrit verbal adjective ''{{unicode|saṃskṛta-}}'' may be translated as "put together, well or completely formed, refined, highly elaborated". It is derived from the root ''{{IAST|saṃ(s)kar-}}'' "to put together, compose, arrange, prepare",<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Monier-Williams|1898|p=1120}}</ref> where ''{{IAST|saṃ-}}'' "together" (as English ''same'') and ''{{IAST|(s)kar-}}'' "do, make".
The language referred to as ''{{IAST|saṃskṛtā vāk}}'' "the cultured language" has by definition always been a "sacred" and "sophisticated" <ref>[http://spokensanskrit.de spokensanskrit.de] dictionary, using {{unicode|संस्कृत}} or '''samskRta''' as input, see nouns</ref> language, used for religious and learned discourse and contrasted with the languages spoken by the people, ''{{IAST|[[Prakrit|prākṛta-]]}}'' "natural, artless, normal, ordinary". It is also called ''{{IAST|dēva-bhāṣā}}'' meaning the "divine language" or the "language of devas or demigods".

== History ==
[[Image:Devimahatmya Sanskrit MS Nepal 11c.jpg|right|thumb|400px|[[Devimahatmya]] manuscript on palm-leaf, in an early [[Bhujimol]] script, [[Bihar]] or [[Nepal]], 11th century.]]

Sanskrit is a member of the [[Indo-Iranian languages|Indo-Iranian]] sub-family of the [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] family of languages. Its closest ancient relatives are the [[Iranian languages]] [[Old Persian]] and [[Avestan]].<ref>Masica, p. 32</ref>. Within the wider Indo-European language family, Sanskrit shares characteristic sound changes with the [[Satem]] languages (particularly the [[Slavic languages|Slavic]] and [[Baltic languages]]), and also with [[Greek language|Greek]].<ref>Masica, p. 33</ref>

In order to explain the common features shared by Sanskrit and other Indo-European languages, many scholars have proposed [[Indo-Aryan migration|migration hypotheses]] asserting that the original speakers of what became Sanskrit arrived in what is now India and Pakistan from the north-west some time during the early second millennium BCE.<ref>Masica, pp. 36-37</ref> Among the evidence in favor of such a theory is the close relationship of the Indo-Iranian tongues with the Baltic and Slavic languages, vocabulary exchange with the non-Indo-European [[Finno-Ugric]] languages, and the nature of the attested Indo-European words for flora and fauna.<ref>Masica, p. 38</ref> Some scholars remain attached to the so-called "[[Out of India theory]]", which maintains that the Indo-Aryans were indigenous to India.

The earliest attested Sanskrit texts are certain books of the [[Rigveda]], which may be located in the [[Punjab region]] and dated to the mid-to-late second millennium BCE. No written records from such an early period survive. However, scholars are confident that the oral transmission of the texts is reliable: they were ceremonial literature whose correct pronunciation was considered crucial to its religious efficacy.<ref>
* {{cite book
|first=Michael
|last= Meier-Brügger
|coauthors=Matthias Fritz, Manfred Mayrhofer, Charles Gertmenian (trans.)
|title=Indo-European Linguistics
|location=Berlin; New York
|publisher=Walter de Gruyter
|year=2003
|isbn=3110174332
|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=49xq3UlKWckC
|pages=p. 20
}}
}}
</ref>
'''Utran''' is a [[census town]] in [[Surat district]] in the [[India]]n [[States and territories of India|state]] of [[Gujarat]].

From the Rigveda until the time of [[Pāṇini|{{IAST|Pāṇini}}]] (fl. 4th century BCE) the development of the Sanskrit language may be observed in the [[Samaveda]], [[Yajurveda]], [[Atharvaveda]], [[Brahmanas]], and [[Upanishads]]. During this time the prestige of the language, its use for sacred purposes, and the importance attached to its correct enunciation all served as powerful conservative forces resisting the normal processes of linguistic change.<ref>
{{cite book
|title=A history of Sanskrit literature
|first=Arthur Berriedale
|last=Keith
|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass
|location=Delhi
|year=1993
|isbn=8120809793
|pages=p. 4
|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=GNALtBMVbd0C
}}
</ref>

The oldest surviving Sanskrit grammar is [[Pāṇini|{{IAST|Pāṇini}}]]'s ''{{IAST|Aṣṭādhyāyī}}'' ("Eight-Chapter Grammar"). It is essentially a prescriptive grammar, i.e., an authority that defines (rather than describes) correct Sanskrit, although it contains descriptive parts, mostly to account for some Vedic forms that had already passed out of use in {{IAST|Pāṇini}}'s time.{{Fact|date=September 2008}}

The term "Sanskrit" was not thought of as a specific language set apart from other languages, but rather as a particularly refined or perfected manner of speaking. Knowledge of Sanskrit was a marker of [[social class]] and [[education]]al attainment in ancient India and the language was taught mainly to members of the higher castes, through close analysis of [[Sanskrit grammarians]] such as {{IAST|Pāṇini}}. Sanskrit, as the learned language of Ancient India, thus existed alongside the [[Prakrit]]s (vernaculars), which evolved into the [[Middle Indic]] dialects, and eventually into the contemporary modern [[Indo-Aryan languages]].{{Fact|date=September 2008}}

====Vedic Sanskrit====
{{main|Vedic Sanskrit}}
Sanskrit, as defined by {{IAST|[[Pāṇini]]}}, had evolved out of the earlier "Vedic" form. Beginning of Vedic Sanskrit can be traced as early as around 1500 BC (accepted date of Rig-Veda).{{Fact|date=October 2007}} Scholars often distinguish [[Vedic Sanskrit]] and Classical or "Paninian" Sanskrit as separate 'dialects'. Though they are quite similar, they differ in a number of essential points of [[phonology]], [[vocabulary]], and [[grammar]] and [[syntax]]. Vedic Sanskrit is the language of the [[Vedas]], a large collection of hymns, incantations ([[Samhitas]]), theological discussions, and religio-philosophical discussions ([[Brahmanas]], Upanishads) which are the earliest religious texts of the [[Hindu]] religion. Modern linguists consider the metrical hymns of the [[Rigveda]] Samhita to be the earliest, composed by many authors over centuries of oral tradition. The end of the Vedic period is marked by the composition of the [[Upanishads]], which form the concluding part of the Vedic corpus in the traditional compilations. The current hypothesis holds that the Vedic form of Sanskrit survived until the middle of the first millennium BC. {{Fact|date=May 2007}} It is around this time that Sanskrit began the transition from a first language to a second language of religion and learning, marking the beginning of the Classical period.

===Classical Sanskrit===
For nearly two thousand years, a cultural order existed that exerted influence across [[South Asia]], [[Inner Asia]], [[Southeast Asia]], and to a certain extent, [[East Asia]].<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Pollock|2001|p=393}}</ref> A significant form of post-Vedic Sanskrit is found in the Sanskrit of the [[Hindu Epics]]—the [[Ramayana]] and [[Mahabharata]]. The deviations from {{IAST|[[Pāṇini]]}} in the epics are generally considered to be on account of interference from Prakrits, or "innovations" and not because they are pre-Paninean.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Oberlies|2003|p=xxvii-xxix}}</ref> Traditional Sanskrit scholars call such deviations ''aarsha'' (आर्ष), or "of the [[rishi]]s", the traditional title for the ancient authors. In some contexts there are also more "prakritisms" (borrowings from common speech) than in Classical Sanskrit proper. Finally, there is also a language called "[[Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit]]" by scholars, which starts out from Buddhist [[prakrit]] texts and gradually evolved to various forms of Sanskrit, some more prakritized than the others,<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Edgerton|1953|p=?}}</ref> According to {{Harvcoltxt|Tiwari|1955}}, there were four principal dialects of classical Sanskrit, viz., ''{{IAST|paścimottarī}}'' (Northwestern, also called Northern or Western), ''{{IAST|madhyadeśī}}'' (lit., middle country), ''{{IAST|pūrvi}}'' (Eastern) and ''{{IAST|dakṣiṇī}}'' (Southern, arose in the Classical period). The predecessors of the first three are even attested in Vedic ''{{IAST|[[Brāhmaṇa]]s}}'', of which the first one was regarded as the purest (''{{IAST|Kauṣītaki Brāhmaṇa, 7.6}}).
===Decline===
{{seealso|Termination of spoken Sanskrit}}
Exactly how and when Sanskrit became a [[extinct language|"dead" language]] isn't clearly understood, but the process was similar to that of [[Latin]], as {{Harvcoltxt|Pollock|2001}} describes it:<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Pollock|2001|p=415}}</ref>
<blockquote>
Both died slowly, and earliest as a vehicle of literary expression, while much longer retaining significance for learned discourse with its universalist claims. Both were subject to periodic renewals or forced rebirths, sometimes in connection with a politics of translocal aspiration… At the same time… both came to be ever more exclusively associated with narrow forms of religion and priestcraft, despite centuries of a secular aesthetic.
</blockquote>
The decline of Sanskrit use in literary and political circles was likely the result of a weakening of the political institutions that supported it as well as by heightened competition with vernacular languages seeking literary-cultural dignity. There was regional variation in the forcefulness of these vernacular movements and Sanskrit declined in different ways across the subcontinent. For example, [[Kashmiri language|Kashmiri]] replaced Sanskrit as the language of literature after the thirteenth century and Sanskrit works from the [[Vijayanagara Empire]] failed to circulate outside of their place and time of composition while works in [[Telugu language|Telugu]] and [[Kannada language|Kannada]] flourished.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Pollock|2001|p=414}}</ref>
This "death" of Sanskrit did not mean it fell out of use in literary cultures of India and, despite literary use of vernacular languages, those who could read in vernacular languages could do the same in Sanskrit<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Pollock|2001|p=416}}</ref> (in addition, even Muslim rulers made attempts to revive literary Sanskrit<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Warder|1972|p=8, 217}}</ref>). What it did mean, though, was that Sanskrit was not used to express changing forms of subjectivity and sociality embodied and conceptualized in the modern age.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Pollock|2001|p=416}}</ref> Instead, it was reduced to "reinscription and restatements" of ideas already explored and any creativity in Sanskrit was restricted to religious hymns and verses.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Pollock|2001|p=398}}</ref><ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Minkowski|2004}} cites the military references of {{IAST|Nīlakaṇṭha Caturdhara}}'s seventeenth-century commentary on the [[Mahābhārata]] as a notable exception.</ref>

===European Scholarship===
European scholarship in Sanskrit, begun by [[Heinrich Roth]] (1620–1668) and [[Johann Ernst Hanxleden]] (1681–1731), is regarded as responsible for the discovery of the [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] [[language family]] by [[William Jones (philologist)|Sir William Jones]], and played an important role in the development of Western [[linguistics]].{{Fact|date=August 2008}}

[[William Jones (philologist)|Sir William Jones]], speaking to the [[Asiatic Society]] in [[Calcutta]] (now [[Kolkata]]) on [[February 2]], [[1786]], said:
:''The Sanskrit language, whatever be its antiquity, is of a wonderful structure; more perfect than the [[Greek language|Greek]], more copious than the [[Latin]], and more exquisitely refined than either, yet bearing to both of them a stronger affinity, both in the roots of verbs and in the forms of grammar, than could possibly have been produced by accident; so strong, indeed, that no [[philology|philologer]] could examine them all three, without believing them to have sprung from [[Proto-Indo-European language|some common source]], which, perhaps, no longer exists.''

== Phonology==
{{see|Śikṣā}}
{{IPA notice}}
Classical Sanskrit distinguishes about 36 [[phoneme]]s. There is, however, some [[allophone|allophony]] and the writing systems used for Sanskrit generally indicate this, thus distinguishing 48 [[phone|sounds]].

The sounds are traditionally listed in the order [[vowel]]s (''Ach''), [[diphthong]]s (''Hal''), [[anusvara]] and [[visarga]], [[Plosive consonant|plosive]]s (Sparśa) and [[nasal consonant|nasal]]s (starting in the back of the mouth and moving forward), and finally the [[liquid consonants|liquid]]s and [[fricative]]s, written in [[IAST]] as follows (see the tables below for details):

:{{IAST|a ā i ī u ū ṛ ṝ ḷ ḹ }}; {{IAST|e ai o au}}
:{{IAST|ṃ ḥ}}
:{{IAST|k kh g gh ṅ; c ch j jh ñ; ṭ ṭh ḍ ḍh ṇ; t th d dh n; p ph b bh m}}
:{{IAST|y r l v}}; {{IAST|ś ṣ s h}}
An alternate traditional ordering is that of the [[Shiva Sutra]] of {{IAST|[[Pāṇini]]}}.

===Vowels===
{{seealso|R-colored vowel#Vocalic R in Sanskrit}}
The vowels of Classical Sanskrit with their word-initial [[Devanagari]] symbol, [[diacritical]] mark with the [[consonant]] {{lang|sa|प्}} ({{IPA|/p/}}), pronunciation (of the vowel alone and of /p/+vowel) in [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]], equivalent in [[IAST]] and ITRANS and (approximate) equivalents in English are listed below:

{|class="wikitable"
|-
! Letter !! {{lang|sa|प्}} !! Pronunciation !! Pronunciation with {{IPA|/p/}} !! [[IAST]] equiv. !! [[ITRANS]] equiv. !! English equivalent ([[General American|GA]] unless stated otherwise)
|-
| {{Unicode|अ}}||{{Unicode|प}}||{{IPA|/ɐ/}} or {{IPA|/ə/}}||{{IPA|/pɐ/}} or {{IPA|/pə/}} ||a||a|| short [[near-open central vowel]] or [[schwa]]: ''u'' in b'''u'''nny or ''a'' in '''a'''bout
|-
| {{Unicode|आ}}||{{Unicode|पा}}||{{IPA|/ɑː/}}||{{IPA|/pɑː/}}||ā||A||long [[open back unrounded vowel]]: ''a'' in f'''a'''ther ([[Received Pronunciation|RP]]
|-
| {{Unicode|इ}}||{{Unicode|पि}}||{{IPA|/i/}}||{{IPA|/pi/}}||i||i||short [[close front unrounded vowel]]: ''e'' in '''e'''ngland
|-
| {{Unicode|ई}}||{{Unicode|पी}}||{{IPA|/iː/}}||{{IPA|/piː/}}||ī||I||long [[close front unrounded vowel]]: ''ee'' in f'''ee'''t
|-
| {{Unicode|उ}}||{{Unicode|पु}}||{{IPA|/u/}}||{{IPA|/pu/}}||u||u||short [[close back rounded vowel]]: ''oo'' in f'''oo'''t
|-
| {{Unicode|ऊ}}||{{Unicode|पू}}||{{IPA|/uː/}}||{{IPA|/puː/}}||ū||U|| long [[close back rounded vowel]]: ''oo'' in c'''oo'''l
|-
| {{Unicode|ऋ}}||{{Unicode|पृ}}||{{IPA|/ɻ/}}||{{IPA|/pɻ/}}||{{Unicode|ṛ}}||R|| short [[retroflex approximant]]: ''r'' in bu'''r'''l
|-
| {{Unicode|ॠ}}||{{Unicode|पॄ}}||{{IPA|/ɻː/}}||{{IPA|/pɻː/}}||{{Unicode|ṝ}}||RR|| long [[retroflex approximant]] ''r'' in bu'''r'''l
|-
| {{Unicode|ऌ}} ||{{Unicode|पॢ}}||{{IPA|/ɭ/}}||{{IPA|/pɭ/}}||{{Unicode|ḷ}}||LR|| short [[retroflex lateral approximant]] (no English equivalent)
|-
| {{Unicode|ॡ}} ||{{Unicode|पॣ}}||{{IPA|/ɭː/}}||{{IPA|/pɭː/}}||{{Unicode|ḹ}}||LRR|| long [[retroflex lateral approximant]]
|-
| {{Unicode|ए}}||{{Unicode|पे}}||{{IPA|/eː/}}||{{IPA|/peː/}}||e||e|| long [[close-mid front unrounded vowel]]: ''a'' in b'''a'''ne (some speakers)
|-
| {{Unicode|ऐ}}||{{Unicode|पै}}||{{IPA|/əi/}}||{{IPA|/pəi/}}||ai||ai|| a long [[diphthong]]: ''i'' in '''i'''ce, ''i'' in k'''i'''te ([[Canadian English]])
|-
| {{Unicode|ओ}}||{{Unicode|पो}}||{{IPA|/oː/}}||{{IPA|/poː/}}||o||o|| long [[close-mid back rounded vowel]]: ''o'' in b'''o'''ne (some speakers)
|-
| {{Unicode|औ}}||{{Unicode|पौ}}||{{IPA|/əu/}}||{{IPA|/pəu/}}||au||au|| a long [[diphthong]]: Similar to the ''ou'' in h''ou''se (Canadian English)
|}

The [[vowel length|long vowels]] are pronounced twice as long as their short counterparts. Also, there exists a third, extra-long length for most vowels, called [[pluti]], which is used in various cases, but particularly in the [[vocative]]. The ''pluti'' is not accepted by all grammarians.

The vowels {{IPA|/e/}} and {{IPA|/o/}} continue as allophonic variants of [[Proto-Indo-Iranian]] {{IPA|/ai/}}, {{IPA|/au/}} and are categorized as diphthongs by Sanskrit grammarians even though they are realized phonetically as simple long vowels. (See above).

Additional points:
* There are some additional signs traditionally listed in tables of the Devanagari script:
** The diacritic {{Unicode|ं}} called ''anusvāra'', ([[IAST]]: {{Unicode|ṃ}}). It is used both to indicate the nasalization of the vowel in the syllable ({{IPA|[◌̃]}} and to represent the sound of a syllabic {{IPA|/n/}} or {{IPA|/m/}}; e.g. {{Unicode|पं}} {{IPA|/pəŋ/}}.
** The diacritic {{Unicode|ः}} called ''visarga'', represents {{IPA|/əh/}} ([[IAST]]: {{Unicode|ḥ}}); e.g. {{Unicode|पः}} {{IPA|/pəh/}}.
** The diacritic {{Unicode|ँ}} called ''chandrabindu'', not traditionally included in Devanagari charts for Sanskrit, is used interchangeably with the ''anusvāra'' to indicate nasalization of the vowel, primarily in Vedic notation; e.g. {{Unicode|पँ}} {{IPA|/pə̃/}}.
* If a lone consonant needs to be written without any following vowel, it is given a ''halanta/virāma'' diacritic below ({{Unicode|प्}}).
* The vowel {{IPA|/aː/}} in Sanskrit is realized as being more central and less back than the closest English approximation, which is {{IPA|/ɑː/}}. But the grammarians have classified it as a back vowel.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Tiwari|1955|p=?}}</ref>.
* The ancient Sanskrit grammarians classified the vowel system as velars, retroflexes, palatals and plosives rather than as back, central and front vowels. Hence {{Unicode|ए}} and {{Unicode|ओ}} are classified respectively as palato-velar (a+i) and labio-velar (a+u) vowels respectively. But the grammarians have classified them as [[diphthong]]s and in prosody, each is given two ''mātrās''. This does not necessarily mean that they are proper diphthongs, but neither excludes the possibility that they could have been proper diphthongs at a very ancient stage (see above). These vowels ''are'' pronounced as long {{IPA|/eː/}} and {{IPA|/oː/}} respectively by learned Sanskrit Brahmans and priests of today. Other than the "four" diphthongs, Sanskrit usually disallows any other diphthong—vowels in succession, where they occur, are converted to [[semivowel]]s according to [[sandhi]] rules.

===Consonants===
[[IAST]] and [[Devanagari]] notations are given, with approximate [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]] values in square brackets.

{|class="wikitable"
|-
!colspan="2"|
!colspan="2"| [[Labial consonant|Labial]]<br>Ōshtya
! [[Labiodental consonant|Labiodental]]<br>Dantōshtya
!colspan="2"| [[Dental consonant|Dental]]<br>Dantya
!colspan="2"| [[Retroflex consonant|Retroflex]]<br>Mūrdhanya
!colspan="2"| [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]<br>Tālavya
!colspan="2"| [[Velar consonant|Velar]]<br>Kanthya
!colspan="2"| [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
!rowspan="2"| [[Plosive consonant|Stop]]<br>Sparśa
! [[Aspiration (phonetics)|Unaspirated]]<br>Alpaprāna
| {{Unicode|p}} {{Unicode|प}} {{IPA|[p]}} || {{Unicode|b}} {{Unicode|ब}} {{IPA|[b]}} || || {{Unicode|t}} {{Unicode|त}} {{IPA|[t̪]}} || {{Unicode|d}} {{Unicode|द}} {{IPA|[d̪]}} || {{Unicode|ṭ}} {{Unicode|ट}} {{IPA|[ʈ]}} || {{Unicode|ḍ}} {{Unicode|ड}} {{IPA|[ɖ]}} || {{Unicode|c}} {{Unicode|च}} {{IPA|[c͡ç]}} || {{Unicode|j}} {{Unicode|ज}} {{IPA|[ɟ͡ʝ]}} || {{Unicode|k}} {{Unicode|क}} {{IPA|[k]}} || {{Unicode|g}} {{Unicode|ग}} {{IPA|[g]}}
|colspan="2"|
|-
! [[Aspiration (phonetics)|Aspirated]]<br>Mahāprāna
| {{Unicode|ph}} {{Unicode|फ}} {{IPA|[pʰ]}} || {{Unicode|bh}} {{Unicode|भ}} {{IPA|[bʱ]}} || || {{Unicode|th}} {{Unicode|थ}} {{IPA|[t̪ʰ]}} || {{Unicode|dh}} {{Unicode|ध}} {{IPA|[d̪ʱ]}} || {{Unicode|ṭh}} {{Unicode|ठ}} {{IPA|[ʈʰ]}} || {{Unicode|ḍh}} {{Unicode|ढ}} {{IPA|[ɖʱ]}} || {{Unicode|ch}} {{Unicode|छ}} {{IPA|[c͡çʰ]}} || {{Unicode|jh}} {{Unicode|झ}} {{IPA|[ɟ͡ʝʱ]}} || {{Unicode|kh}} {{Unicode|ख}} {{IPA|[kʰ]}} || {{Unicode|gh}} {{Unicode|घ}} {{IPA|[gʱ]}}
|colspan="2"|
|-
!colspan="2"| [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]<br>Anunāsika
|colspan="2" style="font-weight: normal"| m {{Unicode|म}} {{IPA|[m]}}
|
|colspan="2" style="font-weight: normal"| {{Unicode|n}} {{Unicode|न}} {{IPA|[n̪]}}
|colspan="2" style="font-weight: normal"| {{Unicode|ṇ}} {{Unicode|ण}} {{IPA|[ɳ]}}
|colspan="2" style="font-weight: normal"| {{Unicode|ñ}} {{Unicode|ञ}} {{IPA|[ɲ]}}
|colspan="2" style="font-weight: normal"| {{Unicode|ṅ}} {{Unicode|ङ}} {{IPA|[ŋ]}}
|colspan="2"|
|-
!colspan="2"| [[Semivowel]]<br>Antastha
|colspan="2"|
|style="font-weight: normal"| v {{Unicode|व}} {{IPA|[ʋ]}}
|colspan="2"|
|colspan="2"|
|colspan="2" style="font-weight: normal"| y {{Unicode|य}} {{IPA|[j]}}
|colspan="2"|
|colspan="2"|
|-
!colspan="2"| [[Liquid consonant|Liquid]]<br>Drava
|colspan="2"|
|
|colspan="2" style="font-weight: normal"| l {{Unicode|ल}} {{IPA|[l]}}
|colspan="2" style="font-weight: normal"| r {{Unicode|र}} {{IPA|[r]}}
|colspan="2"|
|colspan="2"|
|colspan="2"|
|-
!colspan="2"| [[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]<br>Ūshman
|colspan="2"|
|
|colspan="2" style="font-weight: normal"| {{Unicode|s}} {{Unicode|स}} {{IPA|[s̪]}}
|colspan="2" style="font-weight: normal"| {{unicode|ṣ}} {{Unicode|ष}} {{IPA|[ʂ]}}
|colspan="2" style="font-weight: normal"| {{unicode|ś}} {{Unicode|श}} {{IPA|[ɕ]}}
|colspan="2"|
|style="font-weight: normal"| {{unicode|ḥ}} {{Unicode|ः}} {{IPA|[h]}}
|style="font-weight: normal"| {{unicode|h}} {{Unicode|ह}} {{IPA|[ɦ]}}
|}

The table below shows the traditional listing of the Sanskrit consonants with the (nearest) equivalents in English (as pronounced in [[General American]] and [[Received Pronunciation]]) and Spanish. Each consonant shown below is deemed to be followed by the neutral vowel [[schwa]] ({{IPA|/ə/}}), and is named in the table as such.

{|class="wikitable"
|+ [[Plosives]] – Sprshta
|-
!
![[Unaspirated]]<br>[[Voiceless]] <br>Alpaprāna Śvāsa
![[Aspiration (phonetics)|Aspirated]]<br>[[Voiceless]]<br>Mahāprāna Śvāsa
![[Unaspirated]]<br>[[Voiced]] <br>Alpaprāna Nāda
![[Aspiration (phonetics)|Aspirated]]<br>[[Voiced]] <br>Mahāprāna Nāda
![[Nasal consonant|Nasal]] <br>Anunāsika Nāda
|-align="center"
![[Velar consonant|Velar]]<br>Kantya
|{{Unicode|क}} <br>{{IPA|/kə/}}; English: s'''k'''ip
|{{Unicode|ख}} <br>{{IPA|/kʰə/}}; English: '''c'''at
|{{Unicode|ग}} <br>{{IPA|/gə/}}; English: '''g'''ame
|{{Unicode|घ}} <br>{{IPA|/gʱə/}}; somewhat similar to English: do'''gh'''ouse
|{{Unicode|ङ}} <br>{{IPA|/ŋə/}}; English: ri'''ng'''
|-align="center"
![[Palatal]]<br>Tālavya
|{{Unicode|च}} <br>{{IPA|/cə/}}; English: ex'''ch'''ange
|{{Unicode|छ}} <br>{{IPA|/cʰə/}}; English: '''ch'''urch
|{{Unicode|ज}} <br>{{IPA|/ɟə/}}; ≈English: '''j'''am
|{{Unicode|झ}} <br>{{IPA|/ɟʱə/}}; somewhat similar to English: he'''dgeh'''og
|{{Unicode|ञ}} <br>{{IPA|/ɲə/}}; English: be'''n'''ch
|-align="center"
![[Retroflex]]<br>Mūrdhanya
|{{Unicode|ट}} <br>{{IPA|/ʈə/}}; No English equivalent
|{{Unicode|ठ}} <br>{{IPA|/ʈʰə/}}; No English equivalent
|{{Unicode|ड}} <br>{{IPA|/ɖə/}}; No English equivalent
|{{Unicode|ढ}} <br>{{IPA|/ɖʱə/}}; No English equivalent
|{{Unicode|ण}} <br>{{IPA|/ɳə/}}; No English equivalent
|-align="center"
!Apico-[[Dental consonant|Dental]]<br>Dantya
|{{Unicode|त}} <br>{{IPA|/t̪ə/}}; Spanish: '''t'''oma'''t'''e
|{{Unicode|थ}} <br>{{IPA|/t̪ʰə/}}; Aspirated {{IPA|/t̪/}}
|{{Unicode|द}} <br>{{IPA|/d̪ə/}}; Spanish: '''d'''on'''d'''e
|{{Unicode|ध}} <br>{{IPA|/d̪ʱə/}}; Aspirated {{IPA|/d̪/}}
|{{Unicode|न}} <br>{{IPA|/n̪ə/}}; English: '''n'''ame
|-align="center"
![[labial consonant|Labial]] <br>Ōshtya
|{{Unicode|प}} <br>{{IPA|/pə/}}; English: s'''p'''in
|{{Unicode|फ}} <br>{{IPA|/pʰə/}}; English: '''p'''it
|{{Unicode|ब}} <br>{{IPA|/bə/}}; English: '''b'''one
|{{Unicode|भ}} <br>{{IPA|/bʱə/}}; somewhat similar to English: clu'''bh'''ouse
|{{Unicode|म}} <br>{{IPA|/mə/}}; English: '''m'''ine
|}

{|class="wikitable"
|+ Non-Plosives/Sonorants
|-
!
![[Palatal]]<br>Tālavya
![[Retroflex]]<br>Mūrdhanya
![[Dental consonant|Dental]]<br>Dantya
![[labial consonant|Labial]]/<br>[[glottal consonant|Glottal]] <br>Ōshtya
|-align="center"
![[Approximant]]<br>Antastha
|{{Unicode|य}} <br>{{IPA|/jə/}}; English: '''y'''ou
|{{Unicode|र}} <br>{{IPA|/rə/}}; English: t'''r'''ip ([[Scottish English]])
|{{Unicode|ल}} <br>{{IPA|/l̪ə/}}; English: '''l'''ove
|{{Unicode|व (labio-dental)<br>{{IPA|/ʋə/}}; English: '''v'''ase
|-align="center"
![[Sibilant]]/<br>[[Fricative]] <br>Ūshman
|{{Unicode|श}} <br>{{IPA|/ɕə/}}; English: '''sh'''ip
|{{Unicode|ष}} <br>{{IPA|/ʂə/}}; Retroflex form of {{IPA|/ʃ/}}
|{{Unicode|स}} <br>{{IPA|/s̪ə/}}; English: '''s'''ame
|{{Unicode|ह}} (glottal)<br>{{IPA|/ɦə/}}; English be'''h'''ind
|}

===Phonology and Sandhi===
The Sanskrit vowels are as discussed in the section above. The long syllabic l ({{unicode|ḹ}}) is not attested, and is only discussed by grammarians for systematic reasons. Its short counterpart {{unicode|ḷ}} occurs in a single root only, {{unicode|kḷp}} "to order, array". Long syllabic r ({{unicode|ṝ}}) is also quite marginal, occurring in the genitive plural of r-stems (e.g. ''{{unicode|mātṛ}}'' "mother" and ''{{unicode|pitṛ}}'' "father" have gen.pl. ''{{unicode|mātṝṇām}}'' and ''{{unicode|pitṝṇām}}''). {{unicode|i, u, ṛ, ḷ}} are vocalic allophones of consonantal {{unicode|y, v, r, l}}. There are thus only 5 invariably vocalic [[phoneme]]s,
:{{unicode|a, ā, ī, ū, ṝ}}.

[[Visarga]] {{unicode|ḥ}} {{Unicode|ः}} is an [[allophone]] of {{unicode|r}} and {{unicode|s}}, and [[anusvara]] {{unicode|ṃ}}, Devanagari {{Unicode| ं}} of any nasal, both in [[pausa]] (ie, the nasalized vowel). The exact pronunciation of the three sibilants may vary, but they are distinct phonemes. An aspirated voiced sibilant {{IPA|/zʱ/}} was inherited by [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]] from Proto-Indo-Iranian but lost shortly before the time of the Rigveda (aspirated fricatives are exceedingly rare in any language). The [[retroflex consonant]]s are somewhat marginal phonemes, often being conditioned by their phonetic environment; they do not continue a [[PIE]] series and are often ascribed by some linguists to the [[substratum|substratal]] influence of [[Dravidian languages|Dravidian]]{{Fact|date=August 2007}} or other substrate languages. The nasal {{IPA|[ɲ]}} is a conditioned allophone of {{IPA|/n/}} ({{IPA|/n/}} and {{IPA|/ɳ/}} are distinct phonemes—{{unicode|aṇu}} 'minute', 'atomic' [nom. sg. neutr. of an adjective] is distinctive from {{unicode|anu}} 'after', 'along'; phonologically independent {{unicode|/ŋ/}} occurs only marginally, e.g. in {{unicode|prāṅ}} 'directed forwards/towards' [nom. sg. masc. of an adjective]). There are thus 31 consonantal or semi-vocalic phonemes, consisting of four/five kinds of stops realized both with or without aspiration and both voiced and voiceless, three nasals, four semi-vowels or liquids, and four fricatives, written in [[IAST]] transliteration as follows:
:{{unicode|k, kh, g, gh; c, ch, j, jh; ṭ, ṭh, ḍ, ḍh; t, th, d, dh; p, ph, b, bh; m, n, ṇ; y, r, l, v; ś, ṣ, s, h}}
or a total of 36 unique Sanskrit phonemes altogether.

The [[phonology|phonological]] rules to be applied when combining morphemes to a word, and when combining words to a sentence are collectively called ''[[sandhi]]'' "composition". Texts are written phonetically, with sandhi applied (except for the so-called ''padapā{{Unicode|ṭ}}ha'').
===Palindrome===
Sanskrit is famous for certain specialities, one of them being the [[Palindrome]].

As early as the 14th Century, the scholar Dyvagyna Surya Pandita wrote "Ramakrishna Viloma Kavyam," a set of poems that when read forward relate to Rama and the [[Ramayana]], and when read in reverse relate to Krishna and the [[Mahabharata]].

==Writing system==
[[Image:Kashmir Sharada MS.jpg|thumb|240px|[[Kashmir]]i [[Shaivaite]] manuscript in the [[Sharada script]] (c. 17th century)]]

Sanskrit was spoken in an oral society, and the oral tradition was maintained through the development of early classical [[Sanskrit literature]].<ref>Salomon (1998), p. 7</ref> Writing was not introduced to India until after Sanskrit had evolved into the Prakrits; when it was written, the choice of writing system was influenced by the regional scripts of the scribes. As such, virtually all of the major writing systems of South Asia have been used for the production of Sanskrit manuscripts. Since the late 19th century, [[Devanagari]] has been considered as the ''de facto'' writing system for Sanskrit,<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Whitney|1889|p=?}}</ref> quite possibly because of the European practice of printing Sanskrit texts in this script.

The earliest known inscriptions in Sanskrit date to the first century BC.<ref name="salomon">Salomon (1998), p. 86</ref> They are in the [[Brāhmī script|Brahmi]] script, which was originally used for [[Prakrit]], not Sanskrit.<ref name="masica">
{{cite book
|first=Colin
|last=Masica
|year=1991
|location=Cambridge
|title=The Indo-Aryan Languages
|publisher=Cambridge University Press
|isbn=9780521299442
|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=J3RSHWePhXwC
|pages=p. 135
}}
</ref> It has been described as a "paradox" that the first evidence of written Sanskrit occurs centuries later than that of the Prakrit languages which are its linguistic descendants.<ref name="salomon"/><ref>
In northern India, there are [[Brāhmī script|Brahmi]] inscriptions dating from the 3rd century BC onwards, the oldest appearing on the famous [[Edicts of Ashoka|Prakrit pillar inscriptions]] of king [[Ashoka]]. The earliest South Indian inscriptions in Tamil Brahmi, written in early Tamil, belong to the same period.({{Harvcoltxt|Mahadevan|2003|p=?}})
</ref> When Sanskrit was written down, it was first used for texts of an administrative, literary or scientific nature. The sacred texts were preserved orally, and were set down in writing, "reluctantly" (according to one commentator), and at a comparatively late date.<ref name="masica"/>

Brahmi evolved into a multiplicity of scripts of the [[Brahmic family]], many of which were used to write Sanskrit. Roughly contemporary with the Brahmi, the [[Kharosthi]] script was used in the northwest of the subcontinent. Later (around the 4th to 8th centuries CE) the [[Gupta script]], derived from Brahmi, became prevalent. From ca. the 8th century, the [[Sharada script]] evolved out of the Gupta script. The latter was displaced in its turn by [[Devanagari]] from ca. the 11/12th century, with intermediary stages such as the [[Siddham]] script. In Eastern India, the [[Bengali language|Bengali]] script and, later, the [[Oriya script]], were used. In the south where [[Dravidian languages]] predominate, scripts used for Sanskrit include [[Kannada script|Kannada]], [[Telugu script|Telugu]], [[Tamil script|Tamil]], [[Malayalam language|Malayalam]] and [[Grantha script|Grantha]].

<center>[[Image:Phrase sanskrit.png]]<br/> Sanskrit in modern Indian scripts. ''May [[Shiva|Śiva]] bless those who take delight in the language of the gods.'' ([[Kalidasa]])
</center>
</span>

====Romanization====
{{main|Devanagari transliteration}}
Since the late 18th century, Sanskrit has been [[transliteration|transliterated]] using the [[Latin alphabet]]. The system most commonly used today is the [[IAST]] (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration), which has been the academic standard since 1888/1912. [[ASCII]]-based transliteration schemes have evolved due to difficulties representing Sanskrit characters in computer systems. These include [[Harvard-Kyoto]] and [[ITRANS]], a transliteration scheme that is used widely on the Internet, especially in Usenet and in email, for considerations of speed of entry as well as rendering issues. With the wide availability of [[Unicode]] aware web browsers, IAST has become common online.

It's also possible to type using an [[alphanumeric keyboard]] and transliterate to devanagari using software like Mac OS X's international support.

European scholars in the 19th century generally preferred Devanagari for the transcription and reproduction of whole texts and lengthy excerpts. However, references to individual words and names in texts composed in European languages were usually represented with Roman transliteration. From the 20th century onwards, due to production costs, textual editions edited by Western scholars have mostly been in Romanized transliteration.

==Grammar==
{{main|Sanskrit grammar}}
===Grammatical tradition===
{{main|Sanskrit grammarians}}

Sanskrit grammatical tradition ('''{{unicode|vyākaraṇa}}''', one of the six [[Vedanga]] disciplines) began in late [[Vedic India]] and culminated in the '''{{unicode|[[Aṣṭādhyāyī]]}}''' of {{unicode|[[Pāṇini]]}}, which consists of 3990 sutras (ca. 5th century BC). After a century {{unicode|[[Pāṇini]]}} (around 400 BC) Kātyāyana composed Vārtikas on Pāninian sũtras. [[Patañjali]], who lived three centuries after Pānini, wrote the ''{{unicode|[[Mahābhāṣya]]}}'', the "Great Commentary" on the {{unicode|Aṣṭādhyāyī}} and Vārtikas. Because of these three ancient [[Sanskrit grammarians]] this grammar is called '''Trimuni Vyākarana'''. To understand the meaning of sutras Jayaditya and Vāmana wrote the commentary named Kāsikā 600 CE. Paninian grammar is based on 14 [[Shiva]] sutras (aphorisms). Here whole Mātrika ([[alphabet]]) is abbreviated. This abbreviation is called Pratyāhara.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Abhyankar|1986|p=?}}</ref>

===Verbs===
{{main|Sanskrit verbs}}
Sanskrit has ten classes of [[verb]]s divided into in two broad groups: [[athematic]] and [[Vowel stem|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. [[exponent (linguistics)|Exponents]] used in verb [[grammatical conjugation|conjugation]] include [[Prefix (linguistics)|prefix]]es, [[suffix]]es, [[infix]]es, and [[reduplication]]. Every root has (not necessarily all distinct) zero, [[guna|gu{{Unicode|ṇ}}a]], and [[vrddhi|v{{Unicode|ṛ}}ddhi]] grades. If V is the vowel of the zero grade, the gu{{Unicode|ṇ}}a-grade vowel is traditionally thought of as a + V, and the v{{Unicode|ṛ}}ddhi-grade vowel as ā + V.

The verb [[tense]]s (a very inexact application of the word, since more distinctions than simply tense are expressed) are organized into four 'systems' (as well as [[gerund]]s and [[infinitive]]s, and such creatures as [[intensive]]s/[[frequentative]]s, [[desiderative]]s, [[causative]]s, and [[benedictive]]s 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 tense|Present]], [[Imperfect tense|Imperfect]], [[Imperative mood|Imperative]], [[Optative mood|Optative]])
*[[Perfect tense|Perfect]]
*[[Aorist tense|Aorist]]
*[[Future]] ([[Future tense|Future]], [[Conditional]])

===Nouns===
Sanskrit is a highly [[inflection|inflected]] language with three [[grammatical gender]]s (masculine, feminine, neuter) and three numbers (singular, plural, [[dual grammatical number|dual]]). It has eight [[grammatical case|cases]]: [[nominative case|nominative]], [[vocative case|vocative]], [[accusative case|accusative]], [[instrumental case|instrumental]], [[dative case|dative]], [[ablative case|ablative]], [[genitive case|genitive]], and [[locative case|locative]].

The number of actual [[declension]]s is debatable. [[Panini (grammarian)|Panini]] identifies six ''karakas'' corresponding to the nominative, accusative, dative, instrumental, locative, and ablative cases [http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/epc/srb/cyber/man3.html]. Panini defines them as follows (Ashtadhyayi, I.4.24-54):

# ''Apadana'' (lit. 'take off'): "(that which is) firm when departure (takes place)." This is the equivalent of the ablative case, which signifies a stationary object from which movement proceeds.
# ''Sampradana'' ('bestowal'): "he whom one aims at with the object". This is equivalent to the dative case, which signifies a recipient in an act of giving or similar acts.
# ''Karana'' ("instrument") "that which effects most." This is equivalent to the instrumental case.
# ''Adhikarana'' ('location'): or "substratum." This is equivalent to the locative case.
# ''Karman'' ('deed'/'object'): "what the agent seeks most to attain". This is equivalent to the accusative case.
# ''Karta'' ('agent'): "he/that which is independent in action". This is equivalent to the nominative case. (On the basis of Scharfe, 1977: 94)

===Personal Pronouns and Determiners===
{{main|Sanskrit pronouns and determiners}}
The first and second person pronouns are declined for the most part alike, having by [[analogy]] assimilated themselves with one another.

===Compounds===
{{main|Sanskrit 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 language|German]] and [[Finnish language|Finnish]]. Both, along with Sanskrit, belong to the [[Agglutinative languages]]. 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:

; {{unicode|[[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 ''itaretara 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-lakşmaņau'' – Rama and Lakshmana, or ''rāma-lakşmaņa-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. ''pāņipādam'' – limbs, literally hands and feet, from pāņi = hand and pāda = foot. According to some grammarians, there is a third kind of dvandva, called ''ekaśeşa 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 ''ekaśeşa'' is not properly a compound at all.
; {{unicode|[[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{{ndash}} 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".
; [[Tatpurusha|{{unicode|Tatpuruṣa}}]] (determinative)
: There are many tatpuru{{Unicode|ṣ}}as (one for each of the nominal cases, and a few others besides); in a tatpuru{{Unicode|ṣ}}a, 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 "caturtitatpuru{{Unicode|ṣ}}a" (caturti refers to the fourth case—that is, the dative). Incidentally, "tatpuru{{Unicode|ṣ}}a" is a tatpuru{{Unicode|ṣ}}a ("this man"—meaning someone's agent), while "caturtitatpuru{{Unicode|ṣ}}a" is a [[Karmadharya|karmadhārya]], being both dative, and a tatpuru{{Unicode|ṣ}}a. An easy way to understand it is to look at English examples of tatpuru{{Unicode|ṣ}}as: "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").
; {{unicode|[[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.
; [[Amredita|{{unicode|Amreḍita}}]] (iterative)
: Repetition of a word expresses repetitiveness, e. g. dive-dive 'day by day', 'daily'.
;[[Dvigu]]

===Syntax===
{{Expand-section|date=June 2008}}
Because of Sanskrit's complex declension system the [[word order]] is free (with a strong tendency toward [[Subject Object Verb|SOV]], which was the original system in place in Vedic prose).

===Numerals===
The numbers from one to ten:

# {{IAST|éka-}}
# {{IAST|dva-}}
# {{IAST|tri-}}
# {{IAST|catúr-}}
# {{IAST|páñcan-}}
# {{IAST|ṣáṣ-}}
# {{IAST|saptán-}}
# {{IAST|aṣṭá-}}
# {{IAST|návan-}}
# {{IAST|dáśan-}}

The numbers one through four are declined. '''Éka''' is declined like a pronominal adjective, though the dual form does not occur. '''Dvá''' appears only in the dual. '''Trí''' and '''catúr''' are declined irregularly:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!rowspan="2"|
!colspan="3"| Three
!colspan="3"| Four
|-
! Masculine !! Neuter !! Feminine !! Masculine !! Neuter !! Feminine
|-
! Nominative
| tráyas || {{Unicode|trī́ṇi}}</font> || tisrás || catvā́ras || catvā́ri || cátasras
|-
! Accusative
| trīn || {{Unicode|trī́ṇi}}</font> || tisrás || catúras || catvā́ri || cátasras
|-
! Instrumental
|colspan="2"| tribhís
| {{Unicode|tisṛ́bhis}}</font>
|colspan="2"| catúrbhis
| {{Unicode|catasṛ́bhis}}
|-
! Dative
|colspan="2"| tribhyás
| {{Unicode|tisṛ́bhyas}}
|colspan="2"| catúrbhyas
| {{Unicode|catasṛ́bhyas}}
|-
! Ablative
|colspan="2"| tribhyás
| {{Unicode|tisṛ́bhyas}}
|colspan="2"| catúrbhyas
| {{Unicode|catasṛ́bhyas}}
|-
! Genitive
|colspan="2"|{{Unicode|triyāṇā́m}}
| {{Unicode|tisṛṇā́m}}</font>
|colspan="2"| {{Unicode|caturṇā́m}}
| {{Unicode|catasṛṇā́m}}
|-
! Locative
|colspan="2"| {{Unicode|triṣú}}
| {{Unicode|tisṛ́ṣu}}
|colspan="2"| {{Unicode|catúrṣu}}
| {{Unicode|catasṛ́ṣu}}
|}

==Influence==
=== Modern-day India ===
====Influence on vernaculars====
Sanskrit's greatest influence, presumably, is that which it exerted on [[languages of India]] that grew from its vocabulary and grammatical base; for instance [[Hindi]], which is a "Sanskritized register" of the [[Khariboli dialect]]. However, all modern [[Indo-Aryan languages]] as well as [[Munda languages|Munda]] and [[Dravidian languages]], have borrowed many words either directly from Sanskrit (''[[tatsama]]'' words), or indirectly via middle Indo-Aryan languages (''[[tadbhava]]'' words).<ref name = Staal>{{Harvnb|Stall|1963|p=272}}</ref> Words originating in Sanskrit are estimated to constitute roughly fifty percent of the vocabulary of modern Indo-Aryan languages,<ref name=Chatterji>{{Harvnb|Chatterji|1942}}, cited in {{Harvnb|Stall|1963|p=272}}</ref> and the literary forms of (Dravidian) [[Telugu]], [[Malayalam]] and [[Kannada language|Kannada]].<ref name = Staal/>

Especially among élite circles in India, Sanskrit is prized as a storehouse of scripture and the language of prayers in [[Hinduism]]. Like [[Latin]]'s influence on European languages and Classical Chinese's influence on East Asian languages, Sanskrit has influenced most Indian languages. While vernacular prayer is common, Sanskrit [[mantra]]s are recited by millions of Hindus and most temple functions are conducted entirely in Sanskrit, often Vedic in form. Of modern day Indian languages, while Hindi and Urdu tend to be more heavily weighted with [[Arabic language|Arabic]] and [[Persian language|Persian]] influence, [[Nepali language|Nepali]], [[Bengali language|Bengali]], [[Assamese language|Assamese]], [[Konkani language|Konkani]] and [[Marathi]] still retain a largely Sanskrit and Prakrit vocabulary base. The Indian national anthem, [[Jana Gana Mana]], is written in a literary form of Bengali (known as ''sadhu bhasha''), Sanskritized so as to be recognizable, but still archaic to the modern ear. The national song of India [[Vande Mataram]] was originally a poem composed by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and taken from his book called '[[Anandamath]]', is in a similarly highly Sanskritized Bengali. [[Malayalam language|Malayalam]], [[Telugu language|Telugu]] and [[Kannada language|Kannada]] also combine a great deal of Sanskrit vocabulary. Sanskrit also has influence on Chinese through [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] Sutras. Chinese words like 剎那 ''chànà'' (Skt. क्षन ''{{IAST|kṣana}}'' 'instantaneous period of time') were borrowed from Sanskrit.

==== Revival attempts ====
{{main|Sanskrit revival}}
The [[1991 Indian census]] reported 49,736 fluent speakers of Sanskrit, mostly among the Hindu priestly castes. Since the 1990s, efforts to revive spoken Sanskrit have been increasing. Many organizations like the ''Samskrta Bharati'' are conducting Speak Sanskrit workshops to popularize the language. The ''[[CBSE]]'' (Central Board of Secondary Education) in India has made Sanskrit a third language (though it is an option for the school to adopt it or not, the other choice being the state's own official language) in the schools it governs. In such schools, learning Sanskrit is an option for grades 5 to 8 (Classes V to VIII). This is true of most schools, including but not limited to Christian missionary schools, affiliated to the [[ICSE]] board too, especially in those states where the official language is [[Hindi]]. [[Sudharma]], the only daily newspaper in Sanskrit has been published out of [[Mysore]] in [[India]] since the year 1970. Since 1974, there has been a short daily news broadcast on All India Radio.

Sanskrit is reported to be spoken natively by the population in [[Mattur]] village in central [[Karnataka]]. Allegedly, Inhabitants of all castes learn Sanskrit starting in childhood and converse in the language. [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1199965,curpg-1.cms]

===Symbolic Usage===
In the Republic of India, in Nepal and Indonesia, Sanskrit phrases are widely used as mottoes for various educational and social organizations (much as [[Latin]] is used by some institutions in the West). The [[motto]] of the Republic is also in Sanskrit.

; [[Republic of India]] : ''[[Satyameva Jayate]]'' "Truth alone triumphs"
; [[Nepal]] : ''Janani Janmabhūmisca Svargādapi garīyasi'' "Mother and motherland are greater than heaven"
; [[Goa]] : ''Sarve Bhadrāni Paśyantu Mā Kaścid Duhkhabhāg bhavet'' "May all perceive good, may not anyone attain unhappiness"
; [[Life Insurance Corporation of India]] : ''Yogakshemam Vahāmyaham'' "I shall take care of welfare" (taken from the [[Bhagavad Gita]])
; [[Indian Navy]] : ''Shanno Varuna'' "May Varuna be peaceful to us"
; [[Indian Air Force]] : ''Nābha Sparsham Dīptam'' "Touch the Sky with Glory"
; [[Mumbai Police]] : ''sadrakshanaaya cahlaaha nighranayah'' "For protection of the good and control of the wicked"
; [[Indian Coast Guard]] : ''Vayam Rakshāmaha'' "We protect"
; [[All India Radio]] : ''Bahujana-hitāya bahujana-sukhāya'' "For the benefit of all, for the comfort of all"
; [[Indonesian Navy]] : ''Jalesveva Jayamahe'' "On the Sea We Are Glorious"
; [[Aceh Province]] : Pancacita "Five Goals"

Many of the post–Independence educational institutions of national importance in India and Sri Lanka have Sanskrit mottoes. For a fuller list of such educational institutions, see [[List of educational institutions which have Sanskrit phrases as their mottoes]].

=== Interactions with Eastern and Southeastern Asiatic languages ===
Sanskrit and related languages have also influenced their Sino-Tibetan-speaking neighbors to the north through the spread of [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] texts in translation.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|van Gulik|1956|p=?}}</ref> Buddhism was spread to [[China]] by [[Mahayana|Mahayanist]] missionaries mostly through translations of [[Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit]] and Classical Sanskrit texts, and many terms were transliterated directly and added to the Chinese vocabulary. (Although Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit is not Sanskrit, properly speaking, its vocabulary is substantially the same, both because of genetic relationship, and because of conscious imitation on the part of composers. Buddhist texts composed in Sanskrit proper were primarily found in philosophical schools like the [[Madhyamaka]].) The situation in Tibet is similar; many Sanskrit texts survive only in Tibetan translation (in the [[Tanjur]]).

The [[Thai language]] contains many [[loan word]]s from Sanskrit. For example, in Thai, the [[Raavana|Rāvana]] – the emperor of [[Sri Lanka]] is called 'Thosakanth' which is a derivation of his Sanskrit name 'Dashakanth' ("of ten necks"). Many Sanskrit loanwords are also found in [[Malay language|traditional Malay]], [[Indonesian language|Modern Indonesian]], and numerous [[Philippine languages]],<ref>See [[:id:Daftar kata serapan dari bahasa Sansekerta dalam bahasa Indonesia|this page]] from the [[Indonesian Wikipedia]] for a list</ref> [[Old Javanese]] language (nearly half)<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Zoetmulder|1982|p=ix}}</ref> and to a lesser extent, [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]], through Sinified hybrid Sanskrit.

===Sanskrit's usage in modern times===
Many of India's and Nepal's scientific and administrative terms are named in Sanskrit, as a counterpart of the western practice of naming scientific developments in Latin or Greek. The [[Integrated Guided Missile Development Program|Indian guided missile program]] that was commenced in 1983 by [[DRDO]] has named the five missiles (ballistic and others) that it has developed as [[Prithvi missile|Prithvi]], [[Agni missile system|Agni]], [[Akash missile|Akash]], [[Nag missile|Nag]] and [[Trishul missile|Trishul]]. India's first modern fighter [[aircraft]] is named [[Tejas|HAL Tejas]].

Recital of Sanskrit [[shloka]]s as background chorus in [[film]]s, [[television]] advertisements and as slogans for corporate organizations has become a trend.

Recently, Sanskrit also made a brief appearance in Western pop music in two recordings by [[Madonna (entertainer)|Madonna]]. One, "Shanti/Ashtangi," from the 1998 album "Ray of Light," is the traditional [[Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga]] chant referenced above set to music. The second, "Cyber-raga," released in 2000 as a B-side to Madonna's single "Music," is a Sanskrit-language ode of devotion to a higher power and a wish for peace on earth. The climactic battle theme of The [[Matrix Revolutions]] features a choir singing a Sanskrit prayer from the [[Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]] in the closing titles of the movie. Composer [[John Williams]] also featured a choir singing in Sanskrit for [[Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace]].

The [[Sky1]] version of the title sequence in season one of [[Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)|Battlestar Galactica 2004]] features the [[Gayatri Mantra]], taken from the [[Rig Veda]] (3.62.10). The composition was written by miniseries composer [[Richard Gibbs]].

{{see also|Sanskrit in the West}}

===Computational linguistics===
There have been suggestions to use Sanskrit as a [[metalanguage]] for knowledge representation in e.g. [[machine translation]], and other areas of [[natural language processing]] because of its relatively high regular structure.<ref>First suggested by {{Harvcoltxt|Briggs|1985}}</ref> This is due to Classical Sanskrit being a regularized, prescriptivist form abstracted from the much more complex and richer [[Vedic Sanskrit]]. This leveling of the grammar of Classical Sanskrit began during the Brahmana phase, and had not yet completed by the time of Panini, when the language had fallen out of popular use.

==See also==
<div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:2; column-count:2;">
* [[Avestan]]
* [[Devanagari]]
* [[International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration]]
* [[Sanskrit literature]]
* [[Sanskrit numerals]]
* [[Grantha|Grantha Script]]
* [[Indo-European languages]]
* [[Languages of India]]
</div>

==Notes==
{{reflist|2}}

==Bibliography==
*{{Harvard reference
|last=Abhyankar
|first=Kashinath V.
|title=A dictionary of Sanskrit Grammar,
|series=Gaekwad's Oriental Series
|volume=134
|year=1986
|place=Baroda
|publisher=Oriental Institute
}}
*{{Harvard reference
|last=Briggs
|first=Rick
|date=1985
|title=[http://www.gosai.com/science/sanskrit-nasa.html Knowledge Representation in Sanskrit and Artificial Intelligence]
|journal=AI Magazine
|volume=6
|issue=1
}}
*{{Harvard reference
|last=Burrow
|first=T.
|title=Sanskrit language
|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass
|year=2001
|isbn=8120817672
}}
*{{Harvard reference
|last=Chatterji
|first=Suniti Kumar
|authorlink=Suniti Kumar Chatterji
|title=Indo-Aryan and Hindi
|publisher=Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyay
|year=1960
|isbn=
}}
*{{Harvard reference
|last=Edgerton
|first=F.
|title=Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit grammar and dictionary
|year=1953
|place= New Haven
|publisher=Yale University Press
}}
*{{Harvard reference
|last=van Gulik
|first=Robert
|authorlink=Robert van Gulik
|title=Siddham; an essay on the history of Sanskrit studies in China and Japan
|year=1956
|place=Nagpur
|publisher=International Academy of Indian Culture
|ISBN=8177420380
}}
*{{Harvard reference
|last=MacDonell
|first=Arthur Anthony
|authorlink=Arthur Anthony Macdonell
|title=A History Of Sanskrit Literature
|year=2004
|publisher=Kessinger Publishing
|location=
|isbn=1417906197
}}
*{{Harvard reference
|last=Mahadevan
|first=I
|title=Early Tamil epigraphy from the earliest times to the sixth century Common Era |place=Chennai/Cambridge
|year=2003
}}
*{{Harvard reference
|last=Masica
|first=Colin
|authorlink=Colin Masica
|year=1991
|title=The Indo-Aryan Languages
|place= Cambridge
|publisher=Cambridge University Press
|isbn=9780521299442
|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=J3RSHWePhXwC
}}
*{{Harvard reference
|last=Minkowski
|first=Christopher
|title={{IAST|Nīlakaṇṭha's}} instruments of war: Modern, vernacular, barbarous
|year=2004
|journal=The Indian Economic and Social History Review
|volume=41
|issue=4
|pages=365-385
}}
*{{Harvard reference
|last=Monier-Williams
|first=Monier
|authorlink=Monier Monier Williams
|year=1898
|title=A Sanskrit-English Dictionary
}}
*{{Harvard reference
|last=Oberlies
|first=Thomas
|title=A Grammar of Epic Sanskrit
|year=2003
|publisher=Walter de Gruyter
|ISBN=3110144484
}}
*{{Harvard reference
|last=Pollock
|first=Sheldon
|authorlink=Sheldon Pollock
|year=2001
|title=The Death of Sanskrit
|journal=Comparative Studies in Society and History
|volume=43
|issue=2
|pages=392-426
|url=http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pollock/sks/papers/death_of_sanskrit.pdf
}}
*{{citation
|last=Staal
|first=J.F.
|authorlink=Frits Staal
|title=Sanskrit and Sanskritization
|journal=The Journal of Asian Studies
|volume=22
|issue=3
|pages=261-275
|date=1963}}
*{{Harvard reference
|last=Tiwari
|first=Bholanath
|title=भाषा विज्ञान (Bhasha Vigyan)
|year=1955
|ISBN=0-7007-1382-4
}}
*{{Harvard reference
|last=Warder
|first=A.K.
|authorlink=A. K. Warder
|year=1972
|title=Indian kāvya Literature
|volume=1
|series=Literary Criticism
|place=Delhi
|Publisher=Motilal Banarsidass
}}
*{{Harvard reference
|last=Whitney
|first=William Dwight
|authorlink=William Dwight Whitney
|year=1889
|title=Sanskrit Grammar: Including both the Classical Language and the Older Dialects
|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=VHYKAAAAIAAJ
}}
*{{Harvard reference
|last=Zoetmulder
|first=Petrus Josephus
|authorlink=Petrus Josephus Zoetmulder
|year=1982
|title=Old Javanese-English dictionary
|place=[[The Hague]]
|publisher=Nijhoff
}}
* {{cite book
|title=Indian epigraphy: a guide to the study of inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the other Indo-Aryan languages
|first=Richard
|last=Salomon
|location=New York
|publisher=Oxford University Press
|year=1998
|isbn=0195099842
|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=XYrG07qQDxkC
}}

==Further reading==

;Introductions
*{{cite book
|last=Cameron
|first=Bruce
|title=Sanskrit Pronunciation
|ISBN=1-55700-021-2
}}
*{{cite book
|last=Coulson
|first=M.
|title=Teach Yourself Sanskrit
|ISBN=0-340-85990-3
}}
*{{cite book
|last=Goldman
|first=Robert P.
|title={{Unicode|Devavāṇīpraveśikā: An Introduction to the Sanskrit Language}}
|ISBN=0-944613-40-3
}}
* {{cite book
|last=Kale
|first=M. R.
|title=A Higher Sanskrit Grammar
|ISBN 81-208-0178-4
}}
* {{cite book
|last=Macdonell
|first=Arthur Anthony
|title=A Sanskrit Grammar for Students
|ISBN=81-246-0094-5
}}
* {{cite book
|last=Maurer
|first=Walter Harding
|title=The Sanskrit Language: An Introductory Grammar and Reader
|ISBN=0-7007-1382-4
}}
* {{cite book
|last=Shastri
|first=Vagish
|title=Conversational Sanskrit
|ISBN=81-85570-12-4
}}
* {{cite book
|last=Monier-Williams
|first=Monier
|authorlink=Monier Monier-Williams
|title=A Practical Grammar Of The Sanskrit Language Arranged With Reference To The Classical Languages Of Europe For The Use Of English Students
|year=1846
|publisher=W. H. Allen & co.
|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=REQhAAAAMAAJ&
}}
;Grammars
*Whitney, William Dwight ''The Roots, Verb-Forms and Primary Derivatives of the Sanskrit Language: (A Supplement to His Sanskrit Grammar)''
*Wackernagel, Debrunner, ''[[Altindische Grammatik]]'', Göttingen.
**vol. I. phonology [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN1421247127&id=mWaIUMIoUvkC&dq=Altindische] [[Jacob Wackernagel]] (1896)
**vol. II.1. introduction to morphology, nominal composition, Wackernagel (1905) [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN1421247100&id=qql6RRqTAuIC&dq=Altindische]
**vol. II.2. nominal suffixes, J. Wackernagel and Albert Debrunner (1954)
**vol. III. nominal inflection, numerals, pronouns, Wackernagel and Debrunner (1930)
*Delbrück, B. ''Altindische Tempuslehre'' (1876) [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN1421246880&id=_-9K_xT8OBAC&dq=Altindische]

;Dictionaries
*[[Otto Böhtlingk]], Rudolph Roth, ''Petersburger Wörterbuch'', 7 vols., 1855-75
*Otto Böhtlingk, ''Sanskrit Wörterbuch in kürzerer Fassung'' 1883–86 (1998 reprint, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi)
*[[Manfred Mayrhofer]], ''Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindischen'', 1956-76
*Manfred Mayrhofer, ''Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen'', 3 vols., 2742 pages, 2001, ISBN 3-8253-1477-4

== External links ==
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{{Interwiki|code=sa}}
{{Wikibooks|Sanskrit}}
*[http://samskrita-bharati.org/ Samskrita Bharati]
*{{ethnologue|code=san}}
*[http://iit.edu/~laksvij/language/sanskrit.html Transliterator] from [[romanized]] to [[Unicode]] Sanskrit
*[http://sanskritvoice.com/ Sanskrit Voice: Learn, read and promote Sanskrit]
*[http://baraha.com/ Sanskrit transliterator] with font conversion to Latin and other Indian Languages
*[http://freenet-homepage.de/prilop/sanskrit-alphabet.html Sanskrit Alphabet] in Devanagari, Gujarati, Bengali, and Thai scripts with an extensive list of Devanagari, Gujarati, and Bengali conjuncts
*[http://pankajjain.bizland.com/IndicUniversity/Rutgers/SanskritStudies.htm Academic Courses on Sanskrit Around The World]

;Sanskrit Documents
*[http://sanskrit.gde.to/ Sanskrit Documents]: Documents in ITX format of Upanishads, Stotras etc. and a metasite with links to translations, dictionaries, tutorials, tools and other Sanskrit resources.
*[http://www.swargarohan.org/Download.htm Read online Sanskrit text (PDF) of Mahabharata, Upanishada, Bhagavad-Gita, Yoga-Sutra etc. as well as Sanskrit-English spiritual Dictionary]
*[http://uwest.edu/sanskritcanon/index.html Digital Sanskrit Buddhist Canon]
*[http://www.sub.uni-goettingen.de/ebene_1/fiindolo/gretil.htm GRETIL: Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages], a cumulative register of the numerous download sites for electronic texts in Indian languages.
*[http://www.granthamandira.com/index.php?show=home Gaudiya Grantha Mandira] - A Sanskrit Text Repository. This site also provides encoding converter.
*[http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/index.htm Sanskrit texts at Sacred Text Archive]
*[http://claysanskritlibrary.org Clay Sanskrit Library] publishes Sanskrit literature with facing-page text and translation.
*[http://www.giirvaani.net/] for texts and word-to-word translations
*[http://www.new.dli.ernet.in/] for ageold publications
*[http://dli.iiit.ac.in/] for similar old publications


;Primers
==Geography==
*[http://chitrapurmath.net/sanskrit/step-by-step.htm Sanskrit Self Study] by Chitrapur Math
Utran is located at {{coord|21.23|N|72.87|E|}}<ref>[http://www.fallingrain.com/world/IN/9/Utran.html Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Utran]</ref>. It has an average elevation of 12&nbsp;[[metre]]s (39&nbsp;[[foot (unit of length)|feet]]).
*[http://sanskrit.farfromreal.com Discover Sanskrit] A concise study of the Sanskrit language
*[http://sanskritdocuments.org/learning_tutorial_wikner/index.html A Practical Sanskrit Introductory by Charles Wikner].
*[http://sanskrit-lamp.org/ A Sanskrit Tutor]
*[http://utexas.edu/cola/centers/lrc/eieol/vedol-0-X.html Ancient Sanskrit Online] from the University of Texas at Austin


;Grammars
==Demographics==
*[http://warnemyr.com/skrgram/ An Analytical Cross Referenced Sanskrit Grammar] By Lennart Warnemyr.
[[As of 2001]] India [[census]]<ref>{{GR|India}}</ref>, Utran had a population of 12,894. Males constitute 54% of the population and females 46%. Utran has an average literacy rate of 73%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 80%, and female literacy is 64%. In Utran, 13% of the population is under 6 years of age.


{{Languages of India}}
==References==
{{Languages of South Asia}}
<references/>
{{Indo-Iranian languages}}
{{Buddhism topics}}


[[Category:Cities and towns in Gujarat]]
[[Category:Sanskrit| ]]
[[Category:Endangered Indo-European languages]]


{{Link FA|vi}}
{{Gujarat-geo-stub}}


[[bpy:উতরান]]
[[af:Sanskrit]]
[[am:ሳንስክሪት]]
[[pt:Utran]]
[[ar:لغة سنسكريتية]]
[[vi:Utran]]
[[an:Sanscrito]]
[[ast:Sánscritu]]
[[bn:সংস্কৃত ভাষা]]
[[be-x-old:Санскрыт]]
[[bcl:Sanskrito]]
[[bs:Sanskrit]]
[[br:Sañskriteg]]
[[bg:Санскрит]]
[[ca:Sànscrit]]
[[ceb:Pinulongang Sanskrito]]
[[cs:Sanskrt]]
[[cy:Sansgrit]]
[[da:Sanskrit]]
[[de:Sanskrit]]
[[dv:ސަންސްކްރިއްތް]]
[[et:Sanskriti keel]]
[[el:Σανσκριτική γλώσσα]]
[[es:Sánscrito]]
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[[fa:سانسکریت]]
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[[fy:Sanskryt]]
[[ga:Sanscrait]]
[[gl:Lingua sánscrita]]
[[gu:સંસ્કૃત ભાષા]]
[[ko:산스크리트어]]
[[hi:संस्कृत भाषा]]
[[hr:Sanskrt]]
[[io:Sanskrita linguo]]
[[bpy:সংস্কৃত]]
[[id:Bahasa Sanskerta]]
[[ia:Sanscrito]]
[[is:Sanskrít]]
[[it:Lingua sanscrita]]
[[he:סנסקריט]]
[[jv:Basa Sangskreta]]
[[kn:ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತ]]
[[ka:სანსკრიტი]]
[[kw:Sanskrytek]]
[[sw:Kisanskrit]]
[[la:Lingua Sanscrita]]
[[lv:Sanskrits]]
[[lt:Sanskritas]]
[[lij:Lengua sànscrïa]]
[[li:Sanskriet]]
[[hu:Szanszkrit nyelv]]
[[mk:Санскрит]]
[[ml:സംസ്കൃതം]]
[[mr:संस्‍कृत भाषा]]
[[ms:Sanskrit]]
[[nah:Sanscritlahtōlli]]
[[nl:Sanskriet]]
[[ne:संस्कृत]]
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[[ja:サンスクリット]]
[[no:Sanskrit]]
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[[pl:Sanskryt]]
[[pt:Sânscrito]]
[[ro:Limba sanscrită]]
[[rmy:संस्कृतीकानी छीब]]
[[qu:Sanskrit simi]]
[[ru:Санскрит]]
[[sa:संस्कृत]]
[[simple:Sanskrit]]
[[sk:Sanskrit]]
[[sl:Sanskrt]]
[[sr:Санскрит]]
[[sh:Sanskrt]]
[[su:Basa Sangsakerta]]
[[fi:Sanskrit]]
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[[tl:Wikang Sanskrit]]
[[ta:சமஸ்கிருதம்]]
[[te:సంస్కృతము]]
[[th:ภาษาสันสกฤต]]
[[vi:Tiếng Phạn]]
[[tr:Sanskritçe]]
[[uk:Санскрит]]
[[ur:سنسکرت]]
[[zh-yue:梵文]]
[[bat-smg:Sanskrita kalba]]
[[zh:梵语]]

Revision as of 12:56, 10 October 2008

Sanskrit
संस्कृतम् saṃskṛtam
Pronunciation[sə̃skɹ̩t̪əm]
RegionIndia
Native speakers
49,736 fluent speakers (1991 Indian census)
Devanāgarī and several other Brāhmī-based scripts
Official status
Official language in
One of the 22 scheduled languages of India
Language codes
ISO 639-1sa
ISO 639-2san
ISO 639-3san

Sanskrit (संस्कृता वाक् saṃskṛtā vāk, for short संस्कृतम् saṃskṛtam) is a historical Indo-Aryan language, a liturgical language of Hinduism and other Indian religions,[1] and one of the 22 official languages of India.[2]

Classical Sanskrit is the standard register as laid out in the grammar of Pāṇini, around the 4th century BCE. Its position in the cultures of South and Southeast Asia is akin to that of Latin and Greek in Europe and it has significantly influenced most modern languages of India.[3]

The pre-Classical form of Sanskrit is known as Vedic Sanskrit, with the language of the Rigveda being the oldest and most archaic stage preserved, its oldest core dating back to as early as 1500 BCE,[4] qualifying Rigvedic Sanskrit as the oldest attestation of any Indo-Iranian language, and one of the earliest attested members of the Indo-European language family.[5]

The corpus of Sanskrit literature encompasses a rich tradition of poetry and drama as well as scientific, technical, philosophical and Hindu religious texts. Today, Sanskrit continues to be widely used as a ceremonial language in Hindu religious rituals in the forms of hymns and mantras. Spoken Sanskrit is still in use in a few traditional institutions in India, and there are some attempts at revival.

Etymology

The Sanskrit verbal adjective

saṃskṛta- may be translated as "put together, well or completely formed, refined, highly elaborated". It is derived from the root saṃ(s)kar- "to put together, compose, arrange, prepare",[6] where saṃ- "together" (as English same) and (s)kar- "do, make". The language referred to as saṃskṛtā vāk "the cultured language" has by definition always been a "sacred" and "sophisticated" [7] language, used for religious and learned discourse and contrasted with the languages spoken by the people, prākṛta- "natural, artless, normal, ordinary". It is also called dēva-bhāṣā meaning the "divine language" or the "language of devas or demigods".

History

Devimahatmya manuscript on palm-leaf, in an early Bhujimol script, Bihar or Nepal, 11th century.

Sanskrit is a member of the Indo-Iranian sub-family of the Indo-European family of languages. Its closest ancient relatives are the Iranian languages Old Persian and Avestan.[8]. Within the wider Indo-European language family, Sanskrit shares characteristic sound changes with the Satem languages (particularly the Slavic and Baltic languages), and also with Greek.[9]

In order to explain the common features shared by Sanskrit and other Indo-European languages, many scholars have proposed migration hypotheses asserting that the original speakers of what became Sanskrit arrived in what is now India and Pakistan from the north-west some time during the early second millennium BCE.[10] Among the evidence in favor of such a theory is the close relationship of the Indo-Iranian tongues with the Baltic and Slavic languages, vocabulary exchange with the non-Indo-European Finno-Ugric languages, and the nature of the attested Indo-European words for flora and fauna.[11] Some scholars remain attached to the so-called "Out of India theory", which maintains that the Indo-Aryans were indigenous to India.

The earliest attested Sanskrit texts are certain books of the Rigveda, which may be located in the Punjab region and dated to the mid-to-late second millennium BCE. No written records from such an early period survive. However, scholars are confident that the oral transmission of the texts is reliable: they were ceremonial literature whose correct pronunciation was considered crucial to its religious efficacy.[12]

From the Rigveda until the time of Pāṇini (fl. 4th century BCE) the development of the Sanskrit language may be observed in the Samaveda, Yajurveda, Atharvaveda, Brahmanas, and Upanishads. During this time the prestige of the language, its use for sacred purposes, and the importance attached to its correct enunciation all served as powerful conservative forces resisting the normal processes of linguistic change.[13]

The oldest surviving Sanskrit grammar is Pāṇini's Aṣṭādhyāyī ("Eight-Chapter Grammar"). It is essentially a prescriptive grammar, i.e., an authority that defines (rather than describes) correct Sanskrit, although it contains descriptive parts, mostly to account for some Vedic forms that had already passed out of use in Pāṇini's time.[citation needed]

The term "Sanskrit" was not thought of as a specific language set apart from other languages, but rather as a particularly refined or perfected manner of speaking. Knowledge of Sanskrit was a marker of social class and educational attainment in ancient India and the language was taught mainly to members of the higher castes, through close analysis of Sanskrit grammarians such as Pāṇini. Sanskrit, as the learned language of Ancient India, thus existed alongside the Prakrits (vernaculars), which evolved into the Middle Indic dialects, and eventually into the contemporary modern Indo-Aryan languages.[citation needed]

Vedic Sanskrit

Main article: Vedic Sanskrit

Sanskrit, as defined by Pāṇini, had evolved out of the earlier "Vedic" form. Beginning of Vedic Sanskrit can be traced as early as around 1500 BC (accepted date of Rig-Veda).[citation needed] Scholars often distinguish Vedic Sanskrit and Classical or "Paninian" Sanskrit as separate 'dialects'. Though they are quite similar, they differ in a number of essential points of phonology, vocabulary, and grammar and syntax. Vedic Sanskrit is the language of the Vedas, a large collection of hymns, incantations (Samhitas), theological discussions, and religio-philosophical discussions (Brahmanas, Upanishads) which are the earliest religious texts of the Hindu religion. Modern linguists consider the metrical hymns of the Rigveda Samhita to be the earliest, composed by many authors over centuries of oral tradition. The end of the Vedic period is marked by the composition of the Upanishads, which form the concluding part of the Vedic corpus in the traditional compilations. The current hypothesis holds that the Vedic form of Sanskrit survived until the middle of the first millennium BC. [citation needed] It is around this time that Sanskrit began the transition from a first language to a second language of religion and learning, marking the beginning of the Classical period.

Classical Sanskrit

For nearly two thousand years, a cultural order existed that exerted influence across South Asia, Inner Asia, Southeast Asia, and to a certain extent, East Asia.[14] A significant form of post-Vedic Sanskrit is found in the Sanskrit of the Hindu Epics—the Ramayana and Mahabharata. The deviations from Pāṇini in the epics are generally considered to be on account of interference from Prakrits, or "innovations" and not because they are pre-Paninean.[15] Traditional Sanskrit scholars call such deviations aarsha (आर्ष), or "of the rishis", the traditional title for the ancient authors. In some contexts there are also more "prakritisms" (borrowings from common speech) than in Classical Sanskrit proper. Finally, there is also a language called "Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit" by scholars, which starts out from Buddhist prakrit texts and gradually evolved to various forms of Sanskrit, some more prakritized than the others,[16] According to Tiwari (1955), there were four principal dialects of classical Sanskrit, viz., paścimottarī (Northwestern, also called Northern or Western), madhyadeśī (lit., middle country), pūrvi (Eastern) and dakṣiṇī (Southern, arose in the Classical period). The predecessors of the first three are even attested in Vedic Brāhmaṇas, of which the first one was regarded as the purest (Kauṣītaki Brāhmaṇa, 7.6).

Decline

See also: Termination of spoken Sanskrit

Exactly how and when Sanskrit became a "dead" language isn't clearly understood, but the process was similar to that of Latin, as Pollock (2001) describes it:[17]

Both died slowly, and earliest as a vehicle of literary expression, while much longer retaining significance for learned discourse with its universalist claims. Both were subject to periodic renewals or forced rebirths, sometimes in connection with a politics of translocal aspiration… At the same time… both came to be ever more exclusively associated with narrow forms of religion and priestcraft, despite centuries of a secular aesthetic.

The decline of Sanskrit use in literary and political circles was likely the result of a weakening of the political institutions that supported it as well as by heightened competition with vernacular languages seeking literary-cultural dignity. There was regional variation in the forcefulness of these vernacular movements and Sanskrit declined in different ways across the subcontinent. For example, Kashmiri replaced Sanskrit as the language of literature after the thirteenth century and Sanskrit works from the Vijayanagara Empire failed to circulate outside of their place and time of composition while works in Telugu and Kannada flourished.[18] This "death" of Sanskrit did not mean it fell out of use in literary cultures of India and, despite literary use of vernacular languages, those who could read in vernacular languages could do the same in Sanskrit[19] (in addition, even Muslim rulers made attempts to revive literary Sanskrit[20]). What it did mean, though, was that Sanskrit was not used to express changing forms of subjectivity and sociality embodied and conceptualized in the modern age.[21] Instead, it was reduced to "reinscription and restatements" of ideas already explored and any creativity in Sanskrit was restricted to religious hymns and verses.[22][23]

European Scholarship

European scholarship in Sanskrit, begun by Heinrich Roth (1620–1668) and Johann Ernst Hanxleden (1681–1731), is regarded as responsible for the discovery of the Indo-European language family by Sir William Jones, and played an important role in the development of Western linguistics.[citation needed]

Sir William Jones, speaking to the Asiatic Society in Calcutta (now Kolkata) on February 2, 1786, said:

The Sanskrit language, whatever be its antiquity, is of a wonderful structure; more perfect than the Greek, more copious than the Latin, and more exquisitely refined than either, yet bearing to both of them a stronger affinity, both in the roots of verbs and in the forms of grammar, than could possibly have been produced by accident; so strong, indeed, that no philologer could examine them all three, without believing them to have sprung from some common source, which, perhaps, no longer exists.

Phonology

Further information: Śikṣā
This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

Classical Sanskrit distinguishes about 36 phonemes. There is, however, some allophony and the writing systems used for Sanskrit generally indicate this, thus distinguishing 48 sounds.

The sounds are traditionally listed in the order vowels (Ach), diphthongs (Hal), anusvara and visarga, plosives (Sparśa) and nasals (starting in the back of the mouth and moving forward), and finally the liquids and fricatives, written in IAST as follows (see the tables below for details):

a ā i ī u ū ṛ ṝ ḷ ḹ; e ai o au
ṃ ḥ
k kh g gh ṅ; c ch j jh ñ; ṭ ṭh ḍ ḍh ṇ; t th d dh n; p ph b bh m
y r l v; ś ṣ s h

An alternate traditional ordering is that of the Shiva Sutra of Pāṇini.

Vowels

See also: R-colored vowel § Vocalic R in Sanskrit

The vowels of Classical Sanskrit with their word-initial Devanagari symbol, diacritical mark with the consonant प् (/p/), pronunciation (of the vowel alone and of /p/+vowel) in IPA, equivalent in IAST and ITRANS and (approximate) equivalents in English are listed below:

Letter प् Pronunciation Pronunciation with /p/ IAST equiv. ITRANS equiv. English equivalent (GA unless stated otherwise)
अ||

प||/ɐ/ or /ə/||/pɐ/ or /pə/ ||a||a|| short near-open central vowel or schwa: u in bunny or a in about

आ||

पा||/ɑː/||/pɑː/||ā||A||long open back unrounded vowel: a in father (RP

इ||

पि||/i/||/pi/||i||i||short close front unrounded vowel: e in england

ई||

पी||/iː/||/piː/||ī||I||long close front unrounded vowel: ee in feet

उ||

पु||/u/||/pu/||u||u||short close back rounded vowel: oo in foot

ऊ||

पू||/uː/||/puː/||ū||U|| long close back rounded vowel: oo in cool

ऋ|| पृ||/ɻ/||/pɻ/||

ṛ||R|| short retroflex approximant: r in burl

ॠ|| पॄ||/ɻː/||/pɻː/||

ṝ||RR|| long retroflex approximant r in burl

ऌ || पॢ||/ɭ/||/pɭ/||

ḷ||LR|| short retroflex lateral approximant (no English equivalent)

ॡ || पॣ||/ɭː/||/pɭː/||

ḹ||LRR|| long retroflex lateral approximant

ए||

पे||/eː/||/peː/||e||e|| long close-mid front unrounded vowel: a in bane (some speakers)

ऐ||

पै||/əi/||/pəi/||ai||ai|| a long diphthong: i in ice, i in kite (Canadian English)

ओ||

पो||/oː/||/poː/||o||o|| long close-mid back rounded vowel: o in bone (some speakers)

औ||

पौ||/əu/||/pəu/||au||au|| a long diphthong: Similar to the ou in house (Canadian English)

The long vowels are pronounced twice as long as their short counterparts. Also, there exists a third, extra-long length for most vowels, called pluti, which is used in various cases, but particularly in the vocative. The pluti is not accepted by all grammarians.

The vowels /e/ and /o/ continue as allophonic variants of Proto-Indo-Iranian /ai/, /au/ and are categorized as diphthongs by Sanskrit grammarians even though they are realized phonetically as simple long vowels. (See above).

Additional points:

  • There are some additional signs traditionally listed in tables of the Devanagari script:

ं called anusvāra, (IAST:

ṃ). It is used both to indicate the nasalization of the vowel in the syllable ([◌̃] and to represent the sound of a syllabic /n/ or /m/; e.g.

पं /pəŋ/.

ः called visarga, represents /əh/ (IAST:

ḥ); e.g.

पः /pəh/.

ँ called chandrabindu, not traditionally included in Devanagari charts for Sanskrit, is used interchangeably with the anusvāra to indicate nasalization of the vowel, primarily in Vedic notation; e.g.

पँ /pə̃/.

  • If a lone consonant needs to be written without any following vowel, it is given a halanta/virāma diacritic below (

प्).

  • The vowel /aː/ in Sanskrit is realized as being more central and less back than the closest English approximation, which is /ɑː/. But the grammarians have classified it as a back vowel.[24].
  • The ancient Sanskrit grammarians classified the vowel system as velars, retroflexes, palatals and plosives rather than as back, central and front vowels. Hence

ए and

ओ are classified respectively as palato-velar (a+i) and labio-velar (a+u) vowels respectively. But the grammarians have classified them as diphthongs and in prosody, each is given two mātrās. This does not necessarily mean that they are proper diphthongs, but neither excludes the possibility that they could have been proper diphthongs at a very ancient stage (see above). These vowels are pronounced as long /eː/ and /oː/ respectively by learned Sanskrit Brahmans and priests of today. Other than the "four" diphthongs, Sanskrit usually disallows any other diphthong—vowels in succession, where they occur, are converted to semivowels according to sandhi rules.

Consonants

IAST and Devanagari notations are given, with approximate IPA values in square brackets.

Labial
Ōshtya 		Labiodental
Dantōshtya 		Dental
Dantya 		Retroflex
Mūrdhanya 		Palatal
Tālavya 		Velar
Kanthya 		Glottal
Stop
Sparśa 		Unaspirated
Alpaprāna 		p प [p] || b ब [b] || || t त [t̪] || d द [d̪] || ṭ ट [ʈ] || ḍ ड [ɖ] || c च [c͡ç] || j ज [ɟ͡ʝ] || k क [k] || g

ग [g]

Aspirated
Mahāprāna 		ph फ [pʰ] || bh भ [bʱ] || || th थ [t̪ʰ] || dh ध [d̪ʱ] || ṭh ठ [ʈʰ] || ḍh ढ [ɖʱ] || ch छ [c͡çʰ] || jh झ [ɟ͡ʝʱ] || kh ख [kʰ] || gh

घ [gʱ]

Nasal
Anunāsika 		m

म [m]

n

न [n̪]

ṇ

ण [ɳ]

ñ

ञ [ɲ]

ṅ

ङ [ŋ]

Semivowel
Antastha 		v

व [ʋ]

y

य [j]

Liquid
Drava 		l

ल [l]

r

र [r]

Fricative
Ūshman 		s

स [s̪]

ṣ

ष [ʂ]

ś

श [ɕ]

ḥ

ः [h]

h

ह [ɦ]

The table below shows the traditional listing of the Sanskrit consonants with the (nearest) equivalents in English (as pronounced in General American and Received Pronunciation) and Spanish. Each consonant shown below is deemed to be followed by the neutral vowel schwa (/ə/), and is named in the table as such.

Plosives – Sprshta
Unaspirated
Voiceless
Alpaprāna Śvāsa 		Aspirated
Voiceless
Mahāprāna Śvāsa 		Unaspirated
Voiced
Alpaprāna Nāda 		Aspirated
Voiced
Mahāprāna Nāda 		Nasal
Anunāsika Nāda
Velar
Kantya

क
/kə/; English: skip

ख
/kʰə/; English: cat

ग
/gə/; English: game

घ
/gʱə/; somewhat similar to English: doghouse

ङ
/ŋə/; English: ring

Palatal
Tālavya

च
/cə/; English: exchange

छ
/cʰə/; English: church

ज
/ɟə/; ≈English: jam

झ
/ɟʱə/; somewhat similar to English: hedgehog

ञ
/ɲə/; English: bench

Retroflex
Mūrdhanya

ट
/ʈə/; No English equivalent

ठ
/ʈʰə/; No English equivalent

ड
/ɖə/; No English equivalent

ढ
/ɖʱə/; No English equivalent

ण
/ɳə/; No English equivalent

Apico-Dental
Dantya

त
/t̪ə/; Spanish: tomate

थ
/t̪ʰə/; Aspirated /t̪/

द
/d̪ə/; Spanish: donde

ध
/d̪ʱə/; Aspirated /d̪/

न
/n̪ə/; English: name

Labial
Ōshtya

प
/pə/; English: spin

फ
/pʰə/; English: pit

ब
/bə/; English: bone

भ
/bʱə/; somewhat similar to English: clubhouse

म
/mə/; English: mine

Non-Plosives/Sonorants
Palatal
Tālavya 		Retroflex
Mūrdhanya 		Dental
Dantya 		Labial/
Glottal
Ōshtya
Approximant
Antastha

य
/jə/; English: you

र
/rə/; English: trip (Scottish English)

ल
/l̪ə/; English: love

व (labio-dental)
/ʋə/; English: vase
Sibilant/
Fricative
Ūshman

श
/ɕə/; English: ship

ष
/ʂə/; Retroflex form of /ʃ/

स
/s̪ə/; English: same

ह (glottal)
/ɦə/; English behind

Phonology and Sandhi

The Sanskrit vowels are as discussed in the section above. The long syllabic l (

ḹ) is not attested, and is only discussed by grammarians for systematic reasons. Its short counterpart

ḷ occurs in a single root only,

kḷp "to order, array". Long syllabic r (

ṝ) is also quite marginal, occurring in the genitive plural of r-stems (e.g.

mātṛ "mother" and

pitṛ "father" have gen.pl.

mātṝṇām and

pitṝṇām).

i, u, ṛ, ḷ are vocalic allophones of consonantal

y, v, r, l. There are thus only 5 invariably vocalic phonemes,

a, ā, ī, ū, ṝ.

Visarga

ḥ

ः is an allophone of

r and

s, and anusvara

ṃ, Devanagari

ं of any nasal, both in pausa (ie, the nasalized vowel). The exact pronunciation of the three sibilants may vary, but they are distinct phonemes. An aspirated voiced sibilant /zʱ/ was inherited by Indo-Aryan from Proto-Indo-Iranian but lost shortly before the time of the Rigveda (aspirated fricatives are exceedingly rare in any language). The retroflex consonants are somewhat marginal phonemes, often being conditioned by their phonetic environment; they do not continue a PIE series and are often ascribed by some linguists to the substratal influence of Dravidian[citation needed] or other substrate languages. The nasal [ɲ] is a conditioned allophone of /n/ (/n/ and /ɳ/ are distinct phonemes—

aṇu 'minute', 'atomic' [nom. sg. neutr. of an adjective] is distinctive from

anu 'after', 'along'; phonologically independent

/ŋ/ occurs only marginally, e.g. in

prāṅ 'directed forwards/towards' [nom. sg. masc. of an adjective]). There are thus 31 consonantal or semi-vocalic phonemes, consisting of four/five kinds of stops realized both with or without aspiration and both voiced and voiceless, three nasals, four semi-vowels or liquids, and four fricatives, written in IAST transliteration as follows:

k, kh, g, gh; c, ch, j, jh; ṭ, ṭh, ḍ, ḍh; t, th, d, dh; p, ph, b, bh; m, n, ṇ; y, r, l, v; ś, ṣ, s, h or a total of 36 unique Sanskrit phonemes altogether.

The phonological rules to be applied when combining morphemes to a word, and when combining words to a sentence are collectively called sandhi "composition". Texts are written phonetically, with sandhi applied (except for the so-called padapā

ṭha).

Palindrome

Sanskrit is famous for certain specialities, one of them being the Palindrome.

As early as the 14th Century, the scholar Dyvagyna Surya Pandita wrote "Ramakrishna Viloma Kavyam," a set of poems that when read forward relate to Rama and the Ramayana, and when read in reverse relate to Krishna and the Mahabharata.

Writing system

Kashmiri Shaivaite manuscript in the Sharada script (c. 17th century)

Sanskrit was spoken in an oral society, and the oral tradition was maintained through the development of early classical Sanskrit literature.[25] Writing was not introduced to India until after Sanskrit had evolved into the Prakrits; when it was written, the choice of writing system was influenced by the regional scripts of the scribes. As such, virtually all of the major writing systems of South Asia have been used for the production of Sanskrit manuscripts. Since the late 19th century, Devanagari has been considered as the de facto writing system for Sanskrit,[26] quite possibly because of the European practice of printing Sanskrit texts in this script.

The earliest known inscriptions in Sanskrit date to the first century BC.[27] They are in the Brahmi script, which was originally used for Prakrit, not Sanskrit.[28] It has been described as a "paradox" that the first evidence of written Sanskrit occurs centuries later than that of the Prakrit languages which are its linguistic descendants.[27][29] When Sanskrit was written down, it was first used for texts of an administrative, literary or scientific nature. The sacred texts were preserved orally, and were set down in writing, "reluctantly" (according to one commentator), and at a comparatively late date.[28]

Brahmi evolved into a multiplicity of scripts of the Brahmic family, many of which were used to write Sanskrit. Roughly contemporary with the Brahmi, the Kharosthi script was used in the northwest of the subcontinent. Later (around the 4th to 8th centuries CE) the Gupta script, derived from Brahmi, became prevalent. From ca. the 8th century, the Sharada script evolved out of the Gupta script. The latter was displaced in its turn by Devanagari from ca. the 11/12th century, with intermediary stages such as the Siddham script. In Eastern India, the Bengali script and, later, the Oriya script, were used. In the south where Dravidian languages predominate, scripts used for Sanskrit include Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Grantha.


Sanskrit in modern Indian scripts. May Śiva bless those who take delight in the language of the gods. (Kalidasa)

Romanization

Main article: Devanagari transliteration

Since the late 18th century, Sanskrit has been transliterated using the Latin alphabet. The system most commonly used today is the IAST (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration), which has been the academic standard since 1888/1912. ASCII-based transliteration schemes have evolved due to difficulties representing Sanskrit characters in computer systems. These include Harvard-Kyoto and ITRANS, a transliteration scheme that is used widely on the Internet, especially in Usenet and in email, for considerations of speed of entry as well as rendering issues. With the wide availability of Unicode aware web browsers, IAST has become common online.

It's also possible to type using an alphanumeric keyboard and transliterate to devanagari using software like Mac OS X's international support.

European scholars in the 19th century generally preferred Devanagari for the transcription and reproduction of whole texts and lengthy excerpts. However, references to individual words and names in texts composed in European languages were usually represented with Roman transliteration. From the 20th century onwards, due to production costs, textual editions edited by Western scholars have mostly been in Romanized transliteration.

Grammar

Main article: Sanskrit grammar

Grammatical tradition

Main article: Sanskrit grammarians

Sanskrit grammatical tradition (

vyākaraṇa, one of the six Vedanga disciplines) began in late Vedic India and culminated in the

Aṣṭādhyāyī of

Pāṇini, which consists of 3990 sutras (ca. 5th century BC). After a century

Pāṇini (around 400 BC) Kātyāyana composed Vārtikas on Pāninian sũtras. Patañjali, who lived three centuries after Pānini, wrote the

Mahābhāṣya, the "Great Commentary" on the

Aṣṭādhyāyī and Vārtikas. Because of these three ancient Sanskrit grammarians this grammar is called Trimuni Vyākarana. To understand the meaning of sutras Jayaditya and Vāmana wrote the commentary named Kāsikā 600 CE. Paninian grammar is based on 14 Shiva sutras (aphorisms). Here whole Mātrika (alphabet) is abbreviated. This abbreviation is called Pratyāhara.[30]

Verbs

Main article: Sanskrit verbs

Sanskrit has ten classes of verbs divided into in 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, [[guna|gu

ṇa]], and [[vrddhi|v

ṛddhi]] grades. If V is the vowel of the zero grade, the gu

ṇa-grade vowel is traditionally thought of as a + V, and the v

ṛddhi-grade vowel as ā + V.

The verb 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:

Nouns

Sanskrit 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.

The number of actual declensions is debatable. Panini identifies six karakas corresponding to the nominative, accusative, dative, instrumental, locative, and ablative cases [1]. Panini defines them as follows (Ashtadhyayi, I.4.24-54):

  1. Apadana (lit. 'take off'): "(that which is) firm when departure (takes place)." This is the equivalent of the ablative case, which signifies a stationary object from which movement proceeds.
  2. Sampradana ('bestowal'): "he whom one aims at with the object". This is equivalent to the dative case, which signifies a recipient in an act of giving or similar acts.
  3. Karana ("instrument") "that which effects most." This is equivalent to the instrumental case.
  4. Adhikarana ('location'): or "substratum." This is equivalent to the locative case.
  5. Karman ('deed'/'object'): "what the agent seeks most to attain". This is equivalent to the accusative case.
  6. Karta ('agent'): "he/that which is independent in action". This is equivalent to the nominative case. (On the basis of Scharfe, 1977: 94)

Personal Pronouns and Determiners

Main article: Sanskrit pronouns and determiners

The first and second person pronouns are declined for the most part alike, having by analogy assimilated themselves with one another.

Compounds

Main article: Sanskrit 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 and Finnish. Both, along with Sanskrit, belong to the Agglutinative languages. 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 itaretara 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-lakşmaņau – Rama and Lakshmana, or rāma-lakşmaņa-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. pāņipādam – limbs, literally hands and feet, from pāņi = hand and pāda = foot. According to some grammarians, there is a third kind of dvandva, called ekaśeşa 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 ekaśeşa 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".
[[Tatpurusha|

Tatpuruṣa]] (determinative)

There are many tatpuru

ṣas (one for each of the nominal cases, and a few others besides); in a tatpuru

ṣa, 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 "caturtitatpuru

ṣa" (caturti refers to the fourth case—that is, the dative). Incidentally, "tatpuru

ṣa" is a tatpuru

ṣa ("this man"—meaning someone's agent), while "caturtitatpuru

ṣa" is a karmadhārya, being both dative, and a tatpuru

ṣa. An easy way to understand it is to look at English examples of tatpuru

ṣas: "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.
[[Amredita|

Amreḍita]] (iterative)

Repetition of a word expresses repetitiveness, e. g. dive-dive 'day by day', 'daily'.
Dvigu

Syntax

Because of Sanskrit's complex declension system the word order is free (with a strong tendency toward SOV, which was the original system in place in Vedic prose).

Numerals

The numbers from one to ten:

  1. éka-
  2. dva-
  3. tri-
  4. catúr-
  5. páñcan-
  6. ṣáṣ-
  7. saptán-
  8. aṣṭá-
  9. návan-
  10. dáśan-

The numbers one through four are declined. Éka is declined like a pronominal adjective, though the dual form does not occur. Dvá appears only in the dual. Trí and catúr are declined irregularly:

Three Four
Masculine Neuter Feminine Masculine Neuter Feminine
Nominative tráyas

trī́ṇi || tisrás || catvā́ras || catvā́ri || cátasras

Accusative trīn

trī́ṇi || tisrás || catúras || catvā́ri || cátasras

Instrumental tribhís

tisṛ́bhis

catúrbhis

catasṛ́bhis

Dative tribhyás

tisṛ́bhyas

catúrbhyas

catasṛ́bhyas

Ablative tribhyás

tisṛ́bhyas

catúrbhyas

catasṛ́bhyas

Genitive

triyāṇā́m

tisṛṇā́m

caturṇā́m

catasṛṇā́m

Locative

triṣú

tisṛ́ṣu

catúrṣu

catasṛ́ṣu

Influence

Modern-day India

Influence on vernaculars

Sanskrit's greatest influence, presumably, is that which it exerted on languages of India that grew from its vocabulary and grammatical base; for instance Hindi, which is a "Sanskritized register" of the Khariboli dialect. However, all modern Indo-Aryan languages as well as Munda and Dravidian languages, have borrowed many words either directly from Sanskrit (tatsama words), or indirectly via middle Indo-Aryan languages (tadbhava words).[3] Words originating in Sanskrit are estimated to constitute roughly fifty percent of the vocabulary of modern Indo-Aryan languages,[31] and the literary forms of (Dravidian) Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada.[3]

Especially among élite circles in India, Sanskrit is prized as a storehouse of scripture and the language of prayers in Hinduism. Like Latin's influence on European languages and Classical Chinese's influence on East Asian languages, Sanskrit has influenced most Indian languages. While vernacular prayer is common, Sanskrit mantras are recited by millions of Hindus and most temple functions are conducted entirely in Sanskrit, often Vedic in form. Of modern day Indian languages, while Hindi and Urdu tend to be more heavily weighted with Arabic and Persian influence, Nepali, Bengali, Assamese, Konkani and Marathi still retain a largely Sanskrit and Prakrit vocabulary base. The Indian national anthem, Jana Gana Mana, is written in a literary form of Bengali (known as sadhu bhasha), Sanskritized so as to be recognizable, but still archaic to the modern ear. The national song of India Vande Mataram was originally a poem composed by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and taken from his book called 'Anandamath', is in a similarly highly Sanskritized Bengali. Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada also combine a great deal of Sanskrit vocabulary. Sanskrit also has influence on Chinese through Buddhist Sutras. Chinese words like 剎那 chànà (Skt. क्षन kṣana 'instantaneous period of time') were borrowed from Sanskrit.

Revival attempts

Main article: Sanskrit revival

The 1991 Indian census reported 49,736 fluent speakers of Sanskrit, mostly among the Hindu priestly castes. Since the 1990s, efforts to revive spoken Sanskrit have been increasing. Many organizations like the Samskrta Bharati are conducting Speak Sanskrit workshops to popularize the language. The CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) in India has made Sanskrit a third language (though it is an option for the school to adopt it or not, the other choice being the state's own official language) in the schools it governs. In such schools, learning Sanskrit is an option for grades 5 to 8 (Classes V to VIII). This is true of most schools, including but not limited to Christian missionary schools, affiliated to the ICSE board too, especially in those states where the official language is Hindi. Sudharma, the only daily newspaper in Sanskrit has been published out of Mysore in India since the year 1970. Since 1974, there has been a short daily news broadcast on All India Radio.

Sanskrit is reported to be spoken natively by the population in Mattur village in central Karnataka. Allegedly, Inhabitants of all castes learn Sanskrit starting in childhood and converse in the language. [2]

Symbolic Usage

In the Republic of India, in Nepal and Indonesia, Sanskrit phrases are widely used as mottoes for various educational and social organizations (much as Latin is used by some institutions in the West). The motto of the Republic is also in Sanskrit.

Republic of India
Satyameva Jayate "Truth alone triumphs"
Nepal
Janani Janmabhūmisca Svargādapi garīyasi "Mother and motherland are greater than heaven"
Goa
Sarve Bhadrāni Paśyantu Mā Kaścid Duhkhabhāg bhavet "May all perceive good, may not anyone attain unhappiness"
Life Insurance Corporation of India
Yogakshemam Vahāmyaham "I shall take care of welfare" (taken from the Bhagavad Gita)
Indian Navy
Shanno Varuna "May Varuna be peaceful to us"
Indian Air Force
Nābha Sparsham Dīptam "Touch the Sky with Glory"
Mumbai Police
sadrakshanaaya cahlaaha nighranayah "For protection of the good and control of the wicked"
Indian Coast Guard
Vayam Rakshāmaha "We protect"
All India Radio
Bahujana-hitāya bahujana-sukhāya "For the benefit of all, for the comfort of all"
Indonesian Navy
Jalesveva Jayamahe "On the Sea We Are Glorious"
Aceh Province
Pancacita "Five Goals"

Many of the post–Independence educational institutions of national importance in India and Sri Lanka have Sanskrit mottoes. For a fuller list of such educational institutions, see List of educational institutions which have Sanskrit phrases as their mottoes.

Interactions with Eastern and Southeastern Asiatic languages

Sanskrit and related languages have also influenced their Sino-Tibetan-speaking neighbors to the north through the spread of Buddhist texts in translation.[32] Buddhism was spread to China by Mahayanist missionaries mostly through translations of Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit and Classical Sanskrit texts, and many terms were transliterated directly and added to the Chinese vocabulary. (Although Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit is not Sanskrit, properly speaking, its vocabulary is substantially the same, both because of genetic relationship, and because of conscious imitation on the part of composers. Buddhist texts composed in Sanskrit proper were primarily found in philosophical schools like the Madhyamaka.) The situation in Tibet is similar; many Sanskrit texts survive only in Tibetan translation (in the Tanjur).

The Thai language contains many loan words from Sanskrit. For example, in Thai, the Rāvana – the emperor of Sri Lanka is called 'Thosakanth' which is a derivation of his Sanskrit name 'Dashakanth' ("of ten necks"). Many Sanskrit loanwords are also found in traditional Malay, Modern Indonesian, and numerous Philippine languages,[33] Old Javanese language (nearly half)[34] and to a lesser extent, Vietnamese, through Sinified hybrid Sanskrit.

Sanskrit's usage in modern times

Many of India's and Nepal's scientific and administrative terms are named in Sanskrit, as a counterpart of the western practice of naming scientific developments in Latin or Greek. The Indian guided missile program that was commenced in 1983 by DRDO has named the five missiles (ballistic and others) that it has developed as Prithvi, Agni, Akash, Nag and Trishul. India's first modern fighter aircraft is named HAL Tejas.

Recital of Sanskrit shlokas as background chorus in films, television advertisements and as slogans for corporate organizations has become a trend.

Recently, Sanskrit also made a brief appearance in Western pop music in two recordings by Madonna. One, "Shanti/Ashtangi," from the 1998 album "Ray of Light," is the traditional Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga chant referenced above set to music. The second, "Cyber-raga," released in 2000 as a B-side to Madonna's single "Music," is a Sanskrit-language ode of devotion to a higher power and a wish for peace on earth. The climactic battle theme of The Matrix Revolutions features a choir singing a Sanskrit prayer from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad in the closing titles of the movie. Composer John Williams also featured a choir singing in Sanskrit for Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.

The Sky1 version of the title sequence in season one of Battlestar Galactica 2004 features the Gayatri Mantra, taken from the Rig Veda (3.62.10). The composition was written by miniseries composer Richard Gibbs.

See also: Sanskrit in the West

Computational linguistics

There have been suggestions to use Sanskrit as a metalanguage for knowledge representation in e.g. machine translation, and other areas of natural language processing because of its relatively high regular structure.[35] This is due to Classical Sanskrit being a regularized, prescriptivist form abstracted from the much more complex and richer Vedic Sanskrit. This leveling of the grammar of Classical Sanskrit began during the Brahmana phase, and had not yet completed by the time of Panini, when the language had fallen out of popular use.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit; Jainism: e.g. Tattvartha Sutra and Mahapurana, besides Shauraseni and Ardha-Magadhi Prakrit; Sikhism: see Sikh scriptures
  2. ^ Indian Constitution Art.344(1) & Art.345
  3. ^ a b c Stall 1963, p. 272
  4. ^ Macdonell (2004:?)
  5. ^ Burrow (2001:?)
  6. ^ Monier-Williams (1898:1120)
  7. ^ spokensanskrit.de dictionary, using

    संस्कृत or samskRta as input, see nouns

  8. ^ Masica, p. 32
  9. ^ Masica, p. 33
  10. ^ Masica, pp. 36-37
  11. ^ Masica, p. 38
  12. ^
    • Meier-Brügger, Michael (2003). Indo-European Linguistics. Berlin; New York: Walter de Gruyter. pp. p. 20. ISBN 3110174332. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ Keith, Arthur Berriedale (1993). A history of Sanskrit literature. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. pp. p. 4. ISBN 8120809793. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  14. ^ Pollock (2001:393)
  15. ^ Oberlies (2003:xxvii-xxix)
  16. ^ Edgerton (1953:?)
  17. ^ Pollock (2001:415)
  18. ^ Pollock (2001:414)
  19. ^ Pollock (2001:416)
  20. ^ Warder (1972:8, 217)
  21. ^ Pollock (2001:416)
  22. ^ Pollock (2001:398)
  23. ^ Minkowski (2004) cites the military references of Nīlakaṇṭha Caturdhara's seventeenth-century commentary on the Mahābhārata as a notable exception.
  24. ^ Tiwari (1955:?)
  25. ^ Salomon (1998), p. 7
  26. ^ Whitney (1889:?)
  27. ^ a b Salomon (1998), p. 86
  28. ^ a b Masica, Colin (1991). The Indo-Aryan Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. p. 135. ISBN 9780521299442. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  29. ^ In northern India, there are Brahmi inscriptions dating from the 3rd century BC onwards, the oldest appearing on the famous Prakrit pillar inscriptions of king Ashoka. The earliest South Indian inscriptions in Tamil Brahmi, written in early Tamil, belong to the same period.(Mahadevan (2003:?))
  30. ^ Abhyankar (1986:?)
  31. ^ Chatterji 1942, cited in Stall 1963, p. 272
  32. ^ van Gulik (1956:?)
  33. ^ See this page from the Indonesian Wikipedia for a list
  34. ^ Zoetmulder (1982:ix)
  35. ^ First suggested by Briggs (1985)

Bibliography

Further reading

Introductions
Grammars
  • Whitney, William Dwight The Roots, Verb-Forms and Primary Derivatives of the Sanskrit Language: (A Supplement to His Sanskrit Grammar)
  • Wackernagel, Debrunner, Altindische Grammatik, Göttingen.
    • vol. I. phonology [3] Jacob Wackernagel (1896)
    • vol. II.1. introduction to morphology, nominal composition, Wackernagel (1905) [4]
    • vol. II.2. nominal suffixes, J. Wackernagel and Albert Debrunner (1954)
    • vol. III. nominal inflection, numerals, pronouns, Wackernagel and Debrunner (1930)
  • Delbrück, B. Altindische Tempuslehre (1876) [5]
Dictionaries
  • Otto Böhtlingk, Rudolph Roth, Petersburger Wörterbuch, 7 vols., 1855-75
  • Otto Böhtlingk, Sanskrit Wörterbuch in kürzerer Fassung 1883–86 (1998 reprint, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi)
  • Manfred Mayrhofer, Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindischen, 1956-76
  • Manfred Mayrhofer, Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen, 3 vols., 2742 pages, 2001, ISBN 3-8253-1477-4

External links

Sanskrit edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wikibooks has a book on the topic of: Sanskrit
Sanskrit Documents
Primers
Grammars

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