Grammatical Terms
This page contains a list of almost all of the technical terms used on the website. These terms first appeared in bold blue type; but, terms that were not defined within the main text are not featured. A dash (—) indicates that the term is the same as the one to the left of it in the table. A blank spot indicates that no term exists.
Below, each term is provided with three others:
- The regular English term, which is used in English linguistics
- The Sanskrit term, which is used in Sanskrit linguistics
- Panini's term, which is used only in the context of Panini's system
Like many parts of this site, this page is a work in progress.
General grammar terms
The terms here refer to general grammatical concepts, and many of them exist in other languages.
| Website Term | English Term | Sanskrit Term | Panini's Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| adjective | — | viśeṣaṇa | — |
| adverb | — | ||
| agreement | — | ||
| aspirated | — | mahāprāṇa | — |
| ātmanepada | middle voice | ātmanepada | — |
| case | — | vibhakti | — |
| case 1 (subject) | nominative case | prathamā | — |
| case 2 (object) | accusative case | dvitīyā | — |
| case 3 ("with") | instrumental case | tṛtīyā | — |
| case 4 ("for") | dative case | caturthī | — |
| case 5 ("from") | ablative case | pañcamī | — |
| case 6 ("of") | genitive case | ṣaṣṭhī | — |
| case 7 ("in") | locative case | saptamī | — |
| case 8 (address) | vocative case | saṃbodhana | — |
| causal verb | causative | ṇijanta | |
| command mood | imperative mood | ājñā | loṭ |
| compound (word) | — | samāsa | — |
| compound vowel | diphthong | saṃdhyakṣara | ec |
| conditional mood | — | saṃketa | lṛṅ |
| consonant | — | vyañjana | hal |
| desiderative | — | sannanta | |
| distant future tense | periphrastic future | anadyatana | luṭ |
| distant past tense | perfect | parokṣabhūta | liṭ |
| doubling | reduplication | abhyāsa | — |
| dual (number) | — | dvivacana | — |
| dvandva | copulative compound | dvandva | — |
| feminine gender | — | strīliṅga | — |
| first person | — | uttama | — |
| gender | — | liṅga | — |
| gerund | gerund | ktvānta | |
| grammatical case | (see "case") | ||
| grammar | — | vyākaraṇa | |
| hard palate | — | tālu | — |
| heavy (syllable) | — | guru | — |
| intensive | — | yaṇanta | |
| light (syllable) | — | laghu | — |
| lip | — | oṣṭha | — |
| long vowel | — | dīrgha | — |
| masculine gender | — | puṃliṅga | — |
| medium vowel | full grade vowel | guṇa | — |
| nasal | — | anunāsika | — |
| neuter gender | — | napuṃsakaliṅga | |
| noun ending | — | sup | |
| noun from verb | denominative | nāmadhātu | |
| noun | — | subanta | |
| number | — | vacana | |
| object | — | karman | — |
| option mood | present optative | vidhi | laṅ |
| ordinary future tense | simple future | bhaviṣyan | |
| ordinary past tense | imperfect | anadyatanabhūta | laṅ |
| parasmaipada | active voice | parasmaipada | — |
| participle | — | ||
| person | — | puruṣa | puruṣa |
| plural (number) | — | bahuvacana | |
| point of pronunciation | point of articulation | sthāna | |
| prefix | (see "verb prefix") | ||
| present tense | present indicative | vartamāna | laṭ |
| primary (suffix) | — | kṛt | |
| pronoun | — | sarvanāman | — |
| recent past tense | aorist | bhūta | luṅ |
| "s"-sound | sibilant | ūṣman | — |
| sandhi | — | — | — |
| second person | — | madhyama | madhyama |
| secondary (suffix) | — | taddhita | — |
| semivowel | — | antaḥstha | |
| short vowel | hrasva | — | |
| simple vowel | — | samānākṣara | — |
| singular (number) | — | ekavacana | — |
| soft palate | — | kaṇṭha | |
| stem (of a noun) | — | prātipadika | — |
| stem (of any word) | — | aṅga | — |
| stop | — | sparśa | |
| strong vowel | lengthened grade vowel | vṛddhi | |
| subject | — | kartṛ | |
| suffix | — | pratyaya | — |
| syllable | — | akṣara | |
| third person | — | prathama | — |
| tooth | — | danta | |
| ubhayapada | ubhayapada | ||
| unaspirated | — | alpaprāṇa | |
| uninflected word | avyaya | avyaya | |
| unvoiced | — | aghoṣa | |
| verb class | — | gaṇa | — |
| verb ending | — | tiṅ | |
| verb prefix | — | upasarga | upasarga |
| verb root | — | dhātu | — |
| verb | — | tiṅanta | |
| verbless sentence | nominal sentence | ||
| voiced | — | ghoṣavat | — |
| vowel | — | svara | ac |
Specialized Grammar Terms
Sanskrit textbooks tend to share a set of conventional terms for talking about Sanskrit. Some of these terms are below:
| Website Term | Conventional Term | Sanskrit Term | Panini's Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| -a+ class | Class 1 | bhvādigaṇa | — |
| -a0 class | Class 6 | tudādigaṇa | — |
| -aya class | Class 10 | curādigaṇa | — |
| -nā class | Class 9 | kryādigaṇa | — |
| nasal class | Class 7 | rudhādigaṇa | — |
| -no class | Class 5 | svādigaṇa | — |
| -o class | Class 8 | tadādigaṇa | — |
| -ya class | Class 4 | divādigaṇa | — |
| doubling class | Class 3 | juhotyādigaṇa | — |
| root class | Class 2 | adādigaṇa | — |