our sanskrit About Ancient India and the Sanskrit Language (with Sanskrit Lessons) Lesson 2 — Declension © 11/12/201607/02/2018 Paramu Kurumathur f Lessons @ Ablative case, Accusative case, Case, Course, Dative case, Declension, Genitive case, Instrumental case, Learn Sanskrit, Lesson, Locative case, Nominative case, Sanskrit, Sanskrit Language, Sanskrit Lesson, Vocative A YouTube video version on this lesson is available here (https://youtu_be/duLBWyXXjOc). [Expand to the full article to be able to click on the link] [Note: If you find that there are any mistakes in this or other lessons, please let me know so I can correct them.] [For ease of understanding, I have ignored Sandhis in some of the sentences used as examples here and in the video] In the first lesson (https://oursanskrit.com/2016/10/04/lesson-1/) we looked at a simple sentence and from that understood the normal word order in Sanskrit which is subject, object, verb. But since Sanskrit is an inflected language, the subject of the sentence or the object of a sentence is indicated by the form of the noun. So word order may not be very critical ‘We took an early look at Sandhi, and discovered the visarga and the anusvaara. We had an introductory look at roots and said that all words in Sanskrit are derived from roots. We also said that there are 10 classes of roots and verb stems are derived from this by various different rules. We took an example of class 4 root and saw how the verb stem was derived from this. We looked at the full conjugation of the present indicative active of a class 4 verb, We found that. conjugation is gender independent always in grammatical agreement with the subject. In this, the second lesson, we will look mainly at the concept of declension, which is the variation of the form of a noun, pronoun, or adjective, by which its grammatical case, number, and gender are identified. A case is any of the forms of a noun, adjective, pronoun etc. that express the semantic relation of the word to other words in the sentence.[Note that in Sanskrit, nouns and adjectives are inflected in essentially the same manner. Hence we do not treat them separately in our lessons. Pronouns are also in general inflected similarly, but they show some peculiarities and hence we will treat them separately. ] Declension As mentioned in the first lesson, Sanskrit is a highly inflected language. ‘This is different from some of the languages like English and Hindi. Hindi has completely lost its declensional paradigms and use post-positions instead of declensional endings. For example, in Hindi we say “ram ki pustak” or “ram ka desh”, while in Sanskrit we would say “raamasya pustakam” or ‘raamasya desha:”. In Hindi the post-position for indicating ownership is, always “ka” or “ki” whereas in Sanskrit the declensional endings to indicate ownership may vary depending of the type of noun or adjective. Even though English uses prepositions to indicate the various cases, it retains a remnant of the old declensional endings. You can say, “the book of Rama” or “Rama’s book”. The different forms “who” and “whom” and such others are also remnants of the old declensional paradigm. Nominative and Accusative In Lesson 1 we looked at the simple sentence U4: GW] URUfd (ramah ksnam,pasyati) - Rama sees Krishna — and noted how the subject and object of a sentence are rendered . A when rendered as a subject becomes W:, Similarly, PWI when used as an object becomes FUT], So even if we said Wi WH: UU the meaning would not change. It would still mean Rama sees Krishna. We also said that if we wanted to say Krishna sees Rama we would say PW: TH Uae, ‘WA: (ramah) is the “nominative” case of TH (rama) and WAH (ramam) is the “accusative” case of TH (rama) - both singular. We can infer the main functions of two of the cases - nominative and accusative. The nominative case is used as the subject of a sentence and the accusative case is used as the (direct) object of a verb. As we saw for conjugation, the cases are formed by adding particular endings to the word stem. The nominative singular case is formed by adding ¥{ (s) to the noun stem. So the nominative singular of 7 (rma) is TH (rama) + & (s) > WAY (ramas) > WH: (ramah) [We saw in Lesson 1 how word final “s” becomes visarga.] Similarly the accusative singular case is formed by adding ¥{ (m) to TH (rama) to get WAH (ramam). [Note that the standard accusative singular ending is $4, But the “a” ending masculine nouns like U7 (rama) take a shortened (m). When we look at other nouns we will see how the standard endings are used] The dual and plural cases are formed by adding their own particular endings to UH (rama). The nominative and accusative dual are both made by adding the ending #ff (au). So both the nominative and accusative dual are WH (ramau). So Ut Pwi URAC: (ramau ksnam, pasyatah) — Two Ramas see Krishna — BW: TAY VAT (krsnah, ramau paéyati) — Krishna sees two Ramas.The plural of the nominative and accusative cases are formed by adding the endings SR (as) and 37 (An) respectively to the noun stem. So WF URafa (ramah, kysnan pasyati) — Rama sees many Krishnas - and WA: (ramah) PEt (kysnam) (pasyanti) - Many Ramas see Krishna. | WAT: (ramah) is equivalent to WARY (ramas)] ‘feufea: (vibhaktih) © The triad of nominative case endings is called the WYAT (prathama) faufae: (vibhaktih) — The “first” vibhaktih, © [For “a” ending masculines it is - ¥ (s) 3 (au) $ (as) ] © The triad of accusative case endings is called the Fetal (dvitiya) faufed: (vibhaktih) - The “second” vibhaktih © [For “a” ending masculines it is - (m) $f (au) Si (an) ] The nominative case is referred to as UAT (prathama) and the accusative case as feta (dvitiya) We have seen two cases - the nominative and the accusative. Sanskrit has six more cases. the instrumental - Jee (trtiya) “third”, the dative - Gel (aturt) “fourth”, the ablative — USM (paficami) “fifth”, the genitive — S§(sasthi) “sixth” the locative - (saptami) “seventh” and the the vocative — Wl HA (sambodhana prathama) “first for addressing” 000000 As you can see the cases are numbered as first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh. A full paradigm ‘The full case paradigm for an “a” ending masculine noun WH (rama) is given below.a-ending masculine tama 7 waramiayeb cases Singular Dual Plural | Singular | Dual Plural Prathamé Nominative ramab rama a at a evita as 7 sina at | accusative ew re rn en ee ee aaa Instrumental ramena ramabhyam | ramaih aa way | ait caine Dative ramaya ramabhyaém | rémebhyah | TART warm | ihe Ablative ramat ramabhyam | rémebhyan | wm | amare |r Fg conte ramaoya rémayoh | ramaném | are | ames |r, saptami —Locative rame ramayon | ramegu aa am: | wag eambodhana Prathama | Vocative rama mH mer Use of the Nominative [WYAT (prathama)] and the Accusative [feet (dvitiya)] We have seen that the nominative case is primarily used to denote the subject of a sentence. The accusative case is primarily used to denote the direct object. There are other uses of the accusative and nominative cases. We will look at these in later lessons. Use of the Instrumental [Gata (trtiya)] ‘The instrumental case is used primarily to denote accompaniment and means (instrument). For example, UH: PU MAT Set (ramah, kysnam éastrena hanti) - Rama kills Krishna with (a) weapon. ‘The word 8R@UI (Sastrena) is the instrumental case singular, meaning “with or by weapon”. WH: is the subject (nominative case), FU is the object (accusative case) SRAT is the means or instrument (instrumental case), 8% is the verb in third person singular. [Note that the word 3F (éastra) is in the neuter gender. However, all the cases from the instrumental are the same for masculine and neuter.] ‘The second most important use of the instrumental case is to signify accompaniment or “with”. PW: ‘WATT TBAT (kysnah ramena gacchati) - Krishna goes with Rama. There are other applications of the instrumental case which we will see in later lessons. Use of the Dative [Age (caturthi)] The dative case is primarily used as the indirect object of a sentence. For example, PW: THM Ga ‘Gaifel (krsnah ramaya pustakam dadati) - Krishna gives a book to Rama.In this sentence, the word TATE (ramaya) is in the dative case singular, meaning “to Rama”. WH: is in the nominative case, WA is in the dative case which denotes the indirect object (to Rama), G&T@ is in the accusative case (direct object) Zalfd is the verb in third person singular. There are other applications of the dative case which we will see in later lessons. Use of the Ablative [734 (paficami)] ‘The ablative case is the “from’-case, It is used to express the place “from which” as in “Krishna comes from the city”. It is also used for comparisons” Krishna is taller than Rama”. For example, U4: TRI SPTeBFE ( rmah nagarat Agacchati) — Rama is coming (comes) from the city. In this sentence, 77RT (nagaral) is in the ablative case and means “from the city”. [The word FRA, (nagaram) is a neuter word meaning “city”. 77: (ramah) is in the nominative case and is the subject of the sentence, “FIR (nagarat) is in the ablative case meaning “from the city” SITET (agacchati) is the verb meaning comes (is coming). Similarly, PW: WAR RTE (kysnah ramat sthilatarah) — Krishna (is) fatter than Rama. "PU (kysnah) is in the nominative case, TAT (ramat) is in the ablative case meaning “than”, and RETR: (sthilatarah) is a comparative degree adjective in the nominative case meaning “fatter”. [Note: In this sentence, SW WHI] RMR: (kysnah ramat sthilatarah), the verb “is” is not directly expressed. The “is” called the copula is understood.] ‘There are other applications of the ablative case which we will see in later lessons Use of the Genitive MiMsasthi] The genitive case is primarily used for indicating possession. For example, WHET RTA ( ramasya pustakam) - Rama’s book. [You will notice that in this primary use the value of the genitive is adjectival and is not directly connected to the verb as the other cases are.] There are other true case applications of the genitive case which we will see in later lessons. Use of the Locative [WUT (saptami)] ‘The locative is the “in’-case expressing situation or location. For example, U4: 7X if€ (ramah nagare asti) - Rama is in the city. In this sentence UW: (ramah) is in the nominative case, FT (nagare) is in the locative case and Sif (asti) is the verb meaning is. There are other uses of the locative like situation in time (eg. in the night), and also for expressing the sense of “among’”, “amidst” etc. (eg. among friends). We will look at these in later lessons. Use of the Vocative [Sat WUAT (sambodhana prathama)]The vocative case is used for calling, for addressing etc. The vocative case for “a” ending masculines like TH (rama) is the bare stem itself - TH (rama). For example, U4 BW: SPT (rama kysnah agacchati) - Hey Rama, Krishna is coming, In this sentence, A (rama) is in the vocative case and 3M T@Sfe (agacchati) is the verb meaning is coming. [Like the genitive in its primary use, the vocative is not directly connected to the verb as the other cases. are] The vocative case is closely connected to the nominative and is therefore called the Wale] UAT (sambodhana prathama) - “the first case for addressing”. [In fact, in all declensional paradigms, the dual and the plural of the vocative is identical to the nominative. It differs (if it does) only in the singular, like in the case of TH (rama)] References ‘The standard declensional endings are given in the reference (https://oursanskrit.com/sanskrit-gramma1 reference/standard-declensional-endings). You will notice that the paradigms for nouns/adjectives ending in vowels vary from the standard endings. You will also find that the endings for feminine and neuter stems are sometimes different. The full set of these paradigms are given here (https://oursanskrit.com/sanskrit-grammar- reference/declensional-paradigms/), Nouns/adjectives ending in consonants are more regular and stick generally to the standard pattern. The paradigms for a sample of these are given here (https://oursanskrit.com/sanskrit-grammar- reference/declensional-paradigms-stems-ending-in-consonants/), You will notice that nouns and adjectives — masculine, feminine and neuter — are classified and referred to according to their stem endings. For example, UH (rama) is an “a” ending masculine, 6 (hari) is an “i” ending masculine and thar (sita) is an “a ending feminine. There are departures from the standard declensional endings based on what the stem endings are. We will look at some of these paradigms in detail in later lessons. Itis best if you become thoroughly acquainted with these paradigms. If possible, you should memorize them, so that when you encounter the form in a sentence or verse, you can immediately relate to the word. Please study the first two verses of the T8IGRSIMA nalopakhyanam — The story of Nala - that I have analysed on a first level and uploaded here (https://oursanskrit.com/2016/10/05/na%E1%B8%B7opakhyanam/). You will see many of the cases mentioned in this lesson used in the verses. Exercises Translate into English L&TAOT TESTA ramena gacchami22TH TSS rama gaccha 3.XTRT RAT PU SY ramasya sastrena krsnam hamsi ARTA: PW: URaAT ramah krsnah pasyati [This sentence is very tricky!) 5. SHR nagare asmi 6. FART SIMTBTA: nagarat agacchamah Translate into Sanskrit LI give a weapon to rama 2.You are going with Krishna 3.Hey Krishna, go. 4.In the city 5.Krishna’s book 15 thoughts on “Lesson 2 - Declension” 1. Lesson 11. our sanskrit says: 15/04/2017 at 11:08 am [...] lesson 2, we looked mainly at the concept of declension, which is the variation of the form of a noun, [..] Reply (https://oursanskrit.com/2016/12/1 /lesson-2/?replytocom=62#respond) 2. Prashanth says 29/05/2018 at‘9:57 am These lessons are too good. I love your samskrutam lessons and blog. What is your mobile number, Facebook page name. I will call you. Follow you on FB. oc} Reply (https://oursanskrit.com/2016/12/11/lesson-2/?reply 81 #respond), 3. Lesson 44 ~ Vedic Sanskrit — Accents -2 | our sanskrit says: 1/07/2018 at 9:51 pm [...] Lesson 2 and Lesson 7, we looked at declension. Let us look at the rules of accentuation in [ Reply (https://oursanskrit.com/2016/12/11/lesson-2/?replytocom=453#respond) 4, vikeam says: 7/02/2019 at 12:47 am Super Sanskrit lessons to say the least! Many thanks! 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