Saṃprasāraṇa

This lesson will focus on two roots: vad, which is an a+ class verb that means "speak," and gam, which you've seen before. Take a look at their gerunds below:

• गम् → गत्वा

  gam → gatvā

  go → having gone

• वद् → उदित्वा

  vad → uditvā

  speak → having spoken

Our old root system explains this behavior beautifully:

• gam weakens to *gm to produce *gmtvā. This can't be pronounced; but instead of gm becoming gam, it becomes ga instead. So, we get gatvā.

• vad weakens to *vd to produce *vditvā. This can't be pronounced; but instead of vd becoming vad, it becomes ud instead. So, we get uditvā.

To appreciate how elegant this is, take a look at the traditional solution to this behavior:

• In the gerund, the final nasal sound of certain roots should be removed. gam is one of those roots, and it loses its m to become ga, giving us gatvā.

• vad is part of a special group of roots that is not already weakened. We must weaken it, then, for the gerund. vad becomes vd to produce *vditvā. This can't be pronounced; but instead of *vad becoming vad, it becomes ud instead. So, we get uditvā.

The traditional solution is OK, but it's not as smooth; it makes special exceptions for roots that end in nasals, and it puts vad in its own group. Since we're switching over to the traditional root system, we should learn about both of these decisions a little more. Don't worry, it won't take long!

Roots like gam

The behavior for roots that end in nasal consonants is oddly specific, but it does the job fine. There's nothing more to say here. Other roots that follows its pattern are ram and man.

Roots like vad

With a simple rule, we solved the problem of gam. But roots like vad are more complicated cases. They are so complicated, in fact, that traditional Sanskrit grammar gives them a special name. The term is derived from the verb root sṛ, which is an a+ verb that means "run away," "flow," and "blow," among other things. We can add prefixes to this root to get saṃprasṛ, which means "extend." With the -ana suffix, we produce the word saṃprasāraṇa, which means something like "extension."

In the Sanskrit grammatical tradition, "samprasarana" refers to the tendency of vowels and semivowels to "extend" into each other's roles; a vowel can become a semivowel, and a semivowel can become a vowel. But we wouldn't call any vowel change by the name of samprasarana. Rather, samrasarana specifically refers to these three changes:

• y → i
• v → u
• r → ṛ

• वद् → उदित्वा

  vad → uditvā

  speak → having spoken

These changes occur only in certain verb roots, which you must memorize. Fortunately, there are fewer than ten samprasarana roots. But, what distinguishes the samprasarana roots from other roots? That is, why do they exist at all? Essentially, samprasarana roots are strengthened backwards. Consider the chart below, which is an expanded version of the chart in the second lesson of the guide:

In the forms where a was put in front of the verb, we have simplification today; *au, for example, is now o. But in the forms where a was put after the verb, the first sound became a semivowel; *ua, for example, is now va, as in vad.

This talk of "old vowels" isn't irrelevant! It reveals exactly why samprasarana exists and acts as it does, and it's worth your time to understand it.

Sandhi rules with the tvā suffix

The verbs that follow samprasarana will change most commonly in forms like the gerund, which require a weakened vowel and use a suffix that starts with t. Let us turn again to the sandhi rules that govern the gerund. First, here are two examples from the previous lesson.

• तॄ → तीर्त्वा

  tṝ → tīrtvā

  cross → having crossed

• लभ् → लब्ध्वा

  labh → labdhvā

  obtain → having obtained

If you don't understand the rules that apply here, go back to the previous lesson and review. Then, consider the change below.

• दृश् + त्वा → दृष्ट्वा

  dṛś + tvā → dṛṣṭvā

  see → having seen

How would you describe this change? The conventional description has two parts: first, "when ś is in front of t or th, it becomes ṣ"; second, "a retroflex letter, if immediately followed by a tavarga letter, shifts the tavarga letter to ṭavarga."

But, there is a much cleaner way of describing this change. First, we should consider why this change occurs. If we say that a tongue consonant is any consonant that uses the tongue — that is, all of the consonants except the semivowels (they're more like vowels than consonants) and those whose point of pronunciation is the soft palate (kavarga, h) or the lips (pavarga) — then we can state the principle behind the change like this:

Two tongue consonants with two different points of pronunciation cannot be next to each other.

Now, we can state a general rule that applies this principle:

If two tongue consonants with two different points of pronunciation are next to each other, both become retroflexed.

This rule has some exceptions, but it's an easy way to understand the changes above. The most common exception to the rule is this:

In the circumstances described, roots that end in c will always have their c turned into a k. and roots that end in j will occasionally have their j turned into a k, depending on the verb root. (Note that this rule only applies when tvā is used, not itvā.)

• वच् → उक्त्वा

  vac → uktvā

  speak → having spoken

  (vac is a samprasarana root.)

• शुच् → शुचित्वा

  śuc → śucitvā

  speak → having spoken

• युज् → युक्त्वा

  yuj → yuktvā

  join → having joined

• सृज् → सृष्ट्वा

  sṛj → sṛṣṭvā

  release → having released

The basis for this change is ultimately historical. There is no reliable way to determine how a root that ends in j will change; but fortunately, it is quite easy to turn a gerund back into a verb root. The exercises on the next page will give you practice with this.