Nominal suffixes

In this lesson, we will learn about some common nominal suffixes. For ease of reference, we will discuss these suffixes in alphabetical order:

Unless we mention otherwise, none of these suffixes cause any sound changes.

• अ इन् क तम तर तस् ता त्व मत् मय य वत्
  a in ka tama tara tas tā tva mat maya ya vat
  

-a

Also known as: aṇ

-a often creates adjectives that mean “descending from X” or “of X.” Usually, we strengthen the stem's first vowel to the strongest level. And if the stem ends in -a, we remove the last -a:

• कुरु + अ → कौरव
  kuru + a → kaurava
  descending from Kuru; a Kaurava
  

• इन्द्र + अ → ऐन्द्र
  indra + a → aindra
  of Indra
  

-in

Also known as: ini̐

-in (feminine: -inī) creates adjectives that mean “characterized by X.” If the stem ends in -a, we remove the last -a.

• योग + इन् → योगिन्
  yoga + in → yogin
  yoga → characterized by yoga; a yogi
  

• योग + इनी → योगिनी
  yoga + inī → yoginī
  yoga → a female yogi; a yogini
  

-ka

-ka often creates stems that mean “a little X” or “a dear X”:

• पुत्र + क → पुत्रक
  putra + ka → putraka
  son → little son, dear son
  

-tama

Also known as: tamap, gha

-tama (feminine: -tamā) creates adjectives that mean “most X”:

• बलवत् + तम → बलवत्तम
  balavat + tama → balavattama
  strong → strongest
  

-tara

Also known as: tarap, gha

-tara (feminine: -tarā) creates adjectives that mean “more X”:

• सुन्दर + तर → सुन्दरतर
  sundara + tara → sundaratara
  beautiful → more beautiful
  

-tas

Also known as: tasi̐

-tas creates an uninflected word that means “from X.” Due to sandhi, it becomes -taḥ:

• अग्नि → अग्नितः
  agni → agnitaḥ
  fire → from the fire
  

-tā

Also known as: tal

-tā creates feminine nouns that maen “X-ness” or “the state of being X”:

• योग्य + ता → योग्यता
  yogya + tā → yogyatā
  useful, appropriate → utility, propriety
  

-tva

-tva has the same meaning as tā, but it creates neuter stems:

• अमर + त्व → अमरत्व
  amara + tva → amaratva
  immortal → immortality
  

• सम + त्व → समत्व
  sama + tva → samatva
  same, even → sameness, evenness, equanimity
  

-mat

Also known as: matu̐p

-mat (feminine: -matī) creates adjectives that mean “possessing X” or “characterized by X.” Certain stems use -vat instead. See our notes on -vat for details.

• हनु + मत् → हनुमत्
  hanu + mat → hanumat
  jaw → characterized by (prominent) jaws; Hanuman
  

-maya

Also known as: mayaṭ

-maya (feminine: -mayī) creates adjectives that mean “made of X”:

• हिरण्य + मय → हिरण्यमय
  hiraṇya + maya → hiraṇyamaya
  gold → made of gold, golden
  

-ya

-ya creates neuter nouns with an abstract sense. Usually, we strengthen the stem's first vowel to the strongest level:

• सदृश → सादृश्य
  sadṛśa → sādṛśya
  similar (to) → similarity
  

-vat

Also known as: vatu̐p

-vat (feminine: -vatī) has the same meaning as -mat. We use -vat if the stem ends in m or a, or if it has m or a as its next-to-last letter:

• भग + वत् → भगवत्
  bhaga + vat → bhagavat
  (a is the last letter)
  

• लक्ष्मी + वत् → लक्ष्मीवत्
  lakṣmī + vat → lakṣmīvat
  (m is the next-to-last letter)
  

Review

Sanskrit has many more nominal suffixes. But these are the most common.