Adjectives

Also known as: viśeṣaṇa ("qualification")

So far, the nouns we've seen don't have very much detail. To add more detail to these nouns, we add descriptive words like "happy" or "sad." These words are called adjectives. They are called adjectives because they are directed ("ject," as in "projectile") at ("ad") the nouns they describe.

Formation

An adjective agrees with its noun in number and grammatical case. To show this agreement, we inflect the adjective just like a noun. For example, consider the word sundara, meaning "beautiful," in the sentences below:

• सुन्दरो नरो ऽश्वं गच्छति

  sundaro naro 'śvaṃ gacchati

  The beautiful man goes to the horse.

• सुन्दरं नरो ऽश्वं गच्छति

  sundaraṃ naro 'śvaṃ gacchati

  The man goes to the beautiful horse.

As you see above, adjectives do not have to appear right next to the noun they modify. Here are some other properties of adjectives:

• We can use more than one adjective to describe a word.
• We can use an adjective without a noun.
• We can use pronouns as adjectives. When used this way, the pronoun means something like "that" or "this."

These properties are demonstrated in the sentence below. This sentences uses two additional adjectives: priya ("dear", "beloved") and kṛṣṇa ("black").

• कृष्णं स प्रियो ऽश्वं पश्यति सुन्दरम्

  kṛṣṇaṃ sa priyo 'śvaṃ paśyati sundaram

  That beloved one sees the beautiful black horse.

If an adjective seems to agree with multiple nouns, the adjective usually describes the noun that's closest to it.

-n Sandhi

Sanskrit students usually have two main problems with sandhi. The first is the issue of visarga sandhi. By approaching visarga sandhi correctly, we defused the issue and reduced its seemingly bizarre behavior to a few simple rules. The second is the issue of -n sandhi. Here, we will do the same; with a careful approach, we will reduce an intimidating set of rules to something as easy as visarga sandhi.

To start, here is a broader principle that will help us make the rules of -n sandhi much simpler:

An "s"-sound cannot be between two voiced consonants.

Why is this principle helpful to us? Well, the answer is that the -n ending was originally *-ns, where the star ( * ) indicates a hypothetical form that has never been seen in real Sanskrit. By keeping this hypothetical *-ns and the principle above in mind, we can reduce the complexities of -n sandhi greatly.

Now, let's begin.

Change to an "s"-sound

In front of an unvoiced stop, -n becomes ṃ plus the "s"-sound that best matches the consonant.

The s of *-ns changes to the "s"-sound that matches it the most, if that "s"-sound exists. Generally, ns is written as ṃs in Sanskrit.

• अश्वान् चरन्ति → अश्वांश् चरन्ति

  aśvān caranti → aśvāṃś caranti

  They walk to the horses.

• नरान् तुदन्त्य् → नरांस् तुदन्ति

  narān tudanty → narāṃs tudanti

  They strike the horses.

Change in point of pronunciation

It's cumbersome to write this rule out, so just take a look at the table below:

Second Letter

Combination

j, jh

ñ —

ḍ, ḍh

ṇ —

ś

ñ — (same change as with j/jh)

Of the five changes described above, the first four are easiest to understand. The s of *-ns, since it appears between two voiced consonants, is removed. This leaves us with the -n ending that we recognize. These four stop consonants all force us to move our tongue even as we pronounce the "n" sound, so it makes sense that n would change to better fit to these letters. In fact, this is part of a larger principle of consonant sandhi:

Consonants will change to better match their surroundings.

But what about -n's funny relation to ś? Why is ṣ excluded from this rule? This is my guess: since the "s" sounds that follow *-ns are unvoiced, the s of *-ns acts as a "buffer," which protects n from the effects of the sounds that follow. But since ś can be pronounced without moving the tongue much from the -n position, n becomes ñ to match it anyway.

Finally, here are some examples:

• नरान् जयामि → नराञ् जयामि

  narān jayāmi → narāñ jayāmi

  I defeat the men.

• नरान् शोचथ → नराञ् शोचथ

  narān śocatha → narāñ śocatha

  You all grieve the men. (the object case is used here to indicate the thing that is grieved for)

We only have one more change to cover, and it's an easy one:

Change to a nasal "l"

In front of l, n becomes a nasal l.

When we studied the Sanskrit sounds, I did not mention that some non-nasal sounds can become nasalized. Nasalized sounds are very common in Vedic literature, but they appear much less commonly in the later Sanskrit literature that we're preparing to read. The nasal l is an exception.

In order to best blend with the l sound of it after it, n becomes an l sound itself. But since n is a nasal sound in origin, it retains its nasal quality to become a nasal l.

In IAST, the nasal l is usually written as ṃl. This combination should be read as a single sound, not as two. In Devanagari, the nasal l is indicating by writing ँ over the vowel before it. This symbol is called the candra-bindu, or "moon and dot."

• नरः गजान् लिखति → नरो गजाँल् लिखति

  naraḥ gajān likhati → naro gajāṃl likhati

  The man scratches the elephants.

  (lekh is an a0 verb that means "scratch.")

No change

Otherwise, n remains the same.

The "s" of the *-ns ending cannot easily blend with the sounds that follow it, so it is dropped entirely. Since external sandhi changes do not happen twice in the same spot — as we see in examples like te icchati or naraḥ icchati — n does not change further.

• नरान् अश्वः पश्यति → नरान् अश्वः पश्यति

  narān aśvaḥ paśyati → narān aśvaḥ paśyati

  The horse sees the men.

• अहम् गजान् विन्दामि → अहं गजान् विन्दामि

  aham gajān vindāmi → ahaṃ gajān vindāmi

  I find the elephants.

Summary

With a little help from the older *-ns ending, we simplified the problem of -n sandhi into something that's a little easier to understand. You can see the changes below. The dash (—) shows that the second letter remains the same.

Second Letter

Combination

c, ch

ṃś —

ṭ, ṭh

ṃṣ —

t, th

ṃs —

j, jh, ś

ñ —

ḍ, ḍh

ṇ —

l

ṃl —

other letter

n —

Devanagari

Since we have studied many new sandhi rules here, it is best that we avoid studying Devanagari for now.