"Not" and "With"

The two prefixes below can both be used to make compounds.

a/an

Also known as: nañ-samāsa ("na compound")

The first of these two prefixes shows what something is not. It takes one of two forms:

• a when in front of a consonant
• an when in front of a vowel

Most words formed with this prefix are adjectives:

• शोकः → अशोकः

  śokaḥ → aśokaḥ

  sorrow → "un-sorrow," sorrowless

This prefix is associated with the tatpurusha.

Greek, Latin, and Old English all had a version of the a/an prefix. This prefix survives in English words like "a-political," "an-archy," "in-appropriate," "im-mortal," and "un-able."

sa

The second of these two prefixes is sa. This prefix shows what something is with. Unlike the a/an prefix, sa does not change; it is always sa, even in front of vowels. Most of the words formed by this prefix are adjectives.

• गजः → सगजः

  gajaḥ → sagajaḥ

  elephant → with an elephant

• अश्वः → साश्वः

  aśvaḥ → sāśvaḥ

  horse → with a horse

A phrase like sagajo naraḥ means the same thing as a phrase like gajena naraḥ. By using a word like sagaja, however, certain ideas become easier to express. For example, compare the two sentences below:

• नरः सगजं बालं गच्छति

  naraḥ sagajaṃ bālaṃ gacchati

  The man goes to the boy with the elephant.

  Here, the elephant is with the boy.

• नरो गजेन बालं गच्छति

  naro gajena bālaṃ gacchati

  The man goes to the boy with the elephant.

  Here, the elephant is with the man.

This prefix is associated with a compound that we will study later on.