Sanskrit verbs

The Sanskrit verbal system is very complex, with verbs inflecting for different combinations of tense, aspect, mood, number, and person. Participial forms are also extensively used.

Classification of verbs

There are two broad ways of classifying Sanskrit verbal roots:

Unicode|Ten "Gaṇa"s

Based on how the present stem is generated from the verb root, Sanskrit has ten classes (or "Unicode|gaṇa"s) of verbs divided into in two broad groups: athematic and thematic. The thematic verbs are so called because an "a", called the theme vowel, is inserted between the stem and the ending. This serves to make the thematic verbs generally more regular. Exponents used in verb conjugation include prefixes, suffixes, infixes, and reduplication. Every root has (not necessarily all distinct) zero, guUnicode|ṇa, and vUnicode|ṛddhi grades. If V is the vowel of the zero grade, the guUnicode|ṇa-grade vowel is traditionally thought of as a + V, and the vUnicode|ṛddhi-grade vowel as ā + V.

=Unicode|"Seṭ" and "Aniṭ" Roots=

Sanskrit roots may also be classified, independent of their "Unicode|gaṇa", into three groups, depending on whether they take the vowel "i" before certain tense markers. Since the term used for this vowel by Sanskrit grammarians is "Unicode|iṭ", these two groups are called "Unicode|seṭ" (with "Unicode|iṭ"), "Unicode|veṭ" (optional "Unicode|iṭ") and "Unicode|aniṭ" (without "Unicode|iṭ") respectively.

Tense systems

The verbs tenses (a very inexact application of the word, since more distinctions than simply tense are expressed) are organized into four 'systems' (as well as gerunds and infinitives, and such creatures as intensives/frequentatives, desideratives, causatives, and benedictives derived from more basic forms) based on the different stem forms (derived from verbal roots) used in conjugation. There are four tense systems:
*Present (Present, Imperfect, Imperative, Optative)
*Perfect
*Aorist
*Future (Future, Conditional)

Present system

The present system includes the present and imperfect tenses, the optative and imperative moods, as well as some of the remnant forms of the old subjunctive. The tense stem of the present system is formed in various ways. The numbers are the native grammarians' numbers for these classes.

For athematic verbs, the present tense stem may be formed through:
*2) No modification at all, for example "ad" from "ad" 'eat'.
*3) Reduplication prefixed to the root, for example "juhu" from "hu" 'sacrifice'.
*7) Infixion of "na" or "n" before the final root consonant (with appropriate sandhi changes), for example "rundh" or "ruUnicode|ṇadh" from "rudh" 'obstruct'.
*5) Suffixation of "nu" (guUnicode|ṇa form "no"), for example "sunu" from "su" 'press out'.
*8) Suffixation of "u" (guUnicode|ṇa form "o"), for example "tanu" from "tan" 'stretch'. For modern linguistic purposes it is better treated as a subclass of the 5th. "tanu" derives from "tnnu", which is zero-grade for *"tannu", because in the Proto-Indo-European language [m] and [n] could be vowels, which in Sanskrit (and Greek) change to [a] . Most members of the 8th class arose this way; "kar" = "make", "do" was 5th class in Vedic ("krnoti" = "he makes"), but shifted to the 8th class in Classical Sanskrit ("karoti" = "he makes")
*9) Suffixation of "nā" (zero-grade "nī" or "n"), for example "krīUnicode|ṇa" or "krīUnicode|ṇī" from "krī" 'buy'.

For thematic verbs, the present tense stem may be formed through:
*1) Suffixation of the thematic vowel "a" with guUnicode|ṇa strengthening, for example, "bháva" from "bhū" 'be'.
*6) Suffixation of the thematic vowel "a" with a shift of accent to this vowel, for example "tudá" from "tud" 'thrust'.
*4) Suffixation of "ya", for example "dī́vya" from "div" 'play'.

The tenth class described by native grammarians refers to a process which is derivational in nature, and thus not a true tense-stem formation. It is formed by suffixation of "ya" with guUnicode|ṇa strengthening and lengthening of the root's last vowel, for example "bhāvaya" from "bhū" 'be'.

Perfect system

The perfect system includes only the perfect tense. The stem is formed with reduplication as with the present system.

The perfect system also produces separate "strong" and "weak" forms of the verb — the strong form is used with the singular active, and the weak form with the rest.

Aorist system

The aorist system includes aorist proper (with past indicative meaning, e.g. "abhūUnicode|ḥ" "you were") and some of the forms of the ancient injunctive (used almost exclusively with "mā" in prohibitions, e.g. "mā bhūUnicode|ḥ" "don't be"). The principal distinction of the two is presence/absence of an augment – "a-" prefixed to the stem.

The aorist system stem actually has three different formations: the simple aorist, the reduplicating aorist (semantically related to the causative verb), and the sibilant aorist. The simple aorist is taken directly from the root stem (e.g. "bhū-": "a-bhū-t" "he was"). The reduplicating aorist involves reduplication as well as vowel reduction of the stem. The sibilant aorist is formed with the suffixation of "s" to the stem.

Future system

The future system is formed with the suffixation of "sya" or "iUnicode|ṣya" and guUnicode|ṇa. It includes a conditional, formed from the future stem as the imperfect is formed from a thematic present stem. Rarely used in Classical Sanskrit, the conditional refers to hypothetical actions.

Participles

Sanskrit also makes extensive use of participles.

Past Participles

Past participles are formed directly from verbal roots for most verbs (except for verbs of the tenth "gaṇa", which form them from the present stem). They have a perfective sense, in that they refer to actions that are completed. They can freely substitute for finite verbs conjugated in the past sense.

Past Passive Participles

The past passive participle in Sanskrit ("ktãnta") is formed by placing ta at the end of the root, in certain cases preceded by an "i" vowel. For several verbs, the root itself is also modified. For instance, the root "vac", to speak, forms the past participle ukta.

Past Active Participles

These are regularly formed by suffixing "-vant" to the past passive participles. They modify the subject of the verb from which they are formed.

Present Participle

Unlike the past participles, the present participle is formed from the present stem of the verb, and is formed differently depending on whether the verb is "parasmaipada" or "ãtmanepada". The present participle can never substitute for a finite verb. It is also inherently imperfective, indicating an action that is still in process at the time of the main verb.

Future Participles

Future Participle

Formed from the future stem just as the present participle is formed from the present stem, the future participle describes an action that has not yet happened, but that may in the future.

Gerundive

The gerundive is a future passive prescriptive participle, indicating that the word modified should or ought to be the object of the action of the participle.

Perfect Participle

The perfect participle is a past active participle, but is very rarely used in classical Sanskrit.

Aorist Participle

The aorist participle used in Vedic was lost in Classical Sanskrit.

Example

The following table is a partial listing of the major verbal forms that can be generated from a single root. Not all roots can take all forms; some roots are often confined to particular stems. The verbal forms listed here are all in the third person singular, and they can all be conjugated in three persons and three numbers.

Root: "bhū", a class I thematic verb root.
Present stem: "bhava-"
Passive stem: "bhūya-"
Future stem: "bhaviUnicode|ṣya-"

Taking into account the fact that the participial forms each decline in seven cases in three numbers across three genders, and the fact that the verbs each conjugate in three persons in three numbers, the primary, causative, and desiderative stems for this root when counted together have over a thousand forms.

Bibliography

* "IAST|Devavāṇīpraveśikā: An Introduction to the Sanskrit Language" – Robert P. Goldman – ISBN 0-944613-40-3
* "A Sanskrit Grammar for Students" – A. A. Macdonell – ISBN 81-246-0094-5