Etymology
''Aṣṭādhyāyī'' is made of two words ''aṣṭa-'', 'eight' and ''adhyāya-'', 'chapter', thus meaning eight-chaptered, or 'the book of eight chapters'.Background
Grammatical tradition
By 1000 BCE, a large body of hymns composed in the oldest attested form of the Proto-Indo-Aryan language had been consolidated into the ''Arrangement
The ''Aṣṭādhyāyī'' consists of 3,995 sūtras in eight chapters, which are each subdivided into four sections or pādas. There are different types of sūtras, with the ''vidhisūtra'' – operational rules, being the main one. The other, ancillary sūtras, are: * ''paribhāṣā'' – metarules * ''adhikāra'' – headings * ''atideśa-sūtra'' – extension rules * ''niyama-sūtra'' – restrictive rules * ''pratiṣedha- & niṣedha-sūtra'' – negation rulesRelated fields
The ''Aṣṭādhyāyī'' is the foundation of Vyākaraṇa, one of the Vedic ancillary fields ( Vedāṅgas), and complements others such as the Niruktas, Nighaṇṭus, and Śikṣā. Regarded as extremely compact without sacrificing completeness, it would become the model for later specialist technical texts or sūtras.Method
The text takes material from lexical lists (''Dhātupāṭha'', ''Gaṇapātha'') as input and describes algorithms to be applied to them for the generation of well-formed words. It is highly systematised and technical. Inherent in its approach are the concepts of the phoneme, theCommentarial tradition
The ''Aṣṭādhyāyī'', composed in an era when oral composition and transmission was the norm, is staunchly embedded in that oral tradition. In order to ensure wide dissemination, Pāṇini is said to have preferred brevity over clarity – it can be recited end-to-end in two hours. This has led to the emergence of a great number of commentaries of his work over the centuries, which for the most part adhere to the foundations laid by Pāṇini's work. The most famous and among the most ancient of these Bhāṣyas is the ''Mahābhāṣya'' of Patañjali. Non-Hindu texts and traditions on grammar emerged after Patañjali, some of which include the Sanskrit grammar text of Jainendra of Jainism and the Chandra school of Buddhism.Critical responses
In the , language is observed in a manner that has no parallel among Greek or Latin grammarians. Pāṇini's grammar, according to Renou and Filliozat, defines the linguistic expression and a classic that set the standard for Sanskrit language.Rules
The first two sutras are as follows: :1.1.1 ''vṛddhir ādaiC'' :1.1.2 ''adeṄ guṇaḥ'' In these sutras, the letters which here are put into the upper case actually are special meta-linguistic symbols; they are called ''IT'' markers or, by later writers such as Katyayana and Patanjali, '' anubandhas'' (see below). The ''C'' and ''Ṅ'' refer to '' Shiva Sutras'' 4 ("''ai'', ''au'', ''C"'') and 3 ("''e'', ''o'', ''Ṅ"''), respectively, forming what are known as the ''pratyāhāra''s "comprehensive designations" ''aiC'', ''eṄ''. They denote the list of phonemes and respectively. The ''T'' appearing (in its variant form /d/) in both sutras is also an ''IT'' marker: Sutra 1.1.70 defines it as indicating that the preceding phoneme does ''not'' represent a list, but a single phoneme, encompassing all supra-segmental features such as accent and nasality. For further example, ''āT'' and ''aT'' represent ''ā'' and ''a'' respectively. When a sutra defines the technical term, the term defined comes at the end, so the first sutra should have properly been ''ādaiJ vṛddhir'' instead of ''vṛddhir ādaiC''. However the orders are reversed to have a good-luck word at the very beginning of the work; ''vṛddhir'' happens to mean 'prosperity' in its non-technical use. Thus the two sutras consist of a list of phonemes, followed by a technical term; the final interpretation of the two sutras above is thus: :1.1.1: are called '' ''. :1.1.2: are called '' guṇa''. At this point, one can see they are definitions of terminology: ''guṇa'' and ''vṛ́ddhi'' are the terms for the full and the lengthened Indo-European ablaut grades, respectively.List of ''IT'' markers
Markers called ''it'' or ''anubandha'' are defined in P. 1.3.2 through P. 1.3.8. These definitions refer only to items taught in the grammar or its ancillary texts such at the '; this fact is made clear in P. 1.3.2 by the word ''upadeśe'', which is then continued in the following six rules by ', Ellipsis. As these ''anubandha''s are metalinguistic markers and not pronounced in the final derived form, ''pada'' (word), they are elided by P. 1.3.9 ' – 'There is elision of that (i.e. any of the preceding items which have been defined as an ''it'').' Accordingly, Pāṇini defines the ''anubandha''s as follows: # Nasalized vowels, e.g. ''bhañjO''. Cf. P. 1.3.2. # A final consonant (''haL''). Cf. P. 1.3.3.Auxiliary texts
Pāṇini's ''Aṣṭādhyāyī'' has three associated texts. * The ''Śiva Sūtras'' are a brief but highly organised list of phonemes. * The ''Dhātupāṭha'' is a lexical list of verbal roots (''dhātu'') sorted by present class. * The ''Gaṇapāṭha'' is a lexical list of nominal stems grouped (''gaṇa'', "group") by common properties.''Śiva Sūtras''
The '' Śiva Sūtras'' describe a phonemic notational system in the fourteen initial lines preceding the ''Aṣṭādhyāyī''. The notational system introduces different clusters of phonemes that serve special roles in the morphology of Sanskrit, and are referred to throughout the text. Each cluster, called a ''pratyāhāra'', ends with a dummy sound called an ''anubandha'' (the so-called ''IT'' index), which acts as a symbolic referent for the list. Within the main text, these clusters, referred through the ''anubandhas'', are related to various grammatical functions.''Dhātupāṭha''
The ''Dhātupāṭha'' is a lexicon of Sanskrit verbal roots (''dhātu'') of classical Sanskrit, indicating their properties and meanings. There are approximately 2300 roots in ''Dhātupāṭha''. Of these, 522 roots are often used in classical Sanskrit. ''Dhātupāṭha'' is organised by the ten present classes of Sanskrit, i.e. the roots are grouped by the form of their stem in the present tense. The ten present classes of Sanskrit are: # ' (i.e., ''bhū-ādayaḥ'') – root- full grade + ''a'' thematic presents # ' – root presents # ' (i.e., ''juhoti-ādayaḥ'') – reduplicated presents # ' – ''ya'' thematic presents # ' (i.e., ''su-ādayaḥ'') – ''nu'' presents # ' – root- zero grade + ''a'' thematic presents # ' – ''n''-infix presents # ' – ''no'' presents # ' (i.e., ''krī-ādayaḥ'') – ''ni'' presents # ' – ''aya'' presents (causatives, denominatives etc.) The above names are composed of the first verbal root in each class followed by ''ādayaḥ'' "etc.; and next" – ' thus means "the class starting with ''bhū''". The small number of class 8 verbs are a secondary group derived from class 5 roots, and class 10 is a special case, in that any verb can form class 10 presents, then assuming causative meaning. The roots specifically listed as belonging to class 10 are those for which any other form has fallen out of use (causative deponents, so to speak, and denominatives).''Gaṇapāṭha''
The ''Gaṇapāṭha'' is a list of groups of primitive nominal stems (roots) used by the ''Aṣṭādhyāyī''. Examples of groups include: # Listing of verbal prefixes (''upasarga''). # Listing of pronouns ("pronoun" is not an accurate translation but is commonly used as the list includes 'he', 'she', 'it', but also 'all' (from which the group gets its name), 'that').Commentary
After Pāṇini, the of Patañjali on the Aṣṭādhyāyī is one of the three most famous works in Sanskrit grammar. It was with Patañjali that Indian linguistic science reached its definite form. The system thus established is extremely detailed as to ''śikṣā'' (Other information
Pāṇini's work has been one of the important sources of cultural, religious, and geographical information aboutEditions
* Rama Nath Sharma, ''The Aṣṭādhyāyī of Pāṇini (6 Vols.)'', 2001, * Otto Böhtlingk, ''Panini's Grammatik'' 1887, reprint 1998 *Katre, Sumitra M., ''Astadhyayi of Panini'', Austin: University of Texas Press, 1987. Reprint Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1989. *Misra, Vidya Niwas, ''The Descriptive Technique of Panini'', Mouton and Co., 1966. * Vasu, Srisa Chandra, ''The Ashṭádhyáyí of Páṇini''. Translated into English, Indian Press, Allahabad, 1898.BookNotes
Glossary
Traditional glossary and notes
Brahmic notes
References
Bibliography
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