Vṛddhi (also rendered vr̥ddhi)
is a technical term in
morphophonology given to the strongest grade in the
vowel gradation system of Sanskrit and
of Proto-Indo-European. The term is derived from
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
वृद्धि ''vṛddhi'', , 'growth', from .
Origins
Vṛddhi itself has its origins in proto-vṛddhi, a process in the early stage of the
Proto-Indo-European language
Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. No direct record of Proto-Indo-European exists; its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-Eu ...
originally for forming possessive derivatives of
ablauting noun stems, with the meaning "of, belonging to, descended from".
[Clackson, §3.3.] To form a vṛddhi-derivative, one takes the
zero-grade of the ablauting stem (i.e. removes the vowel), inserts the vowel *''e'' in a position which does not necessarily match that of the original vowel, and appends an accented thematic vowel (or accents any existing final thematic vowel). For example:
However, in a later stage of the language this appears to have extended to non-ablauting noun stems that already contained ''*e'', which would contract with the inserted vowel to form a lengthened ''*ē'':
The above example also displays the stressing of the thematic vowel when it already exists. It is this later version of proto-vṛddhi which is displayed in Sanskrit's lengthened vṛddhi grade.
Vṛddhi in Sanskrit
The general phenomenon of vowel gradation, including vṛddhi formation, has been extensively studied and documented as part of Sanskrit's vigorous grammatical tradition, most importantly in the ''
Aṣṭādhyāyī
The (; ) is a grammar text that describes a form of the Sanskrit language.
Authored by the ancient Sanskrit scholar Pāṇini and dated to around 6th c. bce, 6-5th c.BCE and 4th c.BCE, it describes the language as current in his time, specifica ...
'' of the grammarian
Pāṇini
(; , ) was a Sanskrit grammarian, logician, philologist, and revered scholar in ancient India during the mid-1st millennium BCE, dated variously by most scholars between the 6th–5th and 4th century BCE.
The historical facts of his life ar ...
.
[Burrow, §2.1.]
For example:
* "carried" (zero grade)
* "burden" (first grade, full grade, or
guṇa)
* "to be carried" (second grade, lengthened grade, or vṛddhi)
The full pattern of vowel gradation can be observed as follows:
Vṛddhi in Indo-European
In modern
Indo-European linguistics it is used in Pāṇini's sense and applied to the
Indo-European languages
The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia (e. ...
in general. The feature is considered to have been inherited from the
Proto-Indo-European language
Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. No direct record of Proto-Indo-European exists; its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-Eu ...
.
* (zero grade of the reconstructed verb meaning "to carry")
* (full grade)
* (vṛddhi, lengthened grade)
Notes
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vrddhi
Sanskrit grammar
Vyakarana
Indo-European linguistics