Lesson 7 B---Sanskritofying English | Lesson Index

                                                                                Lesson 7B. Sanskritofying English

Lesson 7. seems to need further explanations. So here goes... First let's get a few concepts absolutely clear...

Lesson 6. dealt with the introduction of a root word called a धातुः ।
A धातुः is the most flexible thing in the universe. It is the basic form of a verb and can be converted into a noun or an adjective and much else by the addition of prefixes and suffixes. Let us just concentrate on the verb aspect first. The others will be introduced by and by.

In English we have a singular and a plural.... Boy. Boys. A boy goes. Boys go. Sanskrit has an additional 'dual' besides a singular and a plural. So we have...a boy goes, two boys go and many boys go.

Just as in English, where the verb has to match the subject ( 'Boys goes' is an absolute howler), in Sanskrit too, the verbs HAVE to match the subject.
Now that Sanskrit has an additional dual, we need separate verb forms to distinguish the duals from the singulars and the plurals.                           

To understand grammar better, Sanskrit verbs are always shown in a tabular form. Vertically they denote 'number' and horizontally the 'person.' Let's take a peek at the table again .

गम् (to go) लट् लकार
(लट् लकार are Sanskrit words that mean the Present Tense.)

Keep the गम् table that has earlier been given in Lesson 7. alongside this one and begin to compare the two.                                                      These concepts should come through clearly...

1. Every noun and pronoun in the dictionary (except for 'You' , 'two you-s', many you-s' and 'I' , 'two of us' and 'we') fall into the प्रथम पुरुषः ...whether cat ,dog, museums, two cobs of corn , many fish, one bird, two rats.
These verbs will therefore be used for the third person... Use गच्छति with singular forms of ANY noun. Use गच्छतः with dual forms of ANY noun. Use गच्छन्ति with plural forms of ANY noun. For example...One cat गच्छति। Two cats गच्छतः । Three or more cats गच्छन्ति।
Yes, the noun form "cat" is written differently for one cat, two cats and three or more cats...but that will be explained in Lesson 8.

For the moment, combine English and Sanskrit to "remember" which verb form goes with which subject form. Similarly...one tadpole तरति, two tadpoles तरतः and three or more tadpoles तरन्ति । तॄ ( to swim) being the धातु ।

2. You, two of you, three or more of you ....these fall into the मध्यमः पुरुषः  । The subject is so specific here that just by looking at the word खादसि ( the suffix सि is the indicator) i know that it is you who are eating and nobody else. If i say वदथः, the suffix थः indicates "two of you".
3. Therefore since both मध्यमः पुरुषः  and उत्तमः पुरुषः  have predetermined subjects, i needn't add the subject at all in my sentences. If i say "sing" it is unclear as to who is singing...i? you? we?...but if i say गायामि , the मि tells me that "I am singing."
4. To identify the verb forms, you must look at its tail end. Catch a hold of the suffix... is it ति, तः, अन्ति, सि, थः, थ, मि, वः, मः ...and then
figure out who the subject is. Now let's tease the brain teaser in Lesson 7. into giving us a solution...

गुरुमूर्ते त्वां नमामि सततं
आत्मकाम संवर्धनि अम्ब।
 

नमामि tells you that the one who is performing the namaskaar is none but "I." Simple.
Use these verb suffixes with their matching subjects to form Sanskrit/English sentences...until our vocabulary grows.
अहं singaaमि , त्वं meditateसि , two elephants trumpetतः, Mother cookति, Father snoreति । ...sentences like that , till the verb suffixes- subject combinations have more or less been memorized.

Go on to the next lesson. Once you have finished reading Lesson 8 and Lesson 8 A, come back to Lesson 7, things will begin to make sense then. If you are still in a soup, write to the chef ( yours truly). Let's see if i can tease my brain into coming up with better explanations!
Looking forward to your feedback.

                        Here ends the lesson 7B on Sanskritofying English. We now move on to Vibhaktis -- Verb Conjugation

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