INTRODUCTION - acharya.gen.in:8080

1 S p#vES: INTRODUCTION : In this first lesson, the student will learn some expressions of common everyday use. In these expressions, the verb As- (to be) is understoodand is not explicitly used. Sanskrit, like other classical languages, has threegenders- masculine (m), feminine (f) and neuter (n).These are indicated in the examples given. The studentis advised to learn these expressions by memory. The prelude to these tutorial lessons introduced the vowels and consonants of Sanskrit and also indicatedhow they are to be pronounced. The student is advisedto refer to this prelude as well to memorize the Here are some common expressions in the first nam ram: My Name is Rama (m)mama n ma r ma mm nam s taMy Name is Sita (f)mama n ma s t mm nam SEKr: My Name is Sekhara (m)mama n ma khara mm nam umaMy name is Uma (f)mama n ma um mm dEv: Sv: My God is Siva (m)mama d vaha iva mm dEv pavIt My Goddess is Parvati (f)mama d v p rvat mm p O: maDv.

2 My son is Madhava (m)mama putra m dhava mm p O vjyaMy daughter is Vijaya (f)mama putr vijay mm BtaI v N My husband is Vishnu (m)mama bhart vi umm BayaI p a My wife is padma (f)mama bh ry padm mm pta jydEv: My father is Jayadeva (m)mama pit jayad va mm mata s Bd#aMy mother is subhadra (f)mama m t subhadr mm B#ata vjy:My brother is Vijay (m)mama bhr t vijaya mm vsa m lka My sister is Mallika (f)mama svas mallik mm m O| k] N:My friend is Krishna (n)mama mitra k a mm vahn| taEyaEta My vehicle is Toyota (n)mama v hana t y t Note that the verb "to be" ( , the form "is" in English) is not used in any of the expressions.

3 The explicitform of the verb As- (to be) is always implied inexpressions of this nature and in Sanskrit, as in mostlanguages, the personal pronoun mm has no Simple expressions involving a subsection deals with expressions invoving a question, the answers to which are similarto the expressions in section nam k|What is your name?tava n ma ki tv dEv: k:Who is your God?tava d va ka tv dEv ka Who is your Goddess?tava d v k tv p O: k: Who is your son?tava putra ka tv p O ka Who is your daughter?tava putr k tv B#ata k: Who is your brother?tava bhr t ka tv vsa ka Who is your sister?tava svas k tv m O| k| Who is your friend?

4 Tava mitra ki tv vahn| k| What is your vehicle?tava v hana ki Observe that there are no question marks in anyof the sentences. In Sanskrit, no punctuation is ever used. Generally, the punctuation is recog-nized from the intonation. Even in the interrogative form, the verb As- (to be) is not explicitly becomes apparent in these sentences as can be observed with the ending akshara of the words , k: , ka and k| .k: is the masculine form known as p | l :(pumli ga )ka is the feminine form known as O l :(str li ga ) k| is the neuter form known as np |sk l :(napumsakali ga )Among the words used in the sentences givenabove, the following words are masculinein :, SEKr:, dEv:, p O:, Sv:, maDv:,jydEv:, vjy.

5 , pta, B#ata The following are feminine wordss ta, uma, pavIt , vjya, dEv , p O ,BayaI, mata, vsa, p a, s Bd#a, m lka Some examples of nouns in the neuter gender are m O|, vahnm- , nam, Dnm- , jlm- ,kmlm- , AaBrNm- In Sanskrit, gender is not decided by the meaning of the word but is fixed by other considerationssuch as the form of the word and its Note on the word tv .The form of address tv , it should be noted , ismostly used in circumstances involving personswho enjoy a close relationship with the personspeaking the sentence. Often, the form with respectBvt: (m) or Bv ya: (f) is , it is observed that the form tv was inregular use in earlier times and did not mean anydisrespect.

6 In keeping with modern trends, we are following the practice of using tv for the familiarform of address and Bvt:/Bv ya: for the respectfulform. This is similar to the usage of the Germanwords "dein" and "ihr".Demonstrative pronouns. Masculineex: He (who is nearby)s: He (who is farther away) Feminine exa She (who is nearby)sa She (who is farther away) Neuter ett- This tt- That------------------------------------ ------------------------------The use of the demonstrative pronoun willdepend on whether the speaker is refering to aperson in the immediate vicinity or someoneat a distance. Essentially, this is equivalent tothe difference between "this" and "that".

7 InSanskrit this distinction applies for all thethree :ands:(masculine) a sa exaandsa(feminine) s ett-andtt-(neuter) tattatLet us look at some : kak:This (is a) crow aha k ka exa mala This (is a) garland m l ex: mm gj: This (is) my elephant aha mama gaja exa mm BayaIThis (is) my wife mama bh ry ett- kmlm-This (is a) lotus tat kamalamett- tv kmlm-This (is) your lotus tat tava kamalams: k] N: That (is) Krishnasa k a sa k] Na That is Krishnaa (f) (Krishnaa is a feminine name)tt- Aasnm- That (is a) seattat sanamtt- tv Aasnm- That (is) your seat tat tava Some common expressions used indaily tE Greeetingsnamast s p#Batm- Good Morningsuprabh tamk[Slm- vaHow do you do?

8 Ku alam v D yvada:Thank you, Thanksdhanyav d : vagtm- Welcomesv gatam D yaE mI am thankful(I am grateful)dhany smip n mIlam:See you againpunarmil ma X ytam-Please excuse mek amyat mS Bm t Best wishes ubhamastu------------------------------- -----------------------------------Gloss ary: Words already seen in the sections. dEv:- GoddEv - Goddess m Om-- friend pta- fathermata- mothernam- namep O:- son p O - daughtervahnm- - vehicleB#ata- brother vsa- sistermm- myBtaI- husbandBayaI - wife Here are some more (new) words. 1. Masculine gendernr:- mankak:- crowmy r:- peacockvanr:- monkeyS nk:- dogkr: - handgj:- elephantAcl:- mountainmajaIr: catA :- horse2.

9 Feminine gendermala- garlandkTa- storydya- mercysBa- hallBaxa- languagek]pa- sympathylta- creeperS n - female dogvanr - female monkeybdva- mare my r - peahenmajaIr - female catnar - womanSarda- name of a Goddesssr vt - Goddess of learning 3. Neuter genderBvnm-- housekmlm-- lotusAannm-- faceAasnm-- seatjlm-- waterDnm-- wealth---------------------------------- -------------------------------- Exercises. 1. Learn to pronounce all the words introduced in the earlier sections. Correct pronounciation is essential for Sanskrit. Make use of the Roman transliteration given alongside when necessary. Try and pronounce the following v d:Brt:vamn:p tkm-ca mt A Nal ltaA ba Ba kr:g Nt:laEk:p ft:s k yal m vaN gaEm t2.

10 Using the words intoduced in section , try to form sentences similar to those in sections and Try and form sentences in Sanskrit. This is your husband. That is your son. This is my lotus. That is your lotus. This is Govinda. (m) That is Vimalaa. (f) Salutations, Krishna. See you again, daughter.