sandhi rules

Question 1

what do the rules of external sandhi govern?

Answer 1

1. final and initial letters/sounds of words 2. (with a few exceptions) 2a) words forming compounds 2b) nominal stems before middle terminations bhyām, bhyas, bhis, su 2c) nominal stems before secondary suffixes beginning with consonants (except y)

rkp 9/5/20 strangely we have manasvin, tapasvin, tejasvin etc. vin is a non-y consonant initial secondary suffix, so we would expect external sandhi here, but in fact seems to be internal sandhi instead where s not changing before semivowel

Question 2

what are middle terminations?

Answer 2

before these (consonant initial) terminations, three-stem nominals take their middle stems

Question 3

what are secondary suffixes?

Answer 3

secondary suffixes are added to stems already ending in a suffix

Question 4

what do the rules of internal sandhi govern?

Answer 4

finals of nominal and verbal stems before a) terminations of declension (except middle terminations) and; b) terminations of conjugation c) primary suffixes d) secondary suffixes beginning with vowels or y

Question 5

what are primary suffixes?

Answer 5

suffixes added directly to verbal roots, which may be compounded with verbal prefixes

Question 6

what is the general direction in which sandhi operates?

Answer 6

sandhi generally works from right to left – sounds are affected by sounds that follow it; buddha, ruki, and retroflexion of n are three major exceptions to this general rule as sounds affect sounds that follow it; there are also instances in both internal and external sandhi where both sounds change (final and initial)

Question 7

when are words joined up in writing?

Answer 7

rkp: prepare word finals, apply external sandhi (vowel and consonant), if you are left with two separate words (external vowel sandhi will often join words up automatically) then: words are joined up in writing wherever a virāma would otherwise have to be used on the final of the first word (the second word might have initial vowel or consonant); e.g. punar atra → punaratra final ṃ and ḥ of the first word does not lead to joining

Question 8

what are the two irregularities of external vowel sandhi?

Answer 8

1. where preverb ends in a/ā and following word is a verb beginning with ṛ, vṛddhi eg upa-ṛṣati → upārṣati; ā-ṛcchati → ārchati* [notice how this preverb interaction comes under external sandhi] as an example of regular external vowel sandhi with which to compare the above, note maharṣi (karmadhāraya compound) 2. augment + verb beginning with vowel → vowel taken into vṛddhi eg icchati → aicchat ; ṛcchati → ārchat *(given Whitney’s roots lists alternative class 6 present stem as archati and given AAM on p 212 spells imperfect active as ārchat i believe spelling on p 12 is incorrect)

Question 9

what are the three instances of exemption from external vowel sandhi?

Answer 9

1. interjections ā he aho i u e.g aho apehi, i indra, ā evam 2. ī, ū, and e of dual terminations (declension and conjugation) e.g. yācete artham, sādhū imau, kavī imau, vidye ime 3. nominal masculine plural of asau/adas e.g. amī aśvāḥ

Question 10

what are the only allowable final consonants and how are all other consonants reduced to these?

Answer 10

k t ṭ p m n ṅ ḥ are the only allowable final consonants, all other consonants must be reduced to these before external consonant sandhi can be applied; reduction as follows: devoicing and deaspiration

c ś h → k / ṭ

ñ (though note no word ends in radical ñ) → ṅ

ṣ → ṭ

r s → ḥ

final y v l ṇ never occur

Question 11

sanskrit does not allow more than one consonant to stand at the end of a word - (a) how is this achieved (b) what is the exception to this and (c) provide examples illustrating both the general rule and exception

Answer 11

all consonants must be dropped from the end till only one remains, which must then be in an allowable form except r preceding k t ṭ p where these four are radical or substituted for a radical ie not suffixes mṛj → amārj-t → amārc → amārṭ (imperfect active 3rd sing) bhṛ → abibhar-t → abibhaḥ (imperfect active 3rd sing) bhavant-s → bhavan (present active participle bhū nom. masc. sing., also consonant stem) ūrj-s→ ūrk (consonant stem f nom sing) prāñc-s → prāṅ (consonant stem m nom sing) rāj-s → rāṭ (consonant stem m nom sing) notice how the above examples can be viewed as internal sandhi in that they involve nominal/verbal stems and their terminations also as external sandhi in terms of preparation of finals

Question 12

only when can external consonant sandhi be applied?

Answer 12

only once finals of words have been prepared as above can external sandhi then be applied - note that it is applied without reference to the prepared final sound’s etymological value (except partially in the case of ḥ)

Question 13

external consonant sandhi final m

Answer 13

remains unchanged before vowels kim atra → kimatra (what [is] here?)

necessarily becomes anusvāra before semivowels, sibilants and h madhuraṃ hasati

optionally becomes anusvāra or respective class nasal before all other consonants (including n/m which are the only nasals which appear as word initials) śāstraṃ mīmāṃsate or śāstrammīmāṃsate guruṃ namati or gurunnamati kiṃ karoṣi or kiṅkaroṣi kiṃ phalam or kimphalam śatruṃ jahi or śatruñjahi

Question 14

kāntānna could be what?

Answer 14

kāntāt na (masc./neut. sing. abl.) kāntām na (fem. sing. acc.) kāntān na (masc. pl. acc.)

Question 15

external consonant sandhi final n

Answer 15

before s a transitional t may optionally be inserted tānsahate or tāntsahate

Question 16

external consonant sandhi final visarga before sibilants

Answer 16

(any preceding vowel) may optionally beassimilated suptaḥ śiśuḥ or suptaśśiśuḥ prathamaḥ sargaḥ or prathamassargaḥ

Question 17

external consonant sandhi illustrate the aḥ/āḥ exceptional rules before middle terminations

Answer 17

mās-bhiḥ → māḥ-bhiḥ → mābhiḥ manas-bhiḥ → manaḥ-bhiḥ → manobhiḥ

Question 18

external consonant sandhi final visarga resulting from original/radical r

Answer 18

follows the regular ḥ pattern regardless of what vowel it is preceded by;

punar atra → punaḥ atra → punaratra

punar rakṣati → punaḥ rakṣati → punā rakṣati (like senabhī rakṣati)

(cf devaḥ rakṣati –> devo rakṣati; devāḥ rakṣanti –> devā rakṣati)

take care of the following words then which do not follow the exceptional aḥ/āḥ rules

• r stem nominals dvār, ahar, svar, vār,
• these indeclinables punar (adverb), prātar (adverb), antar (adverb/preposition/verbal prefix; cf the quite separate word antara)
• forms of verbs in ṛ eg ajāgar (2nd /3rd sing. imperfect active of √jāgṛ)
• voc. sing. of ṛ stem nouns eg pitar, netar

Question 19

external consonant sandhi exceptional sandhi of r stem nouns

Answer 19

stem nouns (gir, pur, vār, dvār) in locative plural (a middle termination) exceptionally do not follow the ḥ pattern vār-su → vāḥ-su → vārṣu (reversion to despite unvoiced initial)

Question 20

external consonant sandhi doubling of consonants

Answer 20

1. doubling of final n/ṅ before a vowel occurs where n/ṅ preceded by a short vowel eg smayan iva → smayanniva; pratyaṅ āste –> pratyaṅṅāste ‘he sits westward’
2. initial ch doubles

optionally after any vowel,

necessarily after a short vowel or the prefix ā and particle mā

mā chidat → mā cchidat* (unaugmented a-aorist of chid active 3rd person sg)

badarīchāyā or badarīcchāyā (compound)

ā-chādayati → ācchādayati

tava chāyā → tava cchāyā * acchidat (augmented aorist)

*notice no word joining

[be on the look out for any example of ch following a short vowel other than ‘a’ out of interest]

3. ch doubles after any vowel within words mleccha, gacchati

Question 21

external consonant sandhi initial aspiration ś

Answer 21

ś (so long as it is not followed by an unvoiced consonant*) becomes aspirated after n and t tat-ślokena → tacchlokena dhāvan śaśaḥ → dhāvañchaśaḥ ś may (uncommon) become aspirated after k ṭ p (under same condition above) vāk-śatam → vākchatam *- (I don’t know how valuable this caveat really is as there are only a couple of words in the dictionary where there is initial ś followed by an unvoiced consonant - the only such combination being ‘śc’)

Question 22

EXTERNAL consonant sandhi (the second instance of initial aspiration, i.e. the one other than ś)

Answer 22

where a radical syllable has final dh/gh/bh/h and initial d/g/b and the syllable-final loses its aspiration (whether as word final or otherwise), the syllable initial will be aspirated in compensation

goduh adj milkman/milkmaid/cowherd nom sg mfn is godhuk

budh → bhut adj intelligent,wise

uṣarbudh adj awaking with the morning light, early awaked nom sg mfn is uṣarbhut

[this rule is about external consonant sandhi - do not confuse it for the almost equivalent rule of internal consonant sandhi – this rule does not only relate to monosyllable words – this rule would rkp thinks, apply in the context of a compound where the first member is a monosyllabic word which loses the aspiration of its syllable final. But the most obvious examples (as above) do seem to be monosyllabic words, losing the aspiration of their syllable final due to the necessary deaspiration involved in ‘external-sandhi-finals-preparation’]

Question 23

internal vowel sandhi nominal/verbal stem final i/ī and u/ū

Answer 23

before vowels (and even the same vowel) on many occasions → iy- and uv-

u: yuyuvuḥ (perfect pl 3rd active yu); stuvanti

ī: cikriyuḥ (perfect pl 3rd active krī); dhī –> dhiyi, dhiyām etc.

ū: bhū –> bhuvi, bhuvām etc.; abruvan (abrū +an)

i: siṣmiye (perfect smi 1st/3rd Ā p 230 AM)

Also useful to note some instances where this doesn’t happen to emphasise the ‘on many occasions’ point (ninyuḥ, ajuhvata)

Question 24

internal vowel sandhi stem final ṝ

Answer 24

before vowels ṝ→ ir

• gṝ → girati (class 6 present 3rd sing. P)
• kṝ ‘scatter’—> kirati (class 6 present 3rd sing P)

before consonants pṝ → pūrṇa, pūryate gṝ → gīrṇa, gīryate tṝ –> titīrṣati

Question 25

internal vowel sandhi stem final e, o, ai and au

Answer 25

before vowels (and before y for o au) → ay av āy āv

go+ya (secondary suffix) → gavya (relating to cows) (undeclined)

ajuhavam (ajuho+am)

ne+ana (primary suffix) → nayana] (undeclined)

ninaya (1st sg perfect act)

sto + ana –> stavana (undeclined)

m. rai-e –> rāye (for wealth) #

f. nau-aḥ –> nāvaḥ (ships)

Question 26

internal vowel sandhi stem final ṛ

Answer 26

after a single consonant, before y kṛ → kriyate bhṛ → bhriyate above are passive examples, notice also present stem class 4 mṛ → mriyati/mriyate

Question 27

internal consonant sandhi general rule and some exceptions

Answer 27

what really sets internal apart from external sandhi is the unchangeableness of consonant finals in the former relative to the latter:

before semivowels, nasals and vowels, final consonants generally remain unchanged*

vacmi, vācya, vacāni (cf. in external sandhi, a final consonant before a vowel, semi-vowel,nasal, usually changes at least in that it becomes voiced) (some other nice examples lih+mi –> lehmi, lih+vaḥ –> lihvaḥ, lih+āthe –> lihāthe [2nd person, dual, present, middle])

some* exceptions

final d before primary suffix na ad-na → anna final t/d

before secondary suffixes (oddly consonant initial) maya/mat vidyut-mat → vidyunmat (accompanied by lightening) mṛd-maya → mṛṇmaya (consisting of clay) [i don’t understand why this is here, maya/mat are non-y consonant initial secondary suffixes so external sandhi, and t/d changing to n before m is entirely expected - keeping here out of respect for AM]

rkp: final j before na suffix, ruj-na –> rugṇa, bhañj-na –> bhagna, bhuj-na –> bhugna (bhuj 6 bend,curve)

some of the internal consonant sandhi rules we study modify the external sandhi rule of the relevant final, but for some finals there are no equivalent external rules

Question 28

internal consonant sandhi stem final aspirates, loss of aspiration

Answer 28

except before vowels, nasals and semivowels there is loss of aspiration [labh+sye → lapsye (i will take) rundh-dhve* → runddhve (you pl obstruct)] *(the following note is not what governs loss of aspiration in runddhve, as before any non vowel/nasal/semivowel the dh will lose aspiration, but it is nevertheless an interesting note in AM worth bearing in mind, which runddhve can remind you of: sanskrit does not tolerate an aspirate at the start and end of the same syllable or at the end of one syllable and at the start of the next) lobh-ya (to be desired) yudh-i (in war) ruṇadhmi

Question 29

internal consonant sandhi stem final aspirates, throw back

Answer 29

where aspiration is lost before dhv (not dhi), s or bh, the aspirate is thrown back if this is possible in accordance with ‘rule 55’

a-budh-dhvam → abhuddhvam (s aorist, middle 2nd plural)

bhotsyati

bhudbhiḥ

budh-su → bhutsu

dih-dhve –> dhigdhve (confirmed in a german textbook ‘sanskrit-vademecum’) but

duh-dhi →dugdhi

notice that some of the examples above should really be instances of external sandhi (middle terminations) - i don’t have time or inclination to ponder on the reasoning behind AM’s formulation here right now, but still worth noting this point

Question 30

internal consonant sandhi stem final aspirates, throw forward

Answer 30

where aspiration in lost before t/th, the aspirate is thrown forwards and the t/th becomes voiced dah-ta → dagdha labh-ta → labdha budh-ta → buddha rundh-thaḥ → runddhaḥ bandh-tum → banddhum

but not irregular dhā: dadh-thaḥ –> dhatthaḥ, dhattaḥ, dhattha (throw back instead of expected throw forward)

Question 31

internal consonant sandhi stem final c and j

Answer 31

before consonants

c regularly becomes a velar

j usually becomes a velar, sometimes a cerebral (but before conjugational s, j regularly becomes a velar k)

ukta yukta bhakti

ruj-na → rugṇa* (interesting one this - exception to the general rule of internal consonant sandhi)

bhuṅgdhi

mṛj+dhi → mṛḍḍhi

mṛj-ta –> mṛṣṭa

rāj-tra (primary suffix)→ rāṣṭra

√bhuj → bhokṣyati / √yuj → yokṣyati

c and j palatalise following dental nasals, but ś does not yācñā, yajña, praśna

*bhagna from vr bhañj is another exampleof this (should really be added to list of exceptions to general rule along with ad-na anna etc.!)

Question 32

internal consonant sandhi stem final ś

Answer 32

before middle declension terminations, nominative singular (declension) termination s, and dh usually becomes ṭ/ḍ, sometimes velar viś-su → viṭsu before s of conjugation always becomes k veś-syāmi → vekṣyāmi before t/th becomes always ṣ viś-ta → viṣta

Question 33

internal consonant sandhi prach

Answer 33

the ch of prach is treated as ś pṛṣṭa, prakṣyāmi, praśna

Question 34

internal consonant sandhi stem final cerebrals

Answer 34

cerebrals turn following dentals into cerebrals verbal root iṣ: iṣ-ta → iṣṭa (mṛj-dhi –> ) mṛḍ-dhi –> mṛḍḍhi dviṣ-dhi → dviḍḍhi ṣaṭ-nām → ṣaṇṇām viṣaṇṇa ṣ before terminations of declension (presumably non-nasal/semi-vowel/vowel initial) and the dh of conjugation regularly becomes ṭ/ḍ dviḍḍhi before the s of conjugation regularly becomes k dvekṣi (dveṣ-si)

Question 35

internal consonant sandhi stem final s

Answer 35

in the reduplicated perfect active participle (vas suffix) → t (in middle stem) cakṛvat, cakṛvadbhiḥ, cakṛvatsu

dental s becomes dental t as final of roots vas ‘dwell’ and ghas ‘east’ before the s of verbal suffixes (future, aorist, desiderative) eg vatsyati ‘will dwell’; avātsīt ‘has dwelt’; jighatsati ‘wishes to eat’

dissapears between mutes

• cakṣ → caś-s-te → caṣṭe (he speaks)
• chid → acchaid-s-tam → acchaittam (rkp think here what would happen if the s were dropped - well we’d be left with t-t, and between two mutes s does drop, so let it drop)
• bhaj → abhaj-s-ta → abhakta (3rd sing. middle aorist indicative) (he shared) (again rkp suppose the s were not there - what would happen k-t (usually) and that is two mutes so let the s drop)
• this loss also occurs when the preposition ud is compounded with the roots sthā ‘stand’ and stambh ‘support’ eg utthāya ‘standing up’; uttambhita ‘raised up’ (rkp utthāpana :) )

disappears before voiced dentals

• śās-dhi → śādhi
• even after becoming a ṣ and cerebralising the following voiced dental (we know that cerebrals in internal combination cerebralise following dentals so this makes sense, the novelty is that the ṣ then drops)
  
  • a-sto-s-dhvam → astoḍhvam (√stu s-aorist)
  • akṛḍhvam (kṛ s aorist)
  • abodhiṣ-dhvam → abodhiḍhvam (budh iṣ aorist)

Question 36

internal consonant sandhi n

Answer 36

as final of verbal roots before s → ṃ man → maṃsyate, mīmāṃsati han → jighāṃsati, haṃsi as insertion in neuter plurals before s havīṃṣi cakṣūṃṣi manāṃsi yaśāṃsi cakṛvāṃsi śreyāṃsi

Question 37

internal consonant sandhi stem final m

Answer 37

unchanged before y l r (cf external, but consistent with general internal rule) am-la tām-ra kām-ya

before v → n jaganvān (jaganvas reduplicated perfect active participle of gam)

rkp note also jagantha, araṃsta, gaṃsyati (instances of stem final m before consonants, where rkp thinks external rule being followed in absence of any particular internal rule)

p 46 AM rkp musing note on jaganvān (extends beyond perfect reduplicated participle declension to also e.g. comparatives in (ī)yas declension: jaganvāṃs is strong participle stem, but we know that this is simply an n inserted before the s which has become a ṃ (i think the rule on this in my pack refers to the neuter plurals as this is where the ṃ remains visible) so it is jaganvāns–> jaganvān

Question 38

internal consonant sandhi stem final h

Answer 38

Rule 1:

before s, and as final of verbs beginning with d before t/th/dh h is treated like gh

lih → lekṣi

snih → snekṣyati

dah → dagdhi

dah → dhakṣyati

duh+ta → dugdha

dih+dhve → dhigdhve

dih+thaḥ –> digdhaḥ

duh+si –> dhukṣi

although not beginning with d, snih and muh (in one sense) follow this pattern: snigdha ‘smooth’ and mugdha ‘foolish’

Rule 2:

as final of verbs not beginning with d, before t/th/dh h is treated like an aspirate cerebral which changes the following t/th/dh to ḍh, lengthens any short preceding vowel and then drops

līḍha

leḍhi

līḍhe

ūḍha (uh+ta)

mūḍha (muh+ta) ‘infatuated’

rūḍhi (ruh + ti)

from sanskrit heritage site: lih+dhve –> līḍhve, lih + thaḥ –> līḍhaḥ

similarly treated are the roots vah and sah but with an irregularity in the vowel ūḍha ‘carried’ voḍhum ‘to carry’; soḍhum ‘to bear’

an exception to this second rule is nah (begins with non-d) in which h is treated as dh: naddha ‘bound’

Exception to both rules

an exception to both rules is the root dṛh → dṛḍha ‘firm’ (begins with d and has a short vowel)

Question 39

internal consonant sandhi Ruppell note on nasals before consonants

Answer 39

there is variation on whether nasals before consonants within words are written as nasal stops or anusvāra – her book uses anusvāra before all non-stop consonants (semi-vowels, sibilants and h) but the homorganic nasal stop before stop consonants ( including nasal stops) but the prefix/preverb sam is saṃ before all consonants in her book rkp note how this is very similar to the rule AM gives for EXTERNAL m sandhi - something to bear in mind

Question 40

internal consonant sandhi ruki

Answer 40

s→ ṣ immediately after r, k or any vowel other than a/ā

unless that s stands at the end of a word or is immediately followed by an r

even if a ḥ or ṃ intervene

haviḥ cakṣūṃṣi senāsu nareṣu haviḥṣu, upārṣati , sru ‘flow’ susrāva, tamisra ‘darkness’

this is an internal consonant sandhi rule - but then why do we observe viṣaṇṇa and bhūṣu? rkp qs 12/3/20 rkp 16/3/20 this may be due to what we understand ‘internal’ to mean, consider lōking at AM’s definition of this rule in the future sometime and yet rkp 19/04/20 we see bhūsura

Question 41

internal consonant sandhi retroflexion of n

Answer 41

AM rule:

a preceding ṛ ṝ r or ṣ

(even though a vowel, a velar (including h), a labial (including m and v), y or anusvāra intervene)

changes a dental n (followed by a vowel or n, m, y, v)

to ṇ

viṣaṇṇa; mṛṇmaya arṇavena kṣantum, darśana, viṣaṇṇa , maraṇa, arkeṇa, arṇavena , arcana, rāmān, rāmāyaṇa prasanna, brāhmaṇa, arjuna and raṭana, taraṃgiṇī, prāyeṇa, kṣālana

***********

Ruppel rule

n → ṇ after r, ṛ, ṝ, ṣ anywhere within the same word

unless that n is followed by a stop (where ‘stop’ does not include ‘n’ and ‘m’)

or unless a dental, palatal or retroflex stop, or s or ś intervene (where ‘stop’ does include class nasal stops ‘n’, ‘ñ’, ‘ṇ’)

Question 42

some examples of ‘normal’ visarga ie non aḥ āḥ

Answer 42

taiḥ

nauḥ

bhūḥ

dhīḥ

agniḥ

dhenuḥ

dyoḥ

dhanoḥ

netuḥ

agneḥ

mātṝḥ

Question 43

external consonant sandhi

k ṭ t p followed by initial n/m

Answer 43

k ṭ t p when followed by initial n/m may and in practice almost invariably do, become the corresponding nasals ṅ ṇ n m eg dik-nāga → dignāga or diṅnāga ‘world-elephant’ ; jagat-nātha → jagadnātha or jagannātha

Question 44

final ṅ before sibilants

Answer 44

ṅ which is rare as a final, remains unchanged in that position, but a k may be inserted after it before the three sibilants eg prāṅśete or prāṅkśete ‘he lies eastward’

Question 45

bhoḥ external sandhi note

Answer 45

bhoḥ an irregular contracted vocative (for bhavas, used as an interjection) of bhavat ‘your honour’ drops its visarga before all vowels and voiced consonants eg bhoḥ īśāna → bho īśāna ‘O lord’; bhoḥ devāḥ → bho devāḥ ‘O gods’; but bhoḥ chettaḥ → bhośchettaḥ ‘O cutter’

(the same rule applies to the contracted vocative bhagoḥ (for bhagavas) from bhagavat ‘adorable one’