Learning Sanskrit - Affixes (1)

Primary and secondary affixes - An introductory study

 Introduction

Hi, Gabriel Pradīpaka again. You are about to begin your study in Kṛt and Taddhita affixes. This subject is rather important so that you can understand certain processes occurring in the formation of lots of words.

The Kṛt affixes are also known as primary affixes, while the Taddhita ones are also called secondary affixes. The primary affixes are to be added to verbs, and the secondary affixes to substantives.

On one hand, when you add Kṛt affixes to verbs, you obtain substantives, adjectives and indeclinables as a result. On the other hand, when you add Taddhita affixes to substantives, you cause various changes in them and obtain different kinds of derivative terms as you will see later on.

There are five Vṛtti-s or complex forms in Sanskrit. The names of the first two Vṛtti-s are derived from the type of affixes that you add in order to form it. A chart now:

I have just shown two examples to you about adding primary and secondary affixes to verbs and substantives respectively. The subject gets more and more complicated as you advance, of course. Before showing you some other examples, there are two important terms that you have to learn now: PRIMARY NOMINAL BASE and SECONDARY NOMINAL BASE. The Sanskrit names for these two types of bases are as follows: Kṛdanta and Taddhitānta. The word "anta" indicates "ending in". Thus: Kṛdanta means "(a word) ending in a Kṛt affix"; and Taddhitānta means "(a word) ending in a Taddhita affix". Primary and secondary nominal bases are also known as Primary and Secondary Derivatives respectively. And now, Kṛt affixes:

top

 Kṛt or Primary affixes: Preliminary study

As I said to you, this kind of affixes "must" be added to verbs to obtain substantives, adjectives and indeclinables. We are now going to study Kṛt affixes in general. However, note that there is a particular type of affixes called "Uṇādi", as they begin with "uṇ". These affixes constitute a special class within Kṛt affixes, inasmuch as they produce substantives formed irregularly and sometimes these very substantives are not related at all to the verbs from which they are derived. I will explain "Uṇādi" affixes later, later on.

Listen: Since this is a preliminary study, I will show you how to use Kṛt affixes in a "shallow" way. In the next document, I will go deep into the subject, do not worry.

Another important thing you should know is the difference between Seṭ, Veṭ and Aniṭ roots. Listen:

On many occasions, when you conjugate a verb or form a verbal derivative, you have to use the augment "i", necessarily or optionally, with terminations beginning with consonant (except "y"). For example, if you want to conjugate the root "tṝ" (to cross) in the Second Future Tense (there are two ways to conjugate in Future Tense in Sanskrit: Periphrastic Future or First Future, and Simple Future or Second Future) 1^st Person sing. Parasmaipada (i.e. "I will cross"), you firstly take the root and change "ṝ" to its Guṇa substitute ("ar")... do you remember Guṇa and Vṛddhi substitutes for simple vowels?... if you do not, look:

Thus, you get "tar". Remember that this root only uses the Parasmaipada's set of endings [See Verbs (1) (English) for information]. Then you take the respective termination for the 1^st Person singular Parasmaipada, that is, "syāmi", and add the augment "i" in between, as if it were a sort of "bridge". Look: tar + i + syāmi = tarisyāmi

Finally, you change "s" into "ṣ" by the 16^th Rule of Consonant Sandhi. So, the final result is: tariṣyāmi (I will cross). Oh yes, the things cannot be so simple in Sanskrit, guess what?... yes, there is an optional form in this case: instead of adding "i", you can optionally add "ī". Thus, the final result is "tarīṣyāmi". Not too complicated really. But the important thing here is not how to conjugate in Second Future Tense (something which is dealt with in Verbs series), but you have now understood one of the uses of that "i" (augment) acting as a kind of bridge. Well, a Seṭ (Sa + iṭ, i.e. "with i") root is that which necessarily takes the augment "i". For example: "tṝ" (to cross), the root used in the previous example. On the other hand, a Veṭ (Vā + iṭ, i.e. "or i") root takes it optionally. For example: "kṣam" (to endure). In turn, an Aniṭ (An + iṭ, i.e. "without i") does not take the augment "i" at all. For example: "tap" (to rule).

In this manner, if you would want to deduce the conjugations in the Second Future Tense 1^st Person singular of "tṝ" (only Parasmaipada) -a Seṭ root-, "kṣam" (Parasmaipada) -a Veṭ root- and "tap" (only Ātmanepada) -an Aniṭ root-, that is, the roots given as examples, you would arrive at this:

tṝ -» tar (the Guṇa substitute of "ṝ" is "ar") -» tar + i (augment) -» tari -» tari + syāmi (Parasmaipadī termination 1^st Person sing.) -» tarisyāmi -» tariṣyāmi ("s" changes to "ṣ" by the 16^th Rule of Consonant Sandhi) - "I will cross" (as "tṝ" is a Seṭ root, it takes "necessarily" the augment "i")

kṣam -» kṣam (no change, as the Guṇa substitute of "a" is "a" too) -» Here there are two optional ways, whether or not the root takes augment "i":

(1) It takes it, that is, this root behaves like a Seṭ root: kṣam + i -» kṣami -» kṣami + syāmi (Parasmaipadī termination 1^st Person sing.) -» kṣamisyāmi -» kṣamiṣyāmi ("s" changes to "ṣ" by the 16^th Rule of Consonant Sandhi) - "I will endure" (as "kṣam" is a Veṭ root, it takes "optionally" the augment "i")
(2) It does not take it, that is, this root behaves now like an Aniṭ root: kṣam + syāmi (directly, without any augment "i" acting as a bridge) -» kṣamsyāmi -» kṣaṁsyāmi ("m" changes to "ṁ" -Anusvāra- by the 11^th Rule of Consonant Sandhi) - "I will endure" (as "kṣam" is a Veṭ root, it can choose not to take the augment "i")

tap -» tap (no change, as the Guṇa substitute of "a" is "a" too) -» tap + sye (Ātmanepadī termination 1^st Person sing.) -» tapsye - "I will rule" (as "tap" is an Aniṭ root, it never takes the augment "i")

That was easy, wasn't it? Well, if you want to know how to find out if a particular root is Seṭ, Veṭ or Aniṭ, I must say that there is a document specially dealing with this subject here (there is also a link in italics to that document at the top of the present document).

I will teach you now one of the most common ways of using Kṛt affixes, that is, "how to build participles of the Present Tense from adding Kṛt affixes to the verbs". Later on, I will go deep into the present subject and also teach you how to build past participles, etc. Let us start:

Forming Participles of the Present Tense

General rule: The Kṛt affix "at" is to be added to the form that a "Parasmaipadī" (careful!) root assumes before the termination for the 3^rd Person plural of the Present Tense. If that form ends in "a", this vowel is necessarily dropped.

As you can see, in order to fully understand how to add Kṛt affixes to verbs, you must know how to conjugate verbs, or at least, how to form a verbal base. That is why, this document belongs to Affixes. Thus, I am taking for granted that you have read the documents belonging to the Verbs series, and minimally know what a base is and how to form it in the Present Tense, at least. If you do not know, please consult the documents of Verbs for more information, before you keep advancing in this study.

Therefore, before adding "at" to a root, you must transform this root into the base you would use if you were to conjugate it in the 3^rd Person plural, got it? For example: "bhū" (to become, be) belongs to the 1^st House or Gaṇa. The base is so formed:

bhū -» bho (as "o" is the Guṇa substitute of "ū") -» bho + a (as "bhū" belongs to the 1^st House, you have to add "a" to form the compound base) -» bhoa -» bhava (you change "o" to "av" by the 6^th Primary Rule of Vowel Sandhi) -» bhava + anti (but you must drop the final "a" in "bhava" since the termination "anti" -3^rd Person plural - begins with "a" too) -» bhav + anti -» bhavanti - "they become or are".

From the above example, it is clear that you have to use "bhav" or the form that the root assumes before the termination (3^rd Person plural) of the Present Tense. Now, you add the Kṛt affix "at" to it:

bhav + at -» bhavat ("becoming" or "being", in the sense of "something or someone who becomes or is", that is, "one who becomes or is").

This participle of the Present Tense, that is, "bhavat", can be perfectly declined as a masculine or neuter noun. If feminine, you must use the form "bhavantī" (strong form as it incorporates "n") and decline it as a noun or adjective ending in "ī" (feminine gender). With other roots, you will often use the weak form, that is, with no "n" being added in between.

Of course, according to the gender you choose to decline it, the result will be different. In fact, it can be said that the vast majority of nouns and adjectives ending in "at" (See Declension documents) are participles of the Present Tense. In this manner, the present participle (bhavat) will follow the rules given for the nouns and adjectives ending in "at" being derived from participles of the Present Tense (or present participles, plainly). Since I have already taught you that in Declension, I will not repeat it now, but I will merely show you the resulting declension:

OK, you are a smart guy and do the following statement from all that was taught by me before:

"Well folks, I cannot understand why Gabriel Pradīpaka formulated the rule to form participles of the Present Tense in that manner, that is,

The Kṛt affix "at" is to be added to the form that a "Parasmaipadī" (careful!) root assumes before the termination for the 3^rd Person plural of the Present Tense. If that form ends in "a", this vowel is necessarily dropped.

when the base bhav is clearly that form which the root bhū assumes before all terminations, no only before the termination for the 3^rd Person plural. I cannot understand why he took the trouble to specify that, when it is clearly the base and nothing else".

All right, it is the base in this case, but you have overlooked that "bhū" belongs to the set of roots with unchangeable bases (i.e. those belonging to Houses 1, 4, 6 and 10; see Verbs documents). In other words, the base "bhav" never changes no matter which termination is in front of it. However, the remaining roots belong to Houses 2, 3, 5, 7, 8 and 9, and they indeed have "changeable" bases. These bases sometimes "change" dramatically, and you make sure you are using the adequate one to form the participle of the Present Tense, that is, that to be found in front of the termination 3^rd Person plural, got it? Let us see an example now:

"vid" (to know) belongs to the 2^nd House or Gaṇa and it is a Parasmaipadī root. This root forms its base irregularly. The terminations of the Present Tense for this House or Gaṇa are as follows:

As the base changes, you might consider that there are two bases, for the sake of convenience:

(1) The weak aspect which is identical with the root itself, i.e. "vid". It is called "weak aspect" because it includes a weak vowel: "i". The weak vowels are the simple vowels except "a", that is, "i, ī, u, ū, ṛ, ṝ and ḷ"; while the strong aspect is formed from strong vowels which are the Guṇa substitutes of "i, ī, u and ū", that is, "e, o", plus the respective Guṇa substitutes of "ṛ, ṝ and ḷ", that is, "ar and al". This weak aspect is going to be used in all Persons except 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd singular. In other words, the base coincides with the root, i.e. "vid".

(2) The strong aspect which results from substituting the Guṇa substitute of "i" (i.e. "e") for "i", will be used only in 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd Persons singular. In other terms, the base is now "ved".

There are other rules to be used, but since I have explained that on the Verbs documents, I will not explain in detail each of them, of course. Here you are the root fully conjugated:

This root is considered to be irregular not because the base changes in 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd Persons singular, but because it also optionally accepts the terminations of the Perfect Tense... do not think I will show you now all terminations of the Perfect Tense (see Verbs series if you want more information on the Perfect Tense) because is off-topic. I just show you the finished conjugation by using those terminations:

Yes, a real madness to conjugate this root "vid", but... I cannot be blamed for that horror.

From the above example, it is clear that the base "vid" is the same one whether in front of "anti" or "us(ḥ)" (terminations for the 3^rd Person plural, being the first one --anti-- a regular one, while the second --us(ḥ)-- belongs to those used in the Perfect Tense). Well, you smart guy hurry up and add the affix "at" to "vid" (the form that this Parasmaipadī root assumes before the termination for the 3^rd Person plural of the Present Tense) and you obtain this: vidat ... crass error! The things are not so easy with the root "vid". This root incorporates an optional form of affix known as "vas". Thus, the final result is: vidvas. In turn, when this present participle of "vid" is the member of a compound, it generally changes to "vidvat" or "vidvad", depending on the circumstances. This affix "vas" is not only used with "vid" (to know), but you will find that it is also used with other roots to form participles of the Perfect Tense... but do not worry about that now. As I was saying to you, the affix "vas" may be looked upon as a variant of "at" for this particular root. As you can see, you cannot merely hurry up and add "anything". No, because if you do so, it is sure for you to stumble against rocks in the process. Nonetheless, you are lucky, as "at" is the one to be used "for the most part" to form participles of the Present Tense from Parasmaipadī roots... do not worry then.

Well, the term "vidvas" ("knowing", in the sense of "one who knows") is perfectly fit to be declined. However, its declension is somewhat strange as it belongs to a handful of roots ending in "vas" or "ivas"... oh my God!... if I had known that, I would not have chosen that damn root... just kidding. Ah!, "vidvas" is declined only in masculine and neuter genders, as you surely inferred, while "viduṣī" is the form that assumes "vidvas" in feminine gender, and it is obviously declined as a feminine noun ending in "ī". Please, do not ask me how I came to deduce that "viduṣī" is the feminine gender of "vidvas"... because if I explain that to you, you will run away in despair, hehe. I will explain it to you some day in the future, do not worry. Let us start to decline "vidvas", firstly as a masculine noun:

Well, I think it is enough for the time being. Next time, you will keep learning about how to use "at" affixes and many other things. Now, Taddhita affixes.

top

 Taddhita or Secondary affixes: Preliminary study

Just as you learn how to add Kṛt affixes to the verbs, you will learn now how to add Taddhita affixes to the nouns in order to change their meaning in various ways. And why do you need to do that? For instance: you want to know how to form a word designating the followers and devotees of Viṣṇu. All right, you merely use the Taddhita affix "a" and obtain "vaiṣṇava", and this is the proper word to name those people following or worshipping Lord Viṣṇu. The process is very simple to understand, I think... hmmmm... just teasing again! Getting serious, there are a few rules controlling the process, but nothing too difficult. The problem does not lie in many rules to remember along with a tremendous amount of exceptions... not at all... it lies in the big quantity of Taddhita affixes you are likely to come accross. Yes friend, your life is not going to be easier with Taddhita affixes, hehe. OK, they are very useful and when you learn how to use them, you will understand many new interesting things, be sure.

Listen: In this preliminary study, I will only define the general rules to be applied so that one can obtain a good result, that is, a proper word or term should result from your using this kind of affix. Afterward, I will show you common examples by using two well-known affixes: "a" and "eya". In the next document, I will go deep into the subject with more examples and so on. Let us start:

1. When you add a Taddhita affix to a word, the first vowel of this word must be "generally" transformed into its Vṛddhi substitute.
2. When you add a Taddhita affix beginning with a consonant to a word, if this word ends in "n", then, you "generally" have to drop that "n". In turn, that final "n" is sometimes dropped along with its preceding vowel when you add an affix beginning with a vowel. This "n" together with its preceding vowel is dropped on other occasions too.
3. When you add a Taddhita affix beginning with a vowel or "ya" to a word, then:
   (a) Final "a", "ā", "i" and "ī" in that word are to be dropped.
   (b) Final "u" and "ū" must be changed to their Guṇa substitute, that is, "o".
   (c) Final "o" and "au" merely form combinations by following the usual Sandhi Rules.
4. When you add a Taddhita affix to a compound, sometimes the initial vowel of the second word in the compound is changed into its Vṛddhi substitute. Again, as far as a Dvandva compound built with names of deities (e.g. Rāmakṛṣṇau --Rāma and Kṛṣṇa--) is concerned, if you add a Taddhita affix to it, the initial vowels of both words are to be changed into their respective Vṛddhi substitutes.
5. Suppose that you want to add a Taddhita affix to a word whose initial vowel is preceded by "y" or "v" belonging to a preposition. Well, before transforming that initial vowel into its Vṛddhi substitute by the first rule, you must firstly change that "y" or "v" to "iy" or "uv", respectively. After that, you will find that the initial vowel is now that "i" or "u" of "iy" or "uv"... so, you apply the first rule to the word and turn "i" or "u" into their Vṛddhi substitutes, that is, "ai" or "au". Thus, the final result would be: "aiy" and "auv". Now, you may apply other rules if necessary.

Some other minor rules are still left, but I do not want to increase the burden on your back, hehe. I am compassionate. Therefore, the previous rules are the main rules to be used when you add a Taddhita affix to a particular word (a substantive, primary or derived from roots, of course). Let us see a classic Taddhita affix: "a"

Changing the meaning of the nouns by using the affix "A"

The Taddhita affix "a" gives different new meanings to a word when used, but the principal meanings you will see commonly are "son of", "descendent of" and "follower of" or "belonging to".

Some examples now:

Śiva -» Preliminary steps -» Śaiva (by the first rule, as "ai" is the Vṛddhi substitute of "i") -» Śaiv [final "a" is dropped by 3.(a)] -» Now, you add the affix -» Śaiv + a -» Śaiva (follower of Śiva or belonging to Śiva or descendent of Śiva or son of Śiva... choose the proper one according to the context, obviously) - Yes, this was easy, and there was apparently no change except the "i" being turned into "ai", since the final vowel in "Śiva" is "a" like the affix itself, understood? So, it seems as if no affix had been added, but no. Appearances are deceitful, you know.

Viṣṇu -» Preliminary steps -» Vaiṣṇu (by the first rule, as "ai" is the Vṛddhi substitute of "i") -» Vaiṣṇo [final "u" is changed into its Guṇa substitute -i.e. "o"- by 3.(b)] -» Now, you add the affix »» Vaiṣṇo + a »» Vaiṣṇoa (by the 1^st Primary Rule of Vowel Sandhi, two vowels cannot be together, one after the other; therefore, "oa" cannot exist at all... how to overcome the problem?, simple, use the 6^th Primary Rule of Vowel Sandhi and substitute "av" for "o" »» Vaiṣṇava »» Vaiṣṇava (voila, all devotees of Viṣṇu reading this document know now how the word "vaiṣṇava" emerged from the name of their beloved Lord Viṣṇu; this is the magic of knowing Sanskrit, no doubt. Ah!, the word "vaiṣṇava" means "follower of Viṣṇu or belonging to Viṣṇu or descendent of Viṣṇu or son of Viṣṇu"... choose wisely).

Buddha »» Preliminary steps »» Bauddha (by the first rule, as "au" is the Vṛddhi substitute of "u") »» Bauddh [final "a" is dropped by 3.(a)] »» Now, you add the affix »» Bauddh + a »» Bauddha (follower of Buddha or belonging to Buddha or descendent of Buddha or son of Buddha... choose as you like) - Yes, this was also as easy as with "Śiva", and there was also apparently no change, except the "u" being turned into "au", since the final vowel in "Buddha" is "a" like the affix itself. Oh, now all followers of Lord Buddha are really pleased!

Pṛthā »» Preliminary steps »» Pārtha (by the first rule, as "ār" is the Vṛddhi substitute of "ṛ") »» Pārth [final "ā" is dropped by 3.(a)] »» Now, you add the affix »» Pārth + a »» Pārtha (even though you may translate this word as "follower of Pṛthā, etc.", the usual meaning is "son of Pṛthā", and though Pṛthā had several sons, this name is specially assigned to Arjuna in the sense of "son of Pṛthā"... have you read Bhagavadgītā?) - Yes, the devotees of Viṣṇu will be happy again. To be a śaiva, I am being too Viṣṇu-oriented at this moment, as you can see, hehe!

Parvata (mountain) »» Preliminary steps »» Pārvata (by the first rule, as "ā" is the Vṛddhi substitute of "a") »» Pārvat [final "a" is dropped by 3.(a)] »» Now, you add the affix »» Pārvat + a »» Pārvata (even though you may translate this word as "son of the mountain, follower of the mountain and so forth", the natural action is to change the gender of the noun... in this way: Pārvatī -final "a" was replaced by "ī" to make the noun a feminine one. Yes, you guessed well, the usual translation is "daughter of the mountain") - OK, the devotees of Lord Śiva know now how to write the name of the second wife of their beloved Śambhu... Śiva and Śambhu are the same deity, You... I cannot abandon non-dualism however hard I try!

Good job! Now, I will show you examples of how to use the affix "eya".

Changing the meaning of the nouns by using the affix "eya"

The Taddhita affix "eya" has several connotations, but the two usual senses are as follows: "son of" and "produced from". There are other meanings, of course, but the examples will only be related to the abovementioned ones.

Kuntī (also called Pṛthā, see above) »» Preliminary steps »» Kauntī (by the first rule, as "au" is the Vṛddhi substitute of "u") »» Kaunt [final "ī" is dropped by 3.(a)] »» Now, you add the affix »» Kaunt + eya »» Kaunteya (even though you may translate this word as "follower of Kuntī, etc.", the usual meaning is "son of Kuntī", and though Kuntī had several sons, this name is specially assigned to Arjuna in the sense of "son of Kuntī"... something similar to what occurred with the epithet "Pārtha") - Yes, the devotees of Viṣṇu keep happy!

Kṛttikā (constellation of the Pleiads) »» Preliminary steps »» Kārttikā (by the first rule, as "ār" is the Vṛddhi substitute of "ṛ") »» Kārttik [final "ā" is dropped by 3.(a)] »» Now, you add the affix »» Kārttik + eya »» Kārttikeya (even though you may translate this word as "follower of Kṛttikā, etc.", the usual meaning is "son of Kṛttikā". The god Kārttikeya (god of war) is one of the two celebrated sons of Śiva (the other is Gaṇeśa). It is often said that this son was not born from Pārvatī, but from Gaṅgā (Ganges). As a matter of fact, the six Kṛttikā-s or Pleiads were not the real mothers of Kārttikeya but the ones who fostered him by offering their six breasts to the child. That is why, he became six-headed, according to the legend.

Nadī (river) »» Preliminary steps »» nādī (by the first rule, as "ā" is the Vṛddhi substitute of "a") »» nād [final "ī" is dropped by 3.(a)] »» Now, you add the affix »» nād + eya »» nādeya ("produced from a river", that is "river-born"). This is an epithet of "rock-salt".

Mahī (earth) »» Preliminary steps »» māhī (by the first rule, as "ā" is the Vṛddhi substitute of "a") »» māh [final "ī" is dropped by 3.(a)] »» Now, you add the affix »» māh + eya »» māheya ("produced from the earth").

Vyāghrī (tigress) »» Preliminary steps »» viyāghrī (by the fifth rule, "iy" was substituted for "y") »» vaiyāghrī (by the first rule, as "ai" is the Vṛddhi substitute of "i") »» vaiyāghr [final "ī" is dropped by 3.(a)] »» Now, you add the affix »» vaiyāghr + eya »» vaiyāghreya ("son of a tigress"). Good work!

And so forth. The concluding remarks now.

top

 Concluding remarks

It has been a long but useful document indeed. Knowledge you have just obtained is crucial to fully understand how many Sanskrit words are formed. For example, through the use of those two Taddhita affixes ("a" and "eya"), you can now easily form the names of the sons, descendents, etc. from the name of a particular ascendent, and vice versa. In turn, by understanding how to use some Kṛt affixes, you may now form Parasmaipadī present participles, which are commonly used in Sanskrit. Our study is not still over, of course. Many things are left to be discovered later on. This is only a mere introduction to the subject. Knowledge of Kṛt and Taddhita affixes is the key to a new world of possibilities. Knowledge is not power in itself, but knowledge in action is the most powerful thing in this universe. Keep picking up Sanskrit knowledge and use it in practice, then. See you soon.

top

 Further Information

This document was conceived by Gabriel Pradīpaka, one of the two founders of this site, and spiritual guru conversant with Sanskrit language and Trika philosophy.

For further information about Sanskrit, Yoga and Indian Philosophy; or if you simply want to comment, ask a question or correct a mistake, feel free to contact us: This is our e-mail address.