In:History of Linguistics 2021: Selected papers from the 15th International Conference on the History of the Language Sciences (ICHoLS 15), Milan, 28 August – 1 September
Edited by Savina Raynaud, Maria Paola Tenchini and Enrica Galazzi
[Studies in the History of the Language Sciences 133] 2024
► pp. 116–128
Chapter 8Declension and description
The ways of Sanskrit grammarians
Published online: 28 November 2024
https://doi.org/10.1075/sihols.133.08aus
https://doi.org/10.1075/sihols.133.08aus
This paper studies the different ways in which ancient Sanskrit grammarians presented nominal
declensions. Based on twelve Sanskrit grammars (from Pāṇini’s Aṣṭādhyāyī up to Bhaṭṭoji Dīkṣita’s
Siddhāntakaumudī) classified into three categories (“wholly generative” grammars, “partly
generative” grammars and “pedagogical” grammars), it shows that though nominal paradigmatic sets were known from and
used by various scholars — among whom grammarians — at a relatively early date, it is only with pedagogical grammars
that they really enter the scene of grammatical description, i.e. as “official” grammatical or language teaching
tools.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.The corpus
- 3.Presentation of nominal declensions in wholly and partly generative grammars
- 4.Presentation of nominal declensions in pedagogical grammars
- 5.About the emergence of paradigmatic sets in Sanskrit grammars
Abbreviations Notes References
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