Language and Grammar

About this unit

This unit explores India's linguistic diversity and its long tradition of studying language scientifically. It introduces the major language families of India and then the classical disciplines of language study — phonetics (shiksha), grammar (vyakarana), etymology (nirukta) and metre (chandas). Through selections from the Paniniya Shiksha, Yaska's Nirukta, Patanjali's Mahabhashya and Bhartrihari's Vakyapadiya, it shows how Indian scholars analysed sounds, words, sentences and meaning with great precision.

Key ideas

• Four major language families: Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, Austroasiatic and Tibeto-Burman.
• Six Vedangas, including shiksha, vyakarana, nirukta and chandas.
• Classification of sounds by place and manner of articulation.
• Panini's Ashtadhyayi as a highly compact rule-based grammar.
• Metre based on light and heavy syllables (Pingala).
• Bhartrihari's theory of sphota and the sentence as the unit of meaning.

How to prepare

• Memorise authors, texts and their subjects.
• Practise the Sanskrit sound chart (vargas) and the syllable counts of major metres.
• Expect matching, identification and short calculation questions on metre.