deriv LSK ETT STT aSTA ALPH OLDHOMEPAGE NEWHOMEPAGE
The names of the three persons are —
| Sanskrit | English | inria |
|---|---|---|
| /prathama | third person | 3 |
| /madhyama | second person | 2 |
| /uttama | first person | 1 |
Wait, doesn't prathama प्रथम mean "first"? At least it does so in Bengali. Man that's confusing. Why didn't /pANini just call the third person "third" so as to agree with English grammarians?
Surprising as it might seem to anyone that has grown up in India, in those old times you were not required to know English in order to get a better job :)
The endings of the group /tiptasjhi are called /prathama because this group comes first in the list /tiptasjhi /sipthastha /mibvasmas. Then /sipthastha are /madhyama because they are in the middle, and /mibvasmas are /uttama because they come last. See tiGastrINitr....
Wait, doesn't that prathama प्रथम word mean also "first case"?
No no, you are confused —
/prathamA ending in A आ means first case,
/prathama ending in a अ means first person.