deriv LSK ETT STT aSTA ALPH OLDHOMEPAGE NEWHOMEPAGE

@What does replace laT with zatR mean in sUtra laTazzatR

The sUtra laTazzatRz... starts the section of sUtras that teaches /zatR and /zAnac. These do the work of the English "ing" of sentences like "I see a singing bird".

The core idea here is that we can combine these two sentences —

I see a bird. The bird sings.

into just one —

I see a singing bird.

Sanskrit grammarians explain the combining process in this way —

(A) In "the bird sings", the word "sings" describes the word "bird".

(B) We may, if we like, throw away the second sentence, and then stick the the word "sing" from the second sentence into the first sentences, so that it describes the word "bird"—

"I see a sings-bird"

(C) If we do so, we must replace the ending "s" of "sings" with the ending "ing" —

"I see a singing bird"

This process is called "making 'sings' link to 'bird'".

After all that cutting and pasting, we have a word "singing" that describes a bird that is singing, just like the original word "sings" of the second sentence used to described the word "bird" of the second sentence. The word has not changed meaning or referent, it has just changed affix.