U-kAlo 'j jhrasva;dIrgha;plutaH ONPANINI 12027
What has the duration of u U U3 is short long extralong.mmmmmmmmm ^ M- C+ 80

(The "U3" here means the extralong U sound. extralong vowels are so uncommon in writing that they don't have letters of their own; in the veda manuscripts they are written with the letter for the nearest long, followed by a figure 3.)

Example. In the word gurU "two teachers" the two vowels are said in exactly the same way EXCEPT that the second one lasts longer. The u is said to be a short and the U is said to be a long.

And, of course, an extralong is a vowel longer than a long .

Even though pANini just says that short, long and extralong have different durations, later grammarians came up with the idea that shorts last for a certain time, longs twice that, and extralongs thrice that. It is a good idea to try to follow that rule when chanting verse or the veda. See mAtrA.

See exception acazca below.

KAZIKA U iti trayANAm ayaM mAtrika-dvimAtrika-trimAtrikANAM prazliSTa-nirdezaH. hrasva-dIrgha-plutaH iti dvandvaikavad bhAve puMlliGga-nirdezaH. u U U3 ity evaM kAlo aj yathA-kramaM hrasva-dIrgha-plutaH ity evaM saMjJo bhavati. ukAlo hrasvaH dadhi. madhu. UkAlo dIrghaH kumArI. gaurI. U3kAlaH plutaH devadatta3 atra nvasi. kAla-grahaNaM parimANArtham. dIrgha-plutayoH hrasva-saMjJA mA bhUt. AlUya, pralUya, hrasvasya piti kRti tuk iti tuG na bhavati. ajgrahaNaM saMyogAcsamudAyanivRttyartham. pratakSya, prarakSya, hrasvAzrayas tuG mA bhUt. titaucchAtram, dIrghAt, padAntAd v eti vibhASA tuG mA bhUt. hrasvadIrghaplutapradezAH hrasvo napuMsake prAtipadikasya. akRtsArvadhAtukayor dIrghaH. vAkyasya TeH pluta udAttaH 82082.

acaz ca ONPANINI 12028
But only if it's a vowel.mmmmmmmmm ^ C+ 81

In the rules, the terms " short", " long" and " extralong" mean vowels only.

Example. If any rule says "replace with a short", that rule will replace a long vowel with a short vowel, or will replace a long vowel with itself, but it will never replace a consonant.

KAZIKA U iti trayANAm ayaM mAtrika-dvimAtrika-trimAtrikANAM prazliSTa-nirdezaH. hrasva-dIrgha-plutaH iti dvandvaikavad bhAve puMlliGga-nirdezaH. u U U3 ityevaM kAlo aj yathAkramaM hrasva-dIrgha-plutaH ityevaM saMjJo bhavati. ukAlo hrasvaH dadhi. madhu. UkAlo dIrghaH kumArI. gaurI. U3kAlaH plutaH devadatta3 atra nvasi. kAlagrahaNaM parimANArtham. dIrghaplutayoH hrasvasaMjJA mA bhUt. AlUya, pralUya, hrasvasya piti kRti tuk iti tuG na bhavati. ajgrahaNaM saMyogAcsamudAyanivRttyartham. pratakSya, prarakSya, hrasvAzrayas tuG mA bhUt. tita::ucchAtram, dIrghAt, padAntAd vA iti vibhASA tuG mA bhUt. hrasva-dIrgha-pluta-pradezAH hrasvo napuMsake prAtipadikasya. a-kRt-sArvadhAtukayor dIrghaH. vAkyasya TeH pluta udAttaH 82082.

uccair udAttaH ONPANINI 12029
acute means high tone.mmmmmmmmm ^ C+ 82 accent

The vowel that has the acute accent is pronounced with a pitch higher than the others.

Back to accent.

KAZIKA aj iti vartate. udAttAdizabdAH svare varNadharme loka-vedayoH prasiddhA eva. te iha tadguNe 'ci paribhASyante. uccair upalabhyamAno yo 'c sa udAtta-saMjJo bhavati. uccair iti ca zruti-prakarSo na gRhyate, uccair bhASate, ucaiH paThati iti. kiM tarhi? sthAnakRtam uccatvaM saMjJino vizeSaNam. tAlvAdiSu hi bhAgavatsu sthAneSu varNA niSpadyante. tatra yaH samAne sthAne Urdhva-bhaga-niSpanno 'c sa udAttasaMjJo bhavati. yasminn ucAryamANe gAtrANAmAyAmo nigraho bhavati, rUkSatA asnigdhatA svarasya, saMvRtatA kNThavivarasya. ye. te. ke. udAtta-pradezAH AdyudAttazcety evam AdayaH.

You can hear some examples of acute tone in this vedic recitation --

LISTENTO shri rudram

In the first verse, the vowels between parens have the acute --

gaN(A)nAnM tvA gaN(a)patiM havAmahe kav(i)GM kavIn(A)m upam(a)zravastamam

And, as usual, the vowel right after each acute vowel has the falling accent.

If you can't hear the difference, that's okay. Don't lose sleep about it. If you are not going to chant the veda, you don't have any need of noticing the difference.

nIcair anudAttaH ONPANINI 12030
grave means low tonemmmmmmmmm ^ C+ 83

A grave vowel is pronounced with the average, normal tone. Everything is grave except the acute and the falling.

Back to accent.

samAhAraH svaritaH ONPANINI 12031
falling is mixedmmmmmmmmm ^ C+ 84

A vowel has a falling (svarita) accent when its tone is mixed of the previous two -- it starts acute and ends up grave. So it sounds like the fourth tone of Mandarin.

When a vowel has to be acute according to the rules, ands the next one has to be grave, the grave is automatically replaced with a svarita. So, most of the falling vowels you can hear come right after an acute vowel.

The exception to that is the so-called "independent svarita". In some cases we can hear a svarita right after a grave vowel. This happens, for instance, when an acute (vi) is followed by a grave a, and then they merge into vya. In such a case the resulting ya sound starts high and ends up low.

The dhAnya word in this recording has a grave A and a falling nya --

yAtudhAnyaH

also here --

rudra

the word vyupta has a falling accent on the vyu, even though the ca of kapar(di)neca is grave.

Back to accent.

tatpuruSaH samAnAdhikaraNaH karmadhArayaH ONPANINI 12042
A tatpuruSa is a karmadhAraya if its two halves have the same referent as the whole.mmmmmmmmm ^ M- C+ 85

A tatpuruSa is a compound that means the same thing as its latter.

For instance, a firefighter is a fighter, so the compound "firefighter" is a tatpuruSa.

And a blackbird is a bird, so the compound "blackbird" is a tatpuruSa.

If the first half of the tatpuruSa also means the same thing as the whole and as the second half, then it is a karmadhAraya, in addition to being a tatpuruSa.

A firefighter is a fighter, but he is not fire, so the compound "firefighter" is a tatpuruSa, but not a karmadhAraya.

And a blackbird is a black thing, so the compound "blackbird" is a karmadhAraya, and a tatpuruSa as well.

KAZIKA tatpuruSaH iti samAsavizeSasya saMjJAM vakSyati. sa tatpuruSaH samAnAdhikaraNapadaH karmadhArayasaMjJo bhavati. adhikaraNazabdo 'bhidheyavAci. samAnAdhikaraNaH samAnAbhidheyaH. paramarAjyam. uttamarAjyam. akarmadhAraye rAjyam 6-2-130 ityuttarapadA'dyudAttaM na bhavati. pAcakavRndArikA. tatpuruSaH iti kim? pAcikAbhAryaH. samAnAdhikaraNaH iti kim? brAhmaNarAjyam. karmadhArayapradezAH karmadhAraye 'niSThA 6-2-46 ityevam AdayaH.

artha-vad a-dhAtur a-pratyayaH prAtipadikam ONPANINI 12045
What has meaning, is not a root, and has no affix, is a nounbase.mmmmmmmmm ^ M- C+ 86

definition of " nounbase".

Many words in Sanskrit are made by adding a sup affix after a nounbase. For instance, the nouns azvas "horse", azvam "horse", azvena "by horse" and are build this way by the grammar rules --

azva + su → azvas

azva + am →amipUrvaH azvam

azva + TA →TAGasi azva + ina →AdguNaH azvena

In the examples above --

azva is a nounbase, and su am TA are affixes,

and azva is not a noun, because it has no sup affix.

azvas and azvam and azvena are nouns,

but they are not nounbases, because they have an affix.

All nounbases have a gender. After most feminine nounbases, a feminine affix must be added to the nounbase before the sup is added. For instance, the nounbase kukkuTa means "chicken", but if the chicken is female, we must add GI after it, this way --

kukkuTa @f + jas →jAtera kukkuTa + GI + jas →yasyetica kukkuT + I + as →ikoyaNaci kukkuTyas "hens"

If the chicken is male, there is no GI --

kukkuTa @m + su → kukkuTas "rooster"

See also kRttaddhita below.

KAZIKA abhidheya-vacano 'rtha-zabdaH. arthavac-chabda-rUpaM prAtipadika-saMjJaM bhavati dhAtu-pratyayau varjayitvA. DitthaH. kapitthaH. kuNDam. pITham. arthavad iti kim? vanam, dhanam iti na antasya avadher mA bhUt. nalopo hi syAt. adhAtuH iti kim? hanter laG. ahan. alopaH syat. apratyayaH iti kim? kANDe. kuDye. hrasvo napuMsake prAtipadikasyeti hrasvaH syAt. anarthakasya api nipAtasya prAtipadika-saMjJA iSyate. adhyAgacchati. pralambate. prAtipadikapradezAH hrasvo napuMsake prAtipadikasyety evam AdyaH.

kRt;taddhita-samAsAz ca ONPANINI 12046
kRt, taddhita, compound too (are nounbases).mmmmmmmmm ^ M+ C+ 87

The definition of nounbase in the previous rule is very limited. According to it, dRSta, gomat and nadItaTa would not be nounbases, because they have affixes inside. So this rule tells us three new things --

(1) kRt-enders are nounbases. For instance, dRSTa "was seen".

(2) taddhita-enders are nounbases. Example gomat "cattleowner".

(3) compounds, after their final sup is stripped off, are nounbases. Example: yudhiSThira-.

An example of each --

(1) dRSTa "seen" would not be a nounbase according to arthavad rule, because dRSTa comes from dRz + kta, so it has an affix inside. Yet, kta is a kRt affix, and, according to this rule, anything that ends in a kRt affix is a nounbase.

(2) gomat "cattleowner" is made from go + jas + matup, so it has two affixes inside. Yet, matup is a taddhita affix, and this rule says anything that has a taddhita at the end is a nounbase.

(3) yudhiSThira is made from yudhi sthiras "he is firm in battle" so it has a Gi affix inside, because yudhi is yudh + Gi. So, according to arthavad, yudhiSThira could not be a nounbase. Yet, this rule clarifies that all compounds (after we luk off their final sup) are nounbases, even if they have a Gi or other affixes in the middle.

Notice that these rules apply recursively. For instance, the last word of the verse --

UcuH prAJjalayasH sarve yudhiSThirapurogamAH

can be considered to be one nounbase, yudhiSThirapurogama, with jas added. That nounbase is in turn a compound of yudhiSThira, and purogama, which themselves are compounds and nounbases.

Important warning. Grammarians will often talk of "the nounbase azvas", assuming that you will understand that the nounbase proper is just azva, and the s is an affix, so azvas is NOT a nounbase but azva is. Maybe they do this because it sounds more natural, or maybe to show that they are talking about the masculine nounbase azva, not about the feminine nounbase azva.

In this website I will often add a hyphen after azva- to show that I am talking about a nounbase azva- that has not gotten any sup affix added to it yet. So I will write --

azva- + su → azvas

KAZIKA kRtas taddhitAH samAsAzca prAtipadikasaMjJA bhavanti. apratyayaH iti pUrvatra paryudAsat kRdantasya taddhitAntasya ca anena prAtipadikasaMjJA vidhIyate. arthavatsamudayAnAM samAsagrahaNaM niyamArtham. kRt kArakaH. hArakaH. kartA. harta. taddhitaH aupagavaH. kApaTavaH. samAsaH rAjapuruSaH. brAhmaNakambalaH. samAsagrahaNasya niyamArthatvAd vAkyasya arthavataH saMjJA na bhavati.

hrasvo napuMsake prAtipadikasya ONPANINI 12047
shorten neuter nounbasemmmmmmmmm ^ M+ C+ 88

When a nounbase is neuter and ends in a long, shorten the long.

Actually, very few nounbases end in a long. Some such are --

rai- "(item of) wealth"

nau- "ship"

nI (a rootnoun).

These three are not neuter, but the compound adjectives --

atirai- "very wealthy",

atinau- "that just disembarked",

bahugrAmaNI- "that hasd many mayors"

will be neuter when they describe a neuter noun such as kula- "family".

So this rule says that we must replace the long finals of those adjectives with a short. This will turn I into i, and because of eca::igghra, will turn ai au into i u --

atirai- + su + kulam atiri- + s + kulam →svamorna atiri kulam "super-rich family"

atinau- + su + kulam atinu + s + kulam →svamorna atinu kulam "disembarked family, the family that just came out of the ship"

bahu- + grAmaNI- + su + kulam bahugrAmaNi kulam "family that has many mayors"

atirai- + au + kule atiri + au + kule → atiri + zI + kule →ikocivibhaktau atirinI kule →Natvam atiriNI kule "two super-rich families"

KAZIKA napuMsakaliGge 'rthe yat prAtipadikaM vartate tasya hrasvo bhavati AdezaH alo 'ntyasya acaH. atiri kulam. atinu kulam. napuMsake iti kim? grAmaNIH. senAnIH. prAtipadikasya iti kim? kANDe tiSThataH. kuDye tiSThataH. prAtipadikagrahaNasAmarthyatekA'dezaH pUrvasya antavanna bhavati.

go;striyor upasarjanasya ONPANINI 12048
Shorten go- and GI- Ap-enders when they are latter and subordinate.mmmmmmmmm ^ M+ C+ 89

Examples --

citra- + go- citragu- "Mr Spotty Cows"

nis + kauzambI- niSkauzambi- "that left kauzambI"

ati + khaTvA- atikhaTva- "that no longer needs a bed"

The su added after these shortened GI Ap will not be deleted by halGyA --

atikhaTva + su → atikhaTvas "he no longer needs a bed, he's an ascetic"

KAZIKA prAtipadikasya iti vartate. go iti svarUpagrahaNaM strI iti pratyayagrahaNaM svaritatvAt. upasarjanagrahaNaM tayor vizeSaNam. gorupasarjanasya strIpratyayAntasya upasarjanasya iti. tAbhyAM prAtipadikasya tadantavidhiH. upasarjanagozabdAntasya upasarjanastrIpratyayAntasya ca prAtipadikasya hrasvo bhavati. citraguH. zabalaguH. striyAH niSkauzAmbiH. nirvArANasiH. atikhaTvaH. atimAlaH. upasarjanasya iti kim? rAjakumArI. svaritatvaM kim? atitantrIH. atilakSmIH. atizrIH. Iyaso bahuvrIheH pratiSedho vaktavayaH. bahuzreyasI. vidyamAnazreyaseI.

lupi yuktavad vyakti;vacane ONPANINI 12051
When there is lup, gender number are like originalmmmmmmmmm ^ C+ 90

This rule allows sentences like "I'm going to the Aussies" to mean "I'm going to the country where the Aussies live" and still be grammatical.

Example.

The kurus are a group of people, descendants of a certain kuru.

The country where the kurus live is called "the kurus", as in --

kurUn gacchAmi "I'm going to the kurus"

Grammarians consider this kurUn word here to be a name of the country (it cannot be a name of the inhabitants, because of reasons).

When used in this sense, the word is breaking the ordinary rules of grammar: rule dvyeka would want it to be singular because it means ONE country, and some other rule says that when we name a country after its inhabitants, we must add aN or some other taddhita after the inhabitants' name.

So, to bring this kurUn word, which is masculine and singular, into the shed with the other country names, grammarians say that it is formed like this:

starting at kurUNAM rAjyam "the kingdom of the kurus",

we first add the taddhita aN, making kurUNAm + aN = kaurava- , "the place where the kurus live"

and then replace the aN with lup, making kuru- pl, "the place where the kurus live". This nounbase kuru-, like the original word kurUNAm, is masculine and takes plural affixes, but means one country anyway. If we had used luk instead of lup to delete the aN, rule dvyeka would have made this nounbase into a neuter singular (because rAjyam is a neuter singular).

KAZIKA lupi iti lupsanMjJayA luptasya pratyayasya artha ucyate. tatra lupi yuktavadvyaktivacane bhavataH. yuktavatiti niSThApratyayena ktavatunA prakRtyartha ucyate. sa hi pratyayArtham AtmanA yunakti. tasya yuktavato vyaktivacane lubarthe vidhIyete. atha vA yuktaH prakRtyarthaH pratyayArthena sambaddhaH, tasminniva vyaktivacane lubarthe bhavataH. saptamyarthe vatiH. vyaktivacane iti ca liGgasaGkhyayoH pUrvAcaryanirdezaH, tadIyam eva idaM sUtram. tathA ca asya pratyAkhyAnaM bhaviSyate, tad aziSyaM saMjJA-pramANatvAd iti. vyaktiH strI-pum-napuMsakAni. vacanam ekatvadvitvabahutvAni. paJcalAH kSatriyAH puMliGgA bahuvacana-vizayAH. teSAM nivAso janapadaH. yathA teSu kSatriyeSu vyaktivacane tadvajjanapade bhavataH. paJcAlAH. kuravaH. magadhAH. matsyAH. aGgAH. vaGgAH. sugmAH. puNDrAH. lupi iti kim? luki mA bhUt. lavaNaH sUpaH. lavaNA yavAgUH. lavaNaM zAkam. vyaktivacane iti kim? zirISANAm adUrabhavo grAmaH zirISAH, tasya vanaM zirISavanam. vibhASauSadhi-vanaspatibhyaH 84006 iti NatvaM na bhavati. haritakyAdiSu vyaktiH. harItakyAH phalAni harItakyaH phalAni. khalatikAdiSu vacanam. khalatikasya parvatasya adUrabhavAni vanAni khalatikaM vanAni.

bhUvAdayo dhAtavaH ONPANINI 13001
roots are bhU etc.mmmmmmmmm ^ M- C+ 92

roots are things invented by grammarians that appear in a list called the dhAtupATha. Such as

bhU

gam

kSip

Roots cannot be used alone. Before use, we must add to them either a tense (to make a verb), or a kRt affix (to make a nounbase).

The tense will always be replaced with a tiG, by lasya --

kSip ( a root ) + laT ( a tense ) →lasya kSip + tip → ksip + za + ti → kSipati "throws" ( verb )

The nounbase will always be affected by GyApprA --

kSip + tRc ( another kRt affix ) + su →puganta kSeptR- ( nounbase ) + su →Rduzana kSeptA "thrower" ( noun )

kSip ( root ) + kta ( a kRt affix ) + au → kSipta- ( nounbase ) + au ( a sup affix ) → kSiptau ( noun ) "both were thrown"

In some rules, the word dhAtu " root" means rootnoun. One such rule is atvasa.

KAZIKA bhU ityevam AdayaH zabdAH kriyAvacanA dhAtusaMjJA bhavanti. bhU bhavati. edha edhate. spardha spardhate. dhAtuzabdaH pUrvAcAryasaMjJA. te ca kriyAvacanAnAM saMjJAM kRtavantaH. tadiha api pUrvAcaryasaMjJAzrayaNAt kriyAvAcinAm eva bhUvAdInAM dhAtusaMjJA vidhIyate. bhUvAdInAM vakAro 'yaM maGgalArthaH prayujyate. bhUvo vArthaM vadanti iti bhvarthA vA vAdayaH smaRtAH. dhAtupradezAH dhAtoH 3-1-91 ityevam AdayaH.

Notice that kSiptau is a noun because it has a sup affix at the end. The fact that it often translates as "both were thrown", which is an English verb, does not make it a verb. It is the affix at the end that counts, not the English translastion.

hal antyam ONPANINI 13003
Final consonant (in grammar list is label).mmmmmmmmm ^ M- C+ 93

Examples:

In the zivasUtra list, a i uN R Lk e oG ai auc etc,

the N k G c are labels, because they are added at the end of u, L, etc.

In the list tiptas (tip tas jhi sip thas tha... )

The p of tip sip mip, and the T of iT', are labels. The real affixes are ti si mi, i.

Yet, the s of tas thas.. are not labels, because of the exception navibha.

In the dhAtupATha (list of roots), (bhU edha spardha... pluG... )

the G of pluG is a label, the real root is plu.

and the edh root had an a label added just so that this rule does not make dh into a label

In the list svaujas (su au jas am auT zas TA bhyAm bhiS...)

The T of auT is a label, the real affix is just au

This rule does not say that the T of TA is a label, because it is not added at the end. Yet that T it is a label anyway, because cuTU says so.

na vibhaktau tu;s;mAH ONPANINI 13004
But the final tu s m of a vibhakti aren't (labels).mmmmmmmmm ^ C+ 94

Examples:

in the list tiptas (tip tas jhi... ta AtAm jha... ) the s of tas and the m of AtAm are real

in the list svaujas (su au jas... Gas os Am...) the s of jas Gas os are real, and so is the m of Am.

KAZIKA pUrveNa prAptAyamitsaMjJAyAM vibhAktau vartamAnAnAM tavargasakAramakArANAM pratiSedha ucyate. tavargaH, TAGasiGasAm inA'tsyAH vRkSAt, plakSAt. sakAraH, jas brAhmaNAH. tas pacataH. thas pacathaH. makAraH upacattAm, apacatam. bibhaktau iti kim? aco yat, UrNAyA yus 52123, rudhAdibhyaH znam. kimo 't 53012, iTo 't ityatra pratiSedho na bhavati , anityatvA'dasya pratiSedhasya. idamas thamuH 53024 ityukArAnubandhanirdezAdanityatvam upalakSyate.

Adir Ji;Tu;DavaH ONPANINI 13005
Ji Tu' Du at the start (are labels).mmmmmmmmm ^ C+ 95

The Ji Tu' Du at the start of a root in the dhAtupATha is a label. Such roots are called JIt, Tvit, Dvit roots. For instance, the root kR "make" is listed in the dhAtupATha as (Du)kR(J), so it's a Dvit root.

See --

Ji for examples of JIt roots

Tu' for examples of Tvit roots

Du for examples of Dvit roots

KAZIKA ititi vartate. AdizabdaH pratekam abhisambadhyate. Ji;Tu;Du ity eteSAM samudayAnAm Adito vartamAnAnAm ity saMjJA bhavati. Ji, JimidA minnaH. JidhRSA dhRSTaH. JikSvidA kSviNNaH. JIndhI iddhaH. Tu, TuvepR vepathuH. Tuozvi zvayathauH. Du, DupacaS paktrimam. Duvap uptrimam. DukRJ kRtrimam. AdiH iti kim? pTUyati. kaNDUyati. upadeSe ity eva JikArIyati.

SaH pratyayasya ONPANINI 13006
The initial S of an affix (is a label).mmmmmmmmm ^ C+ 96

So the S of Svun is a label. But not the non-initial S of the affix TiSac of mahiSa- "buffalo". And not the initial S of the non-affix SaS- "six".

Whatever has S label is a Sit.

cu;TU ONPANINI 13007
cu Tu of affixes (are labels).mmmmmmmmm ^ M- C+ 97

Examples of cu labels --

c of Tac

j of jas

Examples of Tu labels --

T of Tac

N of Nya

la;za;kv ataddhite ONPANINI 13008
l z ku (in affixes are labels), but not in a taddhitammmmmmmmm ^ C+ 98

Examples:

G of Gas,

k of kta,

z of zas,

z of zap,

l of lyap,

kh of khac

are labels.

Therefore --

nI + kta nIta- "led"

vidyut- + zas vidyutas- "flashes of lightning"

This rule won't work on taddhita affixes such as kan kAmyac zas'. Their initial k z are not labels --

loman + zas' lomazas "along the hair"

KAZIKA taddhita-varjitasya pratyayasy' Adito vartamAnA lakAra-zakAra-kavargA it-saMjJA bhavanti. lakaraH, lyuT ca cayanam, jayanam. zakAraH, kartari zap bhavati, pacati. kavargaH, ktaktavatU niSThA bhuktaH, bhuktavat. priyavaze vadaH khac priyaMvadaH, vazaMvadaH. glAjisthazca ksnuH glAsnuH, jiSNuH, bhUSNuH. bhaJjabhAsamido ghurac bhaGguram. TAGasiGasAm in%At-syAH vRkSAt, vRkzasya. a-taddhite iti kim? cUDhAlaH. lomazaH. karNikA.

tasya lopaH ONPANINI 13009
Labels are invisible.mmmmmmmmm ^ M- C+ 99

talkaround. The label letters (a.k.a. "it letters"), namely, those described in the previous rules, "are invisible". This means that they must often be ignored (it does not mean that we must delete them).

Affixes and roots are made of real letters and label letters. For instance, the affix tip is made of two real letters, ti, plus one label letter, p. This rule warns us that in some circumstances, we must ignore the label letters.

In particular, label letters are ignored

(1) when actually using a word

(2) when finding the first or last letter of an affix

(3) when counting the letters of an affix

Example of (1)

According to several rules, we may join the root nRt(I) 04.0010, the affix (z)ya(n) and the affix ti(p) to make a word that means "is dancing". So this word is nRt(I) + (z)ya(n) + ti(p) as far as grammar rules are concerned, but it is actually pronounced and written nRtyati, as in --

devI nRtyati helAyAm "the queen is dancing in the moonlight"

Example of (2)

Rule pacovaH says that we must replace the first letter of (k)ta with v when kta is after pak. Now, we must ignore the k because it is a label, so the "first letter" of (k)ta means the first real letter, that is the t. So pak + (k)ta becomes pak + (k)va, and we ignore the label (k), and we say --

pakvA nRpeNa kukkuTI "the king has cooked a hen"

Example of (3)

Rule vera says that we must delete real v when it is inside an affix that has only one letter. Now, this means an affix that has one REAL letter, labels don't count. So, the affix (k)v(in) has three label letters and one real letter, and loses its v, but the affix (k)vi(n) has two labels and two real letters, and keeps it.

KAZIKA tasya it-saMjJakasya lopo bhavati. tathA c%aiva udAhRtam. tasya grahaNaM sarva-lopArtham, alo 'ntyasya mA bhUt Adir JiTuDavaH iti.

To know which letters of the affix tip are real and which are labels, click the link " tip". This will take you to a page that spells the affix as ti(p). The parens mean that the p is a label, and the ti are real.

At this point you might have jumped to the conclusion that label letters are useless and should always be ignored. Far from being so, they have many uses. See types of labels for examples.

yathA-saGkhyam anudezaH samAnAm ONPANINI 13010
When a rule has two lists of the same length, understand " respectively".mmmmmmmmm ^ C+ 100

Exception to sthAnentaratamaH.

Examples:

TAGasi rule replaces TA Gasi Gas with ina At sya' respectively.

ecoya rule replaces e oG ai auc with ay av Ay Av respectively.

tas;thas;tha;mipAM tAM;taM;t%AmaH replaces tas thas tha mip with tAm tam ta am respectively.