The Cambridge Introduction to Sanskrit

THE SUFFIXES -A-, -ANA-, -TRA-, -TVA- AND -TĀ-

The process of noun formation (or ‘derivation’) involves forming nouns from the basis of other words or word forms; cf. English entertainer and entertainment from the verb entertain. In Sanskrit, noun formation usually involves adding a suffix to either a verbal root (which can stand in any of the three vowel grades, yet guṇa is the most common) or another noun (whose first vowel may be put into its vṛddhi grade). Knowledge of these processes will help you recognise many more Sanskrit words than you memorise, and thus improve your reading skills. This chapter focuses on nouns and adjectives formed by means of adding the most frequent a- and ā-stem suffixes.

A very simple way of forming nouns and adjectives from a verbal root is to take that root in guṇa (sometimes also vṛddhi ā) and add -a- to it. This gives us words such as लेख- (m.) ‘a writing, letter’ from √लिख् ‘to write’, वेद- (m.) ‘knowledge’ from √विद् ‘to see, know’ (Chapter 18). स्नेह- means ‘love’; बोध- (m.) means ‘waking, consciousness’, while, used as an adjective, it means ‘knowing, understanding’; हर्ष- used as a masculine noun means ‘excitement’ and, as an adjective, ‘exciting’; हर- and हार- both mean ‘bearing, wearing, carrying’ etc. Nouns derived in this way are frequently masculine, but may also be neuter.

-ana- is another suffix added to verbal roots in guṇa. It forms adjectives and nouns similarly to English -ing: from √मुच् ‘to release, free’, we get the adjective मोचन- ‘releasing, freeing’, which is also used in the neuter as a noun meaning ‘(the act of) releasing, release’. From √वच् ‘to speak’ we find the frequently used noun वचन- ‘(act of) speaking; word, speech’ and an adjective that simply means ‘talking, speaking’. √शुभ् ‘to decorate, adorn; adorn oneself ‘ gives us the adjective शोभन- ‘pleasing, pleasant, beautiful’. Yet it also forms concrete nouns: the noun लोचन-, derived from √लोच् ‘to see’, means ‘eye’.