THE PERIPHRASTIC PERFECT
For two kinds of verb, Sanskrit uses an alternative, ‘periphrastic’ perfect formation:
1) ‘derived’ verbs, such as causatives (and by extension also some Class X verbs) and desideratives
2) some verbs with an initial long vowel.
The periphrastic perfect is formed as follows:
1) by taking the present stem, e.g. causative भारय- or ईक्ष-
2) adding -ām to give e.g. भारयाम् or ईक्षाम्
3a) for active forms, adding the required form of the perfect of √अस् ‘to be’ or, more rarely, √भू ‘to be’ or √कृ ‘to do’:
√भृ ‘to carry’ –›भारयामास ‘I caused (someone) to carry’ (आस = 1st SG PERF of √अस्)
–›भारयामासिम ‘we caused (someone) to carry’ (आसिम = 1st PL PERF of √अस्)
√ईक्ष् ‘to see’ –› ईक्षामासतुः ‘the two of them saw’
√आस् ‘to sit’ –› आसां चकार ‘he sat’
3b) for middle forms, adding the required form of the perfect middle of √कृ:
√आस् ‘to sit’ –› आसां चक्रे ‘I/he sat’
–› आसां चक्रिरे ‘they sat’
Basically, the periphrastic perfect is used whenever a regular perfect form would not be sufficiently recognisable as a perfect. Causatives, for example, are made distinct from the basic verb by the addition of -aya- to a root that is usually stronger than the root in the equivalent basic verb form (–› e.g. basic भरति vs. causative भारयति). Yet perfects are formed just from the root without any further suffixes, and their root grade depends solely on which perfect form (singular or dual/plural, active or middle) is being used. Thus, there is no way of formally distinguishing the perfects of a basic verb and the corresponding causative verb: if causatives used the regular perfect, both e.g. basic and causative would have the perfect बभार.
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