Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Grammar and Dictionary, Volume 1: Grammar

The central premise of the volume is that Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit must be studied as a historically conditioned linguistic system rather than judged exclusively according to Classical Sanskrit norms. Edgerton notes that Buddhist Sanskrit texts display different degrees of Sanskritization: some remain relatively close to Middle Indo-Aryan linguistic structures, while others exhibit much stronger Classical Sanskrit influence. The resulting language is therefore “hybrid” not because it represents random grammatical corruption, but because its texts preserve overlapping strata of Middle Indo-Aryan and Sanskrit linguistic development. 

Edgerton’s method is fundamentally philological and comparative. He evaluates manuscript variants, parallel passages, metrically conditioned forms, textual traditions, and evidence from related Indo-Aryan languages before determining the grammatical status of a form. He also explains that the Grammar and Dictionary were conceived as complementary works: the Grammar analyzes recurrent linguistic patterns, while the Dictionary records lexical forms and meanings, with extensive cross-reference between the two. The bibliography and abbreviations further demonstrate the breadth of textual sources used, encompassing major Buddhist Sanskrit works and comparative Sanskrit, Pāli, and Prākrit scholarship. 

Table of Contents

• Preface

• Bibliography and Abbreviations

• Introduction

• Phonology, Consonants

• Phonology, Vowels

• Sandhi

• Number

• Gender

• Case

• a-stems

• Feminines in ā

• i- and u-stems

• Feminines in ī and ū

• ṛ-stems

• Consonant Stems

• Participles, Including Gerundives

• Feminines

• -ka

• -vant and -mant

• Personal Pronouns

• Generic Pronouns

• Noun Suffixes

• Suffixes of Secondary Derivation

• Compounds

• Person and Number

• Personal Endings

• Summary Classification of Non-Sanskritic Presents

• Present

• Optative

• Imperative

• Future and Conditional

• Aorist, or Preterite

• Perfect

• Participles, Including Gerundives

• Gerund

• Infinitive

• Voice

• Stems in -aya: Causative and Denominative

• Intensive

• Desiderative

• Periphrastic Addenda to the Verb

• Syntax of Verb Forms

• Synopsis of Verb Forms