Sanskrit: An Introduction to the Classical Language

The book is intended primarily to give students practical access to straightforward Classical Sanskrit as rapidly as possible. Coulson deliberately gives greater attention to syntax, idiom, nominal constructions, and compounds than many traditional Sanskrit primers, which he considers overly concentrated on exhaustive morphological paradigms. Although the work introduces the major systems of declension and conjugation, grammatical forms are progressively reinforced through authentic examples and exercises rather than treated principally as isolated paradigms. 

The introductory discussion also situates Sanskrit historically within the Indo-European and Indo-Iranian language families and distinguishes Vedic, Classical, and Middle Indo-Aryan developments. Particular importance is given to Pāṇini and the stabilization of Classical Sanskrit, while Coulson stresses that Pāṇinian codification did not prevent significant developments in syntax and literary style. His treatment of long compounds, case relationships, participial constructions, and the evolution of learned Sanskrit provides a linguistic framework for understanding why Classical Sanskrit differs markedly from both Vedic Sanskrit and other Indo-European languages.

Table of Contents

• Preface

• Introduction

• Using This Book

• Chapter 1: The Nāgarī Script

• Chapter 2: Roots and Verb Classes

• Chapter 3: Nouns and Pronouns

• Chapter 4: Past Participle and Instrumental Case

• Chapter 5: The Cases: Dative, Ablative, Genitive, Locative

• Chapter 6: Feminine Gender and Determinative Compounds

• Chapter 7: Consonant Stems and Causatives

• Chapter 8: Changeable Consonant Stems and Bahuvrīhi Compounds

• Chapter 9: Stems in i and u; Ātmanepada

• Chapter 10: Stems in ī and ū; Present Participle and Imperative

• Chapter 11: Stems in ṛ; Periphrastic Future and Passive

• Chapter 12: Athematic Presents and Gerundives

• Chapter 13: Reduplication, Infinitive and Future

• Chapter 14: Imperfect and Optative

• Chapter 15: Perfect, Aorist, Injunctive and Precative

• Appendix 1: Further Sanskrit Study

• Appendix 2: Grammatical Paradigms

• Appendix 3: Classical Metres

• Sanskrit-English Exercises: Transcription

• Sanskrit-English Exercises: Key

• English-Sanskrit Exercises: Roman Key

• English-Sanskrit Exercises: Nāgarī Key

• General Vocabulary

  • Sanskrit-English

  • English-Sanskrit

• Supplementary English-Sanskrit Exercises

• English Index

• Sanskrit Index