अन्वय

If you are a Sanskrit student of any level, you have definitely heard of the word अन्वय. In poetry, it has a technical meaning. But in normal usage too, it has multiple beautiful meanings: connection, lineage, follower, sequence, etc.

Let us first look at the description of the word from a derivation stand-point

Derivation

अनु-उपसर्ग-पूर्वक-इण्-धातोः भावार्थे कर्त्रर्थे वा अच्-प्रत्यये अन्वयः ॥

To create the word अन्वय, take the verb-root इण् with a prefix अनु and attach to it the suffix अच् in the sense of action or doer

Establishing the meaning

To understand this derivation, or any derivation for that matter, let us start with the धातु or the verb-root as it gives the core meaning of the word. Here the धातु is इण्. Referring to the धातुपाठ to get its meaning, we see the entry

इण् गतौ

This tells us than the धातु is used in the sense of गति or movement. So इण् means ‘to move’.

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Next, since the धातु is attached to an उपसर्ग or a prefix, its meaning gets modified due to it. An उपसर्ग generally has multiple possible meanings associated with it, and which meaning is implied when used with which धातु can only be known via use in the language.

In our case, the उपसर्ग is अनु, which when attached to इण्, gets the meaning पश्चात् or “to happen just after”.

So, along with the meaning of the धातु इण्, the combined meaning of अनु + इण् becomes “to go just after” or in other words, “to follow”.

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To get the word, अन्वय, the derivation statement asks us attach the प्रत्यय or suffix अच्. This प्रत्यय can be attached in the meaning of the doer or in the meaning of the action itself¹.

So, In the sense of doer, the word अन्वय gets the meaning “the one which goes along with you”. Hence we get the meanings of a follower, pupil, or a disciple. In the sense of the action itself, the word अन्वय gets the meaning “the action of going along”. Hence the meanings of following, association, connection, lineage, or a logical sequence².

Forming the word

CAUTION

The article is supposed to be beginner friendly without going into too many technical details. If you are a reading about this kind of derivation for the first time, read the article without going into any of the links. Because each link is a rabbit-hole in itself. Reading the article should give you an overall idea of how a word-derivation-process works in Sanskrit.

As and when you get familiarised with the technical jargon, you should be able to appreciate the process better. The article contains mentions of sūtras (सूत्र) which are given in the tables of the processes. As a first-time reader, consider them as black boxes. The only thing that you need do understand at this stage is going from one stage to another in the derivation process requires a सूत्र. If such a सूत्र is not available, the process cannot proceed.

There are about 4000 सूत्र in total. The questions of why one सूत्र and not the other out of the 4000 is the core of what forms advanced studies in grammar. So these questions will be answered, but in due time.

In the previous section, we understood how the combination अनु + इण् + अच् gets we various meanings of the word अन्वय. But we are still to establish two facts:

1. The combination अनु + इण् + अच् is grammatically valid for the given meaning³.
2. The combination अनु + इण् + अच् indeed combines to form the word अन्वय.

The complete प्रक्रिया of forming the word is as follows:

क्रमाङ्क	स्थिति	सूत्र
1	इण्	भूवादयो धातवः (१.३.१)
2	इण्	हलन्त्यम् (१.३.३)
3	इ	तस्य लोपः (१.३.९)
4	अनु + इ	उपसर्गाः क्रियायोगे (१.४.५९)
5	अनु + इ	ते प्राग्धातोः (१.४.८०)
6	अनु + इ + अच्	एरच् (३.३.५६)
7	अनु + इ + अच्	हलन्त्यम् (१.३.३)
8	अनु + इ + अ	तस्य लोपः (१.३.९)
9	अनु + ए + अ	सार्वधातुकार्धधातुकयोः (७.३.८४)
10	अन्व् + ए + अ	इको यणचि (६.१.७७)
11	अन्व् + अय् + अ	एचोऽयवायावः (६.१.७८)
12	अन्वय	कृत्तद्धितसमासाश्च (१.२.४६)

We will go through each of the steps and highlight the salient points

धातु (The root verb)

Let us first take the verb root इण् from the list given in the धातुपाठ.

क्रमाङ्क	स्थिति	सूत्र
1	इण्	भूवादयो धातवः (१.३.१)
2	इण्	हलन्त्यम् (१.३.३)
3	इ	तस्य लोपः (१.३.९)

1. As soon as any verb root is selected from the धातुपाठ, it gets the label धातु. Hence इण् gets the label धातु.
2. This entity इण् is still in its औपदेशिक (original) form. The last व्यञ्जन (consonant) of any entity in its original form gets the label इत्. Hence, the letter ण् gets the label इत्.
3. Any entity with the label इत् gets deleted. Therefore, ण् gets deleted⁴. Only इ remains of the धातु.

उपसर्ग (The prefix)

Adding an उपसर्ग is pretty straightforward from a procedural standpoint.

क्रमाङ्क	स्थिति	सूत्र
4	अनु + इ	उपसर्गाः क्रियायोगे (१.४.५९)
5	अनु + इ	ते प्राग्धातोः (१.४.८०)

4. Any word from the ready-made list of words प्रादिगण gets the label उपसर्ग when attached to a धातु. Since अनु is from the list प्रादिगण, and इ is a धातु (from Step 1), therefore, अनु gets the label उपसर्ग.
5. Any उपसर्ग must be placed before the धातु. Hence अनु is placed before इ

कृत्-प्रत्यय-विधान (The attachment of कृत् suffix)

Now comes the crucial part of attaching the प्रत्यय (suffix) to the धातु in the desired meaning⁵. This is crucial because there must be a सूत्र for the exact combination of the धातु, प्रत्यय, and अर्थ (meaning). If such a सूत्र is absent, the suffix cannot be attached and the word cannot be formed.

क्रमाङ्क	स्थिति	सूत्र
6	अनु + इ + अच्	एरच् (३.३.५६)
7	अनु + इ + अच्	हलन्त्यम् (१.३.३)
8	अनु + इ + अ	तस्य लोपः (१.३.९)

6. The प्रत्यय called अच् is added after any धातु that ends in either इ or ई to convey the meaning of the action itself. Since इ is a धातु that ends in इ (in fact it is the only letter in the धातु), hence अच् can be attached to it in the meaning of the action itself⁶.
7. This entity अच् is still in its औपदेशिक (original) form. The last व्यञ्जन (vowel) of any entity in its original form gets the label इत्. Hence, the letter च् gets the label इत्.
8. Any entity with the label इत् gets deleted. Therefore, च् gets deleted⁴. Only अ remains of the प्रत्यय.

अङ्ग-कार्यम् (The changes to the root due to the suffix)

Due to the presence of the प्रत्यय, certain changes occur in the अङ्ग (root to which the suffix is attached).

क्रमाङ्क	स्थिति	सूत्र
9	अनु + ए + अ	सार्वधातुकार्धधातुकयोः (७.३.८४)

9. When a प्रत्यय is attached to a धातु⁷, the following changes (गुण) occur to the last letter of the धातु --- इ/ई ⇒ ए; उ/ऊ ⇒ ओ; ऋ/ॠ ⇒ अर्; ऌ ⇒ अल्. In this case, since the last letter of the धातु is इ, it becomes ए.

सन्धि-कार्यम् (The joining of letters)

The final step are the changes that occur simply when letters are close together.

क्रमाङ्क	स्थिति	सूत्र
10	अन्व् + ए + अ	इको यणचि (६.१.७७)
11	अन्व् + अय् + अ	एचोऽयवायावः (६.१.७८)
12	अन्वय	कृत्तद्धितसमासाश्च (१.२.४६)

10. When placed just before to any vowel, इ/ई ⇒ य्; उ/ऊ ⇒ व्; ऋ/ॠ ⇒ र्, ऌ ⇒ ल्. Here, the उ in अनु is placed just before a vowel ए. Therefore, उ becomes व्, thus converting अनु to अन्व्.
11. When placed just before to any vowel, ए ⇒ अय्; ओ ⇒ अव्; ऐ ⇒ आय्; औ ⇒ आव्. Here, the ए in the धातु is placed just before a vowel अ. Therefore, ए becomes अय्.

After these transformations, we have अन्व् + अय् + अ. We simply say all of these to get अन्वय. And now, the procedure book sort of congratulates us on the word formation by saying

12. Any entity that ends in a कृत् प्रत्यय, तद्धित प्रत्यय, or an entity that is a समास is a meaningful word (प्रातिपदिक). Since the entity अन्वय ends in a कृत् प्रत्यय (in Step 6, read the footnote), therefore, अन्वय is a प्रातिपदिक.

Congratulations!

The bonus word

The word thus formed is अन्वय, which is in पुंलिङ्ग or masculine gender by default. However, if you wish to change the gender to स्त्रिलिङ्ग or feminine, there is a special category of suffixes called स्त्री-प्रत्यय which change the gender of the word to स्त्रीलिङ्ग⁸.

Let us go through these additional steps too.

क्रमाङ्क	स्थिति	सूत्र
13	अन्वय + टाप्	अजाद्यतष्टाप् (४.१.४)
14	अन्वय + टाप्	चुटू (१.३.७)
15	अन्वय + आप्	हलन्त्यम् (१.३.३)
16	अन्वय + आ	तस्य लोपः (१.३.९)
17	अन्वया	अकः सवर्णे दीर्घः (६.१.१०१)

13. After a प्रातिपदिक⁹ that ends in the letter अ, the टाप् suffix is added just to give the word a feminine gender and not change its meaning. Since the प्रातिपदिक अन्वय ends in the letter अ, the टाप् suffix can be added to give it a feminine gender.
14. This entity टाप् is still in its औपदेशिक (original) form. The last व्यञ्जन (vowel) of any entity in its original form gets the label इत्. Hence, the letter प् gets the label इत्.
15. This entity टाप् is still in its औपदेशिक (original) form. If the first letter is any one of च्, छ्, ज्, झ्, ञ्, ट्, ठ्, ड्, ढ्, or ण्, the first letter of the entity gets the label इत्. Hence, the letter ट् gets the label इत्.
16. Any entity with the label इत् gets deleted. Therefore, ट् and प् gets deleted⁴. Only आ remains of the प्रत्यय.
17. Both letters of the following combinations get replaced by a single letter when they occur together: अ/आ + अ/आ ⇒ आ; इ/ई + इ/ई ⇒ ई; उ/ऊ + उ/ऊ ⇒ ऊ. In our case, we have the combination अ + आ which becomes आ.

Thus the word अन्वया is formed.

Footnotes

1. See भावार्थ ↩

2. Here the meaning of “going along” is taken indicatively and not strictly literally. So an association or a connection is something that goes long with you sort of as memories. A lineage follows you even after you have left the world. In a logical sequence, one component or element follows the other and so on. ↩

3. By grammatical validity, we mean checking if this combination is allowed or not. We cannot attach any suffix with any verb root with any meaning. There must be a सूत्र or aphorism that allows it. ↩

4. Technically, nothing ever gets deleted, it is only ever hidden. But for current purposes deletion is also equivalent ↩ ↩² ↩³

5. Here, we show the example when the suffix अच् is added in the meaning of the action itself. If we want to add अच् in the meaning of the doer of the action, we would use the सूत्र नन्दिग्रहिपचादिभ्यो ल्युणिन्यचः (३.१.१३४) in Step 6 instead of the एरच् (३.३.५६) that we are currently using. Everything else remains the same. ↩

6. Due to the position of the सूत्र एरच् (३.३.५६) in अष्टध्यायी, the suffix अच् gets the additional labels प्रत्यय and कृत्. It is this position that also dictates that अच् should be placed after the धातु. ↩

7. Technically, the गुण happens when the प्रत्यय is either सार्वधातुक or आर्धधातुक. Here the प्रत्यय is आर्धधातुक. ↩

8. While grammatically this is a valid exercise, which word gets which gender is purely based on the usage in the language. Some words are used in only one gender, some in two, and some in all three. While अन्वय is only used in पुंलिङ्ग in Sanskrit, one of my friends has the name अन्वया. The following is an attempt to derive her name. ↩

9. and some other words beyond the scope of this discussion ↩