SANSKRIT NOUNS

Nominals are “naming” words. Along with verbs and uninflected words, they are one of the three main types of Sanskrit word. We use the word nominal so that we can refer to many different types of words at once. These types include nouns, adjectives, pronouns, and numerals.

In this lesson, we'll learn about the basic parts of a nominal word. We'll also learn what kinds of meanings the different nominal endings can express.

Every nominal word has two parts: a stem and an ending. In the examples below, we combine a stem with its ending to create a complete word:

• सिंह + ः → सिंहः
• siṃha + ḥ → siṃhaḥ
• the lion

• सिंह + स्य → सिंहस्य
• siṃha + sya → siṃhasya
• of the lion

• सिंह + ऐः → सिंहैः
• siṃha + aiḥ → siṃhaiḥ
• by the lions

The stem contains the nominal's basic meaning. And the ending expresses three basic kinds of information: gender, number, and case.

In the core lessons, we learned that Sanskrit nominals use three different genders. These are

the masculine gender:

• सिंहो गच्छति
• siṃho gacchati
• The (male) lion goes.

the feminine gender:

• सिंहा गच्छति
• siṃhā gacchati
• The (female) lion goes.

and the neuter gender:

• वनम् अस्ति
• vanam asti
• There is a forest.

Many nominal stems can freely use any of these three genders. But noun stems generally use a fixed gender. Noun stems use a fixed gender even if they don't refer to living beings:

• योग
• yoga
• yoga (masculine)

• नीति
• nīti
• wise conduct (feminine)

• निर्वाण
• nirvāṇa
• nirvana (neuter)

How do we determine which gender a noun should use? We can usually determine a noun's gender by noticing the sounds at the end of a stem. Here are some basic rules that might be helpful:

• Nouns ending in -a are never feminine.
• Nouns ending in -ā, -ī, and -ū are almost always feminine.
• Nouns made with the -tra and -ana suffixes are usually neuter.

In the core lessons, we saw that Sanskrit nominals use three different numbers (vacana). These are the singular, which is used for one item:

• सिंहः पश्यति।
• siṃhaḥ paśyati.
• The lion sees.

the dual, which is used for exactly two items:

• सिंहौ पश्यतः।
• siṃhau paśyataḥ.
• The two lions see.

and the plural, which is used for three or more items:

• सिंहाः पश्यन्ति।
• siṃhāḥ paśyanti.
• The (many) lions see.

cases	case name	mantrakshar	Sanskrit	example sentence
case 1	nominative		पुस्तकम्	पुस्तकम् अस्ति
case 2	accusative		पुस्तकम्	पुस्तकम् गृहाण
case 3	instrumental	+	पुस्तकेन (through book)	पुस्तकेन ज्ञानम् भवति
case 4	dative	+	पुस्तकाय (for book)	पुस्तकाय वेष्टनम
case 5	ablative	+	पुस्तकात् (from book)	पुस्तकात् गीतम्
case 6	genitive	+	पुस्तकस्य (of book)	पुस्तकस्य लेखकः
case 7	locative	+	पुस्तके (in book)	पुस्तके चित्राणि

Case, roughly speaking, is the name for the way that Sanskrit nominals express different roles in a sentence. Sanskrit uses eight different cases.

Case 1 can be thought of as the default case. Usually, it refers to the subject of the action:

• सिंहः खादति।
• siṃhaḥ khādati.
• The lion eats.

But this depends on the prayoga of the verb. For example, consider the two sentences below. Both use siṃhaḥ in case 1. But the meaning of siṃhaḥ in each sentence is very different:

• सिंहः खादति।
• siṃhaḥ khādati.
• The lion eats.
• (kartari prayoga. The lion is the subject of the sentence.)

• सिंहः खाद्यते।
• siṃhaḥ khādyate.
• The lion is eaten.
• (karmaṇi prayoga. The lion is the object of the sentence.)

Case 2 is generally the object of the action. It is also used for destinations:

• सिंहो ग्रामं पश्यति।
• siṃho grāmaṃ paśyati.
• The lion sees a village.

• सिंहो ग्रामं गच्छति।
• siṃho grāmaṃ gacchati.
• The lion goes to the village.

Case 3 generally means “with” or “by means of”:

• सिंहो मार्गेण ग्रामं गच्छति।
• siṃho mārgeṇa grāmaṃ gacchati.
• The lion goes to the village by means of the road.

Case 4 generally means “for” or “for the sake of”:

• सिंहो मांसाय ग्रामं गच्छति।
• siṃho māṃsāya grāmaṃ gacchati.
• The lion goes to the village for meat.

• सिंहः खादनाय ग्रामं गच्छति।
• siṃhaḥ khādanāya grāmaṃ gacchati.
• The lion goes to the village for eating (“to eat”).

Case 5 generally means “from,” “than,” or “because of”:

• नरः वनाद् ग्रामं गच्छति।
• naraḥ vanād grāmaṃ gacchati.
• A man goes from the forest to the village.

• सिंहो नराद् बलवत्तरः।
• siṃho narād balavattaraḥ.
• The lion is stronger than the man.

• नरः भयाद् गृहं गच्छति।
• naraḥ bhayād gṛhaṃ gacchati.
• The man goes home from (because of) fear.

Case 6 generally means “of”:

• सिंहो नरस्य गृहं गच्छति।
• siṃho narasya gṛhaṃ gacchati.
• The lion goes to the house of the man (or, the man's house).

• सिंहो नरस्य मांसं खादति।
• siṃho narasya māṃsaṃ khādati.
• The lion eats the meat of the man.

Case 7 generally means “in” or “on”:

• नरो सिंहे ऽस्ति।
• naro siṃhe 'sti.
• The man is in the lion.

• सिंहो ग्रामे चरति।
• siṃho grāme carati.
• The lion walks in the village.

And case 8 is the person being spoken to:

• हे सिंह वनं गच्छ।
• he siṃha vanaṃ gaccha.
• Hey lion! Go to the forest.

Stem families Nominal stems can end with many different kinds of sounds:

• सिंह
• siṃha
• (male) lion

• अग्नि
• agni
• fire

• मनस्
• manas
• mind

We can group these stems based on the last sound they use. So we can talk about -a stems (stems ending in a), -ī stems, -ū stems, and so on. We use this grouping because stems with different final sounds tend to use different endings.

For example, compare the endings we use for siṃha, (which ends in a short -a) to the endings we use for siṃhā (which ends in a long -ā). These two stems use endings that are quite different:

• सिंह → सिंहेन
• siṃha → siṃhena
• (male) lion → by the (male) lion

• सिंहा → सिंहया
• siṃhā → siṃhayā
• (female) lion → by the (female) lion

• सिंह → सिंहस्य
• siṃha → siṃhasya
• (male) lion → of the (male) lion

• सिंहा → सिंहायाः
• siṃhā → siṃhāyāḥ
• (female) lion → of the (female) lion

Roughly, we can combine all of these stem groups into five big stem families. All of the stems in a stem family tend to use similar endings. These families are:

• the -a stems
• the -ā, -ī, and -ū stems
• the -i and -u stems
• the -ṛ stems
• all other stems

Stem families may have some small differences, but they generally share most of their endings and follow consistent patterns.

Here are the basic nominal endings we use for the masculine and feminine genders. These endings are the same for both genders:

We use tables because they sometimes help us see certain patterns clearly. Specifically, notice that many of these endings are the same. For example, the same ending bhyām has three different meanings:

• नरो गजाभ्यां नगरं गच्छति
• naro gajābhyāṃ nagaraṃ gacchati
• The man goes to the city by means of the two elephants.

• नरो गजाभ्यां नगरं गच्छति
• naro gajābhyāṃ nagaraṃ gacchati
• The man goes to the city for the two elephants.

• नरो गजाभ्यां नगरं गच्छति
• naro gajābhyāṃ nagaraṃ gacchati
• The man goes from the two elephants to the city.

How do we decide what bhyām means here? We can decide what bhyām means only if we know the sentence's context. If we don't have that context, we must guess.

The basic neuter endings follow an interesting pattern. In cases 3 to 7, they are identical to the endings we saw above. But in cases 1, 2, and 8, they are as you see below: