ev:ej:üen:y:aev:Sv:ev:½al:y:H

 kx:akay:üm:Î   ( 9 / xi / 2004 ) 
English, Russian, French, Spanish, Arabic, Hebrew, and most other languages in which objects generally follow their verbs have relative constructions which follow their nouns, are full clauses, and commonly interrupt the main clause:

      a.  [The car (that I bought from you) runs well].

      b.  [mašina (kotoruju ja kupil ot tebja) xorošo xodit].

      c.  [La voiture (que tu m'as vendue) marche bien].

      d.  [as-sayyâratu (al-lati ištarait-ha min-ka) tasîru sayran jayyadan].

Tamil, Tibetan, Marathi, Japanese, Turkish, Korean, and other languages in which objects mostly precede their verbs have relative constructions which precede their nouns, are adjectives or participles, and rarely if ever interrupt the main clause:

      e.   [(nâ vôngiTendu vângina kâru) nânâ voDardu].

      f.   [(nge khyeră tsane nyœ-pe  moTe te) yakpo dogidu'].

      g.   [( m:i t:ØJy:akRÜn: G:ðt:l:ðl:i g:aRiCan: c:al:t:ð ].
      h.  [(boku no kimi kara karita kuruma)-wa yoku haširiru].

Although Sanskrit (along with other languages of northern India) usually puts objects before their verbs, its relative constructions belong to a third type:  They are full clauses which do not interrupt their main clauses.  They may occur either to the right or (more commonly) to the left of the main [aka 'co-relative'] clause.  If to the left, they include their nouns:

      i.  ( y:m:Î rT:m:Î Ahm:Î tv:dÎ A#iN:am:Î )   [ s: s:aD:Ø c:l:et: ].

However, if the relative clause comes after the main clause, it is then the main clause that includes the noun:

      i'. [ s: rT:H s:aD:Ø c:l:et: ]   ( y:m:Î Ahm:Î tv:dÎ A#iN:am:Î )  

Notice that the case of the noun  rT:  is determined by the structure of the particular clause that it appears in.   In (i) as the direct object of the verb  A#iN:am:Π the noun  rT:  gets the accusative case.   In (i') as the subject of the verb  c:l:et:  it gets the nominative case.

A.   Examine the following complex sentences taken from actual Sanskrit texts.   Using parentheses for relative clauses and brackets for main or co-relative clauses, demarcate and identify their clausal constituents.   Compare them with their English translations.   Does the order of clauses in Sanskrit differ from the order of the corresponding clauses in English?   Can the English version be changed to better reflect the order of clauses in Sanskrit, yet still sound like natural English?   [Rules of  s:enD:  have been largely suspended to ease comparison.]

      j.  up:ay:ðn: eh t:t:Î kÙy:aüdÎ y:dÎ n: S:Vy:ø p:ra#m:òH .   [ from  eht:aðp:dðS:  (ii, 10), Lanman's Sanskrit Reader,  p 33.]
          'That which is not possible through strength one may do by stratagem.'

      k.  y:da y:da eh D:m:üsy: gl:aen:rÎ B:v:et: B:art: .
      ABy:ØtT:an:m:Î AD:m:üsy: t:da |tm:an:m:Î s:àj:aem: Ahm:Î .. 7 ..    
[ from  B:g:v:dÎg:it:a   (iv, 7) ]
          'Whenever there is a decline in dharma, Bhârata, and an upsurge in its opposite, I inject myself (into the world).'

      l.  dm:y:nt:i t:Ø y:ø høs:ø s:m:Øp:aD:av:dÎ . . . s: . . . dm:y:nt:im:Î . . . Ab:Òv:it:Î .. 26 ...
          'The swan that Damayanti ran towards … spoke to Damayanti.'

        [ from  n:l:aðp:aKy:an:m:Î   (i, 26)  as cited in C.R. Lanman's Sanskrit Reader, &bsp;page 3.]

      m.  Agn:ð y:ø y:wø   . . .   p:erB:ÜrÎ Aes:   . . .   s: EdÎ dðv:ð\:Ø g:cCet: ..  4 ..
          'O Agni, the offering you encompass … (that's the one that) goes to the gods.'     [ from  ?gv:ðd   (I.1.4).]

      n.  y:ð\:am:Î Ahm:Î   . . .   ISv:raN:am:Î   . . .  n: p:adrj:s:a t:Øly:að m:n:s:Î t:ð t:ð\:Ø v:t:üt:am:Î   .. 6..
          'Let your mind turn (and dwell) on those gods to the dust of whose feet I can't be compared.'

          [ from  n:l:aðp:aKy:an:m:Î   (iv, 6)  as cited in C.R. Lanman's Sanskrit Reader,  page 10.]
B.   Making whatever other changes are needed, reverse the order of relative and co-relative clauses in the following complex sentences. Observe rules of  s:enD:.  Translate :

      o.   s: rT:að m:m: B:eg:ny:a B:v:et: y:st:*: et:\Yet:.

 
      p.   t:an:Î b:al:an:an:y:aem: y:ð |*: v:s:ent:.

 
      q.   y:að b:al:H s:nskát:ø p:Yet: t:sm:ò p:Øst:kø y:cC.

 
      r.   t:ø )as:adm:hø ev:S:ðy:m:ðv: y:esm:n:Î s:a v:s:et:.

 
      s.  y:sm:adÎ b:al:at:Î tv:m:ðt:ts:v:üm:ev:ndst:sy: n:am: ekm:Î ?

 
      t.  t:sy:a n:g:y:aü n:am: ekø y:sy:aø tv:m:ðt:aen: Pl:any:ev:ndH ?

 
      u.    ('today')  m:m: B:eg:n:ist:ø b:al:m:p:Sy:t:Î y:ðn: ev:n:a n: j:iv:ðt:Î.

 
      v.  t:sy:a n:½a n:am: erv:an:ðet: B:v:et: y:sy:am:av:aø v:s:av:H.

 
C.   Translate the following into Sanskrit using the relative correlative construction:

      w.   The boy who is standing there is my sister's son.

 
      x.   The girls to whom I gave the jewels live here.

 
      y.   I saw the man whose house this is.

 
D.   Write two more examples of the relative co-relative construction.  Translate them.

      z.  

 
      aa.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To index of Sanskrit pages.

Drafted and posted 5-9 Nov 2004.