SOAS LANGUAGE CENTRE

Sanskrit Elementary 1
Materials: Maurer, W. H. (2001) The Sanskrit Language: An Introductory Grammar and Reader
(Revised edition). London: Routledge.
Overview of course contents

Revision of Sanskrit Beginners

Declensions and conjugations

Atmanepada verbs

The past passive participle revisited

A Panorama of Indian Life (pp. 147-8)

Compounds: tatpurua; karmadhraya, bahuvrhi

The Training of 4 Wayward Princes (pp. 165-6)

The relative pronoun

The Ascetic and the Tiger (p, 178)

Consonant sandhi

Regressive and progressive assimilation

The optative mood

Vowel sandhi

The Story of akuntal (pp. 188-9)

Consonant stems: introduction

The Story of Purravas and Urva (pp. 208-9)

Synopsis
Sanskrit Elementary 1 aims to build on the knowledge and capabilities
acquired in Sanskrit Beginners. The course enables students to recognize
and translate a range of grammatical forms and sentence constructions.
The first part of the course is dedicated to revision of selected topics,
followed by an examination of compounds and elaboration on three main
compound types (tatpurua, karmadhraya, bahuvrhi).
Another familiar aspect of the language, sandhi, is also deconstructed and
the course proceeds to distinguish between consonant and vowel sandhi
and their implications on sentence structure and cadence.
In terms of conjugation and declension, the present system is expanded to
include the optative mood and the course ends with an introduction to
consonant stems and the principles of stems with one and two variants.
The course completes the cycle of stories from the Hitopadea and
introduces the great epics, beginning with the story of akuntal in the
Mahbhrata.