Root, Verb-Forms and Primary Derivatives of the Sanskrit Language

by William Dwight Whitney

This work is supplement to the author's earlier work "Sanskrit Grammar". It contains in detail all the quotable roots of the Language, with the tense and conjugation-systems made from them, and with the noun and adjective formation that attach themselves most closely to the verb, and further with the other derivative noun and adjective-stems usually classed as primary with great accuracy.

Whitney's work lists all the quotable roots of the Sanskrit language together with the tense and conjugation-systems made from them, the noun and adjective (infinitival and participal) formations that attach themselves most closely to the verb and with the other derivative noun and adjective-stems usually classed as primary. "... since etymology is from beginning to end a matter of balancing probabilities, and thick-set with uncertainties and chances of error. It has been my intention to err rather upon the side of liberality of inclusion than the opposite... main intent is to furnish the means of examining in their chronologic entirety the groups of words and forms that cluster about the so-called roots in Sanskrit, that they may be studied, and have their relations determined, witth more complete understanding... The meanings added after the roots by no means claim to be exhaustive; they are in general intended only to identify the root... The classes of (verb-) forms that contain the most puzzling problems are the reduplicated ones, and the present stems ending in 'ya'.