AP Intermediate Sanskrit (BIEAP) key terms

Sanskrit prose. In the AP syllabus it names the prescribed prose passages studied for comprehension and explanation, as opposed to verse passages.

Sanskrit verse. Refers to the prescribed stanzas studied for word-by-word meaning, overall sense, and poetic appreciation in the poetry section.

Explanation or commentary. In exams it means writing a short prose explanation of a prescribed passage, unpacking its words, grammar, and sense.

The natural word order of a sentence, rearranged from the verse order so that the grammatical relationship between words becomes clear before translation.

The phonological joining of two adjacent sounds into one, with changes at the boundary, as when final and initial vowels combine or a consonant is altered.

A compound: two or more words combined into a single inflected unit, classified by the relation between members, such as tatpuruṣa, dvandva, or bahuvrīhi.

A compound in which the first member determines or qualifies the second, and the whole is named for the final member, as in rājaputra, 'king's son'.

A compound that names something by an attribute it possesses rather than by the compound's own members, as in dīrghabāhu, 'one whose arms are long'.

A copulative compound joining members of equal rank, the whole denoting the group, as in rāmalakṣmaṇau, 'Rama and Lakshmana'.

A case ending of a noun or pronoun. Sanskrit has eight cases, from nominative through vocative, each carrying distinct syntactic roles.

A nominal word ending in a case suffix, that is, a declined noun, pronoun, or adjective, as opposed to a verbal form.

A finite verb form carrying a personal ending that marks person, number, and voice, such as karoti or gacchanti.

One of the ten tense-and-mood systems of Sanskrit conjugation, conventionally labelled with the letter l, such as laṭ for present and liṅ for optative.

A verbal root, the basic meaning-bearing element from which verb forms and many nouns are derived, listed in traditional root lists such as bhū, kṛ, gam.

A conjugation class of verbal roots. Ten classes are recognised, distinguished by the suffix added before personal endings, such as bhvādi or divādi.

A participant role in an action, such as agent, object, or instrument, which determines which case ending a noun takes in a sentence.

The agent construction, where the subject performs the action and the verb agrees with it, as opposed to passive or impersonal constructions.

The passive construction, where the object of the action becomes the grammatical subject and the verb takes a passive ending such as -ya or -ta.

The strengthened vowel grade, where a becomes a, i and ī become e, and u and ū become o, common in sandhi and in derived forms.

The further strengthened vowel grade, where a becomes ā, i and ī become ai, and u and ū become au, frequent in secondary derivation.

A figure of speech or poetic ornament, such as simile or metaphor, used to heighten the expressive power of a verse.

Simile: a comparison in which one thing is likened to another through a word such as iva or yathā, the two sharing a stated common quality.

Metaphor: a figure in which the subject is identified with the image without a comparative word, as when a king is simply called a lion.

The aesthetic flavour or emotional relish a literary work evokes in a receptive audience, classified into nine principal kinds such as the heroic and the compassionate.

An emotional state or feeling that, when developed in a poem, matures into an aesthetic flavour; also used for the plain overall sense of a passage.

Moral and political wisdom literature offering guidance on conduct, prudence, and right action, often in maxims and fables.

A well-spoken verse: a short polished stanza conveying a moral, practical, or ethical observation, collected in anthologies and widely quoted.

A learned person. In moral verses the term contrasts with the fool, marking one who weighs consequences and speaks at the right time.

Translation, rendering a Sanskrit passage into Telugu or English, or a Telugu or English sentence into Sanskrit while preserving meaning and grammar.

A letter. In composition tasks it means writing a short informal or formal letter in Sanskrit with proper address, salutation, body, and closing.

An essay: a connected piece of Sanskrit prose on a set topic, organised into introduction, developed points, and conclusion.

A story or narrative, especially the frame-tale collections of fables and moral tales that form part of the prescribed prose and literature survey.

Courtly poetry or belles-lettres, distinguished into genres such as epic and lyric, and judged by its ornaments, sentiment, and artistry.

A poet. In literary history the term is applied to named authors whose works and periods the candidate must be able to place.

Refinement or polishing; in internal assessment it names the process of revising a project draft for accuracy of language, citation, and presentation.