Odisha BSE HSC Sanskrit (Third Language) cheat sheet

Sanskrit language (Third Language) - HSC Class X syllabus as published by BSE Odisha

• Devanagari vowels: अ आ इ ई उ ऊ ऋ ए ऐ ओ औ; the ऋ vowel is vocalic r, pronounced like the r in 'rik' with lips unrounded, and it counts as a short vowel for prosody.

• Consonant series are ordered by place of articulation: क-वर्ग (velar), च-वर्ग (palatal), ट-वर्ग (retroflex), त-वर्ग (dental), प-वर्ग (labial), each with five members (unaspirated, aspirated, voiced, voiced aspirated, nasal).

• Semivowels य र ल व and sibilants श ष स plus ह are अन्तःस्थ and ऊष्म consonants; श is palatal, ष retroflex, स dental - a distinction Odisha board papers test through spelling.

• Anusvāra (ं) before a consonant of a varga assimilates to that varga's nasal; before य र ल व श ष स it is often retained or becomes the corresponding nasal.

• Visarga (ः) is a voiceless ह; before a following vowel it commonly becomes र् (e.g., रामः + अपि → रामोऽपि / रामो ऽपि), and this sandhi is a standard objective question.

• सन्धि types: स्वर (vowel) sandhi such as गुण (अ/आ + इ/ई → ए), वृद्धि (अ/आ + ए/ऐ → ऐ, अ/आ + ओ/औ → औ), and यण् (इ/ई + dissimilar vowel → य्); व्यञ्जन sandhi covers consonant contact; विसर्ग sandhi covers visarga changes.

• Noun declension in -अ masculine (राम, बालक) gives singular/dual/plural endings: प्रथम रामः रामौ रामाः; द्वितीया रामम् रामौ रामान्; तृतीया रामेण रामाभ्याम् रामैः; षष्ठी रामस्य रामयोः रामाणाम्.

• Verb classes and पद: परस्मैपद present endings -ति -तः -न्ति (3rd), -सि -थः -थ (2nd), -मि -वः -मः (1st); आत्मनेपद present endings -ते -ेते -न्ते etc.; लट्, लृट्, लङ्, लोट्, विधिलिङ् are the tenses/moods most examined, and लङ् uses the augment अ- with past endings.

• Kāraka and vibhakti rules: कर्ता in प्रथमा with active verbs, कर्म in द्वितीया, करण in तृतीया, सम्प्रदान in चतुर्थी, अपादान in पञ्चमी, अधिकरण in सप्तमी; passive voice (कर्मणि) puts the object in प्रथमा and the agent in तृतीया.

• Sandhi splitting (विग्रह) and joining (सन्धि) questions, समास identification (तत्पुरुष, द्वन्द्व, बहुव्रीहि, अव्ययीभाव, कर्मधारय), and प्रत्यय (क्त, क्तवतु, तव्यत्, अनीयर्, शतृ, शानच्) are recurring grammar items; क्त and क्तवतु form past participles, तव्यत्/अनीयर् express obligation.