Grammar (Vyakarana): Sandhi, Samasa, Karaka and Transformation
Vyakarana is the most rule-bound part of the paper and the easiest to score if you learn the classification, not isolated examples. Expect identification questions, splitting (bichheda) of compounds, joining (sandhi), case identification, and sentence transformation.
Sandhi
- Svara sandhi: dirgha (hima + alaya = himālaya), guna, vriddhi (vidyā + ālaya = vidyālaya), yana, ayadi.
- Byanjana sandhi and the rarer visarga sandhi. Odia writes the result; explain the rule that produced the long vowel or the inserted consonant.
Samasa
- Tatpurusha: case relation hidden (rājaputra = the king's son).
- Karmadharaya: adjective + noun (nīlakamala).
- Dvandva: coordination (mātāpitā).
- Bahubrihi: the compound names someone else (dashānana = the ten-faced one, i.e. Ravana).
- Avyayibhava: first member is indeclinable (pratidina).
Karaka and vibhakti
Eight karakas are recognised: karta, karma, karana, sampradana, apadana, sambandha, adhikarana, sambodhana. Odia markers overlap: -ku serves dative and often object; -re marks both instrumental and locative, so let the verb decide. Example: se pustaka-ku padhila - pustaka is karma.
Worked example with reasoning
"Se chhuri-re kathā kāṭila" - identify the karaka of chhuri.
- Find the verb: kāṭila (cut).
- Ask: with what instrument? The chhuri.
- Instrument = karana karaka; marker -re is doing instrumental duty here, not locative.
Traps
- Splitting a compound at the wrong boundary.
- Treating every -re as locative.
- Calling a bahubrihi a tatpurusha because a case relation is easy to imagine.
- Transforming a sentence but changing its tense or meaning.