Grammar and Language Structure (Vyakaranam): Rules That Earn Certain Marks
What Vyakaranam tests
Grammar is the most mechanical part of the paper and the easiest to secure - provided you know the rule, not merely the example. The section covers sandhi, samasam, vibhakti, kaalam, vachya, vaakya bhedam and shabda/dhatu roopam.
Sandhi
Split the word first; the split tells you the rule.
- Savarna deergha: like vowels lengthen - kavi + indran = kaveendran.
- Guna: a + i/e gives e; a + u/o gives o - maha + ishwaran = maheshwaran.
- Vriddhi: a + e gives ai; a + o gives au - sadaa + eva = sadaiva.
- Yan: i/u/ri before a dissimilar vowel becomes y/v/r - ithi + uvacha = ityuvacha.
Samasam
- Tatpurusha: the first member qualifies the second.
- Karmadharaya: adjective plus noun, as in neelamegham.
- Dvandva: members joined by 'and', usually with -um in Malayalam.
- Bahuvrihi: the compound names a possessor, not the thing - chandramouli, one who wears the moon.
- Dwigu: the first member is a numeral. Avyayibhava: the first member is indeclinable, as in yathaa shakti.
Vibhakti and kaalam
Eight vibhaktis; Malayalam pratyayams are roughly -e/-a (nominative), -e (accusative), -aal/-odu (instrumental), -kku/-nu (dative), -il/-ninnu (locative and ablative), -ude/-nte (genitive), -e/-aa (vocative).
Worked example
Kaveendran: split kavi + indran; i + i is savarna, so it lengthens to ee. Name both the sandhi and the rule, not just the joined form.
Traps
Calling a samasam a sandhi; applying deergha where guna is required; overlooking chillu letters and the -the ending; wrong vibhakti with verbs of giving (dative) and separating (ablative).