Dvandva, Tatpurusa and Bahuvrhi: on the Vedic sources for the names of the compound types in Pānini’s grammar

Abstract

In the paper, the Vedic sources of the basic terms for nominal compounds in the native Indian grammatical tradition are philologically and linguistically examined. Section 1 explores the development of dvandva–, Pānini’s term for the copulative compounds, outside grammatical literature, and its lexical use in the Veda. Section 2 deals with the occurrences of bahuvrhi– in Veda as part of the possessive compound bahuvrhiyavá– (Taittirya–Brāhmana, Śrautasūtras) and as the class name for the possessive compounds in Pānini. Section 3 accounts for tatpurusa– in Veda (and in the Vyākarana as denominating example for determinative compounds). The paper analyses the limited attestation of the words in Veda, their constellation in the Black YV (particularly the Taittirya school) and its implications for Pānini’s and his predecessors use of Vedic sources.