Yaska

Personal

• Dated at least a century before Plato (4th century BCE), possibly as early as the 9th century BCE

• Successor of Sakatayana

• Author of the Nighantu and the Nirukta

Nirukta

Vedanga on etymology

A commentary on Nighantu, a compilation of rare or difficult words

The Nighanu and Nirukta are typically treated as one document.

Three parts:

Naighantuka kanda - a collection of synonyms in three adhyayas

Physical things and nature

Man, qualities associated with man

Abstract qualities and concepts

Naigama kanda - a collection of words found only in the Vedas

Daivata kanda - a collection of names for deities

Ideas

Four main categories of words

• Nama - nouns

• Akhyata - verbs

• Upasarga - prefixes

• Nipata - particles

Two main ontological categories of speech

• Words became nouns or verbs depnding on which feature was predominant.

Process or action (bhava)

Entity or being (sattva)

• Nominal forms result in a 'petrified' verb (murta)

Words are the primary carriers of meaning

• This is as opposed to sentences being the primary carriers of meaning, which is the Paninian position

• The debate in which this is a position is between Nairuktas and Vaiyakaranas

  • It is part of the larger debate regarding compositionality between Mimamsakas and Vaiyakaranas

  • Gargya, of the opposiing side, argues for example that prepositions have various senses of their own even when detached, where Sakatayana argues that they only contribute to word-meanings and have no sense in themselves.

• The Nairukta's position is exposited in Sakatayana's sutra:

  • samhita pada-prakrtih