Sanskrit inherits from its parent, theProto-Indo-European language, the capability of formingcompound nouns, also widely seen inkindred languages, especiallyGerman,Greek, andEnglish.^{[citation needed]}

However, Sanskrit, especially in the later stages of the language, significantly expands on this both in terms of the number of elements making up a single compound and the volume of compound usage in the literature, a development which is unique within Indo-European to Sanskrit and closely related languages.^{[citation needed]}

Further, this development in the later language^[a] is an entirely artificial, literary construct and does not reflect the spoken language.^[2][3]

In Sanskrit, as in Proto-Indo-European, a compound is formed by taking the stem-form of the first element (i.e. removing its inflexion)^[b] and combining the two elements with a single accented syllable.

In the later language, this process can be repeated recursively—in theory, ad infinitum, with the freshly made compound becoming the first element of a new one.^[3][4][5]

The process of 'resolving' the compound, i.e., expounding the meaning using the component words declined as in sentence form is termedvigraha·vākya.^[6]

Broadly, compounds can be divided into two classes:endocentric andexocentric.^[7]

An endocentric compound, usually calleddeterminative, is where the compound is essentially the sum of its parts, the meaning being an extension of one of the parts:

• blackbird → a type of black bird^[c]
• White House → the official residence of the US president^[d][8]
• siṃha·purás → lion-city (Singapore)

An exocentric compound refers to something outside the components:

• redhead → someone with red hair^[e]
• pickpocket → someone who picks someone else's pockets^[f][7]
• 'bahu·vrīhi' → lit. 'much-rice', i.e., possessing much rice: an indication of wealth

Indeed, this term 'bahuvrihi' is used both in Sanskrit and standard Indo-European linguistics to denote this type of compound.^[9]

Sanskrit expands on these to provide several further distinctions as below:

In traditional Sanskrit grammar, compounds^[g] are divided into the following main classes:^[10]

• Tatpuruṣa
  • Tatpuruṣa proper
  • Karmadhāraya
    • Dvigu
  • Nañ-tatpuruṣa
  • Prādi andgati
  • Upapada
• Bahuvrīhi
  • Dvigu
• Dvandva
• Avyayībhāva

The first two of these,tatpuruṣa andbahuvrīhi, are Indo-European inheritances, the latter two are Indic innovations.^{[citation needed]} Alongside the termbahuvrīhi,tatpuruṣa has also been adopted in mainstream Indo-European linguistics as the technical term denoting this type of compounding.^[3]

The following sections give an outline of the main types of compounds with examples. The examples demonstrate the composition of the compound's elements, and the meanings in English generally correspond to them, in most cases being a similar compound as well. Where this is not the case or the meaning is not clear, a further resolution is provided.

Atatpuruṣa is an endocentric compound composed of two elements, wherein the first one, named theattributive, determines the second one.^[11][12]

Based on the grammatical nature of the attributive member, six varieties oftatpuruṣa compounds are identified as seen in the classification above. A further distinction is also made based on whether the attributive is in the nominative or an oblique^[h] case.^[10][11][i]

The first member here is an attributive in an oblique relationship with the second, and are therefore termeddependent determinatives.^[11][13]

In akarmadhāraya-tatpuruṣa compound, the first element qualifies the second one adjectively when the latter is a noun. When the second member is an adjective, the qualification is adverbial. Other parts of speech besides adjectives and adverbs may be used to obtain the adjective or adverbial qualification.^[14][15]

In essencedvigu can refer to several compound types where the first element is anumeral.^[j] Dvigu-tatpuruṣa compounds are a special subcategory ofkarmadhārayas.^[16][17]

dvigu compounds ofbahuvrīhi type are noted below.

In anañ-tatpuruṣa compound, the first element is aprivative, a negator:a- (before consonant),an- (before vowel) orna-, just like the Englishun-, Latin-derivedin-, non- or Greek-deriveda- (before consonant),an- (before vowel) .^[18][19]

These are composed of a second member that occurs only in a compound and cannot stand on its own.^[k] These are either roots or verbal derivatives from them.^[20][21]

In analuk-tatpuruṣa compound, in contrast to the standard pattern of being in stem form, the first element takes acase form as if in a sentence:^[22]

These consist of two or morenoun stems connected with "and" (copulative or co-ordinative). There are mainly three kinds ofdvandva pair constructions in Sanskrit:^[27]

The result ofitaretara-dvandva^[l] is an enumerative word, the meaning of which refers to all its constituent members. The resultant compound word is in the dual or plural number and takes the gender of the final member in the compound construction. Examples:^[28][29]

Words may be organised in a compound to form ametonym, and sometimes the words may comprise all the constituent parts of the whole. The resultant bears a collective sense and is always singular and neutral.^[30]

Some Sanskrit grammarians identify a third kind ofdvandva which they callekaśeṣa-dvandva,^[m] where only one stem remains in what is viewed as the compound of multiple words.^[31]

While not strictly copulative, this is a compound consisting of the same word repeated with the first occurrence accented.

Āmreḍita compounds are used to express repetitiveness; for example, fromdív- (day) we obtaindivé-dive ('day after day', daily) and fromdevá- (god) we obtaindeváṃ-devam ordevó-devas ('deity after deity').^[32]

Bahuvrīhi^[o] is an exocentric compound consisting of a noun preceded by agrammatical modifier which, taken together, functions as a singlenominalised adjective.

Abahuvrīhi compound can often be translated by "possessing..." or "-ed"; for example, "possessing much rice" or "much-riced". In English, examples ofbahuvrīhi would be "lowlife" and "blockhead" (they respectively denote 'one whose life is low' and 'one whose head resembles a block'), or the English surnameLongbottom ('one who lives in a long "botham" [valley]').

The second element could essentially have been a noun, which within such a compound, can take on adjective declensions with the compound used adjectivally. Endocentric compounds can thus be transformed into possessives, normally accompanied, and explicitly recognized in the older language, by a change in accentuation:^[33][34]

• indra·śatrú-, 'Indra's killer' ⇒índra·śatru-, 'having Indra as killer'^[p]
• bṛhad·ratha-, 'a great chariot' ⇒bṛhád·ratha-, 'having great chariots'
• sūrya·tejás-, 'sun's brightness' ⇒sū́rya·tejas-, 'possessing the brightness of the sun'

A few typical examples of such compounds:^[36]

When the first element of abahuvrīhi is a numeral, the compound is calleddvigu.^[r] An English example would be ahalfwit ('one who has half of their mind').

A few typical examples of such compounds:^[38]

Avyayībhāvas ('indeclinable') are adverbial compounds composed of an indeclinable element (an adverb, etc.) and a noun, together expressing an adverb or another indeclinable (avyaya) element.^[39][40]

• Sanskrit nominals
• Sanskrit verbs
• Sanskrit grammar
• Vedic Sanskrit grammar
• Proto-Indo-European verbs
• Proto-Indo-Aryan
• Proto-Indo-Iranian
• Proto-Indo-European
• Kenning

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• Sanskrit grammar
• Vyakarana
• Linguistic morphology

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