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Theinjunctive mood was agrammatical mood inSanskrit that was characterized by secondary endings but noaugment, and usually looked like an augmentlessaorist orimperfect.[1] It typically stood in a main clause and had asubjunctive orimperative meaning; for example, it could indicate intention, e.g.índrasya nú vīryā̀ṇi právocam "Indra's heroic deedswill/shall I nowdeclaim".[2] It was obligatory for use in prohibitions, where it followsmā́. In laterClassical Sanskrit, only the use aftermā remained (there are no accents in Classical Sanskrit).
Ancient Greek has words that are formally similar to the Sanskrit injunctive mood, consisting ofaorist andimperfect forms lacking theaugment. These are normally used inHomer and otherepic poetry (seeHomeric Greek).
It is generally assumed that the augment was originally a separate particle meaning something like "then", added to indicate the past time of a form that was once mostlyaspectual, and neutral with respect to tense. Originally, its use appears to have been optional, added as necessary to clear up an otherwise ambiguous expression, similarly to time adverbs inChinese. Gradually, it fused onto the verb form and became mandatory, but in the early stages of Greek and Sanskrit this change was not yet complete, and hence augmentless forms existed side-by-side with augmented forms. The modal semantics of the augmentless forms may then be a later development withinIndo-Iranian orIndo-Aryan. It's also possible that the modal semantics developed in the parent language and later developments in Pre-Greek removed them and put back the basic meaning of the aorist and imperative, by analogy.
