Vedic Text Sample: Rig Veda 10.90, verses 11-13
- यत पुरुषं वयदधुः कतिधा वयकल्पयन |
- yát púruSaM ví ádadhuH katidhÁ ví akalpayan
- when Purusa they put-apart, in how many ways did they unmake
- यत, a form of the relative pronoun that came to mean "when":
the relative pronoun is From Proto-Indo-Aryan *Hyás, from
Proto-Indo-Iranian *Hyás, from Proto-Indo-European *Hyós,
*Hyéh₂, *Hyód (“who, which”). Cognate with Ancient Greek ὅς
(hós), ἥ (hḗ), ὅ (hó).
- वयदधुः = वि- vi- ('un-'/'dis-')+ 3rd plural imperfect of
दधाति dadhami "put, place" From Proto-Indo-European
*dʰé-dʰeh₁-ti, reduplicated present from *dʰeh₁- (“to put,
place”). Cognates include Latin faciō, Sanskrit दधाति
(dadhāti), Old Armenian դնեմ (dnem), Old English dōn (English
do)
- कति kati "how many" from Proto-Indo-European *kʷoti, adverb
from *kʷos, *kʷis. Vowel merges to a, and the labiovelar
merges with plain velar (satem language).
- Cognate with Ancient Greek πόσος (pósos) and Latin quotus,
as in English quotient.
- This k sound goes back to a PIE labiovelar *kw- that
occurs on many many interrogatives: think of quid pro
quo and Latin quis, quid, and quo and
qualis, etc. It's the same sound as begins the word
discussed in Fortson exercise 10.3 किम kim "why."
- धा dha, "-wise/way" is an adverbial ending, so this word
means "how many ways":
- वयकल्पयन from that same वि- vi- ('un-'/'dis-') from earlier
in the line + कल्पयते (kalpayate) "be made" which looks like a
causative built on कॢप् • (kḷp) "order, arrange, make"
- मुखं किमस्य कौ बाहू का ऊरू पादा उच्येते ||
- múkhaM kím asya káu bAhÚ kÁ UrÚ pÁdA ucyete
- mouth what of him, what arms, what thighs, what feet are
called
- मुख • (múkha) n (anatomy) mouth
- किमस्य kimasya = kim + asya
- kim is "why" as in exercise 10.3 in Fortson
(etymologically, I think, it should/could have been kid)
- -asya is a genitive: the PIE genitive singular
ending at 6.48*osyo and all the cognates there.
- कौ and का kau and ka: must be interrogatives with that
Sanskrit k- = Latin qu-= Greek p-
we've seen in the previous line.
- बाहू bahu "arms" From Proto-Indo-Aryan *baHźʰúṣ,
from Proto-Indo-Iranian *bʰaHȷ́ʰúš, from Proto-Indo-European
*bʰeh₂ǵʰús (“arm”). Cognate with Ancient Greek πῆχυς (pêkhus,
“forearm”), Old English bōg (whence English bough).
- ऊरू can't find this one yet.
- पादा pada 'feet': this very word is declined in
Fortson at 6.13: note that this is dual, and so has an ending
*-h1/-h1e. Cognate with English foot, Latin pes,
pedis, Greek pous, podos, as in 'pedal'
'octopus' etc.
- उच्येते ucyete, 3rd dual passive, from वक्ति vakti
'say' from Proto-Indo-Aryan *wákti, from
Proto-Indo-Iranian *wákti, from Proto-Indo-European *wékʷ-ti,
from *wekʷ- (“to speak”). Cognate with Latin vōx, Old Irish
focul.
- बराह्मणो.अस्य मुखमासीद बाहू राजन्यः कर्तः |
- brAhmaNò 'sya múkham AsId bAhÚ rAjanyàH kRtáH
- ऊरूतदस्य यद वैश्यः पद्भ्यां शूद्रो अजायत ||
- UrÚ tád asya yád váiSyaH padbhy´åM SUdró ajåyata
-
- चन्द्रमा मनसो जातश्चक्षोः सूर्यो अजायत |
- candrámA mánaso jAtáS cákSoH sÚryo ajAyata
- मुखादिन्द्रश्चाग्निश्च पराणाद वायुरजायत ||
- múkhAd índraS ca agníS ca prANÁd vAyúr ajAyata