Sanskrit Pronouns and Determiners - Third-person Pronouns and Demonstratives

Third-person Pronouns and Demonstratives

Sanskrit does not have true third person pronouns, but its demonstratives fulfil this function instead by standing independently without a modified substantive.

There are four different demonstratives in Sanskrit: tat, etat, idam, and adas. etat indicates greater proximity than tat. While idam is similar to etat, adas refers to objects that are more proximal than tat.

The tat paradigm is given below.

Masculine Neuter Feminine
Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural
Nominative sás táu té tát té tā́ni sā́ té tā́s
Accusative tám táu tā́n tát té tā́ni tā́m té tā́s
Instrumental téna tā́bhyām táis téna tā́bhyām táis táyā tā́bhyām tā́bhis
Dative tásmai tā́bhyām tébhyas tásmai tā́bhyām tébhyas tásyai tā́bhyām tā́bhyas
Ablative tásmāt tā́bhyām tébhyas tásmāt tā́bhyām tébhyas tásyās tā́bhyām tā́bhyas
Genitive tásya táyos téṣām tásya táyos téṣām tásyās táyos tā́sām
Locative tásmin táyos téṣu tásmin táyos téṣu tásyām táyos tā́su

eta, is declined almost identically to ta. Its paradigm is obtained by prefixing e- to all the forms of ta. As a result of sandhi, the masculine and feminine singular forms transform into eṣas and eṣā.

The idam paradigm is given below.

Masculine Neuter Feminine
Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural
Nominative ayam imau ime idam ime imāni iyam ime imās
Accusative imam imau imān idam ime imāni imām ime imās
Instrumental anena ābhyām ebhis anena ābhyām ebhis anayā ābhyām ābhis
Dative asmai ābhyām ebhyas asmai ābhyām ebhyas asyai ābhyām ābhyas
Ablative asmāt ābhyām ebhyas asmāt ābhyām ebhyas asyās ābhyām ābhyas
Genitive asya anayos eṣām asya anayos eṣām asyās anayos āsām
Locative asmin anayos eṣu asmin anayos eṣu asyām anayos āsu

The adas paradigm is given below.

Masculine Neuter Feminine
Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural
Nominative asau amū amī adas amū amūni asau amū amūs
Accusative amum amū amūn adas amū amūni amūm amū amūs
Instrumental amunā amūbhyām amībhis amunā amūbhyām amībhis amuyā amūbhyām amūbhis
Dative amuṣmai amūbhyām amībhyas amuṣmai amūbhyām amībhyas amuṣyai amūbhyām amūbhyas
Ablative amuṣmāt amūbhyām amībhyas amuṣmāt amūbhyām amībhyas amuṣyās amūbhyām amūbhyas
Genitive amuṣya amuyos amīṣām amuṣya amuyos amīṣām amuṣyās amuyos amūṣām
Locative amuṣmin amuyos amīṣu amuṣmin amuyos amīṣu amuṣyām amuyos amūṣu

Read more about this topic:  Sanskrit Pronouns And Determiners

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