Pāṇini's first rule begins with an auspicious word
वृद्धिरादैच् ।
vṛddhirādaic |
Translation
Vṛddhi is ā, ai and au.
Meaning
Pāṇini wrote about 4,000 short rules (sūtras) that generate correct Sanskrit forms. To keep them short he used a code: aic is not a word but an abbreviation (pratyāhāra) built from the list of sounds called the Śiva-sūtras, where "ai au c" is the fourth line. The whole first rule is just three words, and it already shows the system: a technical term, a sound, and a code for a group of sounds.
Word by word · 3 words
| Devanagari | IAST | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| वृद्धिः | vṛddhiḥ | vṛddhi, "growth" (nom. sg. f.): the technical term being defined |
| आत् | āt | ā: the long vowel ā (the added t means "only this length") |
| ऐच् | aic | aic: shorthand for the vowels ai and au |
Pronunciation
vṛddhirādaic |
- vṛddhir: v + vowel ṛ, then a double dh: vṛd-dhi-rā-daic.
- aic: the diphthong ai as in "aisle", then c ("ch").
- ṛ is a vowel, a short syllabic r (like the "ri" in "rhythm" said quickly): mṛ-tyu, not mar-tyu.
- bh, dh, gh, jh, ḍh are voiced consonants followed by breath: dh = d + h, as in "mad-house".