Functions in Pāṇinian Grammar with Special Reference to Ekādeśa Sandhi
Jyoti and Malhar Kulkarni
Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
Abstract
Pāṇinian Grammar has emerged as a multidimensional research area that has attracted scholars to conduct research with distinct aspects, such as computational linguistics and mathematical foundations of grammar. Researchers found it a strong grammar to fit mathematical functions (Saxena and Agrawal, 2013). Anupriya Agrawal and Malhar Kulkarni (2018) adopted functional approach to represent some suffixes mathematically using equation methods. Priyanka Salekar and Malhar Kulkarni (2025) also contributed in this area and represented the suffixes of liṭ-lakāra mathematically as a function. They came up with the theory of matrix composition and graphs for the unequivocal presentation of derived forms of the verbal roots.
The above work did not deal with sandhi part and kept it as a prerequisite. In order to enhance this work, we represented yaṇ and ayādi sandhi mathematically using the equation-based method in the form of a binary operation. In this paper, we shall be presenting ekādeśa as a function through the case study. A binary operation takes a pair of elements as an input from the defined set and generates an output from the same set. Categorization of cases is done according to the substitution of the sounds. Through the case analysis, exceptions of the cases are observed, which are presented along with their respective case.
In the future, we aim to extend this approach to other rules of Pāṇinian Grammar.
References:
Saxena, S., Agrawal, R., 2013. Sanskrit as a Programming Language and Natural Language Processing. Global Journal of Management and Business Studies 3 (10), 1135-1142.
Aggrawal, A., & Kulkarni, M. 2018. Treatment of optional forms in Mathematical modelling of Pāṇini. Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Natural Language Processing, Patna, India, pp. 15-21
Aggrawal, A., 2021. Mathematical Functions in Pāṇinian Grammar. PhD thesis. Dept. of HSS, IIT Bombay.
Salekar Priyanka and Malhar Kulkarni (2025). Mathematical modelling of the verbal forms in the Liṭ lakāra, Part - 1, Journal on Indian Knowledge System, Volume 1, Shivalika Publication, New Delhi.
Ashtadhyayi.