Are the elliptic dual (and plural) provisions in Pāṇini’s grammar substitution rules ? Aṣṭādhyāyī1.2.64-73

PONTILLO TIZIANA

;BORGHERO ANITA

2020-01-01

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Abstract

The present joint contribution is an investigation into the descriptive method used by Pāṇini (A 1.2.64-73) to form the so-called (Vedic and Sanskrit) ‘elliptic duals and plurals’. Specific details in the wording of the single rules will be here focused on, in order to check whether these provisions can be read within the pattern of grammatical substitution (i.e., as provisions that teach the replacement of X with Y under Z constraint), thus contravening early traditional and modern authoritative interpretations, such as a recent explanation of A 1.2.64 given by Cardona (2015a: 94 fn. 99). A meaning-based comparison with copulative compounds will be a crucial argument.