marrish
Senior Member
اُردو Urdu
I think it can be used with any noun in the Sanskrit vocabulary but it is not always the case that only this prefix was used. There are many words beginning with ni:-, nir-, niSh- or vi- which I believe can be substituted by a-, but the question arises whether such coined words have constituted part of Sanskrit vocabulary. The more knowleable will surely tell you more.
In Sanskrit "a" is a prefix which changes the meaning of a word into its opposite. "vidya" means understanding and "avidya" means ignorance. This pattern is same in many Greek words also, like "atheism" vs. "theism", etc.
There are other prefixes also, like "an” and “nir” which denote the opposite of the word they are attached with.
Also, the prefix "vi" is added to a noun make the meaning opposite. E.g. yog योग means joining while viyog वियोग means separation. Again, "vi" prefix has another role of meaning more "specific" or "specialist" than the word attached to, like gyan ज्ञान is knowledge while vigyan विज्ञान is specific knowledge.
So there is no blanket rule that opposite can be made by only attaching "a" or "an" and it varies...
There are other prefixes also, like "an” and “nir” which denote the opposite of the word they are attached with.
Also, the prefix "vi" is added to a noun make the meaning opposite. E.g. yog योग means joining while viyog वियोग means separation. Again, "vi" prefix has another role of meaning more "specific" or "specialist" than the word attached to, like gyan ज्ञान is knowledge while vigyan विज्ञान is specific knowledge.
So there is no blanket rule that opposite can be made by only attaching "a" or "an" and it varies...
First, thank you all for the answers.
I don't know if I fully understood. Hence, is not possible to apply the prefix "a" to all nouns of the Sanskrit vocabulary and there are nouns with a single negation-prefix allowed?
I don't know if I fully understood. Hence, is not possible to apply the prefix "a" to all nouns of the Sanskrit vocabulary and there are nouns with a single negation-prefix allowed?
Unless I'm very much mistaken, an- is the same prefix as a-, but an- is used with words that begin with a vowel. They are both from the zero ablaut grade of Proto-Indo-European *ne-. It tends to give the meaning of 'without x', of 'lacking x' and I believe it is not used exclusively with nouns. As has been pointed out, other negation prefixes exist and I am quite willing to believe that there are some words which do not take the a privative, although I imagine it would be clear what you meant if you used it.