Lesson 12 From here forward the lessons will no longer be divided into parts 'A' and 'B', there will, however, be exercises related to the dictionary or Dhatu-Patha at the end of each lesson. 12.1 Monier- Williams Dictionary In the dictionary, words are listed in their pratipadika (stem) form, i.e. without the vibhakti endings that they gather in actual use; therefore in seeking the meaning of words found in Sanskrit writings, the first part of the word will be found in the dictionary, and the last syllable or two forming the vibhakti ending needs to be omitted. There will be an element of guesswork in this because only the six most common noun declensions have been given: forty declensions are necessary to cover all possibilities, and as many again for exceptions. The dictionary often marks the accents of vowels in transliteration: the udatta is marked with the acute accent ( ') and the svarita with the grave accent (" ) — this is illustrated in section 9.A.I. There is an interesting section on the subject of accents on page xviii of the dictionary introduction, beginning with the fourth paragraph "Then a third improvement . . . " . The rest of the lengthy Preface and Introduction need not be read; however, do note that the dictionary was completed at the end of the Nineteenth Century, and thus there is some Victorian coyness in translating sexual terms, which are sometimes given in Latin rather than English. This dictionary is either very simple to use, or very difficult: the difference lies in understanding the founding principles of the dictionary, and appreciating the devices that Monier- Williams has employed in order to make it simple to use. In this lesson the broad structure of the dictionary is explained, and subsequent lessons will cover the details. 12.2 Alphabet and Transliteration Some of the devanagarT characters used in the dictionary differ from the standard followed in these lessons, and some transliterations differ from the generally accepted standard. The alphabet used in the dictionary, in both devanagarT and transliter- ated Roman characters, is presented below in the standard format, from which one may deduce the standard alphabetical order (which of course, the dictionary does use).
