Continuatives

From Hart, Lesson 27, pp. 138-144

Formation of Continuatives

Continuatives are an undeclined verb-form to describe actions that happened prior to the main verb. Inria’s¹ Sanskrit-French dictionary calls continuatives, “absolutives” (see this page under “Indeclinable Forms” for example). Many verbal roots have a different continuative form depending on whether or not they have a verbal prefix prior to the root.

Unprefixed Roots

The unprefixed continuative (i.e., a continuative when there is no prefix before the root) is made from the past passive participle. For verbs whose past passive participle ends in –त or –इत, the continuative is formed by removing the final –अ of the past passive participle and replacing with –वा.

For verbs whose past passive participles ends in –न, one adds –त्वा to the root which is modified as follows:

1. Roots ending in –आ, –ई, –उ or –ऊ, add –त्वा directly to the root. Roots ending in –ऐ change the –ऐ to –आ
2. Roots ending in –ॠ change to –ईर् or –ऊर्
3. Roots ending in –ज् add –इत्वा to the root
4. Roots ending in –द् change the –द् to –त्

Causatives and class 10 verbs are formed differently by inserting –इ after the appropriate present stem and then adding –त्वा so they end in –अयित्वा.

Prefixed Roots

If the root has a prefix, then the continuative is formed by adding –य to the root. If the root ends in a short vowel, then –त्– is inserted before the –य. If the root undergoes saṃprasāraṇa or the loss of a nasal in the formation of its passive stem, then it does so before making the continuative in –य. Certain roots are changed in the following ways:

1. Roots in ॠ add –य to –ईर् or –ऊर्
2. Roots in –अन् add –य to –अत्
3. Roots in –अम् add –य to either –अम् or –अत्
4. Causatives and class 10 verbs make their prefixed continuatives by subtracting the –अय– from the present stem and adding –य, but if the root is a light syllable with a short –अ– then –अय– is subtracted and –अय्य– is added.

Examples of the Continuative

The table below is from Hart, pp. 140-142. For each root, it lists the root, the past passive participle, the unprefixed continuative, the unprefixed causative continuative, the prefixed continuative, and the prefixed causative continuative.

Root	P. Pass Part.	Cont.	Cont. Caus.	Pref. Cont.	Pref. Cont. Caus.
अधि	अधित	none	none	अधीत्य	अध्याप्य
अस्	none	none	none	none	none
आप्	आप्त	आप्त्वा	आपयित्वा	Pआप्य	Pआप्य
आस्	आसित	आसित्वा	आसयित्वा	Pआस्य	Pआस्य
अह्वे	अहूत	none	none	आहूय	आह्वाप्य
इ	इत	इत्वा	none	Pइत्य	none
उपगम्	उपगत	none	none	Pउपगम्य, P उपगत्य	Pउपगमय्य
कृ	कृत	कृत्वा	कारयित्वा	Pकृत्य	Pकार्य
कॢप्	कॢप्त	कॢप्त्वा	कल्पयित्वा	Pकॢप्य	Pकल्प्य
क्री	क्रीत	क्रीत्वा	क्रापयित्वा	Pक्रीय	Pक्राप्य
गम्	गत	गत्वा	गमित्वा	Pगम्य, Pगत्य	Pगमय्य
ग्रह्	गृहीत	गृहीत्वा	ग्राहयित्वा	Pगृह्य	Pग्राह्य
चुर्	चोरित	चोरयित्वा	चोरयित्वा	Pचोर्य	Pचोर्य
जन्	जात	none	जनयित्वा	none	Pजनय्य
जि	जित	जित्वा	जापयित्वा	Pजित्य	Pजाप्य
जीव्	जीवित	जीवित्वा	जीवयित्वा	Pजीव्य	Pजिव्य
ज्ञा	ज्ञात	ज्ञात्वा	ज्ञापयित्वा	Pज्ञाय	Pज्ञाप्य
त्यज्	त्यक्त	त्यक्त्वा	त्याजयित्वा	Pत्यज्य	Pत्याज्य
दह्	दग्ध	दग्ध्वा	दाहयित्वा	Pदह्य	Pदाह्य
दा	दत्त	दत्त्वा	दापयित्वा	Pदाय	Pदाप्य
धाव्	धावित	धावित्वा	धावयित्वा	Pधाव्य	Pधाव्य
नश्	नष्ट	नष्ट्वा	नाशयित्वा	Pनश्य	Pनाश्य
निग्रह्	निगृहीत	none	none	निगृह्य	निग्राह्य
निर्दिश्	निर्दिष्ट	none	none	निर्दिश्य	निर्देश्य
नी	नीत	नीत्वा	नाययित्वा	Pनीय	Pनाय्य
पठ्	पठित	पठित्वा	पाठयित्वा	Pपठ्य	Pपाठ्य
पश्	दृष्ट	दृष्ट्वा	दर्शयित्वा	Pदृश्य	Pदर्श्य
पा	पीत	पीत्वा	पाययित्वा	Pपाय	Pपाय्य
पीड्	पीडिट	पीडयित्वा	पीडयित्वा	Pपीड्य	Pपीड्य
प्रच्छ्	पृष्ट	पृष्ट्वा	प्रच्छयित्वा	Pप्रच्छ्य	Pप्रच्छ्य
प्रतीक्ष्	प्रतीक्षित	none	none	प्रतीक्ष्य	प्रतीक्ष्य
प्रयुज्	प्रयुक्त	none	none	प्रयुज्य	प्रयोज्य
ब्रू	none	none	none	none	none
भू	भूत	भूत्वा	भावयित्वा	Pभूय	Pभाव्य
भृ	भृत	भृत्वा	भारयित्वा	Pभृत्य	Pभार्य
मन्	मत	मत्वा	मानयित्वा	Pमत्य	Pमान्य
मुच्	मुक्त	मुक्तवा	कुञ्चयित्वा	Pमुच्य	Pमुञ्च्य
मृ	मृत	मृत्वा	मारयित्वा	Pमृत्य	Pमार्य
यम्	यत	यत्वा	यमयित्वा	Pयम्य, Pयत्य	Pयमय्य
लभ्	लब्ध	लब्ध्वा	लम्भयित्वा	Pलभ्य	Pलम्भ्य
लिख्	लिखित	लिखित्वा	लेखयित्वा	Pलिख्य	Pलेख्य
वच्	उक्त	उक्त्वा	वाचयित्वा	Pउच्य	Pवाच्य
वद्	उदित	उदित्वा	वादयित्वा	Pउद्य	Pवाद्य
वस्	उषित	उषित्वा	वासयित्वा	Pउष्य	Pवास्य
वह्	ऊढ	ऊढ्वा	वाहयित्वा	Pउह्य	Pवाह्य
विद्	none	none2	none	none	none
विधा	विहित	none	none	विधाय	विधाप्य
विश्	विष्ट	विष्ट्वा	वेशयित्वा	Pविश्य	Pवेश्य
वृत्	वृत्त	वृत्त्वा	वर्तयित्वा	Pवृत्य	Pवर्त्य
वृध्	वृद्ध	वृद्ध्वा	वर्धयित्वा	Pवृध्य	Pवर्ध्य
शंस्	शस्त	शस्त्वा	शंसयित्वा	Pशस्य	Pशंस्य
श्रु	श्रुत	श्रुत्वा	श्रावयित्वा	Pश्रुत्य	Pश्राव्य
सेव्	सेवित	सेवित्वा	सेवयित्वा	Pसेव्य	Pसेव्य
स्था	स्थित	स्थित्वा	स्थापयित्वा	Pस्थाय	Pस्थाप्य
स्पृश्	स्पृष्ट	स्पृष्ट्वा	स्पर्शयित्वा	Pस्पृस्य	Pस्पर्श्य
स्मृ	स्मृत	स्मृत्वा	स्मारयित्वा	Pस्मृत्य	Pस्मार्य
हन्	हत	हत्वा	घातयित्वा	Pहत्य	Pघात्य
हस्	हसित	हसित्वा	हासयित्वा	Pहस्य	Pहास्य
हा	हीन	हात्वा	हापयित्वा	Pहाय	Pहाप्य

Uses of the Continuative

This form is used to denote an action prior in time to the action of the main verb. There may be multiple continuative forms but they all must precede the main verb. It may never come after the main verb and all elements construed with the continuative generally come before it. The continuative must share the subject of the main verb, and that subject can come before the first continuative or between the last continuative and the main verb.

Occasionally, a continuative can be used not as a preceding action but as something intimately connected with the main verb, such as an adverbial participle. मुक्त्वा means “having released,” but in this sense it can mean “except” preceded by its object in the accusative.

The continuative is generally translated as “after,” “after having,” or “when” or as a series of coordinate independent clauses, “She got up, went down stairs, and made breakfast.”

Example:

शत्रुं हत्वाहमागच्छम्।

“After killing the enemy, I came.”

शत्रुं हत्वाहमागमिष्यामि

“Having killed the enemy, I will come.”

If the main verb is passive, the subject of the continuative is the doer of the action not the grammatical subject of the sentence. The doer in a passive sentence is in the instrumental and is the subject of the continuative.

Example:

वीरं हत्वा राज्ञा गजो मुकतः।

The elephant was released by the king after he killed the warrior.

शिष्यानाहूय, इदम्पुस्तकं पठ्यताम्। (Sandhi omitted)

Let this book be read [by you] having summoned the students. (Subject “by you” omitted.)

Example of Causative Continuative:

शूद्रैः क्षेत्राणि कर्षयित्वा क्षत्रियो नगरमगच्छत्।

Having made the Śūdras plow the fields, the Kṣatriya went to the city.