LINGUINDIC

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Nirukta

The Nirukta is one of the oldest Sanskrit linguistic texts. It comments on and etymologises Sanskrit words, many among them from the Nighaṇṭu, a list of Vedic words. The Nirukta has received a few commentaries, e.g. that by Durgācārya. The author of the Nirukta is Yāska.

Approximate Date of Creation

possibly 550 B.C.

Author

Yāska

Text Type

References

Sarup, Lakshman (ed.) (1967), The Nighaṇṭu and the Nirukta. The oldest Indian treatise on etymology, philology, and sementics. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.

Texts

The Nighaṇṭu, in five chapters (adhyāya), is a list of Vedic words giving synonyms, rare words, deity names, etc. The Nighaṇṭu forms the basis for Yāska's Nirukta.

Authors

Yāska is the author of the Nirukta.

Linguistic Traditions

Nirukta/nirvacana

Nirukta/Nirvacana is the native tradition of semantic derivation or etymology. It is traditionally regarded as one of the six ancillary Vedic disciplines (vedāṅga). The most im...

Linguistic Fields

Semantics is the study of the meaning of linguistic expressions, and more specifically the study of the literal meaning of linguistic expressions (in contrast with pragmatics, the study of the u...