Tatsama ( , lit. 'same as that') are Sanskrit in modern Indo-Aryan languages like Assamese, Bengali language, Marathi language, Nepali language, Odia language, Hindi, Gujarati, and Sinhala language and in Dravidian languages like Tamil Language, Kannada Language and Telugu language. They generally belong to a higher and more erudite register than common , many of which are (in modern Indo-Aryan languages) directly inherited from Old Indo-Aryan (tadbhava). The tatsama register can be compared to the use of loan words of Greek or Latin origin in English (e.g. hubris).
Eastern Indo-Aryan
Bengali
The origin of tatsama words () in
Bengali language is traced to 10th century poets. Another, more minor, wave of tatsama vocabulary entered the (Modern) Bengali language by Sanskrit scholars teaching at Fort William College in
Kolkata at the start of the 19th century.
Bengali's lexicon is now about 40% tatsama (with about 58%
tadbhava vocabulary inherited from Old Indo-Aryan via the Prakrit languages such as Apabhramsha and
Abahattha).
Odia
Early
Odia Language dictionaries such as Gitabhidhana (17th Century), Sabda Tattva
Abhidhana (1916), Purnachandra Odia Bhashakosha (1931) and Promoda Abhidan (1942) list Sanskrit Tatsama vocabulary.
They are derived from Sanskrit verbal roots with the addition of suffixes and known in Odia as "tatsama krudanta".
Southern Indo-Aryan
Sinhala
The way the tatsama entered the
Sinhala language is comparable to what is found in Bengali language: they are scholarly
loanword of Sanskrit or
Pali terms. Tatsama in Sinhala can be identified by their ending exclusively in
-ya or
-va, whereas native Sinhala words tend to show a greater array of endings. Many
scientific concepts make use of tatsama, for instance
grahaņaya 'eclipse', but they are also found for more everyday concepts.
Western Indo-Aryan
For the most part, the western Indo-Aryan languages such as
Punjabi language,
Sindhi language,
Hindko, and
Saraiki language do not use tatsama vocabulary. The majority of words in these languages are inherited from Prakrit or borrowed from
Persian language and
Arabic language. The notable exception in the group of western Indo-Aryan languages is Hindustani, which began with most of its borrowed vocabulary coming from Persian, and in recent history has incorporated a larger amount of learned borrowings from Sanskrit in its new variety called Modern Standard Hindi.
Many of these, however, are borrowed indirectly from Bengali or Marathi,
or given meanings based on English or Perso-Arabic derived words already in use in Hindustani.
Any tatsama vocabulary occurring in Punjabi is borrowed from Hindi,
and likewise tatsama words in languages spoken further west are likely to be indirect loans of Hindi words used in Punjabi. Very few of these are used in colloquial speech, and their use tends to be limited to formal settings or Hindu religious contexts.
Dravidian
Malayalam
Malayalam has many tatsama words, which are used in written and spoken language depending on register and dialect.
For example:
-
abhimānam, pride
-
abhyāsam, practice
-
vidya, education
-
viśuddham, holy
-
viśvāsam, believe
-
śvāsam, breath
-
vichāram, thought
-
bōdham, sense
-
śatru, enemy
-
rakṣakan, saviour
-
ākāśam, sky
-
svargam, heaven
-
pustakam, book
-
svapnam, dream
-
prēmam, love
-
ullāsam, merriment
-
śarīram, body
-
daivam, god
Telugu
Sanskrit influenced the
Telugu language for about 500 years. During 1000-1100 AD, Nannaya's Telugu in Mahabharata, Telugu in several inscriptions, Telugu in poetry reestablished its roots and dominated over the royal language, Sanskrit. Telugu absorbed the Tatsamas from Sanskrit.
Metrical poetry in Telugu ('Chandassu') uses meters such as Utpalamala, Champakamala, Mattebham, Sardoola, Sragdhara, Bhujangaprayata etc.. which are pure Sanskrit meters.
Telugu has many tatsama words, known as prakruti. The equivalent colloquial words are called vikrutis, meaning "distorted". Prakruti are used only as a medium of instruction in educational institutions, offices etc. Today, spoken Telugu contains both prakruthi and vikruthi words.
For example:
|
| food |
| education |
| demoness |
| sight |
| zero |
