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Motilal Banarsidass Publications The Principle Of Suspension (Asiddhatva) In Paninian Grammar by Malgorzata Sulich Cowley
The principle of suspension (asiddhatva) is one of the most important and unique devices employed by Pāṇini in the Aṣtādhyāyī, which allowed for the temporary omission of certain rules in the process of grammatical analysis. Its precise function was heavily debated in the school of Vyākaraṇa over the centuries yet its interpretation is by no means uniform. The present volume contains a translation and analysis of the Tripādī section of the Aṣṭādhyāyī along with the relevant passages from the Mahābhāṣya by Patañjali. Patañjali’s role in elucidating the intricacies of Pāṇini’s grammar cannot be emphasized strongly enough, yet he finds it difficult at times to navigate between various, seemingly similar, rule ordering principles in the Aṣṭādhyāyī. The book concentrates on Patañjali’s understanding of asiddhatva and solutions he proposes to the question of rule suspension.