Dvandva
Encyclopedia
A dvandva or twin or Siamese compound
refers to one or more objects that could be connected in sense by the conjunction 'and', where the objects refer to the parts of an agglomeration described by the compound. Dvandvas are common in some languages such as Sanskrit where the term originates, as well as Chinese
, Japanese
, and some Modern Indic languages such as Hindi
and Urdu
, but less common in English (the term is not often found in English dictionaries). Examples include Sanskrit mātāpitarau (मातापितरौ) for 'mother and father'; Chinese shānchuān and Japanese yamakawa (山川) for 'mountains and rivers'; English whiskey-soda, Modern Greek "maxero'piruno" (μαχαιροπήρουνο) for 'fork and knife', "an'ðrojino" (ανδρόγυνο) for "married couple (lit. man-woman)", "beno'vjeno" (μπαινοβγαίνω) for 'go in and out'. Note such compounds as singer-songwriter, in the sense 'someone who is both a singer and a songwriter' are not dvandva compounds. Within the Sanskrit classification of compounds these are considered कर्मधारय karmadhāraya compounds such as राजर्षि rājarṣi 'king-sage,' i.e. 'one who is both a king and a sage' (राजा चासावृषिश्च).
, depending on classification.
or plural number, depending on the total number of described individuals. It takes the gender of the final member in the compound construction. Examples:
(compare Greek Ava'roslavi (Αβαρόσλαβοι) "the Avars and the Slavs (two distinct tribes acting as a unit)", similarly with case and number marking displayed only on the last part of the compound, the first having the form of the word root)
Itaretaras formed from two kinship terms behave differently, in that the first word is not in the compound form but in the nominative (singular).
(compare Greek an'ðrojino or maxero'piruno, similarly always in the neuter singular (plural marking would refer to several couples or cutlery sets))
Compound (linguistics)
In linguistics, a compound is a lexeme that consists of more than one stem. Compounding or composition is the word formation that creates compound lexemes...
refers to one or more objects that could be connected in sense by the conjunction 'and', where the objects refer to the parts of an agglomeration described by the compound. Dvandvas are common in some languages such as Sanskrit where the term originates, as well as Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
, Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
, and some Modern Indic languages such as Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
and Urdu
Urdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
, but less common in English (the term is not often found in English dictionaries). Examples include Sanskrit mātāpitarau (मातापितरौ) for 'mother and father'; Chinese shānchuān and Japanese yamakawa (山川) for 'mountains and rivers'; English whiskey-soda, Modern Greek "maxero'piruno" (μαχαιροπήρουνο) for 'fork and knife', "an'ðrojino" (ανδρόγυνο) for "married couple (lit. man-woman)", "beno'vjeno" (μπαινοβγαίνω) for 'go in and out'. Note such compounds as singer-songwriter, in the sense 'someone who is both a singer and a songwriter' are not dvandva compounds. Within the Sanskrit classification of compounds these are considered कर्मधारय karmadhāraya compounds such as राजर्षि rājarṣi 'king-sage,' i.e. 'one who is both a king and a sage' (राजा चासावृषिश्च).
Sanskrit
There are two or three kinds of dvandva compounds in SanskritSanskrit compounds
One notable feature of the nominal system of Sanskrit is the very common use of nominal compounds , which may be huge , as in some modern languages such as German...
, depending on classification.
Itaretara dvandva
The first, and most common kind, the itaretara dvandva, is an enumerative compound word, the meaning of which refers to all its constituent members. The resultant compound word is in the dualDual (grammatical number)
Dual is a grammatical number that some languages use in addition to singular and plural. When a noun or pronoun appears in dual form, it is interpreted as referring to precisely two of the entities identified by the noun or pronoun...
or plural number, depending on the total number of described individuals. It takes the gender of the final member in the compound construction. Examples:
- रामलक्ष्मणौ rāma-lakşmaņau (dual) 'RamaRamaRama or full name Ramachandra is considered to be the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a king of Ayodhya in ancient Indian...
and LakshmanaLakshmanaLakshmana was the brother and close companion of Rama, and himself a hero in the famous epic Ramayana...
' - हरिहरौ hari-harauHariharaHarihara is the name of a combined deity form of both Vishnu and Shiva from the Hindu tradition. Also known as Shankaranarayana , Harihara is thus worshipped by both Vaishnavites and Shaivities as a form of the Supreme God, as well as being a figure of worship for other Hindu traditions in general...
(dual) 'HariHariHari is an Avatar, another name of and , and appears as the 650th name in the Vishnu sahasranama of Mahabharata. In Sanskrit "hari" sometimes refers to a colour, green, yellow, or fawn-coloured/khaki. It is the colour of the Sun and of Soma...
and HaraShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
' - आचार्यशिष्यौ ācārya-śiṣyau (dual) 'teacher and student'
- रामलक्ष्मणभरतशत्रुघ्ना: rāma-lakşmaņa-bharata-śatrughnāh (plural) 'Rama, Lakshmana, BharataBharata (Ramayana)In the Hindu epic Ramayana, Bharata was the second brother of the main protagonist Rama, and the son of Dasaratha and Kaikeyi. Dasaratha was the Emperor of Ayodhya and belonged to the Suryavansha or Solar Dynasty...
and Satrughna' - नराश्वरथदन्तिनः nar-āśva-ratha-dantinaḥ (plural) 'men, horses, chariots, and elephants'
- देवमनुष्याः deva-manuṣyāḥ (plural) 'gods and humans'
(compare Greek Ava'roslavi (Αβαρόσλαβοι) "the Avars and the Slavs (two distinct tribes acting as a unit)", similarly with case and number marking displayed only on the last part of the compound, the first having the form of the word root)
Itaretaras formed from two kinship terms behave differently, in that the first word is not in the compound form but in the nominative (singular).
- मातापितरौ mātā-pitarau 'mother and father'
Samāhāra dvandva
The second, rarer kind is called samāhāra dvandva and is a collective compound word, the meaning of which refers to the collection of its constituent members. The resultant compound word is in the singular number and is always neuter in gender. Examples:- pāņipādam 'limbs', literally 'hands and feet', from pāņi 'hand' and pāda 'foot'
(compare Greek an'ðrojino or maxero'piruno, similarly always in the neuter singular (plural marking would refer to several couples or cutlery sets))
Ekaśeṣa dvandva
According to some grammarians, there is a third kind of dvandva, called ekaśeṣa dvandva or residual compound. It is formed like a itaretara, but the first constituent is omitted. The remaining final constituent still takes the dual (or plural) number. According to other grammarians, however, the ekaśeṣa is not properly a compound at all. An example:- pitarau 'parents', from mātā 'mother' + pitā 'father'