2ir Monier MONIER-WILLIAMS, M.A., D.C.L., Hon. Doctor in Law of the University of Calcutta ; Hon. Member of the Bombay Asiatic Society; Member of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, and of the Oriental Society of Germany: FOURTH EDITION. ENLARGED AND IMPROVED. Oxford: AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. M.DCCC.LXXVII. L [All rights reserved.] ANSFER FROM C. & DEC 1927 PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION. NOW that this Grammar has reached a fourth edition it may, perhaps, without presumption, be allowed to rest on its own merits. I have, therefore, dispensed with much of the prefatory matter which introduced the previous editions. Any one who compares the present Grammar with its predecessor will see at once the difference between the two, not indeed in its structure and arrangement, nor even in the numbering of the rules, but in the fuller and more complete explanation of points of detail. It may be well, however, to draw attention to some of the most noteworthy alterations and improvements. A table shewing the interchange of letters in the three sister languages, Sanskrit, Greek, and Latin, has been given at pages 18-20. The list of suffixes at pages 57-75 has been considerably enlarged, and arranged in alphabetical order under each declension. The subject of declension has been elucidated by a clearer method of synopsis. A more complete account of Sanskrit accentuation has been given at the end of the volume. The Reading Exercises have been slightly curtailed. The publication by the Delegates of the Clarendon Press of such a Class-book as the Nala, and quite recently of the Sakuntala, sufficiently supplies what is likely to be needed for the prosecution of the study of Sanskrit after the elements of Grammar have been acquired. a 3 Four indices instead of two have been appended. In order to bring the present edition into harmony with the Greek and Latin grammars now in use, some of the grammatical terms have been altered, e. g. suffix has been substituted for affix; stem for base; special and general tenses for conjugational and non-conjugational tenses respectively. Some errors which, notwithstanding all my efforts, crept into the last edition have been corrected, and a few other improvements effected. But I dare not even now hope to have attained the standard of perfection. Sanskrit is far too vast and intricate a subject to admit of such pretensions. I can, however, with truth affirm, that I have done what I could to bring the present work up to the level of the scholarship of the day; and my acknowledgments are due to Mr. E. L. Hogarth, M. A., of Brasenose College, for his aid in conducting the sheets through the Press. In conclusion I may, perhaps, be permitted to express a hope that my second visit to India will add to my powers of improving any future edition that may be required, as it certainly will increase my ability to promote a more general knowledge of the Sanskrit language and literature among my own fellow-countrymen, to whose rule a vast Eastern Empire has been committed, and who cannot hope, except through Sanskrit, to gain a proper acquaintance with its spoken dialects, or to understand the mind, read the thoughts, and reach the very heart and soul of its vast populations. OXFORD, October 1876. M. W. |