Words you already know
🎯 Discover how much Sanskrit you carry already, and meet its shape.
🗣️ Say these out loud
- नमस्ते — namaste 🔊 na-mas-TAY I bow to you. नमः namah = bow + ते te = to you. Every day you speak a complete Sanskrit sentence.
- धन्यवादः — dhanyavaadah 🔊 dhan-ya-VAA-dah Thanks — literally 'a speech of blessedness'. धन्य dhanya = blessed + वाद vaada = speech.
- विद्या — vidyaa 🔊 VID-yaa knowledge From विद् vid = to know — the same root as the Latin videre (to see), the English 'wit', 'wisdom' and 'video'.
- मातृ, पितृ, भ्रातृ — maatri, pitri, bhraatri 🔊 MAA-tri, PI-tri, BHRAA-tri mother, father, brother Latin mater, pater, frater. English mother, father, brother. These are not borrowings — they are cousins, from one ancestor language.
- नाम — naama 🔊 NAA-ma name Latin nomen, English name, Persian naam. Same word for five thousand years.
- अस्ति — asti 🔊 AS-ti is Latin est, German ist, English is. The verb 'to be' is the oldest fossil in the family.
Read every line aloud twice before moving on. The mouth learns a language, not the eye.
🔍 Sanskrit is a language of roots
Almost every Sanskrit word grows from a short root (धातु), and adding pieces in front and behind grows a whole family of words. This is why a Sanskrit dictionary is small and its vocabulary is vast — and why learning two hundred roots gives you tens of thousands of words across every Indian language.
- Root ज्ञा jñaa (to know) → ज्ञान knowledge, विज्ञान science, अज्ञान ignorance, प्रज्ञा wisdom
- Root कृ kri (to do) → कर्म action, कर्ता doer, संस्कार refinement, विकार distortion
- Root स्था sthaa (to stand) → स्थान place, स्थिर steady, संस्था institution, अवस्था condition
- The English 'stand', 'state' and 'stable' come from the same root by another road.
🌍 Among the people
The word संस्कृत itself means 'refined, put together well' — sam (together) + krita (made). It was named in contrast to प्राकृत, the natural everyday speech.
🔁 Practise today
- List ten words from your own language and find their Sanskrit roots.
- Say नमस्ते slowly and hear the two words inside it.
- Take the root कृ and collect five words built on it.
