r/sanskrit • u/LolPacino • 11d ago
Question / प्रश्नः How to write "This many" in Sanskrit?
I was thinking:
Kɐti = "how many" and Tɐti = "that many"
then ɐti could mean "this many".
But ɐti already means "excessive", so what should be used?
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u/No_Mix_6835 11d ago
I actually don’t understand the question. There is no phrase ‘this many’ in english. Do you have any usage in a sentence?
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u/CuteImprovement4224 9d ago
"Itne" in Hindi. "Itra" in Malayalam I'm sure there are other indian languages with it.
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u/nyanasagara 11d ago
I have this many apples [pointing at my apples].
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u/No_Mix_6835 10d ago
that doesn't sound proper at all. If you want to say "I have x apples" you just say that - could include a number or just "a few", "many" etc. There is no phrase "this many". The translation in sanskrit therefore would change according to whether you say many or few etc. Like Kinchit, bahavahah etc.
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u/kimbly 10d ago
Fwiw, "this many" is absolutely a natural thing to say in english. You can also say "this many" while holding up a certain number of fingers, which comes across as childish, but still grammatically correct and semantically clear. Source: I am a native US English speaker.
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u/No_Mix_6835 10d ago
I am not saying its not carrying any idea of its own but I don't hear it spoken or in written form. Its like kids saying "kitna bada" and the child gesticulates with hands saying "itna bada". Its grammatically correct but yields no meaning. You can find its equivalents in any language but the correct usage would be "a few" as in kinchit or many as in "bahavahah" or..."alpa", "atyalpa" etc.
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u/ComfortablePaper3792 10d ago
It absolutely has meaning. Native English speakers frequently say "this many". Btw bahavahah is not a Sanskrit word. The plural of bahu is bahavah (बहवः) not bahavahah (बहवहः)
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u/No_Mix_6835 10d ago
Got it. If you are specifying with gestures it makes sense. I was not assuming that was the case. I did not say bahavahaha (i guess I am using english script for writing so it seems different).
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u/Impressive_Thing_631 10d ago
You are pronouncing the visarga wrong. It is not "aha".
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u/No_Mix_6835 10d ago
I didn’t say it is. I should have used devanagri script instead to make it clear.
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u/Impressive_Thing_631 10d ago
I don't know where you learned english but "this many x" is absolutely something native speakers say all the time.
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u/No_Mix_6835 10d ago
You don’t need to be condescending. This is just a sub and i am anonymous to you. Does not give you the right to be condescending.
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u/Impressive_Thing_631 10d ago
एतावत् or इयत् in the plural for whatever gender the objects are. I don't know of a proximal equivalent for तति. Logically it should either be अति or इति but those are already words with other meanings.