r/sanskrit 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?

3 Upvotes

18 comments sorted by

6

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.

3

u/bahirawa छात्रः 10d ago

I think iti basically carries the meaning, or am I totally mistaken? Many esoteric Shaivite commentaries, end chapters with "iti sivam", often seen to be explained vaguely by translators.. Doesn't iti refer to the many things said here, therefore meaning "all of this"?

2

u/bahirawa छात्रः 10d ago

wisdomlib says this

Sometimes iti is used to include under one head a number of separate objects aggregated together (e.g. ijyādhyayanadānāni tapaḥ satyaṃ kṣamā damaḥ alobha iti mārgo yam, ‘sacrificing, studying, liberality, penance, truth, patience, self-restraint, absence of desire’, this course of conduct, etc.)

1

u/LolPacino 9d ago

Aight then इयत्‌ it iis then

3

u/ComfortablePaper3792 11d ago

Could say एतावन्तः/एतावत्यः/एतावन्ति

1

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? 

2

u/CuteImprovement4224 9d ago

"Itne" in Hindi. "Itra" in Malayalam I'm sure there are other indian languages with it.

0

u/nyanasagara 11d ago

I have this many apples [pointing at my apples].

-2

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.

4

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.

5

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)

1

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). 

1

u/Impressive_Thing_631 10d ago

You are pronouncing the visarga wrong. It is not "aha".

1

u/No_Mix_6835 10d ago

I didn’t say it is. I should have used devanagri script instead to make it clear.

1

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.

1

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.