Anusvara, Anusvāra: 17 definitions

Introduction:

Anusvara means something in Hinduism, Sanskrit, Marathi, Hindi. If you want to know the exact meaning, history, etymology or English translation of this term then check out the descriptions on this page. Add your comment or reference to a book if you want to contribute to this summary article.

Alternative spellings of this word include Anusvar.

In Hinduism

Vyakarana (Sanskrit grammar)

Source: Wikisource: A dictionary of Sanskrit grammar

Anusvāra (अनुस्वार).—Or nasal (l) looked upon as a phonetic element, independent, no doubt, but incapable of being pronounced without a vowel Preceding it. Hence, it is shown in writing with अ (a) although its form in writing is only a dot above the line cf अं इत्यनुस्वारः । अकार इह उच्चारणर्थ इति बिन्दुमात्रो वर्णोनुस्वारसंज्ञो भवति (aṃ ityanusvāraḥ | akāra iha uccāraṇartha iti bindumātro varṇonusvārasaṃjño bhavati) Kāt. Vyāk I.1.19; (2) anusvāra,showing or signifying Vikāra i.e. आगम (āgama) and used as a technical term for the second विभक्ति (vibhakti) or the accusative case. See the word अं (aṃ) above on page 1.

Vyakarana book cover
context information

Vyakarana (व्याकरण, vyākaraṇa) refers to Sanskrit grammar and represents one of the six additional sciences (vedanga) to be studied along with the Vedas. Vyakarana concerns itself with the rules of Sanskrit grammar and linguistic analysis in order to establish the correct context of words and sentences.

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Kavya (poetry)

[«previous next»] — Anusvara in Kavya glossary
Source: Wisdom Library: Kathāsaritsāgara

Anusvāra (अनुस्वार) is the name of a sound that arises from the power of breathing, used as a force in magic sciences, according to the Kathāsaritsāgara, chapter 46. Accordingly, as Maya said to Sūryaprabha: “... Sumeru has told you the truth in few words. Listen to this which I now say: From undeveloped matter there spring in this world various powers and subordinate powers. Among them the sound expressed by Anusvāra arises from the power of breathing, and becomes a spell of force in magic sciences, when accompanied with the doctrine of the highest truth”.

The Kathāsaritsāgara (‘ocean of streams of story’), mentioning Anusvāra, is a famous Sanskrit epic story revolving around prince Naravāhanadatta and his quest to become the emperor of the vidyādharas (celestial beings). The work is said to have been an adaptation of Guṇāḍhya’s Bṛhatkathā consisting of 100,000 verses, which in turn is part of a larger work containing 700,000 verses.

Kavya book cover
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Kavya (काव्य, kavya) refers to Sanskrit poetry, a popular ancient Indian tradition of literature. There have been many Sanskrit poets over the ages, hailing from ancient India and beyond. This topic includes mahakavya, or ‘epic poetry’ and natya, or ‘dramatic poetry’.

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Shaktism (Shakta philosophy)

Source: Google Books: Manthanabhairavatantram

Anusvāra (अनुस्वार) refers to the nasalizing (Ṃ) written above the syllable, according to the Manthānabhairavatantra, a vast sprawling work that belongs to a corpus of Tantric texts concerned with the worship of the goddess Kubjikā.—The nasalizing anusvāra (Ṃ), written above the syllable, is the point in the centre. The subtle sound energies that lead to it and emanate from it resonate in the emptiness of the inner triangle. When this sixfold energy, which deploys itself spontaneously in this way in the maṇḍala, is ‘aroused’ and like a passionate woman craves union with her partner the god, she returns to her original source. Just as the birth from the male god reverses the normal order of the world in which it is the female who gives birth, similarly, by the same logic of reversals, when entering back into the source, the female penetrates the male.

Shaktism book cover
context information

Shakta (शाक्त, śākta) or Shaktism (śāktism) represents a tradition of Hinduism where the Goddess (Devi) is revered and worshipped. Shakta literature includes a range of scriptures, including various Agamas and Tantras, although its roots may be traced back to the Vedas.

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Gitashastra (science of music)

Source: Shodhganga: Elements of Art and Architecture in the Trtiyakhanda of the Visnudharmottarapurana (gita)

Anusvāra (अनुस्वार) refers to one of the ten kinds of sthāna (the organs of utterance), according to Bhattojidīkṣita in his Siddhāntakaumudī and the Saṃgītaratnākara.—During the practise of Vocal Music, the proper production of the concerned sound is always considered as very important. Sthāna or ucchāraṇasthāna is the place of articulation of sound. Bhattojidīkṣita in his Siddhāntakaumudī said about ten kinds of sthāna (i.e., the organs of utterance), e.g., anusvāra.

context information

Gitashastra (गीतशास्त्र, gītaśāstra) refers to the ancient Indian science of Music (gita or samgita), which is traditionally divided in Vocal music, Instrumental music and Dance (under the jurisdiction of music). The different elements and technical terms are explained in a wide range of (often Sanskrit) literature.

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Languages of India and abroad

Marathi-English dictionary

Source: DDSA: The Molesworth Marathi and English Dictionary

anusvāra (अनुस्वार).—m (S) The nasal character as represented by a dot over any letter preceding śa, ṣa, sa, or ह. 2 The term is applied also to the dot before whatsoever letter it occur, and whether it represent ṅa, ña, ṇa, na, or म.

Source: DDSA: The Aryabhusan school dictionary, Marathi-English

anusvāra (अनुस्वार).—m The nasal sound marked by a dot above a letter.

context information

Marathi is an Indo-European language having over 70 million native speakers people in (predominantly) Maharashtra India. Marathi, like many other Indo-Aryan languages, evolved from early forms of Prakrit, which itself is a subset of Sanskrit, one of the most ancient languages of the world.

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Sanskrit dictionary

Source: DDSA: The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary

Anusvāra (अनुस्वार).—[svṛ-ap svarāḥ; svaravarṇā eva svārāḥ, anugataḥ svārān Tv.] The nasal sound which is marked by a dot above the line () and which always belongs to a preceding vowel; अनुनासिकात्परोऽनुस्वारः (anunāsikātparo'nusvāraḥ) P.VIII.3.4.

-vyavāyaḥ Separation between two sounds caused by an अनुस्वार (anusvāra).

Derivable forms: anusvāraḥ (अनुस्वारः).

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Anusvāra (अनुस्वार).—m.

(-raḥ) The nasal letter (M) or dot above the line. E. anu before, svara to sound, ghañ aff.

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Anusvāra (अनुस्वार).—[masculine] the nasal element of a nasalized vowel and its sign ([grammar]).

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Anusvāra (अनुस्वार):—[=anu-svāra] m. (√svṛ), after-sound, the nasal sound which is marked by a dot above the line, and which always belongs to a preceding vowel.

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Goldstücker Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Anusvāra (अनुस्वार):—[tatpurusha compound] m.

(-raḥ) (In Grammar.) Literally, an after-sound; the name of a nasal sound which always belongs to the preceding vowel and according to some is weaker, according to others stronger than the anunāsika q. v. In writing it is marked by a dot over the vowel after which it sounds. It shares in the nature as well of consonants as of vowels: of consonants, in as much as it has but half a measure of time (or mātrā) and with another consonant makes position: of vowels, by having their properties of shortness, length, pluti q. v., and of being capable of accentuation. (The vaidik grammarians call the consonants and the Anusvāra the ‘body of a syllable’—akṣarāṅga—.) On account of the organ of speech with which it is pronounced it belongs to the nāsikya q. v., and on account of the mode in which it is uttered to the ūṣman q. v. (see also mahāprāṇa). If a combined consonant follows an Anusvāra the vaidik grammarians want the first consonant of the group to be repeated; e. g. somānaṃ ssvaraṇaṃ &c. instead of somānaṃ svaraṇaṃ &c.; this rule, however, is neglected in most of our vaidik Mss. and in all referring to the post-vaidik literature, although the injunction of the grammarians is doubtless founded on correct physiological observation and the system of Sanskrit orthography on a correct imitation in writing the spoken sound.—At the end of a pada (q. v.) Anusvāra is a substitute for m, in the middle of a pada that of m or n; at the end of a pada it is only allowed to occur when the pada does not stand in a pause, and in the middle not before any other sound than ś, ṣ, sa and h, before which it is the compulsory substitute. (These rules, too, are frequently neglected in spite of the grammatical authorities.) It is compulsory, too, at the end of the pada, before the same letters and r save a few exceptions as samrāj or when h is followed by m, n &c., e. g. kiṃ hmalayati or kiṃhmalayati, kiṃ hnute or kinhnute &c. For the interchange and the confusion, that prevails in the classical literature, between the use of Anusvāra and Anunāsika before y, l, v see s. v. anunāsika.—A short syllable followed by Anusvāra (which itself as results from the preceding statement must always be followed by a consonant) becomes of the nature of a long syllable, i. e. it becomes guru or heavy; but though this is the constant case in the Vedas and generally in the later literature, it will seem that this rule may be departed from at the end of a Pāda, as in the instance of the following first Pāda of the Āryā verse: atha lulitapatatrimālaṃ rugnāsanavāṇakeśaratamālam &c. where trimālaṃ counts for {??} |. (‘yadyapi chandaḥśāstre sānusvārasya gurutvamanuśiṣṭaṃ tathāpi tathā pādāntagopi veti vacanāttasya laghutvātprathamapāde dvādaśa mātrā bhavanti’.) E. svṛ with anu, kṛt aff. ghañ.

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Yates Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Anusvāra (अनुस्वार):—[anu-svāra] (raḥ) 1. m. The nasal (º).

Source: DDSA: Paia-sadda-mahannavo; a comprehensive Prakrit Hindi dictionary (S)

Anusvāra (अनुस्वार) in the Sanskrit language is related to the Prakrit words: Aṇusāra, Aṇussāra.

[Sanskrit to German]

Anusvara in German

context information

Sanskrit, also spelled संस्कृतम् (saṃskṛtam), is an ancient language of India commonly seen as the grandmother of the Indo-European language family (even English!). Closely allied with Prakrit and Pali, Sanskrit is more exhaustive in both grammar and terms and has the most extensive collection of literature in the world, greatly surpassing its sister-languages Greek and Latin.

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Hindi dictionary

[«previous next»] — Anusvara in Hindi glossary
Source: DDSA: A practical Hindi-English dictionary

Anusvāra (अनुस्वार) [Also spelled anusvar]:—(nm) lit. after-sound—the nasal sound (in some of the Indian scripts) which is marked by a dot above the line and always follows the preceding vowel.

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Kannada-English dictionary

Source: Alar: Kannada-English corpus

Anusvara (ಅನುಸ್ವರ):—[noun] (music) any of the attendant higher tones heard with a fundamental tone produced by the vibration of a given string or column of air, having a frequency of vibration that is an exact multiple of the frequency of the fundamental; an overtone.

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Anusvāra (ಅನುಸ್ವಾರ):—[noun] the vowel 'ಅಂ [am]' , for the nasal sound, represented by a small 'o' in Kannaḍa alphabet.

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Kannada is a Dravidian language (as opposed to the Indo-European language family) mainly spoken in the southwestern region of India.

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