Page:Sanskrit Grammar by Whitney p1.djvu/424

are by universal agreement given in their independent alphabetic place, like simple words.

1077. Those verbal prefixes which have value as such throughout the whole history of the language are given below, in alphabetic order, with their fundamental meanings:

अति áti across, beyond, past, over, to excess;

अधि ádhi above, over, on, on to;

अनु ánu after, along, toward;

अन्तर् antár between, among, within;

अप ápa away, forth, off;

अपि ápi unto, close upon or on;

अभि abhi^{[errata 1]} to, unto, against (often with implied violence);

अव áva down, off;

आ ā́ to, unto, at;

उद् úd up, up forth or out;

उप úpa to, unto, toward;

नि ní down; in, into;

निस् nís out, forth;

परा párā to a distance, away, forth;

परि pári round about, around;

प्र prá forward, onward, forth, fore;

प्रति práti in reversed direction, back to or against, against, in return;

वि ví apart, asunder, away, out;

सम् sám along, with, together.

a. Some of these, of course, are used much more widely and frequently than others. In order of frequency in the older language (as estimated by the number of roots with which they are found used in RV. and AV.), they stand as follows: pra, ā, vi, sam, abhi, ni, ud, pari, anu, upa, prati, ava, nis, ati, apa, parā, adhi, api, antar. Api is of very limited use as prefix in the later language, having become a conjunction, too, also.

b. The meanings given above are only the leading ones. In combinations of root and prefix they undergo much modification, both literal and figurative — yet seldom in such a way that the steps of transition from the fundamental sense are not easy to trace. Sometimes, indeed, the value of a