Védique sānasí- par-delà les apparences
Résumé
The meaning of the Vedic adjective sānasí- seems to be well ascertained, as ‛winning‛, ‛winner’, or ‛bringing gain’. The word has been routinely understood as a derivative of the root sani- ‛to gain, win, obtain’. Nonetheless, it proved impossible to analyze it as a primary derivative from this root, since the evidence for a suffix -asi- is almost non-existent. Another solution, as based on a former reduplicated agent noun, cannot be held any longer. The paper surveys all the occurrences of this adjective in the Saṁhitā of the Rigveda and establishes that it had two basic uses: besides ’winning’, it meant in a majority of passages ‛causing [someone] to gain’, with a factitive value. The values of sānasí- are also compared with the ones of other derivatives of the root sani-, which are used as agent nouns: sásni-, sánitar-/sanitár-, sasavṁs, and the second member °s-/°sáni- of verbal governing compounds. It is stated that the specific value of sānasí-, which never takes any complement, is the possession of some intrinsic power by an individual (god, animal) or by an object (wealth, help, resolve). The word is then analyzed as a double possessive compound, according to the framework of Schindler’s theory of compounds. The original meaning of sā-nasí- was ‛causing safe return provided with winning [of gain]’. Both compound members comply with well-known derivational patterns. Moreover, the restored members of this compound are in accordance with the widespread association of safe return with success and bringing home spoils and victory prizes, which has left many remnants in the phraseology of Vedic hymns.
Loading...