The Sanskrit Auxiliary sthā- ‘stand’, with a Note on Avestan stā-

Abstract

Traditional grammars of Sanskrit briefly address the periphrastic use of the verbs i- ‘go’, car- ‘move’, ās- ‘sit’ and sthā- ‘stand’ plus participle or gerund, which convey the meaning ‘to be continually/habitually x’ (x = participle or gerund), but an in-depth analysis of this set of auxiliaries remains a desideratum. This paper specifically addresses the periphrasis formed with the posture verb sthā- ‘stand’. I will investigate the diachronic development of this construction from the Rig-Veda to the Late Vedic period, and I will additionally offer a brief overview of the construction in the Epic Sanskrit language. On the basis of a large diachronically-oriented corpus, I will show that the Rig-Veda does not provide clear evidence of periphrases, whereas in Late Vedic periphrases with sthā- have unambiguously emerged. Furthermore, the data will be compared with the Avestan stā- periphrasis, showing that these two periphrases share certain affinities. This analysis aims to show that there exists a close relationship between this set of periphrases and the intensive category.