Sanskrit Pre-Intermediate

This course aims to build on the knowledge and capabilities acquired in Sanskrit Elementary. The course includes three terms which facilitate a step-by-step process by which students learn how to independently translate classical Sanskrit texts. The first part of the course is dedicated to a brief revision of selected topics, followed by learning of very commonly used grammatical formations with distinct morphological features and meanings, such as the aorist tense, causatives, denominatives and desideratives.

Less commonly used linguistic constructs are also taught, such as the periphrastic past perfect and future, the conditional and benedictive moods, as well as frequentatives and intensives. Throughout the term, students begin the gradual process of translating from the critical edition of the Mahābhārata, dealing directly with primary texts, without the help of a textbook vocabulary.