Tatpurusa

In Sanskrit grammar a IAST|tatpuruṣa (तत्पुरुष) compound is a dependent determinative compound, i.e. a compound XY meaning a type of Y which is related to X in a way corresponding to one of the grammatical cases of X.

There are many tatpuruşas (one for each of the noun cases, and a few others besides); in a IAST|tatpuruṣa, one component is related to another. For example, "doghouse" is a dative compound, a house for a dog. It would be called a "IAST|caturthī-tatpuruṣa" ("caturthī" refers to the fourth case — that is, the dative). The most frequent kind is the genitive IAST|tatpuruṣa. Examples are:-
*"jaya-prepshu" = "victory-desiring". (accusative)
*"varşa-bhogya" = "year - going to be enjoyed" = "to be enjoyed for a year" (adjective). (accusative)
*"deva-datta" = "god-given" = "given by the gods". (instrumental)
*"IAST|viṣņu-bali" = "Vishnu-offering" = "offering to Vishnu". (dative)
*"svarga-patita" = "heaven-fallen" = "fallen from heaven". (ablative)
*"IAST|tat-puruṣa" = "that-man" in the sense of "that person's man". (genitive)
*"vyāghra-buddhi" = "tiger-thought" = "thought of it being a tiger". (genitive)
*"yajur-veda" = "sacrifice-knowledge" = "the knowledge of sacrifice", and the name of part of the Vedas. (genitive)
*"IAST|rudrākṣa" = "IAST|rudra-akṣa" = "Rudra-eye" = "the eye of Rudra". (genitive)
*"raja-putra" = "king-son" = "son of a king". (genitive)
*"gŗha-jata" = "house-born" = "born in the house". (locative)
*"pūrvāhņa-kŗta" = "morning-done" = "done in the morning". (locative)The word "tatpuruşa" is an example of the type: see in the list above.

*"IAST|caturthī-tatpuruṣa" = "which is dative and a IAST|tatpuruṣa". (nominative), but a nominative tatpuruşa is classed as a karmadhāraya.

Note: in Vedic Sanskrit "rájaputra" is a bahuvrihi and means "having a king as a son", and "rajapútra" is a IAST|tatpuruṣa and means "king's son": notice where the Vedic udātta accent is.

ee also

* Bahuvrihi
* Dvigu
* Amredita