{{Short description|13th century classic of Kannada grammar}}{{italic title}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}} {{Use Indian English|date=December 2019}} thumb '''''Shabdamanidarpanam''''' ({{langx|kn|ಶಬ್ದಮಣಿದರ್ಪಣಂ}} ''Śabdamaṇidarpaṇam,'' "The Jewel Mirror of Language"), is a comprehensive treatise on Kannada grammar written by Kēśirāja in 1260 CE.<ref name="E.P.Rice, page 111">E.P. Rice – pp 111</ref><ref name="History of the Kannada Literature -III">{{cite web |url=http://www.kamat.com/kalranga/kar/literature/history3.htm |title=History of the Kannada Literature -III |author= Dr. Jyotsna Kamat|access-date=2008-05-01}}</ref> It is the earliest systematized account of Kannada grammar, and has been regarded as an authority for the literary language since its composition. Kēśirāja draws significantly upon the Kātantra system of Sanskrit grammar, owing to the widespread use of Sanskrit as a language of intellectual life.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kulli |first=J.S. |date=1984 |title=Kannada Grammars and Sanskrit Tradition |journal=International Journal of Dravidian Linguistics |volume=13 |issue=1}}</ref>
The ''Śabdamaṇidarpaṇa'' is composed in ''kanda padya'', a meter often employed in Kannada technical literature. Kēśirāja included his own gloss (''vṛtti'') along with the work.<ref name="E.P.Rice, page 111" /><ref name="omen">Sastri (1955), p359</ref> Later commentaries were also composed, such as the ''Sūtrānvayaratnamāle'' by Liṅgaṇārādhya (16th century CE) and the ''ṭīke'' ("commentary") of Niṣṭhūra (or Niṭṭūru) Nañjayya (18th century CE). There also exist modern commentaries, such as T.V. Venkatachalashastry's ''Darpaṇavivaraṇa''.<ref>{{Cite book |title=ದರ್ಪಣವಿವರಣ |date=2016 |publisher=Sapna Book House |year=2016 |isbn=9788128011832 |edition=2nd |location=Bangalore, IN |publication-date=2010 |language=kn |trans-title=An Exposition of the Mirror}}</ref> These attest to the work's enduring importance in the Kannada literary tradition.
==Mention of early poets== The text of ''Sabdamanidarpanam'' starts with an invocation of the great Kannada poets of earlier generations who are considered as authorities by Kesiraja, as cited by him.
{{Quote|source=|The expert way (sumārgam) of Gajaga, Gunanandi, Manasija, Asaga, Candrabhatta, Gunavarma, Srivijaya, Honna (Ponna), Hampa (Pampa), Sujanōttamsa – these provide the illustrative instances (''lakshya'') in this work. In ''Shabdamanidarpanam'', about twenty poets and thirty works are cited, and almost every rule is explained with quotations. This work points out the Kannada language development in the preceding three centuries.|Kesiraja (translated)}}
==Grammar topics==
===Significance of grammar=== In the very beginning of the ''Shabdamanidarpanam'', in the preface section, Kesiraja explains the significance of Grammar in the context of a language and its learning: {{Quote|source=|Through grammar (correct) words originate; through the words of that grammar, meaning (originates); through meaning the beholding of truth; through the beholding of truth, the desired final beatitude; this (final beatitude) is the fruit for the learned.| sūtra 10 of the Preface, ''Shabdamanidarpanam'' – Kesiraja <ref name="Kittel">A Grammar of the Kannada language in English, Ferdinand Kittel – pp. 4</ref>}}
===Adjectives=== In one of the aphorisms (''sūtra'') of ''Shabdamanidarpanam'', Kesiraja gives a list of forms ending in /-tu/ and /-du/ labelling them as ''guNavaachi'' (ಗುಣವಾಚಿ), the adjectives.<ref>''Word-structure in Dravidian'' – By R. Śrīhari, B. Ramakrishna Reddy, Dravidian University, pp. 28</ref>
===Lexicography=== ''Shabdamanidarpanam'' is important from the view of lexicography. An attempt at lexicon-making is provided in several parts of the work. The work has the list of verbal roots and words containing ḷ and ḹ sounds. There is also a chapter called 'prayŌgasāra' where Kesiraja has quoted a number of rare words along with their meanings.<ref name="Mishra">Lexicography in India : Proceedings of the First National Conference on Dictionary Making in Indian Languages, By Bal Govind Misra, page 82</ref>
===Sound forms=== ;Articulate sounds {{quote|source=|By the wish of the individual soul, by means of suitable (vital) air, at the root of the navel, like a trumpet, the substance of sound (sabda- dravya) originates which is white (sveta, dhavala); its result is (articulate, aksharatmaka) sound (sabda); and: 'The body is the musical instrument, the tongue is the plectrum, the individual soul is the performer; on account of the operation of his mind (articulate) sound (sabda) originates which is of a white colour (dhavalavarna) and has the form of letters (aksharariipa).|Ferdinand Kittel, translated from original ''Shabdamanidarpanam'' by Kesiraja.<ref name="Kittel"/>}}
;Inarticulate sounds {{quote|Inarticulate (anaksharatmaka) sounds, as thunder from the clouds or the roar of the sea, have no representations in grammatical alphabets.|Ferdinand Kittel, translated from original ''Shabdamanidarpana'' by Kesiraja.<ref name="Kittel" />}}
==Notes== {{reflist}}
== References == {{col-begin}} {{col-2}} {{refbegin}}
*{{cite book |last= Rice|first=E.P. |title=Kannada Literature|orig-year=1921|year=1982|publisher=Asian Educational Services|location=New Delhi|isbn= 81-206-0063-0}} *{{cite book |last= Various|title= Encyclopaedia of Indian literature - vol 2|orig-year=1988|year=1988|publisher= Sahitya Akademi|isbn=81-260-1194-7}} *{{cite book |last=Sastri|first= Nilakanta K.A.|title= A history of South India from prehistoric times to the fall of Vijayanagar|orig-year=1955|year=2002|publisher= Indian Branch, Oxford University Press|location= New Delhi|isbn= 0-19-560686-8}} *{{cite book |author=Various |title=Encyclopaedia of Indian literature vol. 5|publisher=Sahitya Akademi |year=1996 |isbn=81-260-1221-8}} *{{cite book |author=Ferdinand Kittel |title=A grammar of the Kannada language in English : comprising the three dialects of the language (ancient, mediæval and modern) |publisher=Basel Mission Book and Tract Depository |location=Mangalore|orig-year=1903|date=1985 |isbn=3-7648-0898-5}}
{{refend}} {{col-end}}
Category:Kannada grammar Category:Kannada literature Category:1260 books