वाच्

See also: वच् and वाचा

Sanskrit

Alternative scripts

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-Iranian *wā́kš (speech, voice), from Proto-Indo-European *wṓkʷs (speech, voice), from *wekʷ- (to speak).[1] Cognate with Avestan 𐬬𐬁𐬑𐬱 (vāxš), Ancient Greek ὄψ (óps), Latin vōx, Persian آواز (âvâz), English voice (via Latin and Old French).

Pronunciation

Noun

वाच् • (vā́c) stemf [1]

  1. speech, voice, talk, language (also of animals), sound (also of inanimate objects as of the stones used for pressing, of a drum etc.)
    • c. 1500 BCE – 1000 BCE, Ṛgveda 5.76.1:
      आ भा॑त्य॒ग्निरु॒षसा॒मनी॑क॒मुद्विप्रा॑णां देव॒या वाचो॑ अस्थुः।
      अ॒र्वाञ्चा॑ नू॒नं र॑थ्ये॒ह या॑तं पीपि॒वांस॑मश्विना घ॒र्ममच्छ॑॥
      ā́ bhātyagníruṣásāmánīkamúdvíprāṇāṃ devayā́ vā́co asthuḥ.
      arvā́ñcā nūnáṃ rathyehá yātaṃ pīpivā́ṃsamaśvinā gharmámáccha.
      Agni light sup the face of the dawns; the devout voices of the pious have risen up; therefore, Aśvins, lords of the chariot, descending, come hither today to the splendid sacrifice, perfect in all its parts.
    वाचम् (vācam)-√ṛ, √īr or √iṣ — to raise the voice, utter a sound, cry, call
  2. a word, saying, phrase, sentence, statement, asseveration
    वाचं (vācaṃ)-√vad — to speak words
    वाचं व्या (vācaṃ vyā)-√hṛ — to utter words
    वाचं (vācaṃ)-√dā +dative — to address words to
    वाचा सत्यं (vācā satyaṃ)-√kṛ — to promise verbally in marriage, plight troth

Proper noun

वाच् • (vāc) stemf

  1. Speech personified as the goddess of speech Vāc

Declension

Feminine root-stem declension of वाच्
singular dual plural
nominative वाक् (vā́k) वाचौ (vā́cau)
वाचा¹ (vā́cā¹)
वाचः (vā́caḥ)
accusative वाचम् (vā́cam) वाचौ (vā́cau)
वाचा¹ (vā́cā¹)
वाचः (vā́caḥ)
instrumental वाचा (vācā́) वाग्भ्याम् (vāgbhyā́m) वाग्भिः (vāgbhíḥ)
dative वाचे (vācé) वाग्भ्याम् (vāgbhyā́m) वाग्भ्यः (vāgbhyáḥ)
ablative वाचः (vācáḥ) वाग्भ्याम् (vāgbhyā́m) वाग्भ्यः (vāgbhyáḥ)
genitive वाचः (vācáḥ) वाचोः (vācóḥ) वाचाम् (vācā́m)
locative वाचि (vācí) वाचोः (vācóḥ) वाक्षु (vākṣú)
vocative वाक् (vā́k) वाचौ (vā́cau)
वाचा¹ (vā́cā¹)
वाचः (vā́caḥ)
  • ¹Vedic

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Mayrhofer, Manfred (1996) “vā́c-”, in Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen [Etymological Dictionary of Old Indo-Aryan]‎[1] (in German), volume 2, Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, pages 539-40

Further reading