Subjecthood in Pāṇini’s grammatical tradition

Abstract

According to the common opinion, there is no place for the grammatical category of subject in Pāṇini’s grammar of Sanskrit. This is due to the fact that, according to many scholars of Pāṇini, Sanskrit lacks this category in its grammar. However, if we take into consideration a wider view of what Pāṇini’s grammar is and what language it presupposes, we can conclude that speaking of subject becomes more sensible, especially if we take into account some subjecthood features that so far have not been used in this respect. I conclude that, if not Pāṇini himself, some later commentators could have had a notion very similar to subject in their linguistic background, which induced them to interpret Pāṇini’s theories so that the idea of subjecthood eventually surfaced