Sandhi and Sandhi Vichchhed
Sandhi and Sandhi Vichchhed
Sandhi supplies two to three questions almost every year and is the highest-scoring part of the grammar block. The paper asks you either to join two words or to split one, so recognising which two sounds are meeting matters far more than memorising the rules by name.
The Three Kinds
| Kind | What meets | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Swar sandhi | vowel + vowel | विद्या + आलय = विद्यालय |
| Vyanjan sandhi | consonant + vowel or consonant | सत् + आनंद = सदानंद |
| Visarg sandhi | visarg + vowel or consonant | निः + बल = निर्बल |
The Five Forms of Vowel Sandhi
| Form | Rule | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Dirgh | like vowels join into a long vowel | देव + आलय = देवालय |
| Gun | अ/आ + इ = ए, + उ = ओ, + ऋ = अर् | नर + इंद्र = नरेंद्र |
| Vriddhi | अ/आ + ए/ऐ = ऐ, + ओ/औ = औ | एक + एक = एकैक |
| Yan | इ/उ/ऋ followed by a different vowel | इति + आदि = इत्यादि |
| Ayadi | ए/ऐ/ओ/औ followed by a vowel | ने + अन = नयन |
The fastest way to identify the form is to look at what the join produced. ए means gun, ऐ or औ means vriddhi, य् or व् means yan, and अय्, आय्, अव् or आव् means ayadi.
✗ नर + इंद्र = नरेंद्र is vriddhi sandhi | ✓ It is gun sandhi, because अ and इ have combined into ए
Key Rules of Consonant and Visarg Sandhi
- त् + च makes च् — उत् + चारण = उच्चारण.
- त् + ज makes ज् — सत् + जन = सज्जन.
- म् before a consonant becomes anusvar — सम् + तोष = संतोष.
- Visarg before अ becomes ओ — मनः + रथ = मनोरथ.
- In निः + र the visarg drops and the vowel lengthens — निः + रस = नीरस.
Words built from निः and दुः are asked again and again — निर्बल, निर्धन, निश्चय, दुर्बल, दुर्जन, दुश्चरित्र. Once the pattern is seen, the whole family is solved together.
आसान सूत्र: विसर्ग के आगे क, ख, प, फ हो तो प्रायः विसर्ग बना रहता है या ष्/श् बनता है; घोष वर्ण या स्वर हो तो र् बनता है — निर्जन, दुर्गम।
TRE pointer: Identifying by the result is the fastest method — ए means gun, ऐ or औ means vriddhi, य् or व् means yan. Learn the निः and दुः words as a family, since that is where the paper draws from. Two of the five options are usually very close, so write out the split rather than guessing.
60-Second Recap
- Sandhi is of three kinds — vowel, consonant and visarg.
- Vowel sandhi has five forms: dirgh, gun, vriddhi, yan and ayadi.
- If ए results it is gun; if ऐ or औ results it is vriddhi.
- Yan applies when इ, उ or ऋ is followed by a different vowel.
- उत् + चारण and सत् + जन are consonant sandhi examples.
- मनः + रथ and निः + बल are visarg sandhi.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you tell gun and vriddhi sandhi apart?
By looking at the result. If the join has produced ए, ओ or अर् it is gun sandhi, as in नर plus इंद्र giving नरेंद्र. If it has produced ऐ or औ it is vriddhi sandhi, as in एक plus एक giving एकैक. This is the quickest and most reliable test.
When does yan sandhi occur?
When इ, ई, उ, ऊ or ऋ is followed by a different vowel. Then इ becomes य्, उ becomes व् and ऋ becomes र्. इति plus आदि giving इत्यादि, सु plus आगत giving स्वागत, and मनु plus अंतर giving मन्वंतर are the standard examples.
How should the निः and दुः words be learnt?
In families. निर्बल, निर्धन, निर्जन and निर्गुण form one family where the visarg became र्; निश्चय and निष्फल form another where it became श् or ष्. दुर्बल, दुर्जन and दुर्गम follow the same rule, so they are memorised together rather than one at a time.
What is the difference between sandhi and samas?
In sandhi two sounds meet and a change occurs at the point of joining, as in विद्या and आलय giving विद्यालय. In samas two or more words combine and the case marker between them drops away, as in राजा का पुत्र giving राजपुत्र. One is about sounds, the other about words.