The internal order of Sanskrit compounds: A dialogue between Pāṇini and generative grammar

In this study I show that the internal order of Sanskrit Noun-Noun endocentric compounds cannot be captured by means of the notion ‘head’, defined in semantic or morphological terms (§§1–2). Next, I outline the strategy devised by the Indian grammarian Pāṇini (4th century B.C.) to handle the internal order of Sanskrit compounds (§ 3). Finally, I argue that the notion relevant for determining the internal order of Noun-Noun endocentric compounds in Sanskrit can be identified by combining Pāṇini’s intuitions with the formalism developed within generative grammar (§ 4). In this way, this study provides an additional example of how useful the history of linguistics (specifically, the study of Pāṇini’s grammar) may be for solving a problem in contemporary linguistics (specifically, the puzzle as to how the internal order of a certain class of compounds is determined).