Praśnaḥ - Aṣṭādhyāyī 2.0 Query Tool (User Manual)
Contents
1. In all cases where query expressions have been composed with more than one term or compound expression it is necessary to link those using logical operators For that matter the Ast dhy y 2 0 Query DOC 013 _020715 UM PAGE 4 BUILD 113 09032015 N Tool supports the three commonly used operators AND OR and NOT to indicate conjunctions disjunctions or negations respectively All of them can be combined in one single or compound expression repeatedly NOTE Logical operators are also case insensitive but it is advised to use capital letters to improve readability of your query expressions A logical conjunction is denoted by the AND operator and may only return a search result if and only if either query term s or compound expression s are true For instance the expression CAS nom AND GEN f will only return sutras containing one or more components of which at least one has the grammatical case in nominative form and one eventually the same the grammatical gender in feminine form A logical disjunction however which is denoted by the OR operator returns a search result only if either or both query term s or compound expression s are true This means that the expression CAS num OR GEN f for instance will return s tras containing one or more components of which at least one has the grammatical case in nominative form or s tras containing one or more components having a the grammatical gender2. also press the CTRL and ENTER key simultaneously This might be a great time saver when running multiple searches or rephrasing specific query expressions Once a search has been submitted the user will be redirected to the Ast dhyay 2 0 Browser which will display the results and number of hits In order to rephrase the previous query the user may click on the search button on the navigation bar which will redirect him to the Ast dhy y 2 0 Query Tool This procedure can be repeated until the user obtains the results he expects HINT After submitting a search it s very easy to switch back and forth between the search results and the Astadhyayi 2 0 Query Tool by pressing the backspace key This keyboard shortcut is supposed to work in all major web browsers In order to improve the readability of query expressions it s possible to add line breaks by pressing the ENTER or RETURN key Note that the query box uses line wraps which will automatically places statements on a new line before they reach the end of the query box A line wrap however must not be confused with intentional line breaks HINT Comments may be used to increase the readability or to add notes to query expressions by using the pound key Everything from the pound to the end of the line is regarded as a comment and thus being ignored by the query tool s interpreter For the sake of functionality the user s previous query is stored in our database In order to l
3. in feminine form NOTE Whenever you use both logical operators AND and OR you need to specify the precedence of operation see next paragraph In order to negate values you have to use the NOT operator which has to precede any query term and value that should be excluded from search NOTE The NOT operator may not precede compound expressions but instead has to precede any query term whose value s you may like to negate Also be advised that query expressions may not begin with a logical operator after all Order of Operations Brackets are used to specify the order of operations of query terms and are a decisive factor when conducting queries The Ast dhyay 2 0 Query Tool uses two different kinds of parentheses At the first level square brackets are used to enclose two or more statements as with the expression CAS num OR GEN f AND NUM sg Since square brackets may not be nested the user has to use curly braces at the second level of bracketing such as CAS acc OR CAS num OR GEN f AND NUM sg Y Be advised that bracketing of nested or compound expressions is not allowed Also note that component based searches may use the same bracketing and are not regarded as nested expressions NOTE When using the AND and OR operators in your expression you must always specify the order of operation Pattern Matching The Ast dhy yi 2 0 Query Tool allows the
4. 5 mean nos mean n se lt mean nose and gen n gt sutra ion cas nom and gen f or gen n cas nom and gen f or gen n or num du sutra rr sutra e d ion sutrali l io n BUILD 113 09032015 N PAGE 9 BUILD 113 09032015 N DOC 013_020715 UM
5. Prasnah Ast dhy y 2 0 Query Tool USER MANUAL PREFACE PREREQUISITES USER INTERFACE CONDUCTING A SEARCH THE QUERY LANGUAGE APPENDIX QUICK REFERENCE PREFACE Astadhyayl 2 0 is a digital interactive and searchable edition of Astadhyayl the famous treatise about Sanskrit morphology syntax and semantics written in the 4th century BCE by the ancient Indian grammarian Panini The search feature of Ast dhy ay 2 0 is provided by Prasnah English question or inquiry a dedicated web application that is also referred to as query tool in this document Prasnah provides a lightweight and powerful query language to search for sutras and its translations as well as grammatical attributes such as case number and gender of their textual components In addition the query tool can be used to search for linguistic annotations such as word semantic meanings topics lexemes and moreover to ascertain whether components are declinable Queries on textual components can also be expanded to include anuvrtti The query language used by the Ast dhy y 2 0 Query Tool allows to perform queries by the use of predefined query terms logical operators wildcards parentheses transliterations as well as special operators to specify component or non component based searches The latter two can also be linked by the use of logical operators and can be weighted by means of bracketing This manual highlights all features of the Ast dhy y 2 0 Quer
6. from left to right Fig 7 which are described later The information box Fig 8 at the very bottom notifies the user in case of an error or malformed query with a corresponding message CONDUCTING A SEARCH In order to conduct a search the user has to navigate to the Ast dhy y 2 0 Query Tool by left clicking the search button on the navigation bar at the top of the screen Once the Ast dhy y 2 0 Query Tool is loaded the caret can be revealed and placed into its position by clicking anywhere inside the query box Assuming that the user has not previously used the Astadhyayi 2 0 Query Tool the query box will be empty 1 The purpose of the unique identification code is explained in detail on the next page DOC 813_828715 UM PAGE 2 BUILD 113 09032015 N HINT Clicking the Example toggle will cycle through a list of predefined queries which can be used as a template to conduct a new query expression Otherwise the box will reveal the user s last query which can then be rephrased In order to start a new search from scratch it is recommended to clear the query box by simply clicking on the clear query button Once the query has been conducted or rephrased the search can be performed by clicking the submit query button To search for anuvrtti you need to make sure that anuvrtti has been enabled by clicking on the anuvrtti button HINT Instead of clicking the submit query button to run a search the user can
7. gular num sg number du dualis pl plural sutra sutra sutra sutra ion topic component topic k trans translation sutra Translation as trans nose SEARCH OPERATORS and logical conjunction resulting in true if both of its cas nom operands are true otherwise the value is false and gen f or logical disjunction resulting in true if one or both num sg operands are true otherwise the value is false or trans mean not negates the result of the following query term not gram decl snr specifies the range of books chapters and sutras to X X snr 1 4 search in X X X X snr 1 3 3 2 Values marked with an asterisk may be arbitrary The query terms sutra and trans both use the asterisk character by default to match any sutra or translation in which the given search term appears DOC 813_828715 UM PAGE 7 BUILD 113 09032015 N lt gt matches any character one or more times matches a single character one time indicates a component based search parentheses enclose values square brackets enclose multiple expressions curly brackets enclose expressions in brackets TRANSLITERATIONS forward slashes enclose a a transliterations aa A i i ii 1 u u uu U Y r rr r wll I e e ai ai o o au au m m h h i ka ka kha kha ga ga gha gha na na ca ca cha cha ja ja DOC 013 20715 UM PAGE 8 ee a lal UD a A eu ee ey ee Pe ean Pe Sh PY tee X X X X X X snr 1 2 1 4 4
8. ink a query to a specific user the Ast dhy y 2 0 Query Tool makes use of a unique identification string which is stored on the user s computer as well as in our database Note that once the user clears the browser cache the Astadhyayi 2 0 Query Tool can no more display the user s last query expression Additionally it may also be worth knowing that the user s last query has a validity of 24 hours after which it will be automatically deleted In order to use the Astadhyayl 2 0 Query Tool to its full potential you should continue reading on the following section which will explain everything you need to know about the query language THE QUERY LANGUAGE The Astadhyayi 2 0 Query Tool provides a lightweight and powerful query language to conduct searches In order to successfully formulate queries it is essential to have a good understanding of the query language itself The query language is subdivided into several language elements or topics for that matter including DOC 813_828715 UM PAGE 3 BUILD 113 09032015 N query terms logical operators order of operations pattern matching transliterations non component searches and search restrictions which are described in detail in the following paragraphs However before starting out it is imperative to emphasize the meaning of s tras components as well as linguistically annotations in the context of to the Ast dhyay 2 0 Query Tool A sutra denotes a distinct type of literary compositi
9. of the Ast dhy y 2 0 Query Tool follows a minimalistic design approach to emphasize on usability Hence the interface has been divided into three sections which are explained below Navigation Bar The horizontal navigation bar at the top of the screen allows quickly switching to different parts of the Astadhyayi 2 0 website Fig 3 Side Panel The side panel on the left of the horizontal bar shows the current version of the Astadhyayl 2 0 Query Tool and indicates the user s unique identification code It furthermore provides the latest release notes accommodating new features as well as contemporary issues Fig 4 Additionally the side panel has a toggle to cycle through a set of predefined color schemes Fig 5 allowing the user to set a color which achieves the best possible screen reproduction Query Panel The query panel on the right of the horizontal bar is the actual search feature of Ast dhyay 2 0 The panel consists of three boxes whereas the sole purpose of the top or about box is to provide a brief description of the Astadhyayi 2 0 Query Tool Fig 5 Right below the about box is the query box which allows users to type in or rephrase their queries The query box contains a toggle labeled Example which can be left clicked to cycle through a list of predefined sample searches Fig 6 Beneath the query box are four buttons labeled submit query clear query anuvrtti and show help
10. on query might be the search for sutras to which one or more components have a certain grammatical declension For example searching for sutras for which there are components having either feminine singular or nominative form you would use the expression GEN fem AND NUM sg AND CAS nom Here the query term GEN defines the grammatical gender to be feminine whereas the query term NUM defines the grammatical number to be singular and CAS finally defines the component to be written in nominative case Note that all three terms are linked with the logical AND operator to force the search for sutras containing components where each of them has to meet at least one of those three grammatical attributes mentioned before Another useful query might be the search for sutras containing one or more components which are compositions or indeclinable by using the expression GRAM comp OR GRAM indecl Searching for the semantically meaning and lexeme in components can be achieved by using the query terms MEAN and LEX whereas the search for sutras and its translations itself is being accomplished by using the terms SUTRA and TRANS respectively It is important to understand that the form always remains the same irrespective of the query terms actually being used For a complete list of query terms and predefined values you re encourage to have a look at the quick reference Logical Operators
11. on written in one single line which is made up of words to which we will hereinafter refer to as components These components have grammatical attributes i e case number gender which can be searched for in a regular or non component based search respectively The results will be one or more sutras each containing components whose attributes matched the query expression Query Terms The Astadhyayl 2 0 Query Tool uses predefined query terms for searching Ast dhy y 2 0 Each of these query terms denotes a specific field of search and can be used repeatedly in a query expression Even though query terms and logical operators are case insensitive it is generally advised to use capital letters for both to emphasize readability of complex query expressions Also note that all query terms are meant to search for component s attributes except for the terms SUTRA and TRANS The latter two are solely used for searching sutras and its corresponding translations A query term has consistently to be followed by its value which must be surrounded by parentheses For better readability though one may use whitespaces or even line breaks in between query terms and values Also note that when using the query terms CAS GEN GRAM or NUM you must choose one of their predefined values and write them in lowercase letters Furthermore it is worth knowing that certain query terms and values offer alternative spellings A comm
12. s of spanned components However when searching for sutras and translations you may conduct a strict component based search by surrounding the expression with right and left angle brackets lt gt as in lt LEX kart r AND CAS loc gt The query shows all s tras in which the Sanskrit term for agent kart r is mentioned in locative case Whereas in a regular or spanned component search one would conduct a query like LEX kart r AND CAS loc which would search for all sutras in which the Sanskrit term for agent kart r is mentioned and where a component possibly different from kart r is in locative case NOTE Component and non component based searches can be linked using logical operators Additionally a non component based search may use all kinds of bracketing irrespective of bracketing used by the outer expression Search Restrictions The Astadhyayi 2 0 Query Tool allows you to narrow down your search on sutras or components from a certain book and chapter of Ast dhy y This means you can specify a range of s tras in which to search in and might come in handy in case that you already know in what sutras or components you re actually interested in The special operator needed is SNR and can denote up to five ranges which have to be separated by a semi colon NOTE The SNR search restriction may only be used once per query and effects the entire expression For instance
13. use of the wildcard characters and to pattern matching values Both wildcards can be placed at any point within a query term s value Note that the asterisks UR matches any character one or more times whereas the question mark matches a single character only once DOC 813_828715 UM PAGE 5 BUILD 113 09032015 N NOTE The query terms SUTRA and TRANS both use the asterisk pattern character at the beginning and end of your search strings to match any s tra or translation in which the given search term appears Transliterations Since sUtras in Sanskrit are written in the Devanagari script the Ast dhy y 2 0 Query Tool allows the use of transliteration which in regard to Astadhyayl 2 0 is the conversion of Roman script to Devanagari The transliteration can be achieved by the use of Velthuis and may only be used in conjunction with the query terms SUTRA MEAN TRANS and LEX Also note that transliterations must be all written in lowercase and be surrounded by forward slashes A short example to illustrate the use of transliteration would be the expression SUTRA aa which searches for s tras containing the short vowel 31 in Devanagari script However for a complete list of transliterations you are strongly encouraged to read the quick reference Component Searches When using the Astadhyayl 2 0 Query Tool searches are usually based on linguistic attribute
14. when searching for sutras for which there are components having either feminine singular or nominative form only in the first and second book you would use the expression GEN fem AND NUM sg AND CAS nom and SNR 1 2 This query terms can be negated with the NOT operator one could also conduct the same query using the expression GEN fem AND NUM sg AND CAS nom and NOT SNR 3 8 Be advised that when searching within one specific book the user still has denote it as a range i e SNR 1 1 Searching in two chapters from the same book can be achieved by specifying ranges as in SNR 1 2 1 2 1 4 1 4 Here the search would be conducted only on Chapter two and four from the first book of Astadhyayt DOC 013 _020715 UM PAGE 6 BUILD 113 09032015 N APPENDIX QUICK REFERENCE This quick reference provides a summary of query terms search operators and transliterations used by the Astadhyayi 2 0 Query Tool QUERY TERMS cas casus component grammatical case nom nominative cas nom case gen genitive loc locative abl ablative acc accusative dat dative voc vocative gen genus component grammatical gender m masculine gen f gender f feminine n neuter gram grammar component grammatical type comp composition gram decl decl declined indecl undeclined lex lexeme component lexeme z lex nose mean meaning component semantic x mean nose sem semantic num numerus component grammatical number sg sin
15. y Tool and helps to understand the key principles of the query language In addition sample searches and hints are given throughout for a successful learning experience Be advised that this manual does not include the complete language reference Hence you are encouraged to refer to the quick reference provided on the Ast dhy y 2 0 website PREREQUISITES The Astadhyayl 2 0 Query Tool uses HTML5 and CSS3 technology and should therefore support a broad range of commonly used web browsers For best user experience we recommend using a web browser which has been tested for compatibility and performance with our web application such as the latest versions of Firefox Google Chrome and Safari Also note that the query tool requires a display resolution of at least 1280 by 1024 to be fully functional However for a better perception of the query tool it is strongly recommended to have a higher resolution such as 1400 by 1050 Be advised that in order to use the DOC 813_828715 UM PAGE 1 BUILD 113 09032015 N Astadhyayi 2 0 Query Tool it is absolutely necessary that your browser has JavaScript and Cookies enabled In case these are disabled due to privacy concerns the upshot will be that the web application refuses to work and will output an error message Fig 1 Fig 2 NOTE JavaScript and Cookies are solely used to enhance usability and to provide extended features without sacrificing privacy at any time USER INTERFACE The user interface
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