science

Tatsama

Tatsama is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Tatsama rather than just read about it. In short: Tatsama (Sanskrit: तत्सम IPA: [tɐtsɐmɐ], lit. 'same as that') are Sanskrit loanwords in modern Indo-Aryan languages like Assamese, Bengali, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Hindi, Gujarati, and Sinhala and in Dravidian languages like Tamil, Kannada and Telugu. They generally belong to a higher and more erudite register than common words, many of which are (in modern Indo-Aryan languages) directly inherited from Old Indo-Aryan…

Key takeaways

Tatsama belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Tatsama to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Tatsama from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Tatsama (Sanskrit: तत्सम IPA: [tɐtsɐmɐ], lit. 'same as that') are Sanskrit loanwords in modern Indo-Aryan languages like Assamese, Bengali, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Hindi, Gujarati, and Sinhala and in Dravidian languages like Tamil, Kannada and Telugu. They generally belong to a higher and more erudite register than common words, many of which are (in modern Indo-Aryan languages) directly inherited from Old Indo-Aryan (tadbhava). The tatsama register can be compared to the use of loan words of Greek or Latin origin in English (e.g. hubris).

Eastern Indo-Aryan

Bengali The origin of tatsama words (Bengali: তৎসম, romanized: tôtśômô) in Bengali is traced to 10th century poets. Another, more minor, wave of tatsama vocabulary entered the (Modern) Bengali language by Sanskrit scholars teaching at Fort William College in Kolkata at the start of the 19th century. Bengali's lexicon is now about 40% tatsama (with about 16% tadbhava vocabulary inherited from Old Indo-Aryan via the Prakrit languages such as Apabhraṃśa and Abahaṭṭha). The form of Bengali with the highest tatsama words is Sadhu Bhasha.

Odia Early Odia dictionaries such as Gitabhidhana (17th century), Sabda Tattva Abhidhana (1916), Purnachandra Odia Bhashakosha (1931) and Promoda Abhidan (1942) list Sanskrit tatsama vocabulary. They are derived from Sanskrit verbal roots with the addition of suffixes (both Sanskrit as well as Odia) and known in Odia as tatsama krudanta (Odia: ତତ୍ସମ କୃଦନ୍ତ, romanized: tatsama kr̥danta, lit. 'tatsama words ending with an affix that makes it a noun'). Odia is generally used with many tatsama words, though tadhbhava words do also surface many times; with foreign loanwords (especially from Persian, Arabic and Turkic) appearing marginally.

Southern Indo-Aryan

Sinhala The way the tatsama entered the Sinhala language is comparable to what is found in Bengali, Odia, Marathi and Hindi languages: they are scholarly borrowings of Sanskrit or Pali terms. Tatsama in Sinhala can be identified by their ending exclusively in -ya or -va, whereas native Sinhala words tend to show a greater array of endings. Many scientific concepts make use of tatsama, for instance grahaṇaya 'eclipse', but they are also found for more everyday concepts.

Western Indo-Aryan For the most part, the western Indo-Aryan languages such as Punjabi, Sindhi, Hindko, and Saraiki generally do not use tatsama vocabulary in day-to-day life. The majority of words in these languages are inherited from Prakrit or borrowed from Persian, Arabic and Turkic. The notable exception in the group of western Indo-Aryan languages is Hindustani, which began with most of its borrowed vocabulary coming from Persian, and in recent history has incorporated a larger amount of learned borrowings from Sanskrit in its new variety called Modern Standard Hindi. Many of these, however, are borrowed indirectly from Bengali, Gujarati, Odia or Marathi, or given meanings based on English or Perso-Arabic derived words already in use in Hindustani. Most of the tatsama vocabulary occurring in Punjabi is borrowed from Hindi, and likewise tatsama words in languages spoken further west are likely to be indirect loans of Hindi words used in Punjabi (though there exists various tatsama words being used in the Guru Granth Sahib). Very few of these are used in colloquial speech, and their use tends to be limited to formal settings or Hindu religious contexts.

Dravidian

Malayalam Malayalam has many tatsama words, which are used in written and spoken language depending on register and dialect. For example:

Telugu Sanskrit influenced the Telugu language for about 500 years. During 1000-1100 AD, Nannaya's Telugu in Mahabharata, Telugu in several inscriptions, Telugu in poetry reestablished its roots and dominated over the royal language, Sanskrit. Telugu absorbed the Tatsamas from Sanskrit. Metrical poetry in Telugu ('Chandassu') uses meters such as Utpalamala, Champakamala, Mattebham, Sardoola, Sragdhara, Bhujangaprayata etc.. which are pure Sanskrit meters. Telugu has many tatsama words, known as prakruti. The equivalent colloquial words are called vikrutis, meaning "distorted". Prakruti are used only as a medium of instruction in educational institutions, offices etc. Today, spoken Telugu contains both prakruthi and vikruthi words. For example:

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Tatsama

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Tatsama claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Tatsama before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Tatsama ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Tatsama

In research: Tatsama appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Tatsama in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Tatsama is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Etymology, Lists of loanwords, Sanskrit words and phrases, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Tatsama outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Tatsama in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Tatsama means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Tatsama out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Tatsama in simple terms?

Why does Tatsama matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Tatsama?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Tatsama.