deal for courses in beginning Sanskrit or self-study, this textbook employs modern, tried-and-tested pedagogical methods and tools, but requires no prior knowledge of ancient languages or linguistics. Devanagari script is introduced over several chapters and used in parallel with transliteration for several chapters more, allowing students to progress in learning Sanskrit itself while still mastering the script. Students are exposed to annotated original texts in addition to practise sentences very early on, and structures and systems underlying the wealth of forms are clearly explained to facilitate memorisation. All grammar is covered in detail, with chapters dedicated to compounding and nominal derivation, and sections explaining relevant historical phenomena.

The introduction also includes a variety of online resources that students may use to reinforce and expand their knowledge: flash cards; video tutorials for all chapters; and up-to-date links to writing, declension and conjugation exercises and online dictionaries, grammars, and textual databases.

Acknowledgements
Studying Sanskrit
List of abbreviations
Notes for the reader

1. Writing Sanskrit

2. The system of Sanskrit sounds

2a. Word stress: heavy and light syllables

3. Road maps: verbs

4. The present tense

5. Road map: nominals

6. a-stems

7. Vowel gradation and why we need to know about it

8. Absolutives, ta-participle and infinitives; introduction to internal sandhi

9. a-stems

10. Prepositions and preverbs

11. Introduction to external sandhi I: consonant sandhi

12. Imperfect indicative and present potential

13. i- and u-stems sandhi II: visarga sandhi

14. Compound nouns

15. Consonant stems I

16. Sandhi III: vowel sandhi

17. Noun formation

18. Athematic verbs I

19. Athematic verbs II

20. Introduction to pronouns; pronouns I

21. The future tense; middle and passive voice

22. More participles; pronouns II

23. Relative and correlative clauses

24. Consonant stems II; imperatives

25. Noun stems gradation; consonant stems III

26. i- and u-stems

27. The perfect tense I: regular perfect formation

28. The perfect tense II: irregular and unexpected forms

29. r-stems, n-stems; the periphrastic future

30. Secondary middle endings I: thematic verbs

31. Secondary middle endings II: athematic verbs

32. Pronouns III: 1st- and 2nd-person pronouns

33. Desideratives and gerundives

34. The periphrastic perfect; ta-participles ending in -na

35. Perfect participles; more comparatives

36. Absolute constructions; pronouns IV

37. Numerals

38. Aorists

39. Pronouns V: asau/adas

40. Some irregular nouns

Appendices:
Appendix 1. Devanagari practice handouts
Appendix 2. Background
Appendix 3. Reference
Index