स

See also: म, स़, से, सु-, and स-

स	U+0938, स DEVANAGARI LETTER SA

← ष
[U+0937]

Devanagari

ह →
[U+0939]

Translingual

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /sə/ (may vary by language)

Letter

स (sa)

the third sibilant of the Devanagari script

Usage notes

Linguistically it is considered an alveolar sibilant.

Dhivehi

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [s̺ə]

Letter

स • (sa)

The seventeenth consonant in Dhivehi, written in Devanagari

Hindi

Pronunciation

(Delhi) IPA^(key): /sə/, [sɐ]

Letter

स • (sa)

the thirty-second consonant in Hindi
(music) the first note of the Hindi musical scale

Konkani

Alternative forms

सो (so)

Etymology

From Sanskrit षष् (ṣáṣ), from Proto-Indo-European *swéḱs (“six”). Cognate with Hindi छह (chah), Marathi सहा (sahā).

Numeral

स • (sa/so) (Latin script sov, Kannada script ಸ)

six

Marathi

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /sə/
Audio: (file)

Letter

स • (sa)

The thirty-first consonant in Marathi.

Nepali

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [sʌ]
Phonetic Devanagari: स

Letter

स • (sa)

The thirty-second consonant in Nepali.

Pali

Alternative forms

Alternative scripts

sa (Latin script)
𑀲 (Brahmi script)
স (Bengali script)
ස (Sinhalese script)
သ (Burmese script)
ส or สะ (Thai script)
ᩈ (Tai Tham script)
ສ or ສະ (Lao script)
ស (Khmer script)
𑄥 (Chakma script)

Alternative scripts

so (Latin script)
𑀲𑁄 (Brahmi script)
सो (Devanagari script)
সো (Bengali script)
සො (Sinhalese script)
သော or သေႃ (Burmese script)
โส (Thai script)
ᩈᩮᩣ (Tai Tham script)
ໂສ (Lao script)
សោ (Khmer script)
𑄥𑄮 (Chakma script)

Pronoun

स (sa)

Devanagari script form of sa

Adjective

स (sa)

Devanagari script form of sa, which is masculine nominative singular of त (ta, “that”)

Noun

स (sa)

Devanagari script form of sa, which is vocative singular of सन् (san, “dog”)

Sanskrit

Alternative scripts

স (Assamese script)
ᬲ (Balinese script)
স (Bengali script)
𑰭 (Bhaiksuki script)
𑀲 (Brahmi script)
သ (Burmese script)
સ (Gujarati script)
ਸ (Gurmukhi script)
𑌸 (Grantha script)
ꦱ (Javanese script)
𑂮 (Kaithi script)
ಸ (Kannada script)
ស (Khmer script)
ສ (Lao script)
സ (Malayalam script)
ᠰᠠ (Manchu script)
𑘭 (Modi script)
ᠰᠠ᠋ (Mongolian script)
𑧍 (Nandinagari script)
𑐳 (Newa script)
ସ (Odia script)
ꢱ (Saurashtra script)
𑆱 (Sharada script)
𑖭 (Siddham script)
ස (Sinhalese script)
𑪁 (Soyombo script)
𑚨 (Takri script)
ஸ (Tamil script)
స (Telugu script)
ส (Thai script)
ས (Tibetan script)
𑒮 (Tirhuta script)
𑨰 (Zanabazar Square script)

Pronunciation

(Vedic) IPA^(key): /sɐ/, /sɐ́/

(Classical Sanskrit) IPA^(key): /s̪ɐ/

Etymology 1

Letter

स • (sa)

the thirty-second consonant in Sanskrit
Synonym: सकार (sakāra)
the last of the three sibilants

Etymology 2

Inherited from Proto-Indo-Iranian *sá, from Proto-Indo-European *só. See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronoun

स • (sá) m

masculine nominative singular of तद् (tad); he, it, that

Determiner

स • (sá) m

masculine nominative singular of तद् (tad); that one

Etymology 3

From Proto-Indo-European *sm̥- (“whole, all, together (with)”), from the root *sem-.

Prefix

स • (sa)

an inseparable prefix expressing "junction", "conjunction", "possession" (as opposed to a privative), "similarity", "equality"
when compounded with nouns to form adjectives and adverbs it may be translated by "with", "together or along with", "accompanied by", "added to", "having", "possessing", "containing", "having the same"
सकोप (sa-kopa) — full of anger, enraged, displeased

साग्नि (sā*gni) — together with the fire

सभार्य (sa-bhārya) — with a wife, having a wife

सद्रोण (sa-droṇa) — with a droṇa added to a droṇa

सधर्मन् (sa-dharman) — having the same duties

सवर्ण (sa-varṇa) — having the same colour or appearance, similar, like
"-ly"
सकोपम् (sa-kopam) — angrily

सोपधि (so*padhi) — fraudulently

Derived terms

Sanskrit terms prefixed with स-
साक्ष
सार्थ
सार्ध
सकण्टक
सटीक
सदृक्ष
सदृश
सदृश्
सपत्नी
सपाद
सप्रत्यय
समान
सहित

Etymology 4

Noun

स • (sá) stem, ?

(prosody) an anapest

Etymology 5

Noun

स • (sá) stem, ?

(music) Abbreviation of षड्ज (ṣaḍ-ja).

Etymology 6

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

स • (sá) stem, m

a snake
air, wind
a bird
name of Vishnu or Shiva

Declension

Masculine a-stem declension of स
	singular	dual	plural
nominative	सः (sáḥ)	सौ (saú) सा¹ (sā́¹)	साः (sā́ḥ) सासः¹ (sā́saḥ¹)
vocative	स (sá)	सौ (saú) सा¹ (sā́¹)	साः (sā́ḥ) सासः¹ (sā́saḥ¹)
accusative	सम् (sám)	सौ (saú) सा¹ (sā́¹)	सान् (sā́n)
instrumental	सेन (séna)	साभ्याम् (sā́bhyām)	सैः (saíḥ) सेभिः¹ (sébhiḥ¹)
dative	साय (sā́ya)	साभ्याम् (sā́bhyām)	सेभ्यः (sébhyaḥ)
ablative	सात् (sā́t)	साभ्याम् (sā́bhyām)	सेभ्यः (sébhyaḥ)
genitive	सस्य (sásya)	सयोः (sáyoḥ)	सानाम् (sā́nām)
locative	से (sé)	सयोः (sáyoḥ)	सेषु (séṣu)

¹Vedic

Noun

स • (sa) stem, n

knowledge
meditation
a carriage road
a fence

Declension

Neuter a-stem declension of स
	singular	dual	plural
nominative	सम् (sám)	से (sé)	सानि (sā́ni) सा¹ (sā́¹)
vocative	स (sá)	से (sé)	सानि (sā́ni) सा¹ (sā́¹)
accusative	सम् (sám)	से (sé)	सानि (sā́ni) सा¹ (sā́¹)
instrumental	सेन (séna)	साभ्याम् (sā́bhyām)	सैः (saíḥ) सेभिः¹ (sébhiḥ¹)
dative	साय (sā́ya)	साभ्याम् (sā́bhyām)	सेभ्यः (sébhyaḥ)
ablative	सात् (sā́t)	साभ्याम् (sā́bhyām)	सेभ्यः (sébhyaḥ)
genitive	सस्य (sásya)	सयोः (sáyoḥ)	सानाम् (sā́nām)
locative	से (sé)	सयोः (sáyoḥ)	सेषु (séṣu)

¹Vedic

Etymology 7

From the root सन् (san, “to procure, bestow, give, distribute”).

Adjective

स • (sá) stem (root सन्)

(at the end of a compound) procuring, bestowing
पशुष (paśu-ṣá) — bestowing cattle

प्रियस (priyá-sá) — granting desired objects

References

Monier Williams (1899) “स”, in A Sanskrit–English Dictionary, […], new edition, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 1111.