अहम्

See also: अहम

Sanskrit

Alternative scripts

Alternative scripts

অহম্ (Assamese script)
ᬅᬳᬫ᭄ (Balinese script)
অহম্ (Bengali script)
𑰀𑰮𑰦𑰿 (Bhaiksuki script)
𑀅𑀳𑀫𑁆 (Brahmi script)
အဟမ် (Burmese script)
અહમ્ (Gujarati script)
ਅਹਮ੍ (Gurmukhi script)
𑌅𑌹𑌮𑍍 (Grantha script)
ꦄꦲꦩ꧀ (Javanese script)
𑂃𑂯𑂧𑂹 (Kaithi script)
ಅಹಮ್ (Kannada script)
អហម៑ (Khmer script)
ອຫມ຺ (Lao script)
അഹമ് (Malayalam script)
ᠠᡥᠠᠮ (Manchu script)
𑘀𑘮𑘦𑘿 (Modi script)
ᠠᠾᠠᠮ (Mongolian script)
𑦠𑧎𑧆𑧠 (Nandinagari script)
𑐀𑐴𑐩𑑂 (Newa script)
ଅହମ୍ (Odia script)
ꢂꢲꢪ꣄ (Saurashtra script)
𑆃𑆲𑆩𑇀 (Sharada script)
𑖀𑖮𑖦𑖿 (Siddham script)
අහම් (Sinhalese script)
𑩐𑪂𑩴 𑪙 (Soyombo script)
𑚀𑚩𑚢𑚶 (Takri script)
அஹம் (Tamil script)
అహమ్ (Telugu script)
อหมฺ (Thai script)
ཨ་ཧ་མ྄ (Tibetan script)
𑒁𑒯𑒧𑓂 (Tirhuta script)
𑨀𑨱𑨢𑨴 (Zanabazar Square script)

Etymology

Sanskrit personal pronouns
first person	singular	dual	plural
lemma	म (ma)	आव (āva)	अस्म (asma)
nominative case	अहम् (aham)	आवाम् (āvām)	वयम् (vayam)
enclitic form(s)	मा (mā), मे (me)	नौ (nau)	नः (naḥ)
second person	singular	dual	plural
lemma	त्व (tva)	युव (yuva)	युष्म (yuṣma)
nominative case	त्वम् (tvam)	युवाम् (yuvām)	यूयम् (yūyam)
enclitic form(s)	त्वा (tvā), ते (te)	वाम् (vām)	वः (vaḥ)

From Proto-Indo-Iranian *aȷ́ʰám, from Proto-Indo-European *eǵh₂óm.^[1] Cognate with Avestan 𐬀𐬰𐬇𐬨 (azə̄m), Ancient Greek ἐγώ (egṓ), Latin ego, Old English ic (whence English I).

Pronunciation

(Vedic) IPA^(key): /ɐ.ɦɐ́m/
(Classical Sanskrit) IPA^(key): /ɐ.ɦɐm/

Pronoun

अ॒हम् • (ahám)

nominative singular of म (ma); I
Coordinate term: त्वम् (tvam)

Derived terms

अहंकार (ahaṃkāra, “self-consciousness”)

Descendants

Dardic:
- Kalasha: a
- Khowar: aowa
Middle Indo-Aryan: *𑀅𑀳𑀁 (*ahaṃ)^[2]
- Ardhamagadhi Prakrit: 𑀅𑀳𑀁 (ahaṃ), 𑀳𑀁 (haṃ)
- Magadhi Prakrit: 𑀳𑀕𑁂 (hage), 𑀳𑀕𑁆𑀕𑁂 (hagge), 𑀳𑀁 (haṃ), 𑀳𑀓𑀁 (hakaṃ) (Ashokan Edicts)
  - Old Bengali: হাঁউ (hā̃u)
  - Kamarupi Prakrit: 𑖮𑖯𑖼𑖄 (hām̐u)
- Gandhari: 𐨀𐨱 (aha), 𐨀𐨱𐨆 (aho), 𐨀𐨱𐨂 (ahu)
- Maharastri Prakrit: 𑀅𑀳𑀁 (ahaṃ), 𑀅𑀳𑀅𑀁 (ahaaṃ), 𑀳𑀁 (haṃ)
  - Jain Maharastri Prakrit: 𑀅𑀳𑀅𑀁 (ahai̯aṃ), 𑀳𑀁 (haṃ)
  - Konkani: हांव (hā̃v, “I”)
- Pali: ahaṃ
- Sauraseni Prakrit: 𑀅𑀳𑀁 (ahaṃ)
  - Sauraseni Apabhramsa: हउं (haüṃ)
    - Braj: हौं (ha͠u), हों (hõ)
  - Sindhi: آئون (āū̃), आऊं
  - Gurjara Apabhramsa: हउं (haüṃ)
    - Old Gujarati: हउं (haüṃ)
      - Gujarati: હું (hũ)
      - Marwari: हौं (ha͠u)
→ Hindi: अहं (ahã, “ego”)
→ Tamil: அஹம் (aham)
→ Telugu: అహము (ahamu), అహం (ahaṁ)

References

^ Mayrhofer, Manfred (1992), “ahám”, in Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen [Etymological Dictionary of Old Indo-Aryan]‎^[1] (in German), volume 1, Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, page 155
^ Pischel, Richard; Jha, Subhadra (contributor) (1957), Comparative Grammar of the Prakrit Languages‎^[2], Varanasi: Motilal Banarasidass

Further reading

Monier Williams (1899), “अहम्”, in A Sanskrit–English Dictionary, […], new edition, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 124, column 2.
Hellwig, Oliver (2010–2026), “mad”, in DCS - The Digital Corpus of Sanskrit, Berlin, Germany.
Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985), “ahám”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press