The encoding of ad hoc categories in Sanskrit: A synchronic and diachronic analysis of “compounds” with ādi-

Abstract This paper provides a new description of nominal compounds featuring the noun ādi- ‘beginning’ in Sanskrit. When used as second member of a compound, ādi- is commonly translated as ‘etcetera’ and the resulting compound displays a number of semantic and morphological oddities, as observed in reference grammars. Based on a thorough corpus analysis, we show that ādi- compounds are in fact associated with different functions, and that among other things they can be employed for the task of on-line categorization. Specifically, we argue that they can also encode ad hoc categories. In the second part of the paper, we describe the diachronic process whereby ādi- compounds developed into ad hoc category markers. In so doing, we adopt the perspective of constructionalization and suggest, against the traditional analysis of these forms as compounds, that when meaning ‘etcetera’, ādi- behaves as an affixoid. In this respect, the findings of this paper contribute to the general understanding of the diachronic typology of ad hoc category markers.