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

From Proto-Indo-Iranian *aȷ́ʰám, from Proto-Indo-European *eǵh₂óm. 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

अहम् • (ahám)

I

Declension

Declension of the first-person pronoun
	singular	dual	plural
nominative	अहम् (ahám)	आवाम् (āvā́m), आवम्¹ (āvám¹)	वयम् (vayám)
accusative	माम् (mā́m)	आवाम् (āvā́m)	अस्मान् (asmā́n)
instrumental	मया (máyā)	आवाभ्याम् (āvā́bhyām)	अस्माभिः (asmā́bhiḥ)
dative	मह्यम् (máhyam), मे¹ (mé¹)	आवाभ्याम् (āvā́bhyām)	अस्मभ्यम् (asmábhyam), अस्मे¹ (asmé¹)
ablative	मत् (mát), मत्तः (mattáḥ)	आवाभ्याम् (āvā́bhyām), आवत्¹ (āvát¹)	अस्मत् (asmát), अस्मत्तः (asmattaḥ)
genitive	मम (máma)	आवयोः (āváyoḥ)	अस्माकम् (asmā́kam)
locative	मयि (máyi), मे¹ (mé¹)	आवयोः (āváyoḥ)	अस्मासु (asmā́su), अस्मे¹ (asmé¹)
enclitic accusative	मा (mā)	नौ (nau)	नः (naḥ)
enclitic dative/genitive	मे (me)	नौ (nau)	नः (naḥ)

¹Vedic

Descendants

Dardic:
- Kalasha: a
- Khowar: aowa
Middle Indo-Aryan: *𑀅𑀳𑀁 (*ahaṃ)^[1]
- 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)
  - Gurjara Apabhramsa: हउं (haüṃ)
    - Old Gujarati: हउं (haüṃ)
      - Gujarati: હું (hũ)
      - Marwari: हौं (ha͠u)
→ Tamil: அஹம் (aham)
→ Telugu: అహము (ahamu), అహం (ahaṁ)

References

^ Pischel, Richard; Jha, Subhadra (contributor) (1957), Comparative Grammar of the Prakrit Languages‎^[1], Varanasi: Motilal Banarasidass

Monier Williams (1899), “अहम्”, in A Sanskrit–English Dictionary, […], new edition, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 124, column 2.
Mayrhofer, Manfred (1992), “ahám”, in Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen [Etymological Dictionary of Old Indo-Aryan]‎^[2] (in German), volume 1, Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, page 155
Hellwig, Oliver (2010–2025), “mad”, in DCS - The Digital Corpus of Sanskrit, Berlin, Germany.