गुण

गुण

See also: गण, गण्, and गुणा

Hindi

Etymology

Borrowed from Sanskrit गुण (guṇá).

Pronunciation

• (Delhi Hindi) IPA^(key): /ɡʊɳ/, [ɡʊ̃ɳ]

Noun

गुण • (guṇ) m

1. quality, condition

   उसके कोई अच्छे गुण हैं ही नहीं।

   uske koī acche guṇ ha͠i hī nahī̃.

   He has no good qualities at all.

2. characteristic, property
3. merit, virtue

Declension

Declension of गुण (masc cons-stem)

	singular	plural
direct	गुण guṇ	गुण guṇ
oblique	गुण guṇ	गुणों guṇõ
vocative	गुण guṇ	गुणो guṇo

Alternative forms

• गुन (gun) – Braj, dated

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Old Gujarati

Etymology

Borrowed from Sanskrit गुण (guṇá).

Noun

गुण • (guṇa) m

1. virtue

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Pali

Alternative forms

Alternative forms

• guṇa (Latin script)
• 𑀕𑀼𑀡 (Brahmi script)
• গুণ (Bengali script)
• ගුණ (Sinhalese script)
• ဂုဏ or ၷုꧣ (Burmese script)
• คุณ or คุณะ (Thai script)
• ᨣᩩᨱ (Tai Tham script)
• ຄຸຓ or ຄຸຓະ (Lao script)
• គុណ (Khmer script)
• 𑄉𑄪𑄕 (Chakma script)

Noun

गुण m

1. Devanagari script form of guṇa (“string”)
2. Devanagari script form of guṇa (“quality”)

Declension

Declension table of "गुण" (masculine)

Case \\ Number	Singular	Plural
Nominative (first)	गुणो (guṇo)	गुणा (guṇā)
Accusative (second)	गुणं (guṇaṃ)	गुणे (guṇe)
Instrumental (third)	गुणेन (guṇena)	गुणेहि (guṇehi) or गुणेभि (guṇebhi)
Dative (fourth)	गुणस्स (guṇassa) or गुणाय (guṇāya) or गुणत्थं (guṇatthaṃ)	गुणानं (guṇānaṃ)
Ablative (fifth)	गुणस्मा (guṇasmā) or गुणम्हा (guṇamhā) or गुणा (guṇā)	गुणेहि (guṇehi) or गुणेभि (guṇebhi)
Genitive (sixth)	गुणस्स (guṇassa)	गुणानं (guṇānaṃ)
Locative (seventh)	गुणस्मिं (guṇasmiṃ) or गुणम्हि (guṇamhi) or गुणे (guṇe)	गुणेसु (guṇesu)
Vocative (calling)	गुण (guṇa)	गुणा (guṇā)

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Sanskrit

Alternative scripts

Alternative scripts

• ᬕᬸᬡ (Balinese script)
• গুণ (Assamese script)
• গুণ (Bengali script)
• 𑰐𑰲𑰜 (Bhaiksuki script)
• 𑀕𑀼𑀡 (Brahmi script)
• 𑌗𑍁𑌣 (Grantha script)
• ગુણ (Gujarati script)
• ਗੁਣ (Gurmukhi script)
• ꦒꦸꦟ (Javanese script)
• គុណ (Khmer script)
• ಗುಣ (Kannada script)
• ຄຸຓ (Lao script)
• ഗുണ (Malayalam script)
• 𑘐𑘳𑘜 (Modi script)
• ᠺᠤᢏᠠ᠋ (Mongolian script)
• ᡤᡠᢏᠠ (Manchu script)
• ဂုဏ (Burmese script)
• 𑦰𑧔𑦼 (Nandinagari script)
• 𑐐𑐸𑐞 (Newa script)
• ଗୁଣ (Oriya script)
• ꢔꢸꢠ (Saurashtra script)
• 𑆓𑆶𑆟 (Sharada script)
• 𑖐𑖲𑖜 (Siddham script)
• ගුණ (Sinhalese script)
• గుణ (Telugu script)
• คุณ (Thai script)
• གུ་ཎ (Tibetan script)
• 𑒑𑒳𑒝 (Tirhuta script)

Etymology

Unknown. Oldest attested meaning is probably “time, occurrence”.[1]

Pronunciation

• (Vedic) IPA^(key): /ɡu.ɳɐ́/
• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈɡu.ɳɐ/

Noun

गुण • (guṇá) m

1. string, strand
2. sinew (of a bow)
3. string (of an instrument)
4. time (occurrence)
   • c. 1200 BCE – 1000 BCE, Atharvaveda 10.8.43:

     त्रिभिर्गुणेभिर्

     tribhír guṇébhir

     three times

5. quality, property
6. (grammar, ablaut) full grade of vowels, ie /a/, /ar/, /e/, and /o/ (contrasts with zero grade and lengthened grade/vṛddhi)

Declension

Masculine a-stem declension of गुण (guṇá)
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	गुणः guṇáḥ	गुणौ guṇaú	गुणाः / गुणासः¹ guṇā́ḥ / guṇā́saḥ¹
Vocative	गुण gúṇa	गुणौ gúṇau	गुणाः / गुणासः¹ gúṇāḥ / gúṇāsaḥ¹
Accusative	गुणम् guṇám	गुणौ guṇaú	गुणान् guṇā́n
Instrumental	गुणेन guṇéna	गुणाभ्याम् guṇā́bhyām	गुणैः / गुणेभिः¹ guṇaíḥ / guṇébhiḥ¹
Dative	गुणाय guṇā́ya	गुणाभ्याम् guṇā́bhyām	गुणेभ्यः guṇébhyaḥ
Ablative	गुणात् guṇā́t	गुणाभ्याम् guṇā́bhyām	गुणेभ्यः guṇébhyaḥ
Genitive	गुणस्य guṇásya	गुणयोः guṇáyoḥ	गुणानाम् guṇā́nām
Locative	गुणे guṇé	गुणयोः guṇáyoḥ	गुणेषु guṇéṣu
Notes	¹Vedic

Descendants

• Pali: guṇa
  • → Khmer: គុណ (kun)
  • → Burmese: ဂုဏ် (gun)
  • → Shan: ၵုင်ႇ (kùng)
  • → Thai: คุณ (kun)
• → English: guna
• → Hindi: गुण (guṇ)
• → Malay: guna
• → Old Gujarati: गुण (guṇa)
• → Telugu: గుణము (guṇamu)

References

1. Mayrhofer, Manfred (1992) Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen [Etymological Dictionary of Old Indo-Aryan] (in German), volume 1, Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, page 489

Further reading

• Monier Williams (1899), “गुण”, in A Sanskrit–English Dictionary, […], new edition, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, OCLC 458052227, page 0357.
• Otto Böhtlingk; Richard Schmidt (1879-1928), “गुण”, in Walter Slaje, Jürgen Hanneder, Paul Molitor, Jörg Ritter, editors, Nachtragswörterbuch des Sanskrit [Dictionary of Sanskrit with supplements] (in German), Halle-Wittenberg: Martin-Luther-Universität, published 2016