View source for Ap (water)

{{short description|Vedic Sanskrit term for "water"}}
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'''''Ap''''' (''{{IAST|áp-}}'') is the [[Vedic Sanskrit]] term for "water", which in [[Classical Sanskrit]] only occurs in the plural '''''{{IAST|āpas}}''''' (sometimes re-analysed as a thematic singular, ''{{IAST|āpa-}}''), whence [[Hindi]] '''''{{IAST|āp}}'''''. The term is from [[PIE]] {{PIE|''h<sub>x</sub>ap''}} "water".<ref group="note">The word has many cognates in archaic European toponyms, e.g., ''[[Messapia (disambiguation)|Mess-apia]]'', and perhaps also ''[[River Avon (disambiguation)|Avon]]'', from [[British language (Celtic)|Old Brythonic]] ''abona'' or Welsh ''[[afon]]'' ({{IPA|cy|ˈavɔn|pron}}), both meaning 'river'.</ref>
The [[Indo-Iranian languages|Indo-Iranian]] word also survives as the [[Persian language|Persian]] word for water, ''āb'',  e.g. in ''[[Punjab region|Punjab]]'' (from ''panj-āb'' "five waters"). In archaic [[Indo-European ablaut|ablaut]]ing contractions, the [[Laryngeal theory|laryngeal]] of the PIE root remains visible in Vedic Sanskrit, e.g. ''{{IAST|pratīpa-}}'' "against the current", from ''*{{PIE|proti-h<sub>x</sub>p-o-}}''. In [[Tamil language|Tamil]], Appu (Tamil form of "Ap") means water, and has references in poetry.
In the [[Rigveda]], several hymns are dedicated to "the waters" (''{{IAST|āpas}}''): 7.49, 10.9, 10.30, 10.137. In the oldest of these, 7.49, the waters are connected with the drought of [[Indra]].  [[Agni]], the god of fire, has a close association with water and is often referred to as ''[[Apam Napat|Apām Napāt]]'' "offspring of the waters". In Vedic astrology, the female deity Apah is the presiding deity of the [[Purva Ashadha]] [[Asterism (astronomy)|asterism]], meaning "first of the aṣāḍhā", with aṣāḍhā "the invincible one" being the name of the  greater constellation.
In [[Hindu philosophy]], the term refers to  [[water (classical element)|water as an element]], one of the ''[[Mahābhūta|Panchamahabhuta]],'' or "five great elements". In [[Hinduism]], it is also the name of the deva Varuna a [[personification]] of water, one of the [[Vasu]]s in most later [[Puranic]] lists.
== Notes ==
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== See also ==
* [[Varuna]], the god of water
* [[Samudra]], the sea god
* [[Abzu]], the [[Sumerian religion|Sumerian]] primeval waters
* [[Aban]] or āpō, the Avestan concept of "the waters"
* [[Doab]], spit of land lying between two confluent rivers
* [[Old European hydronymy]]
* [[Rigvedic rivers]]
* [[Sea and river deity]]
{{Indian Philosophy}}
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