Classical Elements v â€¢ d â€¢ e

Greek   Air   Water Aether Fire   Earth   Bön   Air   Water Space Fire   Earth   Hinduism (Tattva) and Buddhism (MahÄ�bhÅ«ta) Prithvi / Bhumi — Earth Ap / Jala — Water Vayu / Pavan — Air / Wind Agni / Tejas — Fire Akasha — Aether Japanese (Godai) Earth (地) Water (æ°´) Air / Wind (風) Fire (ç�«) Void / Sky / Heaven (空) Chinese (Wu Xing)   Water (æ°´)   Metal (金) Earth (土) Wood (木)   Fire (ç�«)

Ap (áp-) is the Vedic Sanskrit term for "water", in Classical Sanskrit occurring only in the plural, �pas (sometimes re-analysed as a thematic singular, �pa-), whence Hindi �p. The term is from PIE h_xap "water". The Indo-Iranian word survives also, as the Persian word for water, Aab, e.g. in Punjab (from pañc�pas "five waters"). In archaic ablauting contractions, the laryngeal of the PIE root remains visible in Vedic Sanskrit, e.g. pratīpa- "against the current", from *proti-h_xp-o-. The word has many cognates in archaic European toponyms (e.g. Mess-apia, perhaps also Avon).

In the Rigveda, several hymns are dedicated to "the waters" (�pas): 7.49, 10.9, 10.30, 10.47. In the oldest of these, 7.49, the waters are connected with the draught of Indra (Soma, referred to as "the offspring of water", nap�t ap�m).

In Hindu philosophy, the term refers to water as an element, one of the Panchamahabhuta, or "five great elements". In Hinduism, it is also the name of the deva, a personification of water, (one of the Vasus in most later Puranic lists).

In the Thai language, "ap" refers to a splashing of water, and "nam" is water. Therefore a showerbath is called "ap nam". Many Thai words have roots in Sanskrit.

See also

• Ä�pÅ�, the Avestan concept of the "the waters"
• Rigvedic rivers
• Old European hydronymy
• Sea and river deity

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia