---
type: Concept
bundle: mimamsa-dharma
bundle_version: 0.10.0
id: abhihitanvaya
title: Abhihitānvaya
iast: Abhihitānvaya
devanagari: अभिहितान्वय
description: 'The Bhāṭṭa theory of sentence meaning: words first express their individual meanings, which are then connected into a sentence-sense by a further operation, so word-meaning is primary and sentence-meaning derived; NOT modern compositionality, NOT the claim that sentences are meaningless, NOT syntax.'
darshana:
- Pūrva-Mīmāṃsā
text_source: Ślokavārttika, Vākyādhikaraṇa
tags:
- abhihitanvaya
- mimamsa
- bhatta
- sentence-meaning
not:
- term: 'the modern compositionality principle'
  why: 'Though both relate word and sentence meaning, abhihitānvaya is a specific psychological-semantic claim: separately denoted word-meanings are combined by a distinct further power into the sentence-sense. It is one side of a classical Indian debate, not the Fregean principle.'
  instead: 'Present abhihitānvaya as the Bhāṭṭa view that words denote singly and are then connected into sentence-meaning, one pole of the Indian sentence-meaning debate.'
- term: 'the view that sentences have no meaning of their own'
  why: 'Abhihitānvaya affirms a genuine sentence-meaning; it just holds it is arrived at by connecting already-denoted word-meanings, not given directly.'
- term: 'syntax or grammar'
  why: 'It is a semantic theory of how sentence-sense arises from word-senses, not an account of grammatical form.'
related:
- /concepts/anvitabhidhana.md
- /concepts/jati.md
- /concepts/sabda-nityata.md
timestamp: '2026-07-08'
okf_version: '0.2'
license: CC BY-SA 4.0
---

# Abhihitānvaya -- अभिहितान्वय

**Not:** modern compositionality, sentences have no meaning, syntax or grammar

## What It Actually Means

How does a sentence mean? The Bhāṭṭa answer is abhihitānvaya, connection of the already-denoted: each word first delivers its own meaning, and then a further operation relates these meanings into the unified import of the sentence. Word-meaning is thus logically prior; sentence-meaning is a construction upon it. This pairs with the Bhāṭṭa taste for analysis, as with bhāvanā and apūrva, and stands against the Prābhākara anvitābhidhāna (see anvitabhidhana), making the two schools'' theories of language as sharply opposed as their theories of duty.

## Audience Metaphor

Abhihitānvaya builds a sentence the way you assemble its meaning from a dictionary: look up each word, then work out how the looked-up meanings fit together. The words speak first; the joining comes after.

## Citations

1. Kumārila, Ślokavārttika, the Vākyādhikaraṇa on sentence meaning -- see [references/slokavarttika.md](../references/slokavarttika.md)
2. Śāstra-dīpikā on abhihitānvaya -- see [references/sastra-dipika.md](../references/sastra-dipika.md)
