अल्पप्राण

From अल्प (alpa, “small, little”) +‎ प्राण (prāṇa, “breath”).

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ɐl̪.pɐpˈɾɑː.ɳɐ/

अल्पप्राण • (alpaprāṇa) stem, m

1. (phonetics) slight breathing or weak aspiration
   • c. 1600 – 1700, Varadarāja, Laghusiddhāntakaumudī 10

अल्पप्राण • (alpaprāṇa) stem

1. (literally) having shortness of breath
   • c. 600 BCE – 600 CE, Suśruta, Suśruta Saṃhitā 15
2. tired; out of breath
   • c. 400 BCE, Mahābhārata 7.116.31:

     जयद्रथश्च हन्तव्यो लम्बते च दिवाकरः ।
     श्रान्तश्चैष महाबाहुर् अल्पप्राणश् च सांप्रतम् ॥

     jayadrathaśca hantavyo lambate ca divākaraḥ.
     śrāntaścaiṣa mahābāhur alpaprāṇaś ca sāṃpratam.

     The setting sun is hanging low; Jayadratha remains to be killed.
     And the mighty-armed one is exhausted and now out of breath.

3. (phonetics) unaspirated
   • c. 700 CE, Daṇḍin, Kāvyādarśa 1.43:

     श्लिष्टम् अस्पृष्टशैथिल्यम् अल्पप्राणाक्षरोत्तरम् ।
     शिथिलं मालतीमाला लोलालिकलिला यथा ॥

     śliṣṭam aspṛṣṭaśaithilyam alpaprāṇākṣarottaram.
     śithilaṃ mālatīmālā lolālikalilā yathā.

     Cohesion means being untouched by the lax sounds, which largely consist of unaspirated syllables;
     Laxity: for example, as in "mālatīmālā lolālikalilā" (a garland of jasmines in the throng of tossing bees).

• (antonym(s) of “unaspirated”): महाप्राण (mahāprāṇa)

• Monier Williams (1899) “अल्पप्राण”, in A Sanskrit–English Dictionary, […], new edition, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 0095.