Ap (water)  From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to:
navigation, search  Ap (áp-) is the Vedic Sanskrit term for
"water", in Classical Sanskrit occurring only in the plural,
āpas (sometimes re-analysed as a thematic singular, āpa-),
whence Hindi āp. The term is from PIE hxap "water". The Indo-
Iranian word survives also, as the Persian word for water, Āb,
e.g. in Punjab (from panj-āb "five waters"). Here, a similarity
can be seen between the concept of 'Ap'(Waters/River) and the
Sumerian 'Ab'(Ocean), which is a language that is widely
believed to be a language isolate. In archaic ablauting
contractions, the laryngeal of the PIE root remains visible in
Vedic Sanskrit, e.g. pratīpa- "against the current", from
*proti-hxp-o-.  In the Rigveda, several hymns are dedicated to
"the waters" (āpas): 7.49, 10.9, 10.30, 10.47. In the oldest of
these, 7.49, the waters are connected with the draught of Indra.
Agni, the god of fire, has a close association with water and is
often referred to as Apām Napāt "offspring o