anya liṅgaka

 Anya‑liṅgaka means an adjective that takes the gender of the noun it qualifies, a synonym of anya‑liṅga

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What the term means

The compound anya‑liṅgaka (अन्यलिङ्गक) is explained in the sources as a synonym of anya‑liṅga (अन्यलिङ्ग)

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The definition given is:

• “having the gender of another word (the substantive)” — that is, an adjective whose grammatical gender is not fixed but changes to match the noun it describes

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This is a standard feature of Sanskrit adjectives: they must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case. The term anya‑liṅga simply names this property.

How it functions in grammar

In Sanskrit, adjectives are typically variable: they decline in all three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter).
The term anya‑liṅgaka highlights this variability:

• The adjective does not have its own inherent gender.
• Instead, it adopts the gender of the noun it qualifies.
• Grammarians classify such adjectives as bahuvrīhi compounds meaning “having the gender of another”

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Example from the source

The example cited in the results is:

• ऊषवान् ऊषरः द्वावप्यन्यलिङ्गौ — “ūṣavān and ūṣaraḥ, both are anya‑liṅga” (i.e., adjectives that take the gender of the noun)

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This illustrates that the same adjective stem can appear in different genders depending on the noun it modifies.

Relation to general gender rules

The broader rules of gender determination in Sanskrit (puṁliṅga, strīliṅga, napuṁsaka) are described in detail in the gender overview

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Adjectives, however, do not follow fixed gender rules like nouns do. Instead, they are anya‑liṅgaka — they borrow the gender of the noun.

Summary

• Anya‑liṅgaka / anya‑liṅga = an adjective whose gender is not inherent but determined by the noun.
• It is a standard grammatical category for adjectives in Sanskrit.
• The term is used in traditional lexicons and commentaries to describe agreement behaviour.