A Sanskrit compound is more than two words pushed together. Follow a worked example to see what each member contributes, where the head is and how the compact form opens into an analytic phrase.
five nights
पञ्चpañca
five
रात्रिrātri
night
Second member is the head
A numeral is the first member and measures the second. Dvigu is traditionally taught as its own label and is also analyzed within tatpuruṣa.
Analytic paraphrase
pañca rātrayaḥ
In English
five nights
Note: Compound-final rātri takes the form rātra here.
The head is the part that the whole compound is fundamentally naming. Finding it separates the four broad structures.
The first member depends on or qualifies the second. This covers tatpuruṣa and its classroom subtypes.
The first member governs the second and the whole expression becomes indeclinable, as in avyayībhāva.
The members are coordinated as equals. The analytic paraphrase supplies “and,” as in dvandva.
Neither member names the referent. Together they describe an external person or thing, as in bahuvrīhi.
Why there is no free-form classifier
The same visible members can admit different analyses when their meaning or context changes. This tool therefore presents checked examples and never labels an arbitrary word from spelling alone.
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