# Sanskrit Grammar (Whitney)/Chapter V

CHAPTER V.
NOUNS AND ADJECTIVES.
321. a. The accordance in inflection of substantive and adjective stems is so complete that the two cannot be separated in treatment from one another.
b. They may be classified, for convenience of description, as follows:
I. Stems in अ a;
II. Stems in इ i and उ u;
III. Stems in आ ā, ई ī, and ऊ ū: namely, A. radical-stems (and a few others inflected like them); B. derivative stems;
IV. Stems in ऋ ṛ (or अर् ar);
V. Stems in consonants.
c. There is nothing absolute in this classification and arrangement; it is merely believed to be open to as few objections as any other. No general agreement has been reached among scholars as to the number and order of Sanskrit declensions. The stems in a are here treated first because of the great predominance of the class.
322. The division-line between substantive and adjective, always an uncertain one in early Indo-European language, is even more wavering in Sanskrit than elsewhere. There are, however, in all the declensions as divided above — unless we except the stems in ṛ or ar — words which are distinctly adjectives; and, in general, they are inflected precisely like noun-stems of the same final: only, among consonant-stems, there are certain sub-classes of adjective stems with peculiarities of inflection to which there is among nouns nothing corresponding. But there are also two considerable classes of adjective-compounds, requiring special notice: namely —
323. Compound adjectives having as final member a bare verbal root, with the value of a present participle (383 a ff.): thus, su-dṛ́ç well-looking; pra-búdh foreknowing; a-drúh not hating; veda-víd Veda-knowing; vṛtra-hán Vritra-slaying; upastha-sád sitting in the lap. Every root is liable to be used in this way, and such compounds are not infrequent in all ages of the language: see chapter on Compounds, below (1269).
a. This class is essentially only a special class of compound adjectives, since in the earliest Veda the simple as well as the compounded root was sometimes used adjectively. But the compounded root was from the beginning much more often so used, and the later the more exclusively, so that practically the class is a separate and important one.
324. Compound adjectives having a noun as final member, but obtaining an adjective sense secondarily, by having the idea of possession added, and being inflected as adjectives in the three genders (1293 ff.). Thus, prajākāmá desire of progeny, whence the adjective prajā́kāma, meaning desirous (i.e. having desire) of progeny; sabhārya (sa+bhāryā) having one's wife along; and so on.
a. In a few cases, also, the final noun is syntactically object of the preceding member (1309–10): thus, atimātra immoderate (ati mātram beyond measure); yāvayáddveṣas driving away enemies.
325. Hence, under each declension, we have to notice how a root or a noun-stem of that declension is inflected when final member of an adjective compound.
a. As to accent, it needs only to be remarked here that a root-word ending a compound has the accent, but (320) loses the peculiarity of monosyllabic accentuation, and does not throw the tone forward upon the ending (except añc in certain old forms: 410).
Declension I.
Stems (masculine and neuter) in अ a.
326. a. This declension contains the majority of all the declined stems of the language.
b. Its endings deviate more widely than any others from the normal.
327. Endings: Singular. a. The nom. masc. has the normal ending s.
b. The acc. (masc. and neut.) adds m (not am); and this form has the office also of nom. neuter.
c. The instr. changes a to ena uniformly in the later language; and even in the oldest Vedic this is the predominant ending (in RV., eight ninths of all cases). Its final is in Vedic verse frequently made long (enā). But the normal ending ā — thus, yajñā́ , suhávā, mahitvā́ (for yajñéna etc.) — is also not rare in the Veda.
d. The dat. has āya (as if by adding aya to a), alike in all ages of the language.
e. The abl. has t (or doubtless d: it is impossible from the evidence of the Sanskrit to tell which is the original form of the ending), ​before which ā is made long: this ending is found in no other noun-declension, and elsewhere only in the personal pronouns (of all numbers).
f. The gen. has sya added to the final a; and this ending is also limited to a-stems (with the single exception of the pronoun amúṣya: 501). Its final a is in only three cases made long in the Veda; and its y is vocalized (asia) almost as rarely.
g. The loc. ends in e (as if by combining the normal ending i with the final of the stem), without exception.
h. The voc. is the bare stem.
328. Dual. a. The dual endings in general are the normal ones.
b. The nom., acc., and voc. masc. end in the later language always in āu. In the Veda, however, the usual ending is simple ā (in RV., in seven eights of the occurrences). The same cases in the neut. end in e, which appears to be the result of fusion of the stem-final with the normal ending ī.
c. The instr., dat., and abl. have bhyām (in only one or two Vedic instances resolved into bhiām), with the stem-final lengthened to ā before it.
d. The gen. and loc. have a y inserted after the stem-final before os (or as if the a had been changed to e). In one or two (doubtful) Vedic instances (as also in the pronominal forms enos and yos), os is substituted for the final a.
329. Plural. a. The nom. masc. has in the later language the normal ending as combined with the final a to ās. But in the Veda the ending āsas instead is frequent (one third of the occurrences in RV., but only one twenty-fifth in the peculiar parts of AV.).
b. The acc. masc. ends in ān (for earlier āns, of which abundant traces are left in the Veda, and, under the disguise of apparent euphonic combination, even in the later language: see above, 208 ff.).
c. The nom. and acc. neut. have in the later language always the ending āni (like the an-stems: see 421; or else with n, as in the gen. pl., before normal i). But in the Veda this ending alternates with simple ā (which in RV. is to āni as three to two, in point of frequency; in AV., as three to four).
d. The instr. ends later always in āis; but in the Veda is found abundantly the more normal form ebhis (in RV., nearly as frequently as āis; in AV., only one fifth as frequent).
e. The dat. and abl. have bhyas as ending, with e instead of the final a before it (as in the Vedic instr. ebhis, the loc. pl., the gen. loc. du. [?], and the instr. sing.). The resolution into ebhias is not infrequent in the Veda.
f. The gen. ends in ānām, the final a being lengthened and having n inserted before the normal ending. The ā of the ending is not seldom (in less than half the instances) to be read as two syllables, aam: opinions are divided as to whether the resolution is historical or metrical only. A ​very small number (half-a-dozen) of examples of simple ām as ending instead of ānām occur in RV.
g. The loc. ends in eṣu — that is to say, with the normal ending, before which the stem-final is changed to e (with consequent change of s to ṣ: 180).
h. Of accent, in this declension, nothing requires to be said; the syllable accented in the stem retains its own accent throughout.
330. Examples of declension. As examples of the inflection of a-stems may be taken काम kā́ma m. love; देव devá m. god; आस्य āsyà n. mouth.
Singular: :
| N. | कामस् kā́mas | देवस् devás | आस्यम् āsyàm |
| A. | कामम् kā́mam | देवम् devám | आस्यम् āsyàm |
| I. | कामेन kā́mena | देवेन devéna | आस्येन āsyèna |
| D. | कामाय kā́māya | देवाय devā́ya | आस्याय āsyā̀ya |
| Ab. | कामात् kā́māt | देवात् devā́t | आस्यात् āsyā̀t |
| G. | कामस्य kā́masya | देवस्य devásya | आस्यस्य āsyàsya |
| L. | कामे kā́me | देवे devé | आस्ये āsyè |
| V. | काम kā́ma | देव déva | आस्य ā́sya |
| Dual: ||||
| N. A. V. | कामौ kā́māu | देवौ devāú | आस्ये āsyè |
| I. D. Ab. | कामाभ्याम् kā́mābhyām | देवाभ्याम् devā́bhyām | आस्याभ्याम् āsyā̀bhyām |
| G. L. | कामयोस् kā́mayos | देवयोस् deváyos | आस्ययोस् āsyàyos |
| Plural: ||||
| N. V. | कामास् kā́mās | देवास् devā́s | आस्यानि āsyā̀ni ​ |
| A. | कामान् kā́mān | देवान् devā́n | आस्यानि āsyā̀ni |
| I. | कामैस् kā́māis | देवैस् devāís | आस्यैस् āsyāìs |
| D. Ab. | कामेभ्यस् kā́mebhyas | देवेभ्यस् devébhyas | आस्येभ्यस् āsyèbhyas |
| G. | कामानाम् kā́mānām | देवानाम् devā́nām | आस्यानाम् āsyā̀nām |
| L. | कामेषु kā́meṣu | देवेषु devéṣu | आस्येषु āsyèṣu |
Examples of the peculiar Vedic forms are:
a. Sing.: instr. raváthenā, yajñā́ (such genitive forms as áçvasiā are purely sporadic).
b. Du.: nom. etc. masc. devā́; gen.-loc. pastyòs (stem pastyà).
c. Pl.: nom.-voc. masc. devā́sas; neut. yugā́; instr. devébhis; gen. caráthām, devā́naam.
331. Among nouns, there are no irregularities in this declension. For irregular numeral bases in a (or an), see 483-4. For the irregularities of pronominal stems in a, which are more or less fully shared also by a few adjectives of pronominal kindred, see the chapter on Pronouns (495 ff.).
Adjectives.
332. Original adjectives in a are an exceedingly large class, the great majority of all adjectives. There is, however, no such thing as a feminine stem in a; for the feminine, the a is changed to ā — or often, though far less often, to ī; and its declension is then like that of senā or devī (364). An example of the complete declension of an adjective a-stem in the three genders will be given below (368).
a. Whether a masc.-neut. stem in a shall form its feminine in ā or in ī is a question to be determined in great part only by actual usage, and not by grammatical rule. Certain important classes of words, however, can be pointed out which take the less common ending ī of the feminine: thus, 1. the (very numerous) secondary derivatives in a with vṛddhi of the first syllable (1204): e. g. āmitrá -trī́, mā́nuṣa -ṣī, pāvamāná -nī́, pāurṇamāsá -sī́; 2. primary derivatives in ana with accent on the radical syllable (1150): e. g. códana -nī, saṁgráhaṇa -ṇī, subhāgaṁkáraṇa -ṇī; 3. primary derivatives in a, with strengthening of the radical syllable, having a quasi-participial meaning: e. g. divākará -rī, avakrāmá -mī́, ​rathavāhá -hī́ (but there are many exceptions); 4. secondary derivatives in maya (1225) and tana (1245 e): e. g. ayasmáya -yī; adyatana -nī; 5. most ordinal numbers (487 h): e. g. pañcamá -mī́, navadaçá -çī́, triṅçattamá -mī́. Not a few words make the feminine in either ā or ī: e. g. kévalā or -lī, ugrā́ or -rī́, pāpā or -pī́, rāmā́ or -mī́; but ordinarily only one of these is accepted as regular.
333. There are no verbal roots ending in a. But a is sometimes substituted for the final ā of a root (and, rarely, for final an), and it is then inflected like an ordinary adjective in a (see below, 354).
334. a. A noun ending in a, when occurring as final member of an adjective compound, is inflected like an original adjective in a, making its feminine likewise in ā or ī (367).
b. For the most part, an adjective compound having a noun in a as final member makes its feminine in ā. But there are numerous exceptions, certain nouns taking, usually or always, ī instead. Some of the commonest of these are as follows: akṣa eye (e. g. lohitākṣī, dvyakṣī, gavākṣī), parṇa leaf (e. g. tilaparṇī, saptaparṇī; but ekaparṇā), mukha face (e. g. kṛṣṇamukhī, durmukhī; but trimukhā etc.), an̄ga limb, body (e. g. anavadyān̄gī, sarvān̄gī; but caturan̄gā etc.), keça hair (e. g. sukeçī, muktakeçī or -çā, etc.), karṇa ear (e. g. mahākarṇī; but gokarṇā etc.), udara belly (e. g. lambodarī), mūla root (e. g. pañcamūlī; but oftener çatámūlā etc.). The very great majority of such nouns (as the examples indicate) signify parts of the body.
c. On the other hand, a feminine noun ending in derivative ā shortens its final to a to form a masculine and neuter base: see 367 c.
d. In frequent cases, nouns of consonant ending are, as finals of compounds, transferred to the a-declension by adding suffix a (1209 a) or ka (1222).
Declension II.
Stems (of all genders) in इ i and उ u.
335. The stems in इ i and उ u are inflected in so close accordance with one another that they cannot be divided into two separate declensions. They are of all the three genders, and tolerably numerous — those in इ i more numerous than those in उ u, especially in the feminine (there are more neuters in उ u than in इ i).
a. The endings of this declension also differ frequently and widely from the normal, and the irregularities in the older language are numerous.
​336. Endings: Singular. a. The nom. masc. and fem. adds to the stem the normal ending s. The nom. and acc. neut. is the bare stem, without ending. In the Veda, the final u of a few neuters is lengthened (248 b): thus, urū́, purū́.
b. The acc. masc. and fem. adds m to the stem. Vedic forms in iam and uam, and, with n, inam and unam, are excessively rare, and doubtful.
c. The instr. fem. in the later language takes the normal ending ā simply, while the masc. and neut. insert n before it, making inā and unā. But in the Veda, forms in yā and vā (or iā and uā) are not infrequent in masc. and neut. also; while inā is found, very rarely, as a fem. ending. Moreover, fem. yā is often (in two thirds of the occurrences) contracted to ī; and this is even sometimes shortened to i. An adverbial instr. in uyā́ from half-a-dozen stems in u occurs.
d. The dat. masc. and fem. gunates the final of the stem before the ending e, making aye and ave. These are the prevailing endings in the Veda likewise; but the more normal ye and ve (or ue) also occur; and the fem. has in this case, as in the instr., sometimes the form ī for ie. In the later language, the neuter is required in this, as in all the other weakest cases, to insert n before the normal ending: but in the Veda such forms are only sporadic; and the neut. dat. has also the forms aye, ve, ave, like the other genders.
e. The abl. and gen. masc. and fem. have regularly, both earlier and later, the ending s with gunated vowel before it: thus, es, os; and in the Veda, the neut. forms the cases in the same way; although unas, required later, is also not infrequent (inas does not occur). But the normal forms yas (or ias) and vas (or uas) are also frequent in both masc. and neuter. As masc. ending, unas occurs twice in RV. The anomalous didyót (so TS.; in the corresponding passages, vidyót VS., didyāut K., didivás MS.) is of doubtful character.
f. The loc. masc. and fem. has for regular ending in the later language āu, replacing both finals, i and u. And this is in the Veda also the most frequent ending; but, beside it, the i-stems form (about half as often in RV.) their loc. in ā: thus, agnā́; and this is found once even in the neuter. The RV. has a number of examples of masc. and neut. locatives in avi (the normal ending and the u gunated before it) from u-stems; and certain doubtful traces of a corresponding ayi from i-stems. Half-a-dozen locatives in ī (regarded by the Vedic grammarians as pragṛhya or uncombinable: 138 d) are made from i-stems. The later language makes the neuter locatives in ini and uni; but the former never occurs in the oldest texts, and the latter only very rarely.
g. The later grammar allows the dat., abl.-gen., and loc. fem. to be formed at will with the fuller fem. terminations of long-vowel stems, namely āi, ās (for which, in Brāhmaṇa etc., āi is substituted: 307 h), ām. Such forms are quite rare in the oldest language even from i-stems (less than 40 occurrences altogether in RV.; three times as many in AV.); and from u-stems they are almost unknown (five in RV. and AV.).
​h. The voc. gunates the final of the stem, in masc. and fem., alike in the earlier and in the later language. In the neut., it is later allowed to be either of the same form or the unaltered stem; and this was probably the usage in the older time also; not instances enough are quotable to determine the question (AV. has u once, and VS. o once).
337. Dual. a. The later and earlier language agree in making the nom.-acc.-voc. masc. and fem. by lengthening the final of the stem. The same cases in the neuter (according to the rule given above) end later in inī and unī; but these endings are nearly unknown in the Veda (as, indeed, the cases are of only rare occurrence): AV. has inī twice (RV. perhaps once); VS. has unī once; RV. has uī from one u-stem, and ī, once shortened to i, from one or two i-stems.
b. The unvarying ending of instr.-dat.-abl., in all genders, is bhyām added to the unchanged stem.
c. The gen.-loc. of all ages add os to the stem in masc. and fem.; in neut., the later language interposes, as elsewhere in the weakest cases, a n; probably in the earlier Vedic the form would be like that of the other genders; but the only occurrence noted is one unos in AV.
338. Plural. a. The nom.-voc. masc. and fem. adds the normal ending as to the gunated stem-final, making ayas and avas. The exceptions in the Veda are very few: one word (ari) has ias in both genders, and a few feminines have īs (like ī-stems); a very few u-stems have uas. The neut. nom.-acc. ends later in īni and ūni (like āni from a: 329 c); but the Veda has ī and i (about equally frequent) much oftener than īni; and ū and (more usually) u, more than half as often as ūni.
b. The accus. masc. ends in īn and ūn, for older īns and ūns, of which plain traces remain in the Veda in nearly half the instances of occurrence, and even not infrequently in the later language, in the guise of phonetic combination (208 ff.). The accus. fem. ends in īs and ūs. But both masc. and fem. forms in ias and uas are found sparingly in the Veda.
c. The inst. of all genders adds bhis to the stem.
d. The dat.-abl. of all genders adds bhyas (in V., almost never bhias) to the stem.
e. The gen. of all genders is made alike in īnām and ūnām (of which the ā is not seldom, in the Veda, to be resolved into aam). Stems with accented final in the later language may, and in the earlier always do, throw forward the accent upon the ending.
f. The loc. of all genders adds su (as ṣu: 180) to the stem-final.
g. The accent is in accordance with the general rules already laid down, and there are no irregularities calling for special notice.
339. Examples of declension. As models of i-stems may be taken अग्नि agní m. fire; गति gáti f. gait; वारि vā́ri n. water.
Singular: :
| N. | अग्निस् agnís | गतिस् gátis | वारि vā́ri |
| A. | अग्निम् agním | गतिम् gátim | वारि vā́ri |
| I. | अग्निना agnínā | गत्या gátyā | वारिणा vā́riṇā |
| D. | अग्नये agnáye | गतये, गत्यै gátaye, gátyāi | वारिणे vā́riṇe |
| Ab. G. | अग्नेस् agnés | गतेस्, गत्यास् gátes, gátyās | वारिणस् vā́riṇas |
| L. | अग्नौ agnāú | गतौ, गत्याम् gátāu, gátyām | वारिणि vā́riṇi |
| V. | अग्ने ágne | गते gáte | वारि, वारे vā́ri, vā́re |
| Dual: ||||
| N. A. V. | अग्नी agnī́ | गती gátī | वारिणी vā́riṇī |
| I. D. Ab. | अग्निभ्याम् agníbhyām | गतिभ्याम् gátibhyām | वारिभ्याम् vā́ribhyām |
| G. L. | अग्न्योस् agnyós | गत्योस् gátyos | वारिणोस् vā́riṇos |
| Plural: ||||
| N. V. | अग्नयस् agnáyas | गतयस् gátayas | वारीणि vā́rīṇi |
| A. | अग्नीन् agnī́n | गतीस् gátīs | वारीणि vā́rīṇi |
| I. | अग्निभिस् agníbhis | गतिभिस् gátibhis | वारिभिस् vā́ribhis |
| D. Ab. | अग्निभ्यस् agníbhyas | गतिभ्यस् gátibhyas | वारिभ्यस् vā́ribhyas |
| G. | अग्नीनाम् agnīnā́m | गतीनाम् gátīnām | वारीणाम् vā́rīṇām |
| L. | अग्निषु agníṣu | गतिषु gátiṣu | वारिषु vā́riṣu |
a. Singular. Nom. agnís etc., as above.
b. Acc.: masc. agním, yayíam, ūrmíṇam (?); fem. and neut. as above.
c. Instr.: masc. agnínā, rayyā́ and ūrmiā́; fem. ácittī, ūtiā́, matyā́, suvṛktí, dhāsínā; neut. wanting.
d. Dat.: masc. agnáye; fem. tujáye, ūtī́, turyāí; neut. çúcaye.
e. Gen.-abl.: masc. agnés, ávyas, ariás; fem. ádites, hetyā́s and bhū́miās; neut. bhū́res.
f. Loc.: masc. agnāú, agnā́, ājáyi (?); fem. ā́gatāu, úditā, dhánasātayi (?), védī, bhū́myām; neut. apratā́, saptáraçmāu.
g. Voc.: as above (neut. wanting).
h. Dual. Nom.-acc.-voc.: masc. hárī; fem. yuvatī́; neut. çúcī, máhi, háriṇī (?).
i. Instr.-dat.-abl.: as above.
j. Gen.-loc.: masc. hários; fem. yuvatyós and jāmiós; neut. wanting.
k. Plural. Nom.: masc. agnáyas; fem. matáyas, bhū́mīs; neut. çúcī, bhū́ri, bhū́rīṇi.
l. Accus.: masc. agnī́n; fem. kṣitī́s, çúcayas (?).
m. Instr., dat.-abl., and loc., as above.
n. Gen.: masc. fem. kavīnā́m, ṛ́ṣīṇaam etc. (neut. wanting).
341. As models of u-stems may be taken शत्रु çátru m. enemy; धेनु dhenú f. cow; मधु mádhu n. honey.
Singular: :
| N. | शत्रुस् çátrus | धेनुस् dhenús | मधु mádhu |
| A. | शत्रुम् çátrum | धेनुम् dhenúm | मधु mádhu |
| I. | शत्रुणा çátruṇā | धेन्वा dhenvā́ | मधुना mádhunā |
| D. | शत्रवे çátrave | धेनवे, धेन्वै dhenáve, dhenvāí | मधुने mádhune |
| Ab. G. | शत्रोस् çátros | धेनोस्, धेन्वास् dhenós, dhenvā́s | मधुनस् mádhunas |
| L. | शत्रौ çátrāu | धेनौ, धेन्वाम् dhenāú, dhenvā́m | मधुनि mádhuni |
| V. | शत्रो çátro | धेनो dhéno | मधु, मधो mádhu, mádho ​ |
| Dual: ||||
| N. A. V. | शत्रू çátrū | धेनू dhenū́ | मधुनी mádhunī |
| I. D. Ab. | शत्रुभ्याम् çátrubhyām | धेनुभ्याम् dhenúbhyām | मधुभ्याम् mádhubhyām |
| G. L. | शत्र्वोस् çátrvos | धेन्वोस् dhenvós | मधुनोस् mádhunos |
| Plural: ||||
| N. V. | शत्रवस् çátravas | धेनवस् dhenávas | मधूनि mádhūni |
| A. | शत्रून् çátrūn | धेनूस् dhenū́s | मधूनि mádhūni |
| I. | शत्रुभिस् çátrubhis | धेनुभिस् dhenúbhis | मधुभिस् mádhubhis |
| D. Ab. | शत्रुभ्यस् çátrubhyas | धेनुभ्यस् dhenúbhyas | मधुभ्यस् mádhubhyas |
| G. | शत्रूणाम् çátrūṇām | धेनूनाम् dhenūnā́m | मधूनाम् mádhūnām |
| L. | शत्रुषु çátruṣu | धेनुषु dhenúṣu | मधुषु mádhuṣu |
342. The forms of Vedic occurrence are given here for the u-stems in the same manner as for the i-stems above.
a. Singular. Nom.: masc. and fem. as above; neut. urú, urū́.
b. Accus.: masc. ketúm, ábhīruam, sucetúnam (?); fem. dhenúm.
c. Instr.: masc. ketúnā, paçvā́ and krátuā; fem. ádhenuā and panvā́, āçuyā́; neut. mádhunā, mádhvā.
d. Dat.: masc. ketáve, çíçve; fem. çárave, íṣvāi; neut. páçve (?), uráve, mádhune.
e. Abl.-gen.: masc. manyós, pitvás, cā́ruṇas; fem. síndhos, íṣvās; neut. mádhvas and mádhuas, mádhos, mádhunas.
f. Loc.: masc. pūrāú, sūnávi; fem. síndhāu, rájjvām; neut. sā́nāu, sā́navi, sā́no, sā́nuni.
g. Voc.: as above.
h. Dual. Nom.-acc.-voc.: masc. and fem. as above; neut. urvī́, jā́nunī.
i. Instr.-dat.-abl.: as above.
j. Gen.-loc.: as above (but vos or uos).
k. Plural. Nom.: masc. ṛbhávas, mádhuas and mádhvas; fem. dhenávas, çatakratvas; neut. purū́ṇi, purú, purū́.
l. Accus.: masc. ṛtū́n, paçvás; fem. íṣūs, mádhvas.
m. Instr., dat.-abl., and loc., as above; also gen. (but with the resolution ūnaam in part).
343. Irregular declension. There are no irregular u-stems, and only a very few i-stems.
a. Sákhi m. friend has for the five strong cases a peculiarly strengthened base (vriddhied), namely sákhāy, which in the nom. sing. is reduced to sákhā (without ending), and in the other cases takes the normal endings. The instr. and dat. sing. have the normal endings simply, without inserted n or guṇa; the abl.-gen. sing. adds us; and the loc. sing. adds āu: the rest is like agní. Thus:
Sing. sákhā, sákhāyam, sákhyā, sákhye, sákhyus, sákhyāu, sákhe; Du. sákhāyāu, sákhibhyām, sákhyos; Pl. sákhāyas, sákhīn, etc. etc.
b. The Veda has usually sákhāyā du., and often resolves the y to i, in sákhiā, sákhius, etc. The compounds are usually declined like the simple word, unless (1315 b) sakha be substituted.
c. There is a corresponding fem., sakhī (declined like devī: 364); but the forms of sakhi are also sometimes found used with feminine value.
d. Páti m. is declined regularly in composition, and when it has the meaning lord, master; when uncompounded and when meaning husband, it is inflected like sákhi in the instr., dat., abl.-gen., and loc. sing., forming pátyā, pátye, pátyus, pátyāu. There are occasional instances of confusion of the two classes of forms.
e. For pati as the final member of a possessive compound is regularly and usually substituted patnī in the fem.: thus, jīvapatnī having a living husband; dāsapatnī having a barbarian for master.
f. Jáni f. wife has the gen. sing. jányus in the Veda.
g. Arí eager, greedy, hostile has in the Veda aryás in pl. nom. and accus., masc. and fem. Its accus. sing. is arím or aryám.
h. Ví bird has in RV. the nom. vés (beside vís). In the plural it accents víbhis, víbhyas, but vīnā́m.
i. The stems ákṣi eye, ásthi bone, dádhi curds, and sákthi thigh, are defective, their forms exchanging with and complementing forms from stems in án (akṣán etc.): see the stems in an, below (431).
j. The stem pathí road is used to make up part of the inflection of pánthan: see below, 433.
k. Króṣṭu m. jackal lacks the strong cases, for which the corresponding forms of kroṣṭṛ́ are substituted.
Adjectives.
344. Original adjective stems in i are few; those in u are much more numerous (many derivative verb-stems forming a participial ​adjective in u). Their inflection is like that of nouns, and has been included in the rules given above. In those weak cases, however — namely, the dat., abl.-gen., and loc. sing., and the gen.-loc. dual — in which neuter nouns differ from masculines in the later language by an inserted n (we have seen above that this difference does not exist in the Veda), the neuter adjective is allowed to take either form. The stem is the same for masculine and neuter, and generally (and allowably always) for feminine also.
a. There are a few instances of a feminine noun in ī standing (sometimes with changed accent) beside a masculine in i: thus, krími m., krimī́ f.; sákhi (343 a) m., sakhī́ f.; dundubhí m., dundubhī f.; dhúni m., dhunī f.; çakúni m., çakunī or -ni f. In the later language, especially, there is a very frequent interchange of i and ī as finals of the same stem. No adjective in i makes a regular feminine in ī.
b. With stems in u the case is quite different. While the feminine may, and in part does, end in u, like the masculine and neuter, a special feminine-stem is often made by lengthening the u to ū, or also by adding ī; and for some stems a feminine is formed in two of these three ways, or even in all the three: thus, kārū, -dipsū́, çundhyū́, cariṣṇū́, vacasyū́; -aṇvī, urvī́, gurvī, pūrvī́ (with a prolongation of u before r: compare 245 b), bahvī́, prabhvī́, raghvī́, sādhvī́, svādvī́; — pṛthú and pṛthvī́, vibhū́ and vibhvī́, mṛdú and mṛdvī́, laghu and laghvī, vásu and vásvī; babhrú and babhrū́, bībhatsú and bībhatsū́, bhīrú and bhīrū; — tanú and tanū́ and tanvī́, phalgú and phalgū́ and phalgvī, mádhu and madhū́ and mádhvī. There are also some feminine noun-stems in ū standing (usually with changed accent) beside masculines in u: thus, ágru m., agrū́ f.; kádru m., kadrū́ f.; gúggulu m., guggulū́ f.; jatu m., jatū́ f.; pṛ́dāku m., pṛdākū́ f.
345. Roots ending in i or u (or ṛ: 376 b) regularly add a t when used as root-words or as root-finals of compounds; and hence there are no adjectives of the root-class in this declension.
a. Yet, in the Veda, a few words ending in a short radical u are declined as if this were suffixal: thus, ásmṛtadhru, suṣṭú; and the AV. has pṛtanājí (once). Roots in ū sometimes also shorten ū to u: thus, prabhú, vibhú, etc. (354); go (361 e) becomes gu in composition; and re perhaps becomes ri (361 e); while roots in ā sometimes apparently weaken ā to i (in -dhi from √dhā etc.: 1155).
346. Compound adjectives having nouns of this declension as final members are inflected in general like original adjectives of the same endings.
a. But in such compounds a final i or u is sometimes lengthened to form a feminine stem: thus, suçroṇī, svayonī or -ni, -gātrayaṣṭī or -ṭi; vāmorū or -ru, durhaṇū or -ṇu, varatanū, mātṛbandhū; and RV. has áçiçvī from çíçu.
Declension III.
Stems in long vowels: आ ā, ई ī, ऊ ū.
347. The stems ending in long vowels fall into two well-marked classes or divisions: A. monosyllabic stems — mostly bare roots — and their compounds, with a comparatively small number of others inflected like them; B. derivative feminine stems in आ ā and ई ī, with a small number in ऊ ū which in the later language have come to be inflected like them. The latter division is by far the larger and more important, since most feminine adjectives, and considerable classes of feminine nouns, ending in आ ā or ई ī, belong to it.
A. Root-words, and those inflected like them.
348. The inflection of these stems is by the normal endings throughout, or in the manner of consonant-stems (with अम् am, not म् m, in the accus. sing.); peculiarities like those of the other vowel-declensions are wanting. The simple words are, as nouns, with few exceptions feminine; as adjectives (rarely), and in adjective compounds, they are alike in masculine and feminine forms. They may, for convenience of description, be divided into the following subclasses:
1. Root-words, or monosyllables having the aspect of such. Those in ā are so rare that it is hardly possible to make up a whole scheme of forms in actual use; those in ī and ū are more numerous, but still very few.
2. Compounds having such words, or other roots with long final vowels, as last member.
3. Polysyllabic words, of various origin and character, including in the Veda many which later are transferred to other declensions.
4. As an appendix to this class we may most conveniently describe the half-dozen stems, mostly of regular inflection, ending in diphthongs.
​349. Monosyllabic stems. Before the endings beginning with vowels, final ī is changed to iy and ū to uv; while final ā is dropped altogether, except in the strong cases, and in the acc. pl., which is like the nominative (according to the grammarians, ā is lost here also: no instances of the occurrence of such a form appear to be quotable). Stems in ī and ū are in the later language allowed to take optionally the fuller endings āi, ās, ām in the singular (dat., abl.-gen., loc.); but no such forms are ever met with in the Veda (except bhiyāí [?], RV., once). Before ām of gen. pl., n may or may not be inserted; in the Veda it is regularly inserted, with a single exception (dhiyā́m, once). The vocative is like the nominative in the singular as well as the other numbers; but instances of its occurrence in uncompounded stems are not found in the Veda, and must be extremely rare everywhere. The earlier Vedic dual ending is ā instead of āu.
350. To the ī- and ū-stems the rules for monosyllabic accent apply: the accent is thrown forward upon the endings in all the weak cases except the accus. pl., which is like the nom. But the ā-stems appear (the instances are extremely few) to keep the accent upon the stem throughout.
351. Examples of declension. As models of monosyllabic inflection we may take जा jā́ f. progeny; धी dhī́ f. thought; and भू bhū́ f. earth.
a. The first of these is rather arbitrarily extended from the four cases which actually occur; of the loc. sing. and gen.-loc. du., no Vedic examples from ā-stems are found.
Singular: :
| N. | जास् jā́s | धीस् dhī́s | भूस् bhū́s |
| A. | जाम् jā́m | धियम् dhíyam | भुवम् bhúvam |
| I. | जा jā́ | धिया dhiyā́ | भुवा bhuvā́ |
| D. | जे jé | धिये, धियै dhiyé, dhiyāí | भुवे, भुवै bhuvé, bhuvāí |
| Ab. G. | जस् jás | धियस्, धियास् dhiyás, dhiyā́s | भुवस्, भुवास् bhuvás, bhuvā́s |
| L. | जि jí | धियि, धियाम् dhiyí, dhiyā́m | भुवि, भुवाम् bhuví, bhuvā́m |
| V. | जास् jā́s | धीस् dhī́s | भूस् bhū́s ​ |
| Dual: ||||
| N. A. V. | जौ jāú | धियौ dhíyāu | भुवौ bhúvāu |
| I. D. Ab. | जाभ्याम् jā́bhyām | धीभ्याम् dhībhyā́m | भूभ्याम् bhūbhyā́m |
| G. L. | जोस् jós | धियोस् dhiyós | भुवोस् bhuvós |
| Plural: ||||
| N. | जास् jā́s | धियस् dhíyas | भुवस् bhúvas |
| A. | जास् (जस्?) jā́s, jás | धियस् dhíyas | भुवस् bhúvas |
| I. | जाभिस् jā́bhis | धीभिस् dhībhís | भूभिस् bhūbhís |
| D. Ab. | जाभ्यस् jā́bhyas | धीभ्यस् dhībhyás | भूभ्यस् bhūbhyás |
| G. | जानाम् (जाम्?) jā́nām, jā́m | धियाम्, धीनाम् dhiyā́m, dhīnā́m | भुवाम्, भूनाम् bhuvā́m, bhūnā́m |
| L. | जासु jā́su | धीषु dhīṣú | भूषु bhūṣú |
352. Monosyllabic stems in composition. When the nouns above described occur as final member of a compound, or when any root in ā or ī or ū is found in a like position, the inflection of an ā-stem is as above. But ī- and ū-stems follow a divided usage: the final vowel before a vowel-ending is either converted into a short vowel and semivowel (iy or uv, as above) or into a semivowel simply (y or v). The accent is nowhere thrown forward upon the endings; and therefore, when ī and ū become y and v, the resulting syllable is circumflex (83–4). Thus:
Masc. and fem. Singular: :
| N. V. | -dhī́s | -dhī́s | -bhū́s | -bhū́s |
| A. | -dhíyam | -dhyàm | -bhúvam | -bhvàm |
| I. | -dhíyā | -dhyā̀ | -bhúvā | -bhvā̀ |
| D. | -dhíye | -dhyè | -bhúve | -bhvè |
| Ab. G. | -dhíyas | -dhyàs | -bhúvas | -bhvàs |
| L. | -dhíyi | -dhyì | -bhúvi | -bhvì ​ |
| Dual: |||||
| N. A. V. | -dhíyāu | -dhyaù | -bhúvāu | -bhvāù |
| I. D. Ab. | -dhī́bhyām | -dhī́bhyām | -bhū́bhyām | -bhū́bhyām |
| G. L. | -dhíyos | -dhyòs | -bhúvos | -bhvòs |
| Plural: |||||
| N. A. V. | -dhíyas | -dhyàs | -bhúvas | -bhvàs |
| I. | -dhī́bhis | -dhī́bhis | -bhū́bhis | -bhū́bhis |
| D. Ab. | -dhī́bhyas | -dhī́bhyas | -bhū́bhyas | -bhū́bhyas |
| G. | -dhíyām | -dhyā̀m | -bhúvām | -bhvā̀m |
| G. | -dhī́nām | -dhyā̀m | -bhū́nām | -bhvā̀m |
| L. | -dhī́ṣu | -dhī́ṣu | -bhū́ṣu | -bhū́ṣu |
a. As to the admissibility of the fuller endings āi, ās, and ām in the singular (feminine), grammatical authorities are somewhat at variance; but they are never found in the Veda, and have been omitted from the above scheme as probably unreal.
b. If two consonants precede the final ī or ū, the dissyllabic forms, with iy and uv, are regularly written; after one consonant, the usage is varying. The grammarians prescribe iy and uv when the monosyllabic stem has more the character of a noun, and y and v when it is more purely a verbal root with participial value. No such distinction, however, is to be seen in the Veda — where, moreover, the difference of the two forms is only graphic, since the yā- and vā-forms and the rest are always to be read as dissyllabic: iā or īā and uā or ūā, and so on.
c. As to neuter stems for such adjectives, see 367.
353. A few further Vedic irregularities or peculiarities may be briefly noticed.
a. Of the ā-stems, the forms in ās, ām, ā (du.) are sometimes to be read as dissyllables, aas, aam, aa. The dative of the stem used as infinitive is āí (as if ā́+e): thus, prakhyāí, pratimāí, parādāí.
b. Irregular transfer of the accent to the ending in compounds is seen in a case or two: thus, avadhyabhiyā́ (RV.), ādhiā́ (AV.).
354. But compounds of the class above described are not infrequently transferred to other modes of inflection: the ā shortened to a for a masculine (and neuter) stem, or declined like a stem of the derivative ā-class (below, 364) as feminine; the ī and ū shortened to i and u, and inflected as of the second declension.
a. Thus, compound stems in -ga, -ja, -da, -stha, -bhu, and others, are found even in the Veda, and become frequent later (being made from all, or nearly all, the roots in ā); and sporadic cases from yet others occur: for example, çṛtapā́n, vayodhāís and ratnadhébhis, dhanasāís (all RV.); and, from ī and ū compounds, veṣaçrís (TS.), áhrayas (RV.), gaṇaçríbhis (RV.), karmaṇís (ÇB), and ṛtaníbhyas (RV.) and senāníbhyas (VS.) and grāmaṇíbhis (TB.), supúnā (AV.), çitibhráve (TS.).
b. Still more numerous are the feminines in ā which have lost ​their root-declension: examples are prajā́ (of which the further compounds in part have root-forms), svadhā́, çraddhā́, pratimā́, and others.
c. Then, in the later language, a few feminines in ī are made from the stems in a shortened from ā: thus, gopī, goṣṭhī, pannagī, pan̄kajī, bhujagī, bhujaṁgī, surāpī.
355. Polysyllabic Stems. Stems of this division (A) of more than one syllable are very rare indeed in the later language, and by no means common in the earlier. The Rig-Veda, however, presents a not inconsiderable body of them; and as the class nearly dies out later, by the disuse of its stems or their transfer to other modes of declension, it may be best described on a Vedic basis.
a. Of stems in ā, masculines, half-a-dozen occur in the Veda: pánthā, mánthā, and ṛbhukṣā́ are otherwise viewed by the later grammar: see below, 433-4; uçánā (nom. pr.) has the anomalous nom. sing. uçánā (and loc. as well as dat. uçáne); mahā́ great is found only in accus. sing. and abundantly in composition; ā́tā frame has only ā́tāsu not derivable from ā́ta.
b. Of stems in ī, over seventy are found in the Veda, nearly all feminines, and all accented on the final. Half of the feminines are formed from masculines with change of accent: thus, kalyāṇī́ (m. kalyā́ṇa), puruṣī́ (m. púruṣa); others show no change of accent: thus, yamī́ (m. yamá); others still have no corresponding masculines: thus, nadī́, lakṣmī́, sūrmī́. The masculines are about ten in number: for example, rathī́, prāvī́, starī́, ahī́, āpathī́.
c. Of stems in ū, the number is smaller: these, too, are nearly all feminines, and all accented on the final. The majority of them are the feminine adjectives in ū́ to masculines in ú or u (above, 344 b): thus, caraṇyū́, cariṣṇū́, jighatsū́, madhū́. A few are nouns in ū́, with change of accent: thus, agrū́ (ágru), pṛdākū́ (pṛ́dāku), çvaçrū́ (çváçura); or without change, as nṛtū́. And a few have no corresponding masculines: thus, tanū́, vadhū́, camū́. The masculines are only two or three: namely, prāçū́, kṛkadāçū́, makṣū́ (?); and their forms are of the utmost rarity.
356. The mode of declension of these words may be illustrated by the following examples: rathī́ m. charioteer; nadī́ f. stream; tanū́ f. body.
a. No one of the selected examples occurs in all the forms; forms for which no example at all is quotable are put in brackets. No loc. sing. from any ī-stem occurs, to determine what the form would be. The stem nadī́ is selected as an example partly in order to emphasize the difference between the earlier language and the later in regard to the words of this division: nadī́ is later the model of derivative inflection.
Singular: :
| N. | rathī́s | nadī́s | tanū́s |
| A. | rathíam | nadíam | tanúam |
| I. | rathíā | nadíā | tanúā |
| D. | rathíe | nadíe | tanúe |
| Ab. G. | rathías | nadías | tanúas |
| L. | ..... | ..... | tanúi |
| V. | ráthi (?) | nádi | tánu |
| Dual: ||||
| N. A. V. | rathíā | nadíā | tanúā |
| I. D. Ab. | [rathī́bhyām] | nadī́bhyām | [tanū́bhyām] |
| G. L. | [rathíos] | nadíos | tanúos |
| Plural: ||||
| N. A. | rathías | nadías | tanúas |
| I. | [rathī́bhis] | nadī́bhis | tanū́bhis |
| D. Ab. | [rathī́bhyas] | nadī́bhyas | tanū́bhyas |
| G. | rathī́nām | nadī́nām | tanū́nām |
| L. | [rathī́ṣu] | nadī́ṣu | tanū́ṣu |
b. The cases — nadíam, tanúam, etc. — are written above according to their true phonetic form, almost invariably belonging to them in the Veda; in the written text, of course, the stem-final is made a semi-vowel, and the resulting syllable is circumflexed: thus, nadyàm, tanvàm, etc.; only, as usual, after two consonants the resolved forms iy and uv are written instead; and also where the combination yv would otherwise result: thus, cakríyā, [agrúvāi,] and mitrāyúvas. The RV. really reads staryàm etc. twice, and tanvàs etc. four times; and such contractions are more often made in the AV. The ending ā of the nom.-acc.-voc. du. is the equivalent of the later āu. The nom. sing. in s from ī-stems is found in the older language about sixty times, from over thirty stems.
357. Irregularities of form, properly so called, are very few in this division: camū́ as loc. sing. (instead of camvì) occurs a few times; and there is another doubtful case or two of the same kind; the final ū́ is regarded as pragṛhya or uncombinable (138); tanúi is lengthened to tanvī̀ in a passage or two; -yúvas is once or twice abbreviated to -yū́s.
358. The process of transfer to the other form of ī- and ū-declension (below, 362 ff.), which has nearly extinguished this category of words in the later language, has its beginnings in the Veda; but in RV. they are excessively scanty: namely, dūtiā́m, loc. sing., once, and çvaçruā́m, do., once, and dravitnuā́, instr. sing., with two or three other doubtful cases. In the Atharvan, we find the acc. sing. kuhū́m, tanū́m, vadhū́m; the instr. sing. palāliā́ and one or two others; the dat. sing. vadhvāí, çvaçruāí, agrúvāi; the abl.-gen. sing. punarbhúvās, pṛdākuā́s, çvaçruā́s; and the loc. sing. tanúām (with anomalous accent). Accusatives plural in īs and ūs are nowhere met with.
​359. Adjective compounds from these words are very few; those which occur are declined like the simple stems: thus, híraṇyavāçīs and sahásrastarīs, átaptatanūs and sárvatanūs, all nom. sing. masculine.
Stems ending in diphthongs.
360. There are certain monosyllabic stems ending in diphthongs, which are too few and too diverse in inflection to make a declension of, and which may be most appropriately disposed of here, in connection with the stems in ī and ū, with which they have most affinity. They are:
a. stems in āu: nāú and glāú;
b. stems in āi: rāí;
c. stems in o: gó and dyó (or dyú, dív).
361. a. The stem nāú f. ship is entirely regular, taking the normal endings throughout, and following the rules for monosyllabic accentuation (317) — except that the accus. pl. is said (it does not appear to occur in accented texts) to be like the nom. Thus: nāús, nā́vam, nāvā́, nāvé, nāvás, nāví; nā́vāu, nāubhyā́m, nāvós; nā́vas, nā́vas, nāubhís, nāubhyás, nāvā́m, nāuṣú. The stem glāú m. ball is apparently inflected in the same way; but few of its forms have been met with in use.
b. The stem rāí f. (or m.) wealth, might be better described as rā with a union-consonant y (258) interposed before vowel endings, and is regularly inflected as such, with normal endings and monosyllabic accent. Thus: rā́s, rā́yam, rāyā́, rāyé, rāyás, rāyí; rā́yāu, rābhyā́m, rāyós; rā́yas, rāyás, rābhís, rābhyás, rāyā́m, rāsú. But in the Veda the accus. pl. is either rāyás or rā́yas; for accus. sing. and pl. are also used the briefer forms rā́m (RV. once: rā́yam does not occur in V.) and rā́s (SV., once); and the gen.-sing. is sometimes anomalously accented rā́yas.
c. The stem gó m. or f. bull or cow is much more irregular. In the strong cases, except accus. sing., it is strengthened to gāú, forming (like naú) gāús, gā́vāu, gā́vas. In accus. sing. and pl. it has (like rāí) the brief forms gā́m and gā́s. The abl.-gen. sing. is gós (as if from gu). The rest is regularly made from go, with the normal endings, but with accent always remaining irregularly upon the stem: thus, gávā, gáve, gávi, gávos, gávām; góbhyām, góbhis, góbhyas, góṣu. In the Veda, another form of the gen. pl. is gónām; the nom. etc. du. is (as in all other such cases) also gā́vā; and gā́m, gós, and gā́s are not infrequently to be pronounced as dissyllables. As acc. pl. is found a few times gāvas.
d. The stem dyó f. (but in V. usually m.) sky, day is yet more anomalous, having beside it a simpler stem dyu, which becomes div before a vowel-ending. The native grammarians treat the two as ​independent words, but it is more convenient to put them together. The stem dyó is inflected precisely like gó, as above described. The complete declension is as follows (with forms not actually met with in use bracketed):
| | Singular. | Singular. | Dual. | Dual. | Plural. | Plural. |
| N. | dyāús | dyāús | [dívāu] | dyā́vāu | dívas | dyā́vas |
| A. | dívam | dyā́m | [dívāu] | dyā́vāu | divás, dyū́n | [dyā́s] |
| I. | divā́ | [dyávā] | [dyúbhyām] | [dyóbhyām] | dyúbhis | [dyóbhis] |
| D. | divé | dyáve | [dyúbhyām] | [dyóbhyām] | [dyúbhyas | dyóbhyas] |
| Ab. | divás | dyós | [dyúbhyām] | [dyóbhyām] | [dyúbhyas | dyóbhyas] |
| G. | divás | dyós | [divós] | [dyávos] | [divā́m | dyávām] |
| L. | diví | dyávi | [divós] | [dyávos] | dyúṣu | [dyóṣu] |
e. The dat. sing. dyáve is not found in the early language. Both dívas and divás occur as accus. pl. in V. As nom. etc. du., dyā́vā is, as usual, the regular Vedic form: once occurs dyávī (du.), as if a neuter form; and dyāús is found once used as ablative. The cases dyāus, dyām and dyūn (once) are read in V. sometimes as dissyllables; and the first as accented vocative then becomes dyāùs (i.e. díāus: see 314 b).
f. Adjective compounds having a diphthongal stem as final member are not numerous, and tend to shorten the diphthong to a vowel. Thus, from nāu we have bhinnanu; from go, several words like águ, saptágu, sugu, bahugú (f. -gū́ TB.); and, correspondingly, rāi seems to be reduced to ri in bṛhádraye and ṛdhádrayas (RV.). In derivation, go maintains its full form in gotra, agótā, -gava (f. -gavī), etc.; as first member of a compound, it is variously treated: thus, gávāçir, gáviṣṭi (but gaāçir, gaïṣṭi K.), etc.; goaçvá or go‘çva, góṛjīka, góopaça, etc. In certain compounds, also, dyu or dyo takes an anomalous form: thus, dyāurdā (K.), dyāurloká (ÇB.), dyāúsaṁçita (AV.). In revánt (unless this is for rayivant) rāi becomes re. RV. has ádhrigāvas from ádhrigu (of questionable import); and AV. has ghṛtastā́vas, apparently accus. pl. of ghṛtastú or -stó.
B. Derivative stems in ā, ī, ū.
362. To this division belong all the ā and ī-stems which have not been specified above as belonging to the other or root-word division; and also, in the later language, most of the ī and ū-stems of the other division, by transfer to a more predominant mode of inflection. Thus:
1. a. The great mass of derivative feminine ā-stems, substantive and adjective.
b. The inflection of these stems has maintained itself with little change through the whole history of the language, being almost precisely the same in the Vedas as later.
​2. c. The great mass of derivative feminine ī-stems.
d. This class is without exception in the later language. In the earlier, it suffers the exception pointed out above (355 b): that feminines made with change of accent follow this mode of declension only when the accent is not on the ī́: thus, táviṣī, páruṣṇī, páliknī, róhiṇī.
e. The ī-stems of this division in general are regarded as made by contraction of an earlier ending in yā. Their inflection has become in the later language somewhat mixed with that of the other division, and so far different from the Vedic inflection: see below, 363 g.
f. Very few derivative stems in ī are recognized by the grammarians as declined like the root-division; the Vedic words of that class are, if retained in use, transferred to this mode of inflection.
g. A very small number of masculine ī-stems (half-a-dozen) are in the Veda declined as of the derivative division: they are a few rare proper names, mā́talī etc.; and rā́ṣṭrī and sirī́ (only one case each).
3. h. The ū-stems are few in number, and are transfers from the other division, assimilated in inflection to the great class of derivative ī-stems (except that they retain the ending s of the nom. sing.).
363. Endings. The points of distinction between this and the other division are as follows:
a. In nom. sing. the usual s-ending is wanting: except in the ū-stems and a very few ī-stems — namely, lakṣmī, tarī, tantrī, tandrī — which have preserved the ending of the other division.
b. The accus. sing. and pl. add simply m and s respectively.
c. The dat., abl.-gen., and loc. sing. take always the fuller endings āi, ās, ām; and these are separated from the final of the ā-stems by an interposed y. In Brāhmaṇa etc., āi is generally substituted for ās (307 h).
d. Before the endings ā of instr. sing. and os of gen.-loc. du., the final of ā-stems is treated as if changed to e; but in the Veda, the instr. ending ā very often (in nearly half the occurrences) blends with the final to ā. The yā of ī-stems is in a few Vedic examples contracted to ī, and even to i. A loc. sing. in ī occurs a few times.
e. In all the weakest cases above mentioned, the accent of an ī- or ū-stem having acute final is thrown forward upon the ending. In the remaining case of the same class, the gen. pl., a n is always interposed between stems and ending, and the accent remains upon the former (in RV., however, it is usually thrown forward upon the ending, as in i and u-stems).
f. In voc. sing., final ā becomes e; final ī and ū are shortened.
g. In nom.-acc.-voc. du. and nom. pl. appears in ī (and ū)-stems a marked difference between the earlier and later language, the latter borrowing the forms of the other division. The du. ending āu is unknown in RV., and very rare in AV.; the Vedic ending is ī (a corresponding dual of ū-stems does not occur). The regular later pl. ending as has only a ​doubtful example or two in RV., and a very small number in AV.; the case there (and it is one of very frequent occurrence) adds s simply; and though yas-forms occur in the Brāhmaṇas, along with īs-forms, both are used rather indifferently as nom. and accus. (as, indeed, they sometimes interchange also in the epics). Of ā-stems, the du. nom. etc. ends in e, both earlier and later; in pl., of course, s-forms are indistinguishable from as-forms. The RV. has a few examples of āsas for ās.
h. The remaining cases call for no remark.
364. Examples of declension. As models of the inflection of derivative stems ending in long vowels, we may take सेना sénā f. army; कन्या kanyā̀ f. girl; देवी devī́ f. goddess; वधू vadhū́ f. woman.
Singular: :
| N. | सेना sénā | कन्या kanyā̀ | देवी devī́ | वधूस् vadhū́s |
| A. | सेनाम् sénām | कन्याम् kanyā̀m | देवीम् devī́m | वधूम् vadhū́m |
| I. | सेनया sénayā | कन्यया kanyàyā | देव्या devyā́ | वध्वा vadhvā́ |
| D. | सेनायै sénāyāi | कन्यायै kanyā̀yāi | देव्यै devyāí | वध्वै vadhvāí |
| Ab. G. | सेनायास् sénāyās | कन्यायास् kanyā̀yās | देव्यास् devyā́s | वध्वास् vadhvā́s |
| L. | सेनायाम् sénāyām | कन्यायाम् kanyā̀yām | देव्याम् devyā́m | वध्वाम् vadhvā́m |
| V. | सेने séne | कन्ये kánye | देवि dévi | वधु vádhu |
| Dual: |||||
| N. A. V. | सेने séne | कन्ये kanyè | देव्यौ devyāù | वध्वौ vadhvāù |
| I. D. Ab. | सेनाभ्याम् sénābhyām | कन्याभ्याम् kanyā̀bhyām | देवीभ्याम् devī́bhyām | वधूभ्याम् vadhū́bhyām |
| G. L. | सेनयोस् sénayos | कन्ययोस् kanyàyos | देव्योस् devyós | वध्वोस् vadhvós ​ |
| Plural: |||||
| N. V. | सेनास् sénās | कन्यास् kanyā̀s | देव्यस् devyàs | वध्वस् vadhvàs |
| A. | सेनास् sénās | कन्यास् kanyā̀s | देवीस् devī́s | वधूस् vadhū́s |
| I. | सेनाभिस् sénābhis | कन्याभिस् kanyā̀bhis | देवीभिस् devī́bhis | वधूभिस् vadhū́bhis |
| D. Ab. | सेनाभ्यस् sénābhyas | कन्याभ्यस् kanyā̀bhyas | देवीभ्यस् devī́bhyas | वधूभ्यस् vadhū́bhyas |
| G. | सेनानाम् sénānām | कन्यानाम् kanyā̀nām | देवीनाम् devī́nām | वधूनाम् vadhū́nām |
| L. | सेनासु sénāsu | कन्यासु kanyā̀su | देवीषु devī́ṣu | वधूषु vadhū́ṣu |
a. In the Veda vadhū́ is a stem belonging to the other division (like tanū́, above, 356).
365. Examples of Vedic forms are:
a. ā-stems: instr. sing. manīṣā́ (this simpler form is especially common from stems in tā and iā); nom. pl. vaçā́sas (about twenty examples); accus. pl. araṁgamā́sas (a case or two). Half the bhyas-cases are to be read as bhias; the ām of gen. pl. is a few times to be resolved into aam; and the ā and ām of nom. and accus. sing. are, very rarely, to be treated in the same manner.
b. ī-stems: instr. sing. çámī, çámi; loc. gaurī́; nom. etc. du. devī́; nom. pl. devī́s; gen. pl. bahvīnā́m. The final of the stem is to be read as a vowel (not y) frequently, but not in the majority of instances: thus, deviā́, deviā́s, deviā́m, ródasios.
c. The sporadic instances of transfer between this division and the preceding have been already sufficiently noticed.
d. Of the regular substitution made in the Brāhmaṇa language (307 g, 336 g, 363 c) of the dat. sing. ending āi for the gen.-abl. ending ās, in all classes of words admitting the latter ending, a few examples may be given here: abhibhūtyāi rūpam (AB.) a sign of overpowering; triṣṭubhaç ca jagatyāi ca (AB.) of the metres triṣṭubh and jagatī; vāco dāivyāi ca mānuṣyāi ca (AA.) of speech, both divine and human; striyāi payaḥ (AB.) woman's milk; dhenvāí vā́ etád rétaḥ (TB.) that, forsooth, is the seed of the cow; jīrṇāyāi tvacaḥ (KB.) of dead skin; jyāyasī yājyāyāi (AB.) superior to the yājyā; asyāi divo ‘smād antarikṣāt (ÇÇS.) from this heaven, from this atmosphere. The same substitution is made once in the AV.: thus, svápantv asyāi jñātáyaḥ let her relatives sleep.
366. The noun strī́ f. woman (probably contracted from sūtrī́ generatrix), follows a mixed declension: thus, strī́, stríyam or strī́m, striyā́, striyāí, striyā́s, striyā́m, strí; stríyāu, strībhyā́m, striyós; stríyas, stríyas or strī́s, strībhís, strībhyás, strīṇā́m, strīṣú (but the accusatives strī́m and strī́s are not found in the older language, and the voc. stri is not quotable). The accentuation is that of a root-word; the forms (conspicuously the nom. sing.) are those of the other or derivative division.
Adjectives.
367. a. The occurrence of original adjectives in long final vowels, and of compounds having as final member a stem of the first division, has been sufficiently treated above, so far as masculine and feminine forms are concerned. To form a neuter stem in composition, the rule of the later language is that the final long vowel be shortened; and the stem so made is to be inflected like an adjective in i or u (339, 341, 344).
b. Such neuter forms are very rare, and in the older language almost unknown. Of neuters from ī-stems have been noted in the Veda only hariçríyam, acc. sing. (a masc. form), and suādhías, gen. sing. (same as mac. and fem.); from ū-stems, only a few examples, and from stem-forms which might be masc. and fem. also: thus, vibhú, subhú, etc. (nom.-acc. sing.: compare 354); supúā and mayobhúvā, instr. sing.; and mayobhú, acc. pl. (compare purú: 342 k); from ā-stems occur only half-a-dozen examples of a nom. sing. in ās, like the masc. and fem. form.
c. Compounds having nouns of the second division as final member are common only from derivatives in ā; and these shorten the final to a in both masculine and neuter: thus, from a not and prajā progeny come the masc. and neut. stem apraja, fem. aprajā childless. Such compounds with nouns in ī and ū are said to be inflected in masc. and fem. like the simple words (only with īn and ūn in acc. pl. masc.); but the examples given by the grammarians are fictitious.
d. Stems with shortened final are occasionally met with: thus, ekapatni, āttalakṣmi; and such adverbs (neut. sing. accus.) as upabhāimi, abhyujjayini. The stem strī is directed to be shortened to stri for all genders.
368. It is convenient to give a complete paradigm, for all genders, of an adjective stem in अ a. We take for the purpose पाप pāpá evil, of which the feminine is usually made in आ ā in the later language , but in ई ī in the older.
Singular: :
| | m. | n. | f. | f. |
| N. | पापस् pāpás | पापम् pāpám | पापा pāpā́ | पापी pāpī́ |
| A. | पापम् pāpám | पापम् pāpám | पापाम् pāpā́m | पापीम् pāpī́m |
| I. | पापेन pāpéna | पापेन pāpéna | पापया pāpáyā | पाप्या pāpyā́ |
| D. | पापाय pāpā́ya | पापाय pāpā́ya | पापायै pāpā́yāi | पाप्यै pāpyāí |
| Ab. | पापात् pāpā́t | पापात् pāpā́t | पापायास् pāpā́yās | पाप्यास् pāpyā́s |
| G. | पापस्य pāpásya | पापस्य pāpásya | पापायास् pāpā́yās | पाप्यास् pāpyā́s |
| L. | पापे pāpé | पापे pāpé | पापायाम् pāpā́yām | पाप्याम् pāpyā́m |
| V. | पाप pā́pa | पाप pā́pa | पापे pā́pe | पापि pā́pi |
| Dual: |||||
| N. A. V. | पापौ pāpāú | पापे pāpé | पापे pāpé | पाप्यौ pāpyāù |
| I. D. Ab. | पापाभ्याम् pāpā́bhyām | पापाभ्याम् pāpā́bhyām | पापाभ्याम् pāpā́bhyām | पापीभ्याम् pāpī́bhyām |
| G. L. | पापयोस् pāpáyos | पापयोस् pāpáyos | पापयोस् pāpáyos | पाप्योस् pāpyós |
| Plural: |||||
| N. | पापास् pāpā́s | पापानि pāpā́ni | पापास् pāpā́s | पाप्यस् pāpyàs |
| A. | पापान् pāpā́n | पापानि pāpā́ni | पापास् pāpā́s | पापीस् pāpī́s |
| I. | पापैस् pāpāís | पापैस् pāpāís | पापाभिस् pāpā́bhis | पापीभिस् pāpī́bhis |
| D. Ab. | पापेभ्यस् pāpébhyas | पापेभ्यस् pāpébhyas | पापाभ्यस् pāpā́bhyas | पापीभ्यस् pāpī́bhyas ​ |
| G. | पापानाम् pāpā́nām | पापानाम् pāpā́nām | पापानाम् pāpā́nām | पापीनाम् pāpī́nām |
| L. | पापेषु pāpéṣu | पापेषु pāpéṣu | पापासु pāpā́su | पापीषु pāpī́ṣu |
Declension IV.
Stems in ऋ ṛ (or अर् ar).
369. This declension is a comparatively limited one, being almost entirely composed of derivative nouns formed with the suffix तृ tṛ (or तर् tar), which makes masculine nomina agentis (used also participially), and a few nouns of relationship.
a. But it includes also a few nouns of relationship not made with that suffix: namely devṛ́ m., svásṛ and nánāndṛ f.; and besides these, nṛ́ m., stṛ́ (in V.) m., usṛ́ (in V.) f., savyaṣṭhṛ m., and the feminine numerals tisṛ and catasṛ (for which, see 482 e, g). The feminines in tṛ are only mātṛ́, duhitṛ́, and yā́tṛ.
b. The inflection of these stems is quite closely analogous with that of stems in i and u (second declension); its peculiarity, as compared with them, consists mainly in the treatment of the stem itself, which has a double form, fuller in the strong cases, briefer in the weak ones.
370. Forms of the Stem. In the weak cases (excepting the loc. sing.) the stem-final is ṛ, which in the weakest cases, or before a vowel-ending, is changed regularly to r (129). But as regards the strong cases, the stems of this declension fall into two classes: in one of them — which is very much the larger, containing all the nomina agentis, and also the nouns of relationship náptṛ and svásṛ, and the irregular words stṛ́ and savyaṣṭhṛ — the ṛ is vriddhied, or becomes ār; in the other, containing most of the nouns of relationship, with nṛ́ and usṛ́, the ṛ is gunated, or changed to ar. In both classes, the loc. sing. has ar as stem-final.
371. Endings: These are in general the normal, but with the following exceptions:
a. The nom. sing. (masc. and fem.) ends always in ā (for original ars or ārs). The voc. sing. ends in ar.
b. The accus. sing. adds am to the (strengthened) stem; the accus. pl. has (like i- and u-stems) n as masc. ending and s as fem. ending, with the ṛ lengthened before them.
c. The abl.-gen. sing. changes ṛ to ur (or us: 169 b).
d. The gen. pl. (as in i and u-stems) inserts n before ām, and lengthens the stem-final before it. But the ṛ of nṛ́ may also remain short.
e. The above are the rules of the later language. The older presents certain deviations from them. Thus:
f. The ending in nom.-acc.-voc. du. is (as universally in the Veda) regularly ā instead of āu (only ten āu-forms in RV.).
g. The i of loc. sing. is lengthened to ī in a few words: thus, kartárī.
h. In the gen. pl., the RV. has once svásrām, without inserted n; and narā́m instead of nṛṇā́m is frequent.
i. Other irregularities of nṛ́ are the sing. dat. náre, gen. náras, and loc. nári. The Veda writes always nṛṇā́m in gen. pl., but its ṛ is in a majority of cases metrically long.
j. The stem usṛ́ f. dawn has the voc. sing. uṣar, the gen. sing. usrás; and the accus. pl. also usrás, and loc. sing. usrā́m (which is metrically trisyllabic: usṛā́m), as if in analogy with ī and ū-stems. Once occurs usrí in loc. sing., but it is to be read as if the regular trisyllabic form, uṣári (for the exchange of s and ṣ, see 181 a).
k. From stṛ́ come only tā́ras (apparently) and stṛ́bhis.
l. In the gen.-loc. du., the r is almost always to be read as a separate syllable, ṛ, before the ending os: thus, pitṛós, etc. On the contrary, nánāndari is once to be read nánāndri.
m. For neuter forms, see below, 375.
372. Accent. The accentuation follows closely the rules for i- and u-stems: if on the final of the stem, it continues, as acute, on the corresponding syllable throughout, except in the gen. pl., where it may be (and in the Veda always is) thrown forward upon the ending; where, in the weakest cases, ṛ becomes r, the ending has the accent. The two monosyllabic stems, nṛ́ and stṛ́, do not show the monosyllabic accent: thus (besides the forms already given above), nṛ́bhis, nṛ́ṣu.
373. Examples of declension. As models of this mode of inflection, we may take from the first class (with आर् ār in the strong forms) the stems दातृ dātṛ́ m. giver and स्वसृ svásṛ f. sister; from the second class (with अर् ar in the strong forms), the stem पितृ pitṛ́ m. father.
Singular: :
| N. | दाता dātā́ | स्वसा svásā | पिता pitā́ |
| A. | दातारम् dātā́ram | स्वसारम् svásāram | पितरम् pitáram ​ |
| I. | दात्रा dātrā́ | स्वस्रा svásrā | पित्रा pitrā́ |
| D. | दात्रे dātré | स्वस्रे svásre | पित्रे pitré |
| Ab. G. | दातुर् dātúr | स्वसुर् svásur | पितुर् pitúr |
| L. | दातरि dātári | स्वसरि svásari | पितरि pitári |
| V. | दातर् dā́tar | स्वसर् svásar | पितर् pítar |
| Dual: ||||
| N. A. V. | दातारौ dātā́rāu | स्वसारौ svásārāu | पितरौ pitárāu |
| I. D. Ab. | दातृभ्याम् dātṛ́bhyām | स्वसृभ्याम् svásṛbhyām | पितृभ्याम् pitṛ́bhyām |
| G. L. | दात्रोस् dātrós | स्वस्रोस् svásros | पित्रोस् pitrós |
| Plural: ||||
| N. V. | दातारस् dātā́ras | स्वसारस् svásāras | पितरस् pitáras |
| A. | दातॄन् dātṝ́n | स्वसॄस् svásṝs | पितॄन् pitṝ́n |
| I. | दातृभिस् dātṛ́bhis | स्वसृभिस् svásṛbhis | पितृभिस् pitṛ́bhis |
| D. Ab. | दातृभ्यस् dātṛ́bhyas | स्वसृभ्यस् svásṛbhyas | पितृभ्यस् pitṛ́bhyas |
| G. | दातॄणाम् dātṝṇā́m | स्वसॄणाम् svásṝṇām | पितॄणाम् pitṝṇā́m |
| L. | दातृषु dātṛ́ṣu | स्वसृषु svásṛṣu | पितृषु pitṛ́ṣu |
a. The feminine stem मातृ mātṛ́, mother, is inflected precisely like पितृ pitṛ́, excepting that its accusative plural is मातॄस् mātṝ́s.
​b. The peculiar Vedic forms have been sufficiently instanced above; the only ones of other than sporadic occurrence being the nom. etc. du. dātā́rā, svásārā, pitárā, and the gen. pl. of nṛ, narā́m.
c. The nom. pl. forms pitaras and mātaras etc. are found used also as accus. in the epics.
374. The stem kroṣṭṛ́ m. jackal (lit'ly howler) substitutes in the middle cases the corresponding forms of króṣṭu.
375. Neuter forms. The grammarians prescribe a complete neuter declension also for bases in tṛ, precisely accordant with that of vā́ri or mádhu (above, 339, 341). Thus, for example:
| | Sing. | Du. | Plur. |
| N. A. | dhātṛ́ | dhātṛ́ṇī | dhātṝ́ṇi |
| I. | dhātṛ́ṇā | dhātṛ́bhyām | dhātṛ́bhis |
| G. | dhātṛ́ṇas | dhātṛ́ṇos | dhātṝṇā́m |
| V. | dhā́tṛ, dhā́tar | dhā́tṛṇī | dhā́tṝṇi. |
a. The weakest cases, however (as of i- and u-stems used adjectively: 344), are allowed also to be formed like the corresponding masculine cases: thus, dhātrā́ etc.
b. No such neuter forms chance to occur in the Veda, but they begin to appear in the Brāhmaṇas, under influence of the common tendency (compare Germ. Retter, Retterin; Fr. menteur, menteuse) to give this nomen agentis a more adjective character, making it correspond in gender with the noun which it (appositively) qualifies. Thus, we have in TB. bhartṛ́ and janayitṛ́, qualifying antárikṣam; and bhartṝ́ṇi and janayitṝ́ṇi, qualifying nákṣatrāṇi; as, in M., grahītṝṇi, qualifying indriyāṇi.
c. When a feminine noun is to be qualified in like manner, the usual feminine derivative in ī is employed: thus, in TB., bhartryàs and bhartryāù, janayitryàs and janayitryāù, qualifying ā́pas and ahorātré; and such instances are not uncommon.
d. The RV. shows the same tendency very curiously once in the accus. pl. mātṝ́n, instead of mātṝ́s, in apposition with masculine nouns (RV. x. 35.2).
e. Other neuter forms in RV. are sthātúr gen. sing., dhmātárī loc. sing.; and for the nom. sing., instead of -tṛ, a few more or less doubtful cases, sthātar, sthātúr, dhartári.
Adjectives.
376. a. There are no original adjectives of this declension: for the quasi-adjectival character of the nouns composing it, see above (375 b). The feminine stem is made by the suffix ī: thus, dātrī́, dhātrī́.
b. Roots ending in ṛ (like those in i and u: 345) add a t to make a declinable stem, when occurring as final member of a ​compound: thus, karmakṛ́t (√kṛ), vajrabhṛ́t (√bhṛ), balihṛ́t (√hṛ). From some ṛ-roots, also, are made stems in ir and ur: see below, 383 a, b.
c. Nouns in ṛ as finals of adjective compounds are inflected in the same manner as when simple, in the masculine and feminine; in the neuter, they would doubtless have the peculiar neuter endings in nom.-acc.-voc. of all numbers.
d. But TS. has once tvátpitāras, nom. pl., having thee for father.
Declension V.
Stems ending in Consonants.
377. All stems ending in consonants may properly be classed together, as forming a single comprehensive declension; since, though some of them exhibit peculiarities of inflection, these have to do almost exclusively with the stem itself, and not with the declensional endings.
378. In this declension, masculines and feminines of the same final are inflected alike; and neuters are peculiar (as usually in the other declensions) only in the nom.-acc.-voc. of all numbers.
a. The majority of consonantal stems, however, are not inflected in the feminine, but form a special feminine derivative stem in ई ī (never in आ ā), by adding that ending to the weak form of the masculine.
b. Exceptions are in general the stems of divisions A and B — namely, the radical stems etc., and those in as and is and us. For special cases, see below.
379. Variations, as between stronger and weaker forms, are very general among consonantal stems: either of two degrees (strong and weak), or of three (strong, middle, and weakest): see above, 311.
a. The peculiar neuter forms, according to the usual rule (311 b), are made in the plural from the strong stem, in singular and dual from the weak — or, when the gradation is threefold, in singular from the middle stem, in dual from the weakest.
b. As in the case of stems ending in short vowels (āsyā̀ni, vā́rīṇi, mádhūni, dātṝ́ṇi, etc.), a nasal sometimes appears in the special neuter plural cases which is found nowhere else in inflection. Thus, from the stems in as, is, us, the nom.-acc.-voc. pl. in -āṅsi, -īṅṣi, -ūṅṣi are very common at every period. According to the grammarians, the radical stems etc. (division A) are treated in the same way; but examples of such neuters are of extreme rarity in the language; no Vedic text offers one, and in the Brāhmaṇas and Sūtras have been noted only -hunti (AB. vii. 2. 3), -vṛnti (PB. xvi. 2. 7 et al.), -bhāñji (KB. xxvii. 7), -bhṛ́nti (ÇB. viii. 1. 3¹), and -yuñji (LÇS. ii. 1. 8); while in the later language is found here and there a case, like -çrunti (Ragh.), -pūṅṣi (Çiç.); it may be questioned whether they are not later analogical formations.
380. The endings are throughout those given above (310) as the "normal".
a. By the general law as to finals (150), the s of the nom. sing. masc. and fem. is always lost; and irregularities of treatment of the final of the stem in this case are not infrequent.
b. The gen. and abl. sing. are never distinguished in form from one another — nor are, by ending, the nom. and accus. pl.: but these sometimes differ in stem-form, or in accent, or in both.
381. Change in the place of the accent is limited to monosyllabic stems and the participles in ánt (accented on the final). For details, see below, under divisions A and E.
a. But a few of the compounds of the root añc or ac show an irregular shift of accent in the oldest language: see below, 410.
382. a. For convenience and clearness of presentation, it will be well to separate from the general mass of consonantal stems certain special classes which show kindred peculiarities of inflection, and may be best described together.
Thus:
B. Derivative stems in as, is, us;
C. Derivative stems in an (an, man, van);
D. Derivative stems in in (in, min, vin);
E. Derivative stems in ant (ant, mant, vant);
F. Perfect active participles in vāṅs;
G. Comparatives in yāṅs or yas.
b. There remain, then, to constitute division A, especially radical stems, or those identical in form with roots, ​together with a comparatively small number of others which are inflected like these.
They will be taken up in the order thus indicated.
A. Root-stems, and those inflected like them.
383. The stems of this division may be classified as follows:
I. a. Root-stems, having in them no demonstrable element added to a root: thus, ṛ́c verse, gír song, pád foot, díç, direction, máh (V.) great.
b. Such stems, however, are not always precisely identical in form with the root: thus, vā́c from √vac, sráj from √sṛj, mū́ṣ from √muṣ, vríç from √vraçc (?), úṣ from √vas shine; — from roots in final ṛ come stems in ir and ur: thus, gír, ā-çír, stír; júr, túr, dhúr, púr, múr, stúr, sphúr; and psúr from √psar.
c. With these may be ranked the stems with reduplicated root, as cikít, yavīyúdh, vánīvan, sasyád.
d. Words of this division in uncompounded use are tolerably frequent in the older language: thus, in RV. are found more than a hundred of them; in AV., about sixty; but in the classical Sanskrit the power of using any root at will in this way is lost, and the examples are comparatively few. In all periods, however, the adjective use as final of a compound is very common (see below, 401).
e. As to the infinitive use of various cases of the root-noun, see 971.
II. f. Stems made by the addition of t to a final short vowel of a root.
g. No proper root-stem ends in a short vowel, although there are (354) examples of transfer of such to short-vowel-declensions; but i or u or ṛ adds a t to make a declinable form: thus, -jít, -çrút, -kṛ́t. Roots in ṛ, however, as has just been seen (b), also make stems in ir or ur.
h. As regards the frequency and use of these words, the same is true as was stated above respecting root-stems. The Veda offers examples of nearly thirty such formations, a few of them (mít, rít, stút, hrút, vṛ́t, and dyút if this is taken from dyu) in independent use. Of roots in ṛ, t is added by kṛ, dhṛ, dhvṛ, bhṛ, vṛ, sṛ, spṛ, hṛ, and hvṛ. The roots gā (or gam) and han also make -gát and -hát by addition of the t to an abbreviated form in a (thus, adhvagát, dyugát, dvigat, navagát, and saṁhát).
III. i. Monosyllabic (also a few apparently reduplicated) stems not certainly connectible with any verbal root in the language, but having the aspect of root-stems, as containing no traceable suffix: ​thus, tvác skin, páth road, hṛ́d heart, áp and vā́r water, dvā́r door, ā́s mouth, kakúbh and kakúd, summit.
j. Thirty or forty such words are found in the older language, and some of them continue in later use, while others have been transferred to other modes of declension or have become extinct.
k. Stems more or less clearly derivative, but made with suffixes of rare or even isolated occurrence. Thus:
1. derivatives (V.) from prepositions with the suffix vat: arvāvát, āvát, udvát, nivát, parāvát, pravát, saṁvát; — 2. derivatives (V.) in tāt (perhaps abbreviated from tāti), in a few isolated forms: thus, uparátāt, devátāt, vṛkátāt, satyátāt, sarvátāt; — 3. other derivatives in t preceded by various vowels: thus, daçát, vehát, vahát, sravát, saçcát, vāghát; nápāt; taḍít, divít, yoṣít, rohít, sarít, harít; marút; yákṛt, çákṛt; and the numerals for 30, 40, 50, triṅçát etc. (475); — 4. stems in ad: thus, dṛṣád, dhṛṣád, bhasád, vanád, çarád, samád; — 5. stems in j preceded by various vowels: thus, tṛṣṇáj, dhṛṣáj, sanáj, bhiṣáj; uçíj, vaṇíj, bhuríj, niṇíj (?); ásṛj; — 6. a few stems ending in a sibilant apparently formative: thus, jñā́s, -dās, bhā́s, mā́s, bhī́ṣ; — 7. a remnant of unclassifiable cases, such as viṣṭáp, vípāç, kápṛth, çurúdh, iṣídh, pṛkṣúdh, ragháṭ (?), sarágh, visrúh, uṣṇíh, kaváṣ.
384. Gender. The root-stems are regularly feminine as nomen actionis, and masculine as nomen agentis (which is probably only a substantive use of their adjective value: below, 400). But the feminine noun, without changing its gender, is often also used concretely: e. g., druh f. (√druh be inimical) means harming, enmity, and also harmer, hater, enemy — thus bordering on the masculine value. And some of the feminines have a completely concrete meaning. Through the whole division, the masculines are much less numerous than the feminines, and the neuters rarest of all.
a. The independent neuter stems are hṛ́d (also -hārd), dám, vā́r, svàr, mā́s flesh, ā́s mouth, bhā́s, dós (with which may be mentioned the indeclinables çám and yós); also the apparent derivatives yákṛt, çákṛt, kápṛth, ásṛj.
385. Strong and weak stem-forms. The distinction of these two classes of forms is usually made either by the presence or absence of a nasal, or by a difference in the quantity of the stem-vowel, as long or short; less often, by other methods.
386. A nasal appears in the strong cases of the following words:
1. Compounds having as final member the root ac or añc: see below, 407 ff.; and RV. has once uruvyáñcam from root vyac; — 2. The ​stem yuj, sometimes, in the older language: thus, nom. sing. yún̄ (for yún̄k), accus. yúñjam, du. yúñjā (but also yújam and yújā); — 3. The stem -dṛç, as final of a compound in the older language; but only in the nom. sing, masc., and not always: thus, anyādṛ́n̄, īdṛ́n̄, kīdṛ́n̄, tādṛ́n̄, etādṛn, sadṛ́n̄ and pratisadṛ́n̄: but also īdṛ́k, tādṛ́k, svardṛ́k, etc.; — 4. For path and puṁs, which substitute more extended stems, and for dant, see below, 394–6.
387. The vowel a is lengthened in strong cases as follows:
1. Of the roots vac, sac, sap, nabh, ças, in a few instances (V.), at the end of compounds; — 2. Of the roots vah and sah, but irregularly: see below, 403–5; — 3. Of ap water (see 393); also in its compound rītyàp; — 4. Of pad, foot: in the compounds of this word, in the later language, the same lengthening is made in the middle cases also; and in RV. and AV. the nom. sing. neut. is both -pat and -pāt, while RV. has once -pāde, and -pādbhis and -pātsu occur in the Brāhmaṇas; — 5. Of nas nose (? nā́sā nom. du. fem., RV., once); — 6. Sporadic cases (V.) are: yāj (?), voc. sing.; pāthás and -rāpas, accus. pl.; vánīvānas, nom. pl. The strengthened forms bhāj and rāj are constant, through all classes of cases.
388. Other modes of differentiation, by elision of a or contraction of the syllable containing it, appear in a few stems:
1. In -han: see below, 402; — 2. In kṣam (V.), along with prolongation of a: thus, kṣā́mā du., kṣā́mas pl.; kṣamā́ instr. sing., kṣámi loc. sing., kṣmás abl. sing.; — 3. In dvā́r, contracted (V.) to dur in weak cases (but with some confusion of the two classes); — 4. In svàr, which becomes, in RV., sūr in weak cases; later it is indeclinable.
389. The endings are as stated above (380).
a. Respecting their combination with the final of the stem, as well as the treatment of the latter when it occurs at the end of the word, the rules of euphonic combination (chap. III.) are to be consulted; they require much more constant and various application here than anywhere else in declension.
b. Attention may be called to a few exceptional cases of combination (V.): mādbhís and mādbhyás from mā́s month; the wholly anomalous paḍbhís (RV. and VS.: AV. has always padbhís) from pád; and saráṭ and saráḍbhyas corresponding to a nom. pl. sarághas (instead of saráhas: 222). Dán is apparently for dám, by 143 a.
c. According to the grammarians, neuter stems, unless they end in a nasal or a semivowel, take in nom.-acc.-voc. pl. a strengthening nasal before the final consonant. But no such cases from neuter noun-stems appear ever to have been met with in use; and as regards adjective stems ending in a root, see above, 379 b.
390. Monosyllabic stems have the regular accent of such, throwing the tone forward upon the endings in the weak cases.
a. But the accusative plural has its normal accentuation as a weak case, upon the ending, in only a minority (hardly more than a third) of the stems: namely in datás, pathás, padás, nidás, apás, uṣás, jñāsás, puṁsás, māsás, mahás; and sometimes in vācás, srucás, hrutás, sridhás, kṣapás, vipás, durás, iṣás, dviṣás, druhás (beside vā́cas etc.).
b. Exceptional instances, in which a weak case has the tone on the stem, occur as follows: sádā, nádbhyas, tánā (also tanā́) and táne, bā́dhe (infin.), ráṇe and ráṅsu, váṅsu, sváni, vípas, kṣámi, sū́rā and sū́ras (but sūré), áṅhas, and vánas and bṛ́has (in vánaspáti, bṛ́haspáti). On the other hand, a strong case is accented on the ending in mahás, nom. pl., and kāsám (AV.: perhaps a false reading). And preṣā́, instr. sing., is accented as if préṣ were a simple stem, instead of pra-íṣ. Vimṛdháḥ is of doubtful character. For the sometimes anomalous accentuation of stems in ac or añc, see 410.
391. Examples of inflection. As an example of normal monosyllabic inflection, we may take the stem वाच् vā́c f. voice (from √वच् vac, with constant prolongation); of inflection with strong and weak stem, पद् pád m. foot; of polysyllabic inflection, मरुत् marút, m. wind or wind-god; of a monosyllabic root-stem in composition, त्रिवृत् trivṛ́t, three-fold, in the neuter. Thus:
Singular: :
| N. V. | वाक् vā́k | पात् pā́t | मरुत् marút | त्रिवृत् trivṛ́t |
| A. | वाचम् vā́cam | पादम् pā́dam | मरुतम् marútam | त्रिवृत् trivṛ́t |
| I. | वाचा vācā́ | पदा padā́ | मरुता marútā | त्रिवृता trivṛ́tā |
| D. | वाचे vācé | पदे padé | मरुते marúte | त्रिवृते trivṛ́te |
| Ab. G. | वाचस् vācás | पदस् padás | मरुतस् marútas | त्रिवृतस् trivṛ́tas |
| L. | वाचि vācí | पदि padí | मरुति marúti | त्रिवृति trivṛ́ti ​ |
| Dual: |||||
| N. A. V. | वाचौ vā́cāu | पादौ pā́dāu | मरुतौ marútāu | त्रिवृती trivṛ́tī |
| I. D. Ab. | वाग्भ्याम् vāgbhyā́m | पद्भ्याम् padbhyā́m | मरुद्भ्याम् marúdbhyām | त्रिवृद्भ्याम् trivṛ́dbhyām |
| G. L. | वाचोस् vācós | पदोस् padós | मरुतोस् marútos | त्रिवृतोस् trivṛ́tos |
| Plural: |||||
| N. V. | वाचस् vā́cas | पादस् pā́das | मरुतस् marútas | त्रिवृन्ति trivṛ́nti |
| A. | वाचस् vācás, vā́cas | पदस् padás | मरुतस् marútas | त्रिवृन्ति trivṛ́nti |
| I. | वाग्भिस् vāgbhís | पद्भिस् padbhís | मरुद्भिस् marúdbhis | त्रिवृद्भिस् trivṛ́dbhis |
| D. Ab. | वाग्भ्यस् vāgbhyás | पद्भ्यस् padbhyás | मरुद्भ्यस् marúdbhyas | त्रिवृद्भ्यस् trivṛ́dbhyas |
| G. | वाचाम् vācā́m | पदाम् padā́m | मरुताम् marútām | त्रिवृताम् trivṛ́tām |
| L. | वाक्षु vākṣú | पत्सु patsú | मरुत्सु marútsu | त्रिवृत्सु trivṛ́tsu |
By way of illustration of the leading methods of treatment of a stem-final, at the end of the word and in combination with case-endings, characteristic case-forms of a few more stems are here added. Thus:
a. Stems in j: yuj-class (219 a, 142), bhiṣáj physician: bhiṣák, bhiṣájam, bhiṣágbhis, bhiṣákṣu; — mṛj-class (219 b, 142), samrā́j universal ruler: samrā́ṭ, samrā́jam, samrā́ḍbhis, samrā́ṭsu.
b. Stems in dh: -vṛ́dh increasing: -vṛ́t, -vṛ́dham, -vṛ́dbhis, vṛ́tsu; -búdh (155) waking: -bhút, -búdham, -bhúdbhis, -bhútsu.
c. Stems ending in bh: -stúbh praising: -stúp, -stúbham, -stúbbhis, -stúpsu.
d. Stems in ç: díç (218 a, 145) direction: dík, díçam, digbhís, dikṣú; — víç (218, 145) the people: víṭ, víçam, viḍbhís, viṭsú (V. vikṣú: 218 a).
e. Stems in ṣ (226 b, 145): dvíṣ enemy: dvíṭ, dvíṣam, dviḍbhís, dviṭsú.
f. Stems in h: duh-class (232-3 a, 155 b, 147), -dúh milking, ​yielding: -dhúk, -dúham, -dhúgbhis, -dhúkṣu; — ruh-class (223 b, 147), -lih licking: -liṭ, -liham, -liḍbhis, -liṭsu.
g. Stems in m (143 a, 212 a: only praçā́n, nom. sing., quotable): -çām quieting: -çā́n, -çā́mam, -çā́nbhis, -çā́nsu.
* ↑ Original: milki was amended to milking,: detail
* ↑ Original: çā́mam was amended to -çā́mam: detail
392. The root-stems in ir and ur (383 b) lengthen their vowel when the final r is followed by another consonant (245 b), and also in the nom. sing. (where the case-ending s is lost).
a. Thus, from gír f. song come gī́r (gī́ḥ), gíram, girā́, etc.; gírāu, gīrbhyā́m, girós; gíras, gīrbhís, gīrbhyás, girā́m, gīrṣú (165); and, in like manner, from púr f. stronghold come pū́r (pū́ḥ), púram, purā́, etc.; púrāu, pūrbhyā́m, purós; púras, pūrbhís, pūrbhyás, purā́m, pūrṣú.
b. There are no roots in is (except the excessively rare pis) or in us; but from the root çās with its ā weakened to i (250) comes the noun āçís f. blessing, which is inflected like gír: thus, āçī́s (āçī́ḥ), āçíṣam, āçíṣā, etc.; āçíṣāu, āçī́rbhyām, āçíṣos; āçíṣas, āçī́rbhis, āçī́rbhyas, āçíṣām, āçī́ḥṣu. And sajū́s together is apparently a stereotyped nominative of like formation from the root juṣ. The form aṣṭā́prūṭ (TS.), from the root-stem pruṣ, is isolated and anomalous.
c. These stems in ir, ur, is show a like prolongation of vowel also in composition and derivation: thus, gīrvāṇa, pūrbhíd, dhūrgata, dhūstva, āçīrdā́, āçī́rvant, etc. (but also gírvan, gírvaṇas).
d. The native grammar sets up a class of quasi-radical stems like jigamis desiring to go, made from the desiderative conjugation-stem (1027), and prescribes for it a declension like that of āçís: thus, jigamīs, jigamiṣā, jigamīrbhis, jigamīḥṣu, etc. Such a class appears to be a mere figment of the grammarians, since no example of it has been found quotable from the literature, either earlier or later, and since there is, in fact, no more a desiderative stem jigamis than a causative stem gamay.
393. The stem áp f. water is inflected only in the plural, and with dissimilation of its final before bh to d (151 e): thus, ā́pas, apás, adbhís, adbhyás, apā́m, apsú.
a. But RV. has the sing. instr. apā́ and gen. apás. In the earlier language (especially AV.), and even in the epics, the nom. and accus. pl. forms are occasionally confused in use, ā́pas being employed as accus., and apás as nominative.
b. Besides the stem ap, case-forms of this word are sometimes used in composition and derivation: thus, for example, abjā́, āpodevata, āpomáya, apsumant.
394. The stem púṁs m. man is very irregular, substituting púmāṅs in the strong cases, and losing its s (necessarily) before initial bh of a case-ending, and likewise (by analogy with this, or by an abbreviation akin with that noticed at 231) in the loc. plural. The vocative is (in accordance with that of the somewhat similarly ​inflected perfect participles: see 462 a) púman in the later language, but púmas in the earlier. Thus: púmān, púmāṅsam, puṁsā́, puṁsé, puṁsás, puṁsí, púman; púmāṅsāu, pumbhyā́m, puṁsós; púmāṅsas, puṁsás, pumbhís, pumbhyás, puṁsā́m, puṁsú.
a. The accentuation of the weak forms, it will be noticed, is that of a true monosyllabic stem. The forms with bh-endings nowhere occur in the older language, nor do they appear to have been cited from the later. Instances of the confusion of strong and weak forms are occasionally met with. As to the retention of s unlingualized in the weakest cases (whence necessarily follows that in the loc. pl.), see 183 a.
b. This stem appears under a considerable variety of forms in composition and derivation: thus, as puṁs in puṁçcalī́, puṁstva, púṁsvant, -puṁska, etc.; as pum in púṁvatsa, púṁrūpa, puṁvat, pumartha, etc.; as puṁsa in puṁsavant; — at the end of a compound, either with its full inflection, as in strīpúṁs etc.; or as puṁsa, in strīpuṁsa, mahāpuṁsa; or as puma in strīpuma (TS. TA.).
395. The stem path m. road is defective in declension, forming only the weakest cases, while the strong are made from pánthā or pánthan, and the middle from pathí: see under an-stems, below, 433.
396. The stem dánt m. tooth is perhaps of participial origin, and has, like a participle, the forms dánt and dát, strong and weak: thus (V.), dán, dántam, datā́, etc.; datás acc. pl. etc. But in the middle cases it has the monosyllabic and not the participial accent: thus, dadbhís, dadbhyás. In nom. pl. occurs also -datas instead of -dantas. By the grammarians, the strong cases of this word are required to be made from dánta.
397. A number of other words of this division are defective, making part of their inflection from stems of a different form.
a. Thus, hṛ́d n. heart, mā́ṅs or mā́s n. meat, mā́s m. month, nás f. nose, niç f. night (not found in the older language), pṛ́t f. army, are said by the grammarians to lack the nom. of all numbers and the accus. sing. and du. (the neuters, of course, the acc. pl. also), making them respectively from hṛ́daya, māṅsá, mā́sa, nā́sikā, niçā, pṛ́tanā. But the usage in the older language is not entirely in accordance with this requirement: thus, we find mā́s flesh accus. sing.; mā́s month nom. sing.; and nā́sā nostrils du. From pṛ́t occurs only the loc. pl. pṛtsú and (RV., once) the same case with double ending, pṛtsúṣu.
398. On the other hand, certain stems of this division, allowed by the grammarians a full inflection, are used to fill up the deficiencies of those of another form.
a. Thus, ásṛj n. blood, çákṛt n. ordure, yákṛt n. liver, dós n. (also m.) fore-arm, have beside them defective stems in án: see below, 432. Of none of them, however, is anything but the nom.-acc. sing. found in the older language, and other cases later are but very scantily represented.
​b. Of ā́s n. mouth, and úd water, only a case or two are found, in the older language, beside āsán and āsyà, and udán and údaka (432).
399. Some of the alternative stems mentioned above are instances of transition from the consonant to a vowel declension: thus, dánta, mā́sa. A number of other similar cases occur, sporadically in the older language, more commonly in the later. Such are pā́da, -māda, -dāça, bhrājá, viṣṭápa, dvāra and dura, pura, dhura, -dṛça, nā́sā, nidā, kṣípā, kṣapā́, āçā́, and perhaps a few others.
a. A few irregular stems will find a more proper place under the head of Adjectives.
Adjectives.
400. Original adjectives having the root-form are comparatively rare even in the oldest language.
a. About a dozen are quotable from the RV., for the most part only in a few scattering cases. But mah great is common in RV., though it dies out rapidly later. It makes a derivative feminine stem, mahī́, which continues in use, as meaning earth etc.
401. But compound adjectives, having a root as final member, with the value of a present participle, are abundant in every period of the language.
a. Possessive adjective compounds, also, of the same form, are not very rare: examples are yatásruc with offered bowl; sū́ryatvac sun-skinned; cátuṣpad four-footed; suhā́rd kind-hearted, friendly; rītyàp (i.e. rītí-ap) having streaming waters; sahásradvār furnished with a thousand doors.
b. The inflection of such compounds is like that of the simple root-stems, masculine and feminine being throughout the same, and the neuter varying only in the nom.-acc.-voc. of all numbers. But special neuter forms are of rare occurrence, and masc.-fem. are sometimes used instead.
c. Only rarely is a derivative feminine stem in ī formed: in the older language, only from the compounds with ac or añc (407 ff.), those with han (402), those with pad, as ékapadī, dvipádī, and with dant, as vṛ́ṣadatī, and mahī́, ámucī (AV.), úpasadī (? ÇB).
Irregularities of inflection appear in the following:
402. The root han slay, as final of a compound, is inflected somewhat like a derivative noun in an (below, 420 ff.), becoming hā in the nom. sing., and losing its n in the middle cases and its a in the weakest cases (but only optionally in the loc. sing.). Further, when the vowel is lost, h in contact with following n reverts to its original gh. Thus:
| | Singular. | Dual. | Plural. |
| N. | vṛtrahā́ | vṛtraháṇāu | vṛtraháṇas |
| A. | vṛtraháṇam | vṛtraháṇāu | vṛtraghnás |
| I. | vṛtraghnā́ | vṛtrahábhyām | vṛtrahábhis |
| D. | vṛtraghné | vṛtrahábhyām | vṛtrahábhyas |
| Ab. | vṛtraghnás | vṛtrahábhyām | vṛtrahábhyas |
| G. | vṛtraghnás | vṛtraghnós | vṛtraghnā́m |
| L. | vṛtraghní, -háṇi | vṛtraghnós | vṛtrahásu |
| V. | vṛ́trahan | vṛ́trahaṇāu | vṛ́trahaṇas |
a. As to the change of n to ṇ, see 193, 195.
b. A feminine is made by adding ī to, as usual, the stem-form shown in the weakest cases: thus, vṛtraghnī́.
c. An accus. pl. -hánas (like the nom.) also occurs. Vṛtrahábhis (RV., once) is the only middle case-form quotable from the older language. Transitions to the a-declension begin already in the Veda: thus, to -há (RV. AV.), -ghná (RV.), -hana.
403. The root vah carry at the end of a compound is said by the grammarians to be lengthened to vāh in both the strong and middle cases, and contracted in the weakest cases to ūh, which with a preceding a-vowel becomes āu (137 c): thus, from havyaváh sacrifice-bearing (epithet of Agni), havyavā́ṭ, havyavā́ham, havyāúhā, etc.; havyavā́hāu, havyavā́ḍbhyām, havyāúhos; havyavā́has, havyāúhas, havyavā́ḍbhis, etc. And çvetaváh (not quotable) is said to be further irregular in making the nom. sing. in vās and the vocative in vas or vās.
a. In the earlier language, only strong forms of compounds with vah have been found to occur: namely, -vā́ṭ, -vā́ham, -vā́hāu or -vā́hā, and -vā́has. But feminines in ī, from the weakest stem — as turyāuhī́, dityāuhī́, paṣṭhāuhī́ — are met with in the Brāhmaṇas. TS. has the irregular nom. sing. paṣṭhavā́t.
404. Of very irregular formation and inflection is one common compound of vah, namely anaḍváh (anas+vah, burden-bearing or cart-drawing, i.e. ox). Its stem-form in the strong cases is anaḍvā́h, in the weakest anaḍúh, and in the middle anaḍúd (perhaps by dissimilation from anaḍúḍ). Moreover, its nom. and voc. sing, are made in vān and van (as if from a vant-stem). Thus:
| | Singular. | Dual. | Plural. |
| N. | anaḍvā́n | anaḍvā́hāu | anaḍvā́has |
| A. | anaḍvā́ham | anaḍvā́hāu | anaḍúhas |
| I. | anaḍúhā | anaḍúdbhyām | anaḍúdbhis |
| D. | anaḍúhe | anaḍúdbhyām | anaḍúdbhyas |
| Ab. | anaḍúhas | anaḍúdbhyām | anaḍúdbhyas |
| G. | anaḍúhas | anaḍúhos | anaḍúhām |
| L. | anaḍúhi | anaḍúhos | anaḍútsu |
| V. | ánaḍvan | ánaḍvāhāu | ánaḍvāhas |
b. The corresponding feminine stem (of very infrequent occurrence) is either anaḍuhī́ (ÇB.) or anaḍvāhī́ (K. MS.).
405. The root sah overcome has in the Veda a double irregularity: its s is changeable to ṣ even after an a-vowel — as also in its single occurrence as an independent adjective (RV., tváṁ ṣā́ṭ) — while it sometimes remains unchanged after an i or u-vowel; and its a is either prolonged or remains unchanged, in both strong and weak cases. The quotable forms are: -ṣā́ṭ, -ṣā́ham or -sā́ham or -sáham, -sáhā, -sā́he or -sáhe, -ṣā́has or -ṣáhas or -sáhas; -sáhā (du.); -ṣā́has or -sáhas.
406. The compound avayā́j (√yaj make offering) a certain priest or (BR.) a certain sacrifice is said to form the nom. and voc. sing avayā́s, and to make its middle cases from avayás.
a. Its only quotable form is avayā́s f. (RV. and AV., each once). If the stem is a derivative from ava+√yaj conciliate, avayā́s is very probably from ava + √yā, which has the same meaning. But sadhamā́s (RV., once) and purodā́s (RV., twice) show a similar apparent substitution in nom. sing. of the case-ending s after long ā for a final root-consonant (d and ç respectively). Compare also the alleged çvetavās (above, 403).
407. Compounds with añc or ac. The root ac or añc makes, in combination with prepositions and other words, a considerable class of familiarly used adjectives, of quite irregular formation and inflection, in some of which it almost loses its character of root, and becomes an ending of derivation.
a. A part of these adjectives have only two stem-forms: a strong in añc (yielding an̄, from an̄ks, in nom. sing. masc.), and a weak in ac; others distinguish from the middle in ac a weakest stem in c, before which the a is contracted with a preceding i or u into ī or ū.
b. The feminine is made by adding ī to the stem-form used in the weakest cases, and is accented like them.
408. As examples of inflection we may take prā́ñc forward, east, pratyáñc opposite, west, víṣvañc going apart.
Singular: :
| N. V. | prā́n̄ prā́k | pratyán̄ pratyák | víṣvan̄ víṣvak |
| A. | prā́ñcam prā́k | pratyáñcam pratyák | víṣvañcam víṣvak |
| I. | prā́cā | pratīcā́ | víṣūcā |
| D. | prā́ce | pratīcé | víṣūce |
| Ab. G. | prā́cas | pratīcás | víṣūcas |
| L. | prā́ci | pratīcí | víṣūci |
| Dual: ||||
| N. A. V. | prā́ñcāu prā́cī | pratyáñcāu pratīcī́ | víṣvañcāu víṣūcī |
| I. D. Ab. | prā́gbhyām | pratyágbhyām | víṣvagbhyām |
| G. L. | prā́cos | pratīcós | víṣūcos ​ |
| Plural: ||||
| N. V. | prā́ñcas prā́ñci | pratyáñcas pratyáñci | víṣvañcas víṣvañci |
| A. | prā́cas prā́ñci | pratīcás pratyáñci | víṣūcas víṣvañci |
| I. | prā́gbhis | pratyágbhis | víṣvagbhis |
| D. Ab. | prā́gbhyas | pratyágbhyas | víṣvagbhyas |
| G. | prā́cām | pratīcā́m | víṣūcām |
| L. | prā́kṣu | pratyákṣu | víṣvakṣu |
a. The feminine stems are prā́cī, pratīcī́, víṣūcī, respectively.
b. No example of the middle forms excepting the nom. etc. sing. neut. (and this generally used as adverb) is found either in RV. or AV. In the same texts is lacking the nom. etc. pl. neut. in ñci; but of this a number of examples occur in the Brāhmaṇas: thus, prā́ñci, pratyáñci, arvāñci, samyáñci, sadhryañci, anvañci.
409. a. Like prā́ñc are inflected ápāñc, ávāñc, párāñc, arvā́ñc, adharā́ñc, and others of rare occurrence.
b. Like pratyáñc are inflected nyàñc (i.e. níañc), samyáñc (sam+añc, with irregularly inserted i), and údañc (weakest stem údīc: ud+añc, with i inserted in weakest cases only), with a few other rare stems.
c. Like víṣvañc is inflected anváñc, also three or four others of which only isolated forms occur.
d. Still more irregular is tiryáñc, of which the weakest stem is tiráçc (tirás+ac: the other stems are made from tir+añc or ac, with the inserted i).
410. The accentuation of these words is irregular, as regards both the stems themselves and their inflected forms. Sometimes the one element has the tone and sometimes the other, without any apparent reason for the difference. If the compound is accented on the final syllable, the accent is shifted in RV. to the ending in the weakest cases provided their stem shows the contraction to ī or ū: thus, prā́cā, arvā́cā, adharā́cas, but pratīcā́, anūcás, samīcī́. But AV. and later texts usually keep the accent upon the stem: thus, pratī́cī, samī́cī, anū́cī (RV. has pratī́cīm once). The shift of accent to the endings, and even in polysyllabic stems, is against all usual analogy.
B. Derivative stems in as, is, us.
411. The stems of this division are prevailingly neuter; but there are also a few masculines, and one or two feminines.
412. The stems in अस् as are quite numerous, and mostly made with the suffix अस् as (a small number also ​with तस् tas and नस् nas, and some are obscure); the others are few, and almost all made with the suffixes इस् is and उस् us.
413. Their inflection is almost entirely regular. But masculine and feminine stems in अस् as lengthen the vowel of the ending in nom. sing.; and the nom.-acc.-voc. pl. neut. make the same prolongation (of अ a or इ i or उ u) before the inserted nasal (anusvāra).
414. Examples of declension. As examples we may take मनस् mánas n. mind; अङ्गिरस् án̄giras m. Angiras; हविस् havís n. oblation.
Singular: :
| N. | मनस् mánas | अङ्गिरास् án̄girās | हविस् havís |
| A. | मनस् mánas | अङ्गिरसम् án̄girasam | हविस् havís |
| I. | मनसा mánasā | अङ्गिरसा án̄girasā | हविषा havíṣā |
| D. | मनसे mánase | अङ्गिरसे án̄girase | हविषे havíṣe |
| Ab. G. | मनसस् mánasas | अङ्गिरसस् án̄girasas | हविषस् havíṣas |
| L. | मनसि mánasi | अङ्गिरसि án̄girasi | हविषि havíṣi |
| V. | मनस् mánas | अङ्गिरस् án̄giras | हविस् havís |
| Dual: ||||
| N. A. V. | मनसी mánasī | अङ्गिरसौ án̄girasāu | हविषी havíṣī |
| I. D. Ab. | मनोभ्याम् mánobhyām | अङ्गिरोभ्याम् án̄girobhyām | हविर्भ्याम् havírbhyām |
| G. L. | मनसोस् mánasos | अङ्गिरसोस् án̄girasos | हविषोस् havíṣos ​ |
| Plural: ||||
| N. A. V. | मनांसि mánāṅsi | अङ्गिरसस् án̄girasas | हवींषि havī́ṅṣi |
| I. | मनोभिस् mánobhis | अङ्गिरोभिस् án̄girobhis | हविर्भिस् havírbhis |
| D. Ab. | मनोभ्यस् mánobhyas | अङ्गिरोभ्यस् án̄girobhyas | हविर्भ्यस् havírbhyas |
| G. | मनसाम् mánasām | अङ्गिरसाम् án̄girasām | हविषाम् havíṣām |
| L. | मनःसु mánaḥsu | अङ्गिरःसु án̄giraḥsu | हविःषु havíḥṣu |
In like manner, चक्षुस् cákṣus n. eye forms चक्षुषा cákṣuṣā, चक्षुर्भ्याम् cákṣurbhyām, चक्षूंषि cakṣūṅṣi, and so on.
415. Vedic etc. Irregularities. a. In the older language, the endings -asam (acc. sing.) and -asas (generally nom.-acc. pl.; once or twice gen.-abl. sing.) of stems in as are not infrequently contracted to -ām, -ās — e. g. āçā́m, vedhā́m; surā́dhās, ánāgās — and out of such forms grow, both earlier and later, substitute-stems in ā, as āçā́, jarā́, medhā́. So from other forms grow stems in a and in asa, which exchange more or less with those in as through the whole history of the language.
b. More scattering irregularities may be mentioned, as follows: 1. The usual masc. and fem. du. ending in ā instead of āu; — 2. uṣás f. dawn often prolongs its a in the other strong cases, as in the nom. sing.: thus, uṣā́sam, uṣā́sā, uṣā́sas (and once in a weak case, uṣā́sas); and in its instr. pl. occurs once (RV.) uṣádbhis instead of uṣóbhis; — 3. from toçás is once (RV.) found a similar dual, toçā́sā; — 4. from svávas and svátavas occur in RV. a nom. sing. masc. in vān, as if from a stem in vant; and in the Brāhmaṇas is found the dat.-abl. pl. of like formation svátavadbhyas.
c. The stems in is and us also show transitions to stems in i and u, and in iṣa and uṣa. From janús is once (RV.) made the nom. sing, janū́s, after the manner of an as-stem (cf. also janūrvā́sas ÇB.).
416. The grammarians regard uçánas m. as regular stem-form of the proper name noticed above (355 a), but give it the irregular nom. uçánā and the voc. uçanas or uçana or uçanan. Forms from the as-stem, even nom., are sometimes met with in the later literature.
a. As to forms from as-stems to áhan or áhar and ū́dhan or ū́dhar, see below, 430.
Adjectives
417. a. A few neuter nouns in as with accent on the radical syllable have corresponding adjectives or appellatives in ás, with accent on the ending: thus, for example, ápas work, apás active; táras quickness, tarás quick; yáças glory, yaçás glorious. A few other similar adjectives — as tavás mighty, vedhás pious — are without corresponding nouns.
b. Original adjectives in is do not occur (as to alleged desiderative adjectives in is, see 392 d). But in us are found as many adjectives as nouns (about ten of each class); and in several instances adjective and noun stand side by side, without difference of accent such as appears in the stems in as: e.g. tápus heat and hot; vápus wonder and wonderful.
418. Adjective compounds having nouns of this division as final member are very common: thus, sumánas favorably minded; dīrghā́yus long-lived; çukráçocis having brilliant brightness. The stem-form is the same for all genders, and each gender is inflected in the usual manner, the stems in as making their nom. sing. masc. and fem. in ās (like án̄giras, above). Thus, from sumánas, the nom. and accus. are as follows:
| | Singular. | Singular. | Singular. | Dual. | Dual. | Dual. | Plural. | Plural. | Plural. |
| | m. | f. | n. | m. | f. | n. | m. | f. | n. |
| N. | sumánās | sumánās | -nas | sumánasāu | sumánasāu | -nasī | sumánasas | sumánasas | -nāṅsi |
| A. | sumánasam | sumánasam | -nas | sumánasāu | sumánasāu | -nasī | sumánasas | sumánasas | -nāṅsi |
and the other cases (save the vocative) are alike in all genders.
a. In Veda and Brāhmaṇa, the neut. nom. sing. is in a considerable number of instances made in ās, like the other genders.
b. From dīrghā́yus, in like manner:
| N. | dīrghā́yus | dīrghā́yus | dīrghā́yuṣāu | -yuṣī | dīrghā́yuṣas | -yūṅṣi |
| A. | dīrghā́yuṣam | -yus | dīrghā́yuṣāu | -yuṣī | dīrghā́yuṣas | -yūṅṣi |
| I. | dīrghā́yuṣā | dīrghā́yuṣā | dīrghā́yurbhyām | dīrghā́yurbhyām | dīrghā́yurbhis | dīrghā́yurbhis |
| | etc. | etc. | etc. | etc. | etc. | etc. |
419. The stem anehás unrivalled (defined as meaning time in the later language) forms the nom. sing. masc. and fem, anehā́.
C. Derivative stems in an.
420. The stems of this division are those made by the three suffixes अन् an, मन् man, and वन् van, together with a few of more questionable etymology which are inflected like them. They are almost exclusively masculine and neuter.
421. The stem has a triple form. In the strong cases ​of the masculine, the vowel of the ending is prolonged to आ ā; in the weakest cases it is in general struck out altogether; in the middle cases, or before a case-ending beginning with a consonant, the final न् n is dropped. The न् n is also lost in the nom. sing. of both genders (leaving आ ā as final in the masculine, अ a in the neuter).
a. The peculiar cases of the neuter follow the usual analogy (311 b): the nom.-acc.-voc. pl. have the lengthening to आ ā, as strong cases; the nom.-acc.-voc. du., as weakest cases, have the loss of अ a — but this only optionally, not necessarily.
b. In the loc. sing., also, the a may be either rejected or retained (compare the corresponding usage with ṛ-stems: 373). And after the m or v of man or van, when these are preceded by another consonant, the a is always retained, to avoid a too great accumulation of consonants.
422. The vocative sing. is in masculines the pure stem; in neuters, either this or like the nominative. The rest of the inflection requires no description.
423. As to accent, it needs only to be remarked that when, in the weakest cases, an acute á of the suffix is lost, the tone is thrown forward upon the ending.
424. Examples of declension. As such may be taken राजन् rā́jan m. king; आत्मन् ātmán m. soul, self; नामन् nā́man n. name. Thus:
Singular: :
| N. | राजा rā́jā | आत्मा ātmā́ | नाम nā́ma |
| A. | राजानम् rā́jānam | आत्मानम् ātmā́nam | नाम nā́ma |
| I. | राज्ञा rā́jñā | आत्मना ātmánā | नाम्ना nā́mnā |
| D. | राज्ञे rā́jñe | आत्मने ātmáne | नाम्ने nā́mne ​ |
| Ab. G. | राज्ञस् rā́jñas | आत्मनस् ātmánas | नाम्नस् nā́mnas |
| L. | राज्ञि, राजनि rā́jñi, rā́jani | आत्मनि ātmáni | नाम्नि, नामनि nā́mni, nā́mani |
| V. | राजन् rā́jan | आत्मन् ā́tman | नामन्, नाम nā́man, nā́ma |
| Dual: ||||
| N. A. V. | राजानौ rā́jānāu | आत्मानौ ātmā́nāu | नाम्नी, नामनी nā́mnī, nā́manī |
| I. D. Ab. | राजभ्याम् rā́jabhyām | आत्मभ्याम् ātmábhyām | नामभ्याम् nā́mabhyām |
| G. L. | राज्ञोस् rā́jños | आत्मनोस् ātmános | नाम्नोस् nā́mnos |
| Plural: ||||
| N. | राजानस् rā́jānas | आत्मानस् ātmā́nas | नामानि nā́māni |
| A. | राज्ञस् rā́jñas | आत्मनस् ātmánas | नामानि nā́māni |
| I. | राजभिस् rā́jabhis | आत्मभिस् ātmábhis | नामभिस् nā́mabhis |
| D. Ab. | राजभ्यस् rā́jabhyas | आत्मभ्यस् ātmábhyas | नामभ्यस् nā́mabhyas |
| G. | राज्ञाम् rā́jñām | आत्मनाम् ātmánām | नाम्नाम् nā́mnām |
| L. | राजसु rā́jasu | आत्मसु ātmásu | नामसु nā́masu |
a. The weakest cases of mūrdhán m. head, would be accented mūrdhnā́, mūrdhné, mūrdhnós, mūrdhnás (acc. pl.), mūrdhnā́m, etc.; and so in all similar cases (loc. sing., mūrdhní or mūrdháni).
425. Vedic Irregularities. a. Here, as elsewhere, the ending of the nom.-acc.-voc. du. masc. is usually ā instead of āu.
b. The briefer form (with ejected a) of the loc. sing., and of the neut. nom.-acc.-voc. du., is quite unusual in the older language. RV. writes once çatadā́vni, but it is to be read çatadā́vani; and similar cases occur in AV. (but also several times -mni). In the Brāhmaṇas, too, such forms as dhāmani and sāmanī are very much more common than such as ahni and lomnī.
c. But throughout both Veda and Brāhmaṇa, an abbreviated form of the loc. sing., with the ending i omitted, or identical with the stem, is of considerably more frequent occurrence than the regular form: thus, mūrdhán, kárman, ádhvan, beside mūrdháni etc. The n has all the usual combinations of a final n: e. g. mūrdhann asya, mūrdhant sa, mūrdnaṅs tvā.
d. In the nom.-acc. pl. neut., also, an abbreviated form is common, ending in ā or (twice as often) a, instead of āni: thus, bráhma and bráhmā, beside bráhmāṇi: compare the similar series of endings from a-stems, 329 c.
e. From a few stems in man is made an abbreviated inst. sing., with loss of m as well as of a: thus, mahinā́, prathinā́, variṇā́, dānā́, preṇā́, bhūnā́, for mahimnā́ etc. And drāghmā́ and raçmā́ (RV., each once) are perhaps for drāghmáṇā, raçmánā.
f. Other of the weakest cases than the loc. sing. are sometimes found with the a of the suffix retained: thus, for example, bhū́manā, dā́mane, yā́manas, ukṣáṇas (accus. pl.), etc. In the infinitive datives (970 d) — trā́maṇe, vidmáne, dāváne, etc. — the a always remains. About as numerous are the instances in which the a, omitted in the written form of the text, is, as the metre shows, to be restored in reading.
g. The voc. sing. in vas, which is the usual Vedic form from stems in vant (below, 454 b), is found also from a few in van, perhaps by a transfer to the vant-declension: thus, ṛtāvas, evayāvas, khidvas (?), prātaritvas, mātariçvas, vibhāvas.
h. For words of which the a is not made long in the strong cases, see the next paragraph.
426. A few stems do not make the regular lengthening of a in the strong cases (except the nom. sing.). Thus:
a. The names of divinities, pūṣán, aryamán: thus, pūṣā́, pūṣáṇam, pūṣṇā́, etc.
b. In the Veda, ukṣán bull (but also ukṣā́ṇam); yóṣan maiden; vṛ́ṣan virile, bull (but vṛ́ṣāṇam and vṛ́ṣāṇas are also met with); tmán, abbreviation of ātmán; and two or three other scattering forms: anarváṇam, jémanā. And in a number of additional instances, the Vedic metre seems to demand a where ā is written.
427. The stems çván m. dog and yúvan young have in the weakest cases the contracted form çún and yū́n (with retention of the accent); in the strong and middle cases they are regular. Thus, çvā́, çvā́nam, çúnā, çúne, etc., çvábhyām, çvábhis, etc.; yúvā, yúvānam, yū́nā, yúvabhis, etc.
a. In dual, RV. has once yū́nā for yúvānā.
428. The stem maghávan generous (later, almost exclusively a name of Indra) is contracted in the weakest cases to maghón: thus, maghávā, maghávānam, maghónā, maghóne, etc.
​a. The RV. has once the weak form maghónas in nom. pl.
b. Parallel with this is found the stem maghávant (division E); and from the latter alone in the older language are made the middle cases: thus, maghavadbhis, maghavatsu, etc. (not maghavabhis etc.).
429. a. Stems in a, ma, va, parallel with those in an, man, van, and doubtless in many cases derived from them through transitional forms, are frequent in both the earlier and the later language, particularly as final members of compounds.
b. A number of an-stems are more or less defective, making a part of their forms from other stems. Thus:
430. a. The stem áhan n. day is in the later language used only in the strong and weakest cases, the middle (with the nom. sing., which usually follows their analogy) coming from áhar or áhas: namely, áhar nom.-acc. sing., áhobhyām, áhobhis, etc. (PB. has aharbhis); but áhnā etc., áhni or áhani (or áhan), áhnī or áhanī, áhāni (and, in V., áhā).
b. In the oldest language, the middle cases áhabhis, áhabhyas, áhasu also occur.
c. In composition, only ahar or ahas is used as preceding member; as final member, ahar, ahas, ahan, or the derivatives aha, ahna.
d. The stem ū́dhan n. udder exchanges in like manner, in the old language, with ū́dhar and ū́dhas, but has become later an as-stem only (except in the fem ūdhnī of adjective compounds): thus, ū́dhar or ū́dhas, ū́dhnas, ū́dhan or ū́dhani, ū́dhabhis, ū́dhaḥsu. As derivative from it are made both ūdhanyà and ūdhasya.
431. The neuter stems akṣán eye, asthán bone, dadhán curds, sakthán thigh, form in the later language only the weakest cases, akṣṇā́, asthné, dadhnás, sakthní or saktháni, and so on; the rest of the inflection is made from stems in i, ákṣi etc.: see above, 343 i.
a. In the older language, other cases from the an-stems occur: thus, akṣā́ṇi, akṣábhis, and akṣasu; asthā́ni, asthábhis, and asthábhyas; sakthā́ni.
432. The neuter stems asán blood, yakán liver, çakán ordure, āsán mouth, udán water, doṣán fore-arm, yūṣán broth, are required to make their nom.-acc.-voc. in all numbers from the parallel stems ásṛj, yákṛt, çákṛt, āsyà, údaka (in older language udaká), dós, yūṣá, which are fully inflected.
a. Earlier occurs also the dual doṣáṇī.
433. The stems pánthan m. road is reckoned in the later language as making the complete set of strong cases, with the irregularity that the nom.-voc. sing. adds a s. The corresponding middle cases are made from pathí, and the weakest from path. Thus:
from pánthan — pánthās, pánthānam; pánthānāu; pánthānas;
from pathí — pathíbhyām; pathíbhis, pathíbhyas, pathíṣu;
from path — pathā́, pathé, pathás, pathí; pathós; pathás or páthas (accus.), pathā́m.
a. In the oldest language (RV.), however, the strong stem is only pánthā: thus, pánthās, nom. sing.; pánthām, acc. sing.; pánthās, nom. pl.; and even in AV., pánthānam and pánthānas are rare compared with the others. From pathí occur also the nom. pl. patháyas and gen. pl. pathīnā́m. RV. has once pāthás, acc. pl., with long ā.
434. The stems mánthan m. stirring-stick, and ṛbhukṣán m., an epithet of Indra, are given by the grammarians the same inflection with pánthan; but only a few cases have been found in use. In V. occur from the former the acc. sing. mánthām, and gen. pl. mathīnā́m (like the corresponding cases from pánthan); from the latter, the nom. sing. ṛbhukṣā́s and voc. pl. ṛbhukṣās, like the corresponding Vedic forms of pánthan; but also the acc. sing. ṛbhukṣáṇam and nom. pl. ṛbhukṣáṇas, which are after quite another model.
Adjectives
435. Original adjective stems in an are almost exclusively those made with the suffix van, as yájvan sacrificing, sútvan pressing the soma, jítvan conquering. The stem is masc. and neut. only (but sporadic cases of its use as fem. occur in RV.); the corresponding fem. stem is made in varī: thus, yájvarī, jítvarī.
436. Adjective compounds having a noun in an as final member are inflected after the model of noun-stems; and the masculine forms are sometimes used also as feminine; but usually a special feminine is made by adding ī to the weakest form of the masculine stem: thus, sómarājñī, kīlā́lodhnī, ékamūrdhnī, durṇā́mnī.
437. But (as was pointed out above: 429 a) nouns in an occurring as final members of compounds often substitute a stem in a for that in an: thus, -rāja, -janma, -adhva, -aha; their feminine is in ā. Occasional exchanges of stems in van and in vant also occur: thus, vivásvan and vivásvant.
a. The remaining divisions of the consonantal declension are made up of adjective stems only.
D. Derivative stems (adjective) in in.
438. The stems of this division are those formed with the suffixes इन् in, मिन् min, and विन् vin. They are ​masculine and neuter only; the corresponding feminine is made by adding ई ī.
a. The stems in in are very numerous, since almost any noun in a in the language may form a possessive derivative adjective with this suffix: thus, bála strength, balín m. n. balínī f. possessing strength, strong. Stems in vin (1232), however, are very few, and those in min (1231) still fewer.
439. Their inflection is quite regular, except that they lose their final न् n in the middle cases (before an initial consonant of the ending), and also in the nom. sing., where the masculine lengthens the इ i by way of compensation. The voc. sing. is in the masculine the bare stem; in the neuter, either this or like the nominative.
a. In all these respects, it will be noticed, the in-declension agrees with the an-declension; but it differs from the latter in never losing the vowel of the ending.
440. Example of inflection. As such may be taken बलिन् balín strong. Thus:
| | Singular. | Singular. | Dual. | Dual. | Plural. | Plural. |
| | m. | n. | m. | n. | m. | n. |
| N. | बली balī́ | बलि balí | बलिनौ balínāu | बलिना balínī | बलिनस् balínas | बलीनि balī́ni |
| A. | बलिनम् balínam | बलि balí | बलिनौ balínāu | बलिना balínī | बलिनस् balínas | बलीनि balī́ni |
| I. | बलिना balínā | बलिना balínā | बलिभ्याम् balíbhyām | बलिभ्याम् balíbhyām | बलिभिस् balíbhis | बलिभिस् balíbhis |
| D. | बलिने balíne | बलिने balíne | बलिभ्याम् balíbhyām | बलिभ्याम् balíbhyām | बलिभ्यस् balíbhyas | बलिभ्यस् balíbhyas |
| Ab. | बलिनस् balínas | बलिनस् balínas | | बलिभ्याम् balíbhyām | बलिभ्याम् balíbhyām | बलिभ्यस् balíbhyas | बलिभ्यस् balíbhyas |
| G. | बलिनस् balínas | बलिनस् balínas | बलिनोस् balínos | बलिनोस् balínos | बलिनाम् balínām | बलिनाम् balínām |
| L. | बलिनि balíni | बलिनि balíni | बलिनोस् balínos | बलिनोस् balínos | बलिषु balíṣu | बलिषु balíṣu |
| V. | बलिन् bálin | बलिन्, बलि bálin, báli | बलिनौ bálināu | बलिनी bálinī | बलिनस् bálinas | बलीनि bálīni |
441. a. There are no irregularities in the inflection of in-stems, in either the earlier language or the later — except the usual Vedic dual ending in ā instead of āu.
b. Stems in in exchange with stems in i throughout the whole history of the language, those of the one class being developed out of those of the other often through transitional forms. In a much smaller number of cases, stems in in are expanded to stems in ina: e.g. çākiná (RV.), çuṣmiṇa (B.), barhiṇa, bhajina.
E. Derivative stems (adjective) in ant (or at).
442. These stems fall into two sub-divisions: 1. those made by the suffix अन्त् ant (or अत् at), being, with a very few exceptions, active participles, present and future; 2. those made by the possessive suffixes मन्त् mant and वन्त् vant (or मत् mat and वत् vat). They are masculine and neuter only; the corresponding feminine is made by adding ई ī.
1. Participles in ant or at.
443. The stem has in general a double form, a stronger and a weaker, ending respectively in अन्त् ant and अत् at. The former is taken in the strong cases of the masculine, with, as usual, the nom.-acc.-voc. pl. neuter; the latter is taken by all the remaining cases.
a. But, in accordance with the rule for the formation of the feminine stem (below, 449), the future participles, and the present participles of verbs of the tud-class or accented á-class (752), and of verbs of the ad-class or root-class ending in ā, are by the grammarians allowed to make the nom.-acc.-voc. du. neut. from either the stronger or the weaker stem; and the present participles from all other present-stems ending in a are required to make the same from the strong stem.
444. Those verbs, however, which in the 3d pl. pres. active lose न् n of the usual ending न्ति nti (550 b), lose it also in the present participle, and have no distinction of strong and weak stem.
a. Such are the verbs forming their present-stem by reduplication without added a: namely, those of the reduplicating or hu-class (655) and the intensives (1012): thus, from √hu, present-stem juhu, participle-stem júhvat; intensive-stem johu, intensive participle-stem jóhvat. Further, the participles of roots apparently containing a contracted reduplication: namely, cákṣat, dā́çat, dā́sat, çā́sat, sáçcat; the aorist participle dhákṣat, and vāghát (?). Vavṛdhánt (RV., once), which has the n notwithstanding its reduplication, comes, like the desiderative participles (1032), from a stem in a: compare vāvṛdhánta, vāvṛdhásva.
b. Even these verbs are allowed by the grammarians to make the nom.-acc.-voc. pl. neut. in anti.
445. The inflection of these stems is quite regular. The nom. sing. masc. comes to end in अन् an by the regular (150) loss of the two final consonants from the etymological form अन्त्स् ants. The vocative of each gender is like the nominative.
446. Stems accented on the final syllable throw the accent forward upon the case-ending in the weakest cases (not in the middle also).
a. In the dual neut. (as in the feminine stem) from such participles, the accent is ántī if the n is retained, atī́ if it is lost.
447. Examples of declension. As such may serve भवन्त् bhávant being, अदन्त् adánt eating, जुह्वत् júhvat sacrificing. Thus:
Singular: :
| N. | भवन् bhávan | भवत् bhávat | अदन् adán | अदत् adát | जुह्वत् júhvat | जुह्वत् júhvat |
| A. | भवन्तम् bhávantam | भवत् bhávat | अदन्तम् adántam | अदत् adát | जुह्वतम् júhvatam | जुह्वत् júhvat |
| I. | भवता bhávatā | भवता bhávatā | अदता adatā́ | अदता adatā́ | जुह्वता júhvatā | जुह्वता júhvatā |
| D. | भवते bhávate | भवते bhávate | अदते adaté | अदते adaté | जुह्वते júhvate | जुह्वते júhvate |
| Ab. G. | भवतस् bhávatas | भवतस् bhávatas | अदतस् adatás | अदतस् adatás | जुह्वतस् júhvatas | जुह्वतस् júhvatas |
| L. | भवति bhávati | भवति bhávati | अदति adatí | अदति adatí | जुह्वति júhvati ​ | जुह्वति júhvati ​ |
| V. | भवन् bhávan | भवत् bhávat | अदन् ádan | अदत् ádat | जुह्वत् júhvat | जुह्वत् júhvat |
| Dual: |||||||
| N. A. V. | भवन्तौ bhávantāu | भवन्ती bhávantī | अदन्तौ adántāu | अदती adatī́ | जुह्वतौ júhvatāu | जुह्वती júhvatī |
| I. D. Ab. | भवद्भ्याम् bhávadbhyām | भवद्भ्याम् bhávadbhyām | अदद्भ्याम् adádbhyām | अदद्भ्याम् adádbhyām | जुह्वद्भ्याम् júhvadbhyām | जुह्वद्भ्याम् júhvadbhyām |
| G. L. | भवतोस् bhávatos | भवतोस् bhávatos | अदतोस् adatós | अदतोस् adatós | जुह्वतोस् júhvatos | जुह्वतोस् júhvatos |
| Plural: |||||||
| N. V. | भवन्तस् bhávantas | भवन्ति bhávanti | अदन्तस् adántas | अदन्ति adánti | जुह्वतस् júhvatas | जुह्वति júhvati |
| A. | भवतस् bhávatas | भवन्ति bhávanti | अदतस् adatás | अदन्ति adánti | जुह्वतस् júhvatas | जुह्वति júhvati |
| I. | भवद्भिस् bhávadbhis | भवद्भिस् bhávadbhis | अदद्भिस् adádbhis | अदद्भिस् adádbhis | जुह्वद्भिस् júhvadbhis | जुह्वद्भिस् júhvadbhis |
| D. Ab. | भवद्भ्यस् bhávadbhyas | भवद्भ्यस् bhávadbhyas | अदद्भ्यस् adádbhyas | अदद्भ्यस् adádbhyas | जुह्वद्भ्यस् júhvadbhyas | जुह्वद्भ्यस् júhvadbhyas |
| G. | भवताम् bhávatām | भवताम् bhávatām | अदताम् adatā́m | अदताम् adatā́m | जुह्वताम् júhvatām | जुह्वताम् júhvatām |
| L. | भवत्सु bhávatsu | भवत्सु bhávatsu | अदत्सु adátsu | अदत्सु adátsu | जुह्वत्सु júhvatsu | जुह्वत्सु júhvatsu |
a. The future participle bhaviṣyánt may form in nom. etc. dual neuter either bhaviṣyántī or bhaviṣyatī́; tudánt, either tudántī or tudatī́; yā́nt (√yā), either yā́ntī or yātī́. And júhvat, in nom. etc. plural neuter, may make also júhvanti (beside júhvati, as given in the paradigm above).
b. But these strong forms (as well as bhávantī, du., and its like from present-stems in unaccented a) are quite contrary to general analogy, and of somewhat doubtful character. No example of them is quotable, either from the older or from the later language. The cases concerned, indeed, would be everywhere of rare occurrence.
448. The Vedic derivations from the model as above given are few. The dual ending āu is only one sixth as common as ā. Anomalous accent is seen in a case or two: acodáte, rathirāyátām, and vāghádbhis (if this is a participle). The only instance in V. of nom. etc. pl. neut. is sā́nti, with lengthened ā (compare the forms in ānti, below, 451 a, 454 c); one or two examples in anti are quotable from B.
​449. The feminine participle-stem, as already stated, is made by adding ई ī to either the strong or the weak stem-form of the masc.-neut. The rules as to which of the two forms shall be taken are the same with those given above respecting the nom. etc. dual neuter; namely:
a. Participles from tense-stems ending in unaccented a add ī to the strong stem-form, or make their feminines in antī.
b. Such are the bhū or unaccented a-class and the dīv or ya-class of present-stems (chap. IX.), and the desideratives and causatives (chap. XIV.): thus, from √bhū (stem bháva), bhávantī; from √dīv (stem dī́vya), dī́vyantī; from búbhūṣa and bhāváya (desid. and caus. of √bhū), búbhūṣantī and bhāváyantī.
c. Exceptions to this rule are now and then met with, even from the earliest period. Thus, RV. has járatī, and AV. the desiderative síṣāsatī; in B. occur vadatī, çocatī, tṛpyatī, and in S. further tiṣṭhatī, and the causative namayatī; while in the epics and later such cases (including desideratives and causatives) are more numerous (about fifty are quotable), though still only sporadic.
d. Participles from tense-stems in accented á may add the feminine-sign either to the strong or to the weak stem-form, or may make their feminines in ántī or in atī́ (with accent as here noted).
e. Such are the present-stems of the tud or accented á-class (751 ff.), the s-futures (932 ff.), and the denominatives (1053 ff.): thus, from √tud (stem tudá), tudántī or tudatī́; from bhaviṣyá (fut. of √bhū), bhaviṣyántī or bhaviṣyatī́; from devayá (denom. of devá), devayántī or devayatī́.
f. The forms in ántī from this class are the prevailing ones. No future fem. participle in atī́ is quotable from the older language. From pres.-stems in á are found there ṛñjatī́ and siñcatī́ (RV.), tudatī́ and pinvatī (AV.). From denominatives, devayatī́ (RV.), durasyatī́ and çatrūyatī́ (AV.). In BhP. occurs dhakṣyatī.
g. Verbs of the ad or root-class (611 ff.) ending in ā are given by the grammarians the same option as regard the feminine of the present participle: thus, from √yā, yā́ntī or yātī́. The older language affords no example of the former, so far as noted.
h. From other tense-stems than those already specified — that is to say, from the remaining classes of present-stems and from the intensives — the feminine is formed in atī́ (or, if the stem be otherwise accented than on the final, in atī) only.
i. Thus, adatī́ from √ad; júhvatī from √hu; yuñjatī́ from √yuj; sunvatī́ from √su; kurvatī́ from √kṛ; krīṇatī́ from √krī; dédiçatī from dédiç (intens. of √diç).
​j. Feminine stems of this class are occasionally (but the case is much less frequent than its opposite: above, c) found with the nasal: thus, yántī (AV., once), undántī (ÇB.; but probably from the secondary á-stem), gṛhṇantī (S.), and, in the epics and later, such forms as bruvantī, rudantī, cinvantī, kurvantī, jānantī, muṣṇantī.
450. A few words are participial in form and inflection, though not in meaning. Thus:
a. bṛhánt (often written vṛhánt) great; it is inflected like a participle (with bṛhatī́ and bṛhánti in du. and pl. neut.).
b. mahánt great; inflected like a participle, but with the irregularity that the a of the ending is lengthened in the strong forms: thus, mahā́n, mahā́ntam; mahā́ntāu (neut. mahatī́); mahā́ntas, mahā́nti: instr. mahatā́ etc.
c. pṛ́ṣant speckled, and (in Veda only) rúçant shining.
d. jágat moveable, lively (in the later language, as neuter noun, world), a reduplicated formation from √gam go; its nom. etc. neut. pl. is allowed by the grammarians to be only jáganti.
e. ṛhánt small (only once, in RV., ṛhaté).
f. All these form their feminine in atī only: thus, bṛhatī́, mahatī́, pṛ́ṣatī and rúçatī (contrary to the rule for participles), jágatī.
g. For dánt tooth, which is perhaps of participial origin, see above, 396.
451. The pronominal adjectives íyant and kíyant are inflected like adjectives in mant and vant, having (452) íyān and kíyān as nom. masc. sing., íyatī and kíyatī as nom. etc. du. neut. and as feminine stems, and íyanti and kíyanti as nom. etc. plur. neut.
a. But the neut. pl. íyanti and the loc. sing. (?) kíyāti are found in RV.
2. Possessives in mant and vant.
452. The adjectives formed by these two suffixes are inflected precisely alike, and very nearly like the participles in अन्त् ant. From the latter they differ only by lengthening अ a in the nom. sing. masc.
a. The voc. sing. is in an, like that of the participle (in the later language, namely: for that of the oldest, see below, 454 b). The neut. nom. etc. are in the dual only atī (or átī), and in the plural anti (or ánti).
b. The feminine is always made from the weak stem: thus, matī, vatī (or mátī, vátī). One or two cases of nī instead of ī are met with: thus, antárvatnī (B. and later), pativatnī (C.).
c. The accent, however, is never thrown forward (as in the participle) upon the case-ending or the feminine ending.
453. To illustrate the inflection of such stems, it will be sufficient to give a part of the forms of पशुमन्त् paçumánt possessing cattle, and भगवन्त् bhágavant fortunate, blessed. Thus:
Singular: :
| | m. | n. | m. | n. |
| N. | पशुमान् paçumā́n | पशुमत् paçumát | भगवान् bhágavān | भगवत् bhágavat |
| A. | पशुमन्तम् paçumántam | पशुमत् paçumát | भगवन्तम् bhágavantam | भगवत् bhágavat |
| I. | पशुमता paçumátā | पशुमता paçumátā | भगवता bhágavatā | भगवता bhágavatā |
| | etc. | etc. | etc. | etc. |
| V. | पशुमन् páçuman | पशुमत् páçumat | भगवन् bhágavan | भगवत् bhágavat |
| Dual: |||||
| N. A. V. | पशुमन्तौ paçumántāu | पशुमती paçumátī | भगवन्तौ bhágavantāu | भगवती bhágavatī |
| | etc. | etc. | etc. | etc. |
| Plural: |||||
| N. V. | पशुमन्तस् paçumántas | पशुमन्ति paçumánti | भगवन्तस् bhágavantas | भगवन्ति bhágavanti |
| A. | पशुमतस् paçumátas | पशुमन्ति paçumánti | भगवतस् bhágavatas | भगवन्ति bhágavanti |
| I. | पशुमद्भिस् paçumádbhis | पशुमद्भिस् paçumádbhis | भगवद्भिस् bhágavadbhis | भगवद्भिस् bhágavadbhis |
| | etc. | etc. | etc. | etc. |
454. Vedic Irregularities. a. In dual masc. nom. etc., ā (for āu) is the greatly prevailing ending.
b. In voc. sing. masc., the ending in the oldest language (RV.) is almost always in as instead of an (as in the perfect participle: below, 462 a): thus, adrivas, harivas, bhānumas, haviṣmas. Such vocatives in RV. occur more than a hundred times, while not a single unquestionable instance of one in an is to be found. In the other Vedic texts, vocatives in as are extremely rare (but bhagavas and its contraction bhagos are met with, even in the later language); and in their reproduction of RV ​passages the as is usually changed to an. It was pointed out above (425 g) that the RV. makes the voc. in as also apparently from a few an-stems.
C. In RV., the nom. etc. pl. neut., in the only two instances that occur, ends in ānti instead of anti: thus, ghṛtávānti, paçumā́nti. No such forms have been noted elsewhere in the older language: the SV. reads anti in its version of the corresponding passages, and a few examples of the same ending are quotable from the Brāhmaṇas: thus, tāvanti, etā́vanti, yā́vanti, ghṛtávanti, pravanti, ṛtumanti, yugmanti. Compare 448, 451.
d. In a few (eight or ten) more or less doubtful cases, a confusion of strong and weak forms of stem is made; they are too purely sporadic to require reporting. The same is true of a case or two where a masculine form appears to be used with a feminine noun.
455. The stem árvant running, steed, has the nom. sing. árvā, from árvan; and in the older language also the voc. arvan and accus. árvāṇam.
456. Besides the participle bhávant, there is another stem bhávant, frequently used in respectful address as substitute for the pronoun of the second person (but construed, of course, with a verb in the third person), which is formed with the suffix vant, and so declined, having in the nom. sing, bhávān; and the contracted form bhos of its old-style vocative bhavas is a common exclamation of address: you, sir! Its origin has been variously explained; but it is doubtless a contraction of bhágavant.
457. The pronominal adjectives tā́vant, etā́vant, yā́vant, and the Vedic ī́vant, mā́vant, tvā́vant, etc., are inflected like ordinary derivatives from nouns.
F. Perfect Participles in vāṅs.
458. The active participles of the perfect tense-system are quite peculiar as regards the modifications of their stem. In the strong cases, including the nom.-acc.-voc. pl. neut., the form of their suffix is वांस् vāṅs, which becomes, by regular process (150), vān in the nom. sing., and which is shortened to वन् van in the voc. sing. In the weakest cases, the suffix is contracted into उष् uṣ. In the middle cases, including the nom.-acc.-voc. neut. sing., it is changed to वत् vat.
a. A union-vowel i, if present in the strong and middle cases, disappears in the weakest, before uṣ.
459. The forms as thus described are masculine and neuter only; the corresponding feminine is made by adding ई ī to the weakest form of stem, ending thus in उषी úṣī.
460. The accent is always upon the suffix, whatever be its form.
461. Examples of inflection. To show the inflection of these participles, we may take the stems विद्वांस् vidvā́ṅs knowing (which has irregular loss of the usual reduplication and of the perfect meaning) from √विद् vid, and तस्थिवांस् tasthivā́ṅs having stood from √स्था sthā.
Singular: :
| | m. | n. | m. | n. |
| N. | विद्वान् vidvā́n | विद्वत् vidvát | तस्थिवान् tasthivā́n | तस्थिवत् tasthivát |
| A. | विद्वांसम् vidvā́ṅsam | विद्वत् vidvát | तस्थिवांसम् tasthivā́ṅsam | तस्थिवत् tasthivát |
| I. | विदुषा vidúṣā | विदुषा vidúṣā | तस्थुषा tasthúṣā | तस्थुषा tasthúṣā |
| D. | विदुषे vidúṣe | विदुषे vidúṣe | तस्थुषे tasthúṣe | तस्थुषे tasthúṣe |
| Ab. G. | विदुषस् vidúṣas | विदुषस् vidúṣas | तस्थुषस् tasthúṣas | तस्थुषस् tasthúṣas |
| L. | विदुषि vidúṣi | विदुषि vidúṣi | तस्थुषि tasthúṣi | तस्थुषि tasthúṣi |
| V. | विद्वन् vídvan | विद्वत् vídvat | तस्थिवन् tásthivan | तस्थिवत् tásthivat |
| Dual: |||||
| N. A. V. | विद्वांसौ vidvā́ṅsāu | विदुषी vidúṣī | तस्थिवांसौ tasthivā́ṅsāu | तस्थुषी tasthúṣī |
| I. D. Ab. | विद्वद्भ्याम् vidvádbhyām | विद्वद्भ्याम् vidvádbhyām | तस्थिवद्भ्याम् tasthivádbhyām | तस्थिवद्भ्याम् tasthivádbhyām |
| G. L. | विदुषोस् vidúṣos | विदुषोस् vidúṣos | तस्थुषोस् tasthúṣos ​ | तस्थुषोस् tasthúṣos ​ |
| Plural: |||||
| N. V. | विद्वांसस् vidvā́ṅsas | विद्वांसि vidvā́ṅsi | तस्थिवांसस् tasthivā́ṅsas | तस्थिवांसि tasthivā́ṅsi |
| A. | विदुषस् vidúṣas | विद्वांसि vidvā́ṅsi | तस्थुषस् tasthúṣas | तस्थिवांसि tasthivā́ṅsi |
| I. | विद्वद्भिस् vidvádbhis | विद्वद्भिस् vidvádbhis | तस्थिवद्भिस् tasthivádbhis | तस्थिवद्भिस् tasthivádbhis |
| D. Ab. | विद्वद्भ्यस् vidvádbhyas | विद्वद्भ्यस् vidvádbhyas | तस्थिवद्भ्यस् tasthivádbhyas | तस्थिवद्भ्यस् tasthivádbhyas |
| G. | विदुषाम् vidúṣām | विदुषाम् vidúṣām | तस्थुषाम् tasthúṣām | तस्थुषाम् tasthúṣām |
| L. | विद्वत्सु vidvátsu | विद्वत्सु vidvátsu | तस्थिवत्सु tasthivátsu | तस्थिवत्सु tasthivátsu |
a. The feminine stems of these two participles are विदुषी vidúṣī and तस्थुषी tasthúṣī.
b. Other examples of the different stems are: from √kṛ — cakṛvā́ṅs, cakṛvát, cakrúṣ, cakrúṣī; from √nī — ninīvā́ṅs, ninīvát, ninyúṣ, ninyúṣī; from √bhū — babhūvā́ṅs, babhūvát, babhūvúṣ, babhūvúṣī; from √tan — tenivā́ṅs, tenivát, tenúṣ, tenúṣī.
462. a. In the oldest language (RV.), the vocative sing. masc. (like that of vant and mant-stems: above, 454 b) has the ending vas instead of van: thus, cikitvas (changed to -van in a parallel passage of AV.), titirvas, dīdivas, mīḍhvas.
b. Forms from the middle stem, in vat, are extremely rare earlier: only three (tatanvát and vavṛtvát, neut. sing., and jāgṛvádbhis, instr. pl.), are found in RV., and not one in AV. And in the Veda the weakest stem (not, as later, the middle one) is made the basis of comparison and derivation: thus, vidúṣṭara, ádāçuṣṭara, mīḍhúṣṭama, mīḍhúṣmant.
c. An example or two of the use of the weak stem-form for cases regularly made from the strong are found in RV.: they are cakrúṣam, acc. sing., and ábibhyuṣas, nom. pl.; emuṣám, by its accent (unless an error), is rather from a derivative stem emuṣá; and ÇB. has proṣúṣam. Similar instances, especially from vidvā́ṅs, are now and then met with later (see BR., under vidvā́ṅs).
d. The AV. has once bhaktivā́ṅsas, as if a participial form from a noun; but K. and TB. give in the corresponding passage bhaktivā́nas; cakhvā́ṅsam (RV., once) is of doubtful character; okivā́ṅsā (RV., once) shows a reversion to guttural form of the final of √uc, elsewhere unknown.
G. Comparatives in yāṅs or yas.
463. The comparative adjectives of primary formation (below, 467) have a double form of stem for masculine and neuter: a stronger, ending in यांस् yāṅs (usually ईयांस् īyāṅs) in the strong cases, and a weaker, in यस् yas (or ईयस् īyas), in the weak cases (there being no distinction of middle and weakest). The voc. sing. masc. ends in यन् yan (but for the older language see below, 465 a).
a. The feminine is made by adding ई ī to the weak masc.-neut. stem.
464. As models of inflection, it will be sufficient to give a part of the forms of श्रेयस् çréyas better, and of गरीयस् gárīyas heavier. Thus:
Singular: :
| N. | श्रेयान् çréyān | श्रेयस् çréyas | गरीयान् gárīyān | गरीयस् gárīyas |
| A. | श्रेयांसम् çréyāṅsam | श्रेयस् çréyas | गरीयांसम् gárīyāṅsam | गरीयस् gárīyas |
| I. | श्रेयसा çréyasā | श्रेयसा çréyasā | गरीयसा gárīyasā | गरीयसा gárīyasā |
| | etc. | etc. | etc. | etc. |
| V. | श्रेयन् çréyan | श्रेयस् çréyas | गरीयन् gárīyan | गरीयस् gárīyas |
| Dual: |||||
| N. A. V. | श्रेयांसौ çréyāṅsāu | श्रेयसी çréyasī | गरीयांसौ gárīyāṅsāu | गरीयसी gárīyasī |
| | etc. | etc. | etc. | etc. |
| Plural: |||||
| N. V. | श्रेयांसस् çréyāṅsas | श्रेयांसि çréyāṅsi | गरीयांसस् gárīyāṅsas | गरीयांसि gárīyāṅsi |
| A. | श्रेयसस् çréyasas | श्रेयांसि çréyāṅsi | गरीयसस् gárīyasas | गरीयांसि gárīyāṅsi |
| I. | श्रेयोभिस् çréyobhis | श्रेयोभिस् çréyobhis | गरीयोभिस् gárīyobhis | गरीयोभिस् gárīyobhis |
| | etc. | etc. | etc. | etc. |
465. a. The Vedic voc. masc. (as in the two preceding divisions: 454 b, 462 a) is in yas instead of yan: thus, ojīyas, jyāyas (RV.: no examples elsewhere have been noted).
b. No example of a middle case occurs in RV. or AV.
c. In the later language are found a very few apparent examples of strong cases made from the weaker stem-form: thus, kanīyasam and yavīyasam acc. masc., kanīyasāu du., yavīyasas nom. pl.
Comparison.
466. Derivative adjective stems having a comparative and superlative meaning — or often also (and more originally) a merely intensive value — are made either directly from roots (by primary derivation), or from other derivative or compound stems (by secondary derivation).
a. The subject of comparison belongs more properly to the chapter of derivation; but it stands in such near relation to inflection that it is, in accordance with the usual custom in grammars, conveniently and suitably enough treated briefly here.
467. The suffixes of primary derivation are ईयस् īyas (or ईयांस् īyāṅs) for the comparative and इष्ठ iṣṭha for the superlative. The root before them is accented, and usually strengthened by gunating, if capable of it — or, in some cases, by nasalization or prolongation. They are much more frequently and freely used in the oldest language than later; in the classical Sanskrit, only a limited number of such comparatives and superlatives are accepted in use; and these attach themselves in meaning for the most part to other adjectives from the same root, which seem to be their corresponding positives; but in part also they are artificially connected with other words, unrelated with them in derivation.
a. Thus, from √kṣip hurl come kṣépīyas and kṣépiṣṭha, which belong in meaning to kṣiprá quick; from √vṛ encompass come várīyas and váriṣṭha, which belong to urú broad; while, for example, ​kánīyas and kániṣṭha are attached by the grammarians to yúvan young, or álpa small; and várṣīyas and várṣiṣṭha to vṛddhá old.
468. From Veda and Brāhmaṇa together, considerably more than a hundred instances of this primary formation in īyas and iṣṭha (in many cases only one of the pair actually occurring) are to be quoted.
a. About half of these (in RV., the decided majority) belong, in meaning as in form, to the bare root in its adjective value, as used especially at the end of compounds, but sometimes also independently: thus, from √tap burn comes tápiṣṭha excessively burning; from √yaj offer come yájīyas and yájiṣṭha better and best (or very well) sacrificing; from √yudh fight comes yódhīyas fighting better; — in a few instances, the simple root is also found used as corresponding positive: thus, jū́ hasty, rapid with jávīyas and jáviṣṭha.
b. In a little class of instances (eight), the root has a preposition prefixed, which then takes the accent: thus, ā́gamiṣṭha especially coming hither; vícayiṣṭha best clearing away; — in a couple of cases (áçramiṣṭha, áparāvapiṣṭa, ástheyas), the negative particle is prefixed; — in a single word (çámbhaviṣṭha), an element of another kind.
c. The words of this formation sometimes take an accusative object (see 271 e).
d. But even in the oldest language appears not infrequently the same attachment in meaning to a derivative adjective which (as pointed out above) is usual in the later speech.
e. Besides the examples that occur also later, others are met with like váriṣṭha choicest (vára choice), bárhiṣṭha greatest (bṛhánt great), óṣiṣṭha quickest (óṣam quickly), and so on. Probably by analogy with these, like formations are in a few cases made from the apparently radical syllables of words which have no otherwise traceable root in the language: thus, kradhīyas and kradhiṣṭha (K.) from kṛdhú, sthávīyas and stháviṣṭha from sthūrá, çáçīyas (RV.) from çáçvant, áṇīyas (AV.) and áṇiṣṭha (TS.) from aṇú; and so on. And yet again, in a few exceptional cases, the suffixes īyas and iṣṭha are applied to stems which are themselves palpably derivative: thus, ā́çiṣṭha from āçú (RV.: only case), tī́kṣṇīyas (AV.) from tīkṣṇá, bráhmīyas and bráhmiṣṭha (TS. etc.) from bráhman, dhármiṣṭha (TA.) from dhárman, dráḍhiṣṭha (TA.: instead of dárhiṣṭha) from dṛḍhá, rághīyas (TS.) from raghu. These are beginnings, not followed up later, of the extension of the formation to unlimited use.
f. In návīyas or návyas and náviṣṭha, from náva new, and in sányas from sána old (all RV.), we have also formations unconnected with verbal roots.
469. The stems in iṣṭha are inflected like ordinary adjectives in a, and make their feminines in ā; those in īyas have a peculiar declension, which has been described above (463 ff.).
​470. Of peculiarities and irregularities of formation, the following may be noticed:
a. The suffix īyas has in a few instances the briefer form yas, generally as alternative with the other: thus, távīyas and távyas, návīyas and návyas, vásīyas and vásyas, pánīyas and pányas; and so from rabh and sah; sányas occurs alone. From bhū come bhū́yas and bhū́yiṣṭha, beside which RV. has also bhávīyas.
b. Of roots in ā, the final blends with the initial of the suffix to e: thus, sthéyas, dhéṣṭha, yéṣṭha; but such forms are in the Veda generally to be resolved, as dháïṣṭha, yáïṣṭha. The root jyā forms jyéṣṭha, but jyā́yas (like bhū́yas).
c. The two roots in ī, prī and çrī, form préyas and préṣṭha and çréyas and çréṣṭha.
d. From the root of ṛjú come, without strengthening, ṛ́jīyas and ṛ́jiṣṭha; but in the older language also, more regularly, rájīyas and rájiṣṭha.
471. The suffixes of secondary derivation are तर tara and तम tama. They are of almost unrestricted application, being added to adjectives of every form, simple and compound, ending in vowels or in consonants — and this from the earliest period of the language until the latest. The accent of the primitive remains (with rare exceptions) unchanged; and that form of stem is generally taken which appears before an initial consonant of a case-ending (weak or middle form).
a. Examples (of older as well as later occurrence) are: from vowel-stems, priyátara, váhnitama, rathī́tara and rathī́tama (RV.), cā́rutara, potṛ́tama, saṁraktatara; — from consonant-stems, çáṁtama, çáçvattama, mṛḍayáttama, tavástara and tavástama, tuvíṣṭama, vápuṣṭara, tapasvítara, yaçasvítama, bhágavattara, hiraṇyavāçīmattama; — from compounds, ratnadhā́tama, abhibhū́tara, sukṛ́ttara, pūrbhíttama, bhūyiṣṭabhā́ktama, bhūridā́vattara, çúcivratatama, strīkāmatama.
b. But in the Veda the final n of a stem is regularly retained; thus, madíntara and madíntama, vṛṣántama; and a few stems even add a nasal: thus, surabhíntara, rayíntama, madhúntama. In a case or two, the strong stem of a present participle is taken: thus, vrā́dhanttama, sáhanttama; and, of a perfect participle, the weakest stem: thus, vidúṣṭara, mīḍhúṣṭama. A feminine final ī is shortened: thus, devitamā (RV.), tejasvinitamā (K.).
c. In the older language, the words of this formation are not much more frequent than those of the other: thus, in RV. the stems in tara and tama are to those in īyas and iṣṭha as three to two; in AV., only as six to five: but later the former win a great preponderance.
472. These comparatives and superlatives are inflected like ordinary adjectives in a, forming their feminine in ā.
473. a. That (especially in the Veda) some stems which are nouns rather than adjectives form derivatives of comparison is natural enough, considering the uncertain nature of the division-line between substantive and adjective value. Thus, we have vīrátara, vīrátama, váhnitama, mātṛ́tama, nṛ́tama, marúttama, and so on.
b. The suffixes tara and tama also make forms of comparison from some of the pronominal roots, as ka, ya, i (see below, 520); and from certain of the prepositions, as ud; and the adverbially used accusative (older, neuter, -taram; later, feminine, -tarām) of a comparative in tara from a preposition is employed to make a corresponding comparative to the preposition itself (below, 1119); while -tarām and -tamām make degrees of comparison from a few adverbs: thus, natarā́m, natamā́m, kathaṁtarām, kutastarām, addhātamā́m, nīcāistarām, etc.
c. By a wholly barbarous combination, finding no warrant in the earlier and more genuine usages of the language, the suffixes of comparison in their adverbial feminine form, -tarām and -tamām, are later allowed to be added to personal forms of verbs: thus, sīdatetarām (R.: the only case noted in the epics) is more despondent, vyathayatitarām disturbs more, alabhatatarām obtained in a higher degree, hasiṣyatitarām will laugh more. No examples of this use of -tamām are quotable.
d. The suffixes of secondary comparison are not infrequently added to those of primary, forming double comparatives and superlatives: thus, garīyastara, çreṣṭhatara and çréṣṭhatama, pāpīyastara, pāpiṣṭhatara and -tama, bhūyastaram, etc.
a. The use of tama as ordinal suffix is noted below (487); with this value, it is accented on the final, and makes its feminine in ī: thus, çatatamá m. n., çatatamī́ f., hundredth.
474. From a few words, mostly prepositions, degrees of comparison are made by the briefer suffixes ra and ma: thus, ádhara and adhamá, ápara and apamá, ávara and avamá, úpara and upamá, ántara, ántama, paramá, madhyamá, caramá, antima, ādima, paçcima. And ma is also used to make ordinals (below, 487).