Vedic Metre in its Historical Development c11.227

c11.227

(a) In the forms derived from radical root-stems the progress of contraction is very uniform, but is not complete even in the popular Rigveda: indeed the Atharvaveda still shews the nom. sing. in *-aḥ* quite commonly (*Historical Vedic Grammar*, § 175). Forms from stems in *-ī* and *-ū* are not, as a rule, contracted even in classical Sanskrit; consequently it appears to be matter of accident that such forms as *bhūt áhve* appear in our text side by side with *bhúvat áhuve*. The parallel of the Greek flexional forms with hiatus goes to shew that we have on the whole a genuine historical developement.