Vedic Metre in its Historical Development c12.72

c12.72

(iv) In the case of the particle ū u many actual and possible occurrences must be left out of account here, as well as the occurrences of an element u which is of phonetic character, and distinct from the particle. In the last class are included not only the well-known u of u loká and that in the suffix -tavá u for -tavaí, but also other cases in which -ā u stands for final -ai, -au, or -ah (§ 171 v). As doubtful all occurrences of u in such forms as átho, úpo are omitted, except when hiatus has to be postulated before u (§ 171 ii-iv). Occurrences before hiatus are considered separately (§ 173 iv): but the somewhat frequent occurrences of ū in the second place in the combinations ū nú, ū śú must be left out of account, as it is not possible to determine with certainty the quantity of the third syllable.