A Comparative Grammar of the Modern Aryan Languages of India v2.c12.39

v2.c12.39

In more recent times two separate sets of stems developed themselves out of this a-stem. The first probably ended in u in all the languages down to about the fourteenth century; since then it has ended in -a in all but Sindhi, which still retains the termination in -u. In old Hindi and Marathi the nominative in u is distinctly traceable, and in the former is even lengthened to û at the end of a verse where the metre requires a long syllable. This is especially the case in Tulsi Das's Ramayan, a work which exhibits a wide range of popular forms and phrases. Thus we have शरीरू, बीरू, कपारू, प्रचारू, at the ends of rhyming lines for शरीर, बीर, in modern H. शरीर, बीर, śarîr, bîr. The second ended in o, which in the broad pronunciation of old Hindi sounds au, though the form in o is often used by the earlier poets; and there is no distinction between the two: it is merely a matter of manuscripts, some using one, some the other form. This o softened subsequently still further into â, in all but G. and S., which still retain o.