A Comparative Grammar of the Modern Aryan Languages of India v3.c17.154

v3.c17.154

Primary stems are almost always monosyllabic, but secondary or derivative stems have often more syllables than one. The latter may be brought under three heads. First, stems derived from Sanskrit roots with which a preposition has already been compounded, principally उत्, नि, प्र, and सं, as utar “descend,” nikal “go out,” pasar “spread,” sankoch “distress.” Second, stems formed by reduplication, as jhanjhan “tinkle,” tharthar “flutter.” Third, stems with an added syllable, as guṭak “swallow,” ghasīṭ “drag,” karkach, “bind.”