Wilson Philological Lectures on Sanskrit and the Derived Languages c10.18

c10.18

The nom. pl. ओ or उ of fem. nouns in आ or ई is preserved in the Mâl., Goan. and Chit. as जीभ, जिभो; साडी, साड्यो; and घोडी, घोढ्यो; but the two latter are derived from the Skr. शाटिका and घोटिका which are nouns ending in आ. The final आ, which alone remains after the elision of the consonant क, is dropped in consequence of the penultimate accent and we have साडी and घोडी. The ओ or उ of the plural of the original Prâkṛit साडिआओ-उ is also dropped like the ओ or उ of घोडओ-उ in the ordinary Marâṭhî साडी and घोडी and, just as the previous vowel in this last is lengthened in consequence of the accent and the resulting form is घोडा, so the previous आ of साडिआओ-उ and घोडिआओ-उ being accented remains and we have साड्या and घोड्या for साडिआ and घोडिआ, but in the dialects of the Marâthî in which the ओ or उ of Masc. nouns in the sing. is preserved we have घोडो, कांटो etc.; so also is the ओ-उ of the fem. preserved and we have साड्यो, घोड्यो etc. As to unaugmented fem. nouns in इ or ई the final is, of course, dropped by the penultimate accent, but in the plural it is preserved being accented and the termination of the plural ओ-उ which is unaccented is dropped as वेल sing., वेली pl., Skr. वल्लि, ‘creeper’; बहिण sing., बहिणी pl., Skr. भगिनी, ‘sister’; कूस sing., कुसी-शी pl. ‘sides’; केळ sing., केळी pl., Skr. कदली etc. As in the dialects of the Marâthî the pl. ओ is preserved in Gujarâtî; but there it is transferred to the pl. of all nouns whatever and the process is going on even in our times, being extended to the masc. nouns ending in ओ also, which formed their nom. and acc. pl. formerly by adding आ, as घोडो sing., घोडा pl., but now often घोडाओ. The Sindhî also has preserved the fem. उ, as I have already observed, but the nasal of the neuter is combined with it to form the nom. and acc. pl.