Wilson Philological Lectures on Sanskrit and the Derived Languages c8.69

c8.69

Feminine and Neuter Nouns.—The Prâkrit feminine declension differs from the Pâli in little more than a phonetic corruption of the terminations. The य of the instr., abl., gen. and loc. of nouns in आ, and the य of those in इ or ई, are weakened into ए or इ or dropped, leaving only अ and आ. In the latter class of nouns this आ is further optionally shortened to अ. Thus we have मालाए-इ-अ and नईए-इ-आ-अ, &c. The optional loc. forms in य are lost; and the यो of the nom. plurals मालायो and नदियो leaves only the vowel ओ which is again shortened to अ. The abl. forms in दो-दु or ओ-उ are of course new. Fem. nouns in ऋ substitute आ for the final and are declined like nouns in आ; as, नणन्दा, नणन्दाओ, &c. मातृ, however, has another base मातर when it signifies a “goddess.” In the Pâli four bases are used, the old one, मातर declined like masc. nouns in अ, मातु, and माता. This last is used in the gen. pl. only along with मातरण, and मातूनं. The nom. and acc. of neuter nouns in अ are in the Prâkrit the same as in Skr. only phonetically corrupted, as वणं sing., वणा-ईं-इ-णि pl.; while the sing. of those in इ and उ have an anusvâra optionally attached to them, as दहि or दहिं sing., दहीइ-इ-णि, pl. The optional Pâli plurals in आ and ए are lost. Sanskrit neuter nouns in अन् and अस् become nouns in अ, and are masculine.