After this chapter you will be able to decline the feminine nouns whose stem ends in a vowel: the great ā-class (ramā, durgā, sarvā, dvitīyā), the short i- and u-class (mati, dhenu), the long ī- and ū-class (gaurī, lakṣmī, śrī, strī, vadhū, bhrū, punarbhū), the number-words tisṛ and catasṛ, the kinship words svasṛ and mātṛ, and the rare stems in o, ai and au (dyauḥ, rāḥ, nauḥ). You will know which case-endings behave specially after a feminine stem, why a feminine word sometimes has two correct forms for one case, and how the name nadī controls most of those options. Every one of the twenty-two rules below is shown at work on a concrete word, and the paradigms Bhaṭṭoji gives are set out, completed where he leaves a consonant-initial case to be supplied.
ramāThe word ramā is rama plus the feminine affix ṭāp: an āp-ending stem. Its endings are the same twenty-one as in chapter 8, but four rules change what happens at the join. The dual ending au is replaced; the vocative and the instrumental turn the final ā into e; and every ṅit ending grows a yā at its front. Everything else is plain sandhi.
Rule. After an aṅga ending in āp, the ending auṅ is replaced by śī. auṅ is the grammar's old name for the au ending of the nominative and accusative dual (the au and auṭ of chapter 8).
Example.
ramā + au → au is replaced by śī → ramā + śī
→ śī stands in place of an ending and so counts as one (it is sthānivat); its ś is a marker of an affix and is discarded (the marker rule laśakv ataddhite) → ramā + ī
→ ā + ī → e by guṇa (ād guṇaḥ) → rame (nom./acc. dual).
Nominative plural: ramā + as → ā + a → ā by savarṇa-dīrgha → ramāḥ.
Applies when / blocked by. Only after an āp-ending stem. In the plural the long vowel of chapter 8's pūrvasavarṇa-dīrgha is not used, because that lengthening is barred after a long vowel (dīrghāj jasi ca); the ordinary savarṇa-dīrgha gives the same shape, ramāḥ.
Watch out. śī replaces the whole ending au, not just a sound of it. That is why the result is rame and not ramau.
Rule. In the sambuddhi — the vocative singular, the su of address — the final of an āp-ending stem becomes e. Then the s of the sambuddhi is dropped by eṅ hrasvāt sambuddheḥ (SK 193), the rule that deletes the sambuddhi consonant after e, o or a short vowel.
Example.
he ramā + s → final ā → e → he rame + s → s dropped after e → he rame.
The vocative and accusative of ramā:
| singular | dual | plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| vocative | he rame | he rame | he ramāḥ |
| accusative | ramām | rame | ramāḥ |
ramā + am → ā + a → the earlier vowel alone stands (ami pūrvaḥ) → ramām. ramā + śas → ramāḥ.
Applies when / blocked by. The accusative plural keeps its ḥ. The rule that turns śas into -n after a long vowel (chapter 8, tasmāc chaso naḥ puṃsi) works only in the masculine; because ramā is feminine there is no n-substitution (natva).
Watch out. Do not drop the su here the way chapter 8 drops it after a feminine ā in the nominative. Bhaṭṭoji's commentators note that once e has replaced the ā, the only deletion available is the one after eṅ.
Rule. The final of an āp-ending stem becomes e also before āṅ and before os. āṅ is the grammar's old name for ṭā, the instrumental singular ending ā. The e then becomes ay before the vowel of the ending.
Example.
ramā + ā (instrumental sg.) → final ā → e → rame + ā → e → ay before a vowel → ramayā.
ramā + os → rame + os → ramayoḥ (genitive and locative dual).
Instrumental dual and plural: ramābhyām, ramābhiḥ.
Applies when / blocked by. In the instrumental plural bhis does not become ais. The rule ato bhisa ais is written with a tapara at and so applies only after a short a, never after ā.
Rule. After āp, a ṅit ending receives the augment yāṭ. Its usable part is yā; because it is ṭit it is placed at the beginning of the ending. The ṅit endings are ṅe (dative sg.), ṅasi (ablative sg.), ṅas (genitive sg.) and ṅi (locative sg.).
Example.
ramā + ṅe → ending e takes yā at its front → ramā + yā + e → ā + e → ai by vṛddhi (vṛddhir eci, SK 72) → ramāyai.
ramā + ṅasi / ṅas → ramā + yā + as → ā + a → ā by savarṇa-dīrgha → ramāyāḥ.
ramā + ṅi → ṅi is replaced by ām (chapter 8, ṅer ām nadyāmnībhyaḥ) → ramā + yā + ām → ramāyām.
ramā + ām → the augment nuṭ is inserted before ām after a short vowel, a nadī or an āp (chapter 8, hrasvanadyāpo nuṭ) → ramā + nām → n → ṇ after the r of rama → ramāṇām.
The paradigm of ramā, completed. Bhaṭṭoji gives the vowel-initial cases and ramābhyām, ramābhiḥ; the remaining consonant-initial form, ramābhyaḥ, is supplied here on the same principle, since such endings attach without change:
| singular | dual | plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | ramā | rame | ramāḥ |
| vocative | he rame | he rame | he ramāḥ |
| accusative | ramām | rame | ramāḥ |
| instrumental | ramayā | ramābhyām | ramābhiḥ |
| dative | ramāyai | ramābhyām | ramābhyaḥ |
| ablative | ramāyāḥ | ramābhyām | ramābhyaḥ |
| genitive | ramāyāḥ | ramayoḥ | ramāṇām |
| locative | ramāyām | ramayoḥ | ramāsu |
durgā and every other plain āp-ending word decline in the same way.
Applies when / blocked by. Only before a ṅit ending, and only after an aṅga that itself ends in āp. Bhaṭṭoji makes a point of this last condition (see SK 293): a compound such as atikhaṭva is not an āp-ending aṅga even though khaṭvā inside it is, so atikhaṭvāyai takes no yāṭ.
Watch out. Chapter 8's ṅer ām and nuṭ are still doing their work in ramāyām and ramāṇām; yāṭ is added on top of them, not instead of them. Bhaṭṭoji's commentators also remark that the augment could have been stated as bare ya: the a of the augment is there only for pronunciation.
sarvā (also uttarapūrvā, dvitīyā)sarvā "every (woman)" is a pronoun (a sarvanāman, one of the sarva-list) with the feminine affix ṭāp. Before a ṅit ending it does not take yāṭ but a different augment, syāṭ, and its ā is shortened: sarvasyai, not sarvāyai. Two further rules make this pronominal treatment optional — in a compound of direction-words, and after the ordinals dvitīyā and tṛtīyā — so that both uttarapūrvasyai and uttarapūrvāyai, both dvitīyasyai and dvitīyāyai, are correct.
Rule. After a pronoun (sarvanāman) ending in āp, a ṅit ending receives the augment syāṭ (usable part syā, placed at the front), and the āp becomes short. This is an apavāda — a special rule that displaces a general one — to yāṭ (SK 290).
Example.
sarvā + ṅe → syā at the front of the ending, and ā → a → sarva + syā + e → ā + e → ai by vṛddhi → sarvasyai.
sarvā + ṅasi / ṅas → sarva + syā + as → savarṇa-dīrgha → sarvasyāḥ.
sarvā + ṅi → ṅi → ām; syāṭ; shortening → sarvasyām.
sarvā + ām → the augment suṭ that pronouns take before ām (chapter 8, āmi sarvanāmnaḥ suṭ, SK 217) → sarvāsām.
| singular | dual | plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| dative | sarvasyai | ||
| ablative | sarvasyāḥ | ||
| genitive | sarvasyāḥ | sarvayoḥ | sarvāsām |
| locative | sarvasyām | sarvayoḥ | sarvāsu |
viśvā and the other āp-ending pronouns decline likewise; the rest of the paradigm is that of ramā.
Applies when / blocked by. sarvā still counts as a pronoun even though the list names sarva, not sarvā. The single vowel ā that replaced a + ā when ṭāp was added is treated as belonging to the preceding element (it is pūrvānta), so the stem is still "sarva" for the pronoun rules; that is why suṭ appears in sarvāsām. Bhaṭṭoji's commentators add that in sarvasyām syāṭ, being the later rule, displaces suṭ, and suṭ is not inserted a second time.
Rule. In a dik-samāsa — a bahuvrīhi compound of two direction-words naming the region between them, formed by the rule diṅnāmāny antarāle — the name sarvanāman applies optionally. So syāṭ (SK 291) and yāṭ (SK 290) are both available.
Example.
uttarapūrvā "the region between north and east":
uttarapūrvā + ṅe → as a pronoun: syāṭ and shortening → uttarapūrvasyai;
uttarapūrvā + ṅe → not as a pronoun: yāṭ → uttarapūrvāyai.
| pronoun (syāṭ) | not a pronoun (yāṭ) | |
|---|---|---|
| dative sg. | uttarapūrvasyai | uttarapūrvāyai |
| ablative / genitive sg. | uttarapūrvasyāḥ | uttarapūrvāyāḥ |
| genitive pl. | uttarapūrvāsām | uttarapūrvāṇām |
| locative sg. | uttarapūrvasyām | uttarapūrvāyām |
Applies when / blocked by. Only the compound that diṅnāmāny antarāle specifically prescribes counts. A bahuvrīhi that merely contains direction-words does not: "she for whom what is north is east" — a confused woman — is also uttarapūrvā, but she gets uttarapūrvāyai only. The word bahuvrīhau in the sūtra is there for clarity, since the compound named is a bahuvrīhi anyway.
A parallel case: antarā in the sense "outer" is a pronoun, so antarasyai śālāyai "to the outer hall" (that is, bāhyāyai). But the pronoun-list admits antara only for what is not a city (apurī), so for a city it is antarāyai nagaryai.
Rule. After dvitīyā "second" and tṛtīyā "third", a ṅit ending takes syāṭ, with shortening of the āp, optionally. In the other option yāṭ applies.
Example.
dvitīyā + ṅe → dvitīyasyai or dvitīyāyai.
dvitīyā + ṅasi / ṅas → dvitīyasyāḥ or dvitīyāyāḥ.
dvitīyā + ṅi → dvitīyasyām or dvitīyāyām.
The rest is like ramā; tṛtīyā is the same.
Applies when / blocked by. Bhaṭṭoji remarks that this sūtra could be dispensed with, because a supplementary statement already counts a word ending in tīya as a pronoun before ṅit endings.
Watch out. Under this sūtra Bhaṭṭoji gathers several loose ends of the ā-class. Take them one at a time.
Words meaning "mother". By ambārtha-nadyor hrasvaḥ (SK 267) a word meaning "mother", like a nadī-word, has a short vowel in the vocative singular: he amba, he akka, he alla (not he ambe). A vārttika limits this: a word containing an unconjoined ḍ, l or k is not shortened, so he ambāḍe, he ambāle, ambike (so printed) keep the ordinary e of SK 288.
jarā "old age". Before a vowel-initial ending, jarā may take the substitute stem jaras (an option). jarā + au → jarasau: the jaras-substitution is the later rule and so displaces the śī of SK 287, and once jaras stands there is no āp to trigger śī. jarā + ām → jarasām: jaras is later than nuṭ too. In the other option, and before consonant-initial endings, jarā is like ramā. Some say jarasī, with śī applied first; Bhaṭṭoji calls this baseless (scholars discuss this).
Why the āp-rules do not chase the substitute. A substitute is normally treated like its original (sthānivadbhāva). So one might expect jaras, standing for an āp-ending stem, to keep attracting the five āp-operations — śī (SK 287), e (SK 289), yāṭ (SK 290), nuṭ (SK 208) and ām for ṅi (SK 270) — and likewise the substitutes nas, niś, pṛt below. They do not. Treatment-as-original is withheld for an operation conditioned by the original's actual sound (an-al-vidhau). These five rules are such operations. Their āp is read as a merger (praśleṣa) of ā + āp, so that what each rule grasps is the āp in the shape of the sound ā. So they do not apply to jaras. Bhaṭṭoji draws two further consequences: the word dīrgha in the rule that drops su after a feminine ā or ī could be dispensed with by the same reading (atikhaṭvaḥ, niṣkauśāmbiḥ still come out right); and atikhaṭvāyai takes no yāṭ, because yāṭ needs an aṅga that ends in āp, and the aṅga atikhaṭva does not.
nāsikā "nose", niśā "night". By the rule pad-dan-… these take the substitutes nas and niś before śas and the following endings, optionally: nasaḥ (acc. pl.), nasā (instr. sg.), nobhyām; niśaḥ, niśā. In the other option, and before the first five endings (su to auṭ, the group called suṭ), they are like ramā. What happens to niś before a consonant-initial ending is the business of the next group.
niś (from niśā)Once niśā has become the consonant stem niś, the endings bhyām, bhis and su meet a bare ś at the end of a pada. Two rules of the last three quarters of the Aṣṭādhyāyī (the Tripādī, chapter 1) decide what that ś becomes: first ṣ, then ḍ. A third rule that would turn ṣ into k before s is prevented from acting, and the reason is the Tripādī's rule of asiddha order.
Rule. For the seven roots vraśc, bhrasj, sṛj, mṛj, yaj, rāj, bhrāj, and for any stem ending in ch or ś, the final sound becomes ṣ before a jhal (a stop or a sibilant) and at the end of a pada. That ṣ, now pada-final, becomes ḍ by jaśtva — the rule jhalāṃ jaśo 'nte that turns a pada-final jhal into the voiced unaspirated stop of its class.
Example.
niś + bhyām → ś → ṣ before the jhal bh → niṣ + bhyām → ṣ → ḍ by jaśtva → niḍbhyām; likewise niḍbhiḥ.
niś + su → niṣ + su → niḍ + su → optionally the augment dhuṭ (usable part dh) after ḍ before s (ḍaḥ si dhuṭ) → niḍ-dh-su → cartva (a jhal before a voiceless sound becomes the voiceless unaspirated stop of its class): ḍ → ṭ, dh → t → niṭtsu.
Without dhuṭ: niṭsu.
Applies when / blocked by. Two further changes are kept off. The vārttika cayo dvitīyāḥ, which lets a car sound become the aspirate of its class, would turn the ṭ and t into ṭh and th; it does not, because cartva is asiddha for it (cartva is the later rule, so the vārttika does not see its result). And ṣṭutva, which would make the t retroflex after ṭ, is barred by na padāntāṭ ṭoḥ: no ṣṭutva is caused by a pada-final ṭ.
Rule. ṣ and ḍh become k before s.
Example.
niṣ + su (from SK 294) → this rule would give nikṣu → but it does not act → jaśtva gives niḍ + su → niṭsu / niṭtsu as above.
Applies when / blocked by. This rule is asiddha with respect to jaśtva: within the Tripādī a later rule counts as not yet in force for an earlier one, and A 8.2.41 comes after jhalāṃ jaśo 'nte (A 8.2.39). So jaśtva, the earlier rule, acts first, turning ṣ into ḍ, and there is no ṣ left for k to replace.
Watch out. Some read the word dhātoḥ "of a root" into SK 294 from dāder dhātoḥ (SK 325), so that only a root ending in ch or ś takes ṣ. On that view niś keeps its ś, which jaśtva turns directly into j: nijbhyām, nijbhiḥ; and in the locative plural niś + su → jaśtva j, then ścutva (s → ś after a palatal), then cartva (j → c) → nicśu. There the j does not become k by coḥ kuḥ (SK 378), because jaśtva is asiddha for that earlier rule too. Scholars discuss this.
A vārttika adds three more words that optionally swap in a consonant stem before śas and the following endings: māṃsa → māṃs, pṛtanā → pṛt, sānu → snu. Only pṛtanā "army" is feminine: pṛtaḥ (acc. pl.), pṛtā (instr. sg.), pṛdbhyām (jaśtva, t → d). In the other option, and before the suṭ endings, pṛtanā is like ramā.
Two closing remarks end the ā-class. gopā "cow-keeper" (feminine) declines like viśvapā of chapter 8: it does not end in the affix āp, so its su is not dropped. And mati "thought" opens the i-class: it declines mostly like hari, with two feminine differences — no natva in the accusative plural, matīḥ, and no nā in the instrumental singular, matyā, because the rule giving nā to a ghi-stem excludes the feminine (āṅo nā 'striyām).
matiA feminine stem in long ī or ū is nadī, and nadī-status brings a set of endings of its own (chapter 8). A feminine stem in short i or u is not nadī by that rule. The two rules of this group let it be nadī optionally, before a ṅit ending only, so that mati has two dative forms, two ablative-genitive forms and two locative forms.
Rule. The sūtra covers two cases (Bhaṭṭoji's commentator reads it as two sentences). First: an ī- or ū-ending word that is a ground for iyaṅ or uvaṅ (see SK 303), that is not the word strī, and that is permanently feminine, is optionally nadī when a ṅit ending follows. Second: a feminine stem in short i or u is optionally nadī when a ṅit ending follows. The second sentence is this group's business; the first belongs to group G. Because yū stryākhyau nadī gives the name only to long ī and ū, this is an option where the name was otherwise not obtained at all (an aprāpta-vibhāṣā).
Example.
On the nadī side: mati + ṅe → the augment āṭ before the ṅit ending (āṇ nadyāḥ, SK 268) → mati + ā + e → ā + e → ai by vṛddhi → mati + ai → i → y by yaṇ → matyai.
Without nadī: mati + ṅe → mati is ghi, so guṇa before the ṅit ending (gher ṅiti) → mate + e → e → ay → mataye, exactly as hari gives haraye.
Ablative and genitive singular: mati + ṅasi / ṅas → nadī: āṭ, vṛddhi, yaṇ → matyāḥ; without nadī: guṇa and the single vowel e → mateḥ.
Genitive plural: mati + ām → nuṭ, because the stem ends in a short vowel, whether nadī or not → matīnām (lengthening by nāmi).
| nadī | not nadī | |
|---|---|---|
| dative sg. | matyai | mataye |
| ablative sg. | matyāḥ | mateḥ |
| genitive sg. | matyāḥ | mateḥ |
| genitive pl. | matīnām | matīnām |
Applies when / blocked by. Only before a ṅit ending; in every other case mati has one form. Bhaṭṭoji's commentators note that the second sentence says "feminine", not "permanently feminine": words of two genders such as iṣu or three genders such as paṭu get the option too when used as feminines.
Watch out. In the locative singular the nadī side does not simply take ām by ṅer ām: the rule aud (au for ṅi after a short vowel) is the later rule and would win. The next sūtra settles the matter.
Rule. After a short i or u that bears the name nadī, ām replaces ṅi (the locative singular ending). The words nadī and ṅer ām are carried in by anuvṛtti from the preceding sūtra.
Example.
mati + ṅi → nadī (by SK 296): ṅi → ām → mati + ām → yaṇ → matyām.
mati + ṅi → not nadī: mati is ghi, so ṅi → au by ac ca gheḥ (SK 247) → matau.
śruti, smṛti and the rest of the short i-class decline in the same way.
Watch out. Bhaṭṭoji's commentators point out that yaṇ still applies in matyām although the vowel that conditioned the ām is thereby changed; the principle that would forbid this is not absolute.
tisṛ (feminine of tri)"Three" and "four" have feminine stems of their own: tri becomes tisṛ and catur becomes catasṛ before a case-ending. Their ṛ then behaves unlike the ṛ of pitṛ: before a vowel it turns into plain r with no guṇa, and before nām it is not lengthened. Bhaṭṭoji uses the group to fix exactly which "three" the rule means, and then, before leaving it, opens the long ī-class with gaurī.
Rule. For tri and catur in the feminine, the substitutes tisṛ and catasṛ respectively occur when a vibhakti (a case-ending) follows.
Example.
tri + jas (feminine) → tri → tisṛ → tisṛ + as (continued at SK 299).
Applies when / blocked by. The word vibhaktau is carried in by anuvṛtti from an earlier sūtra; the substitution needs a case-ending to follow.
Rule. The ṛ of tisṛ and catasṛ becomes r before a vowel. This is an apavāda to three rules that would otherwise act on a final ṛ: guṇa (ṛto ṅi, giving ar before a strong ending), pūrvasavarṇa-dīrgha (prathamayoḥ pūrvasavarṇaḥ, in the accusative plural), and utva (ṛta ut, giving u before the ablative-genitive ending).
Example.
tisṛ + as (nominative pl.) → ṛ → r instead of guṇa → tisraḥ.
tisṛ + as (accusative pl.) → ṛ → r instead of pūrvasavarṇa-dīrgha → tisraḥ.
Applies when / blocked by. Before ām the r-substitution does not win. By the vārttika num-aci-ra-tṛjvadbhāva-guṇebhyo nuṭ the augment nuṭ takes precedence over it by pūrva-vipratiṣedha (a declared case where the earlier rule beats the later): see SK 300.
Watch out. Plain yaṇ would already give r before a vowel. The sūtra is needed for what it blocks, not for what it produces. Bhaṭṭoji's commentators note that the block on utva matters only in a compound such as priyatisṛ, which can be singular; the numerals themselves are always plural.
Rule. For tisṛ and catasṛ the lengthening before nām (nāmi) does not occur.
Example.
tisṛ + ām → nuṭ (SK 299) → tisṛ + nām → no lengthening → n → ṇ after ṛ → tisṛṇām.
Locative plural: tisṛṣu.
| nom. / acc. pl. | gen. pl. | loc. pl. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| tisṛ | tisraḥ | tisṛṇām | tisṛṣu |
Applies when / blocked by. The word striyām in SK 298 qualifies tri and catur themselves, not a stem that ends in them. Three compounds show the difference.
priyatrayāṇām, because tri → traya (tres trayaḥ) is a stem-operation and does reach a stem ending in tri.priyatisā; then priyatisrau, priyatisraḥ, priyatisram, and so on with r before every vowel.priyatisṛ.Watch out. A vārttika, rādeśāt pūrva-vipratiṣedhena num, says that the neuter augment num takes precedence over the r-substitution: priyatisṛṇī (du.), priyatisṝṇi (pl., with the lengthening of an n-stem before śi). From the instrumental on, the neuter may optionally be treated as masculine (a puṃvadbhāva taught later), so num and r alternate: priyatisrā / priyatisṛṇā.
Bhaṭṭoji then closes the short i-class and opens the long ī-class.
dvi "two". Before a case-ending dvi becomes dva (the a-substitution of the tyad-list) and takes ṭāp: dvā. Its forms follow ramā: dve (nom./acc.), dvābhyām (instr./dat./abl.), and the os-form by SK 289, dvayoḥ.
gaurī "fair woman". gaura + ṅīṣ, with the final a dropped, gives gaurī; its su is deleted after the feminine ī (chapter 8, hal-ṅyāb-bhyaḥ). gaurī + au → yaṇ (pūrvasavarṇa-dīrgha being barred after a long vowel) → gauryau; gaurī + as → gauryaḥ. Being long and feminine, gaurī is nadī and takes the nadī operations: the short vocative he gauri, the āṭ augment before ṅit endings, gauryai and so on, nuṭ before ām, and ām for ṅi. vāṇī, nadī and the rest of the ṅī-ending class decline likewise.
sakhī "female friend". One might expect the special masculine treatment of sakhi — the anaṅ of sakhā and the ṇit-treatment of its strong endings — to reach sakhī, since a mention of a stem generally includes its gender-marked form. A vārttika, vibhaktau liṅgaviśiṣṭāgrahaṇam, prevents it: in an operation conditioned by a case-ending, the gender-marked form is not included. So sakhī, sakhyau, sakhyaḥ and the rest are like gaurī, and the su is dropped because the stem ends in ṅī.
lakṣmī. Its ī is not the affix ṅī, so the su is not dropped: lakṣmīḥ. The rest is like gaurī; likewise tarī, tantrī.
strī "woman". Nominative strī; vocative he stri, short by the nadī rule. Its other forms need a rule of their own — the next group.
strī (also atistri)strī is a monosyllable in long ī, and before a vowel-initial ending its ī becomes iy: striyau, striyaḥ. The substitute is called iyaṅ. The first rule of this group prescribes it; the second makes it optional in the accusative. Bhaṭṭoji then shows what happens when strī is the last member of a compound used in the masculine and neuter (atistri "one who has outdone a woman"), where several masculine operations crowd iyaṅ out.
Rule. For the word strī, iyaṅ is the substitute when a vowel-initial affix follows. The sūtra says only striyāḥ "of strī"; the substitute iyaṅ and the condition "before a vowel" are carried in by anuvṛtti from aci śnudhātubhruvāṃ yvor iyaṅuvaṅau. The ṅ of iyaṅ is a marker: a ṅit substitute replaces only the final sound of the original, so iy replaces the ī alone.
Example.
strī + au → ī → iy before the vowel → striy + au → striyau (nom./acc. dual).
strī + as → striyaḥ (nom. pl.).
Applies when / blocked by. The general iyaṅ rule just cited works on roots. strī is not a root, so without this sūtra its ī would take yaṇ before a vowel. Bhaṭṭoji's commentators add that the rule also reaches a stem ending in strī, such as atistri, by the principle that a thing altered in one part is still that thing.
Rule. Before am (accusative singular) and śas (accusative plural), iyaṅ occurs for strī optionally.
Example.
strī + am → with iyaṅ → striyam; without it → ī + a → the earlier vowel stands (ami pūrvaḥ) → strīm.
strī + śas → striyaḥ or strīḥ.
The whole paradigm of strī. It is nadī (SK 303 keeps it so), and so takes āṭ, nuṭ and ām:
| singular | dual | plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | strī | striyau | striyaḥ |
| vocative | he stri | ||
| accusative | striyam / strīm | striyau | striyaḥ / strīḥ |
| instrumental | striyā | ||
| dative | striyai | ||
| ablative | striyāḥ | ||
| genitive | striyāḥ | striyoḥ | strīṇām |
| locative | striyām | striyoḥ | strīṣu |
strī + ṅe → āṭ, vṛddhi, then iyaṅ before the vowel → striyai. strī + ām → nuṭ wins over iyaṅ because it is the later rule, and once nām stands the ending no longer begins with a vowel → strīṇām.
Watch out. atistri "one who has outdone a woman" (ati + strī): as the subordinate member of the compound the ī is shortened (gostriyoḥ), and since the stem no longer ends in a long ṅī its su stays, atistriḥ. In the masculine, Bhaṭṭoji's verse says, iyaṅ is displaced — each time by a later rule — by guṇa (before jas and the ṅit endings), by nā (instrumental), by au for ṅi, and by nuṭ (before ām); in the neuter by num. Before os and the dual au iyaṅ is obligatory; before am and śas optional; before any other vowel-initial ending, in the masculine, it does not occur.
Masculine atistri:
| singular | dual | plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | atistriḥ | atistriyau | atistrayaḥ |
| vocative | he atistre | he atistriyau | he atistrayaḥ |
| accusative | atistriyam / atistrim | atistriyau | atistriyaḥ / atistrīn |
| instrumental | atistriṇā | ||
| dative | atistraye | ||
| ablative | atistreḥ | ||
| genitive | atistreḥ | atistriyoḥ | atistrīṇām |
| locative | atistrau | atistriyoḥ | atistriṣu |
Neuter atistri "a family that has outdone a woman": atistri (nom./acc. sg., su and am deleted by luk), atistriṇī (du., num before the śī that replaces au in the neuter), atistrīṇi (pl., num and lengthening before śi), atistriṇā, atistriṇe. From the dative on, before a vowel-initial ending, the neuter may optionally be treated as masculine, so two forms stand: atistraye / atistriṇe; atistriṇaḥ / atistreḥ (ablative and genitive); atistriṇoḥ / atistriyoḥ; atistrīṇām; atistrau / atistriṇi.
Feminine atistri "a woman who has outdone a woman" is mostly like the masculine, with the feminine differences: atistrīḥ (accusative plural, no natva), atistriyā (instrumental, no nā, so iyaṅ), and before a ṅit ending the option of SK 296, triggered by the short final vowel: atistriyai / atistraye; atistriyāḥ / atistreḥ (ablative and genitive); atistrīṇām; atistriyām / atistrau. The exclusion "not strī" in SK 303 carries into SK 296 only with its first sentence, the one about long ī and ū; it does not touch the short-vowel option.
śrī "fortune, Lakṣmī" closes the unit: śrīḥ, śriyau, śriyaḥ — and opens the next group.
śrī (also pradhī, sudhī)śrī is long, feminine and in ī — everything a nadī should be — yet its vocative is he śrīḥ, not he śri. The reason is that its ī is a "ground for iyaṅ": before a vowel it becomes iy (śriyau), and the first rule of this group denies the name nadī to such an ī or ū. The second rule restores nadī optionally before ām. Together with the first sentence of SK 296, this gives śrī two forms in each ṅit case and in the genitive plural.
Rule. An ī or ū that is the ground (sthāna) for iyaṅ or uvaṅ — one that would become iy or uv before a vowel — is not nadī. The word strī is excepted: it remains nadī.
Example.
śrī + au → śrī is a monosyllable whose vowel follows a conjunct, so the yaṇ rule for polysyllables (er anekācaḥ) does not apply; the vowel is root-final, so iyaṅ does (aci śnudhātubhruvām…) → śriyau; śriyaḥ. So śrī is a ground for iyaṅ.
he śrī + s → not nadī → no vocative shortening → he śrīḥ (the su stays, since the stem does not end in ṅī).
śrī + ṅe → by the first sentence of SK 296, optionally nadī: āṭ, vṛddhi, iyaṅ → śriyai; not nadī → iyaṅ only → śriye.
śrī + ṅasi / ṅas → śriyāḥ (nadī) / śriyaḥ (not nadī).
Accusative śriyam (iyaṅ displaces the earlier-vowel rule), śriyau, śriyaḥ; instrumental śriyā.
Applies when / blocked by. SK 296 cannot reach the genitive plural, because ām is not ṅit; the next sūtra supplies that case.
Rule. Before ām, an ī or ū that is a ground for iyaṅ or uvaṅ and names a female is optionally nadī. Again strī is excepted: for it the name is not optional but fixed.
Example.
śrī + ām → nadī: nuṭ → śrīṇām; not nadī: iyaṅ → śriyām.
Locative singular: śriyām (nadī, ām for ṅi) / śriyi (not nadī).
| nadī | not nadī | |
|---|---|---|
| dative sg. | śriyai | śriye |
| ablative / genitive sg. | śriyāḥ | śriyaḥ |
| genitive pl. | śrīṇām | śriyām |
| locative sg. | śriyām | śriyi |
Watch out. Which words are "permanently feminine" (nitya-strīliṅga), and so eligible for the first sentence of SK 296 at all? Bhaṭṭoji reports two views, and scholars discuss this. On one view (the Vṛttikāra and others) a word is permanently feminine if it can denote a female even without another word beside it; on the other (Kaiyaṭa) only if it never denotes another gender. The test words:
pradhyam, pradhyaḥ; on Kaiyaṭa's view, being of three genders, it declines as in the masculine. When it means "excellent intellect" (prakṛṣṭā dhīḥ) it is like lakṣmī on both views — again except the accusative, pradhyam, pradhyaḥ.dhenu "milch cow" opens the short u-class and declines like mati.
kroṣṭṛ / kroṣṭrī, svasṛ, dyauḥThe last group collects the remaining stem-finals. A feminine stem in ṛ or n takes the feminine affix ṅīp, so kroṣṭṛ "she-jackal" is really kroṣṭrī and declines like gaurī. The ū-stems split as the ī-stems did: vadhū like gaurī, bhrū like śrī, punarbhū in a class of its own. A retroflexion rule catches the n of punarbhūṇām. Then the kinship words in ṛ, which take no feminine affix at all, and finally dyauḥ, rāḥ, nauḥ, each declined like a masculine model of chapter 8.
Rule. The word kroṣṭu "jackal", when it denotes a female, takes its form as if it ended in the affix tṛc — that is, as kroṣṭṛ. The words tṛjvat kroṣṭuḥ (chapter 8, where the masculine kroṣṭu behaves like kroṣṭṛ before certain endings) are carried in by anuvṛtti; this is an atideśa of form, a transfer of one word's shape to another.
Example.
kroṣṭu (feminine) → treated as kroṣṭṛ → and so, by the next rule, as kroṣṭrī.
Applies when / blocked by. In the feminine there is no u-stem kroṣṭu at all; the outcome is simply the ṛ-stem kroṣṭṛ.
Rule. After a nominal stem (prātipadika) ending in ṛ or in n, the affix ṅīp is added in the feminine. Its usable part is ī; ṅ and p are markers.
Example.
kroṣṭṛ + ī → ṛ → r by yaṇ → kroṣṭrī (nom. sg.); kroṣṭryau, kroṣṭryaḥ; the rest like gaurī.
Watch out. Under this sūtra Bhaṭṭoji runs through the long ū-class.
he subhrūḥ, with no shortening; the ū is not shortened in the compound either, because it is not a feminine affix. When the poet Bhaṭṭi writes he subhru, many call it simply a lapse (scholars discuss this).he punarbhu (short vocative); punarbhvam, punarbhvau, punarbhvaḥ (yaṇ displacing the earlier-vowel and pūrvasavarṇa rules in the accusative).The genitive plural of punarbhū raises a question of retroflexion, answered next.
Rule. In a compound whose last member has a single vowel (is ekāc), an n that comes after an r or ṣ in the earlier member becomes ṇ, obligatorily — whether that n ends a nominal stem, is the augment num, or stands in a case-ending. The repeated ṇa in the sūtra is only for clarity: the rule's obligatory force already follows from its being stated at all.
Example.
punarbhū + ām → nuṭ, the later rule, displaces yaṇ → punarbhū + nām → the n of the ending follows the r of punar, and bhū has one vowel → punarbhūṇām.
Applies when / blocked by. Bhaṭṭoji's commentators note that the r of punar does not become u before the following sound: that change belongs to the substitute ru, not to an original r.
Watch out. varṣābhū "frog; the plant punarnavā". The feminine affix ṅīṣ is optional for it, so a bare ū-stem exists. In the frog sense the word has two genders — Yādava's lexicon makes varṣābhū feminine for the frog and the plant, masculine for the toad — so on Kaiyaṭa's view it is not permanently feminine, not nadī, and its vocative is he varṣābhūḥ; on the other view he varṣābhu, and in the plant sense he varṣābhu. Before a vowel it takes yaṇ: varṣābhvau, varṣābhvaḥ. svayambhū "the self-born (Brahmā)" declines as in the masculine.
The ṛ-class then opens with svasṛ "sister", formed with the affix ṛn (sāvaser ṛn).
Rule. After a word bearing the name ṣaṭ (the number-words so designated) and after the svasṛ-list, the feminine affixes ṅīp and ṭāp do not occur. The list has seven members, which Bhaṭṭoji gives in a verse: svasṛ (sister), tisṛ, catasṛ, nanāndṛ (husband's sister), duhitṛ (daughter), yātṛ (brother's wife), mātṛ (mother).
Example.
svasṛ + su → no ṅīp → the ṛ is replaced by anaṅ (chapter 8, as in pitṛ) → the vowel is long by aptṛn (SK 277), which names svasṛ although it does not end in tṛ → the final n is dropped → svasā; svasārau, svasāraḥ.
mātṛ declines like pitṛ; accusative plural mātṝḥ, with no natva because it is feminine.
Applies when / blocked by. Without this rule SK 306 would add ṅīp to every one of these ṛ-stems. Bhaṭṭoji's commentators observe that tisṛ and catasṛ need not have been listed, since SK 300 already presupposes that they take no ṅīp (scholars discuss this).
Watch out. Three stems remain, each declined by transfer to a masculine model of chapter 8:
| stem-final | word | declines like |
|---|---|---|
| o | dyauḥ "sky" | go |
| ai | rāḥ "wealth" | the masculine rai (ā before a consonant-initial ending) |
| au | nauḥ "boat" | glau |
With these the vowel-ending feminines end.
| SK | Sūtra | What it does | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 287 | auṅa āpaḥ | After an āp-stem the dual ending au → śī. | ramā + au → rame |
| 288 | sambuddhau ca | Final ā of an āp-stem → e in the vocative singular. | he rame |
| 289 | āṅi cāpaḥ | Final ā → e before ṭā and os (then e → ay). | ramayā, ramayoḥ |
| 290 | yāḍāpaḥ | A ṅit ending after āp takes the augment yā. | ramāyai, ramāyāḥ, ramāyām |
| 291 | sarvanāmnaḥ syāḍ ḍhrasvaś ca | After an āp-pronoun a ṅit ending takes syā and the ā is shortened. | sarvasyai, sarvasyāḥ, sarvasyām |
| 292 | vibhāṣā diksamāse bahuvrīhau | Pronoun status is optional in a direction-compound. | uttarapūrvasyai / uttarapūrvāyai |
| 293 | vibhāṣā dvitīyātṛtīyābhyām | syāṭ with shortening is optional after dvitīyā, tṛtīyā. | dvitīyasyai / dvitīyāyai |
| 294 | vraśca…chaśāṃ ṣaḥ | Final ch / ś → ṣ before a jhal or at pada-end; then → ḍ. | niś + bhyām → niḍbhyām |
| 295 | ṣaḍhoḥ kaḥ si | ṣ, ḍh → k before s; asiddha for jaśtva, so inert here. | niṭsu, not nikṣu |
| 296 | ṅiti hrasvaś ca | A short feminine i / u is optionally nadī before a ṅit ending. | matyai / mataye |
| 297 | idudbhyām | After nadī i / u, ṅi → ām. | matyām / matau |
| 298 | tricaturoḥ striyāṃ tisṛcatasṛ | Feminine tri → tisṛ, catur → catasṛ before an ending. | tisṛ + as |
| 299 | aci ra ṛtaḥ | Their ṛ → r before a vowel, displacing guṇa, lengthening, utva. | tisraḥ |
| 300 | na tisṛcatasṛ | No lengthening before nām. | tisṛṇām |
| 301 | striyāḥ | strī takes iyaṅ before a vowel-initial affix. | striyau, striyaḥ |
| 302 | vā'mśasoḥ | Before am and śas iyaṅ is optional. | striyam / strīm |
| 303 | neyaṅuvaṅsthānāv astrī | An ī / ū that takes iyaṅ / uvaṅ is not nadī; strī is. | he śrīḥ; śriyai / śriye |
| 304 | vā'mi | Such an ī / ū is optionally nadī before ām. | śrīṇām / śriyām |
| 305 | striyāṃ ca | Feminine kroṣṭu has the form of kroṣṭṛ. | kroṣṭṛ |
| 306 | ṛnnebhyo ṅīp | After a stem in ṛ or n the feminine takes ṅīp. | kroṣṭrī |
| 307 | ekājuttarapade ṇaḥ | n → ṇ after r / ṣ of the prior member when the last member has one vowel. | punarbhūṇām |
| 308 | na ṣaṭsvasrādibhyaḥ | No ṅīp or ṭāp after ṣaṭ-words and the svasṛ-list. | svasā, svasārau, svasāraḥ |