After this chapter you will be able to take a masculine or neuter noun stem and build the stem that names a woman or a female thing: aja "goat" → ajā "she-goat", kumāra "boy" → kumārī "girl", gārgya → gārgī, kuru → kurūḥ, pati → patnī. You will know the nine affixes the grammar uses for this — ṭāp, ṅīp, ṅīṣ, ṅīn, ūṅ, cāp, ḍāp, ṣpha and ti — and, more importantly, which one a given stem takes, because the choice depends on how the stem ends, on what kind of thing it names (a species, an age, a colour, a body part, a wife), and on whether it is a compound. You will also meet the small changes the feminine affix sets off inside the stem: a becoming i in kārikā, the n of pati in patnī, the r of śarvarī, the dropped ya of gārgī. Every one of the seventy-nine rules below is shown at work on a concrete word.
aja → ajāEvery rule of this chapter stands under one heading, "in the feminine". The first affix taught is the default one: ṭāp, heard as ā, added to any stem that ends in short a. aja "he-goat" becomes ajā "she-goat", bāla "boy" becomes bālā "girl". The rule also names a short list of words (the ajādi list) that take ṭāp even though later rules would give them ī.
Rule. "In the feminine." This is an adhikāra, a heading: its one word is read into every rule that follows, as far as (but not including) the rule samarthānāṃ prathamād vā (A 4.1.82). It commands nothing by itself.
Example.
striyām is read into SK 454 → "after an a-final stem, ṭāp — in the feminine" → aja + ṭāp → ajā.
Applies when / blocked by. Femininity is not created by the affix. It already lies in the meaning of the stem; ṭāp and the other feminine affixes only manifest it (the commentators' word is dyotaka, "indicator"). That is why mātṛ "mother" and duhitṛ "daughter" are feminine with no feminine affix at all.
Rule. ṭāp is added, in the feminine, after an ajādi word (a word of the list beginning with ajā) and after any prātipadika ending in short a. ṭāp is heard as ā: ṭ and p are markers.
Example.
aja (a-final) + ṭāp → markers dropped → aja + ā → the two a-sounds merge into one long ā → ajā.
khaṭva → khaṭvā.
bāla → bālā.
Applies when / blocked by. The ajādi list is named for a reason: it blocks the ī-affixes that later rules would give those words. Bhaṭṭoji sorts the list into two kinds:
| word | feminine by this rule | what it would otherwise take |
|---|---|---|
| ajā, eḍakā, aśvā, caṭakā, mūṣikā | ṭāp | the ṅīṣ for species-words (SK 518) |
| bālā, vatsā, hoḍā, mandā, vilātā | ṭāp | the ṅīp for words of early age (SK 478) |
The femininity must belong to the ajādi word itself. In pañcājī "a group of five goats" it belongs to the collective named by the compound, not to ajā; so the compound takes ṅīp by SK 479, not ṭāp.
Bhaṭṭoji's commentators add supplementary rules (vārttikas) to the list. phala after sam, bhastrā, ajina, śaṇa or piṇḍa takes ṭāp: saṃphalā, bhastraphalā (the ā of bhastrā shortened by SK 1001). puṣpa after sat, ac, kāṇḍa, prānta, śata or eka takes ṭāp: satpuṣpā, prākpuṣpā, pratyakpuṣpā. śūdrā takes ṭāp when it names the caste and is not preceded by mahat; when it means "wife of a śūdra" it is śūdrī (see SK 504), and mahāśūdrī keeps ī. Further: kruñcā, uṣṇihā, devaviśā; jyeṣṭhā, kaniṣṭhā, madhyamā even for a wife; kokilā even as a species. mūla after the negative nañ takes ṭāp: amūlā.
Watch out. Not every ī-feminine is taught in this chapter. kartrī and daṇḍinī get their ṅīp from ṛnnebhyo ṅīp (SK 306), which you met in chapter 9.
bhavat → bhavantīThe second affix is ṅīp, heard as ī (ṅ and p are markers). This group gives its first homes: stems marked with an uk vowel such as the participle bhavat, stems in van (where the n also turns into r), stems in pād; and two stem-types, man and the an-bahuvrīhi, where ṅīp is refused and a third affix, ḍāp, is offered instead.
Rule. After a prātipadika that ends in an ugit item, ṅīp is added in the feminine. An ugit is an item whose marker is a vowel of the pratyāhāra uk (u, ṛ, ḷ). The participle affix śatṛ is ugit (its marker is ṛ), so every at-participle qualifies.
Example.
bhū + śatṛ → bhavat → ends in the ugit śatṛ → bhavat + ṅīp → bhavat + ī → the augment num is inserted by SK 446 → bhavantī.
Likewise pacantī, dīvyantī.
Applies when / blocked by. A root can be ugit too, but the "ac" in ugidacām (SK 361) restricts ugit-operations on a root to √añc alone. So ukhāsrat "falling from the pot" and parṇadhvat (made with the zero affix kvip, the root's n dropped by SK 415) take no ṅīp; but √añc does: prācī, pratīcī.
Rule. After a prātipadika ending in van, or ending in a word that ends in van, ṅīp is added, and r replaces the final n. "van" here stands for all three affixes ṅvanip, kvanip and vanip, which are all heard as van.
Example.
sutvan "soma-presser" → the compound atisutvan "she who has surpassed the presser" → atisutvan + ṅīp → final n → r → atisutvarī.
atidhīvarī; śarvarī.
Applies when / blocked by. A paribhāṣā (a rule about reading rules) is invoked: when an affix is named, the rule reaches the whole form beginning with the base the affix was added to and ending in that affix. Since van qualifies "prātipadika", a stem that ends in a van-word (atisutvan) is covered too. Two vārttikas limit the rule. First, no ṅīp and no r after a van added to a root ending in a haś consonant (a soft consonant): avāvā brāhmaṇī (from √oṇṛ with vanip, the nasal turned to ā by SK 2982), rājayudhvā. Second, in a bahuvrīhi the rule is optional: bahudhīvarī or bahudhīvā; in the second form the affix is the ḍāp of SK 461.
Rule. After a prātipadika ending in pād — the compound-final form of pāda "foot", its samāsānta (compound-ending) affix already applied — ṅīp is added optionally (anyatarasyām, "in either way").
Example.
dvipād "two-footed" + ṅīp → dvipād + ī → pād becomes pad before the ī (the stem before the ī is a bha, the name a stem carries before certain vowel-initial affixes) → dvipadī.
Or no affix: dvipāt (nominative singular).
Rule. When the word means a Vedic verse (ṛc), a pāda-final stem takes ṭāp, not ṅīp. (It is kept in this group because it is the verse-counterpart of SK 457.)
Example.
dvipadā ṛk "a two-line verse"; ekapadā "a one-line verse".
Applies when / blocked by. na ṣaṭsvasrādibhyaḥ (SK 308) bars ṭāp after numerals called ṣaṭ and after svasṛ and the rest of that list: hence pañca, catasraḥ with no feminine affix. In pañca the stem's final n has already been dropped, yet the word still counts as n-final for the name ṣaṭ (SK 369), because the n-drop is treated as not having happened (asiddha) for that purpose by SK 353; so SK 308 still applies and there is no ṭāp.
Rule. After a stem ending in the affix man, ṅīp is not added.
Example.
sīman "boundary" → no ṅīp → the feminine stem is sīman itself → nominative sīmā, dual sīmānau (not sīmī).
Rule. After a bahuvrīhi (a compound meaning "she whose X is Y") that ends in the affix an, ṅīp is not added.
Example.
bahuyajvan "she who has many sacrificers" → no ṅīp → bahuyajvā, dual bahuyajvānau.
Rule. After both stem-types of the two preceding rules — the man-stem and the an-bahuvrīhi — the affix ḍāp is added optionally. ḍāp is heard as ā; its marker ḍ signals that the stem's ṭi (its last vowel and what follows) is dropped before it.
Example.
sīman + ḍāp → the ṭi an is dropped → sīm + ā → sīmā; dual sīme.
Without ḍāp: sīmā, sīmānau.
Each stem therefore has two feminine paradigms:
| stem | with ḍāp (sg., du.) | without any affix (sg., du.) |
|---|---|---|
| sīman | sīmā, sīme | sīmā, sīmānau |
| dāman | dāmā, dāme | dāmā, dāmānau |
| bahuyajvan | bahuyajvā, bahuyajve | bahuyajvā, bahuyajvānau |
Watch out. The nominative singular is sīmā on both paths; only the dual shows which affix was used. (dāman "rope" is not used in the masculine, Bhaṭṭoji notes, citing the Amarakośa.)
Rule. After an an-bahuvrīhi that loses its penult (its upadhā, the sound before the last — here the a of an), ṅīp is added optionally. In the other alternative, the ḍāp of SK 461 and the prohibition of SK 460 stand. Bhaṭṭoji brings this rule forward from its later place in the Aṣṭādhyāyī because it belongs with these.
Example.
bahurājan "she who has many kings" → bahurājan + ṅīp → the penult a dropped → bahurājñ + ī → bahurājñī, dual bahurājñyau (the ī becomes y before au).
Or, with ḍāp: bahurāje (dual); or, with no affix: bahurājānau.
Applies when / blocked by. The option is needed because ṅīp would otherwise, having no other scope here, have driven out the ḍāp and the prohibition, which have their own scope in words like bahuyajvan that do not lose their penult.
kāraka → kārikāMany stems end in an affix that contains k — kāraka "doer" (affix ṇvul, heard as aka), sarvaka (the affix akac). When such a stem takes ṭāp, the short a before that k becomes i: not kārakā but kārikā. This group states that substitution, the words that refuse it (yakā, kanyakā), and the words where it is optional or replaced by ā.
Rule. When āp follows, the short a that stands before a k belonging to an affix is replaced by i — provided the āp does not itself stand after a case-ending (sup). (The rule says at, short a followed by the marker t, so only a short a is meant.)
Example.
kṛ + ṇvul → kāraka → kāraka + ṭāp → kārakā → the a before the affix's k → i → kārikā.
sarva + akac → sarvaka → sarvakā → sarvikā.
Applies when / blocked by. Bhaṭṭoji tests each word of the rule against a counter-example:
| condition | counter-example | why the rule does not apply |
|---|---|---|
| short a (ataḥ) | naukā | the vowel before k is au |
| k in an affix (pratyayasthāt) | śakā "she who is able" | the k belongs to the root |
| not after a sup (asupaḥ) | bahuparivrājakā nagarī | the āp follows a case-ending inside the compound |
| a k (kāt) | nandanā | no k at all |
| the a before (pūrvasya) | kaṭukā | the a after the k is untouched |
| the marker t (short a only) | rākā | the vowel before k is long ā |
| when āp follows (āpi) | kārakaḥ | masculine, no āp |
Two vārttikas add words: māmaka and naraka → māmikā, narikā "she who summons the men"; stems in tyak and tyap → dākṣiṇātyikā, ihatyikā.
Rule. For the pronouns yad and tad, the i-substitution of SK 463 does not take place. (The rule is read as naming yad and tad, not the nominatives yā and sā.)
Example.
yad + akac + ṭāp → yakā (nominative singular), yakām (accusative) — not yikā.
tad → sakā, takām.
Applies when / blocked by. A series of vārttikas extends the prohibition. The i is blocked: for stems in tyakan (adhityakā, upatyakā); for the affix vun in a blessing (jīvakā, bhavakā); when the second member of a compound has been dropped (devadattikā but devakā); for the kṣipakādi words (kṣipakā, dhruvakā, kanyakā, caṭakā); for tārakā "star" (elsewhere tārikā); for varṇakā "textile" (elsewhere varṇikā); for vartakā "bird" among the eastern grammarians (the northerners say vartikā); for aṣṭakā "rite for the ancestors" (elsewhere aṣṭikā). For sūtakā / sūtikā, putrakā / putrikā and vṛndārakā / vṛndārikā the choice is free.
Rule. In the view of the northern grammarians (udīcām), the i is optional in one case: when the a before the k itself stands in place of a feminine-affix ā that was preceded by ya or ka. (The ā has been shortened before the k by ke 'ṇaḥ, SK 834.)
Example.
āryā (feminine of ārya, ā preceded by ya) + akac → ā → a before the k → āryakā → optionally āryikā.
caṭakā + akac → caṭakakā or caṭakikā.
Applies when / blocked by. Three counter-examples: sāṃkāśyikā "a woman born in Saṃkāśya" (the a does not stand for an ā); aśvikā (the ā was not preceded by ya or ka); śubhaṃyikā "an unrecognized śubhaṃyāḥ" (the ā was not a feminine affix). A vārttika makes the i obligatory when the ya or ka is the end of a root: sunayikā, supākikā.
Rule. The same option is extended to bhastrā, eṣā, ajā, jñā, dvā and svā (and to stems ending in them), even when preceded by the negative nañ, although no ya or ka precedes their ā.
Example.
nirbhastrakā / nirbhastrikā; eṣakā / eṣikā; ajakā / ajikā; jñakā / jñikā; dvake / dvike (dual); niḥsvakā / niḥsvikā.
Applies when / blocked by. eṣā and dvā with a preceding member get no i at all, because the āp then follows a case-ending inside the compound (the asupaḥ of SK 463): aneṣakā, paramaiṣakā, advake, paramadvake. Since the rule quotes eṣā with its ṣ already in place, the forms with t have no option: etike, etikāḥ. svā is listed for its use as a name or as a subordinate member; when sva means "one's own" the i is obligatory: svikā, paramasvikā. Bhaṭṭoji explains that bhastrā is listed for the case where it is a subordinate member; its ordinary case falls under the next rule.
Rule. After a stem that does not express the masculine (abhāṣitapuṃska — a word like gaṅgā that has no masculine use), the a before the k is optionally i.
Example.
gaṅgā + akac → gaṅgakā or gaṅgikā.
Applies when / blocked by. A bahuvrīhi does express the masculine, so for it the i is obligatory: akhaṭvā "she who has no couch", in the sense "unrecognized", → akhaṭvikā only. With the affix kap in its residual sense, however, there is only the option.
Rule. In the view of "the teachers" (ācāryāṇām), within the field of the preceding rule an ā is a further optional substitute.
Example.
gaṅgā + akac → gaṅgākā (beside gaṅgikā, gaṅgakā).
Applies when / blocked by. After a stem that does express the masculine, only śubhrikā.
gārgya → gārgīA second heading now opens: the feminine affixes attach only to a stem that is not a subordinate member of a compound. Under it comes the longest rule of the chapter, which gives ṅīp to a-stems ending in any of twelve affix-types, and then the rule for stems in the patronymic affix yañ — gārgya "descendant of Garga" → gārgī — together with the rule that drops the ya so that the ī can be heard.
Rule. An adhikāra extending to yūnas tiḥ (SK 531): the feminine affixes taught below are added to a stem that is not an upasarjana, a subordinate member of a compound.
Example.
kurucara "one who roams among the Kurus" is not subordinate → SK 470 gives kurucarī.
bahukurucara "she who has many Kuru-roamers" — the ṭit element is now a subordinate member → SK 470 does not apply → bahukurucarā by SK 454.
Watch out. This heading also carries a hint: its very wording shows that in the feminine-affix rules a named item stands for the whole stem ending in it (the tadanta reading).
Rule. After a non-subordinate prātipadika ending in a that ends in a ṭit item (one whose marker is ṭ), or in one of the affixes ḍha, aṇ, añ, dvayasac, daghnac, mātrac, tayap, ṭhak, ṭhañ, kañ, kvarap, ṅīp is added in the feminine. (The words ṅīp, prātipadikāt, ataḥ, anupasarjanāt and striyām are all carried in from earlier rules.)
Example.
kurucara (ends in the ṭit affix ṭa) + ṅīp → the final a is dropped before ī → kurucarī.
One example for each listed affix:
| affix | feminine |
|---|---|
| ṭit (ṭa) | kurucarī |
| ḍha | sauparṇeyī |
| aṇ | aindrī |
| añ | autsī |
| dvayasac | ūrudvayasī |
| daghnac | ūrudaghnī |
| mātrac | ūrumātrī |
| tayap | pañcatayī |
| ṭhak | ākṣikī |
| ṭhañ | lāvaṇikī |
| kañ | yādṛśī |
| kvarap | itvarī |
A ṭit prātipadika counts too: nadaṭ → nadī. A paribhāṣā adds the affix ṇa in the sense of habit: caurī. A vārttika adds nañ, snañ, īkak, khyun, taruṇa, taluna: straiṇī, pauṃsnī, śāktīkī, āḍhyaṅkaraṇī, taruṇī, talunī.
Applies when / blocked by. Blocked when the ṭit element is subordinate: bahukurucarā (SK 469). The future participle vakṣyamāṇā "about to be said" ends in an item that is both ṭit and ugit, yet takes ṭāp: Bhaṭṭoji explains this by two hints drawn from other rules, to the effect that marker-operations belonging to a verbal ending do not pass to its substitutes; scholars discuss this.
Rule. After a stem ending in the affix yañ (a patronymic affix, heard as ya), ṅīp is added in the feminine — once the stem's final vowel has been dropped.
Example.
garga + yañ → gārgya "descendant of Garga" → gārgya + ṅīp → the final a dropped → gārgy + ī → (next rule) → gārgī.
Rule. A taddhita ya that stands after a consonant and has become the penult is dropped when ī follows. (The words "when ī follows", "of the penult" and "elision" are carried in from neighbouring rules of the Aṣṭādhyāyī.)
Example.
gārgy + ī → the y stands after the consonant g and is now the penult → y dropped → gārg + ī → gārgī.
Applies when / blocked by. A vārttika: no ṅīp for a yañ-word that stands outside the section on descendants (the apatya heading). dvaipyā "produced on an island" (from dvīpa with yañ, then ṭāp) and daivyā "descendant of Deva" (whose yañ comes from a vārttika placed outside that section) keep ā.
gārgya → gārgyāyaṇīThe eastern grammarians allow a second feminine for yañ-stems: instead of gārgī, gārgyāyaṇī. The affix is ṣpha, which is a taddhita; its ṣ is a marker, its pha is changed to āyan, and because it is ṣit the result then takes ṅīṣ. For some words this longer feminine is the only one.
Rule. In the view of the eastern grammarians (prācām), after a yañ-stem the affix ṣpha is optionally the feminine affix, and it is a taddhita.
Example.
gārgya + ṣpha → (SK 474, 475, 498) → gārgyāyaṇī; or, without it, gārgī (SK 471).
Rule. The initial ṣ of an affix is it, a marker, and so is dropped. An affix that carries this marker is called ṣit.
Example.
ṣpha → its initial ṣ is a marker → what remains is pha; the affix is ṣit.
Rule. When pha, ḍha, kha, cha, gha begin an affix, they are replaced, in that order, by āyan, ey, īn, īy, iy.
Example.
gārgya + pha → affix-initial ph → āyan (the a of pha is only there to make it pronounceable, and stays) → gārgya + āyana → the a of ya drops before the affix → gārgyāyana → this ends in a taddhita, so it is a prātipadika → because the affix was ṣit, ṅīṣ is added by SK 498 → gārgyāyana + ī → the final a drops before the ī → gārgyāyan + ī → the n becomes ṇ → gārgyāyaṇī.
Watch out. ṣpha already expresses the feminine, yet ṅīṣ is still added: the marker ṣ would have no purpose otherwise.
Rule. After the lohitādi words and after words ending in kata — both with yañ — ṣpha is obligatory, "everywhere", that is, in every school's view.
Example.
lauhitya + ṣpha → lauhityāyanī.
kātya + ṣpha → kātyāyanī.
Rule. After kauravya and māṇḍūka, ṣpha is added. It is an apavāda to ṭāp and to ṅīṣ.
Example.
kauravya (formed with ṇya by SK 1175) + ṣpha → kauravyāyaṇī.
māṇḍūka (formed with aṇ by SK 1122) + ṣpha → māṇḍūkāyanī.
A vārttika adds āsuri → āsurāyaṇī.
trilokī (also vayas kumārī)Two more homes for ṅīp among a-stems: words for an early stage of life (kumāra → kumārī "girl"), and dvigu compounds, compounds whose first member is a number and which name a collection (triloka → trilokī "the three worlds"). Three rules then take ṅīp away again from dvigus of measure when the taddhita affix inside them has vanished.
Rule. After an a-final stem denoting the first age of life, ṅīp is added in the feminine.
Example.
kumāra "boy" + ṅīp → final a dropped → kumārī (not kumārā).
Applies when / blocked by. A vārttika widens the sense to "any age that is not the last": vadhūṭī, ciraṇṭī (the stems vadhūṭa and ciraṇṭa denote youth). śiśu "infant" does not end in a, so no ṅīp: śiśuḥ. kanyā takes no ṅīp either, as the wording of SK 1119 shows. Remember that the ajādi words of early age (bālā, vatsā) were removed from this rule by SK 454.
Rule. After an a-final dvigu, ṅīp is added — an exception to ṭāp.
Example.
triloka "the three worlds" + ṅīp → trilokī.
Applies when / blocked by. A dvigu ending in an ajādi word keeps ṭāp: triphalā, tryanīkā senā "an army of three divisions".
Rule. After a dvigu ending in a word that is not a measure, or ending in bista, ācita or kambalya, ṅīp is not added when the taddhita affix has undergone luk (has vanished).
Example.
"bought with five horses" → pañcāśva + the affix ṭhak of the "worth" class → ṭhak vanishes by SK 1693 → feminine pañcāśvā (no ṅīp).
"she cooks two bistas" → dvibistā; dvyācitā; dvikambalyā.
Applies when / blocked by. A measure-word keeps ṅīp: dvyāḍhakī. Where no affix has vanished — in the collective sense — ṅīp applies: pañcāśvī "a group of five horses".
Rule. After a dvigu ending in kāṇḍa that denotes a field, ṅīp is not added, again when the taddhita affix has vanished.
Example.
"whose measure is two kāṇḍas" → dvikāṇḍa + the measure affix mātrac (SK 1838) → the affix vanishes (a vārttika: after a dvigu, the measure affix always undergoes luk) → dvikāṇḍā kṣetrabhaktiḥ "a field-plot of two kāṇḍas".
Applies when / blocked by. Not a field: dvikāṇḍī rajjuḥ "a rope of two kāṇḍas" keeps ṅīp.
Rule. After a dvigu ending in puruṣa used as a measure (a man's height), ṅīp is optional, when the taddhita affix has vanished.
Example.
"whose measure is two men" → dvipuruṣī or dvipuruṣā parikhā "a moat two men deep".
kuṇḍa + ūdhas → kuṇḍodhnīHere the third ī-affix appears: ṅīṣ, heard as ī like ṅīp but with the marker ṣ. Its first home is the bahuvrīhi ending in ūdhas "udder", which is first turned into an an-stem. The group then returns to ṅīp for bahuvrīhis beginning with a number and for a few listed words in names and in the Veda.
Rule. For a bahuvrīhi ending in ūdhas "udder", the substitute anaṅ — heard as an — replaces the final, in the feminine. The stem is now an an-stem.
Example.
kuṇḍa + ūdhas "she whose udder is like a pot" → ūdhas → ūdhan → kuṇḍodhan.
Applies when / blocked by. Once the stem ends in an, three things become applicable at once — the ḍāp of SK 461, ṅīp, and the prohibition of SK 460; the next rule decides among them.
Rule. After a bahuvrīhi ending in ūdhas (now ūdhan), ṅīṣ is added in the feminine. ṅīṣ is heard as ī; ṅ and ṣ are markers.
Example.
kuṇḍodhan + ṅīṣ → the a of an dropped → kuṇḍodhn + ī → kuṇḍodhnī.
Applies when / blocked by. Only in the feminine: the neuter kuṇḍodho dhainukam "a pot-uddered herd of cows" keeps ūdhas, and there the anaṅ of SK 483 does not apply either — a vārttika reads "in the feminine" into that rule too.
Rule. If the ūdhas-bahuvrīhi begins with a number or an indeclinable, the affix is ṅīp — an exception to the ṅīṣ of SK 484.
Example.
dvi + ūdhan → dvyūdhnī "two-uddered".
ati + ūdhan → atyūdhnī.
Applies when / blocked by. Only a bahuvrīhi: atyūdhāḥ "she who has surpassed the udder" is a different compound and takes nothing.
Rule. After a number-initial bahuvrīhi ending in dāman "rope" or hāyana "year", ṅīp is added. For dāman this overrides the ḍāp and the prohibition; for hāyana it overrides ṭāp.
Example.
dvi + dāman → dvidāmnī.
dvi + hāyana → dvihāyanī bālā "a two-year-old girl".
Applies when / blocked by. The word "indeclinable" does not carry into this rule, so uddāmā vaḍavā "a mare that has slipped its tether" also has the ḍāp and the prohibition as alternatives. Two vārttikas: after tri and catur the n of hāyana becomes ṇ; and both the ṅīp and that ṇ hold only when hāyana means age. So trihāyaṇī, caturhāyaṇī of a girl, but trihāyanā, caturhāyanā śālā of a hall.
Rule. The ṅīp of SK 462 (after an an-bahuvrīhi that loses its penult) is obligatory when the word is a proper name (saṃjñā) or occurs in the Veda (chandas).
Example.
surājan "having good kings" as a city's name → surājñī nāma nagarī — only this form.
In the Veda: śatamūrdhan → śatamūrdhnī "hundred-headed".
Applies when / blocked by. Elsewhere only the option of SK 462 holds.
Rule. After the nine words kevala, māmaka, bhāgadheya, pāpa, apara, samāna, āryakṛta, sumaṅgala, bheṣaja, ṅīp is obligatory in a proper name and in the Veda.
Example.
Vedic: athota indraḥ kevalīr viśaḥ.
māmakī, bhāgadheyī, pāpī, aparī, samānī, āryakṛtī, sumaṅgalī, bheṣajī.
Applies when / blocked by. Elsewhere kevalā and so on. māmaka is listed only to restrict: it ends in aṇ and would take ṅīp by SK 470 anyway, so naming it here confines that ṅīp to names and the Veda; in ordinary speech the word is māmikā (with the i of SK 463).
pati → patnīpati "husband, lord" has the feminine patnī "wife", but only under conditions. This group gives the augment nuk that produces antarvatnī "pregnant" and pativatnī "whose husband lives", then the n that replaces the i of pati when a sacrifice is involved, when pati has a preceding member, and always in sapatnī.
Rule. For antarvat and pativat, in the feminine, the augment nuk (heard as n) is inserted; ṅīp then follows by ṛnnebhyo ṅīp (SK 306), because the stem now ends in n.
Example.
antarvat + nuk → antarvatn → + ṅīp → antarvatnī "pregnant".
pativat + nuk + ṅīp → pativatnī "whose husband is living".
Applies when / blocked by. Both bases are irregular ready-made forms (nipātana): in antarvatnī the affix matup would not normally be available, since antar "within" marks a place and is not co-referent with the subject; in pativatnī the v for the m of matup is likewise irregular. The ordinary forms stand outside the rule: antar asty asyāṃ śālāyāṃ ghaṭaḥ "in this hall there is a pot" (no antarvat at all); patimatī pṛthivī "the earth that has a lord" (no nuk).
Rule. For the word pati, n is the substitute (for its final) in the feminine when there is a connection with a sacrifice; ṅīp follows.
Example.
vasiṣṭhasya patnī "Vasiṣṭha's wife" — she who shares the fruit of the sacrifice he performs, since husband and wife have joint entitlement to it.
Rule. For a prātipadika ending in pati that has a preceding member, the n is optional, sacrifice or not.
Example.
gṛhasya patiḥ → gṛhapati "master of the house" → feminine gṛhapatnī or gṛhapatiḥ.
Bahuvrīhi: dṛḍhapatnī / dṛḍhapatiḥ; vṛṣalapatnī / vṛṣalapatiḥ.
Applies when / blocked by. "Non-subordinate" (SK 469) is carried through this rule for the sake of later ones; here it qualifies the whole pati-final stem, not pati alone, so a bahuvrīhi is included. Without a preceding member there is no n: gavāṃ patiḥ strī "a female lord of cows". How then is vṛṣalasya patnī, with the words apart, formed? Either as a figure of speech ("like a patnī"), or with the zero affix kvip in the agent sense; on the second view the dual and plural are patniyau, patniyaḥ.
Rule. In the words of the sapatnī list, the n is obligatory — an exception to the option just given. In sapatnī the substitution of sa for samāna "same" is also irregularly granted.
Example.
samānaḥ patir yasyāḥ "she whose husband is shared" → sapatnī "co-wife".
ekapatnī; vīrapatnī.
pūtakratu → pūtakratāyīA few u- and i-final words form their "wife" feminine by replacing the final vowel with ai and adding ṅīp; before the ī the ai becomes āy by the sandhi rule eco 'yavāyāvaḥ (SK 61, chapter 3), giving -āyī. A vārttika limits all three rules to the sense "wife of".
Rule. After pūtakratu, ṅīp is added and ai replaces the final vowel of the base.
Example.
pūtakratu + ṅīp → final u → ai → pūtakratai + ī → ai → āy before a vowel → pūtakratāyī "wife of Pūtakratu".
Applies when / blocked by. A vārttika: this rule and the next two hold only in the sense of a wife. A woman "by whom the sacrifices are purified" is simply pūtakratuḥ.
Rule. For vṛṣākapi, agni, kusita, kusida, an ai with high accent (udātta) replaces the final vowel, and ṅīp is added.
Example.
vṛṣākapi → vṛṣākapāyī "wife of Vṛṣākapi" (the Amarakośa gives vṛṣākapi for Hara and Viṣṇu, and vṛṣākapāyī for Śrī and Gaurī).
agni → agnāyī; kusita → kusitāyī; kusida → kusidāyī.
Watch out. kusida has a short vowel in its middle syllable, not a long one.
Rule. For manu, the final u optionally becomes au; the accented ai of SK 494 is a second option; and ṅīp is prescribed only together with one of these two.
Example.
manu → au → manau + ī → manāvī.
manu → ai → manāyī.
Neither substitute → no ṅīp either → manuḥ.
Watch out. Things prescribed together apply together or lapse together; that is why the plain manuḥ has no ī.
eta → enīColour-words whose accent is not on the last syllable take an ī-affix. If the word's penult is t, the affix is ṅīp, optional, and the t turns into n (eta "dappled" → enī); otherwise it is ṅīṣ (kalmāṣa → kalmāṣī). The group ends with the ṣit and gaurādi stems, the broadest home of ṅīṣ, and a rule that drops the ya of sūrya and matsya before the ī.
Rule. After a non-subordinate stem ending in a colour-word that has a low-pitched (anudātta) last syllable and t as its penult, ṅīp is optionally added, and n replaces that t.
Example.
eta "dappled" + ṅīp → t → n → enī; or, with ṭāp, etā.
rohita "red" → rohiṇī (with ṇ for the n) or rohitā.
Applies when / blocked by. Such colour-words are accented on their first syllable by Phiṭ-sūtra 33 (the Phiṭ-sūtras are the accent rules of the old tradition), hence anudātta at the end. śveta "white" is accented on its last syllable by Phiṭ-sūtra 21, ghṛtādīnāṃ ca, and so takes only śvetā. The stem must end in a: śiti has the feminine śitiḥ. tryeṇī "she who has these three colours", a bahuvrīhi, occurs in a ritual text. Vārttikas: piśaṅga is added (piśaṅgī / piśaṅgā); asita and palita are excluded (asitā, palitā), though in the Veda some teach kna for the t: asiknī, paliknī. avadāta is not a colour-word but means "pure", so only avadātā.
Rule. After a colour-word with low-pitched last syllable whose penult is anything other than t, ṅīṣ is added.
Example.
kalmāṣa + ṅīṣ → kalmāṣī; sāraṅga → sāraṅgī. (Both are accented on the middle syllable by Phiṭ-sūtra 42.)
Applies when / blocked by. kṛṣṇa and kapila are accented on the last syllable, so kṛṣṇā, kapilā.
Rule. After a ṣit stem (one formed with an affix whose marker is ṣ) and after the words of the gaurādi list, ṅīṣ is added.
Example.
nartaka "dancer" (its affix is ṣit) + ṅīṣ → nartakī.
gaura (gaurādi) → gaurī.
Applies when / blocked by. A vārttika adds the augment ām to anaḍuh "ox", optionally, in the feminine: anaḍuhī / anaḍvāhī. A list-rule adds the pippalī words. The gaurādi list is an ākṛtigaṇa: an open list, to which words of the same kind belong even if not printed.
Rule. The ya that is the penult of the stems sūrya, tiṣya, agastya, matsya is dropped.
Example.
matsya "fish" + ṅīṣ → the penult ya dropped → mats + ī → matsī.
sūrya → sūrī.
Applies when / blocked by. Vārttikas fix the scope: for matsya, before the feminine ṅī; for sūrya and agastya, before the affix cha and before ṅī; for tiṣya and puṣya, when they name the constellations. A further vārttika makes the affix behind mātāmaha ṣit too; since mātāmahī is nevertheless also listed among the gaurādi, Bhaṭṭoji concludes that the ṅīṣ of ṣit stems is not invariable — hence daṃṣṭrā "fang", which is ṣit but takes ṭāp.
jānapada → jānapadīSome words take ṅīṣ only in one particular meaning: kuṇḍī is a vessel, but a different kuṇḍa gives kuṇḍā. This group lists eleven such words with their senses, then three rules where the ī is merely optional: śoṇa "red", u-final quality-words (mṛdvī / mṛduḥ) and the bahu list (bahvī / bahuḥ).
Rule. After the eleven prātipadikas jānapada, kuṇḍa, goṇa, sthala, bhāja, nāga, kāla, nīla, kuśa, kāmuka, kabara, ṅīṣ is added — each in the sense paired with it, in order.
Example.
| stem | feminine with ṅīṣ | only in the sense | in any other sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| jānapada | jānapadī | livelihood (vṛtti) | jānapadī (by SK 470, with a different accent) |
| kuṇḍa | kuṇḍī | a vessel (amatra) | kuṇḍā |
| goṇa | goṇī | a receptacle (āvapana) | goṇā |
| sthala | sthalī | natural ground (akṛtrima) | sthalā |
| bhāja | bhājī | gruel (śrāṇā) | bhājā |
| nāga | nāgī | bulkiness (sthaulya) | nāgā |
| kāla | kālī | a colour (varṇa) | kālā |
| nīla | nīlī | a non-garment (anācchādana) | nīlā |
| kuśa | kuśī | an iron implement (ayovikāra) | kuśā |
| kāmuka | kāmukī | desire for intercourse (maithunecchā) | kāmukā |
| kabara | kabarī | an arrangement of hair, a braid (keśaveśa) | kabarā "variegated" |
Applies when / blocked by. jānapada ends in añ (it belongs to the utsādi list), so outside this sense it takes ṅīp by SK 470; the two forms differ only in accent (first-syllable versus last). nāga meaning an elephant, used for a stout woman, is the example; nāga meaning a snake, used for a tall one, is the counter-example. kuṇḍa as a class of men ("a son born of adultery while the husband lives") takes the species-ṅīṣ of SK 518 in any case; in the sense "vessel" the word is feminine only, so ṅīṣ has to be enjoined here. nīlā is "a cloth dyed with indigo". Vārttikas on nīla: it takes the affix an; and even as a non-garment the ī is not universal — it holds for the plant (nīlī "indigo"), for a living being (nīlī gauḥ "a dark cow"), and optionally for a name (nīlī / nīlā).
Rule. After śoṇa "red", in the view of the eastern grammarians, ṅīṣ is optional; it would otherwise be obligatory by SK 497.
Example.
śoṇa + ṅīṣ → śoṇī; or, with ṭāp, śoṇā.
Rule. After a prātipadika ending in short u that denotes a quality, the feminine ī-affix is optional. The affix is ṅīp, which gives the word its first-syllable accent: the digital text reads ṅīṣ, but the Bālamanoramā reads Bhaṭṭoji's word as ṅīp, citing the vārttika guṇavacanān ṅīb ādyudāttārthaḥ.
Example.
mṛdu "soft" + ṅīp → u → v before the vowel (yaṇ: the sandhi of chapter 3 that turns i, u, ṛ, ḷ into y, v, r, l) → mṛdvī; or no affix: mṛduḥ.
Applies when / blocked by. Must end in u: śuciḥ "pure" does not. Must denote a quality: ākhuḥ "mouse" does not. A vārttika excludes kharu ("a maiden eager for a husband": kharuḥ) and any stem whose penult is a consonant cluster: pāṇḍuḥ "pale".
Rule. After bahu "many" and the other words of its list, ṅīṣ is optional.
Example.
bahu + ṅīṣ → bahvī; or bahuḥ.
Applies when / blocked by. Two list-rules: (i) kṛdikārād aktinaḥ — an i-final stem whose i belongs to a kṛt affix (an affix added to a root), but not the affix ktin, takes the option: rātriḥ / rātrī; (ii) some extend it to any i-final stem not in the sense of ktin: śakaṭiḥ / śakaṭī. ajananiḥ has the sense of ktin and is excluded. paddhati does end in ktin, so it is read in the list on purpose: paddhatiḥ / paddhatī (with pad for pāda by SK 992).
gopa → gopīA word for a man can name his wife: gopa "cowherd" → gopī "cowherd's wife". This "connection with a male" (puṃyoga) is a sense, not a shape, and it calls for ṅīṣ. Twelve such words also insert the augment ānuk (heard as ān) before the ī: indra → indrāṇī.
Rule. After a word that is properly the name of a male but refers to a woman through her connection with that male (puṃyoga), ṅīṣ is added.
Example.
gopa "cowherd" → "the wife of a cowherd" → gopa + ṅīṣ → gopī.
Applies when / blocked by. Vārttikas: not after words in -pālaka — gopālikā, aśvapālikā (with ṭāp and the i of SK 463); after sūrya, when the wife is a goddess, the affix is cāp (SK 528): sūryā; but Kuntī, a human wife of Sūrya, is sūrī with ṅīṣ (and the ya dropped by SK 499).
Rule. After indra, varuṇa, bhava, śarva, rudra, mṛḍa, hima, araṇya, yava, yavana, mātula, ācārya, the augment ānuk is inserted, and ṅīṣ is added.
Example.
indra + ānuk → indrān → + ṅīṣ → indrāṇī "Indra's wife".
Applies when / blocked by. For the six from indra to mṛḍa, and for mātula "maternal uncle" and ācārya "teacher", the feminine is wanted only as "wife of"; there ṅīṣ already comes by SK 504 and this rule adds only the augment. For hima, araṇya, yava, yavana it gives both, in special senses fixed by vārttikas:
| stem | feminine | sense |
|---|---|---|
| hima | himānī | a great snow |
| araṇya | araṇyānī | a great forest |
| yava | yavānī | spoiled barley |
| yavana | yavanānī | the script of the Yavanas |
Further vārttikas and list-rules: for mātula and upādhyāya the augment is optional — mātulānī / mātulī, upādhyāyānī / upādhyāyī; a woman who herself teaches is upādhyāyī or upādhyāyā; after ācārya the n is not made retroflex — ācāryānī "teacher's wife", while ācāryā is a woman who herself expounds; arya and kṣatriya take the augment optionally in their own sense — aryāṇī / aryā "mistress, vaiśya woman", kṣatriyāṇī / kṣatriyā — but as "wife of" they are aryī, kṣatriyī. brahmāṇī is not from this rule: it is "she who enlivens Brahman", formed with the affix aṇ (SK 2913).
candramukha → candramukhīPast participles in kta (krīta "bought", lipta "smeared") and bahuvrīhis ending in a body part (candramukha "moon-faced") take ṅīṣ under stated conditions, often optionally: candramukhī or candramukhā. The group ends with three prohibitions that send such words back to ṭāp.
Rule. After an a-final stem ending in krīta "bought" whose first member names the means of purchase, ṅīṣ is added.
Example.
vastrakrīta "bought with cloth" + ṅīṣ → vastrakrītī.
Applies when / blocked by. Bhaṭṭoji notes "sometimes not": dhanakrītā "bought with wealth" keeps ā.
Rule. After a stem ending in the participle affix kta whose first member names the means, ṅīṣ is added when smallness is meant.
Example.
abhralipta "smeared with cloud" → abhraliptī dyauḥ "a sky lightly clouded".
Applies when / blocked by. Not when smallness is not meant: candanaliptāṅganā "a woman anointed with sandal".
Rule. After an a-final bahuvrīhi ending in kta whose last syllable carries the high accent, ṅīṣ is added.
Example.
ūrubhinna "whose thigh is split" + ṅīṣ → ūrubhinnī.
Applies when / blocked by. Vārttikas: only when the first member is a species-word (so not after bahu, nañ, su, kāla, sukha and the like: bahukṛtā); not when the compound ends in jāta (dantajātā "whose teeth have come"); pāṇigṛhītī in the sense "wife", otherwise pāṇigṛhītā.
Rule. When the first member of such a kta-bahuvrīhi is not a body part (svāṅga), the ṅīṣ of SK 508 becomes optional.
Example.
surāpīta "by whom wine has been drunk" → surāpītī or surāpītā.
Applies when / blocked by. The last-syllable accent still matters: vastracchannā "covered by a garment" has that accent barred (compounds of covering are excepted from it), so no ṅīṣ by either rule.
Rule. After an a-final prātipadika ending in a body-part word that is a subordinate member and whose penult is not a consonant cluster, ṅīṣ is optional.
Example.
candramukha "moon-faced" → candramukhī or candramukhā.
atikeśa "she who has surpassed hair" → atikeśī or atikeśā.
Applies when / blocked by. A cluster penult blocks it: sugulphā "fine-ankled". The body part must be subordinate: śikhā "crest" on its own is not. A body part (svāṅga) is defined as not fluid, having shape, located in a living being, and not produced by disease. So no ṅīṣ for susvedā (sweat is fluid), sujñānā (knowledge has no shape), sumukhā śālā (a hall's front is not in a living being), suśophā (a swelling is disease). Two vārttikas widen the definition: what is seen in a living being counts even when not located in one — sukeśī / sukeśā rathyā "a road with fine hair"; and so does a part of something shaped like a living being — sustanī / sustanā pratimā "a statue with fine breasts".
Rule. After a bahuvrīhi ending in nāsikā "nose", udara "belly", oṣṭha "lip", jaṅghā "shank", danta "tooth", karṇa "ear" or śṛṅga "horn", ṅīṣ is optional.
Example.
tuṅganāsika "high-nosed" → tuṅganāsikī or tuṅganāsikā.
Applies when / blocked by. The rule exists to override two blocks. nāsikā and udara have many vowels and would be barred by SK 512; this rule, being an exception stated before that rule, prevails. The other five have cluster penults and would be excluded by SK 510; this rule, an exception stated in the middle, prevails there too. But the prohibition of SK 513 (saha, nañ, vidyamāna) comes later and overrides this rule: sahanāsikā, anāsikā. The Vṛtti adds aṅga, gātra, kaṇṭha (svaṅgī / svaṅgā); scholars discuss whether this addition has authority. Vārttikas: after puccha "tail" — supucchī / supucchā; obligatory after kabara, maṇi, viṣa, śara — kabarapucchī "a peahen with a variegated tail"; obligatory after pakṣa or puccha preceded by a term of comparison — ulūkapakṣī śālā "a hall with owl's-wing sides", ulūkapucchī senā "an army with an owl's-tail rear".
Rule. After a body-part word of the kroḍādi list, or one with many vowels (bahvac), ṅīṣ is not added; the word keeps ṭāp.
Example.
kalyāṇakroḍa → kalyāṇakroḍā "with a fine chest" (the Amarakośa: "the chest of horses is called kroḍā").
sujaghana (three vowels) → sujaghanā "with fine hips".
Applies when / blocked by. The kroḍādi list is an ākṛtigaṇa.
Rule. After a body-part bahuvrīhi whose first member is saha "with", the negative nañ, or vidyamāna "existing", ṅīṣ is not added.
Example.
sakeśā "having hair"; akeśā "hairless"; vidyamānanāsikā "having a nose".
Rule. After a compound ending in nakha "nail" or mukha "face", when it is a proper name, ṅīṣ is not added.
Example.
śūrpaṇakhā (the name); gauramukhā.
Applies when / blocked by. Not a name: tāmramukhī kanyā "a copper-faced girl" takes ṅīṣ.
prāṅmukha → prāṅmukhīThree short rules: a body-part compound that begins with a direction-word swaps its ṅīṣ for ṅīp; a stem in vāh takes ṅīṣ; and two irregular feminines, sakhī and aśiśvī, are simply granted.
Rule. After a prātipadika whose first member is a direction-word and which ends in a body part, ṅīp replaces the ṅīṣ of the preceding rules.
Example.
prāṅmukha "east-facing" + ṅīp → prāṅmukhī, accented on its first syllable.
Rule. After a prātipadika ending in vāh, ṅīṣ is added. Only ṅīṣ carries into this rule, not the ṅīp of SK 515.
Example.
Vedic: dityavāṭ ca me dityauhī ca me — dityavāh + ṅīṣ → dityauhī.
Rule. In the spoken language, the feminines sakhī (from sakhi "friend") and aśiśvī (from aśiśu "without young") are granted ready-made (nipātana), with ṅīṣ.
Example.
sakhi → sakhī; aśiśu → aśiśvī.
Applies when / blocked by. The word iti in the rule means "and the like" and is to be read right after "in the spoken language"; so the forms occur occasionally in the Veda as well: ā dhenavo dhunayantām aśiśvīḥ "let the cows without calves come shaking".
taṭa → taṭīThe broadest sense-condition for ṅīṣ: a word naming a natural kind or species (jāti) — taṭa "slope" → taṭī, vṛṣala → vṛṣalī — provided the word is not feminine-only and its penult is not y. Two rules extend this to herb-names in compounds and to i-final words for human classes.
Rule. After a word denoting a jāti (a kind, species or class) that is not confined to the feminine and does not have y as its penult, ṅīṣ is added.
Example.
taṭa "slope, bank" + ṅīṣ → taṭī.
vṛṣala → vṛṣalī.
Applies when / blocked by. Vārttikas define a jāti three ways: what is recognized by a recurring shape (taṭī); what is not found in all three genders and, once stated of one individual, is grasped in another without restatement (vṛṣalī; not śuklā "white", which occurs in all genders, and not devadattā, a personal name); and a lineage-name (gotra) together with the names of Vedic schools — so aupagavī "female descendant of Upagu", kaṭhī, bahvṛcī "a woman of the Bahvṛca school". (brāhmaṇī, though a jāti, takes ṅīn by SK 527 instead, being listed there.) The three counter-examples: muṇḍā "shaven" (not a jāti); balākā "crane" (feminine only); kṣatriyā (penult y). A vārttika lifts the y-block for haya, gavaya, mukaya, manuṣya, matsya: hayī, gavayī, mukayī, manuṣī (the ya dropped by SK 472), matsī (dropped by SK 499). Scholars discuss whether gotra here is the technical or the everyday sense.
Rule. After a species-denoting compound whose last member is pāka, karṇa, parṇa, puṣpa, phala, mūla or vāla, ṅīṣ is added even when the word is confined to the feminine.
Example.
odanapākī, śaṅkukarṇī, śālaparṇī, śaṅkhapuṣpī, dāsīphalī, darbhamūlī, govālī — all established names of particular herbs.
Rule. After an i-final word denoting a human class, ṅīṣ is added — even when its penult is y.
Example.
dākṣi "descendant of Dakṣa" + ṅīṣ → dākṣī.
udameyasyāpatyam → audameyi → audameyī (penult y, yet ṅīṣ).
Applies when / blocked by. Not a human class: tittiri "partridge" takes nothing.
kuru → kurūḥThe affix ūṅ, heard as ū, is the feminine of a few u-stems: human-class words (kuru → kurūḥ "a Kuru woman"), bāhu in names, paṅgu "lame", ūru "thigh" at the end of a compound (vāmorūḥ "fair-thighed"), and two names.
Rule. After a u-final word denoting a human class, whose penult is not y, ūṅ is added in the feminine. ūṅ is heard as ū; the ṅ is a marker.
Example.
kuru + ūṅ → kurū → kurūḥ "a Kuru woman". (The affix ṇya due by SK 1190 has vanished by SK 1195.)
Applies when / blocked by. Penult y: adhvaryuḥ takes nothing. Vārttikas extend ūṅ to words for a non-living kind, except rajju and its list, and only to u-final ones: alābvā "gourd", karkandhvā "jujube" — these already end in a long vowel, and the gain from ūṅ is the bar on accenting their case-ending (SK 3721). A living kind: kṛkavākuḥ "cock" (no ūṅ); of the rajju list: rajjuḥ "rope", hanuḥ "jaw".
Rule. After a compound ending in bāhu "arm", when it is a proper name, ūṅ is added.
Example.
bhadrabāhu + ūṅ → bhadrabāhūḥ (a name).
Applies when / blocked by. Not a name: vṛttabāhuḥ "she with round arms".
Rule. After paṅgu "lame", ūṅ is added.
Example.
paṅgu + ūṅ → paṅgūḥ.
Applies when / blocked by. A vārttika adds śvaśura "father-in-law", with its u and its a dropped: śvaśrūḥ "mother-in-law". This ūṅ is an exception to the wife-ṅīṣ of SK 504; the case-endings follow as for any feminine stem.
Rule. After a prātipadika whose last member is ūru "thigh" and whose first member is a standard of comparison, ūṅ is added when a likeness is meant.
Example.
karabhoru "whose thighs are like an elephant's trunk" + ūṅ → karabhorūḥ.
Rule. After an ūru-compound beginning with saṃhita, śapha, lakṣaṇa or vāma, ūṅ is added — no likeness needed.
Example.
saṃhitorūḥ "whose thighs are joined"; śaphorūḥ (the same woman: her pressed-together thighs are called hooves by a figure of speech); lakṣaṇorūḥ (lakṣaṇa with the affix ac of the arśa-ādi class); vāmorūḥ "fair-thighed".
Applies when / blocked by. A vārttika adds sahita and saha: sahitorūḥ, sahorūḥ (either "whose thighs endure", or with saha meaning "present", used to praise the thighs).
Rule. After kadru and kamaṇḍalu, when the word is a proper name, ūṅ is added.
Example.
kadrūḥ (the name); kamaṇḍalūḥ.
Applies when / blocked by. As ordinary words: kadruḥ, kamaṇḍaluḥ "water-pot". The rule is stated for names outside the Veda.
śārṅgarava → śārṅgaravī; yuvan → yuvatiḥThe last three affixes: ṅīn, a third ī (marker n) for the śārṅgarava list and for añ-stems naming a class; cāp, an ā (marker c) for stems in yaṅ and for āvaṭya; and ti, the feminine of yuvan "young" (yuvatiḥ). Between them stands a heading that names every affix from here to the end of book five a taddhita.
Rule. After a word of the śārṅgarava list, and after a word ending in the a of the affix añ when it denotes a class, ṅīn is added. ṅīn is heard as ī; ṅ and n are markers.
Example.
śārṅgarava + ṅīn → śārṅgaravī.
vaida (from vida with añ) → vaidī (the transmitted kaumudī text spells it baidī).
Applies when / blocked by. "Class" is carried in from SK 518, so in the sense "wife of" only ṅīṣ applies. A list-rule, nṛnarayor vṛddhiś ca, gives nṛ and nara the strengthened vowel as well: nārī "woman".
Rule. After a word ending in yaṅ, cāp is added in the feminine. "yaṅ" covers both the affixes ñyaṅ and ṣyaṅ. cāp is heard as ā; c and p are markers.
Example.
āmbaṣṭhya + cāp → āmbaṣṭhyā.
kārīṣagandhya → kārīṣagandhyā.
Applies when / blocked by. A vārttika adds the yañ that follows a ṣ: pautimāṣyā.
Rule. After āvaṭya, cāp is added. Bhaṭṭoji calls it an exception to the ī-affix that would otherwise come, pointing to yañaś ca (SK 471); avaṭa belongs to the gargādi list.
Example.
āvaṭya + cāp → āvaṭyā.
Rule. An adhikāra: every affix taught from here to the end of the fifth book of the Aṣṭādhyāyī bears the name taddhita.
Example.
ti of SK 531 → is a taddhita → yuvan + ti is a prātipadika and takes case-endings.
Watch out. The feminine forms would be available even without this heading, by the maxim that a nominal operation includes the gender-qualified form; the heading is kept for the sake of the later rules.
Rule. After yuvan "young", the affix ti is added in the feminine, and it is a taddhita.
Example.
yuvan + ti → yuvati → yuvatiḥ "young woman".
Applies when / blocked by. "Non-subordinate" (SK 469) still applies: bahuyuvā "she in whom there are many youths" has yuvan as a subordinate member and takes no ti. The look-alike yuvatī, with long ī, is a different word: √yu with the participle śatṛ and ṅīp.
| SK | Sūtra | What it does | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 453 | striyām | Heading: "in the feminine", to A 4.1.82. | — |
| 454 | ajādyataṣ ṭāp | ṭāp (ā) after ajādi words and a-stems. | aja → ajā |
| 455 | ugitaś ca | ṅīp after an ugit stem. | bhavat → bhavantī |
| 456 | vano ra ca | ṅīp after van, and n → r. | atisutvan → atisutvarī |
| 457 | pādo 'nyatarasyām | ṅīp optional after pād. | dvipadī / dvipāt |
| 458 | ṭāb ṛci | ṭāp after pāda when a verse is meant. | dvipadā ṛk |
| 459 | manaḥ | No ṅīp after man. | sīmā |
| 460 | ano bahuvrīheḥ | No ṅīp after an an-bahuvrīhi. | bahuyajvā |
| 461 | ḍāb ubhābhyām anyatarasyām | ḍāp optional after both. | sīme / sīmānau |
| 462 | ana upadhālopino 'nyatarasyām | ṅīp optional after a penult-dropping an-bahuvrīhi. | bahurājñī / bahurāje |
| 463 | pratyayasthāt kāt pūrvasyāta id āpy asupaḥ | a → i before an affixal k when āp follows. | kāraka → kārikā |
| 464 | na yāsayoḥ | No such i for yad, tad. | yakā, sakā |
| 465 | udīcām ātaḥ sthāne yakapūrvāyāḥ | i optional for an a standing for ā after ya/ka. | āryakā / āryikā |
| 466 | bhastraiṣā'jājñādvāsvānañpūrvāṇām api | Same option for bhastrā, eṣā, ajā, jñā, dvā, svā. | ajakā / ajikā |
| 467 | abhāṣitapuṃskāc ca | i optional after a stem with no masculine. | gaṅgakā / gaṅgikā |
| 468 | ād ācāryāṇām | ā a further option there. | gaṅgākā |
| 469 | anupasarjanāt | Heading: only non-subordinate stems, to SK 531. | kurucarī, not bahukurucarā |
| 470 | ṭiḍḍhāṇañ… kvarapaḥ | ṅīp after a-stems in ṭit, ḍha, aṇ, añ … kvarap. | aindrī, ākṣikī |
| 471 | yañaś ca | ṅīp after a yañ-stem. | gārgya → gārgī |
| 472 | halas taddhitasya | Taddhita ya after a consonant dropped before ī. | gārgy + ī → gārgī |
| 473 | prācāṃ ṣpha taddhitaḥ | Easterners: ṣpha optional after yañ. | gārgyāyaṇī |
| 474 | ṣaḥ pratyayasya | Initial ṣ of an affix is a marker. | ṣpha → pha |
| 475 | āyaneyīnīyiyaḥ phaḍhakhacchaghām pratyayādīnām | Affix-initial pha → āyan (etc.). | gārgyāyaṇī |
| 476 | sarvatra lohitādikatantebhyaḥ | ṣpha obligatory after lohitādi and kata-words. | kātyāyanī |
| 477 | kauravyamāṇḍūkābhyāṃ ca | ṣpha after kauravya, māṇḍūka. | kauravyāyaṇī |
| 478 | vayasi prathame | ṅīp after a word of early age. | kumārī |
| 479 | dvigoḥ | ṅīp after an a-final dvigu. | trilokī |
| 480 | aparimāṇabistācitakambalyebhyo na taddhitaluki | No ṅīp for non-measure (etc.) dvigus with luk. | pañcāśvā |
| 481 | kāṇḍāntāt kṣetre | No ṅīp for kāṇḍa-dvigu meaning a field. | dvikāṇḍā kṣetrabhaktiḥ |
| 482 | puruṣāt pramāṇe 'nyatarasyām | ṅīp optional for puruṣa-measure dvigu. | dvipuruṣī / dvipuruṣā |
| 483 | ūdhaso 'naṅ | ūdhas → ūdhan in a feminine bahuvrīhi. | kuṇḍodhan |
| 484 | bahuvrīher ūdhaso ṅīṣ | ṅīṣ after it. | kuṇḍodhnī |
| 485 | saṃkhyāvyayāder ṅīp | ṅīp instead when number/indeclinable first. | dvyūdhnī |
| 486 | dāmahāyanāntāc ca | ṅīp after number + dāman / hāyana. | dvidāmnī, dvihāyanī |
| 487 | nityaṃ saṃjñāchandasoḥ | SK 462's ṅīp obligatory in names and Veda. | surājñī |
| 488 | kevalamāmaka… bheṣajāc ca | ṅīp obligatory for nine words in names and Veda. | māmakī |
| 489 | antarvatpativator nuk | Augment nuk, then ṅīp. | antarvatnī, pativatnī |
| 490 | patyur no yajñasaṃyoge | pati → patn- with a sacrifice. | vasiṣṭhasya patnī |
| 491 | vibhāṣā sapūrvasya | Optional n when pati has a preceding member. | gṛhapatnī / gṛhapatiḥ |
| 492 | nityaṃ sapatnyādiṣu | Obligatory in the sapatnī list. | sapatnī |
| 493 | pūtakrator ai ca | ai + ṅīp for pūtakratu. | pūtakratāyī |
| 494 | vṛṣākapyagnikusitakusidānām udāttaḥ | Accented ai + ṅīp for four words. | agnāyī |
| 495 | manor au vā | au or ai for manu, with ṅīp. | manāvī / manāyī / manuḥ |
| 496 | varṇād anudāttāt topadhāt to naḥ | Colour-word with t-penult: ṅīp optional, t → n. | enī / etā |
| 497 | anyato ṅīṣ | Other colour-words: ṅīṣ. | kalmāṣī |
| 498 | ṣidgaurādibhyaś ca | ṅīṣ after ṣit stems and gaurādi. | nartakī, gaurī |
| 499 | sūryatiṣyāgastyamatsyānāṃ ya upadhāyāḥ | Penult ya of these dropped. | matsī |
| 500 | jānapada… keśaveśeṣu | ṅīṣ for eleven words in fixed senses. | kuṇḍī (vessel) |
| 501 | śoṇāt prācām | ṅīṣ optional after śoṇa. | śoṇī / śoṇā |
| 502 | voto guṇavacanāt | Optional ī after u-final quality-words. | mṛdvī / mṛduḥ |
| 503 | bahvādibhyaś ca | ṅīṣ optional after bahu etc. | bahvī / bahuḥ |
| 504 | puṃyogād ākhyāyām | ṅīṣ for a man's title used of his wife. | gopī |
| 505 | indravaruṇa… ācāryāṇām ānuk | Augment ānuk + ṅīṣ for twelve words. | indrāṇī |
| 506 | krītāt karaṇapūrvāt | ṅīṣ after krīta with a means first. | vastrakrītī |
| 507 | ktād alpākhyāyām | ṅīṣ after kta when smallness is meant. | abhraliptī |
| 508 | bahuvrīheś cāntodāttāt | ṅīṣ after a last-accented kta-bahuvrīhi. | ūrubhinnī |
| 509 | asvāṅgapūrvapadād vā | …optional when first member is not a body part. | surāpītī / surāpītā |
| 510 | svāṅgāc copasarjanād asaṃyogopadhāt | ṅīṣ optional after a subordinate body part. | candramukhī / candramukhā |
| 511 | nāsikodara… śṛṅgāc ca | ṅīṣ optional after seven body parts. | tuṅganāsikī |
| 512 | na kroḍādibahvacaḥ | No ṅīṣ for kroḍādi or many-voweled parts. | sujaghanā |
| 513 | sahanañvidyamānapūrvāc ca | No ṅīṣ after saha / nañ / vidyamāna. | sakeśā |
| 514 | nakhamukhāt saṃjñāyām | No ṅīṣ after nakha / mukha in a name. | śūrpaṇakhā |
| 515 | dikpūrvapadān ṅīp | ṅīp when a direction-word comes first. | prāṅmukhī |
| 516 | vāhaḥ | ṅīṣ after vāh. | dityauhī |
| 517 | sakhyaśiśvīti bhāṣāyām | sakhī, aśiśvī granted ready-made. | sakhī |
| 518 | jāter astrīviṣayād ayopadhāt | ṅīṣ after a species-word. | taṭī |
| 519 | pākakarṇa… vālottarapadāc ca | ṅīṣ for herb-names ending in pāka etc. | śaṅkhapuṣpī |
| 520 | ito manuṣyajāteḥ | ṅīṣ after i-final human-class words. | dākṣī |
| 521 | ūṅ utaḥ | ūṅ after u-final human-class words. | kurūḥ |
| 522 | bāhvantāt saṃjñāyām | ūṅ after bāhu in a name. | bhadrabāhūḥ |
| 523 | paṅgoś ca | ūṅ after paṅgu. | paṅgūḥ |
| 524 | ūrūttarapadād aupamye | ūṅ after ūru with a comparison. | karabhorūḥ |
| 525 | saṃhitaśaphalakṣaṇavāmādeś ca | ūṅ after saṃhita-, śapha-, lakṣaṇa-, vāma-ūru. | vāmorūḥ |
| 526 | saṃjñāyām | ūṅ after kadru, kamaṇḍalu as names. | kadrūḥ |
| 527 | śārṅgaravādyaño ṅīn | ṅīn after śārṅgaravādi and añ-class words. | śārṅgaravī, nārī |
| 528 | yaṅaś cāp | cāp after yaṅ. | āmbaṣṭhyā |
| 529 | āvaṭyāc ca | cāp after āvaṭya. | āvaṭyā |
| 530 | taddhitāḥ | Heading: affixes hence are taddhita. | — |
| 531 | yūnas tiḥ | ti after yuvan. | yuvatiḥ |