454. Vedic Irregularities. au) is the greatly prevailing ending.

a. In dual masc. nom. etc., ā (for

b. In voc. sing. masc., the ending in the oldest language (RV.) is almost always in as instead of an (as in the perfect participle: below, 462a): thus, adrivas, harivas, bhānumas, haviṣmas. Such vocatives in RV. occur more than a hundred times, while not a single unquestionable instance of one in an is to be found. In the other Vedic texts, vocatives in as are extremely rare (but bhagavas and its contraction bhagos are met with, even in the later language); and in their reproduction of RV. passages the as is usually changed to an.

It was pointed out above (425 g) that the RV. makes the voc. in as also apparently from a few an-stems.

c. In RV., the nom. etc. pl. neut., in the only two instances that occur, ends in anti instead of anti: thus, ghṛtávānti, paçumánti. No such forms have been noted elsewhere in the older language: the SV. reads anti in its version of the corresponding passages, and a few examples of the same ending are quotable from the Brahmanas: thus, tūvanti, etávanti, yávanti, pravanti, ṛtumanti, yugmanti. Compare 448, 451.

d. In a few (eight or ten) more or less doubtful cases, a confusion of strong and weak forms of stem is made: they are too purely sporadic to require reporting. The same is true of a case or two where a masculine form appears to be used with a feminine noun (see Lanman.

455. The stem árvant, 'running, steed', has the nom. sing. árvā, from árvan; and in the older language also the voc. arvan and accus. árvānam.

456. Besides the participle bhavant, there is another stem bhávant, frequently used in respectful address as substitute for the pronoun of the second person (but construed, of course, with verb in the third person, which is formed with the suffix vant, and so declined, having in the nom. sing. bhávān; and the contracted form bhos of its old-style vocative bhavas is a common exclamation of address: 'you, sir!' Its origin is variously explained; it is most probably a contraction of bhagavant.

457. The pronominal adjectives távant, etávant, yávant, and the Vedic ivant, mávant, tvávant, etc., are inflected like ordinary derivatives from nouns.

F. Perfect Participles in vāns.

458. The active participles of the perfect tense-system are quite peculiar as regards the modifications of their stem. In the strong cases, including the nom.-acc.-voc. pl. neut., the form of their suffix is a cans, which becomes, by regular process (150, van in the nom. sing., and which is

shortened to

van in the voc. sing. In the weakest cases, the suffix is contracted into 34 us. In the middle cases, including the nom.-acc.-voc. neut. sing., it is changed to वत् vat.

A union-vowel i, if present in the strong and middle cases, disappears in the weakest, before us.

459. The forms as thus described are masculine and neuter only; the corresponding feminine is made by adding ई i to the weakest form of stem, ending thus in 3 úṣī. 460. The accent is always upon the suffix, whatever be its form.

461. Examples of inflection. To show the inflection of these participles, we may take the stems fai vidváns, 'knowing' (which has irregular loss of the usual reduplication and of the perfect meaning ) from /विद् vid; and तस्थिवांस् tasthivdis, ‘having stood', from /स्था stha.

viduşi and Aqui tasthúṣi.

Other examples of the different stems are:

from Vkr

from Vni

from Vbhū

from Vtan

cakṛváns, cakrvát, cakrúş, cakrúşi ;

ninivans, ninivát, ninyúş, ninyúşi;

babhuvans, babhuvát, babhuvús, babhūvúṣi;
teniváns, tenivát, tenús, tenúși.

462. a. In the oldest language (RV.), the vocative sing. masc. (like that of vant and mant-stems: above, 454 b) has the ending vas instead of van: thus, cikitvas (changed to -van in a parallel passage of AV.), titirvas, didivas, miḍhvas.

b. Forms from the middle stem, in vat, are extremely rare earlier : only three (tatanvát and vavṛtvát, neut. sing., and jūgṛvádbhis, instr. pl.), are found in RV., and not one in AV. And in the Veda the weakest stem and not the middle one, as later, is made the basis of comparison: thus, vidústara, midhústama.

c. An example or two of the use of the weak stem-form for cases regularly made from the strong are found in RV.: they are cakrúṣam, acc. sing., and ábibhyuṣas, nom. pl.; emuṣám, by its accent (unless an error), is rather from a derivative stem emuṣú: and CB. has proṣúsam. Similar instances, especially from vidváns, are now and then met with later (see BR., under vidváns).

d. The Av. has once bhaktivānsus, as if a participial form from a noun ; but K. and TB. give in the corresponding passage bhaktivánas; cakhvánsam (RV., once) is of doubtful character; okivánsā (RV., once) shows a reversion to guttural form of the final of Vuc, elsewhere unknown.

G. Comparatives in yas.

463. The comparative adjectives of primary formation ( below, 487 ) have a double form of stem for masculine and neuter: a stronger, ending in π yāns (usually zuiḤ iyāns), in the strong cases, and a weaker, in यस् yas (or ईयस् Tyas), in the weak cases (there being no distinction of middle and weakest). The voc. sing. masc. ends in yan (but for the older language see below, 465a).

The feminine is made by adding to the weak masc.

neut. stem.

464. As models of inflection, it will be sufficient to give a part of the forms of créyas, 'better', and of

गरीयस् giriyas, theavier’. Thus :

The feminine stems of these adjectives are u çréyasi and गरीयसी gariyasi.

465. a. The Vedic voc. masc. (as in the two preceding divisions: 454 b, 462 a) is in yas instead of yan: thus, ojīyas, jyāyas (RV.: no examples elsewhere have been noted).

b. No example of a middle case occurs in RV. or AV.

c. In the later language are found a few apparent examples of strong cases made from the weaker stem-form: thus, kanīyasam, acc. masc., kaniyasāu du. They are perhaps rather to be viewed as transition-forms to an declension.

Comparison.

466. Derivative adjective stems having a comparative and superlative meaning or often also (and more originally) a merely intensive value are made either directly from roots (by primary derivation), or from other derivative or compound stems (by secondary derivation).

The subject of comparison belongs properly to the chapter of derivation; but it stands in such near relation to inflection that it is, in accordance with the usual custom in grammars, conveniently and properly enough treated briefly here.

ईयस् ayas

467. The suffixes of primary derivation are for the comparative and 38 istha for the superlative. The root before them is accented, and usually strengthened by gunating, if capable of it or, in some cases, by nasalization or prolongation. They are much more frequently and freely used in the oldest language than later; in the classical Sanskrit, only a limited number of such comparatives and superlatives are accepted in use; and these attach themselves in meaning for the most part to other adjectives. from the same root, which seem to be their corresponding