§8.1.Stems and ending

Every nominal consists of two parts. The first is a stem or prātipadikam. This was defined by Pāṇini as “something that has meaning that is not a verbal root or an affix” (arthavad adhātur apratyayaḥ prātipadikam, Aṣṭādhyāyī 1.2.45). The second, called pratyayaḥ in Sanskrit, can be called an affix (the most general term for a morpheme added to another), a suffix (a term for a morpheme added after another), or an ending (since these affixes always come at the end of a word). Sanskrit stems are usually classified according to their final sound, since the precise form of the suffix that follows will generally depend on the final sound of the stem. Hence we talk about stems that end in vowels, including stems in -a (akārāntāni or adantāni), stems in -ā (ākārāntāni or ādantāni) and so on, and those that end in consonants, including stems in -n (nakārāntāni or nantāni), stems in -t (takārāntāni or tantāni), and so on.

Sanskrit stems are classified as changeable or unchangeable by European grammars. Changeable stems are those that change when certain suffixes are added; unchangeable stems remain the same throughout their paradigm. Indian grammars made no such distinction, since they were not based on the concept of a “paradigm.”

Note that the stem and the ending often coalesce into a single form, especially in those cases when the stem ends in a vowel and the ending begins with a vowel.

Since Sanskrit is an inflectional language, a single ending will express a number of different grammatical categories. In the case of nominals, an ending expresses three principal categories: gender, number, and case.

§8.2.Gender liṅgam

All Sanskrit nouns are either masculine puṁliṅgam, feminine strīliṅgam or neuter napuṁsakaliṅgam. These grammatical genders usually correspond to the conventionally-accepted gender of the objects referred to, provided that they have such a gender. Thus men are typically referred to in the masculine, and women in the feminine. A great deal of gender assignment, however, is based on conventions that have little to no basis in biology. A noun’s gender cannot be predicted from its meaning. Thus the gender of every noun must be learned as part of the word itself.

A particularity of the neuter gender, in Sanskrit and other Indo-European languages, is that neuter words never make a distinction between the nominative and accusative. Thus the form is identical regardless of whether the word is used as the subject or object of a verb.

§8.3.Number saṁkhyā́

Sanskrit distinguishes between the singular ēkavacanam, dual dvivacanam, and plural bahuvacanam in both nominal and verbal forms. These categories almost always correspond to the “real” number of the objects referred to, although there are a few cases of the number being specified lexically (i.e. singulare tantum or plurale tantum nouns).

§8.4.Case vibháktiḥ

Case refers to the relation of a noun to other forms in a sentence. Sanskrit, as an Indo-European language, uses case to express both core grammatical relations, such as whether a noun is the subject, object, or indirect object of a verb, as well as a variety of other relations involving time, space, or appurtenance. In Sanskrit, the cases are referred to by number, from one to seven. Here I give only the basic uses of each case. For further case usages, see the section on case usage in the syntax chpater.

Number	Sanskrit	English	Functions
1	prathamā́	Nominative	Agrees with the subject argument of a verb and the subject and predicate of a nominal sentence.
2	dvitī́yā	Accusative	Agrees with the direct object of the verb; also used for duration of time and extent of space, and as the complement of some adpositions.
3	tr̥tī́yā	Instrumental	Expresses instrumentality, agency, and accompaniment, either on its own or with an adposition.
4	caturthī́	Dative	Agrees with the indirect object of the verb; also used to express purpose.
5	pañcamī́	Ablative	Expresses a cause, or movement away from. Also used as the complement of some adpositions. Agrees with the object of certain verbs of fearing.
6	ṣaṣṭhī́	Genitive	This is an adnominal case, and hence expresses some relation between nominals. It is often used to express possession. Agrees with the object in certain verbs of hearing and cognition.
7	saptamī́	Locative	Expresses presence or location in a place, occasions (including time), as well as reference.

In addition, Sanskrit has a vocative sambṓdhanam, which is used for direct address, but this form is identical to the nominative, except the singular of stems ending in vowels.

§9.1.Accent; “strong” and “weak” cases

For reasons that are not quite clear, some of the nominal endings were accented in Indo-European, and others were not. This has produced a pattern of “accent mobility” in Sanskrit and other Indo-European languages, where the accent—and with it, the form of the stem—varies with the ending.

In Sanskrit, this pattern is manifested in the distinction between “strong” and “weak” cases. “Strong” cases are the nominative and accusative singular, the nominative and accusative dual, and the nominative plural (the Sanskrit term for these cases is sarvanāmasthānam). All others are weak. Cases in which the ending begins with a consonant—the instrumental, dative, and ablative of the dual and plural, which are collectively referred to as pada-endings—are sometimes called “middle” cases, but they pattern with weak cases. These cases are so called because when the grade of the vowel alternates throughout the paradigm, the “strong” cases assign a full-grade vowel to the stem, and the “weak” cases assign it to an affix (either a stem-forming suffix or the declensional ending). (See the discussion of vowel gradation above.)

§9.2.First or nominative case prathamā́ vibháktiḥ

The ending of the nominative was never accented. In masculine nouns, and in feminine nouns that end in either a consonant or a short vowel, the ending of the singular was -s in Indo-European, and that of the plural was -es. Most feminine nouns that end in a long vowel (-ā, -ī, and -ū) do not add an ending in the nominative singular, since they are formed with a suffix that does not take this ending; feminine nouns like śrī- and lakṣmī- which are not formed with a suffix, however, take the ending -s. In the plural, the endings that can be added are -s, -as, and -ās. As noted above, neuter nouns do not have a distinctive nominative ending. Most neuters use the bare stem for the nominative and accusative; those ending in -a use the accusative ending -m. The nominative-accusative plural of neuters has been reshaped, but it generally ends in -i (deriving from h₂).

§9.3.Second or accusative case dvitī́yā vibháktiḥ

The inherited ending of the accusative singular was -m, which was realized as -m after vowels and -am after consonants. The accusative plural ending was -n̥s (probably from -m-s, i.e., the addition of the pluralizer -s onto the accusative ending -m) in Indo-European, which resulted in -ns after vowels and -as after consonants. In the ending -ns, in turn, the -n- was generally lost and resulted in compensatory lengthening of the previous vowel.

§9.4.Third or instrumental case tr̥tī́yā vibháktiḥ

In Indo–European this was -éh₁ in the singular, which resulted in Sanskrit -ā. The ending is accented and hence the instrumental singular is a “weak” case. The ending often combined with other forms to produce the variety of instrumental endings we observe. In the plural, the most common ending is -bhis, which is likely an Indo-European inheritance (cf. Greek -φι).

§9.5.Fourth or dative case caturthī́ vibháktiḥ

In the singular, this case ended in -éi in Indo-European, which became -ē in Sanskrit. For the plural form -bhyaḥ, compare Latin -bus, probably from -bhos.

§9.6.Fifth or ablative case pañcamī́ vibháktiḥ

The ablative and genitive endings of the singular are identical, both being -aḥ, which derives historically from both -és and -os. The genitive ending -s, accompanied by guṇáḥ of the suffix, is simply another form of the same ending, but one in which the accent was on the suffix (which typically stands in the guṇáḥ grade, as in mátēḥ from mn̥-téi-s), rather than on the ending (as was the case with, e.g., dhiyáḥ from dhiH-és) or on the root (as was the case with nā́mnaḥ from h₃nómh₁-n-os). For the ablative plural, which is always identical to the dative plural, see above.

§9.7.Sixth or genitive case ṣaṣṭhī́ vibháktiḥ

For the singular, see above. The plural is -ām, which is sometimes scanned as two syllables in the Avesta and the R̥gvēda, and therefore points to an original ending -oHom.

§9.8.Seventh or locative case saptamī́ vibháktiḥ

The general ending of the locative in the singular is -i, which is usually accented, but the locative in -i probably developed out of an older form—which still survives in a few Sanskrit words—wherein the locative case has no ending at all, but is rather represented by a full grade of the nominal suffix (cf. akṣán), or in the case of i- and u-stem nouns, the lengthened grade (vŕ̥ddhiḥ). To the unaccented locative, a deictic particle -i was added, which then “stole” the accent from the suffix and resulted in zero grade, rather than full grade, of the suffix (cf. rā́jñi). In the plural, the ending is -su, with which Greek -σι may be compared.

§9.9.The vocative sambṓdhanam

The vocative is only distinct from the nominative in the singular. In the singular, the accent is always on the first syllable. In the case of stems ending in a vowel, the stem is used on its own, without an ending. Stems ending in i and u ghi have guṇáḥ of the final vowel. Stems ending in ā have a vocative ending -ē. Stems ending in other long vowels (ī and ū) shorten it in the vocative.

§9.10.The suffix tasI

In addition to the above cases, there is another form (called tasI or tasIL by Pāṇini) that consists of the ending -tas added onto a nominal stem. In many cases, these forms have the sense of the ablative, that is, they are used in expressions of comparison (e.g., vr̥kṣata unnatataraḥ ‘taller than a tree’), but they may also be used in a locative sense (e.g., āditaḥ ‘at the beginning,’) or in an instrumental/predicative sense.

§11.1.Stems ending in -a akārāntāni

Stems ending in -a are the most numerous class of nominal stems in the Sanskrit language.

Masculine puṁliṅgam: dēvá- “god”

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	dēváḥ	dēvaú	dēvā́ḥ
dvitīyā	dēvám	dēvaú	dēvā́n
tr̥tīyā	dēvḗna	dēvā́bhyām	dēvaíḥ
caturthī	dēvā́ya	dēvā́bhyām	dēvḗbhyaḥ
pañcamī	dēvā́t	dēvā́bhyām	dēvḗbhyaḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	dēvásya	dēváyōḥ	dēvā́nām
saptamī	dēvḗ	dēváyōḥ	dēvḗṣu
sambṓdhanam	dḗva	dēvaú	dēvā́ḥ

There is no pattern of vowel gradation in this declension: the stem maintains its form throughout the paradigm. It has a number of features that distinguish it from the common set of endings introduced above. One of them is the extension of the stem from -a- into -ē- by means of the addition of an augment -i- in certain cases.

• dēvḗna (inst.sg./tr̥tīyaika.): The regular instrumental singular ending Ṭā is replaced by na after the modified stem in -ē-. Note that the n of this ending is subject to retroflexion by the RUKI rule.
• dēvā́ya (dat.sg./caturthyēka.): The regular dative singular ending -ē (Ṅē) is added to the stem and suffixed with an augment a:
  1. dēvá- + ē → dēvái-
  2. dēvái- + a → dēvā́ya
• dēvā́t (abl.sg./pañcamyēka.): The regular ablative singular ending -as (ṄasI) is replaced by āt. This is an old feature of Indo-European thematic (e/o-stem) nouns; compare Old Latin camp-ōd.
• dēvásya (gen.sg./ṣaṣṭhyēka.): The genitive singular ending -as (Ṅas) is replaced by sya, which again is an old feature of Indo-European thematic nouns; compare Homeric Greek πολέμ-οιο ← -ohyo ← -osyo.
• dēvḗ (loc.sg./saptamyēka.): The locative singular ending -i (Ṅi) is simply added to the stem, and the combination a-i results in the vowel ē. (Compare, e.g., οἴκοι.)
• dḗva (voc.sg./sambōdhanaika.): The vocative is merely the stem, with the accent retracted to the first syllable.
• dēvā́bhyām, dēvḗbhyaḥ, dēvḗṣu (inst.-dat.-abl.du./tr̥tīyācaturthīpañcamīdvi., dat.-abl.pl./caturthīpañcamībahu., loc.pl./saptamībahu.): The so-called pada-endings, which begin with a consonant, are added to the extended stem in ē. This includes the dative-ablative ending of the plural, and the locative ending of the plural. The instrumental-dative-ablative of the dual uses a stem in long ā rather than ē. Note that the ending -su of the locative plural is always retroflexed as a result of the preceding vowel ē due to the RUKI rule.
• dēvā́ḥ (nom.pl./prathamābahu.): Historically, this ending can be analyzed simply as -as (Jas, -es) added onto the stem in -a- (-e-). Pāṇini has a rule that lengthens the stem vowel before the ending -as (Jas) Aṣṭādhyāyī 6.1.102:
  1. dēvá- + -as → dēvā́-s
• dēvā́n (acc.pl./dvitīyābahu.): The accusative plural ending -as (Śas) historically represents -ns, probably a combination of the accusative suffix -m and the plural suffix -s. When this ending followed a consonant, the n was pronounced as a vowel, and developed into a in Sanskrit. When it followed a vowel, it was pronounced as a consonant, yielding the ending -ns. Subsequently the s was lost, with compensatory lengthening of the previous vowel, resulting in the accusative plural ending that is common to vowel-stem nouns in Sanskrit: -s with a lengthening of the vowel of the stem, as taught by Pāṇini Aṣṭādhyāyī 6.1.103:
  1. dēvá- + -as → dēvā́n
• dēvaíḥ (instr.pl./tr̥tīyābahu.): The ending is not bhiḥ but -aiḥ.

Neuter napuṁsakaliṅgam: yajñá- “sacrifice”

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā́	yajñám	yajñḗ	yajñā́ni
dvitī́yā
tr̥tī́yā	yajñḗna	yajñā́bhyām	yajñaíḥ
caturthī́	yajñā́ya	yajñā́bhyām	yajñḗbhyaḥ
pañcamī́	yajñā́t	yajñā́bhyām	yajñḗbhyaḥ
ṣaṣṭhī́	yajñásya	yajñáyōḥ	yajñā́nām
saptamī́	yajñḗ	yajñáyōḥ	yajñḗṣu

The neuter of the a-stem declension is almost identical to that of the masculine, with one signal difference: as with all neuters, there is no distinction between the nominative and accusative.

• yajñám (nom.-acc.sg./prathamādvitīyaika.): The accusative ending -am is used for the nominative and accusative singular.
• yajñḗ (nom.-acc.du./prathamādvitīyādvi.): The ending -i is added to the stem, resulting in the ending -ē, which is not subject to sandhi (Aṣṭādhyāyī 1.1.11). The reason is perhaps that this i historically derives from a laryngeal, namely h₁.
• yajñā́ni (nom.-acc.pl./prathamādvitīyābahu.): The original ending of the neuter plural was -h₂, which either lengthened a preceding vowel or, if it came after a consonant, developed into -i (Śi). Thus the more common ending of the a-stem neuter nominative-accusative plural in the Vedas is -ā. Already in the Vedic period, however, this ending started to be replaced by an ending in -āni, which shows the influence of the declensional pattern of stems in -n.

§11.2.Stems ending in -i ikārāntāni

Stems ending in the short vowels i and u behave similarly, in terms of the changes that the stem undergoes before the endings. All masculine and neuter stems in -i and -u belong to a class of stems that Pāṇini calls ghi Aṣṭādhyāyī 1.4.7, which triggers some special rules. In addition, feminine stems in -i can be considered to belong to the ghi class, or alternatively they can be considered to belong to a larger class of feminine stems called nadī, which includes most feminine stems in ī and ū (the so-called “derivative” stems).

For the declension of the words páti- and sákhi-, see below.

Masculine puṁliṅgam: agní- “fire”

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	agníḥ	agnī́	agnáyaḥ
dvitīyā	agním	agnī́	agnī́n
tr̥tīyā	agnínā	agníbhyām	agníbhiḥ
caturthī	agnáyē	agníbhyām	agníbhyaḥ
pañcamī	agnḗḥ	agníbhyām	agníbhyaḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	agnḗḥ	agnyṓḥ	agnī́nām
saptamī	agnaú	agnyṓḥ	agníṣu
saṁbōdhanē	ágnē	agnī́	agnáyaḥ

One particularity of the nouns ending in -i and -u is the alternation between the grades of the final vowel of the stem and the ending, evident in the following forms:

• agnḗḥ पञ्चमीषष्ठ्यौ एक॰: The regular ablative and genitive singular endings ṄasI and Ṅas trigger guṇa of the final vowel of the stem. The “full-grade” form of the stem vowel, -ē, is then followed by the “zero-grade” from of the case suffix, -s.
• agnaú सप्तमी एक॰: The regular locative singular ending Ṅi is replaced by vŕ̥ddhiḥ of the stem vowel in stems ending in -i and -u (7.3.119).
• ágnē संबोधनम् एक॰: The vocative ends in guṇa of the stem vowel (7.3.108).
• agnáyaḥ प्रथमा बहु॰: The nominative plural ending Jas triggers guṇa of the final vowel of the stem:
• agní + Jas → agnḗ + Jas → agnḗ + as → agnáyaḥ
• agnī́n द्वितीया बहु॰: The accusative plural ending Śas does not trigger guṇa of the final stem (because of the marker Ś). Rather, it triggers the long form of the stem vowel, in this case -ī, after which the ending is not -as but -n (6.1.103). As noted above, -as and -n are historically equivalent: the accusative plural ending was *-ns, where the n was pronounced as a vowel (conventionally written -n̥ among Indo-Europeanists) after a stem-final consonant and as a consonant after a stem-final vowel. The ending -ins was then changed to -īn by a process of “compensatory lengthening.”

There is also some influence from the declension of n-stem nouns. This arises from the face that the n could function as a “hiatus-breaker” between a stem that ended in a vowel and a case suffix that began with a vowel. This influence is limited to the instrumental singular ending in the masculine declension, but in the neuter declension (see below) it is more widespread.

• agnínā तृतीया एक॰: The regular instrumental singular ending Ṭā is replaced by āṄ.

Finally, of course, all stems that end in ruki sounds—including -i -ī, -u, and -ū—trigger retroflexion of a following s, which occurs in the locative plural ending:

• agníṣu सप्तमी बहु॰ = agní + suP.

Neuter napuṁsakaliṅgam: vā́ri- “water”

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	vā́ri	vā́riṇī	vā́rīṇi
dvitīyā
tr̥tīyā	vā́riṇā	vā́ribhyām	vā́ribhiḥ
caturthī	vā́riṇē	vā́ribhyām	vā́ribhyaḥ
pañcamī	vā́riṇaḥ	vā́ribhyām	vā́ribhyaḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	vā́riṇaḥ	vā́riṇōḥ	vā́rīṇām
saptamī	vā́riṇi	vā́riṇōḥ	vā́riṣu

Neuter stems ending in i characteristically exhibit the consonant n between the stem and endings beginning with a vowel. Thus, before these endings, they behave as if their stem does not end in -i but in -in.

However, neuter adjectives ending in i may optionally take endings identical to masculine adjectives ending in i in all of the above forms, apart from those of nominative-accusative Aṣṭādhyāyī 7.1.74. Thus we have:

• śucayē and śucinē (४॰ एक॰)
• śucēḥ and śucinaḥ (५-६॰ एक॰)
• śucau and śucini (७॰ एक॰)
• śucyōḥ and śucinōḥ (६-७॰ द्वि॰)

Feminine strīliṅgam: gáti- “going”

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā́	gátiḥ	gátī	gátayaḥ
dvitīyā	gátim	gátī	gátīḥ
tr̥tīyā	gátyā	gatíbhyām	gátibhiḥ
caturthī	gátayē, gátyai	gatíbhyām	gátibhyaḥ
pañcamī	gátēḥ, gátyāḥ	gatíbhyām	gátibhyaḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	gátēḥ, gátyāḥ	gátyōḥ	gátīnām
saptamī	gátau, gátyām	gátyōḥ	gátiṣu

Because the feminine stems in -i optionally belong to the nadī class of stems, they are subject to a number of special rules. In particular, in the dative, ablative–genitive, and locative cases of the singular, they can take either the same endings as masculine and neuter stems in -i, that is, the endings triggered by membership in the class ghi (listed first in the table above), or the “augmented” endings of feminine stems (-ai, -āḥ, -ām) triggered by membership in the class nadī; see the section on ī-stem nouns below.

The inflection of a few words with a stem in i is somewhat irregular. Notes on the inflection of páti- and sákhi- follow.

páti- “lord, husband”

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	pátiḥ	pátyau	pátayaḥ
dvitīyā	pátim	pátyau	pátīn
tr̥tīyā	pátyā	pátibhyām	pátibhiḥ
caturthī	pátyē	pátibhyām	pátibhyaḥ
pañcamī	pátyuḥ	pátibhyām	pátibhyaḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	pátyuḥ	pátyōḥ	pátīnām
saptamī	pátyau	pátyōḥ	pátiṣu
sambṓdhanam	pátē	pátyau	pátayaḥ

The stem páti- differs from most of the other nominal stems in i in that the endings of the “weak” cases are generally added directly onto the stem, with the vowel in its “basic” or zero-grade form. Contrast:

• agní-n-ā with páti-ā → pátyā (३॰ एक॰)
• agnáy-ē with páti-ē → pátyē (४॰ एक॰)
• agnḗ-ḥ with pati-uḥ → pátyuḥ (५-६॰ एक॰)
• Note that this form takes an irregular ending, identical with the ablative-genitive ending of stems ending in r̥. That ending is underlyingly -r̥-s.

sákhi- “friend”

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	sákhā	sákhāyau	sákhāyaḥ
dvitīyā	sákhāyam	sákhāyau	sákhīn
tr̥tīyā	sákhyā	sákhibhyām	sákhibhiḥ
caturthī	sákhyē	sákhibhyām	sákhibhyaḥ
pañcamī	sákhyuḥ	sákhibhyām	sákhibhyaḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	sákhyuḥ	sákhyōḥ	sákhīnām
saptamī	sákhē	sákhyōḥ	sákhiṣu
sambṓdhanam	sákhē	sákhyau	sákhāyaḥ

The stem sákhi- is similar to páti- in that the endings of most of the “weak” cases are added directly to the stem in its “basic” (i.e., zero-grade) form (with the exception of the locative singular, which is exactly the same as the ghi declension). It differs from páti-, however, in that the endings of the “strong” cases induce a lengthened grade (vŕ̥ddhiḥ) of the stem-final vowel.

§11.3.Stems ending in -u ukārāntāni

The stems ending in -u belong to the ghi class, together with those ending in -i, and hence they share many features of their declension. One again, the neuters show relatively more influence from the declension of n-stem nouns, while feminines have the option of being declined according to the ghi rules or according to the nadī rules.

Masculine puṁliṅgam: gurú- “teacher”

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	gurúḥ	gurū́	gurávaḥ
dvitīyā	gurúm	gurū́	gurū́n
tr̥tīyā	gurúṇā	gurúbhyām	gurúbhiḥ
caturthī	gurávē	gurúbhyām	gurúbhyaḥ
pañcamī	gurṓḥ	gurúbhyām	gurúbhyaḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	gurṓḥ	gurvṑḥ	gurū́nām
saptamī	guraú	gurvṑḥ	gurúṣu
sambṓdhanam	gúrō	gurvaù	gurávaḥ

Neuter napuṁsakaliṅgam: mádhu- “honey”

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	mádhu	mádhunī	mádhūni
dvitīyā
tr̥tīyā	mádhunā	mádhubhyām	mádhubhiḥ
caturthī	mádhunē	mádhubhyām	mádhubhyaḥ
pañcamī	mádhunaḥ	mádhubhyām	mádhubhyaḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	mádhunaḥ	mádhunōḥ	mádhūnām
saptamī	mádhuni	mádhunōḥ	mádhuṣu

The principal difference between the neuters and the masculines in the u-stem declension, exactly as in the i-stem declension, is that the neuters exhibit more of an influence from the declension of n-stem nouns. That is to say, before all of the case suffixes that begin with a vowel, these forms are declined as if their stem is not -u but -un.

However, as with neuter adjectives in i, neuter adjectives in u can take endings identical to masculine adjectives ending in u in all of the above forms, apart from those of nominative-accusative:

• mr̥davē and mr̥dunē (४॰ एक॰)
• mr̥dōḥ and mr̥dunaḥ (५-६॰ एक॰)
• mr̥dau and mr̥duni (७॰ एक॰)
• mr̥dvōḥ and mr̥dunōḥ (६-७॰ द्वि॰)

Feminine strīliṅgam: dhēnú- “cow”

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	dhēnúḥ	dhēnū́	dhēnávaḥ
dvitīyā	dhēnúm	dhēnū́	dhēnū́n
tr̥tīyā	dhēnvā́	dhēnúbhyām	dhēnúbhiḥ
caturthī	dhēnávē, dhēnvaí	dhēnúbhyām	dhenúbhyaḥ
pañcamī	dhēnṓḥ, dhēnvā́ḥ	dhēnúbhyām	dhenúbhyaḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	dhēnṓḥ, dhēnvā́ḥ	dhēnvṓḥ	dhēnū́nām
saptamī	dhēnaú, dhēnvā́m	dhēnvṓḥ	dhēnúṣu
sambṓdhanam	dhḗnō	dhēnū́	dhēnávaḥ

§11.4.Stems ending in -ā ākārāntāni

All stems ending in ā are feminine. This class includes all of the words formed with the feminine stem forming suffix ā, and hence it includes many nominal stems that correspond to a masculine/neuter stem ending in a.

Feminine strīliṅgam: sḗnā- “army”

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	sḗnā	sḗnē	sḗnāḥ
dvitī́yā	sḗnām	sḗnē	sḗnāḥ
tr̥tī́yā	sḗnayā	sḗnābhyām	sḗnābhiḥ
caturthī́	sḗnāyai	sḗnābhyām	sḗnābhyaḥ
pañcamī́	sḗnāyāḥ	sḗnābhyām	sḗnābhyaḥ
ṣaṣṭhī́	sḗnāyāḥ	sḗnayōḥ	sḗnānām
saptamī́	sḗnāyām	sḗnayōḥ	sḗnāsu
sambṓdhanam	sḗnē	sḗnē	sḗnāḥ

One particularity of the ā-stem declension is the appearance of an augment yā (technically called yāṬ by Pāṇini) between the stem and some endings, namely those of the dative, ablative, genitive, and locative singular (i.e., those endings that Pāṇini teaches with the anubandha Ṅ, viz.Ṅē, ṄasI, Ṅas and Ṅi). See Aṣṭādhyāyī 7.1.113

§11.5.Stems ending in -ī īkārāntāni

All of these stems are feminine, and many are formed with a suffix ṄīP that produces feminine adjectives.

There is an important distinction between one class of feminine stems in -ī, mostly underived stems, and another that is mostly made of derived nominal stems (see feminine stem forming suffixes), which Pāṇini calls nadī. The underived class takes the default nominal endings, and has been exemplified above with the noun dhī́-. The derived class is inflected as follows:

Feminine strīliṅgam: nadī́- “river”

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	nadī́	nadyaù	nadyàḥ
dvitīyā	nadī́m	nadyaù	nadī́ḥ
tr̥tīyā	nadyā́	nadī́bhyām	nadī́bhiḥ
caturthī	nadyaí	nadī́bhyām	nadī́bhyaḥ
pañcamī	nadyā́ḥ	nadī́bhyām	nadī́bhyaḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	nadyā́ḥ	nadyṓḥ	nadī́nām
saptamī	nadyā́m	nadyṓḥ	nadī́ṣu
sambṓdhanam	nádi	nadyaù	nadyàḥ

One particularity of the declension of nouns of the nadī class is that they take the augment āṬ between the stem prātipadikam and certain declensional endings, namely, those that Pāṇini teaches with the anubandha Ṅ (Ṅē, ṄasI, Ṅas, and Ṅi); see Aṣṭādhyāyī 7.3.112.

Here we may also refer to the declension of the word strī́- “woman,” but which has aspects of the declension of both underived and derived stems: like radical stems in ī, its stem becomes iy- before endings that begin with a vowel (optionally so in the accusative singular and plural), but like derivative stems in ī, it takes the augment āṬ before case-suffixes marked with a Ṅ. Hence its paradigm is as follows:

Feminine strīliṅgam: strī́- “woman”

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	strī́	stríyau	stríyaḥ
dvitīyā	stríyam, strī́m	stríyau	stríyaḥ, strī́ḥ
tr̥tīyā	striyā́	strībhyā́m	strībhíḥ
caturthī	striyaí	strībhyā́m	strībhyáḥ
pañcamī	striyā́ḥ	strībhyā́m	strībhyáḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	striyā́ḥ	striyṓḥ	strīṇā́m
saptamī	striyā́m	striyṓḥ	strīṣú
sambṓdhanam	strí	stríyau	stríyaḥ

§11.6.Stems ending in -ū ūkārāntāni

Most stems ending in -ū belong to the nadī class, and hence their declension is almost identical to that of stems ending in -ī like dēvī́- and nadī́-. The only difference is that whereas ī-stems form the nominative singular without a suffix, ū-stems form the nominative singular with the default suffix sU (i.e., ḥ).

All nominal stems belonging to this class are feminine.

Feminine strīliṅgam: vadhū́- “young woman”

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā́	vadhū́ḥ	vadhvaù	vadhvàḥ
dvitī́yā	vadhū́m	vadhvaù	vadhū́ḥ
tr̥tī́yā	vadhvā́	vadhū́bhyām	vadhū́bhiḥ
caturthī́	vadhvaí	vadhū́bhyām	vadhū́bhyaḥ
pañcamī́	vadhvā́ḥ	vadhū́bhyām	vadhū́bhyaḥ
ṣaṣṭhī́	vadhvā́ḥ	vadhvṓḥ	vadhū́nām
saptamī́	vadhvā́m	vadhvṓḥ	vadhū́ṣu
sambṓdhanam	vádhu	vadhvaù	vadhvàḥ

§11.7.Stems ending in -r̥ r̥kārāntāni

These stems generally fall into one of two semantic categories: (1) nouns which express relations (such as mother, father, sister, brother, etc.), and (2) adjectives which express the agent of a verb, as well as a handful of other words. Nominal forms of the second type are used in the so-called periphrastic future luṭ.

In morphological terms, however, there is a distinction between (1) nouns which take the full grade guṇáḥ of the stem-final vowel in the strong cases; and (2) nouns which take the lengthened grade vŕ̥ddhiḥ of the stem-final vowel in the strong cases. All agent nouns belong to the second category. Most nouns of relationship belong to the first category, with the exception of náptr̥- “grandson” and svásr̥- “sister,” and the word stŕ̥- “star.”

Paradigms of the first class of nominal stems ending in r̥, i.e., those which take a full grade vowel of the stem in the strong cases, are presented first.

Masculine puṁliṅgam: pitŕ̥- “father”

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	pitā́	pitárau	pitáraḥ
dvitīyā	pitáram	pitárau	pitr̥̄́n
tr̥tīyā	pitrā́	pitŕ̥bhyām	pitŕ̥bhiḥ
caturthī	pitrḗ	pitŕ̥bhyām	pitŕ̥bhyaḥ
pañcamī	pitúḥ	pitŕ̥bhyām	pitŕ̥bhyaḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	pitúḥ	pitrṓḥ	pitr̥̄ṇā́m
saptamī	pitári	pitrṓḥ	pitŕ̥ṣu
sambṓdhanam	pítar	pitárau	pitáraḥ

Feminine strīliṅgam: mātŕ̥- “mother”

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	mātā́	mātárau	mātáraḥ
dvitīyā	mātáram	mātárau	mātr̥̄́ḥ
tr̥tīyā	mātrā́	mātŕ̥bhyām	mātŕ̥bhiḥ
caturthī	mātrḗ	mātŕ̥bhyām	mātŕ̥bhyaḥ
pañcamī	mātúḥ	mātŕ̥bhyām	mātŕ̥bhyaḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	mātúḥ	mātrṓḥ	mātr̥̄ṇā́m
saptamī	mātári	mātrṓḥ	mātŕ̥ṣu
sambṓdhanam	mā́tar	mātárau	mātáraḥ

Paradigms of the second class of nominal stems ending in r̥, which take the lengthened grade in the strong cases, follow:

Masculine puṁliṅgam: dātŕ̥- “giver”

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	dātā́	dātā́rau	dātā́raḥ
dvitīyā	dātā́ram	dātā́rau	dātr̥̄́n
tr̥tīyā	dātrā́	dātŕ̥bhyām	dātŕ̥bhiḥ
caturthī	dātrḗ	dātŕ̥bhyām	dātŕ̥bhyaḥ
pañcamī	dātúḥ	dātŕ̥bhyām	dātŕ̥bhyaḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	dātúḥ	dātrṓḥ	dātr̥̄ṇā́m
saptamī	dātári	dātrṓḥ	dātŕ̥ṣu
sambṓdhanam	dā́tar	dātā́rau	dātā́raḥ

Feminine strīliṅgam: svásr̥- “sister”

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	svásā	svásārau	svásāraḥ
dvitīyā	svásāram	svásārau	svásr̥̄ḥ
tr̥tīyā	svásrā	svásr̥bhyām	svásr̥bhiḥ
caturthī	svásrē	svásr̥bhyām	svásr̥bhyaḥ
pañcamī	svásuḥ	svásr̥bhyām	svásr̥bhyaḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	svásuḥ	svásrōḥ	svásr̥̄ṇām
saptamī	svásari	svásrōḥ	svásr̥ṣu
sambṓdhanam	svásar	svásārau	svásāraḥ

Neuter napuṁsakaliṅgam: dātŕ̥- “giver”

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	dātŕ̥	dātŕ̥ṇī	dātr̥̄́ṇi
dvitīyā	dātŕ̥	dātŕ̥ṇī	dātr̥̄́ṇi
tr̥tīyā	dātŕ̥ṇā, dātrā́	dātŕ̥bhyām	dātŕ̥bhiḥ
caturthī	dātŕ̥ṇē, dātrḗ	dātŕ̥bhyām	dātŕ̥bhyaḥ
pañcamī	dātŕ̥ṇaḥ, dātúḥ	dātŕ̥bhyām	dātŕ̥bhyaḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	dātŕ̥ṇaḥ, dātúḥ	dātrṓḥ	dātr̥̄ṇā́m
saptamī	dātŕ̥ṇi, dātári	dātrṓḥ	dātŕ̥ṣu
sambṓdhanam	dā́tr̥, dā́tar	dātárau	dātā́raḥ

The neuter has the same peculiarities as nominal stems ending in i and u, namely:

1. it inserts the letter n between the stem and declensional endings that begin with a vowel;
2. outside of the nominative-accusative, it may take the properly neuter endings, or it make take the same endings as the masculine-feminine.

§11.8.Stems ending in diphthongs

A number of nouns have a stem that ends in a diphthong (ō, ai, or au; no stems in ē are found). The main distinction is between stems that show vowel gradation in the root syllable, like gō- m.f. “cow” and dyau- m. “sky,” and those that do not, like rai- f. “wealth” and nau- f. “boat.”

Non-gradational stems like nau- are straightforward, in that they take the regular endings, with the sandhi variants nau- before consonants and nāv- before vowels.

nau- f. “boat”

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	naúḥ	nā́vau	nā́vaḥ
dvitīyā	nā́vam	nā́vau	nā́vaḥ
tr̥tīyā	nāvā́	naubhyā́m	naubhíḥ
caturthī	nāvḗ	naubhyā́m	naubhyáḥ
pañcamī	nāváḥ	naubhyā́m	naubhyáḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	nāváḥ	nāvṓḥ	nāvā́m
saptamī	nāví	nāvṓḥ	nauṣú
sambṓdhanam	naùḥ	nā́vau	nā́vaḥ

rai- f. “wealth”

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	rā́ḥ	rā́yau	rā́yaḥ
dvitīyā	rā́yam	rā́yau	rāyáḥ
tr̥tīyā	rāyā́	rābhyā́m	rābhíḥ
caturthī	rāyḗ	rābhyā́m	rābhyáḥ
pañcamī	rāyáḥ	rābhyā́m	rābhyáḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	rāyáḥ	rāyṓḥ	rāyā́m
saptamī	rāyí	rāyṓḥ	rāsú
sambṓdhanam	rā́ḥ	rā́yau	rā́yaḥ

Stems that feature vowel gradation typically show the full or lengthened grade in the “strong” forms (nominative-accusative singular and dual, and nominative plural), and elsewhere have weaker forms. In the case of gō, the strong form is gau- (gʷōw-, or perhaps gʷeh₃w-), and the weak form is gō- (before consonants) and gav- (before vowels), i.e., gʷow-. In the case of dyau-, the strong forms are made with dyau- (dyēw-), and the weak forms are made with dyu- (before consonants) and div- (before vowels), i.e., diw- or dyu-. The accusative singular in both cases is formed by omitting the final glide of the radical syllable before the m of the ending.

dyau- m. “heaven”

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	dyaúḥ	dyā́vau	dyā́vaḥ, dívaḥ
dvitīyā	dívam, dyā́m	dyā́vau	dyū́n, diváḥ
tr̥tīyā	divā́	dyúbhyām	dyúbhiḥ
caturthī	divḗ	dyúbhyām	dyúbhyaḥ
pañcamī	diváḥ	dyúbhyām	dyúbhyaḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	diváḥ	divṓḥ	divā́m
saptamī	diví	divṓḥ	dyúṣu
sambṓdhanam	dyaùḥ	dyā́vau	dyā́vaḥ

gō- mf. “cow”

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	gaúḥ	gā́vau	gā́vaḥ
dvitīyā	gā́m	gā́vau	gā́ḥ
tr̥tīyā	gávā	gṓbhyām	gṓbhiḥ
caturthī	gávē	gṓbhyām	gṓbhyaḥ
pañcamī	gṓḥ	gṓbhyām	gṓbhyaḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	gṓḥ	gávōḥ	gávām
saptamī	gávi	gávōḥ	gṓṣu
sambṓdhanam	gaùḥ	gā́vau	gā́vaḥ

§12.1.Stems ending in -s

The stems that end in -s (or -ṣ) fall into three categories:

1. neuter nouns, which are usually primary derivatives of verbs (representing nomina concreta), such as mánas- “mind,” havíṣ- “oblation,” and ā́yuṣ- “life.”
2. comparative adjectives, which are formed with the suffix -yas-;
3. perfect participles, which are formed with the suffix -vāṁs-/-vat-/-uṣ-

These three types will be presented in turn.

In the case of neuter nouns, the stem does not change with the endings.

Neuter napuṁsakaliṅgam: mánas- “mind”

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	mánaḥ	mánasī	mánāṁsi
dvitīyā	mánaḥ	mánasī	mánāṁsi
tr̥tīyā	mánasā	mánōbhyām	mánōbhiḥ
caturthī	mánasē	mánōbhyām	mánōbhyaḥ
pañcamī	mánasaḥ	mánōbhyām	mánōbhyaḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	mánasaḥ	mánasōḥ	mánasām
saptamī	mánasi	mánasōḥ	mánaḥsu
sambṓdhanam	mánaḥ	mánasī	mánāṁsi

The declension of stems in -iṣ (e.g., havíḥ) and -uṣ (e.g., ā́yuḥ) is entirely parallel, except, of course, with the transformation of the stem-final s to ṣ before endings beginning with a vowel.

These nouns may occur as the final member of an adjectival (i.e., bahuvrīhiḥ) compound. When they agree with a masculine or feminine noun, they are inflected in the same way as in the neuter, except in the nominative and accusative cases, as shown below.

Masculine puṁliṅgam: sumánas- “happy”:

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	sumánāḥ	sumánasau	sumánasaḥ
dvitīyā	sumánasam	sumánasau	sumánasaḥ

The next major class of nominal stems ending in -s is represented by comparative adjectives, which are formed with the suffix -yas- (Pāṇini’s īyasUN). In the neuter, the stem ends in -yas- throughout (except in the nominative-accusative plural, where, as usual, the case-ending Śi causes lengthening and nasalization of the preceding vowel). In the masculine, the stem ends in -yāṁs- in the “strong” cases (sarvanāmasthānam) and -yas- in the “weak” cases. The corresponding feminine is formed by adding the suffix ī (ṄīP) to the version of the stem ending in -yas-.

Masculine puṁliṅgam and neuter napuṁsakaliṅgam: śrḗyas- “better”

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	śrḗyān / śrḗyaḥ	śrḗyāṁsau / śrḗyasī	śrḗyāṁsaḥ / śrḗyāṁsi
dvitīyā	śrḗyāṁsam / śrḗyaḥ	śrḗyāṁsau / śrḗyasī	śrḗyasaḥ / śrḗyāṁsi
tr̥tīyā	śrḗyasā	śrḗyōbhyām	śrḗyōbhiḥ
caturthī	śrḗyasē	śrḗyōbhyām	śrḗyōbhyaḥ
pañcamī	śrḗyasaḥ	śrḗyōbhyām	śrḗyōbhyaḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	śrḗyasaḥ	śrḗyasōḥ	śrḗyasām
saptamī	śrḗyasi	śrḗyasōḥ	śrḗyaḥsu
sambṓdhanam	śrḗyan / śrḗyaḥ	śrḗyāṁsau / śrḗyasī	śrḗyāṁsaḥ / śrḗyāṁsi

Finally, the participle of the perfect stem, which Pāṇini called KvasU. The suffix has different forms, but in this case the differences are quite radical:

• In the neuter, the “underlying” form of the stem can be thought of as -vas- in the strong cases (sarvanāmasthānam) and the weak cases beginning with a consonant (the so-called “pada endings” or “middle cases”), and as -uṣ- in the remaining weak cases (i.e., those beginning with a consonant). Thus we can distinguishing between a full-grade suffix in the “strong” and “middle” cases, and a zero-grade suffix in the “weak” cases. The full-grade form, however, has been replaced with -vat- in all cases apart from the nominative-accusative plural.
• In the masculine, before the the “strong” cases (sarvanāmasthānam), the form of the stem is -vāṁs-, and among the remaining cases, it takes the form -vad- before the “middle” cases (i.e., those beginning with a consonant) and -uṣ- before the “weak” cases (i.e., those beginning with a vowel), just as in the neuter.

Here is the neuter inflection of such a stem:

Masculine puṁliṅgam and euter napuṁsakaliṅgam: cakr̥vás- “having done”

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	cakr̥vā́n, cakr̥vát	cakr̥vā́ṁsau, cakrúṣī	cakr̥vā́ṁsaḥ, cakr̥vā́ṁsi
dvitīyā	cakr̥vā́ṁsam, cakr̥vát	cakr̥vā́ṁsau, cakrúṣī	cakrúṣaḥ, cakr̥vā́ṁsi
tr̥tīyā	cakrúṣā	cakr̥vádbhyām	cakr̥vádbhiḥ
caturthī	cakrúṣē	cakr̥vádbhyām	cakr̥vádbhyaḥ
pañcamī	cakrúṣaḥ	cakr̥vádbhyām	cakr̥vádbhyaḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	cakrúṣaḥ	cakrúṣōḥ	cakrúṣām
saptamī	cakrúṣi	cakrúṣōḥ	cakr̥vátsu
sambṓdhanam	cakr̥ván, cakr̥vat	cakr̥vā́ṁsau, cakrúṣī	cakr̥vā́ṁsaḥ, cakr̥vā́ṁsi

The noun puṁs- m. “human, man” is similar to perfect participles:

Masculine puṁliṅgam: puṁs- “man”

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	púmān	púmāṁsau	púmāṁsaḥ
dvitīyā	púmāṁsam	púmāṁsau	puṁsáḥ
tr̥tīyā	puṁsā́	pumbhyā́m	pumbhíḥ
caturthī	puṁsḗ	pumbhyā́m	pumbhyáḥ
pañcamī	puṁsáḥ	pumbhyā́m	pumbhyáḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	puṁsáḥ	puṁsṓḥ	puṁsā́m
saptamī	puṁsí	puṁsṓḥ	puṁsú
sambṓdhanam	púman	púmāṁsau	púmāṁsaḥ

§12.2.Stems ending in -n

The stems that end in -n include:

1. masculine and neuter stems derived with the suffixes -an, -man, or -van;
2. adjectival stems (in the masculine and neuter) derived with the suffix -in.

Stems that end in -n generally have three forms:

• the strong form of the stem, which occurs before the so-called “strong” (sarvanāmasthānam) case endings;
• the weak form of the stem, which occurs before the other case endings, with the following distinction sometimes being applicable:
• the middle cases are those in which the case-suffix begins with a consonant, and
• the weakest cases are those in which the case-suffix begins with a vowel.

As noted above, these different forms of the stem are conditioned by the accentual properties of the endings. In general, the final syllable of the stem will stand in the full grade form in its “strong” form, i.e., before the unaccented endings of the nominative and accusative singular, nominative and accusative dual, and nominative plural (also accusative plural for the neuter), whereas it will stand in the zero grade form before the other endings.

We will begin by considering the paradigms of masculine and neuter stems in -an, including those formed with the suffixes -man and -van. All of these stems share the same endings; they differ merely in the gradation of the stem before those endings. The endings are the standard endings taught in Aṣṭādhyāyī 4.1.2 and discussed above.

Masculine puṁliṅgam: rā́j- “king”

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	rā́jā	rā́jānau	rā́jānaḥ
dvitīyā	rā́jānam	rā́jānau	rā́jñaḥ
tr̥tīyā	rā́jñā	rā́jabhyām	rā́jabhiḥ
caturthī	rā́jñē	rā́jabhyām	rā́jabhyaḥ
pañcamī	rā́jñāḥ	rā́jabhyām	rā́jabhyaḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	rā́jñaḥ	rā́jñōḥ	rā́jñām
saptamī	rā́jñi, rā́jani	rā́jñōḥ	rā́jasu
sambṓdhanam	rā́jan	rā́jānau	rā́jānaḥ

Observations:

• The strong form of the stem is rā́jān-, with a lengthened grade of the stem-final syllable. (See below for a historical explanation of this form.)
• The weak form of the stem—that is, the form before accented declensional endings that begin with a vowel—is rā́jñ-, which represents the zero grade of the stem-final syllable. The n is palatalized by its contact with the palatal consonant j.
• The middle form of the stem—that is, the form before accented declensional endings that begin with a consonant—is rā́ja-, which similarly represents the zero grade of the stem-final syllable. The final a in this case is a reflex of a historical vocalic -n̥- (see below).
• Finally, the nominative singular is rā́jā, rather than ** rā́jān (which is what we would expect from rā́jān + sU).

Like rā́ja- is inflected ātmá-, with one major difference: whereas, in the paradigm of rā́ja-, the a between the radical element rāj and the -n of the stem-final syllable is generally lost in the weak cases, in the paradigm of ātmá-, the a is retained in all of the weak cases, because otherwise we would have an inadmissible sequence of consonants (*āt-m-n-).

Masculine puṁsakaliṅgam: rā́j- “king”

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	ātmā́	ātmā́nau	ātmā́naḥ
dvitīyā	ātmā́nam	ātmā́nau	ātmánaḥ
tr̥tīyā	ātmánā	ātmábhyām	ātmábhiḥ
caturthī	ātmánē	ātmábhyām	ātmábhyaḥ
pañcamī	ātmánaḥ	ātmábhyām	ātmábhyaḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	ātmánaḥ	ātmánōḥ	ātmánām
saptamī	ātmáni	ātmánōḥ	ātmásu
sambṓdhanam	ātmán	ātmā́nau	ātmā́naḥ

Neuter napuṁsakaliṅgam: nā́ma- “name”

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	nā́ma	nā́mnī, nā́manī	nā́māni
dvitīyā	nā́ma	nā́mnī, nā́manī	nā́māni
tr̥tīyā	nā́mnā	nā́mabhyām	nā́mabhiḥ
caturthī	nā́mnē	nā́mabhyām	nā́mabhyaḥ
pañcamī	nā́mnaḥ	nā́mabhyām	nā́mabhyaḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	nā́mnaḥ	nā́mnōḥ	nā́mnām
saptamī	nā́mni, nā́mnani	nā́mnōḥ	nā́masu
sambṓdhanam	nā́man, nā́ma	nā́mnī, nā́manī	nā́māni

A class of neuter nouns exemplified by akṣi- n. “eye” has two stems, one ending in -i used in the strong cases, and one ending in -n used in the weak cases. The nouns inflected this way are ákṣi-/akṣán- “eye,” ásthi-/asthán- “bone,” dádhi-/dadhán- “curds,” and sákthi-/sakthán- “thigh.”

Neuter napuṁsakaliṅgam: akṣi- “eye”

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	ákṣi	ákṣiṇī	ákṣīṇi
dvitīyā	ákṣi	ákṣiṇī	ákṣīṇi
tr̥tīyā	akṣṇā́	akṣibhyā́m	akṣibhíḥ
caturthī	akṣṇḗ	akṣibhyā́m	akṣibhyáḥ
pañcamī	akṣṇáḥ	akṣibhyā́m	akṣibhyáḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	akṣṇáḥ	akṣṇṓḥ	akṣṇā́m
saptamī	akṣṇí	akṣṇṓḥ	akṣiṣú
sambṓdhanam	ákṣi	ákṣiṇī	ákṣīṇi

§12.3.Stems ending in -t and -d

Stems that end in -t include various classes of nouns and adjectives in Sanskrit, including root nouns, present participles, and possessive adjectives formed with the suffixes matUP and vatUP.

Stems that end in -d are much rarer, but they can be considered under the same heading.

The category of root nouns includes some archaic nouns that differentiate between a strong and a weak stem, like pád- “foot,” as well as many nouns that use a single stem throughout, such as suhr̥d- “friend.”

Masculine puṁliṅgaṁ: suhr̥d- “friend”

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	suhr̥d	suhr̥dau	suhr̥daḥ
dvitīyā	suhr̥dam	suhr̥dau	suhr̥daḥ
tr̥tīyā	suhr̥dā	suhr̥dbhyām	suhr̥dbhiḥ
caturthī	suhr̥dē	suhr̥dbhyām	suhr̥dbhyaḥ
pañcamī	suhr̥daḥ	suhr̥dbhyām	suhr̥dbhyaḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	suhr̥daḥ	suhr̥dōḥ	suhr̥dām
saptamī	suhr̥di	suhr̥dōḥ	suhr̥tsu
sambṓdhanam	suhr̥t	suhr̥dau	suhr̥daḥ

Exactly parallel to stems ending in -d with an unchanging stem are stems ending in -t with an unchanging stem. These include many upapada-tatpuruṣaḥ compounds, which, when the suffix KviP is used, insert the augment tuK at the end of a light verbal root. As an example, consult bhūbhr̥t- m. ‘mountain’ (from bhr̥ ‘lift, bear’ with bhū- ‘the earth’).

Masculine puṁliṅgaṁ: bhūbhr̥t- “earth-bearer”

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	bhūbhr̥t	bhūbhr̥tau	bhūbhr̥taḥ
dvitīyā	bhūbhr̥tam	bhūbhr̥tau	bhūbhr̥taḥ
tr̥tīyā	bhūbhr̥tāb	bhūbhr̥dbhyām	bhūbhr̥dbhiḥ
caturthī	bhūbhr̥tē	bhūbhr̥dbhyām	bhūbhr̥dbhyaḥ
pañcamī	bhūbhr̥taḥ	bhūbhr̥dbhyām	bhūbhr̥dbhyaḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	bhūbhr̥taḥ	bhūbhr̥tōḥ	bhūbhr̥tām
saptamī	bhūbhr̥ti	bhūbhr̥tōḥ	bhūbhr̥tsu
sambṓdhanam	bhūbhr̥t	bhūbhr̥tau	bhūbhr̥tau

Most of the other stems in -t are formed using a suffix that exhibits vowel-gradation. The strong stem will usually end in -ant, and the weak stem in -at.

For stems derived using the possessive suffixes matUP and vatUP, the declension is as follows:

Masculine/Neuter puṁliṅgaṁ napuṁsakaliṅgaṁ ca: dhanavat- “wealthy”

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	dhanavān, dhanavat	dhanavantau, dhanavatī	dhanavantaḥ, dhanavanti
dvitīyā	dhanavantam, dhanavat	dhanavantau, dhanavatī	dhanavataḥ, dhanavanti
tr̥tīyā	dhanavatā	dhanavadbhyām	dhanavadbhiḥ
caturthī	dhanavatē	dhanavadbhyām	dhanavadbhyaḥ
pañcamī	dhanavataḥ	dhanavadbhyām	dhanavadbhyaḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	dhanavataḥ	dhanavatōḥ	dhanavatām
saptamī	dhanavati	dhanavatōḥ	dhanavatsu
sambṓdhanam	dhanavan, dhanavat	dhanavantau, dhanavatī	dhanavantaḥ, dhanavanti

Note that the nominative singular masculine of stems formed with the suffixes matUP and vatUP, as well as of other stems such as bhávat- “you,” has a long vowel, in contrast to the declension of present participles.

The other main class of stems ending in -t are present participles, that is, verbal adjectives formed from the present stem. In the parasmaipadám, such adjectives are formed with a suffix that Pāṇini calls ŚatR̥. (In the ātmanēpadám, they are formed with a different suffix, ŚānaC, and such forms are inflected like regular a-stem nominals.) This suffix ŚatR̥ forms nominal stems whose inflection is almost identical to the inflection of stems formed with matUP and vatUP. The difference is in the nominative singular of the masculine, where the ending, as shown below, is not -ān but -an.

Masculine/Neuter puṁliṅgaṁ napuṁsakaliṅgaṁ ca: spr̥śat- “touching”

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	spr̥ṣan, spr̥ṣat	spr̥ṣantau, spr̥ṣantī	spr̥ṣantaḥ, spr̥ṣanti
dvitīyā	spr̥ṣantam, spr̥ṣant	spr̥ṣantau, spr̥ṣantī	spr̥ṣataḥ, spr̥ṣanti
tr̥tīyā	spr̥ṣatā	spr̥ṣadbhyām	spr̥ṣadbhiḥ
caturthī	spr̥ṣatē	spr̥ṣadbhyām	spr̥ṣadbhyaḥ
pañcamī	spr̥ṣataḥ	spr̥ṣadbhyām	spr̥ṣadbhyaḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	spr̥ṣataḥ	spr̥ṣatōḥ	spr̥ṣatām
saptamī	spr̥ṣati	spr̥ṣatōḥ	spr̥ṣatsu
sambṓdhanam	spr̥ṣan, spr̥ṣat	spr̥ṣantau, spr̥ṣantī	spr̥ṣantaḥ, spr̥ṣanti

One exception to this general pattern is furnished by participles of verbs belonging to the third, or reduplicating, class. In these words, the weak stem is used throughout the paradigm, even in the strong cases (apart from the nominative-accusative-vocative of the neuter plural, where the strong form of the stem may optionally be used).

Masculine/Neuter puṁliṅgaṁ napuṁsakaliṅgaṁ ca: dádat- “giving”

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	dádat	dádatau, dádatī	dádataḥ, dádati/dádanti
dvitīyā	dádatam, dádat	dádatau, dádatī	dádataḥ, dádati/dádanti
tr̥tīyā	dádatā	dádadbhyām	dádadbhiḥ
caturthī	dádatē	dádadbhyām	dádadbhyaḥ
pañcamī	dádataḥ	dádadbhyām	dádadbhyaḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	dádataḥ	dádatōḥ	dádatām
saptamī	dádati	dádatōḥ	dádatsu
sambṓdhanam	dádat	dádantau, dádatī	dádataḥ, dádanti/dádati

The noun páth- m. “path” synchronically ends in th, but historically ended in a laryngeal consonant (h₂), which resulted in a pattern of vowel gradation that looks rather irregular:

Masculine puṁliṅgam: páth- “path”

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	pánthāḥ	pánthānau	pánthānaḥ (RV pánthāḥ)
dvitīyā	pánthānam (RV pánthām)	pánthānau	patháḥ
tr̥tīyā	pathā́	pathíbhyām	pathíbhiḥ
caturthī	pathḗ	pathíbhyām	pathíbhyaḥ
pañcamī	patháḥ	pathíbhyām	pathíbhyaḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	patháḥ	pathóḥ	pathā́m
saptamī	pathí	pathóḥ	pathíṣu
sambṓdhanam	pánthāḥ	pánthānau	pánthānaḥ

At the end of a compound, the stem is patha-.

§12.4.Stems ending in palatals

This category, once again, includes stems that exhibit gradation and stems that do not. We will begin with the latter category, which is quite straightforward. In nominal declension, palatals generally become velars in internal sandhi:

Feminine strīliṅgam: diś- “direction”

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	dik	diśau	diśaḥ
dvitīyā	diśam	diśau	diśaḥ
tr̥tīyā	diśā	digbhyām	digbhiḥ
caturthī	diśē	digbhyām	digbhyaḥ
pañcamī	diśaḥ	digbhyām	digbhyaḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	diśaḥ	diśōḥ	diśām
saptamī	diśi	diśōḥ	dikṣu
sambṓdhanam	dik	diśau	diśaḥ

Similarly inflected are stems that end in the word -dr̥ś-, including adjectives of comparison, tādr̥ś- ‘like that,’ īdr̥ś- ‘like this.’

The relatively common set of nominal derivatives formed from the root añc ‘turn’ have an idiosynctatic declension that reflects both (a) the erstwhile presence of a laryngeal at the beginning of the root, and (b) the general pattern of vowel gradation, with full grade of the root in the strong forms, and zero grade in the weak forms.

Masculine/neuter puṁliṅgaṁ napuṁsakaliṅgaṁ ca: prā́ñc- “forward, east”

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	prā́ṅ, prā́k	prā́ñcau, prā́cī	prā́ñcaḥ, prā́ñci
dvitīyā	prā́ñcam, prā́k	prā́ñcau, prā́cī	prā́caḥ, prā́ñci
tr̥tīyā	prā́cā	prā́gbhyām	prā́gbhiḥ
caturthī	prā́cē	prā́gbhyām	prā́gbhyaḥ
pañcamī	prā́caḥ	prā́gbhyām	prā́gbhyaḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	prā́caḥ	prā́cōḥ	prā́cām
saptamī	prā́ci	prā́cōḥ	prā́kṣu
sambṓdhanam	prā́ṅ, prā́k	prā́ñcau, prā́cī	prā́ñcaḥ, prā́ñci

Similar are víṣvañc- ‘going apart,’ ápāñc- ‘going away,’ ávāñc- ‘turned down,’ arvā́ñc- ‘turned towards,’ adharā́ñc- ‘turned down.’

The stem pratyáñc- shows some different vowel alternation:

Masculine/neuter puṁliṅgaṁ napuṁsakaliṅgaṁ ca: pratyáñc- “opposite, west”

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	pratyáṅ, pratyák	pratyáñcau, pratīcī́	pratyáñcaḥ, pratyáñci
dvitīyā	pratyáñcam, pratyák	pratyáñcau, pratīcī́	pratīcáḥ, pratyáñci
tr̥tīyā	pratīcā́	pratyágbhyām	pratyágbhiḥ
caturthī	pratīcḗ	pratyágbhyām	pratyágbyaḥ
pañcamī	pratīcáḥ	pratyágbhyām	pratyágbhyaḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	pratīcáḥ	pratīcṓḥ	pratīcā́m
saptamī	pratīcí	pratīcṓḥ	pratīkṣú
sambṓdhanam	pratyáṅ, pratyák	pratyáñcau, pratīcī́	pratyáñcaḥ, pratyáñci

Similarly inflected are nyàñc- ‘turned down,’ údañc- ‘turned up,’ and samyáñc- ‘turned correctly’ (the i in this stem is unetymological, presumably after the analogy of nyañc- and pratyañc-).

The stem tiryáñc- ‘horizontal’ is somewhat irregular, probably deriving from a conflation of tirás- with other forms ending in añc-. Its weak stem is tiráśc-.

§13.1.Personal pronouns

Sanskrit is a pro-drop language, meaning that pronouns (and above all subject pronouns) can be dropped if their meaning is expressed elsewhere in the sentence (for instance through person marking on the verb) or if they can be inferred from context. Thus it is usually sufficient to use a verb without a subject pronoun in the first and second person: karōmi means “I do,” whereas ahaṁ karōmi implies that the fact that I am doing the action — as opposed to anyone else — is somehow relevant (“it is I who do it,” “I am the one who does it,” “as for me, I do it”). Of course non-subject pronouns cannot be dropped as easily because non-subject arguments are not marked on the verb.

The first and second pronouns have no gender. They can be used in agreement with any gender: kas tvam “who are you (masc.)?” or kā tvam “who are you (fem.)?”. In the accusative, dative, and genitive case, all three numbers of both pronouns have alternative enclitic forms that can only be used after another word (enclitics cannot occur first within a sentence). There is no difference in meaning between the enclitic and non-enclitic forms.

A note on number: the plural is often used for the singular and dual in the first person (Aṣṭādhyāyī 1.2.59); in the second person, the pronoun bhavat- is often used, with third person verb agreement, much like Italian Lei or Spanish usted.

Sanskrit grammarians refer to these forms as asmad (first person plural), mad (first person singular), yuṣmad (second person plural), tvad (second person singular). These are also the forms used in compounds.

The first person uttamapuruṣaḥ

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	ahám	āvā́m	vayám
dvitīyā	mā́m, mā	āvā́m	asmā́n, naḥ
tr̥tīyā	máyā	āvā́bhyām	asmā́bhiḥ
caturthī	máhyam, mē	āvā́bhyām	asmábhyam, naḥ
pañcamī	mát	āvā́bhyām	asmát
ṣaṣṭhī	máma, mē	āváyōḥ	asmā́kam, naḥ
saptamī	máyi	āváyōḥ	asmā́su

The second person madhyamapuruṣaḥ

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	tvám	yuvā́m	yūyám
dvitīyā	tvā́m, tvā	yuvā́m	yuṣmā́n, vaḥ
tr̥tīyā	tváyā	yuvā́bhyām	yuṣmā́bhiḥ
caturthī	túbhyam, tē	yuvā́bhyām	yuṣmábhyam, vaḥ
pañcamī	tvát	yuvā́bhyām	yuṣmát
ṣaṣṭhī	táva, tē	yuváyōḥ	yuṣmā́kam, vaḥ
saptamī	tváyi	yuváyōḥ	yuṣmā́su

§13.2.The tá-/yá-/ká- series

The pronominal stems in tá-, yá- and ká- form a closely-related series. The tá- forms are demonstrative pronouns (which often function as “correlative” pronouns to relative clauses), the yá- forms are relative pronouns, and the ká- forms are interrogative pronouns. These three stems are inflected in entirely the same way. For more on relative clauses, see below.

Most Indian grammarians, including Pāṇini, teach the neuter nominative-accusative singular (napuṁ.prathamādvitīyaika.) as the “basic” stem of these forms, because the paradigms of tá- and yá- share the idiosyncracy that the nominative-accusative singular of the neuter is a special form that ends in -d, rather than in -m, as neuters of a-stem forms commonly do.

The forms of tá- function as the primary demonstrative pronoun and adjective in Sanskrit. They are used where English uses the demonstrative “that,” but also equivalently to the third-person pronoun (he/she/it) in English, and in some cases equivalently to the definite article (the) in English. The unifying feature appears to be the identifiability of the referent of the demonstrative.

The pronoun tá- or tát is paradigmatic of the pronominal declension in Sanskrit. Please look there for comments about the special form of the endings of this class of words.

tát, masculine puṁliṅgam and neuter napuṁsakaliṅgam

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	sáḥ / tát	taú / tḗ	tḗ / tā́ni
dvitīyā	tám / tát	taú / tḗ	tā́n / tā́ni
tr̥tīyā	tḗna	tā́bhyām	taíḥ
caturthī	tásmai	tā́bhyām	tḗbhyaḥ
pañcamī	tásmāt	tā́bhyām	tḗbhyaḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	tásya	táyōḥ	tḗṣām
saptamī	tásmin	táyōḥ	tḗṣu

tát, feminine strīliṅgam

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	sā́	tḗ	tā́ḥ
dvitīyā	tā́m	tḗ	tā́ḥ
tr̥tīyā	táyā	tā́bhyām	tā́bhiḥ
caturthī	tásyai	tā́bhyām	tā́bhyaḥ
pañcamī	tásyāḥ	tā́bhyām	tā́bhyaḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	tásyāḥ	tā́yōḥ	tā́sām
saptamī	tásyām	tā́yōḥ	tā́su

Note that the pronoun ētá- (ētád) is declined in exactly the same way as tá-, being a compound of tá- and the deictic particle ē (a full-grade form of the deictic particle i, which is sometimes called the hic et nunc or “here and now” particle in Indo-European studies). Compare forms like i-dānim and i-ha.

yát, masculine puṁliṅgam and neuter napuṁsakaliṅgam

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	yáḥ / yát	yaú / yḗ	yḗ / yā́ni
dvitīyā	yám / yát	yaú / yḗ	yā́n / yā́ni
tr̥tīyā	yḗna	yā́bhyām	yaíḥ
caturthī	yásmai	yā́bhyām	yḗbhyaḥ
pañcamī	yásmāt	yā́bhyām	yḗbhyaḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	yásya	yáyōḥ	yḗṣām
saptamī	yásmin	yáyōḥ	yḗṣu

yát, feminine strīliṅgam

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	yā́	yḗ	yā́ḥ
dvitīyā	yā́m	yḗ	yā́ḥ
tr̥tīyā	yáyā	yā́bhyām	yā́bhiḥ
caturthī	yásyai	yā́bhyām	yā́bhyaḥ
pañcamī	yásyāḥ	yā́bhyām	yā́bhyaḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	yásyāḥ	yā́yōḥ	yā́sām
saptamī	yásyām	yā́yōḥ	yā́su

kím, masculine puṁliṅgam and neuter napuṁsakaliṅgam

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	káḥ / kím	kaú / kḗ	kḗ / kā́ni
dvitīyā	kám / kím	kaú / kḗ	kā́n / kā́ni
tr̥tīyā	kḗna	kā́bhyām	kaíḥ
caturthī	kásmai	kā́bhyām	kḗbhyaḥ
pañcamī	kásmāt	kā́bhyām	kḗbhyaḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	kásya	káyōḥ	kḗṣām
saptamī	kásmin	káyōḥ	kḗṣu

Note that there are two stems in use for the neuter forms of this pronoun. One of them is kí-, which derives from the same i-stem form we see in Latin quid and Greek τί. The other is ká-, which is historically a thematic stem (ending in either e or o in Indo-European). We only see the i-stem form in the neuter singular form kim, which is analogically reconstructed from cit.

kím, feminine strīliṅgam

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	kā́	kḗ	kā́ḥ
dvitīyā	kā́m	kḗ	kā́ḥ
tr̥tīyā	káyā	kā́bhyām	kā́bhiḥ
caturthī	kásyai	kā́bhyām	kā́bhyaḥ
pañcamī	kásyāḥ	kā́bhyām	kā́bhyaḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	kásyāḥ	kā́yōḥ	kā́sām
saptamī	kásyām	kā́yōḥ	kā́su

§13.3.The demonstrative stem idám

This is a demonstrative stem which, like all such stems in Sanskrit, can be used either as an adjective, qualifying another noun (e.g., ayaṁ rājā na jānāti, “this king doesn’t know”) or as a pronoun, replacing another noun (e.g., ayaṁ na jānāti, “this person doesn’t know”). It has proximal reference purōvartinirdēśaḥ and is therefore used to refer to people and things that are relatively close to the speaker in a particular discursive context.

For the accent, see .

Masculine and neuter puṁliṅgam napuṁsakaliṅgaṁ ca

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	ayám / idám	imaú / imḗ	imḗ / imā́ni
dvitīyā	imám / idám	imaú / imḗ	imā́n / imā́ni
tr̥tīyā	anḗna	ābhyā́m	ēbhíḥ
caturthī	asmaí	ābhyā́m	ēbhyáḥ
pañcamī	asmā́t	ābhyā́m	ēbhyáḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	asyá	anáyōḥ	ēṣā́m
saptamī	asmín	anáyōḥ	ḗṣu

Feminine strīliṅgam

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	iyám	imḗ	imā́ḥ
dvitīyā	imā́m	imḗ	imā́ḥ
tr̥tīyā	anáyā	ābhyā́m	ābhíḥ
caturthī	asyaí	ābhyā́m	ābhyáḥ
pañcamī	asyā́ḥ	ābhyā́m	ābhyáḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	asyā́ḥ	anáyōḥ	āsā́m
saptamī	asyā́m	anáyōḥ	āsú

§13.4.The demonstrative stem adás

This pronoun is used with distal reference dūravartinirdēśaḥ, i.e., to refer to something that is relatively distant from the speaker in a particular discursive context.

When two forms are listed in the table, they represent masculine and feminine forms; when three forms are listed, they represent masculine, neuter, and feminine forms.

adás

	ēkavacanē	dvivacanē	bahuvacanē
prathamā	asaú / adáḥ / asaú	amū́	amī́ / amū́ni / amū́ḥ
dvitīyā	amúm / adáḥ / amū́m	amū́	amū́n / amū́ni / amū́ḥ
tr̥tīyā	amúnā / amúyā	amū́bhyām	amī́bhiḥ / amū́bhiḥ
caturthī	amúṣmai / amúṣyai	amū́bhyām	amī́bhyaḥ / amū́bhyaḥ
pañcamī	amúsmāt / amúṣyāḥ	amū́bhyām	amī́bhyaḥ / amū́bhyaḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	amúṣya / amúṣyāḥ	amúyōḥ	amī́ṣām / amū́ṣām
saptamī	amúṣmin / amúṣyām	amúyōḥ	amī́ṣu / amū́ṣu

§14.1.Cardinal numbers

First the stems of the numbers from one to nineteen:

Number	Stem
1	ḗka-
2	dvá-
3	trí-
4	catúr-
5	páñca-
6	ṣáṭ-
7	saptá-
8	aṣṭá-
9	náva-
10	dáśa-
11	ḗkādaśa-
12	dvā́daśa-
13	tráyōdaśa-
14	cáturdaśa-
15	páñcadaśa-
16	ṣṓḍaśa-
17	saptádaśa-
18	aṣṭā́daśa-
19	návadaśa-

The numbers from one to four are inflected for gender, number, and case. They are generally used as adjectives, i.e., to qualify another nominal, although in many cases that nominal may be understood from context and thus omitted. Hence dvāv āgatau “two came,” in the masculine, can easily be understood to refer to two men.

The numeral ḗka- is inflected as a pronoun. It can also be used in the plural (not given here) to mean “some” or “a few.”

vibháktiḥ	puṁliṅgam	napuṁsakaliṅgam	strīliṅgam
prathamā	ḗkaḥ	ḗkam	ḗkā
dvitīyā	ḗkam		ḗkām
tr̥tīyā	ḗkēna		ḗkayā
caturthī	ḗkasmai		ḗkasyai
pañcamī	ḗkasmāt		ḗkasyāḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	ḗkasya		ḗkasyāḥ
saptamī	ḗkasmin		ḗkasyām

The cardinal numeral “2” also distinguishes gender in the nominative-accusative. It is inflected exclusively in the dual.

vibháktiḥ	puṁliṅgam	napuṁsakaliṅgam	strīliṅgam
prathamīdvitīyē	dváu	dvḗ
tr̥tīyācaturthīpañcamyah	dvā́bhyām
ṣaṣṭhīsaptamyau	dváyōḥ

The number “three”:

vibháktiḥ	puṁliṅgam	napuṁsakaliṅgam	strīliṅgam
prathamā	tráyaḥ	trī́ṇi	tisráḥ
dvitīyā	trī́n
tr̥tīyā	tribhíḥ		tisŕ̥bhiḥ
caturthīpañcamyau	tribhyáḥ		tisŕ̥bhyaḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	trayāṇā́m		tisr̥ṇā́m
saptamī	triṣú		tisŕ̥ṣu

vibháktiḥ	puṁliṅgam	napuṁsakaliṅgam	strīliṅgam
prathamā	catvā́raḥ	catvā́ri	cátasraḥ
dvitīyā	catúraḥ
tr̥tīyā	catúrbhiḥ		catasŕ̥bhiḥ
cathurthīpañcamyau	catúrbhyaḥ		catasŕ̥bhyaḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	caturṇā́m		catasr̥ṇā́m
saptamī	catúrṣu		catasŕ̥ṣu

The numbers from five to nineteen are inflected for case and number (which will always be plural), but not gender. In the nominative and accusative, the bare stem is used, without the usual declensional endings. These numbers, too, are used as adjectives.

vibháktiḥ	rūpam
prathamādvitīyē	páñca
tr̥tīyā	pañcábhiḥ
caturthīpañcamyau	pañcábhyaḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	pañcānā́m
saptamī	pañcásu

saptá- “7,” náva- “9,” and dáśa- “10,” as well as the numbers from 11 to 19 (which end in dáśa-), are inflected in the same way as páñca-.

vibháktiḥ	rūpam
prathamādvitīyē	ṣáṭ
tr̥tīyā	ṣaḍbhíḥ
cathurthīpañcamyau	ṣaḍbhyáḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	ṣaṇṇā́m
saptamī	ṣaṭsú

vibháktiḥ	rūpam
prathamādvitīyē	saptá
tr̥tīyā	saptábhiḥ
cathurthīpañcamyau	saptábhyaḥ
ṣaṣṭhī	saptānā́m
saptamī	saptásu

vibháktiḥ	rūpam
prathamādvitīyē	aṣṭáu, aṣṭá
tr̥tīyā	aṣṭābhíḥ, aṣṭábhiḥ
caturthīpañcamyau	aṣṭābhyáḥ, aṣṭábhyaḥ
ṣaṣthī	aṣṭānā́m
saptamī	aṣṭāsú, aṣṭásu

vibháktiḥ	rūpam
prathamādvitīyē	náva
tr̥tīyā	navábhiḥ
caturthīpañcamyau	navábhyaḥ
ṣaṣthī	navānā́m
saptamī	navásu

vibháktiḥ	rūpam
prathamādvitīyē	dáśa
tr̥tīyā	daśábhiḥ
caturthīpañcamyau	daśábhyaḥ
ṣaṣthī	daśānā́m
saptamī	daśásu

The numbers from twenty onwards are nouns, and construed with what they modify on the genitive (e.g. dāsīnāṁ śatam “a hundred slaves”) or used in apposition to what they modify (e.g., dāsyaḥ śatam id.). Most of the tens are feminine; the numbers 100 and 1000 are neuter.

Number	Stem	Gender
20	viṁśatí-	f.
30	triṁśát-	f.
40	catvāriṁśát-	f.
50	pañcāśát-	f.
60	ṣaṣṭí-	f.
70	saptatí-	f.
80	aśītí-	f.
90	navatí-	f.
100	śatá-	n.
1000	sahásra-	n.

§14.2.Ordinals

The ordinals are adjectives that describe the order of something in a series. They are generally formed from the cardinal numbers (the exception being “first” or prathamá-) by means of various suffixes, such as thá, má, tamá, and tī́ya/ī́ya. The feminine stem of all of the ordinal numbers is formed with ī, except prathamā́-, dvitī́yā-, tr̥tī́yā-, túryā- and turī́yā-.

Number	Stems
1st	prathamá-, prathamā́-
2nd	dvitī́ya-, dvitī́yā-
3rd	tr̥tī́ya-, tr̥tī́yā-
4th	caturthá-, caturthī́- [also túrya-, túryā- and turī́ya-, turī́yā-]
5th	pañcamá-, pañcamī́-
6th	ṣaṣṭhá-, ṣaṣṭhī́-
7th	saptamá-, saptamī́-
8th	aṣṭamá-, aṣṭamī́-
9th	navamá-, navamī́-
10th	daśamá-, daśamī́-
11th	ēkādaśá-, ēkādaśī́-

The ordinals from 11th to 19th are formed like ēkādaśá-, ēkādaśī́-.

Number	Stems
20th	viṁśá-, viṁśī́-
30th	triṁśá-, triṁśī́-
40th	catvāriṁśá-, catvāriṁśī́-
50th	pañcāśá-, pañcāśī́-
60th	ṣaṣṭá-, ṣaṣṭī́-
70th	saptatá-, saptatī́-
80th	aśītá-, aśītī́-
90th	navatá-, navatī́-
100th	śatatamá-, śatatamī́-
1000th	sahasratamá-, sahasratamī́-

The numbers between the tens are formed as simple compounds of the “ones” place and the ordinal stem for the “tens” place (e.g., ēkāviṁśá-, dvātriṁśá-, catuścatvāriṁśá-, etc.). The numbers after 100 and 1000 are formed with the stem śatá-, śatī́- and sahasrá-, sahasrī́-, rather than from the longer ordinal stem (e.g., ēkaśatá-, etc.).

§15.1.Comparison of adjectives

One particularity of adjectives is that they can take particular suffixes that express grades of comparison. These suffixes are similar to (and indeed etymologically related to) the English comparative suffix -er and superlative suffix -est, as in redder and reddest.

The most general set of suffixes, which can be used with any adjectival stem, are taraP, which expresses the comparative degree, and tamaP, which expresses the superlative degree (5.3.55–57). They are added to the basic stem, that is, the masculine-neuter form of the adjectival stem, in the weak form (i.e., the form that occurs before endings beginning with a consonant, like bhis) if the stem alternates between strong and weak forms. For the comparative degree, the masculine and neuter form is -tara-, and their feminine form is -tarā-; for the superlative degree, the masculine and neuter form is -tama-, and the feminine form is -tamā-.

Comparison with taraP and tamaP

Positive degree		Comparative degree		Superlative degree
laghú	“light”	laghutáram	“lighter”	laghutámam	“lighest”
gurú	“heavy”	gurutáram	“heavier”	gurutámam	“heaviest”
mr̥dú	“soft”	mr̥dutáram	“softer”	mr̥dutámam	“softest”
sthūlám	“thick”	sthūlátaram	“thicker”	sthūlátamam	“thickest”
prā́k	“eastern”	prā́ktaram	“more eastern”	prā́ktamam	“most eastern”
dhanī́	“wealthy”	dhanítaraḥ	“wealthier”	dhanítamaḥ	“wealthiest”
vidvā́n	“knowing”	vidváttaraḥ	“more knowing”	vidváttamaḥ	“most knowing”

Pāṇini allows these suffixes to be affixed directly to inflected expressions of time in the locative, e.g., pūrvāhṇē “in the forenoon” → pūrvāhṇētarē “earlier in the forenoon” Aṣṭādhyāyī 6.3.17. In the form -tarām and -tamām, they can also be added to indeclinable adverbs and even to finite verbs Aṣṭādhyāyī 5.3.56. Of these forms, only adverbs like natarām “how much less” are common.

The suffixes īyasUN and iṣṭhaN constitute another set, which however can only be used after a small set of adjectives. In contrast to taraP and tamaP, which can be considered “derivational” suffixes to the extent that they are added onto already-existing nominal forms, īyasUN and iṣṭhaN are added directly onto roots. Hence they alternative with the suffixes of the positive degree rather than being added onto them. Another particularity of these suffixes is that the root takes the full grade; thus these forms contrast with the positive degree, where the root very often is in the zero grade. For the declension of stems in -yas- see above.

Generally the suffixes īyas and iṣṭha are added after the final consonant of an adjectival stem (thus replacing a final vowel), e.g., pāpáḥ “bad,” pā́pīyān “worse,” pā́piṣṭhaḥ “worst.” But in the following forms the adjective takes a different form in the positive degree than it does in the comparative and superlative degree (in some cases being given by suppletion). All forms are given in the neuter nominative singular.

Comparison with īyasUN and iṣṭhaN

Positive degree		Comparative degree		Superlative degree
antikám	“close”	nḗdīyaḥ	“closer”	nḗdiṣṭham	“closest”
álpam	“small”	kánīyaḥ	“smaller”	kániṣṭham	“smallest”
		álpīyaḥ		álpiṣṭham
urú	“wide”	várīyaḥ	“wider”	váriṣṭham	“widest”
r̥jú	“straight”	ŕ̥jīyaḥ	“straighter”	ŕ̥jiṣṭham	“straightest”
		rájīyaḥ		rájiṣṭhaḥ
kr̥śám	“lean”	kráśīyaḥ	“leaner”	kráśiṣṭham	“leanest”
kṣiprám	“swift”	kṣḗpīyaḥ	“swifter”	kṣḗpiṣṭham	“swiftest”
kṣudrám	“mean”	kṣṓdīyaḥ	“meaner”	kṣṓdiṣṭham	“meanest”
gurú	“heavy”	gárīyaḥ	“heavier”	gáriṣṭham	“heaviest”
tr̥prám	“satisfied”	trápīyaḥ	“more satisfied”	trápiṣṭham	“most satisfied”
dīrghám	“long”	drā́ghīyaḥ	“longer”	drā́ghiṣṭham	“longest”
dūrám	“far”	dávīyaḥ	“farther”	dáviṣṭham	“farthest”
dr̥ḍhám	“firm”	dráḍhīyaḥ	“firmer”	dráḍhiṣṭham	“firmest”
párivr̥ḍham	“exalted”	párivraḍhīyaḥ	“more exalted”	párivraḍhiṣṭham	“most exalted”
pr̥thú	“broad”	práthīyaḥ	“broader”	práthiṣṭham	“broadest”
práśasyam	“praiseworthy”	śrḗyaḥ	“better”	śrḗṣṭham	“best”
		jyā́yaḥ		jyḗṣṭham
priyám	“dear”	prḗyaḥ	“dearer”	prḗṣṭham	“dearest”
bahú	“much”	bhū́yaḥ	“more”	bhū́yiṣṭham	“most”
bahulám	“thick”	báṁhīyaḥ	“thicker”	báṁhiṣṭham	“thickest”
bhr̥śám	“excessive”	bhráśīyaḥ	“more excessive”	bhráśiṣṭham	“most excessive”
mr̥dú	“soft”	mrádīyaḥ	“softer”	mrádiṣṭham	“softest”
yúvan	“young”	yávīyaḥ	“younger”	yáviṣṭham	“youngest”
		kánīyaḥ		kániṣṭham
bāḍhám	“firm”	sā́dhīyaḥ	“firmer”	sā́dhiṣṭham	“firmest”
vr̥ddhám	“old”	várṣīyaḥ	“older”	várṣiṣṭham	“oldest”
		jyā́yaḥ		jyḗṣṭham
vŕ̥ndārakam	“beautiful”	vŕ̥ndīyaḥ	“more beautiful”	vŕ̥ndiṣṭham	“most beautiful”
sthirám	“firm”	sthḗyaḥ	“firmer”	stḗṣṭham	“firmest”
sthūlám	“thick”	sthávīyaḥ	“thicker”	stháviṣṭham	“thickest”
sphirám	“thick”	sphḗyaḥ	“thicker”	sphḗṣṭham	“thickest”
hrasvám	“short”	hrásīyaḥ	“shorter”	hrásiṣṭham	“shortest”

§16.1.Regular case-forms used adverbially

Any nominal form (noun or adjective) can be used as an adverb if it is in the accusative singular form, and if it is an adjective, then it will appear in the neuter gender.

Accusatives. As noted above, any accusative (neuter) singular form can be used as an adverb. Here are a few examples formed from nouns:

• ramyam “pleasingly” (ramya- “pleasing”)
• priyam “pleasantly” (priya- “pleasant”)
• tīvram “sharply” (tīvra- “sharp”)
• kr̥cchram “with difficulty” (kr̥cchra- “sharp”)
• ciram “for a long time” (cira- “lasting a long time”)
• mandam “slowly” (manda- “slow”)
• sādaram “carefully” (sādara- “careful, with care”)
• śīghram “quickly” (śīghra- “quick”)
• atyantam “excessively, too much” (atyanta- “excessive”

There are also a few nouns that can be used adverbially in their accusative singular forms:

• sukham “easily, comfortably” (sukha- “comfort, ease, pleasure”)
• kāmam “with pleasure, placiter, volontieri” (kāma- “pleasure”)

Pronominal forms can also be used adverbially in the neuter accusative singular form:

• tat “so,” “for that reason”
• yat “because”
• kim “why?” “how?”

Instrumentals. The following instrumental forms, in some cases “frozen” and not used in any other case, are used as adverbs:

• acirēṇa “soon” (a-cira- “not for a long time”)
• divā “by day” (dyu- or dyau- “day”)
• sahasā “suddenly, violently” (sahas- “force”)
• kṣaṇēna “momentarily” (kṣaṇa- “moment”)
• paramparayā “indirectly” (paramparā- “uninterrupted series”)
• praṇālikayā “indirectly” (praṇālikā- “channel”)
• atiśayēna “excessively” (atiśaya- “excess”)
• uccaiḥ “loudly”
• nīcaiḥ “quietly” (nīca- “low”)

Ablatives. Ablatives are not very often used adverbially, but here are a few adverbial forms that are in original frozen ablatives:

• paścāt “afterwards”
• samantāt “entirely, on all sides”
• akasmāt “suddenly”
• sākṣāt “directly”
• balāt “by force”

Locatives. Locatives (and genitives) are the case-forms least likely to form adverbs, but a few are quotable:

• sapadi “immediately

§16.2.Special adverbial forms

A number of suffixes are used to form adverbs from nominal, and especially pronominal, stems. The pronominal stems commonly encountered in these adverbial forms are:

• ta- (from tat “that”; note that ētat does not form adverbs!)
• a- (from idam “this”)
• amu- (from adaḥ “that”)
• sarva- “all, every”
• ēka- “one”
• anya- “other”

-tra — local adverbs. These forms are generally used adverbially, but they can sometimes be used in place of locative case forms, and hence to qualify another locative case form (e.g., tatra vanē = tasmin vanē “in that forest”).

• yatra “where...” (relative)
• tatra “there”
• atra “here”
• kutra “where?”
• paratra “in another place”
• amutra “over there”
• sarvatra “everywhere”
• ubhayatra “in both cases”
• ēkatra “in one case”

-śaḥ — distributive adverbs.

• ēkaśaḥ “one by one”
• śataśaḥ “by the hundreds”
• gaṇaśaḥ “in crowds”

-dhā — multiplicative adverbs. Translatable as “in x ways,” where x most commonly refers to a quantity:

• bahudhā “in many ways
• ēkadhā “in a single way
• dvidhā “in two ways”

-thā — adverbs of manner.

• yathā “in which way...” or “as”
• tathā “in such a way”
• anyathā “otherwise”
• itarathā “otherwise”
• sarvathā “in every way”
• ubhayathā “in both ways”

This suffix -thā also has a variant -tham found in a few forms:

• ittham “in this way”
• katham “how?”

-dā — temporal adverbs.

• yadā “when...” (relative)
• tadā “at that time”
• kadā “when?”
• sadā “always”
• ēkadā “at one time”
• sarvadā “at all times”
• anyadā “at another time” (often: “one day...”)

In this group we can probably also put idānīm “now” (idā-nīm).

-tāt — local adverbs, usually (but not always) after stems in s:

• purastāt “in front”
• adhastāt “below”
• upariṣṭāt “above”
• parastāt “after”

-āt — resultative adverbs.

• bhasmāt “to ashes”

Another way of forming adverbs — more common in the Middle Indic languages than in Sanskrit, however — is to use the quotative particle iti after an imitative sound. They probably have the sense of “as soon as you can say...” or “like this” (accompanied by snapping the fingers). The most common of these forms is:

• jhaṭiti “immediately”

§16.3.The suffix tasI

The suffix -taḥ (called tasI or tasIL by Pāṇini) has a variety of different functions, but it is most convenient to discuss it in connection with adverb formation. In general it is taught as an optional replacement for the ablative ending (ṄasI), and this is perhaps its most common use, with both nominal and pronominal stems:

• grāmataḥ = grāmāt “from the village”
• grāmataḥ = grāmāt “from the village”
• yataḥ ... tataḥ = yasmāt ... tasmāt “because... for that reason” (ablative of cause)
• itaḥ “from this,” “because of this”
• kutaḥ “from what?” “why?”
• rāmataḥ paṭutaraḥ “cleverer than Rāma” (ablative of comparison)
• sarvataḥ “from all sides”

But it can also have a much wider range of adverbial usages, some of which are exemplified below:

• agrataḥ “in front”
• antataḥ “finally, at the end”
• guṇataḥ “in terms of qualities, with reference to qualities”
• vastutaḥ “in reality, really”
• itastataḥ “this way and that, here and there”
• abhitaḥ “nearby”
• paritaḥ “all around”
• samantataḥ “on all sides”