enough to mention here is only the guṇa-strengthening of a final i or u, which in the later language is always made before as of nom. pl. and e of dat. sing. in masc. and fem.; in the Veda, it does not always take place; nor is it forbidden in dat. sing. neut. also; and it is seen sometimes in loc. sing. Final ṛ has guṇa-strengthening in loc. sing.
313. Insertions between Stem and Ending. After vowel-stems, an added n often makes its appearance before an ending. The appendage is of least questionable origin in nom.-acc. pl. neut., where the interchange in the old language of the forms of a- and i-stems with those of an- and in-stems is pretty complete; and the u-stems follow their analogy. Elsewhere, it is most widely and firmly established in the gen. pl., where in the great mass of cases, and from the earliest period, the ending is virtually nām after a vowel. In the i- and u-stems of the later language, the instr. sing. of masc. and neut. is separated by its presence from the fem., and it is in the other weakest cases made a usual distinction of neuter forms from masculine; but the aspect of the matter in the Veda is very different: there the appearance of the n is everywhere sporadic; the neuter shows no special inclination to take it, and it is not excluded even from the feminine. In the ending ena from a-stems (later invariable, earlier predominating) its presence appears to have worked the most considerable transformation of original shape.
a. The place of n before gen. pl. ām is taken by s in pronominal a- and ā-stems.
b. The y after ā before the endings āi, ās, and ām is most probably an insertion, such as is made elsewhere (258).
Accent in Declension.
314. a. As a rule without exception, the vocative, if accented at all, is accented on the first syllable.
b. And in the Veda (the case is a rare one), whenever a syllable written as one is to be pronounced as two by restoration of a semivowel to vowel form, the first element only has the vocative accent, and the syllable as written is circumflex (83–4): thus, dyāùs (i.e. díāus) when dissyllabic, but dyāús when monosyllabic; jyā̀ke when for jíāke.
c. But the vocative is accented only when it stands at the beginning of a sentence — or, in verse, at the beginning also of a metrical division or pāda; elsewhere it is accentless or enclitic: thus, ágne yáṁ yajñám paribhū́r ási (RV.) O Agni! whatever offering thou protectest; but úpa tvā ’gna é ’masi (RV.) unto thee, Agni, we come.
d. A word, or more than one word, qualifying a vocative — usually an adjective or appositive noun, but sometimes a dependent noun in the genitive (very rarely in any other case) — constitutes, so far as accent is
