| Singular: | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N. | rathī́s | nadī́s | tanū́s | |
| A. | rathíam | nadíam | tanúam | |
| I. | rathíā | nadíā | tanúā | |
| D. | rathíe | nadíe | tanúe | |
| Ab. G. | rathías | nadías | tanúas | |
| L. | ..... | ..... | tanúi | |
| V. | ráthi (?) | nádi | tánu | |
| Dual: | ||||
| N. A. V. | rathíā | nadíā | tanúā | |
| I. D. Ab. | [rathī́bhyām] | nadī́bhyām | [tanū́bhyām] | |
| G. L. | [rathíos] | nadíos | tanúos | |
| Plural: | ||||
| N. A. | rathías | nadías | tanúas | |
| I. | [rathī́bhis] | nadī́bhis | tanū́bhis | |
| D. Ab. | [rathī́bhyas] | nadī́bhyas | tanū́bhyas | |
| G. | rathī́nām | nadī́nām | tanū́nām | |
| L. | [rathī́ṣu] | nadī́ṣu | tanū́ṣu | |
b. The cases — nadíam, tanúam, etc. — are written above according to their true phonetic form, almost invariably belonging to them in the Veda; in the written text, of course, the stem-final is made a semi-vowel, and the resulting syllable is circumflexed: thus, nadyàm, tanvàm, etc.; only, as usual, after two consonants the resolved forms iy and uv are written instead; and also where the combination yv would otherwise result: thus, cakríyā, [agrúvāi,] and mitrāyúvas. The RV. really reads staryàm etc. twice, and tanvàs etc. four times; and such contractions are more often made in the AV. The ending ā of the nom.-acc.-voc. du. is the equivalent of the later āu. The nom. sing. in s from ī-stems is found in the older language about sixty times, from over thirty stems.
357. Irregularities of form, properly so called, are very few in this division: camū́ as loc. sing. (instead of camvì) occurs a few times; and there is another doubtful case or two of the same kind; the final ū́ is regarded as pragṛhya or uncombinable (138); tanúi is lengthened to tanvī̀ in a passage or two; -yúvas is once or twice abbreviated to -yū́s.
358. The process of transfer to the other form of ī- and ū-declension (below, 362 ff.), which has nearly extinguished this category of words in the later language, has its beginnings in the Veda; but in RV. they are excessively scanty: namely, dūtiā́m, loc. sing., once, and çvaçruā́m, do., once, and dravitnuā́, instr. sing., with two or three other doubtful cases. In the Atharvan, we find the acc. sing. kuhū́m, tanū́m, vadhū́m; the instr. sing. palāliā́ and one or two others; the dat. sing. vadhvāí, çvaçruāí, agrúvāi; the abl.-gen. sing. punarbhúvās, pṛdākuā́s, çvaçruā́s; and the loc. sing. tanúām (with anomalous accent). Accusatives plural in īs and ūs are nowhere met with.
