Page:Vedic Grammar.djvu/22

I. ALLGEMEINES UND SPRACHE. 4. VEDIC GRAMMAR. nom. acc. du. neut. (— padá-i); bháves, opt. pres. (= bháva-īs); yamé ‘twin' sisters', nom. acc. du. fem. (- yamá-î). 12 3. stands for a+u; e. g. ávocam, aor. of vac- 'speak' (= áva-uc-am). 4. ai stands for å+e and, in augmented forms, a+i; e. g. tásmai 'to. him', dat. sing. masc. (= tásma-e); devyái, dat. sing. fem. (- devyá-e); áicchat, 3. sing. impf. (= á-icchat); áirata, 3. pl. impf. (= á-īrata) ‘set in motion'. 5. au stands for a+u in augmented forms; e. g. ducchat, 3. sing. impf. of vas- 'shine' (= á-ucchat); auhat, 3. sing. impf. of uh- 'remove' (= a-uh-at). b. Contractions of i with i or a are the following: I. 7 stands for iti in the nom. acc. pl. neut. of i-stems; e. g. tri 'three' (= tri-i). 2. 7 stands for i+i in weak forms of the perfect, when the reduplicative vowel is immediately followed by i (either original or reduced from ya); e. g. is-úr ( i-is-úr from is- 'speed'); j-é (= i-ij-é from yaj- 'sacrifice'). - 3. īstands for itā in the inst. sing. fem. and the nom. acc. du. masc. fem. of stems in -i; e. g. matí (— matí-à) ‘by thought'; pátī ‘the two lords' (— páti-ā, cp. ṛtvij-ā), śúc-i, du. fem. 'the two bright ones' (= śúci-à). 4. 7 stands for i+a in compounds of dvi- 'two', ní 'down', práti 'against', with the low grade of ap- 'water' : dvīp-á- ‘island'; nip-á- 'low-lying' (K.)¹; pratīpám against the stream'². 5. 7 stands for i+ã when reduplicative i is followed by the low grade form of a root beginning with ā : ípsa-ti (AV.), desiderative of ap- 'obtain' (=i-ip-sa-) ³. A similar contraction takes place when initial radical a is long by position, in iks-ate 'sees' (cp. ákş-i 'eye') and inkh-dyati 'swings' (cp. pari- ankhayate 'may he embrace'). In ij-ate 'drives', beside áj-ati 'drives', the contraction to ī of i+ă is perhaps due to analogy4. c. Contractions of u with u or a are the following: I. ū stands for u+u in weak forms of the perfect when the reduplicative vowel is immediately followed by u (either original or reduced from va); e. g. ūc-e, 3 sing. mid. (= u-uc-e) from uc- 'like'; ūc-úr (— u-uc-úr) from vac- 'speak'. 2. stands for utā in the compound formed with ánu 'along' and the low grade of áp- 'water': anup-á-4 pond'. 3. u stands for u+ã in the nom. acc. du. masc. fem. of u-stems; e. g. bāhú 'the two arms' ( bāhú-ā). = 4. seems to stand for uti in the nom. acc. pl. neuter of u-stems; e. g. vásu (= vásu-i), from vásu- 'good'; but the vowel may possibly be lengthened by analogy5, for the Pada text always has ž. 20. Hiatus.-a. In the written text of the Samhitãs, hiatus is, as a rule, tolerated in diphthongs only, vowels being otherwise separated by consonants. It nevertheless appears: 1. in Sandhi, when a final s y or v has been dropped before a following vowel; when final î û e of dual endings are followed by vowels; when a remains after final e and o; and in some other instances; 2. in compounds, when the final s of the first member has disappeared before a vowel; e. g. dyo-agra- 'iron-pointed' (áyas- iron'); pura-et- 'leader' (purás 'before'); and when, by a Prakritism, y is lost in prá-uga- 'fore-part of the shaft' (= prá-yuga-); ¹ Cp. nip-ya- (VS.), ‘lying at the bottom'. 2 Cp. ánīka- and prátīka- ‘face'. 3 Cp. Samprasarana ī and u for ya and vā. 4 Cp. WACKERNAGEL I, 90 c, p. 104. 5 That is, of the a and i stems; e. g. bhadra, tri. 6 See below, Sandhi 69-73.