Page:Sanskrit Grammar by Whitney p1.djvu/126

 (R.) there is no one more fortunate than I (i.e. my superior in fortune);  (MBh.) a son dearer than my life.

d. Occasionally, an ablative is used instead of a partitive genitive: thus, (R.) he slew one out of the pair;  (KSS.) one of them.

293. The ablative is used with a variety of prepositions and words sharing a prepositional character (1128); but all these have rather an adverbial value, as strengthening or defining the from-relation, than any proper governing force. We may notice here:

a. In the Veda, and  are much used as directing and strengthening adjuncts with the ablative: as,  (AV.) born from the Himalaya (forth);  (AV.) thou art born from the ocean;  (RV.) moving forth from that which stands fast.

b. Also (and ), in the sense of forward from, and hence before: as,  (RV.) before old age: and hence also, with words of protection and the like, from: as  (RV.) securing from ill-will.

c. Also, in the sense of hither from, all the way from: as, (AV.) let it dry completely up from the root;  (AV.) since that time ye are called rivers. But usually, and especially in the later language, the measurement of interval implied in is reversed in direction, and the construction means all the way to, until: as,  (RV.) going from the mountains to the ocean;  (VS.) until the end of this sacrifice;  (M.) till the sixteenth year;  (Ç.) until her marriage.

294. Uses of the Genitive. a. The proper value of the genitive is adjectival; it belongs to and qualifies a noun, designating something relating to the latter in a manner which the nature of the case, or the connection, defines more nearly. Other genitive constructions, with adjective or verb or preposition, appear to arise out of this, by a more or less distinctly traceable connection.

b. The use of the genitive has become much extended, especially in the later language, by attribution of a noun-character to the adjective, and by pregnant verbal construction, so that it often bears the aspect of being a substitute for other cases — as dative, instrumental, ablative, locative.

295. The genitive in its normal adjective construction with a noun or pronoun is classifiable into the usual varieties: as, genitive of possession or appurtenance, including the complement of implied relation — this is, as elsewhere, the commonest of all; the so-called partitive genitive; the subjective and objective genitives; and so on. Genitives of apposition or