Page:Sanskrit Grammar by Whitney p1.djvu/187

 c. But throughout both Veda and Brāhmaṇa, an abbreviated form of the loc. sing., with the ending omitted, or identical with the stem, is of considerably more frequent occurrence than the regular form: thus,, , , beside  etc. The has all the usual combinations of a final : e. g., ,.

d. In the nom.-acc. pl. neut., also, an abbreviated form is common, ending in or (twice as often), instead of : thus,  and , beside : compare the similar series of endings from -stems, 329 c.

e. From a few stems in is made an abbreviated inst. sing., with loss of as well as of : thus,, , , , , , for  etc. And and  (RV., each once) are perhaps for,.

f. Other of the weakest cases than the loc. sing. are sometimes found with the of the suffix retained: thus, for example,, , ,  (accus. pl.), etc. In the infinitive datives (970 d) —, , , etc. — the always remains. About as numerous are the instances in which the, omitted in the written form of the text, is, as the metre shows, to be restored in reading.

g. The voc. sing. in, which is the usual Vedic form from stems in (below, 454 b), is found also from a few in , perhaps by a transfer to the -declension: thus, , ,  (?), , ,.

h. For words of which the is not made long in the strong cases, see the next paragraph.

426. A few stems do not make the regular lengthening of in the strong cases (except the nom. sing.). Thus:

a. The names of divinities,, : thus, , , , etc.

b. In the Veda, bull (but also );  maiden;  virile, bull (but  and  are also met with);, abbreviation of ; and two or three other scattering forms: ,. And in a number of additional instances, the Vedic metre seems to demand where  is written.

427. The stems m. dog and  young have in the weakest cases the contracted form  and  (with retention of the accent); in the strong and middle cases they are regular. Thus,, , , , etc., , , etc.; , , , , etc.

a. In dual, RV. has once for.

428. The stem generous (later, almost exclusively a name of Indra) is contracted in the weakest cases to : thus,, , , , etc.