Page:Sanskrit Grammar by Whitney p1.djvu/233

 b. A condensed statement of all the varieties of ending for each person and number here follows.

543. Singular: First person, a. The primary ending in the active is. The subjunctive, however (later imperative), has instead; and in the oldest Veda this  is sometimes wanting, and the person ends in  (as if the  of  were dropped). The secondary ending is properly ; but to this an  has come to be so persistently prefixed, appearing regularly where the tense-stem does not itself end in  ( for  or  in RV., once, and  MS.,  TS. etc.,  TB., are rare anomalies), that it is convenient to reckon  as ending, rather than. But the perfect tense has neither nor ; its ending is simply  (sometimes : 248 c); or, from -roots,.

b. The primary middle ending, according to the analogy of the other persons, would be regularly. But no tense or mode, at any period of the language, shows any relic whatever of a in this person; the primary ending, present as well as perfect, from -stems and others alike, is ; and to it corresponds  as secondary ending, which blends with the final of an -stem to. The optative has, however, instead of ; and in the subjunctive (later imperative) appears  for.

544. Second person. a. In the active, the primary ending is, which is shortened to as secondary; as to the loss of this  after a final radical consonant, see below, 555. But the perfect and the imperative desert here entirely the analogy of the other forms. The perfect ending is invariably (or : 248 c). The imperative is far less regular. The fullest form of its ending is ; which, however, is more often reduced to ; and in the great majority of verbs (including all -stems, at every period of the language) no ending is present, but the bare stem stands as personal form. In a very small class of verbs (722–3), is the ending. There is also an alternative ending ; and this is even used sporadically in other persons of the imperative (see below, 570–1).

b. In the middle voice, the primary ending, both present and perfect, is. The secondary stands in no apparent relation to this, being ; and in the imperative is found only (or : 248 c), which in the Veda is not seldom to be read as. In the older language, is sometimes strengthened to  in the subjunctive.

545. Third person. a. The active primary ending is ; the secondary, ; as to the loss of the latter after a final radical consonant, see below, 555. But in the imperative appears instead the peculiar ending ; and in the perfect no characteristic consonant is present, and the third person has the same ending as the first.

b. The primary middle ending is, with as corresponding secondary. In the older language, is often strengthened to  in