Page:Sanskrit Grammar by Whitney p1.djvu/514

 disease, pain, grief, captivity, and misfortune.

2. c. The compound, without regard to the number denoted, or to the gender of its constituents, becomes a neuter singular collective.

d. Examples are: what is offered and bestowed,  a day and night,  the done and undone,  past and future,  hair and beard,  plants and trees,  moon and stars,  snake and ichneumon,  head and neck,  lice, flies, and bugs.

1254. a. That a stem in as prior member sometimes takes its nominative form, in, was noticed above, 1250 f.

b. A stem as final member is sometimes changed to an -form to make a neuter collective: thus, an umbrella and a shoe.

c. The grammarians give rules as to the order of the elements composing a copulative compound: thus, that a more important, a briefer, a vowel-initial member should stand first; and that one ending in should be placed last. Violations of them all, however, are not infrequent.

1255. In the oldest language (RV.), copulative compounds such as appear later are quite rare, the class being chiefly represented by dual combinations of the names of divinities and other personages, and of personified natural objects.

a. In these combinations, each name has regularly and usually the dual form, and its own accent; but, in the very rare instances (only three occurrences out of more than three hundred) in which other cases than the nom.-acc.-voc. are formed, the final member only is inflected.

b. Examples are: (and, with intervening words, ),. The only plural is (voc.). The cases of other than nominative form are and  (also ), and  (each once only).

c. From is made the very peculiar genitive  (4 times: AV. has  and ).

d. In one compound,, the first member (RV., once) does not have the dual ending along with the double accent (, voc., is doubtful as to accent). In several, the double accent is wanting, while yet the double designation of number is present: thus, (beside ),  ( occurs only as voc.),, and  (with  and ):  is accented only