Page:Vedic Grammar.djvu/137

 IV. NOMINAL STEM FORMATION. PRIMARY NOMINAL DERIVATION. 127 1. The feminines are: jūr-ni- 'heat', jya-ni-¹ (AV.) 'injury', me-ní- 'missile', śré-ni- 'line', śró-ni- 'hip', si-ni- and sr-ni- 'sickle'; masculines are: ghi-ni-² 'heat', yo-ni- 'receptacle'. 2. Agent nouns, adjectives and m. substantives, are: ag-ni- m. 'fire', júr-ni- 'singeing, túr-ni- 'speeding', dhar-ni- m. 'supporter', pŕs-ni- 'speckled', pre-ni- 'loving' (Vprī-), bhir-ni- 'excited', váh-ni- m. 'draught animal, výs-ni- and vrs-ni- 'virile', m. 'ram'. a. The suffix occurs with a connecting -u- in hrad-i-ni- f. (?) hail' 3. -nu : action and agent. 162. With this suffix is formed a small number of action and agent nouns of all genders, but mostly masculine. The action nouns often have a concrete meaning. As the suffix is almost invariably accented, the radical vowel, with one exception, never shows Guna. This suffix, like -tu, is some- times preceded by -a (which really belongs to present stems). 1. The substantives occurring are: ksep-ni- m. jerk' (x. 516), dá-nu-4 m. f. 'demon', f. 'dew', n. 'drop', dhe-ni- f. 'cow', bhā-ni- m. 'light', vag-nú- m. 'sound', vis-nu-5 m., N. of a god, su-ni- m. 'son', stha-ni-6 m. 'pillar'; with connecting -a-: krand-a-ni- m. 'roaring', ksip-a-ni- m. 'missile', nad-a-ni- m. 'roaring', nabh-a-mi-7 m. 'fountain'8. 2 2. Adjectives are: grdh-nu- 'hasty', dhrs-nú- 'bold'; with connecting -a-: the compound vi-bhanj-a-nú- 'breaking to pieces'. -pa: concrete substantives. 163. A few words are formed with this suffix, but the origin of all of them is more or less obscure. These are: pus-pa- n. 'flower', stu-pá-¹0 (VS.) m. 'tuft', stú-pa-¹⁰ m. 'top-knot'; perhaps also tál-pa- m. 'couch', sás-pa- (VS.) n. 'blade of grass', síl-pa (VS.) n. 'ornament', sür-pa- (AV.) 'winnowing basket'; possibly apu-pá- m. 'cake', úla-pa- m. 'shrub', kuna-pa- (AV.) n. 'corpse'. -ma : action and agent. 164. This suffix forms a considerable number of action nouns (almost exclusively masculine) as well as agent nouns, both adjectives and substantives.. Only a single neuter and one or two feminine substantives occur. The suffix is accented more than twice as often as the root. The vowel y always takes. Guna in the radical syllable; on the other hand, initial or medial i and u never take Guņa; when final they only do so if the root is accented. Several of these derivatives in -ma appear beside others in -man; some at least are transfers from the latter; thus dhár-man- 'ordinance' alone is found in the RV., while dhár-ma- appears beside it in the later Samhitas. I. Accented on the suffix: adjectives: e. g. jih-má- 'oblique', tig-má- 'sharp', das-má-'wondrous', bhi-má- 'terrible', sag-má- mighty'; with reduplication, ¹ In sarva-jyāni- (AV.) 'complete loss of property'. 2 Beside ghr-ná- m. and ghr-na- f. 3 This suffix is in several words preceded by a-, much in the same way as -ti; but as -ani has assumed a more independent character it is treated above (122) as a separate suffix. 4 With irregular accent. 5 Perhaps originally an adjective *vis-nú-, with shift of accent on becoming a Proper Name. But cp. p. 85, note ¹. 6 The origin of the cerebral here is obscure. 7 Also nabh-ani- f. 8 The Proper Name kyś-ánu- is perhaps similarly formed, but with long -ā-. 9 Cp. LINDNER p. 69; LIDEN, IF. 18, 496. 10 Probably from a root stu- 'drip'; see WHITNEY, Roots. 11 yupa- m. 'sacrificial post' is probably derived from yup- 'obstruct'.