Page:Vedic Grammar.djvu/156

 I. ALLGEMEINES UND SPRACHE. 4. VEDIC GRAMMAR. c. Occasionally the weak grade stem used as first member does not occur as an independent word; thus kṣá-pavant- and kṣa-pávant- 'earth- protector' from kṣám- ‘earth'; jñu-bádh- 'bending the knee' from jắnu- ‘knee'; man-dhatý- 'devout man' from mán-as- ‘mind' (through *manz-), sát-pati- 'lord of the abode', probably from sád-as- ‘abode' (through *sats-). 146 I 204. When in the inflexion of a word two or more collateral stems (not differing in gradation only) are used, the one which appears in weak cases is mostly employed as first member in compounds. 1. Even though the stem as-yà- 'mouth' is inflected throughout, the alternative stems of weak cases ās- and asan- are preferred: a-daghná- ‘reaching to the mouth', ēsánn- isu- 'having arrows in his mouth'. 2. udán-² 'water' is preferred to uda-ká-³: uda-grābhá- m. ‘holding water', uda-pú- (AV.) ‘purified by water', uda-meghá- 'water-shower'; uda-ká- appears only in udákātman-4 (AV.) ‘having water for its chief substance'. 3. Of the three stems pánthān-, pathí-, páth-, only the middle one, which appears before consonant endings, is used: pathi-kŕt-'path- making', pathi-rákṣi- 'protecting roads'. 4. śákan-s is preferred to śákrt- ‘dung' : saka-dhúma- (AV.) ‘dung-smoke', saka-pinda- (VS.) 'lump of dung', śáka-pūta- ('purified by dung'), N. of a seer. 5. śīrsán is preferred to siras- 'head': sirşa-kapalá- (AV.) 'skull', śīrṣa-bhidya- (AV.) n. 'head-splitting', sīrṣā- mayá- (AV.) m. 'disease (amaya-) of the head'. 6. There is fluctuation between pád- and páda- 'foot', māms-6 and māmsá- 'flesh', hŕd- and hýdaya- 'heart': pad-ghosá-7 (AV.) 'sound of footsteps', but pada-gŕhya, ger. 'seizing by the foot'; māms-pácana- 'used for cooking flesh', but mamsa-bhiksá- 'begging for flesh', hrd-rogá- 'heart-disease', but hrdaya-vidh- ‘wounding the heart's 245. Alternative adjective stems sometimes appear in the first member of compounds. Thus in the RV. mahi- interchanges with mahā9 'great' in Karmadhārayas and Bahuvrihis, as máhi-kşatra 'owning great sway', but maha- dhaná 'great booty', maha-manas- 'great-minded' ¹0. A few stems in -i appear instead of or interchanging with others in -ra: ji in rji-pyá- and the Proper Names gji-svan-¹¹ beside rirá-'quick' in rjráśva- ('having quick horses'), N. of a man; *dabhi- in dabhiti-- (for *dabhi-iti-) injurer', beside dabhrá- 'small' in dabhrá-cetas- ‘of little wiť; śviti- in śvity-ánc-¹² 'bright', beside svitrá- (AV.) 'white'; saci- in saci-vid- 'belonging together', beside á-sk-ra-¹3 'united'; perhaps also -kravi- for *kruvi- in á-kravi-hasta- 'not having bloody hands', beside krū-rá-¹4 (AV.) ‘bloody'. a. A few adjective stems in - used as first member neither occur as uncompounded adjectives nor have corresponding adjective stems in ra: tuvi-jatá- "mightily born', tuvi-griva- 'strong-necked', tuvy-ójas- 'very strong'; gabhi-şák (AV.) 'deep down'. ¹ See above p. 145, note 8. 2 Inst. sing. udá, pl. udá-bhis. 3 Nom. n acc. udakám. On the other hand, of the alternative stems ásrj- and asán- 'blood', only the nom. acc. form is used; e. g. asrk-pávan- (AV.) 'drinking blood', ásrň-mukha- (AV.) 'bloody- faced'. 4 With irregular accent; cp. WACKER- NAGEL 2¹, p. 56, note. 5 Inst. śáka-bhis (TS.), nom. acc. śákyt. 9 maha- being the m., mahi- the n. nom. 6 Beside vaná 'wood' (which is fully in-acc. stem, beside the weak dat. mah-é etc. flected and appears in vaná-dhiti- 'layer of wood'), the stem van- (gen. van-âm, loc. vam-sú) is perhaps used in vám-saga- ‘bull', van-dhúra-car-seat', and van-ád- 'devouring wood' (?). 10 The AV. has the stem m it in the Karmadhāraya mahat-kāṇḍá-, 'great section'. 1 Perhaps also in jiti- (=rji-iti-), cp. WACKERNAGEL 2¹, p. 59. 12 Cp. siti-pad 'white-footed', siti-prstha- 'white-backed'. 7 Perhaps in pád-grbhi-, N. of a man or demon, if pad- pad-, cp. WACKERNAGEL 1, 148 a. 13 From sac- ‘be attached' with syncope. 14 Cp. WACKERNAGEL 2¹, p. 59. =