becomes H. camār; Skr. rajani, Ap. ra(y)aṇi, H. rain, night; Skr.
dhavalakas, Ap. dhavalau, H. dhaulā, white. Sometimes the semi-vowel
is retained, as in Skr. kātaras, Ap. kā(y)aru, H. kāyar, a
coward. Almost the only compound consonants which survived
in the Pr. stage were double letters, and in W.H. and E.H. these
are usually simplified, the preceding vowel being lengthened and
sometimes nasalized, in compensation. P., on the other hand, prefers
to retain the double consonant. Thus, Skr. karma, Ap. kammu,
W.H. and E.H. kām, but P. kamm, a work; Skr. satyas, Ap. saccu,
W.H. and E.H. sāc, but P. sacc, true (H., being the W.H. dialect
which lies nearest to P., often follows that language, and in this
instance has sacc, usually written sac); Skr. hastas, Ap. hatthu,
W.H. and E.H. hāth, but P. hatth, a hand. The nasalization of vowels
is very frequent in all three languages, and is here represented by the
sign ~ over the vowel. Sometimes it is compensatory, as in sā̃c,
but it often represents an original m, as in kawãl from Skr. kamalas,
a lotus. Final short vowels quiesce in prose pronunciation, and are
usually not written in transliteration; thus the final a, i or u has
been lost in all the examples given above, and other tatsama examples
are Skr. mati-which becomes mat, mind, and Skr. vastu-, which becomes
bast, a thing. In all poetry, however (except in the Urdū
poetry formed on Persian models, and under the rules of Persian
prosody), they reappear and are necessary for the scansion.
In tadbhava words an original long vowel in any syllable earlier than the penultimate is shortened. In P. and H. when the long vowel is ē or ō it is shortened to i or u respectively, but in other W.H. dialects and in E.H. it is shortened to e or o; thus, bēṭī, daughter, long form H. biṭiyā, E.H. beṭiyā; ghōṛī, mare, long form H. ghuṛiyā, E.H. ghoṛiyā. The short vowels e and o are very rare in P. and H., but are not uncommon (though ignored by most grammars) in E.H. and the other W.H. dialects. A medial ḍ is pronounced as a strongly burred cerebral ṛ, and is then written as shown, with a supposited dot. All these changes and various contractions of Prakrit syllables have caused considerable variations in the forms of words, but generally not so as to obscure the origin.
(B) Declension.—The nominative form of a tadbhava word is derived from the nominative form in Sanskrit and Prakrit, but tatsama words are usually borrowed in the form of the Skr. crude base; thus, Skr. hastin-, nom. hastī, Ap. nom. hatthī, H. hāthī, an elephant; Skr. base mati-, nom. matis, H. (tatsama) mati, or, with elision of the final short vowel, mat. Some tatsamas are, however, borrowed in the nominative form, as in Skr. dhanin-, nom. dhanī, H. dhanī, a rich man. As another example of a tadbhava word, we may take the Skr. nom. ghōṭas, Ap. ghōḍu, H. ghōṛ, a horse. Here again the final short vowel has been elided, but in old poetry we should find ghōṛu, and corresponding forms in u are occasionally met with at the present day.
In the article Prakrit attention is drawn to the frequent use of pleonastic suffixes, especially -ka- (fem.-(i)kā). With such a suffix we have the Skr. ghōṭa-kas, Ap. ghōḍa-u, Western Hindi ghoṛau, or in P. and H. (which is the W.H. dialect nearest in locality to P.) ghōṛā, a horse; Skr. ghōṭi-kā, Ap. ghōḍi-ā, W.H. and P. ghōḍī, a mare. Such modern forms made with one pleonastic suffix are called “strong forms,” while those made without it are called “weak forms.” All strong forms end in au (or ā) in the masculine, and in ī in the feminine, whereas, in Skr., and hence in tatsamas, both ā and ī are generally typical of feminine words, though sometimes employed for the masculine. It is shown in the article Prakrit that these pleonastic suffixes can be doubled, or even trebled, and in this way we have a new series of tadbhava forms. Let us take the imaginary Skr. *ghōṭa-ka-kas with a double suffix. From this we have the Ap. ghōḍa-a-u, and modern ghoṛawā (with euphonic w inserted), a horse. Similarly for the feminine we have Skr. *ghōṭi-ka-kā, Ap. ghōḍi-a-ā, modern ghoṛiyā (with euphonic y inserted), a mare. Such forms, made with two suffixes, are called “long forms,” and are heard in familiar conversation, the feminine also serving as diminutives. There is a further stage, built upon three suffixes, and called the “redundant form,” which is mainly used by the vulgar. As a rule masculine long forms end in -awā, -iyā or -uā, and feminines in -iyā, although the matter is complicated by the occasional use of pleonastic suffixes other than the -ka- which we have taken for our example, and is the most common. Strong forms are rarely met with in E.H., but on the other hand long forms are more common in that language.
There are a few feminine terminations of weak nouns which may be noted. These are -inī, -in, -an, -nī (Skr. -inī, Pr. -iṇī); and -ānī, -āni, -āin (Skr. -ānī, Pr. -āṇī). These are found not only in words derived from Prakrit, but are added to Persian and even Arabic words; thus, hathinī, hathnī, hāthin (Skr. hastinī, Pr. hatthiṇī), a she-elephant; sunārin, sunāran, a female goldsmith (sōnār); shērnī, a tigress (Persian shēr, a tiger); Naṣīban, a proper name (Arabic naṣīb); paṇḍitānī, the wife of a paṇḍit; caudhrāin, the wife of a caudhrī or head man; mehtrānī, the wife of a sweeper (Pres. mehtar, a sweeper). With these exceptions weak forms rarely have any terminations distinctive of gender.[1]
The synthetic declension of Sanskrit and Prakrit has disappeared. We see it in the actual stage of disappearance in Apabhraṁśa (see Prakrit), in which the case terminations had become worn down to -hu, -ho, -hi, -hī and -hã, of which -hi and -hī̃ were employed for several cases, both singular and plural. There was also a marked tendency for these terminations to be confused, and in the earliest stages of the modern vernaculars we find -hi freely employed for any oblique case of the singular, and -hī̃ for any oblique case of the plural, but more especially for the genitive and the locative. In the case of modern weak nouns these terminations have disappeared altogether in W.H. and P. except in sporadic forms of the locative such as gā̃wē (for gā̃wahi), in the village. In E.H. they are still heard as the termination of a form which can stand for any oblique case, and is called the “oblique form” or the “oblique case.” Thus, from ghar, a house (a weak noun), we have W.H. and P. oblique form ghar, E.H. gharahi, gharē or ghar. In the plural, the oblique form is sometimes founded on the Ap. terminations -hã and -hu, and sometimes on the Skr. termination of the genitive plural -ānām (Pr. -āṇa, -aṇhaṃ), as in P. gharā̃, W.H. gharaū̃, gharō̃, gharani, E.H. gharan. In the case of masculine weak forms, the plural nominative has dropped the old termination, except in E.H., where it has adopted the oblique plural form for this case also, thus gharan. The nominative plural of feminine weak forms follows the example of the masculine in E.H. In P. it also takes the oblique plural form, while in W.H. it takes the old singular oblique form in -ahĩ, which it weakens to aĩ or (H.) ē̃; thus bāt (fem.), a word, nom. plur. E.H. bāt-an, P. bāt-ā̃, W.H. bātaĩ or (H.) bāte.
Strong masculine bases in Ap. ended in -a-a (nom. -a-u); thus ghōḍa-a- (nom. ghōḍa-u), and adding -hi we get ghōḍa-a-hi, which becomes contracted ghōḍāhi and finally to ghōṛē. The nominative plural is the same as the oblique singular, except in E.H. where it follows the oblique plural. The oblique plural of all closely follows in principle the weak forms. Feminine strong forms in Ap. ended in -i-ā, contracted to ī in the modern languages. Except in E.H. the -hi of the original oblique form singular disappears, so that we have E.H. ghōṛihi or ghōṛī, others only ghōṛī. The nominative plural of feminine strong forms exhibits some irregularities. In E.H., as usual, it follows the plural oblique forms. In W.H. (except Hindostani) it simply nasalizes the oblique form singular (i.e. adds -hī̃ instead of -hi), as in ghōrī̃. P. and H. adopt the oblique long form for the plural and nasalize it, thus, P. ghōṛīā̃, H. ghōṛiyā̃. The oblique plurals call for no further remarks. We thus get the following summary, illustrating the way in which these nominative and oblique forms are made.
| Panjabi. | Hindostani. | Braj Bhasha. | Eastern Hindi. | |
| Weak Noun Masc.— | ||||
| Nom. Sing. | ghar | ghar | ghar | ghar |
| Obl. Sing. | ghar | ghar | ghar | ghar, gharahi |
| Nom. Plur. | ghar | ghar | ghar | gharan |
| Obl. Plur. | gharā̃ | gharō̃ | gharaũ, gharani | gharan |
| Strong Noun Masc.— | ||||
| Nom. Sing. | ghōṛā | ghōṛā | ghōṛau | ghōṛā |
| Obl. Sing. | ghōṛē | ghōṛē | ghōṛē, ghōṛai | ghōṛā, ghōṛē |
| Nom. Plur. | ghōṛē | ghōṛē | ghōṛē | ghōṛan |
| Obl. Plur. | ghōṛiā̃ | ghōṛō̃ | ghōṛaũ, ghōṛani | ghōṛan |
| Weak Noun Fem.— | ||||
| Nom. Sing. | bāt | bāt | bāt | bāt |
| Obl. Sing. | bāt | bāt | bāt | bāt |
| Nom. Plur. | bātā̃ | bātē̃ | bātaī | bātan |
| Obl. Plur. | bātā̃ | bātō̃ | bātaũ, bātani | bātan |
| Strong Noun Fem.— | ||||
| Nom. Sing. | ghōṛī | ghōṛī | ghōṛī | ghōṛī |
| Obl. Sing. | ghōṛī | ghōṛī | ghōṛī | ghōṛī, ghōṛihi |
| Nom. Plur. | ghōṛīā̃ | ghōṛiyā̃ | ghōṛī̃ | ghōṛin |
| Obl. Plur. | ghōṛīā̃ | ghōṛiyō̃ | ghōṛiyaũ, ghōṛiyani | ghōṛin |
We have seen that the oblique form is the resultant of a general melting down of all the oblique cases of Sanskrit and Prakrit, and that in consequence it can be used for any oblique case. It is obvious that if it were so employed it would often give rise to great confusion. Hence, when it is necessary to show clearly what particular case is intended, it is usual to add defining particles corresponding to the English prepositions “of,” “to,” “from,” “by,” &c., which, as in all Indo-Aryan languages they follow the main word, are here called “postpositions.” The following are the postpositions commonly employed to form cases in our three languages:—
- ↑ In some dialects of W.H. weak forms have masculines ending in u and corresponding feminines in i, but these are nowadays rarely met in the literary forms of speech. In old poetry they are common. In Braj Bhasha they have survived in the present participle.
