390. Monosyllabic stems have the regular accent of such, throwing the tone forward upon the endings in the weak cases.
a. But the accusative plural has its normal accentuation as a weak case, upon the ending, in only a minority (hardly more than a third) of the stems: namely in datás, pathás, padás, nidás, apás, uṣás, jñāsás, puṁsás, māsás, mahás; and sometimes in vācás, srucás, hrutás, sridhás, kṣapás, vipás, durás, iṣás, dviṣás, druhás (beside vā́cas etc.).
b. Exceptional instances, in which a weak case has the tone on the stem, occur as follows: sádā, nádbhyas, tánā (also tanā́) and táne, bā́dhe (infin.), ráṇe and ráṅsu, váṅsu, sváni, vípas, kṣámi, sū́rā and sū́ras (but sūré), áṅhas, and vánas and bṛ́has (in vánaspáti, bṛ́haspáti). On the other hand, a strong case is accented on the ending in mahás, nom. pl., and kāsám (AV.: perhaps a false reading). And preṣā́, instr. sing., is accented as if préṣ were a simple stem, instead of pra-íṣ. Vimṛdháḥ is of doubtful character. For the sometimes anomalous accentuation of stems in ac or añc, see 410.
391. Examples of inflection. As an example of normal monosyllabic inflection, we may take the stem वाच् vā́c f. voice (from √वच् vac, with constant prolongation); of inflection with strong and weak stem, पद् pád m. foot; of polysyllabic inflection, मरुत् marút, m. wind or wind-god; of a monosyllabic root-stem in composition, त्रिवृत् trivṛ́t, three-fold, in the neuter. Thus:
| Singular: | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N. V. | वाक् vā́k |
पात् pā́t |
मरुत् marút |
त्रिवृत् trivṛ́t |
| A. | वाचम् vā́cam |
पादम् pā́dam |
मरुतम् marútam |
त्रिवृत् trivṛ́t |
| I. | वाचा vācā́ |
पदा padā́ |
मरुता marútā |
त्रिवृता trivṛ́tā |
| D. | वाचे vācé |
पदे padé |
मरुते marúte |
त्रिवृते trivṛ́te |
| Ab. G. | वाचस् vācás |
पदस् padás |
मरुतस् marútas |
त्रिवृतस् trivṛ́tas |
| L. | वाचि vācí |
पदि padí |
मरुति marúti |
त्रिवृति trivṛ́ti |
