h. The use of n before ām of the gen. masc. and neut. after a final consonant of the stem is (as in ṣaṣ: below, 483) a striking irregularity. The more regular gen. fem. catasṝṇām also sometimes occurs. In the later language, the accentuation of the final syllable instead of the penult is said to be allowed in inst., dat.-abl., and loc.
483. The numbers from 5 to 19 have no distinction of gender, nor any generic character. They are inflected, somewhat irregularly, as plurals, save in the nom.-acc., where they have no proper plural form, but show the bare stem instead. Of ṣáṣ (as of catúr), nām is the gen. ending, with mutual assimilation (198 b) of stem-final and initial of the termination. Aṣṭá (as accented in the older language) has an alternative fuller form, aṣṭā́, which is almost exclusively used in the older literature (V. and B), both in inflection and in composition (but some compounds with aṣṭa are found as early as the AV.); its nom.-acc. is aṣṭá (usual later: found in RV. once, and in AV.), or aṣṭā́ (RV.), or aṣṭāú (most usual in RV.; also in AV., B., and later).
a. The accent is in many respects peculiar. In all the accented texts, the stress of voice lies on the penult before the endings bhis, bhyas, and su, from the stems in a, whatever be the accent of the stem: thus, pañcábhis from páñca, navábhyas from náva, daçásu from dáça, navadaçábhis from návadaça, ekādaçábhyas from ékādaça, dvādaçásu from dvā́daça (according to the grammarians, either the penult or the final is accented in these forms in the later language). In the gen. pl., the accent is on the ending (as in that of i-, u-, and ṛ-sterns): thus, pañcadaçānā́m, saptadaçānā́m. The cases of ṣaṣ, and those made from the stem-form aṣṭā, have the accent throughout upon the ending.
b. Examples of the inflection of these words are as follows:
| N.A. | páñca | ṣáṭ | aṣṭāú | aṣṭá |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I. | pañcábhis | ṣaḍbhís | aṣṭābhís | aṣṭábhis |
| D. Ab. | pañcábhyas | ṣaḍbhyás | aṣṭābhyás | aṣṭábhyas |
| G. | pañcānā́m | ṣaṇṇā́m | aṣṭānā́m | |
| L. | pañcásu | ṣaṭsú | aṣṭāsú | aṣṭásu. |
c. Saptá (in the later language sápta, as áṣṭa for aṣṭá) and náva and dáça, with the compounds of dáça (11–19), are declined like páñca, and with the same shift of accent (or with alternative shift to the endings, as pointed out above).
484. The Hindu grammarians give to the stems for 5 and 7–19 a final n: thus, pañcan, saptan, aṣṭan, navan, daçan, and ekādaçan etc. This, however, has nothing to do with the demonstrably original final nasal of 7, 9, and 10 (compare septem, novem, decem; seven, nine, ten); it is only owing to the fact that, starting from such a stem-form, their inflection is made to assume a more regular aspect, the nom.-acc. having the form of a neut. sing. in an, and the instr., dat.-abl., and loc. that of a neut. or masc. pl. in an: compare nā́ma, nā́mabhis, nā́ma-
