káti, kathā́, kathám, kadā́, katará, katamá, kárhi; kíyant, kīdṛ́ç; kútas, kútra, kúha, kvà, kucará, kukarman, kumantrin, etc.
506. Various forms of this pronoun, as kad, kim, and ku (and, rarely, ko), at the beginning of compounds, have passed from an interrogative meaning, through an exclamatory, to the value of prefixes signifying an unusual quality — either something admirable, or, oftener, something contemptible. This use begins in the Veda, but becomes much more common in later time.
507. The interrogative pronoun, as in other languages, turns readily in its independent use also to an exclamatory meaning. Moreover, it is by various added particles converted to an indefinite meaning: thus, by ca, caná, cid, ápi, vā, either alone or with the relative ya (below, 511) prefixed: thus, káç caná any one; ná kó ‘pi not any one; yā́ni kā́ni cit whatsoever; yatamát katamác ca whatever one. Occasionally, the interrogative by itself acquires a similar value.
Relative Pronoun.
508. The root of the relative pronoun is य ya, which from the earliest period of the language has lost all trace of the demonstrative meaning originally (doubtless) belonging to it, and is used as relative only.
509. It is inflected with entire regularity according to the usual pronominal declension: thus,
| Singular. | Dual. | Plural. | |||||||
| m. | n. | f. | m. | n. | f. | m. | n. | f. | |
| N. | यस् yás |
यत् yát |
या yā́ |
यौ yāú |
ये yé |
ये yé |
ये yé |
यानि yā́ni |
यास् yā́s |
| A. | यम् yām[errata 1] |
यत् yát |
याम् yā́m |
यान् yā́n |
यानि yā́ni |
यास् yā́s | |||
| I. | येन yéna |
यया yáyā |
याभ्याम् yā́bhyām |
यैस् yāís |
याभिस् yā́bhis | ||||
| D. | यस्मै yásmāi |
यस्यै yásyāi |
येभ्यस् yébhyas |
याभ्यस् yā́bhyas | |||||
| etc. | etc. | etc. | etc. | etc. | |||||
a. The Veda shows its usual variations of these forms: yā́ for yāú and for yā́ni, and yébhis for yāís; yós for yáyos also occurs once; yénā, with prolonged final, is in RV. twice as common as yéna. Reso-
