VI. DECLENSION. NOUNS. STEMS IN SEMIVOWELS. The inflexion of gáv-, which is almost complete (the only forms not represented being the weak cases of the dual) is as follows: Sing. N. gaus. A. gám. I. gáva. D. gáve. I. gáva. D. gáve. Ab. gós. G. gos. L. gávi. - Du. N. A. gáva and gavau. Pl. N. güvas. A. gás. I. góbhis. D. gibhyas. G. gúvam and gśnām. L. gisu. V. gavas. a. Three of these forms, gắm, gắs, gós must, in the RV., be read as dissyllables in a few instances, though this is doubtful in the case of gás ¹. b. The normal G. pl. gávam, which is by far the commoner, occurring 55 times in the RV., is found only 3 times at the end of a Pada (which in two of these instances ends iambically); the irregular G. gónām ², occurring 20 times in the RV., is found at the end of a Pada only. The use of the latter form thus seems to have arisen from metrical exigencies. c. It is to be noted that from the point of view of accentuation the stem is not treated as a monosyllable, since the Udätta never shifts to the ending in weak cases. d. There are three compounds formed from this stem: á-gos 3 G. sing. m. having no cows'; prśni-gavas N. pl. m. 'having dappled cows'; rúsad-gavi L. sing. f. 'having bright cows'. 364. The strong form of dyáv- (in which they has often to be read as i) is dyáv-, which appears as dydu- before the -s of the N., and with loss of the final u, in the A. sing. dyam 5. The normal stem dyáv- appears in weak cases only, in the contracted Ab. G. dy's and the L. dyávi; it is otherwise entirely displaced by the Samprasāraṇa form div- (from which the accent shifts to the ending in weak cases) before vowels and dyú- before consonants. The weak grade stem div- has not only entirely ousted dyáv- from the I. D. sing., and largely from the Ab. G. L. sing., but has even encroached on the strong forms: divam occurring (21 times) beside dyám (79 times), and divas (once) beside dyávas (22 times) in the N. pl. Similarly dyú-7 has displaced dyáv- in the weak plural forms: A. dyún (for *dyávas) and I. dyúbhis (for *dyó-bhis). 247 The inflexion of dyáv- is less complete than that of gåv-, the D. Ab. G. L. pl. being wanting as well as all the weak cases of the dual. The forms occurring are the following: Sing. N. dydus. A. dyám; divam. I. divá. D. divé. Ab. dyós; divás 8. G. dyis; divás⁹. L. dyávi; divi¹0. V. dyáus and dyàus". Du. N. A. V. dyáva¹2; dyavi¹3. Pl. N. V. dyávas; divas ¹4 (once). A. m. dyún; f. divas ¹5 (twice). I. m. dyúbhis ¹6. — a. The A. dyắm seems to require dissyllabic pronunciation in a few instances. The form dáus occurs once (1. 718) as an Ab. instead of dyos. The form dívam doubtless made its way into the A. sing. owing to the influence of the very fre- quent weak cases divás etc., which taken together occur more than 350 times in the RV. I See LANMAN 431 (bottom). The form gavas is actually used for the A. in Kh. II. 6¹5. Formed on the analogy of the vowel declension. 3 This might be formed from the reduced stem á-gu-. 4 There is also from the reduced stem g-the A. sing. m. prśni-gum, as the N. of a man. 5 For *dyd[u 6 Like gds for *gávas. 7 Based on diu-. 8 In the RV. dyós occurs only twice as Ab., divás 50 times. like gắm for *gium 9 In the RV. dyós occurs 4 times as G., divás 180 times. 10 dyávi occurs 12 times, divi 118 times in the RV. II dyàus, that is, diaus occurs only once and is to be read as a dissyllable. 12 In the G. du. of the Dvandva divás- pythivyós, the G. sing. takes the place of the G. du., which would be divós. 13 The neuter form used once for the m. 14 Also twice in AV. 15 Also 3 or 4 times in AV. 16 dyún and dyúbhis occur only in the RV. or in verses borrowed from the RV.
