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A. F. Rudolf Hoernle— Essays on the Oaurian Languages. [No. 1, 
the assumption that Prakrit bases which in the nominative case ended 
in changed or deteriorated in the genitive case into To illus¬ 
trate this, let us take again the case of done. Its direct form 
represents a Prakrit nominative fNr^r, which changed successively into 
or f^T. The oblique form , as we have just seen, 
postulates a Prakrit genitive that is, the Prakrit nominative 
or with a base in has a genitive or with 
a base in Now though this change may surprise at first sight, there is 
really nothing irregular or extraordinary in it. It is a phenomenon which 
under certain phonetic circumstances regularly occurs. I have had occasion 
already to notice that the base termination (^3f) has a tendency to 
degenerate into ^ or Thus we have in the Mirchchhakati 
besides ; and for etc.f But the change has 
become an absolute rule in the feminine. Bases which in the masculine 
end in (^if) change always in the feminine into a base ending in 
(f and this rule obtains already in Sanskrit; e. g., Skr. masc. 
boy, but fern. ^tF^^TT girl; Prakrit masc. ^T^r^fT, fern. 3Tf%^rr, etc. The 
reason of this change, probably, is that, as the ultimate in the feminine is 
heavily weighted (by changing to ^fT), the penultimate is lightened (by 
changing to x). Now under exactly the same circumstances the same 
change evidently takes place in the later or vulgar Prakrit declension of 
bases in Take again the example of The Nom. sing, is 
The Gen. or or or At this stage, I think, 
the change must have taken place ; the form f^r^^TT would correspond exactly 
to an original feminine form ^T^r^fTT; and as the latter changed to 
so the former changed to f^rf^TT, and for the same reason ; because the 
ultimate had become for % the penultimate was shortened to for 
Next or changed to ; and this to FfR; or This 
theory applies equally to Hindi masc. nouns in or ^t. Take, e. g., 
horse. It is derived from the Prakrit base ijrg^T or irs^, which in the 
feminine becomes inf^rr cr The Nom. Sing, of the Masc. is sirs'3TT 
or sirs^T, which in Gaurian is contracted into i?T%T and changed to 
The Gen. Sing, of the masc. is or which changes successively 
to ir^r, %f^T, 3T^IT, which is the present Marathi 
oblique form, and finally to ifl%, which is the present Hindi oblique form of 
the word. 
There is another explanation possible of the Hindi oblique form in v; 
which is not open to the difficulty just now discussed. But it is open to 
* It should be noted, however, that, as explained previously, the Hindi infini¬ 
tive termination or ^ requires a change of the original Prakrit termination to 
; so that, practically, there is no difference in this respect between Hindi infini¬ 
tives and other Hindi neuter nouns. 
f See also some more examples in the note 5 on page 105. 
