130 
[No. 2, 
G. A. Grierson— Essays on Bihari Declension. 
The casual terminations of the Ramayan have been discussed by 
Hoernle (G. G. pp. 195—212). The results arrived at are as follows : With 
the exception of ij w , which may be considered as a strengthened form of 
all the above forms are found in Apabhramsa Prakrit. Taking each form 
separately we find ; 
A. With regard to P?, that it is used in the following cases :— 
Ap. Prakrit. (% or 
Ramayan. 
Maithili. 
Accusative. 
Accusative. 
Instrumental. 
Instrumental. 
— 
Dative. 
Ablative. () 
Ablative. 
Ablative. 
Genitive. ( ^ ) 
Genitive. 
Locative. () 
Locative. 
Locative. 
See Hoernle G. G., §§ 365 and 367. As regards the Prakrit form ff, it 
is a weakened form of % which is properly a termination of the genitive 
singular, and has been extended to the abl. and loc. in Prakrit, and fur¬ 
ther extended to the acc. instr. and dat. in the Ramayan. In Maithili, it 
has altogether lost its genitival sense, and is not used in the dative, as in 
the Ramayan. This termination f% is derived from the Sanskrit termina¬ 
tion ^ of the genitive. So that we get the series Skr. Ap. Pr. 
Bihari ‘ of a horse.’ It will be seen that the termination 
in Bihari, being added to the weak form of the noun, presupposes 
a Skr. and not which latter would become Ap. Pr, 
and Bihari ^fbfTf%. 
Other examples are Slcr. ‘ a sage,’ gen. sing. (for 
Ap. Pr. Bihari , : and Skr. ‘ a teacher,’ gen. sing 
3TTT: (for Jiw), Ap. Pr. 31^, 3T^f%, Bihari, 
^ # vJ Vi 
It is not necessary to give examples of Skr. strong forms in for our 
present purposes,—for the termination f% is, in Bihari, only added to the 
weak form of nouns. 
B. is used in the Ramayan only in a plural sense. In Maithili it 
has (to a great extent in use) superseded f%, and is used in the sense both 
of singular and plural in the following cases :— 
Ap. Pr. (^ or f#) 
Ramayan, 
Maithili. 
Instr. plur. (f?)* 
Acc. plur.* 
Acc. sing, and plur. 
Instr. plur.* 
Dat. plur.* 
Abl. plur.* 
Instr. sing, and plur. 
Gen. plur. ("%)* 
Gen. plur.* 
Loc. sing. plur. (f^)* 
Loc. plur.* 
Loc. sing, and plur. 
* Used also sometimes in singular, vide Hoernle, p. 208. 
