-ā, -ī, and -ū stems

In the previous lesson, we learned about the -a stems, which use masculine and neuter endings. In this lesson, we'll learn about three very similar stems:

• The -ā stems (ākārantāni, “ending in -ā”)

• The -ī stems (īkārantāni, “ending in -ī”)

• The -ū stems (ūkārantāni, “ending in -ū”)

Stems that end with these sounds are almost always feminine. In particular, the -ā and -ī endings are often used as the feminine versions of stems that end in -a:

• गज → गजा
  gaja → gajā
  (male) elephant → (female) elephant

• मृग → मृगी
  mṛga → mṛgī
  (male) deer → (female) deer

Basic -ā stems

In the previous lesson, we used the masculine stem gaja, which means ”(male) elephant,” to demonstrate the -a stem. Here, we will use the stem gajā, which means “(female) elephant,” so that the differences are clear.

As before, notice that the words in the singular use endings that are different from the others we've seen. But the words in the dual and plural mostly use endings that we've seen before:

Basic -ī stems

The -ī and -ū stems are similar to the -ā stems. But they have some small differences in the singular. In the table below, we use the feminine stem nadī, which means “river”:

The main difference is that the -ā stems frequently insert y between the stem and the ending:

• गजया → नद्या
  gajayā → nadyā

• गजायै → नद्यै
  gajāyai → nadyai

• गजायाः → नद्याः
  gajāyāḥ → nadyāḥ

• गजायाम् → नद्याम्
  gajāyām → nadyām

Basic -ū stems

The -ū stems follow the exact same pattern as the -ī stems. Where -ī becomes -y and -i, -ū becomes -v and -u. The only meaningful difference is that the case 1 singular has an extra visarga:

Review

1. When a masculine -a stem becomes feminine, which stem endings does it usually use?

2. The -ū stems use a visarga in the case 1 singular. Do we use a visarga in the case 1 singular of the -ā stems? What about the -ī stems?