-ai, -o, and -au stems

There are only a few stems that end in the vowels -ai, -o, or -au. They generally use the basic nominal endings we've seen.

-ai stems

The main example of an -ai stem is the masculine stem rai, which means ”wealth” or “prosperity.” If its ending starts with a vowel, it stays the same. Otherwise, it becomes :

 SingularDualPlural
Case 1राः
rāḥ
रायौ
rāyau
रायः
rāyaḥ
Case 2रायम्
rāyam
रायौ
rāyau
रायः
rāyaḥ
Case 3राया
rāyā
राभ्याम्
rābhyām
राभिः
rābhiḥ
Case 4राये
rāye
राभ्याम्
rābhyām
राभ्यः
rābhyaḥ
Case 5रायः
rāyaḥ
राभ्याम्
rābhyām
राभ्यः
rābhyaḥ
Case 6रायः
rāyaḥ
रायोः
rāyoḥ
रायाम्
rāyām
Case 7रायि
rāyi
रायोः
rāyoḥ
राषु
rāṣu
Case 8राः
rāḥ
रायौ
rāyau
रायः
rāyaḥ

-o stems

The two common -o stems are go (“cow”) and dyo (“sky”, “heaven”). go can be either masculine or feminine according to the animal's gender. And dyo is always feminine.

The -o stems generally use the basic endings, but they make many small changes, as well. You can see their endings below:

 SingularDualPlural
Case 1गौः
gauḥ
गावौ
gāvau
गावः
gāvaḥ
Case 2गाम्
gām
गावौ
gāvau
गाः
gāḥ
Case 3गवा
gavā
गोभ्याम्
gobhyām
गोभिः
gobhiḥ
Case 4गवे
gave
गोभ्याम्
gobhyām
गोभ्यः
gobhyaḥ
Case 5गोः
goḥ
गोभ्याम्
gobhyām
गोभ्यः
gobhyaḥ
Case 6गोः
goḥ
गवोः
gavoḥ
गवाम्
gavām
Case 7गवि
gavi
गवोः
gavoḥ
गोषु
goṣu
Case 8गौः
gauḥ
गावौ
gāvau
गावः
gāvaḥ

-au stems

The main example of an -au stem is the feminine stem nau, which means ”boat.” nau uses the normal endings and uses normal sandhi changes.

We learned about the stem nau when we studied the basic nominal endings. But for convenience, we will repeat it here:

 SingularDualPlural
Case 1नौः
nauḥ
नावौ
nāvau
नावः
nāvaḥ
Case 2नावम्
nāvam
नावौ
nāvau
नावः
nāvaḥ
Case 3नावा
nāvā
नौभ्याम्
naubhyām
नौभिः
naubhiḥ
Case 4नावे
nāve
नौभ्याम्
naubhyām
नौभ्यः
naubhyaḥ
Case 5नावः
nāvaḥ
नौभ्याम्
naubhyām
नौभ्यः
naubhyaḥ
Case 6नावः
nāvaḥ
नावोः
nāvoḥ
नावाम्
nāvām
Case 7नावि
nāvi
नावोः
nāvoḥ
नौषु
nauṣu
Case 8नौः
nauḥ
नावौ
nāvau
नावः
nāvaḥ

Review

  1. Which stems end in -ai?

  2. Which stems end in -o?

  3. Which stems end in -au?