-ṛ stems

Our fourth stem family is the family of -ṛ stems, which are usually masculine or neuter. These stems mostly use the basic nominal endings. But unlike the stems we have seen so far, these stems will change in certain cases and numbers. These changes occur only for the masculine stem.

For example, consider the stem kartṛ, which means “doer” or ”maker.” Suppose we use the stem kartṛ in the masculine gender. In cases 1, 2, and 8 (except for the case 2 plural), the stem becomes kartār instead, and the final -r is dropped in the case 1 singular.

Many of the stems that end with consonants change similarly. These changed stems are often called strong stems, and the others are called weak stems. In the table below, all of the strong stems are highlighted:

As for the endings used by this stem, we have only a few comments to make. In the singular, notice the use of kartuḥ for cases 5 and 6. The case 7 singular, kartari, uses the normal ending but with a different stem.

In the plural, notice the use of kartṝn and kartṝṇām, which resemble the other masculine endings we've seen:

• कर्तॄन्, कर्तॄणाम्
  kartṝn, kartṝṇām
  (kartṛ, plural, in cases 2 and 6)

• गजान्, गजानाम्
  gajān, gajānām
  (gaja, plural, in cases 2 and 6)

• शुचीन्, शुचीनाम्
  śucīn, śucīnām
  (śuci, plural, in cases 2 and 6)

• मधून्, मधूनाम्
  madhūn, madhūnām
  (madhu, plural, in cases 2 and 6)

Finally, notice that the case 8 singular is kartaḥ. Here, the original form is kartar, which becomes kartaḥ due to sandhi. kartaḥ and a word like rāmaḥ mostly follow the same sandhi rules. But where rāmaḥ would become rāmo, kartaḥ becomes kartar:

• रामः नगरम् गच्छति → रामो नगरं गच्छति
  rāmaḥ nagaram gacchati → rāmo nagaraṃ gacchati
  Rama goes to the city.

• कर्तः नगरम् गच्छ → कर्तर् नगरं गच्छ
  kartaḥ nagaram gaccha → kartar nagaraṃ gaccha
  O doer, go to the city.

Family words

Many -ṛ stems refer to different family members. The four examples below use the words pitṛ, mātṛ, bhrātṛ, and svasṛ:

• दशरथो रामस्य पिता।
  daśaratho rāmasya pitā.
  Dasharatha is Rama's father.

• कौसल्या रामस्य माता।
  kausalyā rāmasya mātā.
  Kausalya is Rama's mother.

• लक्ष्मणो रामस्य भ्राता।
  lakṣmaṇo rāmasya bhrātā.
  Lakshmana is Rama's brother.

• रामस्य न स्वसा।
  rāmasya na svasā.
  Rama doesn't have a sister.

Most of these words use -ar instead of -ār for their strong stem. In the tables below, notice the case 2 feminine plural is mātṝḥ. Otherwise, the endings are the same:

However, svasṛ uses the normal strong stem (svasār). Here are the cases that differ from mātṛ above:

Review

We are almost done with our study of the major stem families.

1. What is the strong stem of kartṛ?

2. What is the strong stem of pitṛ?

3. What is the strong stem of svasṛ?