THE FORMATION OF NOUNS 193 ksapa 1 night tan-, tana ‘ offspring dis-, disci * direction etc. The action nouns in -d, %, u, are formed in precisely the same way as the neuter action nouns made with other suffixes, but differ from them in being feminine in gender. Since the feminine gender is a comparatively late development in Indo-European, it is to be expected that these stems were originally neuter. Direct evidence of this is provided by the neuter plurals of the type yuga. This -a is the same as the a-suffix, which was used (like some of the other neuter suffixes) as a collective, and eventually as a plural. In this use the suffix still retains the indifference to the distinction between nominative and accusa- tive which characterises neuter stems. The reason for the feminine gender of these action nouns is that these suffixes in their adjectival use became specialised as feminines, and the action nouns on account of similarity of form eventually fol- lowed suit. We have seen that the normal accent of neuter action nouns was on the root. Little trace of the general system remains in the formation of these stems. The accent of the a-s terns is variable, showing the same complete absence of rule which was observed in the i- stems. The nouns in i and u have a regular accent; on the final. This accent is in complete contradiction to the general rule, but the apophony, with w T eak suffix, and usually guna of root (tanti-, debt) shows that this is not origin- ally ; only radical accentuation will account for such forms, IE tenun, etc, A parallel shift of accent was observed in the neuter stems in -is, havis -, etc. There is a tendency with the other neuter suffixes for the suffix n either to replace or to be added to the other suffixes. There are some traces of that system here. Corresponding to kanyd * girl Av. kainyd , there is in Avestan a genitive singular 7 kainino which is related to it in the same way as Skt. Ursnds to > t Ur as. In Sanskrit this form of the stem appears in the Vedicgeni- / ^ tive plural kanindm. The sm - is normal in jhe genitive plu ral and j the agreement between Sanskrit and Germanic (OHG, gebono, ON. rundno), shows that its presence in d-stems goes back to Indo-European. It appears that this -n- is the heteroclitic n- suffix, which has been generalised in the genitive plural, but abandoned elsewhere, though Av. kainino shows that it could originally appear in other cases. —
