THE DECLENSION OF NOUNS 229 has a form different from the nom. sg. and this form follows the analogy of the majority of cases. The yaw^-suffix is built on the van-suffix and though no nom. sg. in -vas is recorded for the latter type of stem, the vocatives in -vas are an indication that the nom. sg. may once have been so formed. In some stems the suffixes van - and vant- are combined heteroclitically. The stem maghdvan - (nom. sg. maghdvd, gen. sg. maghdnas uses the vant - stem before terminations beginning with a consonant (instr. pi. niaghdvadbhis). An instr. sg. fkvatd appears beside the usual stem fkvan - ' praising The stems dr van- and qrvant- ' steed * are interchangeable. The stem yuvan-, yun- makes its neut. sg. yuvat, and this extended stem is the basis of the fem. yuvatv The perfect participle is formed mainly with the stem in -■ yarns- jus , but before the terminations beginning * with a con- sonant, there appears a stem in vat ( vidvddbhis instr, pi.). This suffix reappears in Greek, where it forms the normal basis of the declension IS tbs', elSoro s) and it is attested also in Gothic [weitwod- ( witness '). The comparative evidence shows it to be different from the vat [wnt) which is the weak form of the vant- suffix, since it has no nasal. The word for ' path, way ' declines with a variety of stems. The strong form in the Rgveda appears as nom. sg. pdnihds , acc. sg. pdnthdm , nom. ph pdnthas, to which correspond Aw pantA, pantam. In the weak cases the stem appears as path- (instr. sg. patha, etc.). The relation of these two stems is one of apophonv : strong form of suffix a h (> a), weak form h. The weak form of the suffix, H, aspirates the preceding t, and this aspiration is then extended to the nom. sg., etc. The same development occurs in the case of the strong and weak stems mahd mah- 1 great ' (megeu 2 -lmegn 2 ). In the middie cases of path - an i- stem is used, which occurs elsewhere (O. SI. pgii, O. Pruss. pintis) : inscr. ph pathibhis , etc. (on the other hand Av. has padzbis without -?'-). In the same way mahdjmah - has a supple- mentary i-stem, in this case in the nept. sg. (mahi ; in Av. also in. the instr. ph mazibiS). After the Rgveda there appears another strong stem of path-, an n- stem (acc. sg. jpdnthdham , nom. ph panthdnas). This is also ancient since the same formation appears in Avestan : pantdmm , pantdno. The same kind of inflection is laid down by the grammarians for rbhuks- ‘ n. of a divine being ' and math- 4 chuming-stick
