THE FORMATION OF NOUNS 177 masc.-fem. class. The few that remain are mainly defective. Of these sdtni 4 work ' is indeclinable ; dsthi 1 bone dksi 1 eye sdkthi l ' thigh 7 and dadhi 1 curd ' substitute an n-stem in declen- sion (gen. sg. asihnds , aksnds , sakthnds , dadhnds) ; vdri> ' water ' adds n to the stem in the same circumstances (gen, sg. varinas , cf. the same thing with neuter w-stems, and occasionally elsewhere, e.g. sir as } sirsnas) ; hirdi 1 heart 7 substitutes the root stem (gen, sg. hr das } etc.). There is one rare neuter with the com- pound suffix -vi, srkvi which inflects like vari. The neuters have not preserved an inflection in which the i- suffix is preserved throughout, in contradistinction to the neuter w-stems where such exists (mddhu, mddhvas). It can be traced however in the declension of dvi- ‘ sheep gen. sg. dvyas . This type of inflection contrasts strongly with the adjectival inflection (agnds, etc. ; in the end this becomes the only in- flection), and when the similar opposition in the w-stems is con- sidered (mddhvas ; sunds) it becomes clear that this first type of declension is that proper to the neuter nouns, as opposed to the adjectives. The difference is due to the different accentuation of the two types of stem, corresponding to that which we have found elsewhere. The declension of dvi- indicates that it was originally a neuter ; it has been transferred, on account of natural gender, but has retained some of its old features in de- clension. Greek has the same inflection in this word, and retains the more ancient alternating accent : oiy, otoy. There are occasional neuter /-stems which have come to be used as adverbs : sdci ' with prdti ' against 7 (pr-ati, Astern) . Often original neuter /-stems have been replaced by various extensions : ndbhya- ' nave ' retains the old neuter gender of the /-stem which in ndbhi- ' navel J has been replaced by the feminine gender. An old neuter *mddhi 1 middle * (in Av. maihydirya- * belonging to the middle of the year * for *madhi - ydrya-) is replaced by mddhya - nt. (originally madhyam -, m- stem, cf, above) ; likewise krdvi ‘ raw flesh 7 (dkravihasta-) is enlarged to kravya - (kravy&d-, cf. Lith. kraujas), and alterna- tively by addition of the s-suffix to kravis Similarly the neuters arch - ' flame J , rods - ' light 7 and socts - 4 flame 7 are s-extensions of old neuters in -/, but the /-stems arch masc., sod- fern., ruch, rod- fem. have been transferred from the neuter to masculine or feminine gender. This and similar evidence makes it quite dear that neuter
