184 THE FORMATION OF NOUNS ing in the suffixally accented adjectives. It is clear that the strong form of the radical element in dyu- derives from the neuter dyu where it is in accordance with the rules of apophony, and it may be assumed that similar mutual influence of the two contrasting types accounts for the form of such adjectives as dsu- 4 swift etc. The Hitt. nt. assu is used as a noun in the sense of ‘ goods, property 1 (like Skt. vdsu), and as such it must be regarded as continuing the primary neuter on which the adjective was built (dsu : (e)seu~). From this source comes the guna in Hitt, asms, Gk. Ivs as opposed to the reduction of the root in Skt. su-. No doubt also the early prevalence of the form of the nom. acc. sg* in -us, -urn, as opposed to the forms with. strengthened suffix, was assisted by the coexistence of such neuters. Obviously an easy alternative for distinguishing the two types existed in the simple addition of the terminations -m to the neuter stem in these cases. As a general rule this was done in conjunction with the retention of the adjectival accent. On the other hand radical accent appears in dnu- ‘ fine, small mddhu - 4 sweet r and vdsu- 4 good The two latter stems occur more abundantly as neuter nouns, and their adaptation as adjectives with the minimum change of form appears to be comparatively late. Adjectives and nouns of adjectival origin terminating in the 2 -suffix, and inflecting after the same pattern as the w-adjec- tives above, are fairly numerous : agni- 4 fire 9 (Lat. ignis, etc,), dpi 4 friend '* (Gk. tJ™? 4 friendly, kind thematic), kapt- 4 monkey 1 (originally adj. of colour, cf, kapild-), kavi- ‘wise man ’ (older inflection in Avestan, cf. above), kiri- 4 singer kridi - 4 playing jdmi- 4 consanguineous, * closely related' (cf. Lat, gemi-nus 4 twin '), nodi- 4 roarer svart - 4 noisy etc, ; with radical accent Hi- ' seer kari- 4 singing hymns gfbhi - 4 containing ", muni- 4 sage suci- 4 shining, pure hdri- 4 green tUrvi- 4 overcoming ', plusi - 4 flea ' (cf. Alb. pl’eSt, Arm. lu t etc. ; J'plu 4 hop, jump '). As with the action nouns in -i there is complete absence of rule in the matter of accent and apophony. For this reason it is not always possible to decide to which class a noun originally belongs, e.g. asi- 4 sword ’ (Lat. ensis) , gin- 4 mountain ' (Av. Hlwc gairi -) t dhi- 4 snake ' (Gk. ex L s> mani- 4 jewel etc. The original system, however, has left its mark in declension (agnds as opposed to dvyas ; cf. Hitt. Sallaias : halkiai), in the same
