THE DECLENSION OF NOUNS 237 become differentiated from the other neuters. It is preserved in the a-formation which serves to provide the plural of neuter thematic stems (nom. acc. pi. yugd). The normal feminines have acquired the plural -s of the non-neuter classes but they still retain in the plural the absence of distinction between nom. and acc. From the i-stems the type spreads to the fem. u- and r-stems which did not originally in IE have a form distinct from that of the corresponding masculines (Gk. (dial.) ofivs ' sheep ). Nominative- Accusative Plural Neuter . (1) The neuter plural appears still in the Vedic language in some cases undifferen- tiated from the singular : e.g. in udhar divyini ' divine udders vtsvdni vdsu ' all goods ydjand pur it 1 many leagues sdm aranta pdrva ‘ the joints came together This is a survival from an early stage when the inflectional system was less de- veloped. (2) There exists in Iranian, beside this type, a series of neuter plurals characterised by vrddhi of the suffix : Av. ayarz ‘ days va 6 d ‘ words ndman 1 names etc. This type is ancient since examples are also quotable from Hittite, e.g. widdr, pi. of watar 4 water In Greek on the other hand such vrddhied neuter forms appear merely as singulars : vScjp, T€Kfiojp, etc. These may be old plural forms utilised as singulars after the type had died out as a plural formation. Sanskrit has in the main replaced this type by that which is extended by the suffix -1 (nAmdni 4 names ') but the Vedic language still re- tains it (beside the alternative form) in the case of neuter n- stems (bhumd ' beings aha 1 days sirs a 4 heads ') in which the n of the suffix is elided as elsewhere in connection with vrddhi ( rdja , etc.). (3) The neuter plurals which are made by suffixing i to these vrddhied forms appear also in Avestan (nampni ‘ names sdx v Jnt * teachings *, vardidhi 1 energies *) as an alternative to the plurals with simple vrddhi. A neuter plural suffix -i is found in Hittite (kururi pi. of kurur nt. ' hostility '), which testifies to its antiquity in Indo-European as a method of forming the neuter plural. The i is apparently identical with the suffix -i which appears in the formation of neuter nouns. Other IE languages have mainly the suffix a or a which originates from the thematic stems (Gk. ovopara like Ivyd, etc.). In Vedic the i-form of the plural has been much extended in comparison with the Indo-Iranian state of affairs which can be deduced from the comparison of Avestan. The
