NUMERALS, PRONOUNS, INDECLINABLE S 287 Lith. pra , Gk. irpo, Lat. pro-) ; prdti r against, back, in return 1 (Gk. rrpoTi, TTport, npos, O. SL protivu , etc.), vi ‘ apart, asunder, away * (Av, 0. Pers. vi- ; cf. Toch. wi ' two etc., above, p. 260 ), sam ‘ together, with ' (Av. 0. Pers. ham-, 0. SL sg , su, Lith. sa sw). These are the regular and normal prefixes. In addition there are a few of more restricted application. In the Veda dccha 1 to, towards ' is fairly common, but it dies out later. Others occur, in the Veda and later, only in connection with a restricted number of roots : avis ‘ forth to sight, in view ’ (with bhu , as and kr), prddus r id ' (with the same roots), liras "through, across, out of sight ' (with kr, dhd , bhu) pur as ‘ in front ’ (with kr, dhd , i and a few others. More than one prefix can be combined with a verb (as in Greek, etc.). Combinations of two are common, of three, not unusual, but more than three are very rarely found. There are no particular rules as to the order in which they may appear, but the prefix d is practically never separated from the verb. All these prefixes were to begin with independent adverbs. In the language of the Veda they partly retain this character and it is only in the later language that they become insepar- ably combined with the verbal stem. A similar difference is to be observed between Homeric and later Greek, which makes it clear that the development of the full system of verbal com- position is largely a parallel development in the various lan- guages. In the Veda, a prefix most frequently stands immediately before the verb (a gamut ' may he come ') but it may be separ- ated from it by another word (d tvd visantu ' may they enter thee f ) and it may even follow the verb (Indro ga avrnod dpa 1 Indra disclosed the cows '). Whatever its position, in a prin- cipal clause the preposition is regularly accented, and the verb, according to the general rule, is unaccented. When two pre- fixes are used both are accented normally in the RV. [upa prd ydhi ‘ come forth here ') a fact which emphasises their status as independent words. But besides this there is a system, showing the transition to a closer form of union, according to which the second only of two prefixes is accented when they immediately precede the verb : dthdstani vipdretana 1 then scatter ye away to your home In subordinate clauses the process of composi- tion has preceded further, the preposition generally appearing
