Sanskrit has inherited from its reconstructed parent the Proto-Indo-European language an elaborate system of nominal morphology.
Endings may be added directly to the root, or more frequently and especially in the later language, to a stem formed by the addition of a suffix to it.
[1] Sanskrit is a highly inflected language that preserves all the declensional types found in Proto-Indo-European, including a few residual heteroclitic r/n-stems.
While the same noun cannot be seen to be of more than one gender, adjectives change gender on the basis of the noun they are being applied to, along with case and number, thus giving the following variables:[5][6] The oldest system of declension was to affix the endings[λ] directly to the nominal root.
[8][9] Sanskrit nouns are declined for eight cases: In the ancient literature, Pāṇini identified six classes as kārakas,[b] operating as accessories to a verb.
[11] He defined them as follows (Aṣtādhyāyi, I.4.24–54): Pāṇini did not identify the genitive Sambandha and vocative Sambodhana as kārakas.
However, according to the gender and the final consonant or vowel of the uninflected word-stem, there are internal sandhi rules dictating the form of the inflected word.
The general classification is: When the nominal endings are being affixed to a noun of each class, they may undergo, in some cases, some changes, including being entirely replaced by other forms.
The paradigms are illustrated in their pre-sandhi forms, along with the formation treatment using two stems in the masculine devá- [A][i] and kā́ma- [B] and two in the neuter yugá- [C][a] and phála- [D] with different syllables accented.
The u-stem paradigms illustrated here in their pre-sandhi forms are for masculine śátru- ,[H] feminine dhenú- [I] and neuter mádhu- .
They are inflected like the i- and u-stem nouns described above; occasionally the feminine u may gain an additional ī and become vī.
[30] ṛ-stems are predominantly agental derivatives like dātṛ ,[M] though also include kinship terms like pitṛ ,[N][a] mātṛ ,[O][a] and svasṛ .
A single irregular i-stem noun,[32] sakhi ,[R][q] has a stem in -i but declines similarly to the above – simply with y i ī taking the place of r ṛ ṝ: This category is made of ā-, ī- and ū-stems, almost entirely feminine, polysyllabic derivative nouns.
[38] Stems ending in Sanskrit diphthongs (e, ai, o, au) follow a fairly regular pattern, whilst subject to sandhi rules as usual.
[46][47] A small closed class of comparatives and superlatives are directly formed on adjectival roots, after dropping the original stem suffix.
In some adjectives the original form of the root has been obscured by internal sandhi, making the outcome somewhat irregular.
Trí and catúr are declined as below:[51] The numbers from 11 to 19 are: ékādaśam, dvā́daśam, tráyodaśam, cáturdaśam, páñcadaśam, ṣóḍaśam, saptádaśam, aṣṭā́daśam, návadaśam.
The tens from 20 to 90 are: (d)viṃśatí, triṃśát, catvāriṃśát, pañcāśát, ṣaṣṭí, saptatí, aśītí, navatí.
[56] Pronouns[τ] are declined for case[υ], number[φ], and gender[χ].
The official list of Sanskrit pronouns is: sarva, viśva, ubha, ubhaya, utara, utama, anya, anyatara, tvat, tva, nema, sama, sima, pūrva, para, avara, dakṣiṇa, uttara, apara, adhara, sva, antara; tyad, tad, yad, etad, idam, adam; eka, dvi, yuṣmad, asmad, and kim.
[57] Sanskrit pronouns in the first[ψ] and second[ω] person are theoretically termed asmad and yuṣmad respectively.
These pronouns have shortened, enclitic forms in the accusative, dative, and genitive cases (parenthesized in the table below).
[60] Sanskrit does not have true third person pronouns, but its demonstratives play this role when they stand independently of a substantive.
By contrast, idam and etad are used for nearby objects, and, again, the latter is more emphatic and has a strong deictic meaning.
[67][68][69] asmad allows the following forms of possessive pronouns: The feminines are in -ā. yuṣmad has these: tad and etad have tadīya- and etadīya- respectively.
[70][71] Technically a noun, bhavant [ad] literally means 'Your Honour' and is treated like a third-person subject.
This use of bhavant is common enough to suggest that the word should be treated as a polite variant of the second person pronoun, rather than as a more elaborate honorific construction.
[80] Derivation or word-formation in Sanskrit can be divided into the following types:[81][82] The root usually undergoes some change of form first, typically to first-grade, or in some cases second-grade, strengthening.
[83][84] A very large number of derivatives are formed under this category, with several semantic outcomes and with varying treatment of the root, including gradation, reduplication and no change.
[89] This is used primarily to form words of adjectival meaning, and with the first vowel usually undergoing vṛddhi-grade strengthening.