Lesson 10 ---- Neuter words to the rescue!! | Lesson Index

Lesson 10. Neuter words to the rescue!!

Lesson 9 D was an eye-opener. Without neuter नपुंसकलिङ्ग words, my life would be dull indeed. i tried to imagine a day without a book, पुस्तक ; water जल ; a meal भोजन ; a flower पुष्प ; a leaf पत्र ; a letter पत्र ; fruit फल ; work कार्य and wealth धन ... and i decided, for sanity's sake, that they MUST make an appearance now.

When i introduce neuter नपुंसकलिङ्ग words, i will put an "N" next to the word. As in masculine words, some dictionaries will say "N" against neuter words and some others will state the प्रथमा विभक्ति form of the नपुंसकलिङ्ग word.

Let's just concentrate on the अकारान्त नपुंसकलिङ्ग words first. Yup, there are उकारान्त , इकारान्त and other ending neuter words as well, but let us wallow in the waters of "Ignorance is bliss," till such a time that we are required to be 'unblissful.'

We've appointed वन forest, as our standard word. The first vibhakti of all neuter words is exactly like its second. There's a surprise for you when we do the third vibhaktis of both the masculine and the neuter in the coming weeks . No big revelations now...

वन forest अकारान्त नपुंसकलिङ्ग

विभक्ति	एकवचन	द्विवचन	बहुवचन
प्रथमा	वनम्	वने	वनानि
द्वितीया	वनम्	वने	वनानि

Now let's expand this to include a few of the words i've listed at the beginning of the lesson to show you how to rhyme them.

विभक्तिः	एकवचनम्	द्विवचनम्	बहुवचनम्
(प्रथमा कर्ता subject द्वितीया कर्म object.)	वनम्	वने	वनानि
(प्रथमा कर्ता subject द्वितीया कर्म object.)	पुस्तकम्	पुस्तके	पुस्तकानि
(प्रथमा कर्ता subject द्वितीया कर्म object.)	पुष्पम्	पुष्पे	पुष्पाणि
(प्रथमा कर्ता subject द्वितीया कर्म object.)	पत्रम्	पत्रे	पत्राणि
(प्रथमा कर्ता subject द्वितीया कर्म object.)	फलम्	फले	फलानि
(प्रथमा कर्ता subject द्वितीया कर्म object.)	धनम्	धने	धनानि

(You may wonder why not पुष्पानि but पुष्पाणि and why not पत्रानि but पत्राणि—There are specific pronunciation rules, which determine the change from नि to णि—we shall talk about these later—Pl see New Concept, below)

The first question that might pop up is "Does one need a dual or a plural for a word like जलम् ?" No, one may not. But the option to decline it in duals and plurals is available. The freedom to do so is what is important. Poets, as you can well imagine, will have a field day! Don't miss the important concept that is being introduced next.

New Concept.

वनम् becomes वनानि | Why does पुष्पम् become पुष्पाणि and not पुष्पानि ?
Words change as they are being declined, agreed? In some vibhaktis, a न् crops up attached to the root word. That न् changes into a ण् in some declined words.

Note: If the root word contains न् , the न् in the original word does not change, only the one that is added to it in a declined form changes

• This rule, of the न् changing into a ण् , is applicable to words that contain a र् and a ष् . The only vibhaktis that are affected are
1. तृतीया एकवचन and षष्ठी बहुवचन in Masculine words .
2. प्रथमा बहुवचन and द्वितीया बहुवचन AND तृतीया एकवचन and षष्ठी बहुवचन in Neuter words.

The finer nuances will be explained as we move on with our vibhaktis.
If this concept is slightly mindboggling, don't allow it to bother you.
Things will get clearer when the other vibhaktis are introduced. Just file away this concept for future references.
(Check our Frequently Asked Questions for a comprehensive answer)

Shall we move onto new words and exercises?

Here's greeting Lesson 10 A . Let's start forming sentences now.

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