viii
different rishis, probably of various periods and transmitted
by oral tradition in their families. Despite the minute
distinctions in the language of the Rik Samhita, we may
for all practical purposes treat the Vedic variety of Sans-
krit as a compact dialect. Prominently, this dialect presents
some peculiarities of form and usage, which we shall sum
up below : —	/
(i) The nominative plural of nouns ending in ^T is W^ as   well   as   W^  as ^TO: or ^Tt. the
.	- .	*^*X*"N	"\iifV	/
instrumental being ^TPTt or 33*. ; (ii) The nominative and the vocative dml/knd plural of nouns in W not rarely end in ^T a/
(iii) The instrumental singular of feminine nouns in ? is occassiooally formed by lengthening the vowel as ^tcff and fl^T ;
(iv) The locative singular termination is often elided as VW sqtofr
(v) The vowel cases of nouns in ^ are formed by
ordinary   rules  of euphonic   combination   as
cP^ or cT^3[; and the instrumental by affixing
W or IT or ^ ^^ ^r^T Or «Tf 3T;
(vi) The dative of the personal pronouns ends in ^
(vii) The parasmipada first person plural termination is q% « ^HWRfrsr^^ref, and of the third person plural is t or ^cl as ^ or ^n.
(viii) Tfre ^ of the atmanepada terminations is often ' dto^peej m ^%TO^; atid instead of «* there is ^^1^, as
„