Prakrit Grammar: Declension and Nominal Morphology
What this domain tests
Declension questions test whether you can turn a Sanskrit noun into the correct Prakrit case-form in a named dialect. The exam expects the a-stem, ā-stem and i/u-stem paradigms, the pronoun sets, and awareness that Prakrit has no dual.
The case system
Prakrit keeps seven cases but merges dative and ablative; the dual is lost; endings vary by dialect, not by ‘Prakrit’ as a whole.
a-stem masculine (Māhārāṣṭrī/Śaurasenī)
- sg: N -o, A -aṁ, I -eṇa, D/Abl -ādo/-āo, G -assa, L -e/-ammi, V -a
- pl: N -ā, A -e, I -ehi, D/Abl -āṇaṁ, G -āṇaṁ, L -esu
ā-stem feminine: N sg -ā, A -aṁ, I/G/D/Abl -āe, L -āe/-āyaṁ; pl N/A -āo, I -āhi, G -āṇaṁ, L -āsu.
Māgadhī/Ardhamāgadhī shift the a-stem nominative singular to -e (putte, rāe) and often use -āhi for the instrumental plural.
Pronouns: ahaṁ ‘I’, tumaṁ ‘you’, so/sā/taṁ ‘he/she/it’, plural te/tāo.
Worked example
Sanskrit gajena rājā paśyati → gayeṇa rāyā passai. Reasoning: gaja- loses intervocalic -j- to give gaya-; instrumental -ena → -eṇa with cerebral ṇ; rājan- yields nominative rāyā.
Traps
Supplying a Sanskrit dual (-au, -bhyām); writing -asya for the genitive instead of -assa; forgetting that feminine -āe covers instrumental, dative, ablative and genitive.