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In lesson 19, we looked at athematic verbs of classes 5 and 8. We said that in class 5, -no -नो is added to the root to make the strong stem and -nu -नु is added to the root to make the weak stem and in class 8, -o -ओ and -u -उ are added to make the strong and weak stems respectively.

In this lesson we will look at verbs of classes 7 and 9.

Class 9

Class 9 verbs add the class signs -nā -ना to the root to make the strong stem and -nī -नी to the root to make the weak stem. So root √krī √क्री (“buy”) forms the strong stem krīṇā- क्रीणा- and the weak stem krīṇī- क्रीणी-.

Note that the ending ī ई of -nī -नी  of the weak stem disappears before vowel endings. So third person plural of present indicative is krīṇanti क्रीणन्ति.

Note: When the root ends in a consonant, the second person singular imperative behaves peculiarly. The class sign -nī -नी is not added. Instead the ending -āna -आन is added directly to the root. So from root √grah √ग्रह् which forms its verbs using the shortened form gr̥h गृह्, the imperative second person is gr̥hāṇa गृहाण. When the root ends in a vowel, then the ending is -hi -हि added in the normal fashion after the class sign.

A paradigm

√krī √क्री (“buy”)

Present Indicative

Active                                                       Middle

krīṇāti krīṇītaḥ krīṇanti                        krīṇīte krīṇāte krīṇate

krīṇāsi krīṇīthaḥ krīṇītha                     krīṇīṣe krīṇāthe krīṇīdhve

krīṇāmi krīṇīvaḥ krīṇīmaḥ                   krīṇe krīṇīvahe krīṇīmahe

Imperfect

Active                                                       Middle

akrīṇāt akrīṇītām akrīṇān                    akrīṇīta akrīṇātām akrīṇata

akrīṇāḥ akrīṇītam akrīṇīta                   akrīṇīthāḥ akrīṇāthām akrīṇīdhvam

akrīṇām akrīṇīva akrīṇīma                  akrīṇi akrīṇīvahi akrīṇīmahi

Optative

Active                                                       Middle

krīṇīyāt krīṇīyātām krīṇīyuḥ                krīṇīta krīṇīyātām krīṇīran

krīṇīyāḥ krīṇīyātam krīṇīyāta              krīṇīthāḥ krīṇīyāthām krīṇīdhvam

krīṇīyām krīṇīyāva krīṇīyāma             krīṇīya krīṇīvahi krīṇīmahi

Imperative

Active                                                       Middle

krīṇātu krīṇītām krīṇāntu                    krīṇītām krīṇātām krīṇatām

krīṇīhi krīṇītam krīṇīta                        krīṇīṣva krīṇāthām krīṇīdhvam

krīṇāni krīṇāva krīṇāma                      krīnai krīṇāvahai krīṇāmahai

Present participle

The present participle is formed by adding “ant” and “āna” for active and middle respectively, to the weak stem.

Active: krīnant (feminine krīṇatī)      Middle: krīṇāna

Class 7

All roots of this class end in consonants. The class sign is a nasal preceding the last consonant. In the weak forms it is a nasal adapted to the last consonant, and in strong forms it is expanded to na न.

In weak forms, the root takes the infix ñ ञ् before j ज्, n न् before dh ध् etc.

So, the weak stem of √yuj √युज् (“join”) is yuñj युञ्ज् and the strong  stem is yunaj युनज्.

The weak stem of √rudh √रुध् (“obstruct”) is rundh रुन्ध् and the strong  stem is ruṇadh रुणध्.

Note: Like in the case of class 2 verbs, the endings come directly in contact with the final consonant of the root and therefore (the sometimes complicated) consonant sandhis apply.

Note: Since all roots of this class end in consonants, the second person singular imperative ending is always “dhi”

A paradigm

√yuj √युज् (“join”)

Present Indicative

Active                                                       Middle

yunakti yuṅktaḥ yuñjanti                      yuṅkte yuñjāte yuñjate

yunakṣi yuṅkthaḥ yuṅktha                    yuṅkṣe yuñjāthe yuṅgdhve

yunajmi yuñjvaḥ yuñjmaḥ                    yuñje yuñjvahe yuñjnahe

Imperfect

Active                                                       Middle

ayunak ayuṅktām ayuñjan                   ayuṅkta ayuñjātām ayuñjata

ayunak ayuṅktam ayuṅkta                   ayuṅkthāḥ ayuñjāthām ayuṅgdhvam

ayunajam ayuñjva ayuñjma                 ayuñji ayuñjvahi ayuñjmahi

Optative

Active                                                       Middle

yuñjyāt yuñjyātām yuñjyuḥ                  yuñjīta yuñjīyātām yuñjīran

yuñjyāḥ yuñjyātam yuñjyāta                yuñjīthāḥ yuñjīyāthām yuñjīdhvam

yuñjyām yuñjyāva yuñjyāma               yuñjīya yuñjīvahi yuñjīmahi

Imperative

Active                                                       Middle

yunaktu yuṅktām yuñjantu                  yuṅktām yuñjātām yuñjatām

yuṅgdhi yuṅktam yuṅkta                      yuṅkṣva yuñjāthām yuṅgdhvam

yunajāni yunajāva yunajāma               yunajai yunajāvahai yunajāmahai

Present participle

The present participle is formed by adding “ant” and “āna” for active and middle respectively, to the weak stem.

Active: yuñjant (feminine yuñjatī)      Middle: yuñjāna

To further understand how the consonant sandhis apply, and change the forms, let us look at the present indicative of

√rudh √रुध् (“obstruct”)

Present Indicative

Active                                                       Middle

ruṇaddhi runddhaḥ rundhanti           rundhe rundhāte rundhate

ruṇatsi runddhaḥ runddha                  runtse rundhāthe runddhve

ruṇadhmi rundhvaḥ rundhmaḥ          rundhe rundhvahe rundhmahe

This is the end of Lesson 20. In this lesson we looked at the conjugation of athematic verbs of classes 7 and 9.

Please study the first few verses (I have reached up to verse 11)  of the नळोपाख्यानम् naḷopākhyānam   – The story of Nala – that I have analysed on a first level and uploaded here. This will help you understand how to analyse Sanskrit verses.