On the inflection of palatal stems in Vedic

Abstract

This paper re-examines the historical phonology and morphology of the palatal-stem declension of Vedic and concludes that the phonologically regular outcome of the animate nominative singular was -ṭ, while the “bh-cases” should by regular sound change have contained a cluster *°dbh°, the former existence of which can be inferred but which was replaced by °ḍbh° (or °gbh°) under the influence of the nominative singular.