The standard affixes may be applied in most other cases. However, care must be taken to handle the many exceptions listed in advanced grammar texts (for e.g., see [KALE1995] [1]). The default affixes for nominal base words are as follows (affixes starting with consonants are highlighted):
Case | Singular | Dual | Plural |
Nominative (NOM) | s | O | aHa |
Accusative (ACC) | am | O | aHa |
Instrumental (INS) | A | bhyAm | bhiHa |
Dative (DAT) | e | bhyAm | bhyaHa |
Ablative (ABL) | aHa | bhyAm | bhyaHa |
Genitive (GEN) | aHa | oHa | Am |
Locative (LOC) | i | oHa | su |
Vocative (VOC) | s | O | aHa |
NOTES:
When an affix is attached to a nominal base word ending with a consonant, the normal rules of sandhi are applicable. This can be seen in the following examples, where the affix starts with a hard consonant (i.e. NOM-S, LOC-S), or a soft consonant (INS-D, INS-P, DAT-D, DAT-P, ABL-D, ABL-P):
Base word | NOM-S | INS-D | LOC-P |
vAch | vAk | vAgbhyAm | vakSHu |
rAj | rAT | rADbhyAm | rATsu |
dvAr | dvAHa | dvArbhyAm | dvArSHu |
yashas | yashaHa | yashobhyAm | yashaHasu |
dish | dik | digbhyAm | dikSHu |
prAvRuSH | prAvRuT | prAvRuDbhyAm | prAvRuTsu |
snih | snik/ sniT | snigbhyAm/ sniDbhyAm | snikSHu/ sniTsu |
kamal | kamal | kamalbhyAm | kamalSHu |
The following is a complete declension table for a word ending in 'l' ('kamal:lotus'):
Masculine base word: kamal (lotus)
Case | Singular | Dual | Plural |
Nominative (NOM) | kamal | kamalO | kamalaHa |
Accusative (ACC) | kamalam | kamalO | kamalaHa |
Instrumental (INS) | kamalA | kamalbhyAm | kamalbhiHa |
Dative (DAT) | kamale | kamalbhyAm | kamalbhyaHa |
Ablative (ABL) | kamalaHa | kamalbhyAm | kamalbhyaHa |
Genitive (GEN) | kamalaHa | kamaloHa | kamalAm |
Locative (LOC) | kamali | kamaloHa | kamalSHu |
Vocative (VOC) | kamal | kamalO | kamalaHa |
Neuter base word: kamal (lotus)
Case | Singular | Dual | Plural |
Nominative (NOM) | kamal | kamalI | kamAli |
Accusative (ACC) | kamal | kamalI | kamAli |
Instrumental (INS) | kamalA | kamalbhyAm | kamalbhiHa |
Dative (DAT) | kamale | kamalbhyAm | kamalbhyaHa |
Ablative (ABL) | kamalaHa | kamalbhyAm | kamalbhyaHa |
Genitive (GEN) | kamalaHa | kamaloHa | kamalAm |
Locative (LOC) | kamali | kamaloHa | kamalsu |
Vocative (VOC) | kamal | kamalI | kamAli |