1.4.5
वाऽऽमि
Definition saṃjñā नदीसंज्ञा
Except for the word 'स्त्री', any other word which is eligible for getting an इयङ्-आदेश or an उवङ्-आदेश optionally gets the term नदी in presence of the आम् प्रत्यय of षष्ठी बहुवचन.
Word by word (padaccheda)
Indeclinable वा avyayaIn / when आमि saptamī · ekavacana
- Indeclinable An avyaya such as च "and", वा "optionally", न "not".
- In / when Saptamī (7th case): "in X" or "when X", a domain or condition.
Dotted words are technical terms. Hover or tap one to see its card.
Full reading
वा आमि
Pāṇini leaves out words that carry over from earlier sūtras. Expand to see the rule as a reader actually understands it.
Commentary
Feminine words ending in ई and ऊ though admitting इयङ् and उवङ् 6.1.77 substitutes, are optionally termed नदी when the affix अम् (Genitive Plural) follows, but not so the word स्त्री , which is always नदी।
श्री + आम् = श्री इयङ् + आम् = श्रीयाम्; भ्रू + आम् = भ्रूवाम्; or श्री + आम् = श्रीनुट् + आम् 7.1.54 = श्रीणाम्; भ्रू + आम् = भ्रूणाम्. But stri is always nadi. and we have स्त्रीणाम् strinam.
To the absolute prohibition enjoined by the last sutra, this allows an option in the case of Genitive Plural.
Śrīśa Chandra Vasu, The Ashtadhyayi of Panini (1897), via ashtadhyayi.com.