4.1.87
स्त्रीपुंसाभ्यां नञ्स्नञौ भवनात्
Operational rule vidhi
For the meanings given till the end of the first पाद of the पञ्चमाध्याय, the word स्त्री gets the प्रत्यय नञ्, and the word पुम्स् gets the प्रत्यय स्नञ्.
Word by word (padaccheda)
Left context स्त्री- पुंसाभ्याम् pañcamī · dvivacanaSubstitute / term नञ्- स्नञौ prathamā · dvivacanaLeft context भवनात् pañcamī · ekavacana
- Left context Pañcamī (5th case): "after X", the operation applies to what follows (1.1.67 तस्मादित्युत्तरस्य). Also used for limits and sources.
- Substitute / term Prathamā (1st case): in operational rules, the substitute or the thing introduced; in definitions, the term or its referent.
Dotted words are technical terms. Hover or tap one to see its card.
Full reading
स्त्री-
Pāṇini leaves out words that carry over from earlier sūtras. Expand to see the rule as a reader actually understands it.
Commentary
The affixes नञ् and स्नञ् come after the words स्त्री and पुंस respectively, in the senses specified in the sūtra reckoning from this one as far as sūtra धान्यानां भवने क्षेत्रे खञ् 5.2.1.
Thus स्त्री + नञ् = स्त्रैणम् 'feminine.' The sense of the affixes taught in the Fourth Book, and Chapter I of the Fifth Book, are various. Therefore the word स्त्रैणम् will have all those various significations; thus, it will mean either स्त्रीषुभवं 4.3.53 'existing in females,' or स्त्रीणां संमूहः 4.2.37 'a collection of females,; or स्त्रीभ्यआगतं 4.3.74 'what has come from females'; or स्त्रीभ्यो हितं 5.1.5 'suitable for females' &c.
Similarly पुंस + स्नञ् = पौंस्नम् 'masculine, or existing in males, or a collection of males, or what has come from males, or suitable for males &c.'
These affixes, however, are not to be employed in the sense of the affix वत् taught in 5.1.115. For Panini himself uses the form पुंवत् (and not पौंस) in sutra 6.3.34, thus indicating by implication (ज्ञापक) that in the sense of वत्, the affix स्नञ् is not to be used. Thus स्त्रीवत्, ॥ The forms स्त्रीत्वं, स्त्रीता, पुंस्त्वं and पुंस्त्वा are exceptional. See 5.1.121. The स् of पुंस् is elided before स्नञ् by 8.2.23 had it not been elided, one affix नञ् would have been taught in the sutra, and not two.
Śrīśa Chandra Vasu, The Ashtadhyayi of Panini (1897), via ashtadhyayi.com.