Vrkis inflection

In Vedic Sanskrit, the Vrkis inflection is one of the two types of inflection of ī-stems. It exhibits an ablaut pattern different from its counterpart, the Devi inflection. The distinguishing feature of this inflection is that the ī is always accented (excepting the Vocative), and that the Nominative singular has the desinence -s, like non-feminine words. Indeed, while Vrkis-words are overwhelmingly of the feminine gender, there are a few members of the class that belong to the masculine gender, or are gender indeterminate, e.g. rathī- "wain-driver, charioteer" (often applied to Agni, who trafficks sacrifical offerings and divine boons between mortals and immortals).

The inflectional type is usually accepted to reach back into Proto-Indo-European times, with an exact correspondence of Sanskrit vrkis and Old Norse ylgr, both meaning "she-wolf", first described by Karl Verner in 1877 (see Verner's law). The distinction between Devi and Vrkis dies out in during the Vedic period, and Panini is not aware of it, classifying the ī-stems by their accentuation (Vrkis words are a subset of NiiS).