| Panjabi. | Hindostani. | Braj Bhasha. | Eastern Hindi. | |
| Weak Noun Masc.— | ||||
| Nom. Sing. | ghar | ghar | ghar | ghar |
| Obl. Sing. | ghar | ghar | ghar | ghar, gharahi |
| Nom. Plur. | ghar | ghar | ghar | gharan |
| Obl. Plur. | gharã | gharõ | gharaũ, gharani | gharan |
| Strong Noun Masc.— | ||||
| Nom. Sing. | ghōṛā | ghōṛā | ghōṛau | ghōṛā |
| Obl. Sing. | ghōṛē | ghōṛē | ghōṛē, ghōṛai | ghōṛā, ghōṛē |
| Nom. Plur. | ghōṛē | ghōṛē | ghōṛē | ghōṛan |
| Obl. Plur. | ghōṛiã | ghōṛō | ghōṛaũ, ghōṛani | ghōṛan |
| Weak Noun Fem.— | ||||
| Nom. Sing. | bāt | bāt | bāt | bāt |
| Obl. Sing. | bāt | bāt | bāt | bāt |
| Nom. Plur. | bātã | bātẽ | bātaī | bātan |
| Obl. Plur. | bātã | bātõ | bātaū, bātani | bātan |
| Strong Noun Fem.— | ||||
| Nom. Sing. | ghōṛī | ghōṛī | ghōṛī | ghōṛī |
| Obl. Sing. | ghōṛī | ghōṛī | ghōṛī | ghōṛī, ghōṛihi |
| Nom. Plur. | ghōṛīã | ghōṛiyã | ghōṛĩ | ghōṛin |
| Obl. Plur. | ghōṛīã | ghōṛiyõ | ghōṛiyaũ, ghōṛiyani | ghōṛin |
We have seen that the oblique form is the resultant of a general melting down of all the oblique cases of Sanskrit and Prakrit, and that in consequence it can be used for any oblique case. It is obvious that if it were so employed it would often give rise to great confusion. Hence, when it is necessary to show clearly what particular case is intended, it is usual to add defining particles corresponding to the English prepositions “of,” “to,” “from,” “by,” &c., which, as in all Indo-Aryan languages they follow the main word, are here called “postpositions.” The following are the postpositions commonly employed to form cases in our three languages:—
| Agent. | Genitive. | Dative. | Ablative. | Locative. | |
| Panjabi | nai | dā | nũ | tē | vicc |
| Hindostani | nē | kā | kō | sē | mẽ |
| Braj Bhasha | nẽ | kau | kaũ | tẽ, saũ | maĩ |
| Eastern Hindi | None | kēr, k | kã | sē | mẽ, bikhē |
The agent case is the case which a noun takes when it is the subject of a transitive verb in a tense formed from the past participle. This participle is passive in origin, and must be construed passively. In the Prakrit stage the subject was in such cases put into the instrumental case (see [Prakrit]), as in the phrase ahaṁ tēṇa māriō, I by-him (was) struck, i.e. he struck me. In Eastern Hindi this is still the case, the old instrumental being represented by the oblique form without any suffix. The other two languages define the fact that the subject is in the instrumental (or agent) case by the addition of the postposition nē, &c., an old form employed elsewhere to define the dative. It is really the oblique form (by origin a locative) of nā or nō, which is employed in Gujarati (q.v.) for the genitive. As this suffix is never employed to indicate a material instrument but here only to indicate the agent or subject of a verb, it is called the postposition of the “agent” case.
The genitive postpositions have an interesting origin. In Buddhist Sanskrit the words kŗtas, done, and kŗtyas, to be done, were added to a noun to form a kind of genitive. A synonym of kŗtyas was kāryas. These three words were all adjectives, and agreed with the thing possessed in gender, number, and case; thus, māla-kŗtē karaṇḍē, in the basket of the garland, literally, in the garland-made basket. In the various dialects of Apabhraṁśa Prakrit kŗtas became (strong form) kida-u or kia-u, kŗtyas became kicca-u, and kāryas became kēra-u or kajja-u, the initial k of which is liable to elision after a vowel. With the exception of Gujarati (and perhaps Marathi, q.v.) every Indo-Aryan language has genitive postpositions derived from one or other of these forms. Thus from (ki)da-u we have Panjabi dā; from kia-u we have H. kā, Br. kau, E.H. and Bihari k and Naipali kō; from (ki)cca-u we have perhaps Marathi cā; from kēra-u, E.H. and Bihari kēr, kar, Bengali Oriya and Assamese -r, and Rajasthani -rō; while from (ka)jja-u we have the Sindhi jō. It will be observed that while k, kēr, kar, and r are weak forms, the rest are strong. As already stated, the genitive is an adjective. Bāp means “father,” and bāp-kā ghōrā is literally “the paternal horse.” Hence (while the weak forms as usual do not change) these genitives agree with the thing possessed in gender, number, and case. Thus, bāp-kā ghōṛā, the horse of the father, but bāp-kī ghōṛī, the mare of the father, and bāp-kē ghōṛē-kō, to the horse of the father, the kā being put into the oblique case masculine kē, to agree with ghōṛē, which is itself in an oblique case. The details of the agreement vary slightly in P. and W.H., and must be learnt from the grammars. The E.H. weak forms do not change in the modern language. Finally, in Prakrit it was customary to add these postpositions (kēra-u, &c.) to the genitive, as in mama or mama kēra-u, of me. Similarly these postpositions are, in the modern languages, added to the oblique form.
The locative of the Sanskrit kŗtas, kŗtē, was used in that language as a dative postposition, and it can be shown that all the dative postpositions given above are by origin old oblique forms of some genitive postposition. Thus H. kō, Br. kaũ, is a contraction of kahũ, an old oblique form of kia-u. Similarly for the others. The origin of the ablative postpositions is obscure. To the present writer they all seem (like the Bengal haïtē) to be connected with the verb substantive, but their derivation has not been definitely fixed. The locative postpositions mẽ and maī are derived from the Skr. madhyē, in, through majjhi, māhī, and so on. The derivation of vicc and bikhē is obscure.
| Apabhraṁśa. | Panjabi. | Hindostani. | Braj Bhasha. | Eastern Hindi. | ||
| i, | Nom. | haū | maī | maĩ | haũ | maī |
| Obl. | maī, mahu, majjhu | mai | mujh | mohi | mō | |
| we, | Nom. | amhē | asĩ | ham | ham | ham |
| Obl. | amahã | asā | hamõ | hamaū, hamani | ham | |
| thou, | Nom. | tuhũ | tũ | tū | tū | taĩ |
| Obl. | taĩ, tuha, tujjhu | tai | tujh | tohi | tō | |
| you, | Nom. | tumhē | tusĩ | tum | tum | tum |
| Obl. | tumhahã | tusā | tumhõ | tumhaū | tum | |
The pronouns closely follow the Prakrit originals. This will be evident from the preceding table of the first two personal pronouns compared with Apabhraṁśa.
It will be observed that in most of the nominatives of the first person, and in the E.H. nominative of the second person, the old nominative has disappeared, and its place has been supplied by an oblique form, exactly as we have observed in the nominative plural of nouns substantive. The P. asĩ, tusĩ, &c., are survivals from the old Lahndā (see Linguistic Boundaries, above). The genitives of these two pronouns are rarely used, possessive pronouns (in H. mērā, my; hamārā, our; tērā, thy; tumhārā, your) being employed instead. They can all (except P. asāḍā, our; tusāḍā, your, which are Lahndā) be referred to corresponding Ap. forms.