Sanskrit u-stems · bhānu, dhenu, madhu

	bhānu Masculine · “sun”
Nom.	bhānuḥ	bhānū	bhānavaḥ
Acc.	bhānum	bhānū	bhānūn
Ins.	bhānunā	bhānubhyām	bhānubhiḥ
Dat.	bhānave	bhānubhyām	bhānubhyaḥ
Abl.	bhānoḥ	bhānubhyām	bhānubhyaḥ
Gen.	bhānoḥ	bhānvoḥ	bhānūnām
Loc.	bhānau	bhānvoḥ	bhānuṣu
Voc.	bhāno	bhānū	bhānavaḥ

Coral marks the masculine singular oblique endings: -unā (ins.), -ave (dat.), -oḥ (abl./gen.), -au (loc.), plus masculine acc. pl. -ūn. Every other cell is shared with the feminine.

	dhenu Feminine · “cow”
Nom.	dhenuḥ	dhenū	dhenavaḥ
Acc.	dhenum	dhenū	dhenūḥ
Ins.	dhenvā	dhenubhyām	dhenubhiḥ
Dat.	dhenvai	dhenubhyām	dhenubhyaḥ
Abl.	dhenvāḥ	dhenubhyām	dhenubhyaḥ
Gen.	dhenvāḥ	dhenvoḥ	dhenūnām
Loc.	dhenvām	dhenvoḥ	dhenuṣu
Voc.	dheno	dhenū	dhenavaḥ

Coral marks the feminine -v- glide — the u-stem analogue of the -y- glide in gati. The stem vowel u becomes -v- before any vowel ending: dhen-v-ā, dhen-v-ai, dhen-v-āḥ, dhen-v-ām, dhen-v-oḥ. Acc. pl. is dhenūḥ with visarga (feminine) rather than dhenūn.

	madhu Neuter · “honey”
Nom.	madhu	madhunī	madhūni
Acc.	madhu	madhunī	madhūni
Ins.	madhunā	madhubhyām	madhubhiḥ
Dat.	madhune	madhubhyām	madhubhyaḥ
Abl.	madhunaḥ	madhubhyām	madhubhyaḥ
Gen.	madhunaḥ	madhunoḥ	madhūnām
Loc.	madhuni	madhunoḥ	madhuṣu
Voc.	madho	madhunī	madhūni

Coral marks the neuter -n- infix. Unlike the i-stem vāriṇā (where n retroflexes to ṇ after i), here the n stays dental because u does not trigger retroflexion in this position. Nom./acc. pl. lengthens the stem vowel: madhūni.

1. The rule

Short u-stems (Whitney §343–347; MacDonell §85) are a three-gender paradigm, structurally parallel to the i-stems. Masculines and feminines share the baseline paradigm but split in six singular cells plus the accusative plural. Neuters take an -n- infix (dental, not retroflex, since u does not trigger the RUKI retroflection of n).

2. How to remember

i Same split as i-stems. Masculine and feminine diverge in the same six singular cells plus acc. pl. — only the glide differs: i-stems use -y-, u-stems use -v-. So where gati has gatyā, dhenu has dhenvā; where gati has gatyai, dhenu has dhenvai, and so on.
ii Acc. pl. distinguishes gender. Masc. bhānūn with -n, fem. dhenūḥ with visarga. Exactly parallel to agnīn / gatīḥ.
iii Neuter -n- stays dental. Unlike vāriṇā with retroflex -ṇ-, the neuter u-stem madhunā, madhune, madhunaḥ, madhuni keeps a plain dental n. The reason: u does not trigger RUKI retroflection of a following dental n, whereas i does.
iv Nom./acc. pl. neuter = madhūni, with long ū. The same lengthening as vārīṇi, tapāṃsi: neuter vowel-stem plurals always lengthen and add -ni/-ṇi/-āṃsi — the n marks the neuter plural across the whole vowel system.

3. Exercise — all three genders

Three paradigms, 72 forms. Watch the v-glide in dhenu and the plain dental n in madhu.

	bhānu Masculine · “sun”
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nom.
Acc.
Ins.
Dat.
Abl.
Gen.
Loc.
Voc.

	dhenu Feminine · “cow”
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nom.
Acc.
Ins.
Dat.
Abl.
Gen.
Loc.
Voc.

	madhu Neuter · “honey”
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nom.
Acc.
Ins.
Dat.
Abl.
Gen.
Loc.
Voc.

0 / 72 correct