________________
S. 338.)
II AGREEMENT
163
In later Prākrit the neuter form was preferred : (rāyā devi ya) niyabhavane gayāi Erz. 84.6. "The king and the queen went to their palace.
335 If the predicate is a noun it is not free to agree with the subject as regards gender. FHI FENERTE l 'Birth is
misery and old age is also misery.' तवो जोई जीवो जोइठाणं । U. 12. 'Penance is fire, the soul the altar.
336 In the Prākrits we find the slow process by which the active construction has replaced the passive though the grammatical form remains passive. Past passive participles derived from a transitive verb are used in an active construction: F IÀ qahrauj I U. 23.46. “I have abandoned the eating of poison.' llegit efl i Pau. 6. 111. ' The lord of Lankā spoke. Many transitive verbs use their participles actively : ai FISTT TI I U. 20.10.' Then the king laughed.'
337 AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE SUBSTANTIVE AND THE ADJECTIVE. On the whole the adjective agrees with the substantive on which it depends in Gender, Number and Case. The exceptions to this rule are only occasional.
When a substantive is pointed out by means of a superlative from a group of nouns usually in the genitive and the two nouns differ ir. gender, the superlative usually agrees with the noun in the nominative and not with the one in the genitive : cando va tārāna mahānubhāve Sut. 1.6.19. ‘Just as the moon is the most lustrous among the stars.' gandhesu vā candanam āhu settham Sut. 1.6.19. “As sandal is the best among the scents.' Attraction is responsible for this usage.
338 The agreement of adjectives with more than one substantive is on parallel lines with that of the predicate. The usual practice is to make it agree with the nearest substantive; TË Gengar Og ATSITI ATITI U. 19.70. “You like
