There are irregular and unexpected forms in all three components of the perfect verb – reduplicative syllable, stem and ending.
Reduplication
When a root begins with a consonant, this consonant and the vowel contained in the root in zero grade are repeated to form the reduplicative syllable: thus, the root √विश् ‘to enter’ has the (weak) perfect stem वि-विश्-. Yet when a root begins with a vowel, there is no initial consonant to reduplicate, and we find just the vowel of the (zero-grade) root reduplicated: thus, the root √इष् ‘to want’ has the (weak) perfect stem ईष्- (i-iṣ-, with the two i's merging into long ī-). Yet in the strong forms, where the root stands in guṇa, a glide appears between the reduplicative vowel and the root, resulting in e.g. 1st SG इयेष (i-y-eṣ-a). As the table below shows, we find very similar forms in some roots that begin with y- and v-.
The reason behind the behaviour of the affected roots beginning with y- and v- is simple: these are all roots cited in guṇa because giving their zero grade would not allow us to infer the form of all their grades (–› Chapter 7). When looked at in the zero grade (which is the form that determines the shape of the reduplicative syllable), a root such as √यज् (zero grade इज्) begins with an i- in the same way that √इष् does.
A small number of verbal roots beginning with (vocalic) ṛ- or with a- before more than one consonant reduplicate in a rather unusual way: they add the syllable ān- before the root. Thus, √ऋच् ‘to praise’ (cf. the Ṛg-veda (also written Rigveda), literally ‘praise knowledge’) has a 3rd SG PERF ACT आनर्च (3rd PL आनृचुः), and √अञ्ज् ‘to smear’ has the 3rd SG PERF ACT आनञ्ज. Roots beginning with a long vowel often form the periphrastic perfect (–› Chapter 34).
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