@gender

Every Sanskrit nounbase is either a masculine, or neuter, or a feminine. Each of these three groups of nounbases is called a gender (/vyakti).

Examples of m nounbases —

**pralaya- प्रलयॱ m "destruction"

**sUpa- सूपॱ m "sauce"

**mRdu- मृदुॱ m "soft"

**kRSNa- कृष्णॱ m "black"

**vRka- वृकॱ m "wolf in general"

**rAjan- राजन् m "king (always male)"

Examples of n nounbases —

**nidhana- निधनॱ n "destruction"

**madhu- मधुॱ n "honey"

**mRdu- मृदुॱ n "soft"

**kRSNa- कृष्णॱ n "black"

Examples of f nounbases —

**vidyut- विद्युत् f "lightning"

**mRdu- मृदुॱ f "soft"

kRSNa- कृष्णॱ f "black"

vRka- वृकॱ f "female wolf"

rAjan- राजन् f "queen (female with kingly status)", "queen (wife of king, queen consort)"

Most of the feminine bases (including all that end in a अ, R ऋ, or in certain consonants like n न् or certain affixes like /matup and /zatR) must have some feminine affix added to them, mainly /Ap or /GI. For convenience, they are listed in dictionaries and wordlists (with the affix alredy added) as if they were nounbases, like this —

**kRSNA- कृष्णाॱ f "black"

**vRkI- वृकीॱ f "female wolf"

**rAjJI- राज्ञीॱ f "queen"

though from the point of view of the /pANinIya the form "rAjJI- राज्ञीॱ" is not a /prAtipadika (nounbase), but the result of joining the /prAtipadika rAjan- राजन् f with the /GI that it must always carry (by RnnebhyoGIp).