The question arose because someone asked me if the word
pratibhū will have alternative forms similar to forms of
subhrū, like
subhruve/subhruvai etc. After thinking further about this question, I came to the conclusion that since we typically use the word
subhrū in feminine, it has those alternative forms similar to
matyai/mataye, but we typically use the word
pratibhū "guarantor" in masculine, it will not have such alternative forms. However, if for some reason, this guarantor happened to be a woman, then we could get the alternative forms like
pratibhuve/pratibhuvai. I have not seen these forms in actual attestations, but in theory, this is my understanding. Does it make sense?
Madhav M. Deshpande
Professor Emeritus, Sanskrit and Linguistics
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Senior Fellow, Oxford Center for Hindu Studies
[Residence: Campbell, California, USA]