Hindustani grammar
Hindustani, the lingua franca of Northern India and Pakistan, has two standardised registers: Hindi and Urdu. Grammatical differences between the two standards are minor but each uses its own script: Hindi uses Devanagari while Urdu uses an extended form of the Perso-Arabic script, typically in the Nastaʿlīq style.
On this grammar page Hindustani is written in "standard orientalist" transcription as outlined in Masica (1991:xv). Being "primarily a system of transliteration from the Indian scripts, [and] based in turn upon Sanskrit" (cf. IAST), these are its salient features: subscript dots for retroflex consonants; macrons for etymologically, contrastively long vowels; h for aspirated plosives; and tildes for nasalised vowels.
Phonology
The sounds presented in paranthesis in the tables below signify they are only found in loanwords from either Persian or Sanskrit. More information about phonology of Hindustani can be read on Hindustani phonology and IPA/Hindi and Urdu.
Vowels
Hindustani natively possesses a symmetrical ten-vowel system. The vowels [ə], [ɪ], [ʊ] are always short in length, while the vowels [ɑː], [iː], [uː], [eː], [oː], [ɛː], [ɔː] are always considered long, in addition to an eleventh vowel /æː/ which is found in English loanwords.
Front | Central | Back | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
long | short | short | long | ||
Close | iː | ɪ | ʊ | uː | |
Close mid | eː | oː | |||
Open mid | ɛː | ɛ | ə | ɔː | |
Open | (æː) | ɑː |
Vowels [ɛ], [ɛː]
[ɛ] occurs as a conditioned allophone of /ə/ (schwa) in proximity to /ɦ/, if and only if the /ɦ/ is surrounded on both sides by two schwas.[1] and is realised as separate vowel. For example, in kahanā /kəɦ(ə)naː/ (कहना – کَہنا 'to say'), the /ɦ/ is surrounded on both sides by schwa, hence both the schwas will become fronted to short [ɛ], giving the pronunciation [kɛɦɛnaː]. Syncopation of phonemic middle schwa can further occur to give [kɛɦ.naː].
Consonants
Hindustani has a core set of 28 consonants inherited from earlier Indo-Aryan. Supplementing these are two consonants that are internal developments in specific word-medial contexts,[2] and seven consonants originally found in loan words, whose expression is dependent on factors such as status (class, education, etc.) and cultural register (Modern Standard Hindi vs Urdu).
Allophony of [v] and [w]
[v] and [w] are allophones in Hindustani. These are distinct phonemes in English, but both are allophones of the phoneme /ʋ/ in Hindustani (written ⟨व⟩ in Hindi or ⟨و⟩ in Urdu), including loanwords of Arabic and Persian origin. More specifically, they are conditional allophones, i.e. rules apply on whether ⟨व⟩ is pronounced as [v] or [w] depending on context. Native Hindi speakers pronounce ⟨व⟩ as [v] in vrat (व्रत – ورت, 'vow') and [w] in pakwān (पकवान – پکوان 'food dish'), treating them as a single phoneme and without being aware of the allophonic distinctions, though these are apparent to native English speakers. The rule is that the consonant is pronounced as semivowel [w] in onglide position, i.e. between an onset consonant and a following vowel.[3]
Consonants and vowels are outlined in the table below.[4][5][6] Hovering the mouse cursor over them will reveal the appropriate IPA information, while in the rest of the article hovering the mouse cursor over underlined forms will reveal the appropriate English translation.
|
---|
Morphology
Nouns
Hindustani distinguishes two genders (masculine and feminine), two noun types (count and non-count), two numbers (singular and plural), and three cases (direct, oblique, and vocative).[8]:43 Nouns may be further divided into two classes based on declension, called type-I (marked) and type-II (unmarked). The basic difference between the two categories is that the former has characteristic terminations in the direct singular while the latter does not.[9]
The table below displays the suffix paradigms. A hyphen symbol (for the marked type-I) denotes change from the original termination to another (for example laṛkā to laṛke in the masculine singular oblique), whereas a plus sign (for the unmarked type-II) denotes an ending which should be added (seb to sebõ in the masculine plural oblique). -Ø denotes that no suffix is added to the noun stem.
Singular | Plural | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Direct | Oblique | Vocative | Direct | Oblique | Vocative | ||
Masculine | I | -ā | -e | -õ | -o | ||
II | -Ø | +õ
+yõ (if the stem ends in a vowel) [10] |
+o
+yo (if the stem ends in a vowel) [10] | ||||
Feminine | I | -ī -i -iyā | -iyā̃ | -iyõ | -iyo | ||
II | -Ø | +ẽ | +õ | +o |
The next table of noun declensions, mostly adapted from Shapiro (2003:263), shows the above suffix paradigms in action. Words: laṛkā ('boy'), kū̃ā ('well'), seb ('apple'), vālid ('father'), cāqū ('penknife'), ādmī ('man'), mitr ('friend'), laṛkī ('girl'), ciṛiyā ('finch'), kitāb ('book'), bhāṣā ('language'), and aurat ('woman').
Singular | Plural | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Direct | Oblique | Vocative | Direct | Oblique | Vocative | ||
Masculine | I | laṛkā kuā̃ |
laṛke kuẽ |
laṛkõ kūõ |
laṛko
kūo | ||
II | seb vālid cāqū ādmī |
sebõ vālidõ cāquõ ādmiyõ |
sebo
vālido cāquo ādmiyo | ||||
Feminine | I | laṛkī
ciṛiyā |
laṛkiyā̃
ciṛiyā̃ |
laṛkiyõ
ciṛiyõ |
laṛkiyo
ciṛiyo | ||
II | kitāb
bhāṣā aurat |
kitābẽ
bhāṣāẽ auratẽ |
kitābõ
bhāṣāõ auratõ |
kitābo
bhāṣāo aurato |
Notes for noun declension:
- ^1 This is also the ending used for the vocative masculine singular.
- ^2 A small number of marked masculines like kuā̃ display nasalization of all terminations.[11]
- ^3 Some masculines ending in ā don't change in the direct plural and fall in the unmarked category. i.e. vālid "father", cācā "uncle", rājā "king".[12]
- ^4 Unmarked nouns ending in ū and ī generally shorten this to u and i before the oblique (and vocative) plural termination(s), with the latter also inserting the semivowel y.[12][13][14]
- ^5 Many feminine Sanskrit loanwords such as bhāṣā ('language') and mātā (mother) end in ā, therefore the ā is not a reliable indicator of noun gender.[12]
- The iyā ending is also not a reliable indicator of gender or noun type. Some words such as pahiyā ('wheel') and Persian takiyā ('pillow') are masculine type-I: pahiye ('wheels'), takiye ('pillows'). Feminine loanwords such as Arabic duniyā ('world') and Sanskrit kriyā ('action') use feminine type-II endings: duniyāẽ ('worlds'), kriyāẽ ('actions').
- In Urdu, many Arabic words retain their Arabic plurals.
- Perso-Arabic loans ending in final unpronounced h are handled as masculine marked nouns.[15] Hence bacca(h) → baccā. The former is the Urdu spelling, the latter the Hindi.
- Some Arabic loans may use their original dual and plural markings. i.e. vālid "father" → vālidain "parents".
Adjectives
Adjectives may be divided into declinable, and indeclinable categories.[16][17] Declinables are marked, through termination, for the gender, number, case of the nouns they qualify. The set of declinable adjective terminations is similar but greatly simplified in comparison to that of noun terminations —
Singular | Plural | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Direct | Oblique | Vocative | Direct | Obique | Vocative | |||
Declinable | I | Masc. | -ā | -e | ||||
Fem. | -ī | |||||||
II | Masc. | -yā | -ye | |||||
Fem. | -yā | |||||||
III | Masc. | -yā̃ | -yẽ | |||||
Fem. | -yī̃ | |||||||
Indeclinable | -Ø |
Indeclinable adjectives are completely invariable, and can end in either consonants or vowels (including ā and ī ). A number of declinables display nasalisation of all terminations.[16] Dir. masc. sg. (-ā) is the citation form.
- Examples of declinable (type-1) adjectives: baṛā "big", choṭā "small", moṭā "fat", acchā "good", burā "bad", kālā "black", ṭhaṇḍā "cold".
- Examples of declinable (type-2) adjectives: baṛhiyā "great/awesome", ghatiyā "of bad quality or nature", cūtiyā "idiot"/ "asshole".
- Examples of declinable (type-3) adjectives: dāyā̃ "right (direction)", bāyā̃ "left (direction)"
- Examples of indeclinable adjectives: xarāb "bad", sāf "clean", bhārī "heavy", murdā "dead", sundar "beautiful", pāgal "crazy/mad", lāl "red".
Declinable adjectives
Singular | Plural | Translation | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Direct | Oblique | Vocative | Direct | Oblique | Vocative | |||
M | I | baṛā laṛkā baṛā kuā̃ |
baṛe laṛke baṛe kuẽ |
baṛe laṛkõ baṛe kuõ |
baṛe laṛko baṛe kuo |
big boy(s)
big well(s) | ||
II | baṛā seb baṛā pitā baṛā cākū baṛā ādmī baṛā mitra |
baṛe seb baṛe pitā baṛe cākū baṛe ādmī baṛe mitra |
baṛe sebõ baṛe pitāõ baṛe cākuõ baṛe ādmiyõ baṛe mitrõ |
baṛe sebo baṛe pitāo baṛe cākuo baṛe ādmiyo baṛe mitro |
big apple(s)
big father(s) big knife(s) big man/men big friend(s) | |||
F | I | baṛī laṛkī baṛī śakti baṛī ciṛiyā |
baṛī̃ laṛkiyā̃ baṛī̃ śaktiyā̃ baṛī̃ ciṛiyā̃ |
baṛī̃ laṛkiyõ baṛī̃ śaktiyõ baṛī̃ ciṛiyõ |
baṛī̃ laṛkiyo baṛī̃ śaktiyo baṛī̃ ciṛiyo |
big girl(s)
big power(s) big bird(s) | ||
II | baṛī kitāb baṛī bhāṣā baṛī aurat |
baṛī̃ kitābẽ baṛī̃ bhāṣāẽ baṛī̃ aurtẽ |
baṛī̃ kitābõ baṛī̃ bhāṣāõ baṛī̃ aurtõ |
baṛī̃ kitābo baṛī̃ bhāṣāo baṛī̃ aurto |
big book(s)
big language(s) big woman/women |
Singular | Plural | Translation | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Direct | Oblique | Vocative | Direct | Oblique | Vocative | |||
M | I | baṛhiyā laṛkā baṛhiyā kuā̃ |
baṛhiye laṛke baṛhiye kuẽ |
baṛhiye laṛkõ baṛhiye kuõ |
baṛhiye laṛko baṛhiye kuo |
great boy(s)
great well(s) | ||
II | baṛhiyā seb baṛhiyā pitā baṛhiyā cākū baṛhiyā ādmī baṛhiyā mitr |
baṛhiyā seb baṛhiyā pitā baṛhiyā cākū baṛhiyā ādmī baṛhiyā mitr |
baṛhiye sebõ baṛhiye pitāõ baṛhiye cākuõ baṛhiye ādmiyõ baṛhiye mitrõ |
baṛhiye sebo baṛhiye pitāo baṛhiye cākuo baṛhiye ādmiyo baṛhiye mitro |
great apple(s)
great father(s) great knife(s) great man/men great friend(s) | |||
F | I | baṛhiyā laṛkī baṛhiyā śakti baṛhiyā ciṛiyā |
baṛhiyā laṛkiyā̃ baṛhiyā śaktiyā̃ baṛhiyā ciṛiyā̃ |
baṛhiyā laṛkiyõ baṛhiyā śaktiyõ baṛhiyā ciṛiyõ |
baṛhiyā laṛkiyo baṛhiyā śaktiyo baṛhiyā ciṛiyo |
great girl(s)
great power(s) great bird(s) | ||
II | baṛhiyā kitāb baṛhiyā bhāṣā baṛhiyā aurat |
baṛhiyā kitābẽ baṛhiyā bhāṣāẽ baṛhiyā auratẽ |
baṛhiyā kitābõ baṛhiyā bhāṣāõ baṛhiyā auratõ |
baṛhiyā kitābo baṛhiyā bhāṣāo baṛhiyā aurato |
great book(s)
great language(s) great woman/women |
Singular | Plural | Translation | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Direct | Oblique | Vocative | Direct | Oblique | Vocative | |||
M | I | dāyā̃ laṛkā dāyā̃ kuā̃ |
dāyẽ laṛke dāyẽ kuẽ |
dāyẽ laṛkõ dāyẽ kuõ |
dāyẽ laṛko dāyẽ kuo |
the on-the-right-side boy(s)
the on-the-right-side well(s) | ||
II | dāyā̃ seb dāyā̃ pitā dāyā̃ cākū dāyā̃ ādmī dāyā̃ mitr |
dāyā̃ seb dāyā̃ pitā dāyā̃ cākū dāyā̃ ādmī dāyā̃ mitr |
dāyẽ sebõ dāyẽ pitāõ dāyẽ cākuõ dāyẽ ādmiyõ dāyẽ mitrõ |
dāyẽ sebo dāyẽ pitāo dāyẽ cākuo dāyẽ ādmiyo dāyẽ mitro |
the on-the-right-side apple(s)
the on-the-right-side father(s) the on-the-right-side knife(s) the on-the-right-side man/men the on-the-right-side friend(s) | |||
F | I | dāyī̃ laṛkī dāyī̃ ciṛiyā |
dāyī̃ laṛkiyā̃ dāyī̃ ciṛiyā̃ |
dāyī̃ laṛkiyõ dāyī̃ ciṛiyõ |
dāyī̃ laṛkiyo dāyī̃ ciṛiyo |
the on-the-right-side girl(s)
the on-the-right-side bird(s) | ||
II | dāyī̃ kitāb dāyī̃ aurat |
dāyī̃ kitābẽ dāyī̃ auratẽ |
dāyī̃ kitābõ dāyī̃ auratõ |
dāyī̃ kitābo dāyī̃ aurato |
the on-the-right-side book(s)
the on-the-right-side woman/women |
Indeclinable adjectives
Singular | Plural | Translation | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Direct | Oblique | Vocative | Direct | Oblique | Vocative | |||
M | I | xarāb laṛkā xarāb kuā̃ |
xarāb laṛke xarāb kuẽ |
xarāb laṛkõ xarāb kuõ |
xarāb laṛko xarāb kuo |
bad boy(s)
bad well(s) | ||
II | xarāb seb xarāb pitā xarāb cākū xarāb ādmī xarāb mitra |
xarāb sebõ xarāb pitāõ xarāb cākuõ xarāb ādmiyõ xarāb mitrõ |
xarāb sebo xarāb pitāo xarāb cākuo xarāb ādmiyo xarāb mitro |
bad apple(s)
bad father(s) bad knife(s) bad man/men bad friend(s) | ||||
F | I | xarāb laṛkī xarāb śakti xarāb ciṛiyā |
xarāb laṛkiyā̃ xarāb śaktiyā̃ xarāb ciṛiyā̃ |
xarāb laṛkiyõ xarāb śaktiyõ xarāb ciṛiyõ |
xarāb laṛkiyo xarāb śaktiyo xarāb ciṛiyo |
bad girl(s)
bad power(s) bad bird(s) | ||
II | xarāb kitāb xarāb bhāṣā xarāb aurat |
xarāb kitābẽ xarāb bhāṣāẽ xarāb auratẽ |
xarāb kitābõ xarāb bhāṣāõ xarāb auratõ |
xarāb kitābo xarāb bhāṣāo xarāb aurato |
bad book(s)
bad language(s) bad woman/women |
All adjectives can be used either attributively, predicatively, or substantively. Substantively they are declined as nouns rather than adjectives.
sā (~ se ~ sī) is a suffix for adjectives, modifying or lightening their meaning; giving them an "-ish" or "quite" sense. e.g. nīlā "blue" → nīlā-sā "bluish". Its emphasis is rather ambiguous, sometimes enhancing, sometimes toning down, the sense of the adjective.[18]
Comparatives and superlatives
Comparisons are made by using "than" (the postposition se; see below), "more" (aur, zyādā), and "less" (kam). The word for "more" is optional, while "less" is required, so that in the absence of either "more" will be inferred.
Hindustani | Word order | Meaning |
---|---|---|
Gītā Gautam se lambī hai | [gita] [gautam] [than] [tall] [is] | Gita is taller than Gautam. |
Gītā Gautam se zyādā lambī hai | [gita] [gautam] [than] [more] [tall] [is] | Gita is taller than Gautam. (emphasised) |
Gītā Gautam se aur lambī hai | ||
Gītā Gautam jitnī lambī hai | [gita] [gautam] [as much] [tall] [is] | Gita is as tall as Gautam. |
Gītā Gautam se kam lambī hai | [gita] [gautam] [than] [less] [tall] [is] | Gita is less tall than Gautam. |
In the absence of an object of comparison ("more" of course is now no longer optional):
Hindustani | Word order | Meaning |
---|---|---|
baccā zyādā baṛā hai | [kid] [more] [big] [is] | The kid is bigger. |
baccā utnā hi lambā hai | [kid] [just as much] [tall/long] [is] | The kid is just as tall (as someone else). |
baccā kam baṛā hai | [kid] [less] [big] [is] | The kid is less big. |
Hindustani | Word order | Meaning |
---|---|---|
zyādā baṛā baccā | [more] [big] [kid] | The bigger kid. |
utnā hī baṛā baccā | [just as much] [big] [kid] | The just as big kid. |
kam baṛā baccā | [less] [big] [kid] | The shorter kid. |
Superlatives are made through comparisons with "all" (sab). Comparisons using "least" are rare; it is more common to use an antonym.
Hindustani | Word order | Meaning |
---|---|---|
kamrā sabse sāf hai | [room] [than all] [clean] [is] | The room is the cleanest |
kamrā sabse kam sāf hai | [room] [than all] [less] [clean] [is] | The room is the least clean |
kamrā sabse gandā hai | [room] [than all] [dirty] [is] | The room is the dirtiest |
Hindustani | Word order | Meaning |
---|---|---|
sabse sāf kamrā | [than all] [clean] [room] | The cleanest room. |
sabse kam sāf kamrā | [than all] [less] [clean] [room] | The least clean room |
sabse gandā kamrā | [than all] [dirty] [room] | The dirtiest room. |
In Sanskritised and Persianised registers of Hindustani, comparative and superlative adjectival forms using suffixes derived from those languages can be found.[19]
Sanskrit | Persian | |
---|---|---|
Comp. ("-er") | -tar | |
Sup. ("-est") | -tam | -tarīn |
Numerals
The numeral systems of several of the Indo-Aryan languages, including Hindustani and Nepali, are typical decimal systems, but contracted to the extent that nearly every number 1–99 is irregular. The first four ordinal numbers are also irregular. The suffix -vā̃ marks ordinals beginning at the number five. The ordinals decline in the same way as the declinable adjectives.
English | Hindustani Cardinals | Hindustani Ordinals |
---|---|---|
zero | śūnya, sifar | śūnyavā̃ |
one | ek | pehlā, avval |
two | do | dūsrā, dom |
three | tīn | tīsrā |
four | cār | cauthā |
five | pā̃c | pā̃cvā̃ |
six | chah/cheh | chaṭhā |
seven | sāt | sātvā̃ |
eight | āṭh | āṭhvā̃ |
nine | nau | nauvā̃ |
ten | das | dasvā̃ |
hundred | sau | sauvā̃ |
thousand | hazār | hazārvā̃ |
Postpositions
The aforementioned inflectional case system only goes so far on its own, and rather serves as that upon which is built a system of agglutinative suffixes or particles known as postpositions, which parallel English's prepositions. It is their use with a noun or verb that necessitates the noun or verb taking the oblique case (though the bare oblique is also sometimes used adverbially[20]), and it is with them that the locus of grammatical function or "case-marking" then lies. There are seven such one-word primary postpositions.
Primary Postpositions
Primary
Postpositions |
Explanation |
---|---|
kā | genitive marker; variably declinable in the manner of an adjective. X kā/ke/kī Y has the sense "X's Y", with kā/ke/kī agreeing with Y.[16] |
ko | dative and the accusative marker; ko has dual function and can mark both the indirect object or the direct object.[21][22] |
ne | ergative marker; applied to subjects of transitive perfective verbs. |
se | ablative, elative, perlative and instrumental marker; has other very wide range of uses and meanings:
|
mẽ | locative marker; "in", "inside". |
par/pe | superessive marker; "on", "at". |
tak | terminative marker "until, up to". |
- Some verbs like bolnā (to speak/say) when used, the patient in the sentence can use both the instrumental and the accusative marker. For example, rāhul se bolo and rāhul ko bolo translate to the same "Say (it) to Rahul".
- Beyond these above there are a large range of compound postpositions, constructed majoritarily from the genitive primary postposition kā in the oblique form (ke, kī) plus an adverb. When using with pronouns, these all the compound postpositions can only be used with the Genitive Oblique case pronouns and the genitive kī/ke must be omitted before attaching them with the genitive oblique case.
Secondary Postpositions
Compound
Postpositions |
Explanation | Compound
Postpositions |
Explanation |
---|---|---|---|
kī taraf | orientative marker; "towards", | ke bāre | "concerning (something)" |
ke andar | inessive marker; "inside", | ke bād | antessive marker; "after" |
ke bāhar | elative marker "outside" | ke pās | adessive marker; "near" |
ke bagal | adessive marker "adjacent" | ke jaisā/jaise/jaisi | semblative marker, "like" |
ke āge | apudessive marker; "in front of, ahead of", | ke liye | benefactive marker; "for" |
ke ūpar | superessive marker; "on top of, above" | ke sāmne | postessive case "facing, opposite, infront", etc.[23] |
ke nīce | subessive marker; "beneath, below" | ke pīche | pertingent marker; "behind" |
ke binā/baġair | abessive marker; "without" | ke dvārā/zariye | perlative marker; "via, through" |
Some compound postpositions do not have the genitive marker as their primary postposition, such as:
Compound
Postpositions |
Explanation |
---|---|
tak mẽ | limitative marker "within" |
Tertiary Postpositions
Some other compound postpositions with two secondary postpositions (called tertiary postposition) can be constructed by adding primary postpositions to some of the compound postpositions shown above.
Compound
Postpositions |
Marker | Explanation |
---|---|---|
ke bāre mẽ | "about" | "regarding/concerning/about something" |
ke bād mẽ | antessive marker; "after (emphatic)" | "(in a sequence) something is after something" |
ke sāth mẽ | sociative marker; "with (emphatic)" | "something is along/together with something else" |
ke nīce mẽ | subessive marker; "beneath, below (emphatic)" | "location of something is below something else" |
kī vajah se | causal marker, "because of" | "something happens/ed because of (fault of) something else" |
ke pīche se | postelative marker; "from behind" | "motion/movement from behind something" |
ke andar se | inessive marker; "inside", | "motion/movement from inside something" |
ke āge se | "from infront" | "motion/movement from infront of something" |
ke pās se | adelative marker; "from near (something)" | "motion/movement near something" |
ke nīce se | subessive marker; "beneath, below" | "motion/movement from below something" |
ke ūpar se | delative marker; "from above" | "motion/movement from above something" |
ke ūpar ko | sublative marker; | "motion/movement onto a surface" |
kī taraf ko | "towards [a direction] (emphatic)" | "motion/movement towards a direction" |
Postpositions from English Prepositions
Some compound postpositions in Hindustani are formed by borrowing prepositions of English and using them as secondary postpositions of the compound postpositions. The meaning expressed by the compound postpositions formed using the English prepositions stay the same as their original meaning in English.
Compound
Postpositions |
Explanation |
---|---|
ke infront' | "infront" (equivalent to "ke sāmne" or "ke sāmne mẽ") |
ke behind | "behind" (equivalent to "ke ūpar" or "ke ūpar mẽ") |
ke above | "above" (equivalent to "ke ūpar" or "ke ūpar mẽ") |
ke below | "below" (equivalent to "ke nīce") |
ke through | "through" (in certain contexts, equivalent to "ke andar se" or "zariye se") |
ke against | "against" (equivalent to "ke k͟hilāf" in certain contexts) |
ke about | "above" (usually used as "about a reference location" and as not equivalent to "ke bāre mẽ") |
ke around | "around" (equivalent to "ki carõ taraf" in certain contexts) |
ke regarding | "regarding" (equivalent to "ke mutalliq" in certain contexts) |
ke according | "according" (equivalent to "ke hisāb se" or "ke mutabiq" in certain contexts) |
Pronouns
Personal Pronouns
Hindustani has personal pronouns for the first and second persons, while for the third person demonstratives are used, which can be categorised deictically as proximate and non-proximate.[24] Pronouns distinguish cases of direct, oblique, and dative/accusative. The latter-most, often called a set of "contracted" forms, is in free variation with the oblique case plus dative postposition. Pronouns do not distinguish gender.
Also displayed in the below table are the genitive pronominal forms to show that the 1st and 2nd pronouns have their own distinctive forms of merā, hamārā, terā, tumhārā apart from the regular formula of OBL. + kā; as well as the ergative pronominal forms to show that the postposition ne does not straightforwardly suffix the oblique bases: rather than *mujh-ne and *tujh-ne, direct bases are used giving mãĩ-ne and tū-ne, and for the 3rd person, along with in-ne and un-ne (dialectal) special ergative oblique forms inhõ-ne and unhõ-ne (standard forms) are used. Compound postpositions must be used with the genitive oblique cases. So, *mujh-ke andar and mujh andar are wrong and instead it should be mere andar. The compound postpositions that have the primary postposition -kī in place of -kā must have the genitive oblique case declined to the feminine gender. So, when using the postposition kī taraf – "towards", it should be merī taraf and not merā taraf or mere taraf.
tū, tum, and āp are the three second person pronouns ("you"), constituting a threefold scale of sociolinguistic formality: respectively "intimate", "familiar", and "polite". The "intimate" conjugations are grammatically singular while the "familiar" and "polite" conjugations are grammatically plural.[19] When being referred to in the third person however, only those of the "polite" level of formality are grammatically plural.[25] The following table is partly adapted from Shapiro (2003:265).
Case | Personal | Demonstrative | Relative | Interrogative | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | ||||||||||||
Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Proximal | Non-proximal | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |||||
Intimate | Familiar | Polite | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | ||||||||
Direct | 'mãĩ' | 'ham' | 'tū' | 'tum' | 'āp' | yah | ye | vah | ve | 'jo' | 'kaun, kyā' | |||
'ye' | 'vo' | |||||||||||||
Oblique | Regular | 'mujh' | 'tujh' | 'is' | 'in' | 'us' | un | 'jis' | 'jin' | 'kis' | 'kin' | |||
Ergative | 'mãĩ' | 'tū' | 'inhõ' | 'unhõ' | 'jinhõ' | 'kinhõ' | ||||||||
Genitive | mere | hamāre | tere | tumhāre | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
Dative | 'mujhe' | 'hamẽ' | 'tujhe' | 'tumhẽ' | — | 'ise' | 'inhẽ' | 'use' | 'unhẽ' | 'jise' | 'jinhẽ' | 'kise' | 'kinhẽ' | |
Accusative | ||||||||||||||
Genitive | Masc. Sing. | 'merā' | 'hamārā' | 'tērā' | 'tumhārā' | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Masc. Plu. | 'mērē' | 'hamārē' | 'tērē' | 'tumhārē' | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
Fem. Sing. | 'merī' | 'hamārī' | 'tērī' | 'tumhārī' | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
Fem. Plu. |
To form pronouns which are not part of the base pronouns list, primary and secodary postpositions are added after the oblique case regular, genitive and genitive pronouns. The pronoun cases formed using the primary postpositions are shown in the table below:
Case | Personal | Demonstrative | Relative | Interrogative | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | ||||||||||||
Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Proximal | Non-proximal | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |||||
Intimate | Familiar | Polite | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | ||||||||
Ergative | 'mãĩ-ne' | 'ham-ne' | 'tū-ne' | 'tum-ne' | 'āp-ne' | 'is-ne' | 'inhõ-ne'
'in-ne' |
'us-ne' | 'unhõ-ne'
'un-ne' |
'jis-ne' | 'jinhõ-ne'
'jin-ne' |
'kis-ne' | 'kinhõ-ne'
'kin-ne' | |
Dative &
Accusative |
Oblique | mujh-ko | ham-ko | tujh-ko | tum-ko | āp-ko | is-ko | in-ko | us-ko | un-ko | jis-ko | jin-ko | kis-ko | kin-ko |
Genitive | mere-ko | hamāre-ko | tere-ko | tumhāre-ko | āpke-ko | iske-ko | inke-ko | uske-ko | unke-ko | jiske-ko | jinke-ko | kiske-ko | kinke-ko | |
Genitive | Masc. Sing. | — | — | — | — | 'āp-kā' | 'is-kā' | 'in-kā' | 'us-kā' | 'un-kā' | 'jis-kā' | 'jin-kā' | 'kis-kā' | 'kin-kā' |
Masc. Plu. | — | — | — | — | 'āp-kē' | 'is-kē' | 'in-kē' | 'us-kē' | 'un-kē' | 'jis-kē' | 'jin-kē' | 'kis-kē' | 'kin-ke' | |
Fem. Sing. | — | — | — | — | 'āp-kī' | 'is-kī' | 'in-kī' | 'us-kī' | 'un-kī' | 'jis-kī' | 'jin-kī' | 'kis-kī' | 'kin-kī' | |
Fem. Plu. | ||||||||||||||
Ablative &
Instrumental |
Regular | mujh-se | ham-se | tujh-se | tum-se | āp-se | is-se | in-se | us-se | un-se | jis-se | jis-se | kis-se | kin-se |
Genitive | mere-se | hamāre-se | tere-se | tumhāre-se | āpke-se | iske-se | inke-se | uske-se | unke-se | jiske-se | jinke-se | kiske-se | kinke-se | |
Limitative | Regular | mujh-tak | ham-tak | tujh-tak | tum-tak | āp-tak | is-tak | in-tak | us-tak | un-tak | jis-tak | jis-tak | kis-tak | kin-tak |
Genitive | mere-tak | hamāre-tak | tere-tak | tumhāre-tak | āpke-tak | iske-tak | inke-tak | uske-tak | unke-tak | jiske-tak | jinke-tak | kiske-tak | kinke-tak | |
Locative 1 | Oblique | mujh-pe | ham-pe | tujh-pe | tum-pe | āp-pe | is-pe | in-pe | us-pe | un-pe | jis-pe | jis-pe | kis-pe | kin-pe |
Genitive | mere-pe | hamāre-pe | tere-pe | tumhāre-pe | āpke-pe | iske-pe | inke-pe | uske-pe | unke-pe | jiske-pe | jinke-pe | kiske-pe | kinke-pe | |
Locative 2 | Oblique | mujh-mẽ | ham-mẽ | tujh-mẽ | tum-mẽ | āp-mẽ | is-mẽ | in-mẽ | us-mẽ | un-mẽ | jis-mẽ | jis-mẽ | kis-mẽ | kin-mẽ |
Genitive | mere-mẽ | hamāre-mẽ | tere-mẽ | tumhāre-mẽ | āpke-mẽ | iske-mẽ | inke-mẽ | uske-mẽ | unke-mẽ | jiske-mẽ | jinke-mẽ | kiske-mẽ | kinke-mẽ |
Notes for pronouns:
- Postpositions are treated as bound morphemes after pronouns in Hindi, but as separate words in Urdu.[26]
- The varying forms for the 3rd person. dir. constitute one of the small number of grammatical differences between Hindi and Urdu. yah "this" / ye "these" / vah "that" / ve "those" is the literary set for Hindi while ye "this, these" / vo "that, those" is the set for Urdu and spoken and colloquially written Hindi.
- The above section on postpositions noted that ko (the dative/accusative case) marks direct objects if definite. As "the most specific thing of all is an individual", persons (or their pronouns) nearly always take the dative case or postposition.[27]
- It is very common practice to use plural pronouns (and their accompanying conjugation) in polite situations, thus tum can be used in the second person when referring to one person. Similarly, some speakers prefer plural ham over singular mãĩ. This is usually not quite the same as the "royal we"; it is rather colloquial.[28]
Emphatic Pronouns
Emphatic pronouns of Hindustani are formed by combining the exclusive emphatic particle hī or the inclusive emphatic particle bhī (with the interrogatory and relative pronouns) and the pronoun in their regular oblique and direct case. Combining the emphatic particles and the pronouns with end with the consonant -h form a new set of emphatic direct case and emphatic oblique case pronouns. The rest of the pronouns can also be combined with the exclusive emphatic particle but they do not form true pronouns, but simply add the emphatic particle as an adposition after them. The Relative and Interrogatory pronouns can only take the inclusive emphatic particle bhī as an adposition and never the exclusive emphatic particle hī.
Personal | Demonstrative | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | ||||||||
Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Proximal | Non-proximal | |||||
Intimate | Familiar | Polite | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | ||||
Direct | - | 'hamī̃' | - | 'tumhī̃' | - | yahī | - | vahī | - | |
Oblique | Regular | 'mujhī' | 'tujhī' | 'isī' | 'inhī̃' | 'usī' | unhī̃ |
- Some pronouns are not mentioned above but that doesn't mean that those pronouns cannot be turned emphatic but only that since those pronouns do not end in the consonant -h and hence they cannot cannot assimilate the h of the emphatic pronoun hī to form a true pronoun. For the unlisted pronouns, just add the hī or bhī particle after the pronoun. However, the pronoun ham is an exception to the rule just mentioned.
Reflexive Pronouns
apnā is a (genitive) reflexive pronoun: "my/your/etc. (own)".[29] Using non-reflexive and reflexive together gives emphasis; e.g. merā apnā "my (very) own".[30] xud, āp, and svayam are some (direct; non-genitive) others: "my/your/etc.-self".[31] Bases for oblique usage are usually apne (self) or apne āp (automatically). The latter alone can also mean "of one's own accord"; āpas mẽ means "among/between oneselves".[32]
Note: when in direct case, "apne āp" translates as "automatically" or "by oneself" but when in the oblique case it translates as "oneself" |
Indefinite Pronouns or Quantifiers
koī and kuch are indefinite pronouns/quantifiers. As pronouns, koī is used for animate singular ("someone") and kuch for animate plural and inanimates ("something").[33] As quantifiers/adjectives koī is used for singular count nouns and kuch for mass nouns and plural count nouns. koī takes the form kisī in the oblique. The form kaī "several" is partially a plural equivalent to koī.[34] kuch can also act as an adverb, qualifying an adjective, meaning "rather". koī preceding a number takes the meaning of "about, approximately". In this usage it does not oblique to kisī.[35]
Indefinite Pronouns/Quantifiers | animate | inanimate | animate | inanimate |
---|---|---|---|---|
direct | oblique | |||
singular | koi | kuch | kisī | |
plural (some) | kuch | kuchõ | ||
plural (several) | kaī | kaiyõ |
Adverbial Pronouns
Interrogative | Relative | Demonstrative | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Proximal | Non-proximal | ||||
Time | kab | jab | ab | tab | |
Place | Direct | kidhar | jidhar | idhar | udhar |
Oblique | kahā̃ | jahā̃ | yahā̃ | vahā̃ | |
Quantity | Masc. Sing. | kitnā | jitnā | itnā | utnā |
Masc. Sing. | kitne | jitne | itne | utne | |
Fem. Sing. | kitnī | jitnī | itnī | utnī | |
Fem. Plu. | |||||
Quality | Masc. Sing. | kaisā | jaisā | aisā | vaisā |
Masc. Sing. | kaise | jaise | aise | vaise | |
Fem. Sing. | kaisī | jaisī | aisī | vaisī | |
Fem. Plu. | |||||
Manner | kaise | jaise | aise | vaise |
Note: The feminine plural forms are commonly used as singular respect forms and the feminine singular forms often are used interchangeably with the feminine plural forms.
Adverbs
Hindustani has few underived forms.[36] Adverbs may be derived in ways such as the following —
- Simply obliquing some nouns and adjectives: nīcā "low" → nīce "down", sīdhā "straight" → sīdhe "straight", dhīrā "slow" → dhīre "slowly", saverā "morning" → savere "in the morning", ye taraf "this direction" → is taraf "in this direction", kalkattā "Calcutta" → kalkatte "to Calcutta".
- Nouns using a postposition such as se "by, with, -ly": zor "force" → zor se "forcefully" (lit. "with force"), dhyān "attention" → dhyān se "attentively" (lit. "with attention").
- Adjectives using post-positional phrases involving "way, manner": acchā "good" → acchī tarah se "well" (lit. "by/in a good way"), xās "special" → xās taur par "especially" (lit. "on a special way").
- Verbs in conjunctive form: hãs "laugh" → hãs kar "laughingly" (lit. "having laughed"), meherbānī kar "do kindness" → meherbānī kar ke "kindly, please" (lit. "having done kindness").[37]
- Formative suffixes from Sanskrit or Perso-Arabic in higher registers of Hindi or Urdu. Skt. sambhava "possible" + -taḥ → sambhavataḥ "possibly; Ar. ittifāq "chance" + -an → ittifāqan "by chance".[20]
Verbs
Overview
The Hindustani verbal system is largely structured around a combination of aspect and tense/mood. Like the nominal system, the Hindustani verb involves successive layers of (inflectional) elements to the right of the lexical base.[38]
Hindustani has 3 aspects: perfective, habitual, and continuous, each having overt morphological correlates.[20] These are participle forms, inflecting for gender and number by way of a vowel termination, like adjectives.[39] The perfective, though displaying a "number of irregularities and morphophonemic adjustments", is the simplest, being just the verb stem followed by the agreement vowel. The habitual forms from the imperfective participle; verb stem, plus -t-, then vowel. The continuous forms periphrastically through compounding (see below) with the perfective of rahnā "to stay".
Derived from honā "to be" are five copula forms: present, past, subjunctive, presumptive, contrafactual (aka "past conditional"). Used both in basic predicative/existential sentences and as verbal auxiliaries to aspectual forms, these constitute the basis of tense and mood.
Non-aspectual forms include the infinitive, the imperative, and the conjunctive. Mentioned morphological conditions such the subjunctive, "presumptive", etc. are applicable to both copula roots for auxiliary usage with aspectual forms and to non-copula roots directly for often unspecified (non-aspectual) finite forms.
Finite verbal agreement is with the nominative subject, except in the transitive perfective, where it is with the direct object, with the erstwhile subject taking the ergative construction -ne (see postpositions above). The perfective aspect thus displays split ergativity.
Tabled below on the left are the paradigms for adjectival concord (A), here only slightly different from that introduced previously: the f. pl. can nasalise under certain conditions. To the right are the paradigms for personal concord (P), used by the subjunctive.
|
|
Verb Inflection
The inflection of standard Hindustani verbs includes:
- three persons: first, second and third.
- two numbers: singular and plural.
- five moods: indicative, contrafactual (the past subjunctive & the conditional), presumptive, subjunctive (in addition to infinitive) and imperative.
- two voices: active and passive. The passive voice uses the compound postposition ke dvārā or by converting the verb into a compund verb using the auxiliary verb jānā.
- two tenses without auxiliary verbs (future and simple past).
Copula in Hindustani
Modern Hindustani has the present indicative forms of the verb honā and it is the only verb in Hindi to have the simple indicative forms in the present tense.
- The Imperfect Past forms also do not exist for any other verb except honā. Hindustani uses Present Habitual forms which roughly compensates for the loss of Present Simple Indicative forms, in the contexts where the habitual aspect cannot compensate for the present simple tense, the future simple is used. For example, "the train leaves at 11 am" will be translated as "tren gyārah baje niklegī". The present simple tense of English when it doesn't refer to a habitual action translates to the future tense of Hindustani.
- For all the verbs except honā, there are no separate forms for the present and the future subjunctive and all the other verbs have a common future/present subjunctive form.
The verb honā can be translated as «to be», «to exist», «to happen» and «to have». The verbs in Hindi are gendered and numbered in general they agree with either the object or the subject of the sentence depending on the whether the sentence uses dative construction (quirky subject) or not.
Notes
- All conjugations in the indicative mood except the future tense can be used as a copula.
- The conditional mood also duals as the habitual participle.
- There are two types of imperatives in Hindustani, the present imperative and the future imperative (also called the deferred imperative)[40]. The present imperative is used to give immediate commands and the deferred imperative is used to give deferred commands.
Compound Tenses
Periphrastic Hindustani verb forms consist of two elements. The first of these two elements is the aspect marker. The second element (the copula) is the common tense-mood marker.[10]
Mood & Aspects
Hindustani has three aspects, Habitual aspect, Perfective Aspect and the Progressive Aspect.[10] To construct the progressive aspect and forms, Hindustani makes use of the progressive participle rahā which is derived from the verb rehnā ("to stay" or "to remain"). Unike English and many other Indo-European languages, Hindustani does differentiate between Continuous and the Progressive aspects. So, for e.g. the sentence "mãĩ shirt pehen rahā hū̃" will always translate as "I am (in the process) of wearing a shirt." and it can never be used to mean "I am (already) wearing a shirt.". In English, however, "I am wearing a shirt." can be used to mean both the idea of progressive action and a continuous action. To convey the continuous state of an action the adjectival partciple is used in HIndustani which is constructed by adding the preterite partciple of verb being followed by the preterite partciple of the copula. So, "I am (already) wearing a shirt." translates in to Hindustani as "mãĩ shirt pehnā huā hū̃." All the personal forms of the copula of Hindustani in all the aspect and moods are given in the table below:
Personal forms of the Copula of Hindustani | |||||||||||||
Mood | Aspect | Tense | Gender | Number and person | English Equivalent
(only sg. 3rd) [he/she/it] |
||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st | 2nd | 3rd | [note: when the "it" pronoun is to be meant
in place of "he/she" the meaning of the copula changes to "to happen" or "to exist" from "to be".] | ||||||||||
intimate | neutral | formal | neutral | formal | |||||||||
Singular | Plural | Singular | Singular & Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular & Plural | |||||||
Indicative | Simple | present | m | hū̃ | hãĩ | hai | ho | hãĩ | hai | hãĩ | [he is] / [it is] / [it exists] / [there is] | ||
f | [she is] / [it is] / [it exists] / [there is] | ||||||||||||
perfect | m | huā | huē | huā | huē | huē | huā | huē | [he became] / [it happened] | ||||
f | huī | huī̃ | huī | huī | huī̃ | huī | huī̃ | [she became] / [it happened] | |||||
imperfect | m | thā | thē | thā | thē | thē | thā | thē | [he was] / [he used to be] / [it was] | ||||
f | thī | thī̃ | thī | thī | thī̃ | thī | thī̃ | [she was] / [she used to be] / [it was] | |||||
future | m | hoūŋgā | hoēŋgē | hoēgā | ho'ogē | hoēŋgē | hoēgā | hoēŋgē | [he will become] / [it will happen] | ||||
f | hoūŋgī | hoēŋgī | hoēgī | ho'ogī | hoēŋgī | hoēgī | hoēŋgī | [she will become] / [it will happen] | |||||
Habitual | present | m | hotā hū̃ | hotē hãĩ | hotā hai | hotē ho | hotē hãĩ | hotā hai | hotē hãĩ | [he becomes] / [it happens] | |||
f | hotī hū̃ | hotī hãĩ | hotī hai | hotī ho | hotī hãĩ | hotī hai | hotī hãĩ | [she becomes] / [it happens] | |||||
past | m | hotā thā | hotē thē | hotā thā | hotē thē | hotē thē | hotā thā | hotē thē | [he used to become] / [it used to happen] | ||||
f | hotī thī | hotī thī̃ | hotī thī | hotī thī | hotī thī̃ | hotī thī | hotī thī̃ | [she used to become] / [it used to happen] | |||||
Perfective | present | m | huā hū̃ | huē hãĩ | huā hai | huē ho | huē hãĩ | huā hai | huē hãĩ | [he has become] / [it has happened] | |||
f | huī hū̃ | huī hãĩ | huī hai | huī ho | huī hãĩ | huī hai | huī hãĩ | [she has become] / [it has happened] | |||||
past | m | huā thā | huē thē | huā thā | huē thē | huē thē | huā thā | huē thē | [he had become] / [it had happened] | ||||
f | huī thī | huī thī̃ | huī thī | huē thī | huī thī̃ | huī thī | huī thī̃ | [she had become] / [it had happened] | |||||
future | m | huā hoūŋgā | huē hoŋgē | huā hogā | huē hoŋgē | huē hoŋgē | huā hogā | huē hoŋgē | [he will have become] / [it will have happened] | ||||
f | huī hoūŋgī | huī hoŋgī | huī hogī | huī hoŋgī | huī hoŋgī | huī hogī | huī hoŋgī | [she will have become] / [it will have happened] | |||||
Progressive | present | m | ho rahā hū̃ | ho rahē hãĩ | ho rahā hai | ho rahē ho | ho rahē hãĩ | ho rahā hai | ho rahē hãĩ | [he is becoming] / [it is happening] | |||
f | ho rahī hū̃ | ho rahī hãĩ | ho rahī hai | ho rahī ho | ho rahī hãĩ | ho rahī hai | ho rahī hãĩ | [she is becoming] / [it is happening] | |||||
past | m | ho rahā thā | ho rahē thē | ho rahā thā | ho rahē thē | ho rahē thē | ho rahā thā | ho rahē thē | [he was becoming] / [it was happening] | ||||
f | ho rahī thī | ho rahī thī̃ | ho rahī thī | ho rahī thī | ho rahī thī̃ | ho rahī thī | ho rahī thī̃ | [she was becoming] / [it was happening] | |||||
future | m | ho rahā hūŋgā | ho rahē hoŋgē | ho rahā hogā | ho rahē hogē | ho rahē hoŋgē | ho rahā hogā | ho rahē hoŋgē | [he will be becoming] / [it will be happening] | ||||
f | ho rahī hūŋgī | ho rahī hoŋgī | ho rahī hogī | ho rahī hogī | ho rahī hoŋgī | ho rahī hogī | ho rahī hoŋgī | [she will be becoming] / [it will be happening] | |||||
Subjunctive | Simple | present | m | hū̃ | hõ | ho | ho | hõ | ho | hõ | (wish) that he is | ||
f | (wish) that she is | ||||||||||||
future | m | hoū̃ | hoē̃ | hoē | ho'o | hoē̃ | hoē | hoē̃ | (wish) that he become | ||||
f | (wish) that she become | ||||||||||||
Habitual | present | m | hotā hū̃ | hotē hõ | hotā ho | hotē ho | hotē hõ | hotā ho | hotē hõ | (wish) that he be (habitually) | |||
f | hotī hū̃ | hotī hõ | hotī ho | hotī ho | hotī hõ | hotī ho | hotī hõ | (wish) that she be (habitually) | |||||
Perfective | present | m | huā hū̃ | huē hõ | huā ho | huē ho | huē hõ | huā ho | huē hõ | (wish) that he has become | |||
f | huī hū̃ | huī hõ | huī ho | huī ho | huī hõ | huī ho | huī hõ | (wish) that she has become | |||||
future | m | huā hoū̃ | huē hoē̃ | huā hoē | huē ho'o | huē hoē̃ | huā hoē | huē hoē̃ | (wish) that he would become | ||||
f | huī hoū̃ | huī hoē̃ | huī hoē | huī ho'o | huī hoē̃ | huī hoē | huī hoē̃ | (wish) that she would become | |||||
Progressive | present | m | ho rahā hū̃ | ho rahē hõ | ho rahā ho | ho rahē ho | ho rahē hõ | ho rahā ho | ho rahē hõ | (wish) that he be becomming | |||
f | ho rahī hū̃ | ho rahī hõ | ho rahī ho | ho rahī ho | ho rahī hõ | ho rahī ho | ho rahī hõ | (wish) that she be becomming | |||||
future | m | ho rahā hoū̃ | ho rahē hoē̃ | ho rahā hoē | ho rahē ho'o | ho rahē hoē̃ | ho rahā hoē | ho rahē hoē̃ | (wish) that he will be becoming | ||||
f | ho rahī hoū̃ | ho rahī hoē̃ | ho rahī hoē | ho rahī ho'o | ho rahī hoē̃ | ho rahī hoē | ho rahī hoē̃ | (wish) that she will be becoming | |||||
Contrafactual | Simple | present
& past |
m | hotā | hotē | hotā | hotē | hotē | hotā | hotē |
|
||
f | hotī | hotī̃ | hotī | hotī | hotī̃ | hotī | hotī̃ | ||||||
Habitual | past | m | hotā hotā | hotē hotē | hotā hotā | hotē hotē | hotē hotē | hotā hotā | hotē hotē |
|
|||
f | hotī hotī | hotī hotī̃ | hotī hotī | hotī hotī | hotī hotī̃ | hotī hotī | hotī hotī̃ | ||||||
Perfective | present
& past |
m | huā hotā | huē hotē | huā hotā | huē hotē | huē hotē | huā hotā | huē hotē |
|
|||
f | huī hotī | huī hotī̃ | huī hotī | huī hotī | huī hotī̃ | huī hotī | huī hotī̃ | ||||||
Progressive | present
& past |
m | ho rahā hotā | ho rahē hotē | ho rahā hotā | ho rahē hotē | ho rahē hotē | ho rahā hotā | ho rahē hotē |
|
|||
f | ho rahī hotī | ho rahī hotī̃ | ho rahī hotī | ho rahī hotī | ho rahī hotī̃ | ho rahī hotī | ho rahī hotī̃ | ||||||
Presumptive | Simple | present
& past & future |
m | hūŋgā | hoŋgē | hogā | hogē | hoŋgē | hogā | hoŋgē | he presumably might be | ||
he presumably was | |||||||||||||
he presumably will be | |||||||||||||
f | hūŋgī | hoŋgī | hogī | hogī | hoŋgī | hogī | hoŋgī | she presumably might be | |||||
she presumably was | |||||||||||||
she presumably will be | |||||||||||||
Habitual | present
& past |
m | hotā hūŋgā | hotē hoŋgē | hotā hogā | hotē hogē | hotē hoŋgē | hotā hogā | hotē hoŋgē | he presumably becomes (habitually) | |||
he presumably used to become (habitually) | |||||||||||||
f | hotī hūŋgī | hotī hoŋgī | hotī hogī | hotī hogī | hotī hoŋgī | hotī hogī | hotī hoŋgī | she presumably becomes (habitually) | |||||
she presumably used to be (habitually) | |||||||||||||
Perfective | present
& past & future |
m | huā hūŋgā | huē hoŋgē | huā hogā | huē hogē | huē hoŋgē | huā hogā | huē hoŋgē | he presumably might have become (now) | |||
he presumably might had become (now) | |||||||||||||
he presumably might will become | |||||||||||||
f | huī hūŋgī | huī hoŋgī | huī hogī | huī hogī | huī hoŋgī | huī hogī | huī hoŋgī | she presumably might have become (now) | |||||
she presumably might had become (now) | |||||||||||||
she presumably might will become | |||||||||||||
Progressive | present
& past & future |
m | ho rahā hūŋgā | ho rahē hoŋgē | ho rahā hogā | ho rahē hogē | ho rahē hoŋgē | ho rahā hogā | ho rahē hoŋgē | he presumably might be becoming | |||
he presumably might had been becoming | |||||||||||||
he presumably will be becoming | |||||||||||||
f | ho rahī hūŋgī | ho rahī hoŋgī | ho rahī hogī | ho rahī hogī | ho rahī hoŋgī | ho rahī hogī | ho rahī hoŋgī | she presumably might be becoming | |||||
she presumably might had been becoming | |||||||||||||
she presumably will be becoming | |||||||||||||
Imperative | Simple | present | m | – | – | ho | ho'o | hoiyē | hoē | hoē̃ | be! (now) | ||
f | |||||||||||||
future | m | hoiyo | honā | hoiyēgā | be! (in the future) | ||||||||
f |
Notes
- Habitual Aspect in Hindustani cannot be put into any future moods. However, imperfect progressive forms can be used to form the future forms for habitual aspect do exist as they refer to the future with reference to the present as a progressing state.
- The progressive aspect refers to an action that is in progress at the moment. For example, "vo ye kitāb paṛh rahā hai (abhī)" "He is reading a book (right now)." and "vo ye kitāb paṛh rahā hai (āj-kal)" "He is reading a book (these days)". However, there is also a continuous aspect in Hindustani which unlike the progressive aspect, conveys only a continuous action instead of a progressive action. For e.g. "vo shirt pehen rahā hai" and "vo shirt pehnā huā hai." both translate to "he is wearing a shirt" in English. However, the first refers to the action of "in the process of wearing a shirt" while the second refers to the continued state of "already wearing a shirt".
Imperfective Aspect Compound Forms
Along with the progressive aspect, the imperfect aspect can also have progressive forms, namely, the habitual progressive, habitual continuous and the perfective progressive.[41] Such a form is equivalent to
Imperfective sub-aspects | |||||||||||||
Mood | Aspect | Tense | Gender | Number and person | English Equivalent
(only sg. 3rd) [he/she/it] |
||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st | 2nd | 3rd | [note: when the "it" pronoun is to be meant
in place of "he/she" the meaning of the copula changes to "to happen" or "to exist" from "to be".] | ||||||||||
intimate | neutral | formal | neutral | formal | |||||||||
Singular | Plural | Singular | Singular & Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular & Plural | |||||||
Indicative | Habitual | present | m | hotā rehtā hū̃ | hote rehte hãĩ | hotā rehtā hai | hote rehte ho | hote rehte hãĩ | hotā rehtā hai | hote rehte hãĩ | it keeps happening | ||
f | hotī rehtī hū̃ | hotī rehtī hãĩ | hotī rehtī hai | hotī rehtī ho | hotī rehtī hãĩ | hotī rehtī hai | hotī rehtī hãĩ | ||||||
past | m | hotā rehtā thā | hote rehte the | hotā rehtā thā | hote rehte the | hote rehte the | hotā rehtā thā | hote rehte the | it used to keep happening | ||||
f | hotī rehtī thī | hotī rehtī thī̃ | hotī rehtī thī | hotī rehtī thī | hotī rehtī thī̃ | hotī rehtī thī | hotī rehtī thī̃ | ||||||
Perfective | present | m | huā rahā hū̃ | hue rahe hãĩ | huā rahā hai | hue rahe ho | hue rahe hãĩ | huā rahā hai | hue rahe hãĩ | it has happened | |||
f | huī rahī hū̃ | huī rahī hãĩ | huī rahī hai | huī rahī ho | huī rahī hãĩ | huī rahī hai | huī rahī hãĩ | ||||||
past | m | huā rahā thā | hue rahe the | huā rahā thā | hue rahe the | hue rahe the | huā rahā thā | hue rahe the | it had happened | ||||
f | huī rahī thī | huī rahī thī̃ | huī rahī thī | hue rahe thī | huī rahī thī̃ | huī rahī thī | huī rahī thī̃ | ||||||
future | m | huā rahā hūŋgā | hue rahe hoŋgē | huā rahā hogā | hue rahe hoge | hue rahe hoŋgē | huā rahā hogā | hue rahe hoŋgē | it will have happened | ||||
f | huī rahī hūŋgī | huī rahī hoŋgī | huī rahī hogī | huī rahī hogī | huī rahī hoŋgī | huī rahī hogī | huī rahī hoŋgī | ||||||
Progressive | present | m | hotā rahā hū̃ | hote rahe hãĩ | hotā rahā hai | hote rahe ho | hote rahe hãĩ | hotā rahā hai | hote rahe hãĩ | it has kept happening | |||
f | hotī rahī hū̃ | hotī rahī hãĩ | hotī rahī hai | hotī rahī ho | hotī rahī hãĩ | hotī rahī hai | hotī rahī hãĩ | ||||||
past | m | hotā rahā thā | hote rahe the | hotā rahā thā | hote rahe the | hote rahe the | hotā rahā thā | hote rahe the | it had kept happening | ||||
f | hotī rahī thī | hotī rahī thī̃ | hotī rahī thī | hotī rahī thī | hotī rahī thī̃ | hotī rahī thī | hotī rahī thī̃ | ||||||
future | m | hotā rahūŋgā | hote raheŋge | hotā rahegā | hote rahoge | hote raheŋge | hotā rahegā | hote raheŋge | it will keep happening | ||||
f | hotī rahūŋgī | hotī raheŋgī | hotī rahegī | hotī rahogī | hotī raheŋgī | hotī rahegī | hotī raheŋgī | ||||||
Subjunctive | Habitual | present | m | hotā rehtā hū̃ | hote rehte hõ | hotā rahā ho | hote rehte ho | hote rehte hõ | hotā rahā ho | hote rehte hõ | (wish) that it keeps happening | ||
f | hotī rehtī hū̃ | hotī rehtī hõ | hotī rahī ho | hotī rehtī ho | hotī rehtī hõ | hotī rahī ho | hotī rehtī hõ | ||||||
Perfective | present | m | huā rahā hū̃ | hue rahe hõ | huā rahā ho | hue rahe ho | hue rahe hõ | huā rahā ho | hue rahe hõ | (wish) that it had already happened | |||
f | huī rahī hū̃ | huī rahī hõ | huī rahī ho | huī rahī ho | huī rahī hõ | huī rahī ho | huī rahī hõ | ||||||
future | m | huā rahū̃ | hue rahẽ | huā rahe | hue raho | hue rahẽ | huā rahe | hue rahẽ | (wish) that it would happen | ||||
f | huī rahū̃ | huī rahẽ | huī rahe | huī raho | huī rahẽ | huī rahe | huī rahẽ | ||||||
Progressive | present | m | hotā rahā hū̃ | hote rahe hõ | hotā rahā ho | hote rahe ho | hote rahe hõ | hotā rahā ho | hote rahe hõ | (wish) that it has kept happening | |||
f | hotī rahī hū̃ | hotī rahī hõ | hotī rahī ho | hotī rahī ho | hotī rahī hõ | hotī rahī ho | hotī rahī hõ | ||||||
Contrafactual | Habitual | present &
past |
m | hotā rehtā hotā | hote rehte hote | hotā rehtā hotā | hote rehte hote | hote rehte hote | hotā rehtā hotā | hote rehte hote |
|
||
f | hotī rehtī hotī | hotī rehtī hotī̃ | hotī rehtī hotī | hotī rehtī hotī | hotī rehtī hotī̃ | hotī rehtī hotī | hotī rehtī hotī̃ | ||||||
Perfective | present &
past |
m | huā rahā hotā | hue rahe hote | huā rahā hotā | hue rahe hote | hue rahe hote | huā rahā hotā | hue rahe hote |
|
|||
f | huī rahī hotī | huī rahī hotī̃ | huī rahī hotī | huī rahī hotī | huī rahī hotī̃ | huī rahī hotī | huī rahī hotī̃ | ||||||
Progressive | present
& past |
m | hotā rahā hotā | hote rahe hote | hotā rahā hotā | hote rahe hote | hote rahe hote | hotā rahā hotā | hote rahe hote |
|
|||
f | hotī rahī hotī | hotī rahī hotī̃ | hotī rahī hotī | hotī rahī hotī | hotī rahī hotī̃ | hotī rahī hotī | hotī rahī hotī̃ | ||||||
Presumptive | Habitual | present
& past |
m | hotā rehtā hūŋgā | hote rehte hoŋgē | hotā rehtā hogā | hote rehte hoge | hote rehte hoge | hotā rehtā hogā | hote rehte hoŋgē |
|
||
f | hotī rehtī hūŋgī | hotī rehtī hoŋgī | hotī rehtī hogī | hotī rehtī hogī | hotī rehtī hoŋgī | hotī rehtī hogī | hotī rehtī hoŋgī | ||||||
Perfective | present
& past |
m | huā rehtā hūŋgā | hue rehte hoŋgē | huā rehtā hogā | hue rehte hoge | hue rehte hoŋgē | huā rehtā hogā | hue rehte hoŋgē | it presumably already stays happened | |||
f | huī rehtĩ hūŋgī | huī rehtī hoŋgī | huī rehtī hogī | huī rehtī hogī | huī rehtī hoŋgī | huī rehtī hogī | huī rehtī hoŋgī | ||||||
Progressive | present
& past |
m | hotā rahā hūŋgā | hote rahe hoŋgē | hotā rahā hogā | hote rahe hoge | hote rahe hoŋgē | hotā rahā hogā | hote rahe hoŋgē | it presumably had stayed happening | |||
f | hotā rahā hūŋgā | hote rahe hoŋgī | hotī rahā hogī | hotī rahī hogī | hote rahe hoŋgī | hotī rahā hogī | hote rahe hoŋgī | ||||||
Imperative | Habitual | present | m | – | – | hotā reh | hotē raho | hotē rahiyē | hotā rahē | hotē rahē̃ | keep being! (now) | ||
f | hotī reh | hotī raho | hotī rahiyē | hotī rahē | hotī rahē̃ | ||||||||
future | m | – | – | hotā rahiyo | hotē rehnā | hotē rahiyēga | hotā rahē | hotē rahē̃ | keep being! (in the future also.) | ||||
f | hotī rahiyo | hotī rehnā | hotī rahiyēga | hotī rahē | hotī rahē̃ | ||||||||
Perfective | present | m | – | – | huā reh | huē raho | huē rahiyē | huā rahē | huē rahē̃ | stay happened! [english has no proper translation] | |||
f | huī reh | huī raho | huī rahiyē | huī rahē | huī rahē̃ | ||||||||
future | m | – | – | huē rahiyo | huē rehnā | huē rahiyēga | huā rahē | huē rahē̃ | be happened! [english has no proper translation] | ||||
f | huī rahiyo | huī rehnā | huī rahiyēga | huī rahē | huī rahē̃ |
Note:
- The perfective progressive refers to an already ongoing continued action. For example, "khaṛā huā rahā hai" (he has stayed standing) [lit. he has stayed stood (up)], "baiṭhā rahā hai" (he has stayed sitting) [lit. he has stayed sat (down)]. Not all verbs can be put into a preterite continuous aspect.
- The progressive habitual refers to a state that has started some time in the past and continues to some point at the past, the present or some point in the future (definite or indefinite). "bādal garajte rahe the us din" (the clouds had kept thundering that day.)
- The habitual continuous refers to an action that happens habitually and continuously. "vo girtā rehtā hai" (he keeps on falling. (regularly, habitually))
Adjectival Participle
Although there is no continuous aspect in Hindustani, however such forms which convey solely continuity (and not progressivity) of an action or a state can be constructed by converting the verbs (which are not already compound verbs) into compound verbs which express continued state.[8][10] The process is shown below:
- baiṭhnā (to sit) → baiṭhā honā (to be sitting) → baiṭhā huā (adjectival form) → baiṭhā huā honā (to be sitting) [continuous action form of verb]
- khaṛā honā (to be standing) → khaṛā huā (adjectival form) → khaṛā huā honā (to be standing) [continuous action form of verb]
- marnā (to die) → marā honā (to be dead) → marā huā (adjectival form) → marā huā honā (to be dead) [continuous action form of verb]
- honā (to happen) → huā honā (to have happened) → huā huā (adjectival form) → huā huā honā (to have happened) [continuous action form of verb]
- karnā (to do) → kiyā honā (to have done) → kiyā huā (adjectival form) → kiyā huā honā (to have done) [continuous action form of verb]
The adjectival forms, for example, "kiyā huā" means "done", "chalā huā" means "walked", "marā huā" means "dead". Using them with nouns such as "kiyā huā kām" translates as "the done work" (lit. the work which is done), "chalā huā baccā" translates as "the walked boy" (lit. the boy who has walked), "marā huā phūl" translates as "the dead flower" (lit. the flower which is dead). Adding the copula after the adjectival forms would convert the adjectival to its continued action form verb.
When this adjective construction is used used with the copula following it, the whole structure together conveys the continuity of the adjectival state. For example, "marā huā hai" would convey that "he is dead", "khaṛā huā hai" translates as "he is standing", "(shirt) pehnā huā hai" would convey "he is wearing (a shirt)" ("wearing" here is used as in not putting on but has already worn it and the action of being worn is continued.), "ṭãgā huā hai" would translate as "it is hanging."
Notes:
- The verbs above which translate to English using the copula "to be" shows that the state of action is continued to the present while when the verbs which translate with the copula "to have" in English convey that the action is done and the continued state of having being done the action is conveyed.
- The verbs above which translate to English using the copula "to be" in their non-continued action form, convey the same meaning as their continued action form of verbs, however, the verbs which translate with the copula "to have" in English do not convey a continued action in their non-continued action form. So, khaṛā hai and khaṛā huā hai both translate to "he/it is standing" and baiṭhā hai and baiṭhā huā hai both translate to "he/it is sitting". And, huā hai translates to "it has happened" but the closest translation to huā huā hai is "it has already happened" (which conveys the state of being happened continues.)
Adjectival participle conjugations | |||||||||||||
Mood | Aspect | Tense | Gender | Number and person | English Equivalent
(only sg. 3rd) [he/she/it] |
||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st | 2nd | 3rd | [note: when the "it" pronoun is to be meant
in place of "he/she" the meaning of the copula changes to "to happen" or "to exist" from "to be".] | ||||||||||
intimate | neutral | formal | neutral | formal | |||||||||
Singular | Plural | Singular | Singular & Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular & Plural | |||||||
Indicative | Simple | present | m | kiyā huā hū̃ | kiye hue hãĩ | kiyā huā hai | kiye hue ho | kiye hue hãĩ | kiyā huā hai | kiye hue hãĩ | it is already done | ||
f | kī huī hū̃ | kī huī hãĩ | kī huī hai | kī huī ho | kī huī hãĩ | kī huī hai | kī huī hãĩ | ||||||
past | m | kiyā huā thā | kiye hue the | kiyā huā thā | kiye hue the | kiye hue the | kiyā huā thā | kiye hue the | it was already done | ||||
f | kī huī thī | kī huī thī̃ | kī huī thī | kī huī thī | kī huī thī̃ | kī huī thī | kī huī thī̃ | ||||||
future | m | kiyā huā hoūŋgā/rahūŋgā | kiyē huē hoēŋgē/rahēŋgē | kiyā huā hoēgā/rahēgā | kiyā huā ho'ogē/rahogē | kiyē huē hoēŋgē/rahēŋgē | kiyā huā hoēgā/rahēgā | kiyē huē hoēŋgē/rahēŋgē | it will be done (before a fixed time) | ||||
f | kī huī hoūŋgī/rahūŋgī | kī huī hoēŋgī/rahēŋgī | kī huī hoēgī/rahēgī | kī huī ho'ogī/rahogī | kī huī hoēŋgī/rahēŋgī | kī huī hoēgī/rahēgī | kī huī hoēŋgī/rahēŋgī | ||||||
Habitual | present | m | kiyā huā rehtā hū̃ | kiye hue rehte hãĩ | kiyā huā rehtā hai | kiye hue rehte ho | kiye hue rehte hãĩ | kiyā huā rehtā hai | kiye hue rehte hãĩ | it is habitually always done (before a fixed time) | |||
f | kī huī rehtī hū̃ | kī huī rehtī hãĩ | kī huī rehtī hai | kī huī rehtī ho | kī huī rehtī hãĩ | kī huī rehtī hai | kī huī rehtī hãĩ | ||||||
past | m | kiyā huā rehtā thā | kiye hue rehte the | kiyā huā rehtā thā | kiye hue rehte the | kiye hue rehte the | kiyā huā rehtā thā | kiye hue rehte the | it was habitually always done (before a fixed time) | ||||
f | kī huī rehtī thī | kī huī rehtī thī̃ | kī huī rehtī thī | kī huī rehtī thī | kī huī rehtī thī̃ | kī huī rehtī thī | kī huī rehtī thī̃ | ||||||
Subjunctive | Simple | present | m | kiyā huā hū̃ | kiye hue hõ | kiyā huā ho | kiye hue ho | kiye hue hõ | kiyā huā ho | kiye hue hõ | (wish) that it be done (before a fixed time) | ||
f | kī huī hū̃ | kī huī hõ | kī huī ho | kī huī ho | kī huī hõ | kī huī ho | kī huī hõ | ||||||
future | m | kiyā huā hoū̃/rahū̃ | kiye hue hoẽ/rahẽ | kiyā huā hoe/rahe | kiye hue ho'o/raho | kiye hue hoẽ/rahẽ | kiyā huā hoe/rahe | kiye hue hoẽ/rahẽ | (wish) that it become done (before a fixed time) | ||||
f | kī huī hoū̃/rahū̃ | kī huī hoẽ/rahẽ | kī huī hoe/rahe | kī huī ho'o/raho | kī huī hoẽ/rahẽ | kī huī hoe/rahe | kī huī hoẽ/rahẽ | ||||||
Habitual | present | m | kiyā huā rehtā hū̃ | kiye hue rehte hõ | kiyā huā rehtā ho | kiye hue rehte ho | kiye hue rehte hõ | kiyā huā rehtā ho | kiye hue rehte hõ | (wish) that it keeps being done (before a fixed time) habitually | |||
f | kī huī rehtī hū̃ | kī huī rehtī hõ | kī huī rehtī ho | kī huī rehtī ho | kī huī rehtī hõ | kī huī rehtī ho | kī huī rehtī hõ | ||||||
Contrafactual | Simple | present &
past |
m | kiyā huā hotā/rehtā | kiye hue hote/rehte | kiyā huā hotā/rehtā | kiye hue hote/rehte | kiye hue hote/rehte | kiyā huā hotā/rehtā | kiye hue hote/rehte |
|
||
f | kī huī hotī/rehtī | kī huī hotī̃/rehtī̃ | kī huī hotī/rehtī | kī huī hotī/rehtī | kī huī hotī̃/rehtī̃ | kī huī hotī/rehtī | kī huī hotī̃/rehtī̃ | ||||||
Presumptive | Simple | present
& past |
m | kiyā huā hūŋgā | kiyā huā hoŋgē | kiyā huā hogā | kiyā huā hogē | kiyā huā hoŋgē | kiyā huā hogā | kiyā huā hoŋgē | it presumably might be have already been done | ||
f | kī huī hūŋgī | kī huī hoŋgī | kī huī hogī | kī huī hogī | kī huī hoŋgī | kī huī hogī | kī huī hoŋgī | ||||||
Imperative | Simple | present | m | – | – | kiyā huā reh | kiye huē raho | kiye huē rahiyē | kiye huā rahē | kiye huē rahē̃ | stay done! [english has no proper translation] | ||
f | kī huī reh | kī huī raho | kī huī rahiyē | kī huī rahē | kī huī rahē̃ | ||||||||
future | m | – | – | kiyā huā rahiyo | kiyē huē rehnā | kiyē huē rahiyēga | kiyā huā rahē | kiyē huē rahē̃ | be done! [english has no proper translation] | ||||
f | kī huī rahiyo | kī huī rehnā | kī huī rahiyēga | kī huī rahē | kī huī rahē̃ |
Verb Forms
A summary of all verb forms is given in the tables below. The sample verb is intransitive dauṛnā "to run", and the sample inflection is 3rd. masc. sg. (P = e, A = ā) where applicable.
Non-aspectual | Aspectual | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Non-finite |
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finite |
|
|
Notes
- Much of the above chart information derives from Masica (1991:292–294, 323–325).
- The future tense is formed by adding the suffix gā (~ ge ~ gī) to the subjunctive, which is a contraction of gaā (= gayā, perfective participle of jānā "to go").[39] The future suffix, conjunctive participle, and suffix vālā are treated as bound morphemes in written Hindi, but as separate words in written Urdu.[26]
- ^ The present copula (h-?) seems not to follow along the lines of the regular P system of terminations; while the subjunctive copula (ho-P) is thoroughly irregular. So here are all of their forms.
Indicative and Subjunctive moods for the verb honā [43] Singular Plural 1st. 2nd. 3rd. 1st. 2nd. 3rd. Pronoun mãĩ tū ye/vo ham tum āp ye/vo Indicative Mood hū̃ hai hãĩ ho hãĩ Subjunctive Mood Present hū̃ ho hõ ho hõ Future hoū̃ hoe hoẽ ho'o hoẽ
- For the 1. subj. sg. copula Schmidt (2003:324) and Snell & Weightman (1989:113, 125) list hū̃ while Shapiro (2003:267) lists hoū̃.
- Shapiro (2003:268) lists the polite imperative ending as -iye, while Schmidt (2003:330) lists it as -ie but -iye after ā, o, ū.
- The euphonic glide y is inserted in perfective participles between prohibited vowel clusters. It is historically the remnant of the old perfective marker.[44] The clusters are a + ā, ā + ā, o + ā, and ī + ā, resulting in āyā, ayā, oyā, iyā.[45] e.g. khāyā/khāye/khāī/khāī̃ (khā- "eat").
- In addition, the combinations ī + ī and i + ī give ī.[45] e.g. piyā/piye/pī/pī̃ (pī- "drink").
- As stated, agreement in the transitive perfective is with the direct object, with the erstwhile subject taking the ergative postposition ne. If however the direct object takes the postposition ko (marking definiteness), or if no direct object is expressed, then agreement neutralises to default m. sg. -ā.[46]
- Is this regard, there are a small number of verbs that while perhaps logically transitive still do not take ne and continue to agree with the subject, in the perfective. e.g. lānā "to bring", bhūlnā "to forget", milnā "to meet", etc.
- Besides supplying the copulas, honā "to be" can be used aspectually: huā "happened, became"; hotā "happens, becomes, is"; ho rahā "happening, being".
- -ke can be used as a colloquial alternative to -kar for the conjunctive participle of any verb.
- Hindustani displays a very small number of irregular forms, spelled out in the cells below.
Verb Root Perfective
Stem
[45]Perfective Forms
Imperative[47] Subjunctive.
Stem
[48]Subjunctive Forms
Familar Polite Masculine Singular
Masculine Plural
Feminine Singular
Feminine Plural
Singular Plural 1st 2nd 3rd 2nd 3rd 1st mãĩ tū ye/vo tum āp ye/vo ham honā "to happen" ho- hu- huā hue huī̃ huī̃ ho present subjunctive h- hū̃ ho ho hõ future subjunctive ho- hoū̃ hoe ho'o hoẽ jānā "to go" jā- ga- gayā gaye gayī gayī̃ jā jā jāū̃ jāe jāo jāē̃ karnā "to do" kar- ki- kiyā kiye kī kī̃ kar kījie kar karū̃ kare karo karē̃ denā "to give" de- di- diyā diye dī dī̃ do dījie d- dū̃ de do dē̃ lenā "to take" le- li- liyā liye lī lī̃ lo lījie l- lū̃ le lo lē̃ pīnā "to drink" pī- pi- piyā piye pī pī̃ piyo pījie pi- piyū̃ piye piyo piyē̃
- The irregular forms are underlined. in the above table.
- There are two subjunctive stems for the verb honā, one being regular and the other being irregular. The regular set is the future subjunctive forms and the regular ones are the as the present subjunctive forms. honā is the only verb in Hindi to have distinct forms for the future and the present subjunctive, for all other forms there is one common subjunctive form which is used as both the present and the future subjunctive.
Set of Related Verbs
Transitives are morphologically contrastive in Hindustani, leading to the existence of related verb sets divisible along such lines. While the derivation of such forms shows patterns, they do reach a level of variegation so as to make it somewhat difficult to outline all-encompassing rules. Furthermore, some sets may have as many as four to five distinct members; also, the meaning of certain members of given sets may be idiosyncratic.[50] There are five verb forms that a verb in Hindustani can have —
- Self Action Form - conveys that the action by the verb was unintentional or happened automatically. It is always intransitive.
- Direct Action Form - conveys that the action of the verb was done by the subject of the sentence.
- Indirect Action Form - conveys that the subject of the verb made the direct object of the sentence do the action of the verb.
- Reflexive Action Form - conveys that the subject of the sentence was the receiver of the action of the verb done by the direct object of the sentence.
- Causative Form - conveys that the subject of the sentence is the cause for the end result of the action of the verb.
The Indirect Action form and the Reflexive Action Form are always the same. Also, for many verbs the Direct Transitive is same as the Indirect & Reflexive Action form. Hence, there are either three or four unique verb action forms forms in total depending on the verb.
Starting from self-action or the direct transitive verb stems further transitive/causative stems are produced according to these following assorted rules —
1 | Root Vowel Change:
Sometimes accompanied by root final consonant change:
|
2 | Suffixation of -ā. Often accompanied by:
|
3 | Suffixation of -vā (in place of -ā if and where it would occur) for a "causative". |
The majority of the following are sets culled from Shapiro (2003:270) and Snell & Weightman (1989:243–244). The lack of self action forms for the verb sets for khānā and kehnā implies that there is no such single-word form for such verbs, however, the equivalent self action forms can be constructed making use of double stemmed compound verbs. Self Action form for khānā (to eat) is xā liyā jānā, and for kehnā (to speak/talk) is either keh liyā jānā or keh diyā jānā, for sīkhnā (to learn) is sīkh liyā jānā. The word liyā (from the verb lenā "to take") means the action was done for the benefit of the subject of the sentence, while the word diyā (from the verb denā "to give") signifies that the action was done for the benefit of the object of the sentence.
- In the causative model of "to cause to be Xed", the agent takes the postposition se. Thus Y se Z banvānā "to cause Z to be made by Y" = "to cause Y to make Z" = "to have Z made by Y" = "to have Y make Z", etc.
Self Action Form |
Translation | Direct Action Form |
Translation | Indirect Action & Reflexive Form |
Translation | Causative Form |
Translation | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
0. | honā | to happen | karnā | to do | karānā | 1. to get oneself (be) done 2. to make someone/thing do (something) |
karvānā | to cause to be done |
1. | girnā | to fall | girānā | to make someone fall | girānā | 1. to make oneself (be) fallen 2. to make someone make (someone/something) fall |
girvānā | to cause to be fallen |
2. | bannā | to be prepared to become |
banānā | to prepare (something) | banānā | 1. to get oneself (be) made something 2. to make someone make (something) |
banvānā | to cause to be made |
3. | khulnā | to be opened | kholnā | to open (something) | khulanā | 1. to get oneself (be) opened 2. to make someone open (something) |
khulvānā | to cause to be opened |
4. | - | - | sīkhnā | to learn (something) | sikhānā | 1. to get oneself (be) taught 2. to make someone learn (something) |
sikhvānā | to cause to be taught |
5. | - | - | khānā | to eat (something) | khilānā | 1. to get oneself (be) eaten 2. to make someone eat (something) / to feed |
khilvānā | to cause to be eaten |
6. | biknā | to be sold | becnā/beknā | to sell (something) | becānā/bekānā | 1. to get oneself (be) sold 2. to make someone sell (something) |
bikvānā/bekvānā | to cause to be sold |
7. | dikhnā | to be seen | dekhnā | to see (something) | dikhānā | 1. to show oneself 2. to show someone (something) |
dikhvānā | to cause to be shown |
8. | - | - | kehnā | to say/tell (something) | kahānā/kehlānā | 1. to be called (some name) 2. to make someone tell (something) |
kehvānā/kehelvānā | to cause to be told/called (a name) |
15. | - | - | bolnā | to speak (something) | bulānā | 1. to get oneself called (for your presence by somenone) 2. to call for someone's presence |
bulvānā | to cause to be called for someone's presence |
9. | ghumnā | to be spun around | ghūmnā | to spin around | ghumānā | 1. to get oneself (be) spun around 2. to make something (be) spin (something) |
ghumvānā | to cause to be spun around |
10. | liṭnā | to be laid down | leṭnā | to lie (down) | leṭānā | 1. to get oneself (be) laid down 2. to make someone lie (something) down |
leṭvānā | to cause to be laid down |
11. | biṭhnā | to be sitten down | baiṭhānā | to make someone sit | baiṭhānā | 1. to get onself sat down 2. to make someone sit down |
baiṭhvānā | to cause to be made to sit |
12. | sulnā | to be made slept | sonā | to sleep | sulānā | 1. to get oneself (be) slept 2. to make someone sleep |
sulvānā | to cause to be made to sleep |
13. | dhulnā | to be washed | dhonā | to wash (something) | dhulānā | 1. to get oneself (be) washed 2. to make someone wash (something) |
dhulvānā | to cause to be washed |
14. | ṭūṭnā | to be broken | ṭornā | to break (something) | ṭurānā | 1. to get oneself (be) broken 2. to make someone break (something) |
ṭurvānā | to cause to be made broken |
Compound Verbs and Verbal Aspects
Compound verbs, a highly visible feature of Hindi–Urdu grammar, consist of a verbal stem plus an auxiliary verb. The auxiliary (also called "subsidiary", "explicator verb", and "vector"[51]) loses its own independent meaning and instead "lends a certain shade of meaning"[52] to the main or stem verb, which "comprises the lexical core of the compound".[51] While almost any verb can act as a main verb, there is a limited set of productive auxiliaries.[53] Shown below are prominent such auxiliaries, with their independent meaning first outlined, followed by their semantic contribution as auxiliaries. Finally, having to do with the manner of an occurrence, compounds verbs are mostly used with completed actions and imperatives, and much less with negatives, conjunctives, and contexts continuous or speculative. This is because non-occurrences cannot be described to have occurred in a particular manner.[54] The auxiliaries when combined with the main verb changes the aspect of the main verb it modifies. Auxiliary verbs such as jānā "to go", ānā "to come", cuknā when combined with the main verb give the formed compound verb a perfective aspect, while retaining the original meaning of the main verb.
Auxiliary Verb | Explanation | Main Verb | Compound Verbs |
---|---|---|---|
jānā "to go" | Shows perfective aspect of the main verb which means gives
a sense of completeness of the action, finality, or change of state.[55] |
1. ānā "to come"
2. khānā "to eat" 3. marnā "to die" 4. pīnā "to drink" 5. baiṭhnā "to sit" 6. honā "to happen" |
1. ā jānā "to arrive" " to have come"
2. khā jānā "to eat up (all/everything/completely)" 3. mar jānā "to be dead" 4. pī jānā "to drink up (all/everything/completely)" "to gulp" 5. baiṭh jānā "to sit down" "to have sit down" 6. honā jānā "to have happened (completely)" "to have finished happening" |
lenā "to take" | suggests that the action is completed and the benefit of the action flows
towards the doer.[54] This auxiliary verb can also to used to soften down the tone of imperatives (commands) and usually is used to give sugesstions. |
1. paṛhnā
2. karnā 3. calnā 4. mārnā |
1. paṛh lenā "to read (for oneself/for own's desire)"
2. kar lenā "to do (something fully for oneself)" "to have finished doing something" 3. cal lenā "to have walked" 4. mār lenā "to (try to) kill (oneself)" |
denā "to give" | suggests that the action was completde and the benefit of the action flows
away from the doer.[54] |
1. paṛhnā
2. mārnā 3. karnā |
1. paṛh denā "to read (for someone)" "to read out"
2. mār denā "to kill", "to kill off", "to murder" 3. kār denā "to do (something completely for someone else and not oneself)" |
ānā "to come" | Shows perfective aspect of the main verb which means gives
a sense of completeness of the action, finality, or change of state. The meaning conveyed is the doer went somewhere to do something and came back after completing the action. |
1. karnā | 1. kar ānā "to finish (and come back)", "to do (and return)"; |
cuknā "to have completed somthing" | Shows sense of completness of an action in the past, that the action
was already done/finished/completed by the doer sometime in the past. Note: this verb cuknā doesn't have any translatable meaning when used by itself. It just adds meaning to other verbs. |
1. marnā
2. jītnā |
1. mar cuknā "to have already died"
2. jīt cuknā "to have already won" |
The first three auxiliaries in the above table are the most common of auxiliaries, and the "least marked", or "lexically nearly colourless".[56] The nuance conveyed by an auxiliary can often be very subtle, and need not always be expressed with different words in English translation. lenā and denā, transitive verbs, occur with transitives, while intransitive jānā occurs mostly with intransitives; a compound of a transitive and jānā will be grammatically intransitive as jānā is.
Explanation | ||
---|---|---|
ḍālnā "to throw, pour" | Indicates an action done vigorously, decisively, violently or recklessly;[57]
it is an intensifier, showing intensity, urgency, completeness, or violence.[58] |
1. mārnā "to hit/ kill" → mār ḍālnā "to kill (violently)"
2. pīnā "to drink" → pī ḍālnā "to drink (hastily)". |
baiṭhnā "to sit" | Implies an action done foolishly or stubbornly;[59] shows speaker disapproval
or an impulsive or involuntary action.[58] |
1. kehnā "to say" → keh baiṭhnā "to say something (involuntarily or by mistake)"
2. karnā "to do" → kar baiṭhnā "to do (something as a blunder)" 3. laṛnā "to fight" → laṛ baiṭhnā "to quarrel (foolishly, or without giving it second thought)". |
paṛnā "to sudenly fall" "to lie flat" | Connotes involuntary, sudden, or unavoidable occurrence;[56] | 1. uṭhnā "to get up" → uṭh paṛnā "to suddenly get up" |
uṭhnā "to rise" | Functions like an intensifier;[60] suggests inception of action or feeling,
with its independent/literal meaning sometimes showing through in a sense of upward movement. |
1. jalnā "to burn" → jal uṭhnā "to burst into flames"
2. nacnā "to dance" → nac uṭhnā "to break into dance".[59] |
saknā "to be able to" | A modal verb that indicates the capability of performing an action. | 1. karnā "to do" → kar saknā "to be able to do"
2. dekhnā "to see" → dekh sakhnā "to be able to see" |
rakhnā "to keep, maintain" | Implies a firmness of action, or one with possibly long-lasting results or implications;[61]
occurs with lenā and denā, meaning "to give/take (as a loan)", and with other appropriate verbs, showing an action performed beforehand.[58] It usually works almost the same as cuknā the main difference being the nuance conveyed by rakhnā is that the action has either "continued effect till the present time" or "is more recent than the same action conveyed using the cuknā.". cuknā signifies distant past. |
1. dekhnā "to see" → dekh rakhnā "to have already seen." |
rahnā "to remain/stay" | The continuous aspect marker rahā apparently originated as a compound verb with rahnā ("remain"):
thus mãĩ bol rahā hū̃ = "I have remained speaking" → "I have continued speaking" → "I am speaking". However, it has lost the ability to take any form other than the imperfective, and is thus considered to have become grammaticalized.[62] |
Finally, having to do with the manner of an occurrence, compounds verbs are mostly used with completed actions and imperatives, and much less with negatives, conjunctives, and contexts continuous or speculative. This is because non-occurrences cannot be described to have occurred in a particular manner.[54]
Conjuncts
Another notable aspect of Hindi–Urdu grammar is that of "conjunct verbs", composed of a noun or adjective paired up with a general verbaliser, most commonly transitive karnā "to do" or intransitive honā "to be", "to happen", functioning in the place of what in English would be single unified verb. All conjunct verbs formed using karnā are transitive verbs and all conjunct verbs formed using the verb honā are intransitive verbs.
In the case of an adjective as the non-verbal element, it is often helps to think of karnā "to do" as supplementarily having the senses of "to cause to be", "to make", "to render", etc.
Adjective | Conjunct | Literal | Meaning |
---|---|---|---|
sāf "clean" | sāf karnā | to do clean | to clean |
niyukt/muqarrar "appointed" | niyukt/muqarrar karnā | to do appointed | to appoint |
band "closed" | band honā | to be closed | to close (intransitive) |
xatam "finished" | xatam honā | to be finished | to finish (intransitive) |
In the case of a noun as the non-verbal element, it is treated syntactically as the verb's (direct) object (never taking the ko marker; governing agreement in perfective and infinitival constructions), and the semantic patient (or agent: see gālī khānā below) of the conjunct verbal expression is often expressed/marked syntactically as a genitive adjunct (-kā ~ ke ~ kī) of the noun.[63]
Noun | Conjunct | Conjunct + patient | Literal | Meaning |
---|---|---|---|---|
intezār "wait" | intezār karnā | kisī kā intezār karnā | to do somebody's wait | to wait for somebody |
istemāl "use" | istemāl karnā | fon kā istemāl karnā | to do a phone's use | to use a phone |
bāt "talk" | bāt karnā | samīr kī bāt karnā | to do Sameer's talk | to talk about Sameer |
gālī "cuss/bad word" | gālī khānā | sanam kī gālī khānā | to eat a lover's curse | to be cursed out by one's lover |
tasvīr "picture" | tasvīr khīñcnā/khicvānā | Ibrāhīm kī tasvīr khīñcnā/khicvānā | to pull Ibrahim's picture | to take Ibrahim's picture |
With English it is the verb stems themselves that are used. All English loan words are used by forming compound verbs in Hindi by using either honā (intransitive) or karnā (transitive).
English Verb | Hindi Verb Stem | Conjuncts | Meaning |
---|---|---|---|
check | cêk | cêk honā | to be/get checked |
cêk karnā | to check (someone/something) | ||
bore | bor | bor honā | to be/get bored |
bor karnā | to bore (someone) | ||
apply | aplāi | aplāi honā | to be/get applied |
aplāi karnā | to apply (for something) |
Passive
The passive construction is periphrastic. It is formed from the perfective participle by addition of the auxiliary jānā "to go"; i.e. likhnā "to write" → likhā jānā "to be written". The agent is marked by the postposition se. Furthermore, both intransitive and transitive verbs may be grammatically passivized to show physical/psychological incapacity, usually in negative sentences. Lastly, intransitives often have a passive sense, or convey unintentional action.[64]
Syntax
Word Order
Default word order of Hindustani is SOV. However, it is neither purely left-branching nor right-branching, and phenomena of both types can be found. The order of constituents in sentences as a whole lacks governing "hard and fast rules", and frequent deviations can be found from normative word position, describable in terms of a small number of rules, accounting for facts beyond the pale of the label of "SOV".[65]
- Subject precedes the direct object of the sentence if both the dative and the accusative case marks the objects of a sentence. Prescriptively, the relative position is fixed in order to make it unambiguous which is the direct object and which is the in-direct object in the sentence as both the dative case and the accusative case is the same in Hindustani and are marked by the same postposition -ko.
- Attributive adjectives precede the noun they qualify by default, but can also be placed after the noun, doing that usually makes the sentence sound either more poetic or gives as stronger emphasises on the attribute that the adjective describes.
- Adverbs precede the adjectives they qualify.
- Negative markers (nahī̃, na, mat) and interrogatives precede the verb by default but can also appear after it, however the position for negation can be more flexible and the negation can occur before or after the auxiliary verbs too if the sentence has an auxiliary verb. Whenever the negation comes after the verbs instead of before the verb, it always emphasises the negation. The negation can never come before a noun.
- kyā ("what?") as the yes-no question marker occurs at the beginning or the end of a clause as its default position but it usually can be put anywhere in the sentence where it cannot be interpreted as the its original meaning "what".
Hindustani is a free word order language, in the sense that word order does not usually signal grammatical functions in the language.[66] In the example below, it is shown that all word orders make sense for simple sentences, which do not have adjectives, negations and adverbs. As a general rule, whatever information comes first in the sentence gets emphasised and the information which appears at the end of a sentence gets emphasised the least. [67][68]
mãĩ = I [1P.NOM] baccā = kid [ACC] hū̃ = is [be.1P.SG] | mujhe [1P.DAT] karnā [do.INF] hai [be.3P.SG] | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sentence | Literal | Translation | Sentence | Literal | Translation | ||
1. | mãĩ baccā hū̃ | [I] [kid] [am] | I am a kid. | 2. | mujhe karnā hai | [to me] [to do] [is] | I have/want to do [it]. |
mãĩ hū̃ baccā | [I] [am] [kid] | mujhe hai karnā | [to me] [is] [to do] | ||||
baccā mãĩ hū̃ | [kid] [I] [am] | karnā mujhe hai | [to do] [to me] [is] | ||||
baccā hū̃ mãĩ | [kid] [am] [I] | karnā hai mujhe | [to do] [is] [to do] | ||||
hū̃ mãĩ baccā | [am] [I] [kid] | hai mujhe karnā | [is] [to me] [to do] | ||||
hū̃ baccā mãĩ | [am] [kid] [I] | hai karnā mujhe | [is] [to do] [to me] |
As long as both dative and the accusative case are not used in the sentence, the word order flexibility remains. For example, in the table below the locative and the accusative case is used in the same sentence, the word order is flexible because the markers for the locative and the accusative cases are different but in Hindustani, the marker for the accusative and the dative case are the same, which is ko for nouns and the oblique case pronouns or they have their own unique pronoun forms which are the same for dative and the accusative case. [68]
use = he/she/it [3P.DAT] | uspe = on that [3P.LOC] | jān̄ā = to go [INF] | hai = is [be.3P.SG] | |||
use uspe jānā hai | uspe use jān̄ā hai | jān̄ā use uspe hai | hai use uspe jān̄ā |
use uspe hai jānā | uspe use hai jān̄ā | jān̄ā use hai uspe | hai use jān̄ā uspe |
use jānā hai uspe | uspe hai use jān̄ā | jān̄ā hai use uspe | hai jān̄ā use uspe |
use jānā uspe hai | uspe hai jān̄ā use | jān̄ā hai uspe use | hai jān̄ā uspe use |
use hai uspe jān̄ā | uspe jān̄ā hai use | jān̄ā uspe use hai | hai uspe use jān̄ā |
use hai jān̄ā uspe | uspe jān̄ā use hai | jān̄ā uspe hai use | hai uspe jān̄ā use |
Note: All word orders make sense but each one has its own nuance and specific context of usage. |
Usage of Dative/Accusative Noun + Accusative/Dative Pronoun
When noun and pronoun are used together in a sentence and one is in accusative case while the other is in the dative case, there is no way to differentiate which one is which just by looking at the sentence. Usually in such cases, owing to the default word order of Hindi (which is SOV) which noun/pronoun comes earlier in the sentence becomes the subject of the sentence and what comes later becomes the object of the sentence.
1. use[3P.ACC] kutte-ko[dog.DAT] do[give.IMP.2P] | |
---|---|
2. use[3P.DAT] kutte-ko[dog.ACC] do[give.IMP.2P] | |
use kutte-ko do | Either "Give it/him/her to the dog."
or "Give the dog to it/him/her." (Prescriptively, what comes first becomes the subject of the sentence) |
use do kutte-ko | |
kutte-ko use do | |
kutte-ko do use | |
do kutte-ko use | |
do use kutte-ko |
Usage of Dative Noun + Accusative Noun [69][66]
Nouns in Hindi are put in the dative or accusative case first having the noun in the oblique case and then by adding the postposition ko after it. However, when two nouns are used in a sentence in which one of them is in the accusative case and the other in the dative case, the sentence becomes ambiguous and stops making sense, so, to make sense of the sentence, one of the noun (which is assumed to be in the accusative case) is put into the nominative case and the other one is left as it is (in the dative case). The noun which is put into the nominative case becomes the direct object of the sentence and the other one (which is now in the Accusative case) becomes the indirect object of the sentence.
When both the nouns use the ko marker, generally, all permutations in which the nouns with the same case marker are adjacent to one another become ambiguous and convey no sense [69].
Sentence | Note | Translation |
---|---|---|
**sā̃p-ko sapere-ko do | with proper intonation it makes sense [67] | give the snake to the snake-charmer. |
sā̃p-ko do sapere-ko | give the snake to the snake-charmer. | |
*sãpere-ko sā̃p-ko do | doesn't make sense | - |
sãpere-ko do sā̃p-ko | give the snake-charmer to the snake. | |
**do sãpere-ko sā̃p-ko | doesn't make sense | - |
**do sā̃p-ko sapere-ko | with proper intonation it makes sense | give the snake to the snake-charmer |
The ko marker in front of the word sā̃p has been removed, leaving it in the nominative case. Now, it acts as the indirect object of the sentence and sãpera becomes the direct object of the sentence. The English translation becomes "Give the snake-charmer a snake." and when the opposite is done, the English translation of the sentence becomes "Give the snake a snake-charmer."
Sentence | Translation | Sentence | Translation |
---|---|---|---|
sā̃p sãpere-ko do | Give the snake-charmer a snake | sā̃p-ko sãpere do | Give the snake a snake-charmer |
sā̃p do sãpere-ko | sā̃p-ko do sãpere | ||
sãpere-ko sā̃p do | sãpere sā̃p-ko do | ||
sãpere-ko do sā̃p | sãpere do sā̃p-ko | ||
do sãpere-ko sā̃p | do sãpere sā̃p-ko | ||
do sā̃p sãpere-ko | do sā̃p-ko sãpere |
Usage of Dative Pronoun + Accusative Pronoun
When two pronouns are used in a sentence, all the sentences remain grammatically valid but the ambiguity of precisely telling the subject and the object of the sentence remains. [69] However, just as we did above, converting one the pronoun into nominative case does not work for all pronouns but only for the 3rd person pronouns and doing that for any other pronoun will leave the sentence ungrammatical and without sense. The reason that this works only for the 3rd person pronoun because these are not really the "regular" 3rd person pronouns but are instead the demonstrative pronouns. Hindustani lacks the regular 3rd person pronouns and hence compensates for them by using the demonstrative pronouns.
So, the ambiguity cannot completely be removed in this case here, unless of course it is interpreted that what comes first becomes the subject of the sentence. The English translation becomes either "Give me to that/him/her/it." or "Give me that/him/her/it." depending on which pronoun appears first in the sentence.
Sentence | Translation | Sentence | Translation |
---|---|---|---|
mujhe use do | Give me to that/him/her/it.
or Give me that/him/her/it. |
mujhe vo do | Give me that. |
mujhe do use | mujhe do vo | ||
do mujhe use | do mujhe vo | ||
do use mujhe | do vo mujhe | ||
use mujhe do | vo mujhe do | ||
use do mujhe | vo do mujhe |
Possession
Unlike English and many other Indo-European languages, Hindustani doesn't have a verb which directly transate to "to have" of English. Possession is reflected in Hindustani by the genitive marker kā (inflected appropriately) or the postposition ke pās ("near") and the verb honā. Possible objects of possession fall into the following three main categories in Hindustani,
- Fundamental possessions: These are possessions that are of permanent nature, which one has not obtained but got naturally and cannot be owned. These include, family relations, body parts, etc.
- Non-Fundamental possessions: These are possessions that one has obtained or can be owned. These include possession of any object, living beings (including humans), etc.
- Proximal possessions: These are possessions that show that someone or something has something near themselves.
- For indicating fundamental possessions, kā appears after the subject of the possession. With personal pronouns, this requires the use of the possessive pronoun (inflected appropriately).
- For indicating non-fundamental possessions, the compound postposition ke pās (literally, "of near") is used. However, this postposition cannot ever be translated as "near", showing proximity.
- For indicating proximity of the object to the subject, the double compound postposition ke pās mẽ (literally, "of near in") is used. It translates as "nearby".
Sentence | Literal | Translation | Explanation | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | merī mā̃ hai | [my] [mother] [exists] | I have a mother. | means that your mother is still alive, and hence in a fundamental way you still possess her, as in, the relationship "she is your mother" is true. |
2 | uskī do ā̃khẽ haĩ | [his] [two] [eyes] [exist] | He/She has two eyes. | means that a person fundamentally/naturally has two eyes. The person was born like that. |
3 | mere do bacce haĩ | [mine] [two] [children] [exist] | I have two children. | means you are the parent of two kids. The relationship is permenant. |
4 | merī nazar acchī nahī̃ hai | [mine] [vision] [good] [not] [is] | My vision is not good. | as vision is a fundamental property of a person and hence it cannot be owned and so the fundamental possesion is used. |
Note: The verb honā can be translated as "to be", "to have/possess", "to exist" or "to happen" depending on the context. The third person singular and plural conjugations can be translated as "there is" and "there are" respectively.
Sentence | Literal | Translation | Explanation | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | mere pās mā̃ hai | [mine] [near] [mother] [there is] | I have a mother. | means the same as the non-fundamental possesion, but with the nuance that you and your mother are physically together or close. |
2. | uske pās do ā̃khẽ haĩ | [his] [near] [two] [eyes] [there are] | He/She has two eyes. | means the same as the non-fundamental possesion, but also has an additional meaning of possession of someone else's eye. [yes, creepy.] |
3. | mere pās do bacce haĩ | [mine] [near] [two] [kids] [there are] | I have two kids. | means that you have kids of some other person, usually used in situations of school (teacher-student), kidnapping, etc. |
4. | mere pās ek idea hai | [mine] [near] [one] [idea] [there is] | I have an idea. | means that you possess an idea. An idea occurred to you. |
Note: Sometimes when talking about physical objects (including animals) both the fundamental and non-fundamental possessions are used interchangeably when the meaning conveyed in both cases doesn't lead to confusion. For example, mere do kutte haĩ and mere pās do kutte haĩ (both translating as, "I have two dogs.") are often used interchangeably when referring to pet dogs, with the sentence with the fundamental possession showing or having more emotional attachment. The reason these both are used interchangeably because it is a priori understood that the dogs in the context must be pet dogs. Same happens with the second example above on both the tables conveying the possession of eyes; it is understood that the eyes in the context are one's own. In the contexts where such a priori information is not immediately understood, these two types of possessions cannot be used interchangeably.
Sentence | Literal | Translation | |
---|---|---|---|
1. | mere pās mẽ mā̃ hai | [mine] [nearby] [mother] [there is] | "Mother is near me." or, "I have mother near me." |
2. | uske pās mẽ do kutte haĩ | [his] [nearby] [two] [dogs] [there are] | "There are two dogs near him/her." or, "He/She/It has two dogs near him/her/it." |
3. | mere pās mẽ do bacce haĩ | [mine] [nearby] [two] [kids] [there are] | "I have two kids near me." |
4. | mere pās mẽ ek ghar hai | [mine] [nearby] [one] [idea] [there is] | "I have a house near me." |
Relativisation
Rather than using relative clauses after nouns, as in English, Hindustani uses correlative clauses. In Hindustani, a correlative clause can go before or after the entire clause, the adjective, the noun, the pronoun or the verb it relativises.[70]
Sentence | Sentence Structure | Translation | Note | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | jo laṛkī khaṛī hai vo lambī hai. | [who].REL [girl].F.SG [stand].PTCP.F.SG [be].PRS.3P.SG. [that/she].DEM [tall].F.SG [be].PRS.3P.SG. | The girl who is standing, she is tall. | pre-noun relative clause [71] |
2. | bacca jo cillātā hai bura hai. | [kid].MASC.SG. [who].REL [shout].PTCP.M.SG [be].PRS.3P.SG [bad].ADJ.MASC.SING [be].PRS.3P.SG | [The] kid who shouts is bad. | post-noun relative clause [72] |
3. | vo khātā hai jo vo khātā hai. | [he].DEM [eat].PTCP.M.SG [be].PRS.3P.SG [what].REL [he].DEM [eat].PTCP.M.SG [be].PRS.3P.SG | He eats what he eats. | post-verb relative clause [70] |
4. | [tum] karo jo karnā hai [tumko]. | [you].DIR [do].IMP.2P.SG [what].REL [do].INF [be].PRS.3P.SG [you].DAT | Do what [you] want/have to do. | pre-verb relative clause [73] |
5. | jo karo sahī karo. | [what].REL [do].IMP.2P.SG [correct].ADJ [do].IMP.2P.SG | Do correctly what(ever) you do. | pre-verb relative clause [70] |
6. | acchī̃ nahī̃ haī̃ vo jo gātī̃ haī̃. | [good].ADJ.FEM.PLU [not].IND [be].PRS.3P.PLU [they].DIR.FEM. [who].REL [sing].PTCP.FEM.PLU [be].PRS.3P.PLU | Those [females] who sing are not good. | post-pronoun relative clause [74] |
7. | jo tum karoge sahī karoge. | [what].REL [you].DIR [do].FUT.MASC.SG [correct].ADJ [do].FUT.MASC.SG | What(ever) you'll do, you'll do correct(ly). | pre-pronoun relative clause [73] |
8. | acchī jo haī vo vo laṛkī haī. | [good].ADJ.FEM.SG [who].REL [be].PRS.3P.SG [that].REL [that].DEM [girl].DIR.SG. [be].PRS.3P.SG. | [The] girl who is good is her. | post-adjective relative clause [70] |
9. | jo acchī haī vo vo laṛkī haī. | [who].REL [good].ADJ.FEM.SG [be].PRS.3P.SG [that].REL [that].DEM [girl].DIR.SG. [be].PRS.3P.SG. | pre-adjective relative clause [75] |
Note:
- The relative pronoun jo can be used as both relative "what" and relative "who".
Pre-adjective relative clauses often have two relative pronouns whenever the adjective is used relative to a noun, the first relative pronoun is the actual relative pronoun jo and the second is the demonstrative pronoun vo which doubles as the secondary relative pronoun. The sentence jo acchī haī vo laṛkī haī. also is grammatically correct but means "[the (girl)] who is good is (a) girl." (which is a redundant sentence in Hindustani) [74] and "jo acchī haī vo vo laṛkī haī." means "the girl who is good is that girl."
Case-marking and verb agreement
Hindustani has tripartite case-marking, which means that the subject in intransitive clauses, and the agent and the object in transitive clauses each can be marked by a distinct case form. The full set of case distinctions is however only realized in certain clause types.[76][77]
In intransitive clauses, the subject is in direct case. The verb displays agreement with the subject: depending on aspect and mood, the verb agrees in gender and number, and/or person and number.[76]
laṛkā
boy:DIR
kal
yesterday
āyā
come:PRF:MASC:SG
'The boy came yesterday.'
In transitive clauses, there are three patterns:[78]
- 1. Perfective clauses with animate/definite object
Fully distinctive case marking is found in perfective clauses with animate and/or definite objects. Here, the agent takes the ergative case marker ne, while the object takes the accusative case marker ko. The verb does not agree with either of the core arguments (agent and object), but is marked per default as third person masculine singular (calāyā hai).[lower-alpha 1]
laṛke=ne
boy:OBL=ERG
gāṛī=ko
car=ACC
calāyā
drive:PRF:MASC:SG
hai
be:PRES:3.SG
'The boy has driven the car.'
- 2. Perfective clauses with inanimate/indefinite object
In perfective clauses with an indefinite object, the agent keeps the ergative case marker, but the object is in direct case. The verb agrees with the object: the perfective form calāyī hai is marked for feminine gender, agreeing with the gender of the object gāṛī.
laṛke=ne
boy:OBL=ERG
gāṛī
car
calāyī
drive:PRF:FEM:SG
hai
be:PRES:3.SG
'The boy has driven the car.'
- 3. Non-perfective clauses
In all other clause types, the agent is in direct case and triggers agreement on the verb. The object is either in direct case or accusative case, depending on animacy/definiteness
laṛkā
boy:DIR
gāṛī
car:DIR
calātā
drive:IMPF:MASC:SG
hai
be:PRES:3.SG
'The boy drives a car.'
The following table summarises the three case-marking and agreement types.
Case marking | Verb agreement | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
S* | A | O | intransitive | transitive | ||
Perfective clauses | definite object | direct | ergative | accusative | with S | none |
indefinite object | direct | ergative | direct | with S | with O | |
Non-perfective clauses | direct | direct | direct/accusative | with S | with A | |
*S is the subject in intransitive clauses. A and O are the agent and the object in transitive clauses, respectively. |
Notes
- In the sample clause, the agent happens to be masculine singular, but the verb would not change even if the agent were plural or feminine.
See Also
References
- Shapiro (2003:258)
- Shapiro (2003:260)
- Janet Pierrehumbert, Rami Nair (1996), Implications of Hindi Prosodic Structure (Current Trends in Phonology: Models and Methods), European Studies Research Institute, University of Salford Press, 1996, ISBN 978-1-901471-02-1,
... showed extremely regular patterns. As is not uncommon in a study of subphonemic detail, the objective data patterned much more cleanly than intuitive judgments ... [w] occurs when /व و/ is in onglide position ... [v] occurs otherwise ...
- Masica (1991:110)
- Masica (1991:117–118)
- Masica (1991:110)
- /ɾ/ can surface as a trill [r] in word-initial and syllable-final positions. Geminate /ɾː/ is always a trill.
- Kachru, Yamuna (2006). Hindi (12th ed.). John Benjamins Publishing Company. ISBN 9789027238122.
- Shapiro (2003:262–263)
- VAN OLPHEN, HERMAN (1975). "ASPECT, TENSE, AND MOOD IN THE HINDI VERB". Indo-Iranian Journal. 16 (4): 284–301. ISSN 0019-7246.
- Shapiro (2003:262)
- Snell & Weightman (1989:24)
- Snell & Weightman (1989:43)
- Shapiro (2003:263)
- Schmidt (2003:313)
- Shapiro (2003:264)
- Kachru, Yamuna (2006). Hindi. Philadelphia PA 19118-0519: John Benjamins Publishing Company. p. 65. ISBN 90 272 3812 X.CS1 maint: location (link)
- Snell & Weightman (1989:117)
- Shapiro (2003:265)
- Shapiro (2003:266)
- Snell & Weightman (1989:67)
- K. Bhatia, Tej (1987). A History of the Hindi Grammatical Tradiations. Hindi - Hindustani Grammar, Grmmarians, History and Problems. New York: Leiden: Brill. p. 36. ISBN 90 04 07924 6.
- Snell & Weightman (1989:80–81)
- Shapiro (2003:264–265)
- Snell & Weightman (1989:21)
- Schmidt (2003:293)
- Snell & Weightman (1989:68)
- Snell & Weightman (1989:106)
- Snell & Weightman (1989:79)
- Snell & Weightman (1989:80)
- Snell & Weightman (1989:198)
- Snell & Weightman (1989:199)
- Snell & Weightman (1989:88)
- Snell & Weightman (1989:89)
- Snell & Weightman (1989:90)
- Schmidt (2003:322)
- Snell & Weightman (1989:150)
- Masica (1991:257)
- Schmidt (2003:323)
- Bhatia, Tej. K. (1996). Colloquial Hindi. Great Britain: Routledge. p. 276. ISBN 0-415-11087-4.
- Shapiro, Michael C. (1989). A Primer of Modern Standard Hindi. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 216–246. ISBN 81-208-0475-9.
- Shapiro (2003:268)
- "होना". Wiktionary.
- Schmidt (2003:324)
- Schmidt (2003:328)
- Snell & Weightman (1989:140)
- Snell & Weightman (1989:64)
- Snell & Weightman (1989:113, 125)
- Snell & Weightman (1989:179)
- Shapiro (2003:270)
- Shapiro (2003:269)
- Snell & Weightman (1989:154)
- Shapiro (2003:269–270)
- Snell & Weightman (1989:156)
- Snell & Weightman (1989:155)
- Schmidt (2003:337)
- Snell & Weightman (1989:220)
- Schmidt (2003:338)
- Snell & Weightman (1989:221)
- Schmidt (2003:337–338)
- Snell & Weightman (1989:222)
- Masica (1991:329)
- (Masica 1991, p. 368)
- Schmidt (2003:331)
- Shapiro (2003:271)
- Butt, Miriam; Holloway King, Tracy; Ramchand, Gillian (1994). Theoretical Perspectives on Word Order in South Asian Languages. Stanford, California: CSLI Publications. pp. 185–199. ISBN 1-881526-49-6.
- Patil, Umesh; Kentner, Gerrit; Gollrad, Anja; Kügler, Frank; Fery, Caroline; Vasishth, Shravan (1 January 2008), Focus, Word Order and Intonation in Hindi, retrieved 1 July 2020
- Vasishth, Shravan (1 January 2004), Discourse context and word order preferences in Hindi, retrieved 1 July 2020
- Spencer, Andrew (2005). "Case in Hindi". CSLI Publications: 5.
- Dayal, Veneeta (1996), Dayal, Veneeta (ed.), "Relativization Structures in Hindi", Locality in WH Quantification: Questions and Relative Clauses in Hindi, Studies in Linguistics and Philosophy, Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands, p. 153, doi:10.1007/978-94-011-4808-5_5, ISBN 978-94-011-4808-5, retrieved 1 July 2020
- https://ojs.ub.uni-konstanz.de/jsal/index.php/fasal/article/view/109/67
- Dayal, Veneeta (1996). "Locality in WH Quantification: Questions and Relative Clauses in Hindi". Studies in Linguistics and Philosophy. 62: 165.
- Dayal, Veneeta (1996). "Locality in WH Quantification: Questions and Relative Clauses in Hindi". Studies in Linguistics and Philosophy. 62: 153 & 171.
- Dayal, Veneeta (1996). "Locality in WH Quantification: Questions and Relative Clauses in Hindi". Studies in Linguistics and Philosophy. 62: 161.
- Dayal, Veneeta (1996). "Locality in WH Quantification: Questions and Relative Clauses in Hindi". Studies in Linguistics and Philosophy. 62: 152.
- Comrie, Bernard (2013). "Alignment of Case Marking of Full Noun Phrases". In Dryer, Matthew S.; Haspelmath, Martin (eds.). The World Atlas of Language Structures Online. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
- Verbeke, Saartje (2013). Alignment and Ergativity in New Indo-Aryan Languages. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton.
- Butt, Miriam (2017). "Hindi/Urdu and Related Languages". In Coon, Jessica; Massam, Diane; Travis, Lisa Demena (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Ergativity. Oxford University Press. pp. 807–831.
Bibliography
- Masica, Colin (1991), The Indo-Aryan Languages, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-29944-2.
- Schmidt, Ruth Laila (2003), "Urdu", in Cardona, George; Jain, Dhanesh (eds.), The Indo-Aryan Languages, Routledge, pp. 286–350, ISBN 978-0-415-77294-5.
- McGregor, Ronald Stuart (1995), Outline of Hindi Grammar (third ed.), Oxford: Clarendon Press, ISBN 0-19-870008-3.
- Shapiro, Michael C. (2003), "Hindi", in Cardona, George; Jain, Dhanesh (eds.), The Indo-Aryan Languages, Routledge, pp. 250–285, ISBN 978-0-415-77294-5.
- Snell, Rupert; Weightman, Simon (1989), Teach Yourself Hindi (2003 ed.), McGraw-Hill, ISBN 978-0-07-142012-9.
Further reading
- Shakespear, John, (1775-1858). An introduction to the Hindustani language comprising a grammar, and a vocabulary, English and Hindustani : also short stories and dialogues, short stories in Persian and Nagari characters ... and military words of command, Nagari and English. London : W.H. Allen.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
- Dowson, John (1820-1881). A grammar of the Urdu or Hindustani language. London : K. Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., ltd. 1908. (public domain e-book) Contributed by University of California libraries