Maithili grammar
This page describes the grammar of Maithili language, which has a complex verbal system, nominal declension with a few inflections, and extensive use of honoroficity. It is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Maithili people and is spoken in the Indian state of Bihar with some speakers in Jharkhand and nearby states.The language has a large number of speakers in Nepal too, which is second in number of speakers after Bihar.[1]
Maithili has the following characteristic morphological features:
- Number is not grammatically marked.
- Gender distinctions are also absent in verbs and pronouns.
- There is a lexical distinction of gender in the third person pronoun.
- Transitive verbs are distinguished from intransitive.[2]
Phonology
Consonants
Labial | Dental/ Alveolar |
Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Stop/ Affricate |
voiceless | प p | त t | ट ʈ | च tɕ | क k | |
aspirated | फ pʰ | थ tʰ | ठ ʈʰ | छ tɕʰ | ख kʰ | ||
voiced | ब b | द d | ड ɖ | ज dʑ | ग ɡ | ||
voiced aspirated | भ bʱ | ध dʱ | ढ ɖʱ | झ dʑʱ | घ ɡʱ | ||
Fricative | voiceless | फ़ (ɸ~f) | स s | ष (ʂ) | श (ɕ) | ख़ (x) | ः -(h)* |
voiced | ज़ (z) | झ़ (ʑ) | ह (ɦ) | ||||
Nasal | म m | न n | ण ɳ | ञ (ɲ) | ङ ŋ | ||
Flap and Trill consonants | र ɾ~r | ड़ (ɽ) |
|||||
Lateral | ल l | ||||||
Approximant | व (ʋ~w) | य (j) |
- Fricative sounds [ʂ, ɕ] only occur marginally, and are typically pronounced as a dental fricative /s/ in most styles of pronunciation.ः is always added after a vowel.
- In most styles of pronunciation, the retroflex flap [ɽ] occurs marginally, and is usually pronounced as an alveolar tap /r/ sound.
- A retroflex nasal sound [ɳ] only occurs before a voiced retroflex /ɖ/ sound.
- Approximant sounds [ʋ, w, j] and fricative sounds [ɸ, f, z, ʑ, x], mainly occur in words that are borrowed from Sanskrit or in words of Perso-Arabic origin. From Sanskrit, puʂp(ə) as puɸp(ə). Conjunct of ɦj as ɦʑ as in graɦjə as graɦʑə.[3]
Non syllabic Vowels
There are four non-syllabic vowels in Maithili- i̯, u̯, e̯, o̯ written in Devanagari as य़, व़, य़ॆ, व़ॊ. Most of the times, these are written without nukta.
Vowels
Front | Central | Back | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
short | long | short | long | short | long | |
Close | इ ɪ | ई iː | उ ʊ | ऊ uː | ||
Mid | ऎ e | ए eː | अ
ə~ɐ |
अऽ əː | ऒ o | ओ oː |
Open | ऍ
æ~ɛ |
ꣾ ɛː | ॴ ä | आ äː | अऽ ɔ | ॵ ɔː |
Diphthongs | ꣾ əɪ̯ | ॵ əʊ̯ | ||||
ऐ aːɪ̯ | औ aːʊ̯ |
- All vowels have nasal counterparts, represented by "~" in IPA and ँ on the vowels, like आँ ãː .
- All vowel sounds are realized as nasal when occurring before or after a nasal consonant.[4]
- Sounds ɛː and ɔː are often replaced by dipthongs əɪ̯ and əʊ̯ in most of the dialects.
- æ is a recent development.
- ɔ is replaced by ə or even ə̯ in northern dialects and by o in southernmost dialects.
- There are three short vowels, as described by Grierson, but not counted by modern grammarians. But they could be understood as syllable break :- ॳ / ɘ̆ /, इऺ/ ɪ̆ /, उऺ/ ʊ̆ / . Or as syllable break ऺ in Devanagari and "." in IPA.
- ꣾ is a Unicode letter in Devanagari, (IPA /əɪ̯/) which is not supported currently on several browsers and operating systems, along with its mātrā (vowel sign).
Diphthongs
अय़(ꣾ) / əi̯ / ~ /ɛː/ - अय़सनऺ (ꣾ सनऺ) / əi̯sənᵊ / ~ /ɛːsɐnᵊ/ 'like this'
अव़(ॵ) / əu̯ / ~ /ɔː/- चव़मुुखऺ(चॏमुखऺ) / tɕəu̯mʊkʰᵊ / ~ /tɕɔːmʊkʰᵊ/ 'four faced'
अयॆ / əe̯ / - अयॆलाः / əe̯la:h / 'came'
अवॊ (अऒ) / əo̯ / - अवॊताः / əo̯ta:h / 'will come'
ऐ / a:i̯ / - ऐ / a:i̯ / 'today'
औ / a:u̯ / - औ / a:u̯ / 'come please'
आयॆ (आऎ) / a:e̯ / - आयॆलऺ / a:e̯l / 'came'
आवॊ (आऒ) / a:o̯ / - आवॊबऺ / a:o̯bᵊ / 'will come'
यु (इउ) / iu̯/ - घ्यु / ghiu̯ / 'ghee'
यॆ (इऎ) / ie̯ / - यॆः / ie̯h / 'only this'
यॊ (इऒ) / io̯ / - कह्यो / kəhio̯ / 'any day'
वि (उइ) / ui̯ / - द्वि / dui̯ / 'two'
वॆ (उऎ) /ue̯/ - वॆ: / ue̯h / 'only that'
Svarabhakti (Vowel Epenthesis)
A peculiar type of phonetic change is recently taking place in Maithili by way of epenthesis i.e. backward transposition of final i and u in all sort of words.[5] Thus:
Standard Colloquial - Common Pronunciation
अछि / əchi / - अइछऺ / əich / 'is'
रवि / rəbi / - रइबऺ / rəib / 'sunday'
मधु / mədhu / - मउधऺ / məudh / 'honey'
बालु / ba:lu / - बाउलऺ / ba:ul / 'sand'
Nominals
Nouns are inflected for several cases. Grammarians consider only few of them to be pure inflection.
Case name | Postpositions | Examples | English translation | Singular Inflection | Plural Inflection* | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nominative
(कर्ता kartā) |
नेनऽ खैतऺ छे। | Boy is eating. | ∅ (Inherent Vowel) | -(अ)नऺ,
-(अ)निऺ (ə)nᵊ, (ə)nɪ̆ | ||
Accusative
(कर्म karma)[6] |
Definite Object
(without determiners) |
के ke | ऊ नेनाके खिलैैतꣿ। | He/she will feed the boy. | Postposition used
← | |
Indefinite
Object |
बियाहकऺ बादऺ ऊ पालऺतꣿ नेना। | He/she nurture a boy, after marriage | ∅ | |||
Instrumental
(करण karaṇa) |
सँऽ sɔ̃ | नेनासँऽ गिरलऺ रहꣿ। | It was fallen by the boy. | -एँ ẽː** | -(अ)न्हिऺ
(ə)nʰɪ̆ | |
Dative
(सम्प्रदान sampradāna) |
कॅ, लॅ, लेलऺ
kæ læ, leːlᵊ |
नेनाकॅ खाना खिलौ। | Feed the boy the food. | -(अ)ल
(ə)lə |
Postposition used ← | |
Ergative[7]
(सापेक्ष)‡ |
न, नॆ nə, ne | नेनेँ पेड़ दॆखलऺकꣿ। | The boy saw the tree. | -एँ ẽː, nasalised vowel | No forms | |
Ablative
(अपादान apādāna) |
तोँ tõː (mostly for comparative)
सॆ se |
पेड़ऺसॆ फलऺ गिरलकꣿ। | Fruit fell from the tree. | -(अ)तः
(ə)təh -(अ)हु* | ||
Genitive
(सम्बन्ध sambandha) |
करऺ kərᵊ | नेनाकऺ खॆॆलॏनऽ छिकꣿ। | The toy is of the boy. | -(अ)कऺ
(ə)kᵊ -(अ)रऺ (ə)rᵊ |
-केरऺ, -आँँकऺ
keːrᵊ, ãːkə̆ᵊ | |
Locative
(अधिकरण adhikaraṇa) |
तऽ təː
मेँ, मँऽ (Inessive) पर्, पॅ pər, pæ (Superessive) |
छतऺपर् रखऺने छꣿ। |
It is placed on the terrace. | -ए eː** -(अ)हि* |
-आँ ãː | |
Postpositional
(परसर्गीय parasargīya)§ |
अगऺलऽ महीनामेँ हॊय़तꣿ। | It will happen in next month. | ∅
(In र, ड़, ढ़, ल, न, ब stems -आ aː) |
-(अ)नऺ,
-(अ)निऺ (ə)nᵊ, (ə)nɪ̆ (ə)nᵊ, (ə)nɪ̆ | ||
Vocative
(सम्बोधन sambodhana) |
रॏ नेनऽ! औ। | O boy! Come. | ∅ |
- *These forms are abundant in literature, but are less used in spoken language.
- ‡Ergative is more used in eastern and southern dialects. Maithili also has parallel accusative structure and both can be used. If ergative is used, then nominative is used as absolutive.
- **Used only in neuter and inanimates.
- §It is used, when a postposition is added to the word. Some other postpositions are-
Case name | Postposition | |
---|---|---|
Allative | दक dəkə | |
Terminative | तकऺ, लऻ təkᵊ, laː | |
Abessive | बिनु bɪnʊ | |
Adverbial | जकऻँ , सोँ dʑəkãː, sõː | |
Genitive adjectives | Masculine object | कऽ, रऽ kɔ, rɔ |
Feminine object | कि, रि kɪ, rɪ | |
Neuter object | कऽ, रऽ kəː, rəː |
Some postpositions are added to the genitive too.
- Inflectional plural is less in use than the Periphrastic one, and is mostly found in literature.
- Periphrastic Plural is made by suffixes like सभऺ səbʰᵊ; लोकनिऺ loːknɪ̆, सबहिऺ səbəɦɪ̆, गण ɡəɳᵊ, जन dʑənᵊ could be used for animates and आरनिऺ aːrənɪ̆, सनि sənɪ for all.
Common vowel stem
Case name | Singular Inflection | Plural Inflection | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Feminine | Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | Masculine | Neuter | |
Nominative | -इ ɪ | -अऽ ɔ | -अऽ əː | -इनऺ ɪnᵊ | -अनऺ, -अनिऺ
ənᵊ, ənɪ̆ |
-अनऺ, -अनिऺ
ənᵊ, ənɪ̆ |
Accusative
(Indefinite) |
-ई iː | -अऽ əː | -ई iː | -अऽ əː | ||
Instrumental | Postposition used | -एँ ẽː | Postposition used | -अन्हिऺ
ənʰɪ̆ | ||
Dative | Postposition used | |||||
-इल ɪlə | -अल ələ | No forms | ||||
Ergative | -इयेँ ɪẽː | -एँ ẽː | ||||
Ablative | -इतः ɪtəh | -अतः
ətəh | ||||
Genitive | -इकऺ ɪkᵊ, इर॑ ɪrᵊ | -अकऺ əkᵊ, -अरऺ ərᵊ | -ईंकऺ ĩːkᵊ | -आँँकऺ
ãːkᵊ | ||
Locative | Postposition used | -ए eː | Postposition used | -आँ
ãː | ||
Vocative | -इ ɪ/ई iː | -अऽ əː | -इनऺ ɪnᵊ | -अनऺ, -अनिऺ
ənᵊ, ənɪ̆ |
Consonant stem
Case name | Singular Inflection | Plural Inflection | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Masculine | Neuter | Masculine | Neuter | |
Nominative | ∅ | -अनऺ, -अनिऺ
ənᵊ, ənɪ̆ |
-अनऺ, -अनिऺ
ənᵊ, ənɪ̆ | |
Accusative
(Indefinite) |
∅ | |||
Instrumental | Postposition used | -एँ ẽː | Postposition used | -अन्हिऺ
ənʰɪ̆ |
Dative | Postposition used | |||
-अल ələ | No forms | |||
Ergative | -एँ ẽː | |||
Ablative | -अतः
ətəh | |||
Genitive | -अकऺ əkᵊ, -अरऺ ərᵊ | -आँँकऺ ãːkᵊ kᵊ
kᵊ | ||
Locative | Postposition used | -ए eː | Postposition used | -आँ
ãː |
Vocative | ∅ | -अनऺ, -अनिऺ
ənᵊ, ənɪ̆ |
Feminine stem -आ aː
Case name | Singular Inflection | Plural Inflection |
---|---|---|
Nominative | -आ aː | -अनऺ, -अनिऺ
ənᵊ, ənɪ̆ |
Accusative
(Indefinite) |
-आ aː | |
Instrumental | Postposition used, -एँ ẽː* | |
Dative | Postposition used | |
-आल aːlə | No forms | |
Ergative | -आयेँ aːẽː, आँ ãː | |
Ablative | -आतः
aːtəh | |
Genitive | -आकऺ aːkᵊ, -आरऺ aːrᵊ | -आँँकऺ ãːkᵊ kᵊ
kᵊ |
Locative | Postposition used | |
Vocative | -ए eː | -अनऺ, -अनिऺ
ənᵊ, ənɪ̆ |
- *Though, used for neuter and inanimates, it is used for female inanimates or abstract.
Other Vowel stems
इ | ई | उ | ऊ | ऎ | ऒ | ए | ऐ | ओ | औ | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Masculine | ✓ | × | ✓ | × | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | × | ✓ | ✓ |
Feminine | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | × | × | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Neuter | ✓ | × | ✓ | × | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | × | ✓ | ✓ |
Declension irregularities | ||||||||||
Ergative | Nasalised vowel or ↓ | |||||||||
Instrumental
(Neuter only)* |
इयेँ | उवेँ | एँ | ऒवेँ | अयेँ | आयेँ | अवेँ | आवेँ | ||
Locative
(Neuter only) |
इये | उवे | ए | ऒवे | अये | आये | अवे | आवे | ||
Vocative | ए | इ | ओ | उ | ए | ओ | ए | ओ | ऐ | औ |
- Specifically saying, inanimates.
Adjectives
The difference between adjectives and nouns is very minute in Maithili. However, there are marked adjectives there in Maithili.
Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
---|---|---|---|
Definite | -कऽ kɔ | -कि/किऺ kɪ/kɪ̆ | कऽ kəː |
Indefinite | -अऽ ɔ | -इ/इऺ ɪ/ɪ̆ | ॳ/अऽ ᵊ/əː |
Pronouns
Pronouns in Maithili are declined in similar way to nominals. However, genetic case has a different form in most of the pronouns.
First and Second Person Pronouns[1]
Case name | First Person | Second Person | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Exclusive | Inclusive (Plural) | First Grade Honour | Honorofic | High-Honorofic | |
Nominative | हमऺ ɦəmᵊ | Normally Declined अपऺना सभऺ ɐpᵊnaː səbʰᵊ | तोँहऺ tõːhᵊ | अहाँ ɐɦãː | Declined Normally अपऺने ɐpᵊneː |
Accusative/Postpositional | हमऺरा ɦəmᵊraː | तॊहऺरा/तोरा toɦᵊraː/toːraː | अहाँ (के) ɐɦãː (keː) | ||
Instrumental | हमऺरेँ ɦəmᵊrẽː | तोहऺरेँ toɦᵊrẽː | अहेँ ɐɦẽː | ||
Dative | हमऺरा ɦəmᵊraː | तोहऺरा/तोरा toɦᵊraː/toːraː | अहाँ के ɐɦãː ke | ||
हमऺराल ɦəmᵊraːlə | तोहऺराल toɦᵊraːlə | अहाँलॅ ɐɦãːlæ | |||
Ergative | हम्मेँ ɦəmmẽː | तोयेँ/तोहेँ toːẽː/toɦẽː | अहꣿँ ɐɦə̃ɪ̯̃ | ||
Genitive | हमरऺ/हम्मरऺ
ɦəmərᵊ/ɦəmmərᵊ |
अपना सभकऺ ɐpᵊnaː səbʰəkə | तोहरऺ toɦərᵊ | अहाँकऺ ɐɦãːkᵊ |
Third Person Pronouns[1]
Case name | Proximate | Second Person | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
First Grade Honour | Honorofic | Neuter | First Grade Honour | Honorofic | Neuter | |
Nominative | ई iː | ए, हिनि eː, ɦɪnɪ | ए eː | ऊ, वा uː, ʋaː | ओ, हुनि oː, ɦʊnɪ | ऒ o |
Accusative/Postpositional | ऎकऺरा ekᵊraː | हिनऺका ɦɪnᵊkaː | ऎहि, ꣾ, अथि eɦɪ, əɪ, ɐtʰɪ | ऒकऺरा okᵊraː | हुनऺका ɦʊnᵊkaː | ऒहि, ॵ oɦɪ, əʊ |
Instrumental | ऎकऺरेँ ekᵊrẽː | हिनऺकेँ ɦɪnᵊkẽː | एँ ẽː | ऒकऺरेँ okᵊrẽː | हुनऺकेँ ɦʊnᵊkẽː | ओँ õː |
Dative | ऎकऺरा ekᵊraː | हिनऺका ɦɪnᵊkaː | ऎहि eɦɪ | ऒकऺरा okᵊraː | हुनऺका ɦʊnᵊkaː | ऒहि oɦɪ |
ऎकऺराल ekᵊraːlᵊ | हिनऺकाल ɦɪnᵊkaːlᵊ | एलॅ eːlæ | ऒकऺराल okᵊraːlᵊ | हुनऺकाल ɦʊnᵊkaːlᵊ | ओलॅ oːlæ | |
Ergative | येँ ɪẽː | येँ, हिनेँ ɪẽː, ɦɪnẽː | एँ ẽː | वेँ ʊẽː | ओँ õː | |
Genitive | ऎकरऺ ekərᵊ | हिनऺकरऺ, हिनकऺ ɦɪnᵊkərᵊ, ɦɪnəkᵊ | ऎःकरऺ ehkərᵊ | ओकरऺ okərᵊ | हुनऺकरऺ, हुनकऺ ɦʊnᵊkərᵊ, ɦʊnəkaː | ऒःकरऺ ohkərᵊ |
References
- Yadav, Ramawatar (1996). A Reference Grammar of Maithili. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-014558-8.
- Yadav, Ramawatar (1996). A Reference Grammar of Maithili. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-014558-8.
- Grierson, George Abraham; Asiatic Society (Calcutta, India) Journal and proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (1909-). An introduction to the Maithili dialect of the Bihari language as spoken in North Bihar. University of California Libraries. Calcutta : Asiatic Society. Check date values in:
|date=
(help) - Yadav, Ramawatar (1996). A Reference Grammar of Maithili. Trends in Linguistics: Documentation, 11.: Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. pp. 15–27.CS1 maint: location (link)
- "Maithili". lisindia.ciil.org. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
- "Maithili". lisindia.ciil.org. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
- "Maithili Variation". lisindia.ciil.org. Retrieved 2020-04-22.