Hindi-Urdu grammar
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Hindī-Urdū grammar (Hindī: हिन्दी-उर्दू व्याकरण hindī-urdū vyākaraṇ, Urdū: ہندی-اردو قواعد, hindī-urdū qavā'id), also known as Hindustānī grammar, is the grammar of the Hindī-Urdū (Hindustānī) language. The term Hindustānī encompasses two standardized registers or linguistics variants in the form of the official languages Hindī and Urdū. Both languages/varieties are direct descendants of Sanskrit, the oldest of the Indo-Aryan languages [1], with considerable influence from Persian, Arabic and other languages. Hindī and Urdū are variants of each other (i.e., the same language in the linguistic sense); Hindī is considered as the national language and is constitutionally the official language of the Indian Union, while Urdū is considered the national language of Pakistan and one of the 24 scheduled languages of India. Though some sources (typically ultra-nationalistic ones) consider Hindī and Urdū to be separate languages, linguists consider both the languages to be one and the same, since they have essentially the same grammar and the same non-technical and non-formal vocabulary, the grammar itself being derived from Apabhramsha (a middle Indo-Aryan language). The language has official status in Fiji where it is officially referred to as Hindustānī and is a major language in Guyana and Suriname. They are Indo-European languages, and belong to the Indo-Aryan group, which itself is a part of the Indo-Iranian linguistic branch. High Hindī (or standardized Hindi) looks to Sanskrit for its formal and technical vocabulary, while Urdū looks to Persian and Arabic for its formal and technical vocabulary. The term Hindustāni is additionally used for the neutral style or variant that is in-between High Hindi and Urdu; it was advocated as a symbol for Hindu-Muslim unity by some leaders of the Indian freedom struggle, such as Mahatma Gandhi. Hindī uses the Devanāgarī script and Urdū the Nasta'līq script (a variant of Perso-Arabic script) for writing. Devanāgari is written and read from left to right and Nasta'līq from right to left. In this article, both scripts are given for discussing the grammar.
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[edit] Phonology
[edit] Morphology
There are four principal categories of words in Hindustānī:
- tatsam (तत्सम् / تتسم / same as that) words: These are the words which have been borrowed from Sanskrit to enrich the formal and technical vocabulary of standardized Hindī. Such words (almost exclusively nouns) have been taken without any phonetic or spelling change. Among nouns, the tatsam word could be the Sanskrit uninflected word-stem, or it could be the nominative singular form in the Sanskrit nominal declination. Words of this category do not appear in standardized Urdū, and are uncommon in everyday Hindustanī.
- tadbhav (तद्भव / تدبھو / born of that) words: These are the words that might have been derived from Sanskrit through Prakrit, but have undergone minor or major phonetic and spelling changes as they appear in modern Hindī and Urdū. They also include words borrowed from the other languages.
- deshaj (देशज / دیشج / local) words are those unrelated to any Sanskrit words, and of local origin.
- loanwords: These are words borrowed from other languages. Persian and Arabic loanwords are used frequently in everyday Hindustanī, as well as to enrich the formal and technical vocabulary of standardized Urdū. English borrowings are also common, in spoken Hindustanī as well as in standardized Hindī and Urdū. Turkish, Portuguese and Greek loanwords also exist, but are not as frequent.
In the tables below, the tilde (~) indicates the nasalization of the vowel under it (nasalization is a very important part of Hindi-Urdu inflections). All [t̪] and [d̪] must be taken to be dental consonants unless their retroflex IPA symbols are specified otherwise (in which case, these stops would be retroflex consonants). Also, the two vowels, which are not phonemically contrastive in Hindustani: [aː] and [ɑː] have been used here interchangeably corresponding to the grapheme <आ>. Dots in the transcription show the syllabification.
[edit] Nouns
In Hindustānī, there are two genders. All words denoting male human beings and male animals (or those animals and plants which are perceived to be "masculine") are masculine. All words denoting female human beings and female animals (or those animals and plants which are perceived to be "feminine") are feminine. Words denoting things, inanimate articles and abstract nouns are either masculine or feminine according to convention, which must be learnt by heart by non-Hindustānī speakers if they wish to learn correct Hindustānī. The ending of a word, if a vowel, usually helps in this gender classification. Among tatsam words, the masculine words of Sanskrit remain masculine in Hindustānī, and same is the case for the feminine. Sanskrit neuter nouns usually become masculine in Hindustānī. Among the tadbhav words, if a word end in [ɑː], it is normally masculine. If a word ends in [iː] or [in], it is normally feminine. Similarly, the gender also tends to be preserved for words borrowed from Arabic and Persian. The categorization of Hindustānī words directly borrowed from English (which are numerous) is very arbitrary, but can be influenced by the ending.
Hindustānī is a weakly inflected language; the relationship of a noun in a sentence is usually shown by postpositions (i.e., prepositions that follow the noun). Hindustānī has three cases for nouns. The direct case is used for nouns not followed by any postpositions, typically for the subject case. The oblique case is used for any noun that is followed by a postposition. Some nouns have a separate vocative case. Hindustānī has two numbers: singular and plural — but they may not be shown distinctly in all declinations. Note that some people nasalize the case ending of the vocative plural case too. The following patterns are taken from Tiwari ([1966] 2004).
[edit] 1. Masculine nouns ending in long [aː]
This category includes masculine nouns ending in ā, typically almost all the tadbhav masculine nouns and many words borrowed from Persian. Tatsam masculine nouns are exempt from this category.
| लड़का لڑکا /ləɽ.kaː/ — a boy | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Declined form | Case suffix | |||
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| Direct | लड़का لڑکا /ləɽ.kaː/ | लड़के لڑکے /ləɽ.keː/ | - | [eː] |
| Oblique | लड़के لڑکے /ləɽ.keː/ | लड़कों لڑکوں /ləɽ.kõː/ | [eː] | [õː] |
| Vocative | लड़के لڑکے /ləɽ.keː/ | लड़को لڑکو /ləɽ.koː/ | [eː] | [oː] |
Note:
- Exceptions of [aː]-ending masculine nouns that do not follow such declension include all such tatsam nouns, nouns formed by doubling the syllable (like नाना نانا /naː.naː/ — maternal grandfather, चाचा چاچا /ʧaː.ʧaː/ — paternal uncle, etc.), tadbʱav nouns ending in /vaː/ and /jaː/, certain loanwords (e.g., दरोग़ा دروغا /d̪ə.ɾoː.ɣaː/ — inspector, मुल्ला مُلّا /mul.laː/ — mullah, अल्फ़ा الفا /əl.faː/ — alpha, etc.) and most place names (अमरीका اَمریکا /əm.ɾiː.kaː/ — America, specifically the United States, एशिया ایشِیا /eː.ʃi.jaː/ — Asia, कनाडा کناڈا /kə.naː.ɖaː/ — Canada, अयोध्या اَیودھیا /ə.joː.d̪ʰʲaː/ — Ayodhya, etc.)
- Except for the null case-suffix, the ending vowel [aː] is dropped before adding the case-suffix.
[edit] 2. All the other masculine nouns
All other tatsam and tadbʱav masculine nouns, including exceptions listed above, follow this pattern. Many masculine nouns borrowed from Persian and Arabic also follow this pattern. The examples below include [aː] ending (राजा راجا /raː.ʤaː/) (and all other similar exceptions listed above), consonant ending (गुलाब گلاب /gu.laːb/) (remember that it is neither required nor recommended to put a halant or sukūn diacritic to show a word to be consonant-ending), [i] ending (कवि کوِی /kə.vi/), [iː] ending (सिपाही سپاہی /si.paː.hiː/), short [u] ending (गुरु گُرُو /gu.ru/), and [uː] ending (भालू بھالُو /bʰaː.luː/):
| राजा راجا /raː.ʤaː/ — a king, गुलाब گلاب /gu.laːb/ — a rose, कवि کوی /kə.vi/ — a poet, सिपाही سپاہی /si.paː.hiː/ — a soldier, गुरु گرو /gu.ru/ — a teacher, भालू بھالو /bʰaː.luː/ — a bear |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Declined form | Case suffix | |||
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| Direct | राजा راجا /raː.ʤaː/, गुलाब گلاب /gu.laːb/, कवि کوی /kə.vi/, सिपाही سپاہی /si.paː.hiː/, गुरु گرو /gu.ru/, भालू بھالو /bʰaː.luː/ |
राजा راجا /raː.ʤaː/, गुलाब گلاب /gu.laːb/, कवि کوی /kə.vi/, सिपाही سپاہی /si.paː.hiː/, गुरु گرو /gu.ru/, भालू بھالو /bʰaː.luː/ |
- | - |
| Oblique | राजा راجا /ɾaː.ʤaː/, गुलाब گلاب /gu.laːb/, कवि کوی /kə.vi/, सिपाही سپاہی /si.paː.hiː/, गुरु گرو /gu.ru/, भालू بھالو /bʰaː.luː/ |
राजाओं راجاؤں /raː.ʤaː.õː/, गुलाबों گلابوں /gu.laːb.õː/, कवियों کویوں /kə.vi.jõː/, सिपाहियों سپاہیوں /si.paː.hi.jõː/, गुरुओं گروؤں /gu.ru.õː/, भालुओं بھالوؤں /bʰaː.lu.õː/ |
- | [õː] |
| Vocative | राजा راجا /raː.ʤaː/, गुलाब گلاب /gu.laːb/, कवि کوی /kə.vi/, सिपाही سپاہی /si.paː.hiː/, गुरु گرو /gu.ru/, भालू بھالو /bʰaː.luː/ |
राजाओ راجاؤ /raː.ʤaː.oː/, गुलाबो گلابو /gu.laːb.oː/, कवियो کویو /kə.vi.joː/, सिपाहियो سپاہیو /si.paː.hi.joː/, गुरुओ گروؤ /gu.ru.oː/, भालुओ بھالوؤ /bʰaː.lu.oː/ |
- | [oː] |
Note:
- Hindustānī does not have nouns ending in short-a (schwa), as such. If a masculine noun has a consonant cluster in the end, which makes the word otherwise difficult to pronounce, a very short schwa may be phonologically appended to it. e.g., आर्य آریہ /aːr.jə/ — Aryan, and it is to be treated morphologically under this category. Of course, the ending schwa vanishes when a non-null case-suffix is attached.
- Except for the null case-suffix, the long ending vowels [iː] and [uː] become short, [i] and [u] respectively, before adding the case-suffix, as the case may be. This is reflected both in pronunciation and in devanagari spelling.
- Except for the null case-suffix, the semivowel [j] (य ی) is inserted between the [i] of the primary morpheme and the case suffix — for [i]- and [iː]-ending nouns. This is reflected in spelling clearly, though in pronunciation, the [j] may vanish to give a gliding diphthong instead.
- Note that in the Direct case, there is absolutely no distinction between the singular and the plural. Hence, to stress or clarify the plural, words such as गण گن /gəɳ/ ("people"), लोग لوگ /loːg/ ("people") etc., may be appended at the end. E.g., सदस्य سدسیہ /sə.d̪əs.jə/ ("a member") - सदस्यगण سدسیگن /sə.d̪əs.jə.gəɳ/ ("members").
- Nouns, masculine or feminine, ending in short [i] do not occur in native Hindustani words. They occur only in loanwords from Sanskrit, and very rarely those from Persian (Medieval Persian used to distinguish vowel lengths). They are marked with long [iː] in Nastaliq orthography. In common Hindustani, they are pronounced with long [iː] at the ending. The same is true for nouns ending in short [u].
[edit] 3. Feminine nouns ending in [i], long [iː] and [i.jaː]
This pattern includes all feminine nouns that end in [i] (जाति جاتی /ʤaː.t̪i/), [iː] (बेटी بیٹی /beː.ʈiː/) and [i.jaː] (चिड़िया چِڑِیا /ʧi.ɽi.jaː/), whether they are tatsam or tadbʱav.
| जाति جاتی / /ʤaː.t̪i / — a caste, बेटी بیٹی beṭī — a daughter, चिड़िया چڑیا ciṛiyā — a small bird |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Declined form | Case suffix | |||
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| Direct | जाति جاتی /ʤaː.t̪i/, बेटी بیٹی /beː.ʈiː/, चिड़िया چڑیا / /ʧi.ɽi.jaː/ / |
जातियाँ جاتیاں /ʤaː.t̪i.jãː/, बेटियाँ بیٹیاں /beː.ʈi.jãː/, चिड़ियाँ چڑیاں /ʧi.ɽi.jãː/ |
- | [jãː] |
| Oblique | जाति جاتی /ʤaː.t̪i/, बेटी بیٹی /beː.ʈiː/, चिड़िया چڑیا /ʧi.ɽi.jaː/ |
जातियों جاتیؤں /ʤaː.t̪i.jõː/, बेटियों بیٹیؤں /beː.ʈi.jõː/, चिड़ियों چڑیؤں /ʧi.ɽi.jõː/ |
- | [jõː] |
| Vocative | जाति جاتی /ʤaː.t̪i/, बेटी بیٹی /beː.ʈiː/, चिड़िया چڑیا / /ʧi.ɽi.jaː/ / |
जातियो جاتیؤ /ʤaː.t̪i.joː/, बेटियो بیٹیؤ /beː.ʈi.joː/, चिड़ियो چڑیؤ /ʧi.ɽi.joː/ |
- | [joː] |
Note:
- Except for the null case-suffix, the long ending vowel [iː] becomes short (becomes [i]) before adding the case-suffix, as the case may be. This is reflected both in pronunciation and in spelling.
- Except for the null case-suffix, the semivowel [j] is inserted after [i] of the primary morpheme and before the case suffix for [i]- and [iː]-ending nouns. This is reflected in spelling clearly, though in pronunciation, the [j] may vanish to give a gliding diphthong instead.
- Except for the null case-suffix, the ending syllable [jaː] is dropped before adding the case-suffix in [i.jaː]-ending nouns.
[edit] 4. All other feminine nouns
This pattern includes all the other feminine nouns not following in the preceding category, whether they are tatsam or tadbʱav. The example below include consonant ending (याद یاد /jaːd̪/), /aː/ ending (माला مالا /maː.laː/), /u/ ending (ऋतु رتو /ri.t̪u/), /uː/ ending (बहू بہو /bə.huː/), and /ɔː/ ending (लौ لؤ /lɔː/).
| याद یاد /jaːd̪/ — a memory, माला مالا /maː.laː/ — a garland, ऋतु رتو //i.t̪u/ — a season, बहू بہو /bə.huː/ — a daughter-in-law, लौ لؤ /lɔː/ — a flame |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Declined form | Case suffix | |||
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| Direct | याद یاد /jaːd̪/, माला مالا /maː.laː/, ऋतु رتو //i.t̪u/, बहू بہو /bə.huː/, लौ لؤ /lɔː/ |
यादें یادیں /jaː.d̪ẽː/, मालाएँ مالائیں /maː.laː.ẽː/, ऋतुएँ رتوئیں //i.t̪u.ẽː/, बहुएँ بہوئیں /bə.hu.ẽː/, लौएँ لؤیں /lɔː.ẽː/ |
- | [ẽː] |
| Oblique | याद یاد /jaːd̪/, माला مالا /maː.laː/, ऋतु رتو //i.t̪u/, बहू بہو /bə.huː/, लौ لؤ /lɔː/ |
यादों یادوں /jaː.d̪õː/, मालाओं مالاؤں /maː.laː.õː/, ऋतुओं رتوؤں //i.t̪u.õː/, बहुओं بہوؤں /bə.hu.õː/, लौओं لؤوں /lɔː.õː/ |
- | [õː] |
| Vocative | याद یاد /jaːd̪/, माला مالا /maː.laː/, ऋतु رتو //i.t̪u/, बहू بہو /bə.huː/, लौ لؤ /lɔː/ |
यादो یادو /jaː.d̪oː/, मालाओ مالاؤ /maː.laː.oː/, ऋतुओ رتوؤ //i.t̪u.oː/, बहुओ بہوؤ /bə.hu.oː/, लौओ لؤو /lɔː.oː/ |
- | [oː] |
Note:
- Hindustānī does not have nouns ending in short-a (schwa), as such. If a feminine noun has a consonant cluster in the end, which makes the word otherwise difficult to pronounce, a very short schwa may be phonologically appended to it. e.g., फ़िक्र فِکر /fik.rə̆/ or /fikr/ ("worry"), and it is to be treated morphologically under this category. Of course, the ending schwa vanishes when a non-null case-suffix is attached.
- Except for the null case-suffix, the ending vowel [uː] becomes short (becomes /u/) before adding the case suffix, as the case may be. This is reflected both in pronunciation and in spelling.
- For words ending in /aː/, the ending vowel is not dropped during declension.
[edit] 5. Plurals of loanwords
Hindustanī has numerous borrowings from Arabic and Persian. Some of these words take on Hindustanī plural forms, while others retain their original plurals. Most of these words are from Arabic.
| Masculine | ||
|---|---|---|
| काग़ज़ کاغذ /kɑː.ɣəz/ a paper |
||
| Singular | Plural | |
| Direct | काग़ज़ کاغذ / kɑːɣəz / | काग़ज़ात کاغذات /kɑː.ɣəz.ɑːt̪/ |
| Oblique | काग़ज़ کاغذ /kɑː.ɣəz/ | काग़ज़ातों کاغذاتوں /kɑː.ɣəz.ɑːt̪.õː / |
| Vocative | काग़ज़ کاغذ /kɑː.ɣəz/ | काग़ज़ातो کاغذاتو /kɑː.ɣəz.ɑːt̪.oː/ |
Some other plural-forming suffixes include -ान ان- /aːn/. Plurals with an inflected stem also exist. etc. Examples: साहिब صاحب /saː.həb/ ("boss" or "sir") → साहिबान صاحبان /saː.heb.aːn/, हाकिम حاکم /haː.kim/ ("officer") → हुक्काम حکام /huk.kaːm/.
[edit] Adjectives
There are two kinds of adjectives in Hindustānī for morphological purposes—one, which end in consonant or any other vowel except /a/ (and hence do not undergo any inflection) and the other, whose masculine form ends in long /a/ (sing.). The latter category of adjectives undergoes inflection to agree with the gender and number of the noun they qualify. Such adjectives must be inflected whether they come before the noun (note that the adjectives precede the nouns) or as a compliment in the sentence. This inflection is shown below (Tiwari, [1966] 2004).
| Masculine | Feminine | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| नीला نیلا /niː.laː/ — blue | नीली نیلی /niː.liː/ — blue | |||||||
| Declined word | Case suffix | Declined word | Case suffix | |||||
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| Direct | नीला نیلا /niː.laː/ | नीले نیلے /niː.leː/ | - | /eː/ | नीली نیلی /niː.liː/ | नीली نیلی /niː.liː/ | - | - |
| Oblique | नीले نیلے /niː.leː/ | नीले نیلے /niː.leː/ | /eː/ | /eː/ | नीली نیلی /niː.liː/ | नीली نیلی /niː.liː/ | - | - |
| Vocative | नीले نیلے /niː.leː/ | नीले نیلے /niː.leː/ | /eː/ | /eː/ | नीली نیلی /niː.liː/ | नीली نیلی /niː.liː/ | - | - |
Note:
- The feminine form for the adjectives of the kind listed above is made by dropping the ending vowel long /aː/ and adding long /iː/ instead. The feminine form does not undergo further inflectional change. For the masculine, except for the null case-suffix, the ending vowel /aː/ is dropped before adding the case-suffix.
- If the noun to be qualified consists of multiple words of different numbers and genders, then the adjective must agree with that particular noun which it immediately precedes or follows.
- Some long /aː/ ending adjectives do not undergo any inflection with respect to gender or number at all. These exceptions include adjectives ending in /jaː/ (e.g., घटिया گھٹِیا /gʰə.ʈi.jaː/ — poor, दूधिया دُودھِیا /d̪uː.d̪ʰi.jaː/ — milky), /vaː/ (e.g., सवा سوا /sə.vaː/ — quarter, भगवा بھگوا /bʰəg.vaː/ — saffron), Sanskrit tatsams (e.g. महा مہا /məhaː/ — great), Persian-Arabic words that originally ended in ah but as Hindi-Urdu loanwords end in long /aː/ (e.g. सालाना سالانہ /saː.laː.naː/ — annual, ताज़ा تازہ /t̪aː.zaː/ — fresh, मुर्दा مُردہ /mur.d̪aː/ — dead, मर्दाना مردانہ /mər.d̪aː.naː/ — manly etc.), and certain other adjectives (e.g. चौकन्ना چؤکنّا /tʃɔː.kən.naː/ — alert, तन्हा تنہا /t̪ən.haː/ — lonely etc.).
There is no definite article (the) in Hindustānī. The numeral एक ایک /eːk/ (one) may be used for the singular indefinite article if it needs to be stressed.
There are three ways of making positive–comparative–superlative forms of adjectives:
- Hindustānī’s own non-inflectional way, by using phrases such as से سے /seː/, की अपेक्षा / کی اَپیکشا / /kiː ə.peːk.ʃaː/, के मुक़ाबले کے مُقابلے /keː mu.qaːb.leː/, ज़्यादा زیادہ /zjaː.d̪aː/ + adj. for the comparative, and सबसे سب سے /səb.seː/, सबसे ज़्यादा سب سے زیادہ /səb.seː zjaː.d̪aː/, सबसे कम سب سے کم /səb.seː kəm/, etc., for the superlative.
- Sanskrit’s inflectional way, by suffixing -तर تر- /t̪ər/ for comparative and -तम تم- /t̪əm/ for superlative. Usually done only for very few tatsam adjectives.
- Persian’s inflectional way, by suffixing -तर تر- /t̪ər/ for comparative and -तरीन ترین- /t̪əriːn/ for superlative.
[edit] Pronouns
Hindustānī has pronouns in the first, second and third person, all for one gender only. Thus, unlike English, there is no difference between he and she. More strictly speaking, the third person of the pronoun is actually the same as the demonstrative pronoun (this / that). The verb, upon conjugation, usually indicates the difference in the gender. The pronouns have additional cases of accusative and genitive. There may also be multiple ways of inflecting the pronoun, which are given in parentheses. Note that for the second person of the pronoun (you), Hindustānī has three levels of honorifics in the 2nd person:
- आप / آپ / āp: Formal and respectable form for "you." Has no difference between the singular and the plural. Used in all formal settings and speaking to persons who are senior in job or age. Plural could be stressed by saying आप लोग / آپ لوگ / āp log ("you people") or आप सब / آپ سب / āp sab ("you all").
- तुम / تم / tum: Informal form of "you." Has no difference between the singular and the plural. Used in all informal settings and speaking to persons who are junior in job or age. Plural could be stressed by saying तुम लोग / تم لوگ / tum log ("you people") or तुम सब / تم سب / tum sab ("you all").
- तू / تو / tū: Extremely informal form of "you," as "thou." (It's, in fact, a cognate of "thou.") Strictly singular, its plural form being तुम / تم / tum. It is used among children, between very close friends or in poetic language involving God or lovers. Other uses can be perceived as offensive in India and Pakistan, as it was traditionally used with servants.
| First Person | Second Person | Third Person | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Formal | Informal | Very Informal | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| Direct | मैं / میں / maiⁿ | हम / ہم / ham | आप / آپ / āp | तुम / تم / tum | तू / تو / tū | यह/ये / yeh/ye یہ / yeh |
ये / ye یہ / yeh |
वह/वो / vah/vo وہ / voh |
वे/वो / ve/vo وہ / voh |
| Accusative | मुझे / مجھے / mujʰe | हमें / ہمیں / hameⁿ | आपको / آپ کو / āpko | तुम्हें / تمہیں / tumheⁿ | तुझे / تجھے / tujʰe | इसे / اِس سے / ise | इन्हें / اِنہیں / inheⁿ | उसे / اُس سے / use | उन्हें / اُنہیں / unheⁿ |
| Oblique | मुझ- / -مجھ / mujʰ- | हम- / -ہم / ham- | आप- / -آپ / āp- | तुम- / -تم / tum- | तुझ- / -تجھ / tujʰ- | इस- / -اِس / is- | इन- / -اِن / in- | उस- / -اُس / us- | उन- / -اُن / un- |
| Genitive | मेरा / میرا / merā | हमारा / ہمارا / hamārā | आपका / آپکا / āpkā | तुम्हारा / تمہارا / tumhārā | तेरा / تیرا / terā | इसका / اِسکا / iskā | इनका / اِنکا / inkā | उसका / اُسکا / uskā | उनका / اُنکا / unkā |
In the columns for the Third Person, the first word indicates the usual form used in literary written Hindī or Urdū, while the second form (after the slash) indicates the form used in normal spoken Hindī or Urdū (Hindustānī). The hyphen indicates that while writing, the postposition (if any) may be included within the word as a case marker. It suffices to say that the genitive case behaves like an adjective and has to be declined as such to match with the possessed noun. The Accusative is formed by adding the object marking को کو postposition to the oblique form, for मुझको / مجھکو / mujʰko, हमको / ہمکو / hamko, etc. Displayed in the Accusative row are the more common/colloquial but equally valid shortened को / کو / ko forms of मुझे / مُجھے / mujʰe, हमें / ہمیں / hameⁿ, etc.
For those persons for whom one would normally use आप / آپ / āp if referred to as the second person, it is popular by convention to use the plural form (both pronoun and the verb) of the third person demonstrative. In North India and Pakistan, the हम / ہم / ham form is popularly used for the first person singular too. The 3rd person pronouns can be used independently or as adjectives qualifying a noun. In the latter case, if the noun is not followed by a postposition, the pronoun-turned-adjective will be in the Direct case, else in the Oblique case.
When preceding the postposition ने / نے / ne, the 1st person singular and 2nd person very informal form must be in the direct case, while the rest of the pronouns and nouns need to be in the Oblique case. The forms इन / اِن / in and उन / اُن / un further change to इन्होंने / اِنہوں نے / inhoⁿne and उन्होंने / اُنہوں نے / unhoⁿne (some people do use the non-standard alternatives इनने / اِنّے / inne and उनने / اُنّے / unne). Some postpositions use the genitive case; the rest use the oblique case.
[edit] Verbs
Hindustānī has a peculiarity that not only the number, but also the gender of the noun or the pronoun may be shown by the verb. The infinitive form of any verb ends with ना / نا / nā. As in many other languages, this form can be used as a noun (masculine gender, and declined likewise). There are three main tenses: present, past and future. Hindustānī uses both end-inflections in the verb-stem and auxiliary verbs for conjugation. It is interesting to note that like English, but unlike Sanskrit, Latin, French, German, Russian, etc., Hindustānī possesses the continuous tense for all—present, past and future. Similarly, the perfect tense can be formed using a number of auxiliaries. The present and the past participles can be used as adjectives (they undergo declination). The imperative mood and equivalents for English can / should / must / have to can also be found. Verbs can be transitive or intransitive. Hindustani demonstrates very regular verb conjugation, with the only major irregular verb being होना / ہونا / honā "to be." Three other verbs, करना / کرنا / karnā "to do," लेना / لینا / lenā "to take," देना / دینا / denā "to give," break from the pattern only in the perfect aspect and the imperative. Aside from these, however, conjugation is very regular, with rules even governing conversion of a verb into its causative and double causative.
[edit] Conjugation
The following table gives the conjugation for the verb करना / کرنا / karnā "to do" —indicative mood. The root morpheme of करना / کرنا / karnā is कर / کر / kar. The second column gives the conjugation in the 2nd person with तुम / تم / tum. To conjugate the verb with तू / تو / tū, use the 3rd person singular form. To conjugate the verb with आप / آپ / āp, use the 3rd person plural form.
| Simple Present | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| First Person | Second Person | Third person | |
| Masc. Sing. | करता हूँ / کرتا ہوں / kartā hūⁿ | करते हो / کرتے ہو / karte ho | करता है / کرتا ہے / kartā hai |
| Masc. Pl. | करते हैं / کرتے ہیں / karte haiⁿ | करते हो / کرتے ہو / karte ho | करते हैं / کرتے ہیں / karte haiⁿ |
| Fem. Sing. | करती हूँ / کرتی ہوں / kartī hūⁿ | करती हो / کرتی ہو / kartī ho | करती है / کرتی ہے / kartī hai |
| Fem. Pl. | करते हैं / کرتے ہیں / karte haiⁿ | करती हो / کرتی ہو / kartī ho | करती हैं / کرتی ہیں / kartī haiⁿ |
| Present Continuous | |||
| First Person | Second Person | Third person | |
| Masc. Sing. | कर रहा हूँ / کر رہا ہوں / kar rahā hūⁿ | कर रहे हो / کر رہے ہو / kar rahe ho | कर रहा है / کر رہا ہے / kar rahā hai |
| Masc. Pl. | कर रहे हैं / کر رہے ہیں / kar rahe haiⁿ | कर रहे हो / کر رہے ہو / kar rahe ho | कर रहे हैं / کر رہے ہیں / kar rahe haiⁿ |
| Fem. Sing. | कर रही हूँ / کر رہی ہوں / kar rahī hūⁿ | कर रही हो / کر رہی ہو / kar rahī ho | कर रही है / کر رہی ہے / kar rahī hai |
| Fem. Pl. | कर रहे हैं / کر رہے ہیں / kar rahe haiⁿ | कर रही हो / کر رہی ہو / kar rahī ho | कर रही हैं / کر رہی ہیں / kar rahī haiⁿ |
| Present Perfect | |||
| First Person | Second Person | Third person | |
| Replace the second auxiliary रहा / رہا / rahā - रही / رہی / rahī - रहे / رہے / rahe in Present Continuous with the auxiliary चुका / چکا / cukā - चुकी / چکی / cukī - चुके / چکے / cuke or with लिया / لیا / liyā - ली / لی / lī - लिये / لیۓ / liye. The third auxiliary has to be kept as it is. Some other auxiliaries are also allowable in the place of the second auxiliary. |
|||
| Simple Past | |||
| First Person | Second Person | Third person | |
| Replace the auxiliary हूँ / ہوں / hūⁿ - हो / ہو / ho - है / ہے / hai - हैं / ہیں / haiⁿ in Simple Present with the auxiliary था / تھا / tʰā(masc. sing.) - थे / تھے / tʰe (masc. pl.) - थी / تھی / tʰī (fem. sing.) - थीं / تھیں / tʰīⁿ (fem. pl.) ۔ |
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| Past Continuous | |||
| First Person | Second Person | Third person | |
| Replace the third auxiliary हूँ / ہوں / hūⁿ - हो / ہو / ho - है / ہے / hai - हैं / ہیں / haiⁿ from Present Continuous with the auxiliary था / تھا / tʰā(masc. sing.) - थे / تھے / tʰe (masc. pl.) - थी / تھی / tʰī (fem. sing.) - थीं / تھیں / tʰīⁿ (fem. pl.) ۔ The second auxiliary has to be kept as it is. |
|||
| Past Perfect | |||
| First Person | Second Person | Third person | |
| Replace the third auxiliary हूँ / ہوں / hūⁿ - हो / ہو / ho - है / ہے / hai - हैं / ہیں / haiⁿ in Present Perfect with the auxiliary था / تھا / tʰā(masc. sing.) - थे / تھے / tʰe (masc. pl.) - थी / تھی / tʰī (fem. sing.) - थीं / تھیں / tʰīⁿ (fem. pl.). The second auxiliary has to be kept as it is. |
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| Simple Future | |||
| First Person | Second Person | Third person | |
| Masc. Sing. | करूंगा / کروں گا / karūⁿgā | करोगे / کرو گے / karoge | करेगा / کرے گا / karegā |
| Masc. Pl. | करेंगे / کریں گے / kareⁿge | करोगे / کرو گے / karoge | करेंगे / کریں گے / kareⁿge |
| Fem. Sing. | करूंगी / کروں گی / karūⁿgī | करोगी / کرو گی / karogī | करेगी / کرے گی / karegī |
| Fem. Pl. | करेंगे / کریں گی / kareⁿge | करोगी / کرو گی / karogī | करेंगी / کریں گی / kareⁿgī |
| Future Continuous | |||
| First Person | Second Person | Third person | |
| Conjugate the auxiliary रहना / رہنا / rahnā in Simple Future, just like in above and use it after the declined present participle करता / کرتا / kartā. |
|||
| Future Perfect | |||
| First Person | Second Person | Third person | |
| Replace the third auxiliary हूँ / ہوں / hūⁿ - हो / ہو / ho - है / ہے / hai - हैं / ہیں / haiⁿ of Present Perfect with the auxiliary रहना / رہنا / rahnā conjugated in Simple Future. The second auxiliary shall stay. |
|||
| Imperative Mood / Subjunctive (wish/command) | |||
| First Person | Second Person | Third person | |
| Masc. Sing. | करूँ /kə.ɾũː/ |
करो /kə.ɾoː/ |
करे /kə.ɾeː/ |
| Masc. Pl. | करें /kə.ɾẽː/ |
करो /kə.ɾoː/ |
करें /kə.ɾẽː/ |
| Fem. Sing. | करूँ /kə.ɾũː/ |
करो /kə.ɾoː/ |
करे /kəɾ.eː/ |
| Fem. Pl. | करें /kə.ɾẽː/ |
करो /kə.ɾoː/ |
करें /kə.ɾẽː/ |
The present participle here is करता /kəɾ.tɑː/ and the past participle is किया /ki.jɑː/ (with variant in this case as करा /kə.ɾɑː/ — not considered as standard) — both must be declined like adjectives when needed (see ff.). The Imperative Mood is an exception for all verbs because it has entirely different conjugal forms for /tuː/ and /ɑːp/. For the former, it is कर /kəɾ/, and for the latter, it is कीजिये /kiː.ʤi.jeː/ (with variations in this case as करिये /kə.ɾi.jeː/ and करें /kə.ɾẽː/ — not considered as standard). The future also has two other conditional forms, not listed here.
Hindustānī has two voices—active and passive.
A stem change in the penultimate syllable of the infinitive form can lead to a semantic change in many verbs. e.g., बनना /bən.nɑː/ (to be made, to become) → बनाना /bən.ɑː.nɑː/ (to make) → / बनवाना /bən.vɑː.nɑː/ (to cause to be made). See ff.
In much of Punjabi-influenced region of north west India, Pākistān, and the Indian state of Rājastʰān, the pronoun आप / آپ / /ɑːp/ is used with verbs conjugated for the तुम / تم / /tum/ form. e.g, आप / آپ / āp .... करोगे / کرو گے / karo ge, आप करो / آپ کرو / āp karo.
The perfective participle is used when referring to completed actions. This participle is used like the simple present tense if the verb is intransitive, but for most transitive verbs (with some exceptions) a remarkable construction is used, where the verb subject is followed by the subject-case postposition ने / نے /े /neː/, and in this case the verb object must correspond with the participle in number and gender.
For करना / کرنا / karnā, constructions with the perfective participle would be like this:
- किया /ki.jɑː/ (Simple perfective)
- किया है /ki.jɑː hæː/ (Present perfective)
- किया था /ki.jɑː tʰɑː/ (Past perfective)
- किया होगा /ki.jɑː hoː.gɑː/ —expressing doubt or possibility in the future.
Other equivalents with English areː
- should : infinitive + चाहिये /ʧɑː.hi.jeː/ (The subject must be followed by the postposition को . If the subject is a pronoun, then the accusative case for it without any postposition is also allowed.) E.g., मुझे … करना चाहिये or मुझको … करना चाहिये .
- may / can: root-morpheme + सकना /sək.nɑː/—conjugated in the Simple Present tense. e.g., मैं … कर सकता हूँ .
[edit] Some facts about Hindustānī verbs
The root morpheme of any verb can be made by removing the suffix ना نا /naː/ from the corresponding infinitive form. The imperative form for तू تو /tuː/ will also give the same root morpheme. The number of single-word root morpheme is very few in Hindustānī, and so a lot of the so-called compound roots are used. Note that the existence of the so-called compound verbs in Hindustānī has been denied by some eminent linguists like Prof. Rajendra Singh (Université de Montréal).
The auxiliary verbs in Hindustānī can be listed under the following six categories (Tiwari [1966] 2004):
- Tense marker. (i.e., है ہے /hæː/ and था تھا /t̪ʰaː/ — the present and past tense markers; forms of the verb होना ہونا /hoː.naː/ — to be). These come at the end of the verbal phrase. E.g., मैं जाता हूँ, میں جاتا ہوں; तुम खा रहे थे, تم کھا رہے تھے
- Voice-marking verb. E.g., the verb जाना جانا /ʤaː.naː/; (e.g., किताब पढ़ी जाती है, کتاب پڑھی جاتی ہے) indicating the passive voice.
- Aspect-marking verb. The verb रहना رہنا /ɾɛh.naː/ indicates the continuous or progressive aspect. It comes just before the tense marker. E.g., आप लिख रहे हैं, آپ لکھ رہے ہیں.
- Modal verb. These include a variety of verb to express the mood or viewpoint of the speaker. E.g., पड़ना پڑنا /pəɽ.naː/ and होना ہونا /hoː.naː/ denote compulsion or requirement, चाहिये چاہیۓ /ʧaː.hi.jeː/ (not conjugated) denotes advice or need, चुकना چکنا /ʧuk.naː/ indicates completeness of action — the perfective, पाना پانا /paː.naː/ and सकना سکنا /sək.naː/ indicate capability. E.g., उसे एक लाख रुपये ख़र्च करने पड़े, اسے ایک لاکھ روپیے خرچ کرنے پڑے.
- Explicator/vector/intensifier. Such auxiliaries colorize or intensify the main verb. E.g., लेना لینا /leː.naː/, देना دینا /deː.naː/, मारना مارنا /maːɾ.naː/, etc. For instance, मैंने काम कर लिया, میں نے کام کر لیا; मैंने पत्र लिख दिया, میں نے پترہ لکھ دیا. Such verbs sometimes additionally denote the perfective aspect.
- Verbalizer. This kind of auxiliary creates a verb from a noun or an adjective that precedes it. करना کرنا/kəɾ.naː/ is the most important such verb. Most verbs listed under intensifier may also act as verbalizer, and so does होना ہونا /hoː.naː/. E.g., मैं तुमसे प्यार करता हूँ, میں تمسے پیار کرتا ہوں.
The root of the first causative verb can be made from the basic verbal root morpheme by adding the suffix ा ا- [aː] or -ला لا- [laː]. The root of the second causative verb can be made from the basic verbal root morpheme by adding the suffix -वा وا- [vaː] or -लवा لوا- [lvaː]. Both cases may additionally involve ablaut gradation in the root morpheme's vowel or even a change in the consonants. E.g., बोलना — बुलाना — बुलवाना بلوانا - بلانا - بولنا.
Hindustānī participles and verbal derivative forms (कृदन्त):
- Present participle: It is made by the root morpheme + [t̪] (present suffix) + [aː]. The word must be declined properly as given below. It is also called the imperfective derivative. E.g., करता کرتا, चलता چلتا, etc. It is used as a noun, verb (including as a part of the conjugation), adjective and adverb.
- Past participle: It is made by the root morpheme + [aː]. The word must be declined properly as given below. It is also called the perfective derivative. E.g., मरा مرا, चला چلا, etc. It also has numerous exceptions. It is used as a noun, verb (including as a part of the conjugation), adjective and adverb.
- Verbal noun or infinitive: It is made by the root morpheme + [n] (infinitive suffix) + [aː]. When used as a noun, it must be declined as the long-a ending adjectives. It also comes in verbal conjugations and imperatives. E.g., करना کرنا, चलना چلنا, etc.
- Pluperfect: It is made by the root morpheme + [kəɾ] or [kəɾ.keː] or null. If the root morpheme itself is [kəɾ] (but not otherwise), the form is [kəɾ.keː]. E.g., खाकर کھاکر, दौड़कर دوڑکر, etc. It is used as a verb and adverb.
The declension/conjugation for the present and past participles is given below along with the suffixes for the verb root चल چل /ʧəl/ — to go.
| Present participle | Past participle | |||
| Gender | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural |
| Masculine | [t̪aː] चलता چلتا |
[t̪eː] चलते چلتے |
[aː] चला چلا |
[eː] चले چلے |
| Feminine | [t̪eː] चलती چلتی |
[t̪ĩː] चलतीं چلتیں |
[iː] चली چلی |
[ĩː] चलीं چلیں |
Hindustānī (Hindi-Urdu) has five moods:
- Indicative mood, which comes in past, present and future.
- Cohortative mood, also in past, present and future.
- Subjunctive mood
- Imperative mood, and
- Conditional mood
[edit] Postpositions/Indeclinables
Hindustānī uses postpositions that follow the noun (rather than prepositions of English that precede the word). Some postpositions are compound ones. Some of them can be incorporated within the noun (usually, the pronoun) while writing, where they then act as a case marker. Some of them are listed below; those using the genitive case of the pronoun are indicated with "gen".
| Postposition | Pronunciation | English equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| ने نے | /neː/ | (Subject case) |
| को کو | /koː/ | to |
| का کا | /kɑː/ | ’s or of (possessed item masc. sing.) |
| की کی | /kiː/ | ’s or of (possessed item fem. sing./pl.) |
| के کے | /keː/ | ’s or of (possessed item masc. pl.) |
| से سے | /seː/ | from / of / with / by |
| (के) साथ کے ساتھ (gen) | /(keː) sɑːt̪ʰ/ | with (somebody) |
| (के) लिये کے لیۓ (gen) | /(keː) li.jeː/ | for |
| में میں | /mẽː/ | in / on |
| पर پر | /pəɾ/ | on / in |
| (के) पास کے پاس (gen) | /(keː) pɑːs/ | near / the verb to have |
In addition, certain indeclinables can be used to denote specific location with के / کے /keː/, equivalent to under, above, against, below etc. Standard Urdu uses many prepositions directly borrowed from Persian, and also some from Arabic. The most common is इज़ाफ़त اضافه izāfat, the particle -e- meaning "of" that links two words together. Example: रंग-ए बहार / رنگ بہار / rang-e-bahār (lit., colour of spring). Few other postpositions may come either before or after the noun. E.g., सिवा سوا /si.vaː/ — other than, बिना بنا /bi.naː/ — without.
Tiwari ([1966] 2004) lists some common compound postpositions according to their roles:
- Related to time (Temporal): के पहले کے پہلے /keː pɛh.leː/, से पहले سے پہلے /seː pɛh.leː/, के पूर्व کے پوروہ/keː puːɾ.vᵊ/, से पूर्व سے پوروہ /seː puːɾ.vᵊ/ — all for before; के उपरान्त کے اوپرانت /keː u.pɾaːnt̪/, के बाद کے بعد /keː baːd̪/, के आगे کے آگے / keː aː.ɡeː/, से आगे سے آگے /seː aː.geː/ — all for after; के पीछे کے پیچھے /keː piː.ʧʰeː/, के पश्चात کے پشچات/ke pəʃ.ʧaːt̪/ — all for after / back.
- Related to place (Locative): के पहले کے پہلے /keː pɛh.leː/, से पहले سے پہلے /seː pɛh.leː/ — all for before; के आगे کے آگے /keː aː.ɡeː/, से आगे سے آگے /seː aː.ɡeː/ — all for in front of; के भीतर کے بھیتر /keː bʱiː.t̪əɾ/, के अन्दर کے اندر /keː ən.d̪əɾ/ — all for inside; के बीच کے بیچ /keː biːʧ/ — between/among; के ऊपर کے اوپر /keː uː.pəɾ/ — above; के नीचे کے نیچے /keː niː.ʧeː/ — below; के पास کے پاس /keː paːs/ — near; के पीछे کے پیچھے /keː piː.ʧʰeː/ — behind.
- Directional: के प्रति کے پرتہ /keː pɾə.t̪i/, की ओर کی اور /kiː oːɾ/, की तरफ़ کی طرف /kiː t̪ə.ɾəf/ — all for towards.
- Instrumental: के द्वारा کے دوارا /keː d̪vaː.ɾaː/ — by/with; के सहारे کے سہارے /keː sə.haː.ɾeː/, की मार्फ़त کی معرفت /kiː maːɾ.fət̪/, के बल-बूते کے بل-بوتے /keː bəl.buː.t̪eː/ — all for with the help of.
- Causal: के कारण کے کارن /keː kaː.ɾəɳ/, के मारे کے مارے /keː maː.ɾeː/, की वजह से کی وجہ سے /kiː və.ʤɛh seː/ — all for because of.
- Dative: के लिये کے لیۓ /keː li.jeː/, के निमित्त کے نمت /keː ni.mit̪t̪/, के हेतु کے ہیتو /keː heː.t̪u/ — all for for.
As mentioned in the table, the postpositions using के کے (lit., of) indicate that the second word in the compound is a masculine possessed item, and those using की کی indicate that the possessed item is feminine. If nouns are used with such compound postpositions, they must come in the oblique case. If pronouns are to be used, they must come in the genitive case (further declined in the oblique case like adjectives).
[edit] Adverbs
Normally, the adverbs in Hindustānī are indeclinable. However, when present and past participles are used as adverbs, they must be declined like adjectives to agree with the number and gender of the subject. But when adjectives ending in long [a:] are used as adverbs, the standard usage is that they must not be declined.
Pre-adjectives (adverbs that qualify adjectives and adverbs) are sometimes treated as a separate category. Such common words include बहुत بہت /bə.hɔt̪/ (very), ज़्यादा زیادہ /zjaː.d̪aː/ (much), कुछ کچھ /kuʧʰ/ (a little), etc.
[edit] Syntax
[edit] Word order
The neutral order of the words in a sentence is SOV (i.e., Subject Object Verb). However, if the postpositions are properly attached with the nouns, the word order in Hindustānī becomes freer than in English, but not as free as in Latin or Sanskrit. Altering the word order serves (in conjunction with tone of speaking) to shift the emphasis of the sentence elsewhere. If the subject is a noun, the adjective may come before the noun (in the attributive position) or between the noun and the verb (in the predicative position — but only if the main verb is होना /hoː.naː/ to be). If the subject is a pronoun, the adjective comes in the predicative position. The space between the subject and the verb may be filled by adverbs, instrumental phrase, dative phrase, locative phrase, etc. The interrogative particles normally come right before the word it is asking about. The word order, unlike in English, need not be reversed in a question. Yes/no questions can be formed by placing the interrogative pronoun क्या /kjaː/ at the very beginning of the sentence. Question tags can be formed by placing the negative particle न /nə/ at the end of the sentence. This often indicates a polite request (without explicitly using please). The negative particle otherwise normally comes before the verb. Certain particles stress the word that follows them immediately. E.g., ही /hiː/ (only, as a particle of emphasis), भी /bʱiː/ (also), तक /t̪ək/, तो /t̪oː/, भर /bʱəɾ/, etc. For meaningful sentences, the various units of the sentence must have proximity with each other; otherwise the sentence would become ludicrous. E.g., if the noun is a genitive phrase, the attributive adjective must come immediately before that component it wishes to quality, and not necessarily before the entire phrase.
Noun/adjective/adverb phrases are common in Hindustānī. The head of the phrase normally comes after the phrase’s complement. In a noun phrase, the possessed item comes after the possessor. Embedded clauses are also common. For adjective clauses whether the clause is restrictive or non-restrictive, the embedded clause is joined with the main clause by j-beginning relative pronouns (E.g., jo, jahān, jaise, etc.) and never by the corresponding interrogative pronouns (as it happens in English). Subordinate noun clauses are often linked by the conjunction कि /ki/ (lit., that, of Persian origin).
Compound sentences (those with two or more equally important simple clauses) are usually linked by conjunctions such as और /ɔːɾ/ — and, या /jaː/ — or, लेकिन /leː.kin/ — but, इसलिये /is.li.jeː/ — therefore, वरना /vəɾ.naː/ — otherwise, etc. Sometimes double conjunctions are also used wherever needed. E.g., न … न /nə/ … /nə/ — neither … nor.
[edit] Agreement
Tiwari ([1966] 2004) lists the following rules of agreement:
- Between the subject and the verb:
- If the subject is not marked by a postposition (this condition is also incorporated in the following rules), then the verb must agree in person, gender and number with the subject. According to this condition, the verb is not affected even if the places of the subject and the object are reversed. E.g., मोर (peacock, masc. sing.) बाग़ में नाच रहा है । मोरनी (peahen, fem. sing.) उसे देख रही है ।
- If honor is to be expressed for the subject, then the verb is conjugated in the plural number even if the subject is singular. The same is the case for the honorific 2nd person pronoun आप. E.g., महात्मा गान्धी एक महान व्यक्ति थे ।
- If the subject of the sentence consists of several words in the same gender, number and person, linked with and, then the verb is in the plural form of the same gender as the subjects. But if such words point to a single idea, then the verb will be in singular. E.g., एक कुत्ता (dog, masc. sing.) और एक भेड़िया (wolf, masc. sing.) ग़ोश्त के लिये लड़ रहे थे । But, कुत्ता या भेड़िया ये ग़ोश्त खा सकता था ।
- If the subject consists of multiple words of different genders but all singular, then the verb will be in the masculine plural form. E.g., मोर और मोरनी बाग़ में रहते थे ।
- If the subject consists of multiple words of different genders and different numbers, then the verb will be in the plural form, but of the gender of the last subject. E.g., एक राजकुमार (prince) और कई राजकुमारियाँ (princesses) मैदान में खेलतीं थीं ।
- If the gender of the subject is unknown, the verb is masculine. E.g., कोई (someone) आ रहा है ।
- Between the object and the verb:
- If the subject is marked with a postposition (including the accusative case for pronouns), then the verb does not agree with the subject. The verb rather agrees with the gender and the number of the object. This kind of phenomenon is called split ergativity. E.g., कुत्ते (dog, masc. sing.) ने रोटियाँ (breads, fem. pl.) खाईं थीं । मौसी (aunt) को अख़बार (newspaper, masc. sing.) पढ़ना होगा ।
- Agreement with the object, however, only occurs if there is no postposition following the object. If the object also has a postposition (including the accusative case for pronouns), then the verb will not agree with anything, but simply appear in the 3rd person masculine singular form. मोरनी ने उस रोटी (bread, fem. sing.) को खाया ।
- The postposition ne is used for most transitive verbs with in the perfective tense, cf. [Snell & Weightman 2000], p. 149. It is not used for intransitive verbs.
[edit] Ellipsis
- Hindustānī is a Pro-drop language, i.e., it allows a null pronoun as its subject. Its absence is fulfilled by the properly conjugated verb. E.g., सोच रहा हूँ कि उससे ये बात कहूँ या नहीं । (मैं omitted).
- Unlike English, an explicit dummy pronoun like it, there (It is raining. There was a King.) is not allowed. The theme of the sentence becomes the explicit subject. बारिश हो रही है । (lit., Rain is occurring).
[edit] References
- Tiwari, Bholanath ([1966] 2004), हिन्दी भाषा (Hindī Bhāshā), Kitāb Mahal, Allahabad, ISBN 81-225-0017-X.
- Hock, Hans H. (1991), Principles of Historical Linguistics, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin–New York, ISBN 3-11-012962-0.
- Snell, Rupert and Weightman, Simon (2000), Teach Yourself Hindi, Teach Yourself Books, London.
