Collected Articles Of LA Schwarzschild On Indo Aryan 1953 1979

Author(s): Royce Wiles
Publisher: Australian National University

Page 21

NOTES ON THE HISTORY OF THE INFINITIVE IN MIDDLE
INDO-ARYAN
BY
L. A. SCHWARZSCHULD, M.A. (Oxon), Melbourne The major work on this subject, as on so many other problems of Indian philology, has been done by Professor S. K, CHATTERJI in his monumental "Origin and Development of the Bengali Language". This article is an attempt to elucidate some minor details.
As pointed out by A. MULLIT, no precise general definition of any part of speech is possible, and the infinitive is particularly varied. It is closely allied to the nouns of action on the one hand, and to the gerund or absolutive on the other, and in some ways also to the past and future participles. The history of the infinitive is therefore complicated by constant intermingling and borrowing from these allied parts of speech. The gerund and infinitive in particular are often interchangeable. The basic distinction between the infinitive and the noun of action is generally held to be twofold: (1) syntactically the noun of action has a nominal, the infinitive a verbal function; (2) morphologically the noun of action is a normal noun with a full declension while the infinitive is more closely linked with the verbal system and does not decline. The development of these parts of speech on the whole is according to the following pattern:
L. A. SCHWARZSCHILD In the Prakrits the forms are again more varied. The most usual ending of the infinitive in Ardha-Magadhi is ttae. There has been some argument as to the origin of this form. A. Wo derives it from the Vedic absolutives in t ye, E MULLA from the Vedie Infinitives in ove, and he is followed in this by G. V. TAGARES R. PISCH suggests that it was derived from the Vedie infinitives in tavci, which are doubly accented and might therefore have a curious consonantal developmentS. Ser agrees partially with War and suggests Vedie tydyai.
The infinitive in tae cannot be separated from that in de which is formed by some verbs ending in a long din Ardha-Magadhi. The endings ttae and ye seem to have been kept clearly distinct from the absolutives in dya, de, and this in itself is sufficient to discredit the theory of Weber. Thus Ardha-Magadhi has the absolutives samdyde, aanlehde, samuthde (Ayarangasutta); and dyde still occurs in the popular Jain Maharistel of the Vasudevahindi. The infinitive however always has a short in the ending and we find for instance in the Nayadhammakahia 28 : a kappal..bhottee
i payae od="it is not meet to eat or drink." The dative of the noun of action in a was kept apart in a similar way: the infinitive has a short -- while the dative of the noun of action ends in e, as in the frequent formula: paharettha gomende (eg, Bhagavatisatra XV 43) "he set out to go". The brevity of the vowel in Ardha-Magadhi proves that the infinitive in ttae is a fixed survival and is to be separated in derivation from the normal dative of nouns and the absolutive.
An infinitive in titve exists in Pall and in the Asokan inscriptions where it is widespread except in the North-West, e.g. Girnir chamitave, Dhauli and Jaugada Khamitave ete. It seems most probable that the theory of E. MÜLL is correct and that the infinitives in trae of Ardha-Magadhi are the direct continuation of the Vedie infinitive in tave. There is no real need
c
<noun of action absolutive <infinitive B
< past participle and participle of obligation. The changes are normally in this direction, but in times of transition when there is hesitation between the usages, the reverse is also found.
In Vedie the distinction between the verbal noun and the infinitive is particularly slight, and the infinitive is an old case of the verbal noun ending in-om, tum, -, -asetaye, -tave, -tavai, -dhyai, -mane, pane, -18, -tos, etc. In classical Sanskrit as is well known only the old accusative Infinitive in tum has survived,
sur Grown
Apabh
a g 1900, p
ies, Vol
1 A M , "Sur la Terminologie de la Morphologie Generale". Lingwatique Historique et Linguistique Générale, Paris 1908, p. 29.
2 T. Brow, The Sanatorit Language, London 1954, p. 361.
3. A. Wan, Ober eine Fragment der Bhagavati, Berlin 1866-7 4. E. MÜLL, Beitrage sur Grammatik dee Jalaprtlet, Berlin 1876, p. 61 5. G. V. TAGARE, Historical Grummar of Apabra , Poona 1918, paragraph 150 6. R. PISCH, Grammatik der Prakeritoprechen, Strassburg 1900, paragraph, 578
7. S. Sex, Comparative Grammar of Middle Indo-Aryan, Indian Linguisties, Vol. XII, 1951, p. 136
& This is only contradicted by the NW. Alokan Inscriptions where we find an infinitive in-de which a short -- Romanaye (Shahbaght Inscription XI). This type of infinitive was continued later in Niya Prakrit. It represents the shortened form of the dative of the noun of action (change A), but the original length of the vowel is proved by the ending in de found in Pall and in the Dhaull and Juugada Adolan inscriptions, which have candy. The Gimir Inscription has made. The shorten ing of the vowel of this dative Infinitive ending is therefore only characteristie of the NW in this early period.