________________
APRIL, 1903.]
THE MAHARASHTRI AND MARATHI.
exist in Maharashtrt, and modern Marathi here again agrees in preserving the neuter gender, while most modern vernaculars, with the exception of Gujarati and rural Western Hindi, have replaced it by the masculine.
191
The genitive of i-bases often ends in issa in Maharashtri and Ardhamâgadhi; thus, aggissa, Sanskrit agnéḥ, of the fire; but Saurasêni only aggins. Bases ending in in have in the same dialects been confounded with them; thus hatthissa, Saurasêni hatthino, Sanskrit hastinah, of an elephant. The only in-base which has survived in Marathi is hdthi, an elephant, and the dative of this word is háthis which is the direct descendant of hatthissa.
With regard to pronouns we may note that the typical Maharashtrî forms majjha, my, and tujjha, thy, have survived in Marathi mádshd, my; tudzhd, thy.
Verbs. With regard to the conjugation of verbs, it is of interest that Marathi has preserved a good deal of the variety of different forms which characterised Mâhârâshtri. Marathi here again proves to be a more conservative language than its neighbours. Thus we not only find the old present, future (see below), and imperative, but also some traces of the optative. Compare,
Dekha indriya adhina hije taï éítôshna-tē pávijó áņi sukhaduḥkhi akalijé ápaṇa-pa; See, if a man is dependent on his senses, then he will suffer cold and heat, and tie himself to pleasure and sorrow.' (Jndnesvari, II. 119.) Such forms have usually been explained as passives used in an active sense. no doubt that passive forms are often so used, This seems, however, to be fact that they were confounded with remnants of the old optative.
And there can be partly due to the
The old passive survives in forms, such as lábhand, to be got; did, to appear, and so on. In old poetry, however, a passive formed with the characteristic j is in common use. Thus, vadhijati, they are killed; kijé, it is done. In modern Marathi only the forms mhanjé, it is said, namely; and pahije, it is wanted, have survived.
It should be noted that such forms correspond to the Maharashtri passive ending in ijjai, while Sauraseni has tadi. Jaina Saurasêni has forms ending in ijjadi. That dialect in many respects occupies a position intermediate between Baurasêni and Mahârâshtri. Compare Gujarâti and Rajasthâni.
The Marathi future is now formed by adding an l-suffix, as is also the case in Rajasthani and some northern dialects. In the first person singular x is in most dialects added instead, and in the first person plural no addition is made. The base of the future is identical with the old present, which is now used as a habitual past, but in poetry also has the functions of a present, a past, and a future. Thus, the, I used to rise; uthen, I shall rise.
It seems probable that the habitual past is not only derived from the old present, but also from the old future. For though the modern future usually agrees with it, there are instances in the dialects where both differ. Thus Nagpuri nidso, I used to sleep; but nidaan, I shall sleep. A confusion between the old present and the old future might easily take place, as both would often necessarily have assumed the same form. In Maharashtri the future was formed by means of the suffix iss, which was often changed to ih. Thus, hasihimi and hasissam, I shall laugh; hasihisi and hasissasi, thou wilt laugh; hasihii and hasissai, he will laugh. The forms hasihimi (or hasikish), hasihisi, hasihii, would regularly become hast, hasts, hast, in Marathi, and it seems probable that they have contributed to the formation of the past habitual. This would account for the use of this tense in the formation of the future. In this connexion it should be noted that the difference in the formation of the future in the two conjugations in Marathi seems to be artificial. In poetry and in the dialects both forms are used without any difference at all. Thus in the Marathi dialect of Berar and the Central Provinces we find both asil and asal (Standard asl), he shall be. Forms, such as utha, uthés, uths, I used to rise, etc., would be the direct derivations of Mahârâshtri ufthémi, utthesi, uffhéi, and it seems to be allowed to
