Indian Antiquary Vol 60

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Charles E A W Oldham, S Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarka
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 368

$$ 98-99 ]
ON THE MODERN INDO-ARYAN VERNACULARS
[ DECEMBER, 1931
98. Declension and Conjugation-Nouns, which in Skr. and Pr. form their feminines in a, in the NW. often form them in i ore. Thus, Skr. vārtlā, news, s. bäte. So also in B., the fem. of the Ts, atyant, excessive, is atyanti, although in Skr. it is atyantā. This is the regular rule in B. (Mth.).
In the NW., certain genitive postpositions are derived from the present participle of the verb substantive. Thus, K. hand", S. eando. So also WR, hando. In Bg. the same participle, haitē, is employed to form the postposition of the ablative. It is not used elsewhere in this way.
In Hindi, the only relics of synthetic declension are the oblique cases singular and plural and a rare locative in ē, as in gharë gharē, in each house. In all OuIAVs. and in Ks. there is, on the contrary, alongside of the analytical, a respectable synthetic declension. We shall discuss only the singular number, as that is sufficient for our present purposes. In Kāšmiri there is a dative ending in 8 (as in Marathi), an agent case, and an ablative, all formed synthe. tically. Thus, tsūr, a thief : tëūras, to a thief; tåüran, by a thief; and tsuna, from a thief. For i-bases, it has gurt, a horse ; guris; gurt; and guri. The ablative is also used as a general oblique case. Sindhi has discarded part of this, but it still has the locative and the agent and the oblique case. Thus, jhang", a forest ; loc. jhange, ag. and obl. jhanga. Lahndā closely follows Sindhi, but the declension is obscured by epenthesis. Thus, jangul (for janga!), a forest; loc. jangil (for jangali) : ag. and obl. jangal (for jangala). The SIAV. Marathi has also a synthetic declension, forming its dative in 8, an agent case in ē, and a locative in 1, in addition to the oblique case. Thus, ghar, a house, dat. gharās, ag. ghare, loc. gharf, obl. ghara. In EIAV., Bihari has a synthetic agent and locative, and the genitive is also becoming synthetic. Thus, from ghar, ag. ghart, loc. gharē, gen. ghar-kêr (analytic) or gharak (synthetic). Bengali has a synthetic dat. ghare, gen. gharēr, and a loc. gharē. There is also a synthetic instrumental, as in churitē, by a knife (churi). Assamese and Oriyā are very similar. We thus see that all the OuIAVs. have synthetic methods of declension that are quite wanting in the Midland.
99. In NWIAV. and Kašmiri pronominal suffixes are very common, but are unknown in the Midland proper. Thus, L. ghar-am, my house; ghar-us, his house ; S. piu-me, my father ; pir-se, his father. These have fallen into disuse with nouns substantive in the other OuIAVs., except in distant A., where they have been kept alive by the example of Tibeto. Burman pronominal prefixes (see $ 75 ante). Thus, A. bap, a father; böpãi, my father ; bäpek, his father. Rajasthāni has perhaps preserved the pronominal suffix of the third person (k) as a pleonastio suffix, as in kataro or kataro-k, how pauoh ? (LSI., IX, ii, 36).
The use of pronominal suffixes with verbs has been preserved throughout all the OuIAVs., and forms a prominent feature of conjugation, while it is entirely wanting in the Midland. It also exists in Rajasthani and Eastern Hindi. It is unnecessary to give examples of this here, as to do so would only be repeating the chapter on verbs later on in this book. Suffice it to say, that the conjugation of nearly all the tenses of the OuIAV. verb is synthetic, and is in most cases modern in origin, being formed by the accretion of pronominal suffixes. On the contrary, in the Inner languages the only synthetic tenses are the two or three which have survived from Pr., and these also are found in OuIAV.
The modern origin of the OuIAV. synthetic conjugation is well shown by the languages of the North-West. Thus:
He struck.' Analytic.
Synthetic. Kš. lami mara ormarun. & marea
maireus. hun mārio
maridi,
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