Grammatical particle

In grammar the term particle (abbreviated PTCL) has a traditional meaning, as a part of speech that cannot be inflected, and a modern meaning, as a function word associated with another word or phrase to impart meaning.

See also: Nobiliary particle

Modern meaning

In modern grammar, a particle is a function word that must be associated with another word or phrase to impart meaning, i.e., does not have its own lexical definition. According to this definition, particles are a separate part of speech and are distinct from other classes of function words, such as articles, prepositions, conjunctions and adverbs. Languages vary widely in how much they use particles, some using them extensively and others more commonly using alternative devices such as prefixes/suffixes, inflection, auxiliary verbs and word order. Particles are typically words that encode grammatical categories (such as negation, mood, tense, or case), clitics, or fillers or (oral) discourse markers such as well, um, etc. Particles are never inflected.[1]

Depending on context, the meaning of the term may overlap with concepts such as morpheme, marker, or even adverb as in English phrasal verbs such as out in get out. Under a strict definition, in which a particle must be uninflected, English deictics like this and that would not be classed as such (since they have plurals and are therefore inflected), and neither would Romance articles (since they are inflected for number and gender).

This assumes that any function word incapable of inflection is by definition a particle. However, this conflicts with the above statement that particles have no specific lexical function per se, since non-inflecting words that function as articles, prepositions, conjunctions, interjections have a clear lexical function. This disappears if particles are taken to be a separate class of words, where one characteristic (which they share with some words of other classes) is that they do not inflect.[2]

In English

Particle is a somewhat nebulous term for a variety of small words that do not conveniently fit into other classes of words.[3] The Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language defines a particle as a "word that does not change its form through inflection and does not fit easily into the established system of parts of speech".[4] The term includes the "adverbial particles" like up or out in verbal idioms (phrasal verbs) such as "look up" or "knock out"; it is also used to include the "infinitival particle" to, the "negative particle" not, the "imperative particles" do and let, and sometimes "pragmatic particles" like oh and well.[4]

In other languages

Afrikaans

The following particles can be considered the most prominent in Afrikaans:

  • nie2: Afrikaans has a double negation system, as in Sy is nie1 moeg nie2 'She is not tired PTCL.NEG' (meaning 'She is not tired'). The first nie1 is analysed as an adverb, while the second nie2 as a negation particle.
  • te: Infinitive verbs are preceded by the complementiser om and the infinitival particle te, e.g. Jy moet onthou om te eet 'You must remember for.COMP PTCL.INF eat' (meaning 'You must remember to eat').
  • se or van: Both se and van are genitive particles, e.g. Peter se boek 'Peter PTCL.GEN book' (meaning 'Peter's book'), or die boek van Peter 'the book PTCL.GEN Peter' (meaning 'Peter's book').
  • so and soos: These two particles are found in constructions like so groot soos 'n huis 'PTCL.CMPR big PTCL.CMPR a house' (meaning 'as big as a house').

Chinese
See also: Chinese particles

There are three types of zhùcí (助詞; particles) in Chinese: Structural, Aspectual, and Modal. Structural particles are used for grammatical relations. Aspectual particles signal grammatical aspects. Modal particles express linguistic modality. Note that particles are different from zhùdòngcí (助動詞; modal verbs) in Chinese.

Hindi

There are different types of particles present in Hindi. Emphatic particles, Limiter particles, Negation particles, Affirmative particles, Honorific particles, Topic-marker particle and Case-marker particles.

The main particles in Hindi are given in the table below:

Particles Used in Hindi
Type Particles Notes Sentences
Emphatic

Particles

ही (hī) works the similar to the Japanese particle だけ (dake)

भी (bʰī) works exactly the like the Japanese も (mo)

and すら (sura) particles.

 .
1. बस कॉफ़ी ही लेके आये? [You] brought just coffee?
bas kaufī hī leke āye?
2. लिख भी नहीं सकते? [You] can't even write?
likʰ bʰī nahī̃ sakte?
3. मैं यूँ जाऊँगा और यूँ आऊँगा। I'll go and come back.

[particle cannot be translated

here. It just shows quickness

in the manner of going and coming back.]

mè̃ yū̃-jāū̃gā aur yū̃-āū̃gā.
Limiter

Particles
  • मात्र (mātr) — mere
 मात्र (mātr) comes before a noun it modifies coming after a noun

or verb or adverb when the meaning of "just/mere" is conveyed.
1. नारंगी मात्र दो हैं अपने पास। We have merely two oranges.
nārangī mātr do hè̃ apne pās.
Negation

Particles

  • नहीं (nahī̃) — Indicative Negation
  • न / ना (na / nā) — Subjunctive Negation
  • मत (mat) — Imperative Negation
 नहीं (nahī̃) can have multiple positions in the same sentence but can

still convey the same meaning but by default it comes before

the main verb of the sentence (and after the verb to emphasise).

Usually, it doesn't appear at the end of a sentence and also at

the beginning if the sentence starts with a noun.


न (na) and मत (mat) have rather restricted positions in a sentence and

can usually only appear around the verb in subjunctive mood

or imperative form, respectively.
1. नहीं करना चाहिए ऐसा। One shouldn't do [like] that.
nahī̃ karnā čāhiye aisā.
2. न हो ऐसा तो अच्छा हो। It'll be good if it doesn't happen [like that].
na ho aisā to aččʰā ho.
3. मत कर यार ! Don't do [it], man!
mat kar yār.
Affirmative

Particles
  • हाँ (hā̃) — "yes"
  • जी (jī) — "honourific yes"
  • जी हाँ (jī-hā̃) — "emphatic yes"
  • हाँ तो (hā̃-to) — "emphatic yes"
1. हाँ करता हूँ। Yes, I do it.
hā̃ kartā hū̃.
2. जी। और आप? Yes, and you (honorary)?
jī. aur āp.
3. जी हाँ करूँगा। Yes (sure) I will do it.
jī-hā̃ karū̃gā.
4. अरे हाँ तो ! किया है मैंने। (I already said) yes! I have done it.

[shows the speaker is irritated or

desperate]

are hā̃-to! kiyā hè mè̃-ne.


Honorific

Particles
  • जी (jī) — "honour giving particle"
 It comes after a noun and gives the noun an honourific value.

Compare with the honourific particles in Japanese

such as さま (sama) and さん (san).
1. राहुल जी कैसे है? How is Mr. Rahul?
rāhul-jī kaise hè.


Topic Marker

Particles

 तो is used to mark the topic in the sentence which is often not

the same the subject of a sentence. It indicates either

presuppositionally shared information or shift in thematic

orientation. Compare with the Japanese particle は (wa).

It has a rather flexible position in a sentence, whatever need to

but put as the topic of the sentence, it comes after that, even after

other particles.

1. नेहा तो अच्छी है। [Speaking of] Neha [she] is good.
nehā-to aččʰī hè.
2. तुम अच्छी तो हो पर उतनी नहीं। You [sure are] good but not that much.
tum aččʰī-to ho par utnī nahī̃.


Question Marker

Particles
  • क्या (kyā) — "question marker"
  • ना (nā) — "doubt / comfirmatory marker"
 The question-marker क्या can come at the beginning or the end

of a sentence as its default position but can also appear in between

the sentence if it cannot also be interpretted as its non-particle meaning

of "what" at a mid position in the sentence.


ना can only come at the end of a sentence and nowhere else. It

conveys that the asker is in doubt or is seeking for a confirmation.
1. वो गाता है क्या? Does he sing?
vo gātā hè kyā?
2. क्या वो गाता है?
kyā vo gātā hè?
3. *वो क्या गाता है? *What does he sing?

[क्या can't be interpretted as a particle here]

*vo kyā gātā hè?
4. ऐसा करना होता है ना? [It] should be done like this, no?
aisā karnā hota hè-nā?
5. ऐसा करें ना? [Are you sure that] we do this?
aisā karē̃-nā?


Case Marker

Particles

 The case marking particles require the noun to be declined

to be in their obliqe case forms. However, these markers

themselves are invariant and never inflected or change forms

depening on the gender of the noun they modify.


Comparison of these case markers with Japanese case

markers and their usage overlap:

Hindi & Japanese Case Markers
Case Hindi Japanese
dative को (ko) へ (e), が (ga), に (ni), を (o)
accusative को (ko) が (ga), を (o)
ablative से (se) から (kara)
instrumental से (se) で (de)、 に (ni)
ergative ने (ne) は (wa)、が(ga)
locative - 1 में (mē̃) で (de) 、に (ni)
locative - 2 पे (pe) で (de)
locative - 3 तक (tak) 迄(まで) (made)
1. दिल्ली को जा रहा हूँ। I am going to Delhi.
dillī-ko jā rahā hū̃
2. लड़के ने बच्चे को मारा। The boy hit the child.

[particles can't be translated]

lařke-ne bačče-ko mārā.
3. यहाँ से वहाँ को जाओ। Go from here to there.
yahā̃-se vahā̃-ko jāo.
4. इस से लिखो। Write with/using this.
is-se likʰo.
5. बिल्ली ने खाया। The cat ate [it].

[particles can't be translated]

billī-ne kʰāyā.
6. इस में डालो। Put [it] inside this.
is-mē̃ d̻ālo.
7. इसपे खड़े हो। Stand on this.
is-pe kʰaře ho.
8. दो से चार बजे तक। From 2 o'clock to/until/till 4 o'clock.
do-se čār baje-tak.


The genitive marker in Hindi cannot be considered a particle as per the definition that particles cannot be inflected. The genitive marker का (kā) inflects for the number and gender of the object it shows possession of. The genitive markers are का (kā), के (ke), की (kī) and कीं / की (kī̃ / kī) for masculine singular, masculine plural, feminine singular and feminine plural possessives respectively. There are compound postpositions or markers in Hindi (such as, के ऊपर (ke ūpar) "above", के लिए (ke liye), की ओर (kī or) "towards", की वजह से (kī vajah se) "because of") which make use of the genitive markers के (ke) and की (kī) as their primary stem and hence all such postpositions cannot be considered as particles.

German

A German modal particle serves no necessary syntactical function, but expresses the speaker's attitude towards the utterance. Modal particles include ja, halt, doch, aber, denn, schon and others. Some of these also appear in non-particle forms. Aber, for example, is also the conjunction but. In Er ist Amerikaner, aber er spricht gut Deutsch, "He is American, but he speaks German well," aber is a conjunction connecting two sentences. But in Er spricht aber gut Deutsch!, the aber is a particle, with the sentence perhaps best translated as "What good German he speaks!"[5] These particles are common in speech but rarely found in written language, except that which has a spoken quality (such as online messaging).[6][7][8]

Turkish

Turkish particles have no meaning alone; among other words, he takes part in the sentence. In some sources, exclamations and conjunctions are also considered Turkish particles. In this article, exclamations and conjunctions will not be dealt with, but only Turkish particles. The main particles used in Turkish are:

  • ancak[note 1]
  • başka, another
  • beri, since
  • bir, one
  • bir tek, only
  • dair, regarding
  • doğru, right
  • değil, not
  • değin, mention
  • denli, as much
  • dek, until
  • dolayı, due
  • diye, so
  • evvel, before
  • gayri, informal
  • gibi, like
  • göre, by
  • için, for
  • ile, with[note 2]
  • kadar, until
  • karşı, against
  • karşın, Although or despite
  • mukabil, corresponding
  • önce, prior to
  • ötürü, due to
  • öte, beyond
  • rağmen, despite
  • sadece, only
  • sanki, as if
  • sonra, then
  • sıra, row
  • üzere, to
  • yalnız, alone

Particles can be used with the simple form of the names to which they are attached or in other cases. Some of particles uses with attached form, and some particles are always used after the relevant form. For examples, "-den ötürü", "-e dek", "-den öte", "-e doğru":

  • Bu çiçekleri annem için alıyorum. ("anne" is nominatif)
  • Yarına kadar bu ödevi bitirmem lazım. (datif)
  • Düşük notlarından ötürü çok çalışman gerekiyor. (ablatif )

Turkish particles according to their functions. Başka, gayrı, özge using for other, another, otherwise, new, diverse, either

  • Senden gayrı kimsem yok. No one other than you.
  • Yardım istemekten başka çaremiz kalmadı. We have no choice but to ask for help.

Göre, nazaran, dâir, rağmen using for by, in comparison, about, despite.

  • Çok çalışmama rağmen sınavda hedeflediğim başarıyı yakalayamadım.
  • Duyduğuma göre bitirme sınavları bir hafta erken gerçekleşecekmiş.
  • Şirketteki son değişikliklere dâir bilgi almak istiyorum.

İçin, üzere, dolayı, ötürü, nâşi, diye using for bFor, with, because, because of, how.

  • Açılış konuşmasını yapmak üzere kürsüye çıktı.
  • Bu raporu bitirebilmek için zamana ihtiyacım var.
  • Kardeşim hastalığından nâşi gelemedi.

Japanese and Korean
See also: Japanese particles and Korean particles

The term particle is often used in descriptions of Japanese[9] and Korean,[10] where they are used to mark nouns according to their grammatical case or thematic relation in a sentence or clause.[11] Linguistic analyses describe them as suffixes, clitics, or postpositions. There are sentence-tagging particles such as Japanese and Chinese question markers.

Polynesian languages

Polynesian languages are almost devoid of inflection, and use particles extensively to indicate mood, tense, and case. Suggs,[12] discussing the deciphering of the rongorongo script of Easter Island, describes them as all-important. In Māori for example, the versatile particle "e" can signal the imperative mood, the vocative case, the future tense, or the subject of a sentence formed with most passive verbs. The particle "i" signals the past imperfect tense, the object of a transitive verb or the subject of a sentence formed with "neuter verbs" (a form of passive verb), as well as the prepositions in, at and from.[13]

Tokelauan

In Tokelauan, ia is used when describing personal names, month names, and nouns used to describe a collaborative group of people participating in something together.[14] It also can be used when a verb does not directly precede a pronoun to describe said pronouns.[14] Its use for pronouns is optional but mostly in this way. Ia cannot be used if the noun it is describing follows any of the prepositions e, o, a, or ko.[14] A couple of the other ways unrelated to what is listed above that ia is used is when preceding a locative or place name.[14] However, if ia is being used in this fashion, the locative or place name must be the subject of the sentence.[14] Another particle in Tokelauan is a, or sometimes ā.[14] This article is used before a person's name as well as the names of months and the particle a te is used before pronouns when these instances are following the prepositions i or ki. Ia te is a particle used if following the preposition mai.[14]

See also

Notes
  1. used with "Ama, fakat, lakin" (but).
  2. used with "Ve" (and)

References
  1. McArthur, Tom: "The Oxford Companion to the English Language", pp. 72-76, Oxford University Press, 1992. ISBN 0-19-214183-X For various keywords
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-09-21. Retrieved 2008-04-07.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Interjections
  3. Leech, Geoffrey. A Glossary of English Grammar. Edinburgh University Press. p. 79. ISBN 978-0-7486-1729-6.
  4. McArthur, Thomas Burns; McArthur, Roshan (2005). The Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. Oxford University Press. Particle. ISBN 9780192806376.
  5. Martin Durrell, Using German, Cambridge University Press, 2nd edition (2003), p. 156-164.
  6. Bross, Fabian (2012). "German modal particles and the common ground" (PDF). Helikon. A Multidisciplinary Online Journal: 182–209.
  7. "Modal Particles: schon, ja, halt". Yabla German.
  8. Vyatkina, Nina; Johnson, Karen E. "German Modal Particles" (PDF). Center for Advanced Language Proficiency Education and Research – The Pennsylvania State University.
  9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-03-03. Retrieved 2009-10-29.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) List of Japanese particles
  10. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2009-03-06. Retrieved 2008-04-07.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) List of Korean particles
  11. "conf.ling.cornell.edu" (PDF). cornell.edu. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 July 2010. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  12. Suggs, Robert C. The Island Civilizations of Polynesia.
  13. Foster, John. He Whakamarama: A Short Course in Maori.
  14. Simona, Ropati (1986). Tokelau Dictionary. New Zealand: Office of Tokelau Affairs. p. Introduction.
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