Maithili grammar

This page describes the grammar of Maithili language, which has a complex verbal system, nominal declension with a few inflections, and extensive use of honoroficity. It is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Maithili people and is spoken in the Indian state of Bihar with some speakers in Jharkhand and nearby states.The language has a large number of speakers in Nepal too, which is second in number of speakers after Bihar.[1]

Maithili has the following characteristic morphological features:

  • Number is not grammatically marked.
  • Gender distinctions are also absent in verbs and pronouns.
  • There is a lexical distinction of gender in the third person pronoun.
  • Transitive verbs are distinguished from intransitive.[2]

Phonology
Main article: Maithili phonology

Consonants
Labial Dental/
Alveolar		 Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal
Stop/
Affricate		 voiceless प p त t ट ʈ च tɕ क k
aspirated फ pʰ थ tʰ ठ ʈʰ छ tɕʰ ख kʰ
voiced ब b द d ड ɖ ज dʑ ग ɡ
voiced aspirated भ bʱ ध dʱ ढ ɖʱ झ dʑʱ घ ɡʱ
Fricative voiceless फ़ (ɸ~f) स s ष (ʂ) श (ɕ) ख़ (x) ः -(h)*
voiced ज़ (z) झ़ (ʑ) ह (ɦ)
Nasal म m न n ण ɳ ञ (ɲ) ङ ŋ
Flap and Trill consonants र ɾ~r ड़ (ɽ)
Lateral ल l
Approximant व (ʋ~w) य (j)
  • Fricative sounds [ʂ, ɕ] only occur marginally, and are typically pronounced as a dental fricative /s/ in most styles of pronunciation.ः is always added after a vowel.
  • In most styles of pronunciation, the retroflex flap [ɽ] occurs marginally, and is usually pronounced as an alveolar tap /r/ sound.
  • A retroflex nasal sound [ɳ] only occurs before a voiced retroflex /ɖ/ sound.
  • Approximant sounds [ʋ, w, j] and fricative sounds [ɸ, f, z, ʑ, x], mainly occur in words that are borrowed from Sanskrit or in words of Perso-Arabic origin. From Sanskrit, puʂp(ə) as puɸp(ə). Conjunct of ɦj as ɦʑ as in graɦjə as graɦʑə.[3]

Non syllabic Vowels

There are four non-syllabic vowels in Maithili- i̯, u̯, e̯, o̯ written in Devanagari as य़, व़, य़ॆ, व़ॊ. Most of the times, these are written without nukta.

Vowels
Front Central Back
short long short long short long
Close इ ɪ ई iː उ ʊ ऊ uː
Mid ऎ e ए eː अ

ə~ɐ

 अऽ əː ऒ o ओ oː
Open ऍ

æ~ɛ

 ꣾ ɛː ॴ ä आ äː अऽ ɔ ॵ ɔː
Diphthongs ꣾ əɪ̯ ॵ əʊ̯
ऐ aːɪ̯ औ aːʊ̯
  • All vowels have nasal counterparts, represented by "~" in IPA and ँ on the vowels, like आँ ãː .
  • All vowel sounds are realized as nasal when occurring before or after a nasal consonant.[4]
  • Sounds ɛː and ɔː are often replaced by dipthongs əɪ̯ and əʊ̯ in most of the dialects.
  • æ is a recent development.
  • ɔ is replaced by ə or even ə̯ in northern dialects and by o in southernmost dialects.
  • There are three short vowels, as described by Grierson, but not counted by modern grammarians. But they could be understood as syllable break :- ॳ / ɘ̆ /, इऺ/ ɪ̆ /, उऺ/ ʊ̆ / . Or as syllable break ऺ in Devanagari and "." in IPA.
  • ꣾ is a Unicode letter in Devanagari, (IPA /əɪ̯/) which is not supported currently on several browsers and operating systems, along with its mātrā (vowel sign).

Diphthongs

अय़(ꣾ) / əi̯ / ~ /ɛː/ - अय़सनऺ (ꣾ सनऺ) / əi̯sənᵊ / ~ /ɛːsɐnᵊ/ 'like this'
अव़(ॵ) / əu̯ / ~ /ɔː/- चव़मुुखऺ(चॏमुखऺ) / tɕəu̯mʊkʰᵊ / ~ /tɕɔːmʊkʰᵊ/ 'four faced'
अयॆ / əe̯ / - अयॆलाः / əe̯la:h / 'came'
अवॊ (अऒ) / əo̯ / - अवॊताः / əo̯ta:h / 'will come'
ऐ / a:i̯ / - ऐ / a:i̯ / 'today'
औ / a:u̯ / - औ / a:u̯ / 'come please'
आयॆ (आऎ) / a:e̯ / - आयॆलऺ / a:e̯l / 'came'
आवॊ (आऒ) / a:o̯ / - आवॊबऺ / a:o̯bᵊ / 'will come'
यु (इउ) / iu̯/ - घ्यु / ghiu̯ / 'ghee'
यॆ (इऎ) / ie̯ / - यॆः / ie̯h / 'only this'
यॊ (इऒ) / io̯ / - कह्यो / kəhio̯ / 'any day'
वि (उइ) / ui̯ / - द्वि / dui̯ / 'two'
वॆ (उऎ) /ue̯/ - वॆ: / ue̯h / 'only that'

Svarabhakti (Vowel Epenthesis)

A peculiar type of phonetic change is recently taking place in Maithili by way of epenthesis i.e. backward transposition of final i and u in all sort of words.[5] Thus:

Standard Colloquial - Common Pronunciation

अछि / əchi / - अइछऺ / əich / 'is'

रवि / rəbi / - रइबऺ / rəib / 'sunday'

मधु / mədhu / - मउधऺ / məudh / 'honey'

बालु / ba:lu / - बाउलऺ / ba:ul / 'sand'

Nominals

Nouns are inflected for several cases. Grammarians consider only few of them to be pure inflection.

Case name Postpositions Examples English translation Singular Inflection Plural Inflection*
Nominative

(कर्ता kartā)

 नेनऽ खैतऺ छॏ। Boy is eating. ∅ (Inherent Vowel) -(अ)नऺ,

-(अ)निऺ

(ə)nᵊ, (ə)nɪ̆

Accusative

(कर्म karma)[6]

 Definite Object

(without determiners)

 के ke ऊ नेनाके खिलैैतꣿ। He/she will feed the boy. Postposition used

←

Indefinite

Object

 बियाहकऺ बादऺ ऊ पालऺतꣿ नेना। He/she nurture a boy, after marriage ∅
Instrumental

(करण karaṇa)

 सँऽ sɔ̃ नेनासँऽ गिरलऺ रहꣿ। It was fallen by the boy. -एँ ẽː** -(अ)न्हिऺ

(ə)nʰɪ̆

Dative

(सम्प्रदान sampradāna)

 कॅ, लॅ, लेलऺ

kæ læ, leːlᵊ

 नेनाकॅ खाना खिलौ। Feed the boy the food. -(अ)ल

(ə)lə

 Postposition used ←
Ergative[7]

(सापेक्ष)‡

 न, नॆ nə, ne नेनेँ पेड़ दॆखलऺकꣿ। The boy saw the tree. -एँ ẽː No forms
Ablative

(अपादान apādāna)

 सॆ se पेड़ऺसॆ फलऺ गिरलॏ। Fruit fell from the tree. -(अ)तः

(ə)təh

-(अ)हु*

Genitive

(सम्बन्ध sambandha)

 करऺ kərᵊ नेनाकऺ खॆॆलॏनऽ छॏ। The toy is of the boy. -(अ)कऺ

(ə)kᵊ

-(अ)रऺ (ə)rᵊ

 -केरऺ, -आँँकऺ

keːrᵊ, ãːkə̆ᵊ

Locative

(अधिकरण adhikaraṇa)

 मेँ mẽː (Inessive),

पर्, पॅ pər, pæ (Superessive)

 छतऺपर् रखऺने छꣿ।
 It is placed on the terrace. -ए eː**
-(अ)हि*		 -आँ ãː
Postpositional

(परसर्गीय parasargīya)§

 अगऺलऽ महीनामेँ हॊय़तꣿ। It will happen in next month. ∅

(In र, ड़, ढ़, ल, न, ब stems

-आ aː)

 -(अ)नऺ,

-(अ)निऺ

(ə)nᵊ, (ə)nɪ̆

(ə)nᵊ, (ə)nɪ̆

Vocative

(सम्बोधन sambodhana)

 रॏ नेनऽ! औ। O boy! Come. ∅
  • *These forms are abundant in literature, but are less used in spoken language.
  • †It is a form came from locative.
  • ‡Ergative is more used in eastern and southern dialects. Maithili also has parallel accusative structure and both can be used. If ergative is used, then nominative is used as absolutive.
  • Used only in neuter and inanimates.
  • §It is used, when a postposition is added to the word. Some other postpositions are-
Case name Postposition
Allative दक dəkə
Terminative तकऺ, लऻ təkᵊ, laː
Abessive बिनु bɪnʊ
Adverbial जकऻँ , सोँ dʑəkãː, sõː
Genitive adjectives Masculine object कऽ, रऽ kɔ, rɔ
Feminine object कि, रि kɪ, rɪ
Neuter object कऽ, रऽ kəː, rəː

Some postpositions are added to the genitive too.

  • Inflectional plural is less in use than the Periphrastic one, and is mostly found in literature.
  • Periphrastic Plural is made by suffixes like सभऺ səbʰᵊ; लोकनिऺ loːknɪ̆, सबहिऺ səbəɦɪ̆, गण ɡəɳᵊ, जन dʑənᵊ could be used for animates and आरनिऺ aːrənɪ̆, सनि sənɪ for all.

Common vowel stem
Case name Singular Inflection Plural Inflection
Feminine Masculine Neuter Feminine Masculine Neuter
Nominative -इ ɪ -अऽ ɔ -अऽ əː -इनऺ ɪnᵊ -अनऺ, -अनिऺ

ənᵊ, ənɪ̆

 -अनऺ, -अनिऺ

ənᵊ, ənɪ̆

Accusative

(Indefinite)

 -ई iː -अऽ əː -ई iː -अऽ əː
Instrumental Postposition used
 -एँ ẽː Postposition used -अन्हिऺ

ənʰɪ̆

Dative Postposition used
-इल ɪlə -अल ələ No forms
Ergative -इयेँ ɪẽː -एँ ẽː
Ablative -इतः ɪtəh -अतः

ətəh

Genitive -इकऺ ɪkᵊ, इर॑ ɪrᵊ -अकऺ əkᵊ, -अरऺ ərᵊ -ईंकऺ ĩːkᵊ -आँँकऺ

ãːkᵊ

Locative Postposition used -ए eː Postposition used -आँ

ãː

Vocative -इ ɪ/ई iː -अऽ əː -इनऺ ɪnᵊ -अनऺ, -अनिऺ

ənᵊ, ənɪ̆

Consonant stem
Case name Singular Inflection Plural Inflection
Masculine Neuter Masculine Neuter
Nominative ∅ -अनऺ, -अनिऺ

ənᵊ, ənɪ̆

 -अनऺ, -अनिऺ

ənᵊ, ənɪ̆

Accusative

(Indefinite)

 ∅
Instrumental Postposition used -एँ ẽː Postposition used -अन्हिऺ

ənʰɪ̆

Dative Postposition used
-अल ələ No forms
Ergative -एँ ẽː
Ablative -अतः

ətəh

Genitive -अकऺ əkᵊ, -अरऺ ərᵊ -आँँकऺ ãːkᵊ kᵊ

kᵊ

Locative Postposition used -ए eː Postposition used -आँ

ãː

Vocative ∅ -अनऺ, -अनिऺ

ənᵊ, ənɪ̆

Feminine stem -आ aː
Case name Singular Inflection Plural Inflection
Nominative -आ aː -अनऺ, -अनिऺ

ənᵊ, ənɪ̆

Accusative

(Indefinite)

 -आ aː
Instrumental Postposition used
Dative Postposition used
-आल aːlə No forms
Ergative -आयेँ aːẽː, आँ ãː
Ablative -आतः

aːtəh

Genitive -आकऺ aːkᵊ, -आरऺ aːrᵊ -आँँकऺ ãːkᵊ kᵊ

kᵊ

Locative Postposition used
Vocative -ए eː -अनऺ, -अनिऺ

ənᵊ, ənɪ̆

Other Vowel stems
इ ई उ ऊ ऎ ऒ ए ऐ ओ औ
Masculine ✓ × ✓ × ✓ ✓ ✓ × ✓ ✓
Feminine ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ × × ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Neuter ✓ × ✓ × ✓ ✓ ✓ × ✓ ✓
Declension irregularities
Ergative Nasalised vowel or ↓
Instrumental

(Neuter only)

 इयेँ उवेँ एँ ऒवेँ अयेँ आयेँ अवेँ आवेँ
Locative

(Neuter only)

 इये उवे ए ऒवे अये आये अवे आवे
Vocative ए इ ओ उ ए ओ ए ओ ऐ औ

Adjectives

The difference between adjectives and nouns is very minute in Maithili. However, there are marked adjectives there in Maithili.

Masculine Feminine Neuter
Definite -कऽ kɔ -कि/किऺ kɪ/kɪ̆ कऽ kəː
Indefinite -अऽ ɔ -इ/इऺ ɪ/ɪ̆ ॳ/अऽ ᵊ/əː


Pronouns

Pronouns in Maithili are declined in similar way to nominals. However, genetic case has a different form in most of the pronouns.

First and Second Person Pronouns[1]
Case name First Person Second Person
Exclusive Inclusive (Plural) First Grade Honour Honorofic High-Honorofic
Nominative हमऺ ɦəmᵊ Normally Declined अपऺना सभऺ ɐpᵊnaː səbʰᵊ तोँहऺ tõːhᵊ अहाँ ɐɦãː Declined Normally अपऺने ɐpᵊneː
Accusative/Postpositional हमऺरा ɦəmᵊraː तॊहऺरा/तोरा toɦᵊraː/toːraː अहाँ (के) ɐɦãː (keː)
Instrumental हमऺरेँ ɦəmᵊrẽː तोहऺरेँ toɦᵊrẽː अहेँ ɐɦẽː
Dative हमऺरा ɦəmᵊraː तोहऺरा/तोरा toɦᵊraː/toːraː अहाँ के ɐɦãː ke
हमऺराल ɦəmᵊraːlə तोहऺराल toɦᵊraːlə अहाँलॅ ɐɦãːlæ
Ergative हम्मेँ ɦəmmẽː तोयेँ/तोहेँ toːẽː/toɦẽː अहꣿँ ɐɦə̃ɪ̯̃
Genitive हमरऺ/हम्मरऺ

ɦəmərᵊ/ɦəmmərᵊ

 अपना सभकऺ ɐpᵊnaː səbʰəkə तोहरऺ toɦərᵊ अहाँकऺ ɐɦãːkᵊ

Third Person Pronouns[1]
Case name Proximate Second Person
First Grade Honour Honorofic Neuter First Grade Honour Honorofic Neuter
Nominative ई iː ए, हिनि eː, ɦɪnɪ ए eː ऊ, वा uː, ʋaː ओ, हुनि oː, ɦʊnɪ ऒ o
Accusative/Postpositional ऎकऺरा ekᵊraː हिनऺका ɦɪnᵊkaː ऎहि, ꣾ, अथि eɦɪ, əɪ, ɐtʰɪ ऒकऺरा okᵊraː हुनऺका ɦʊnᵊkaː ऒहि, ॵ oɦɪ, əʊ
Instrumental ऎकऺरेँ ekᵊrẽː हिनऺकेँ ɦɪnᵊkẽː एँ ẽː ऒकऺरेँ okᵊrẽː हुनऺकेँ ɦʊnᵊkẽː ओँ õː
Dative ऎकऺरा ekᵊraː हिनऺका ɦɪnᵊkaː ऎहि eɦɪ ऒकऺरा okᵊraː हुनऺका ɦʊnᵊkaː ऒहि oɦɪ
ऎकऺराल ekᵊraːlᵊ हिनऺकाल ɦɪnᵊkaːlᵊ एलॅ eːlæ ऒकऺराल okᵊraːlᵊ हुनऺकाल ɦʊnᵊkaːlᵊ ओलॅ oːlæ
Ergative येँ ɪẽː येँ, हिनेँ ɪẽː, ɦɪnẽː एँ ẽː वेँ ʊẽː ओँ õː
Genitive ऎकरऺ ekərᵊ हिनऺकरऺ, हिनकऺ ɦɪnᵊkərᵊ, ɦɪnəkᵊ ऎःकरऺ ehkərᵊ ओकरऺ okərᵊ हुनऺकरऺ, हुनकऺ ɦʊnᵊkərᵊ, ɦʊnəkaː ऒःकरऺ ohkərᵊ

References
  1. Yadav, Ramawatar (1996). A Reference Grammar of Maithili. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-014558-8.
  2. Yadav, Ramawatar (1996). A Reference Grammar of Maithili. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-014558-8.
  3. Grierson, George Abraham; Asiatic Society (Calcutta, India) Journal and proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (1909-). An introduction to the Maithili dialect of the Bihari language as spoken in North Bihar. University of California Libraries. Calcutta : Asiatic Society. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. Yadav, Ramawatar (1996). A Reference Grammar of Maithili. Trends in Linguistics: Documentation, 11.: Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. pp. 15–27.CS1 maint: location (link)
  5. "Maithili". lisindia.ciil.org. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
  6. "Maithili". lisindia.ciil.org. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
  7. "Maithili Variation". lisindia.ciil.org. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.