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[]
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) | |||||
| Approximant | व (ʋ~w) | ल l | 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 diphthongs 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) |
नेना खैत छे। | Boy is eating. | ∅ (Inherent Vowel) | -(अ)न,
-(अ)नि (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 |
बियाहक बादि ऊ पालतꣿ नेना। | He/she nurture a boy, after marriage | ∅ | |||
| Instrumental
(करण karaṇa) |
सँऽ sɔ̃ | नेनासँऽ गिरल रहꣿ। | It was fallen by the boy. | -एँ ẽː** | -(अ)न्हि
(ə)nʰɪ̆ | |
| Dative
(सम्प्रदान sampradāna) |
के, लऽ, लेलऺ
keː, ləː, leːlᵊ |
नेनाके खाना खिलौ। | Feed the boy the food. | -(अ)ल
(ə)lə |
Postposition used ← | |
| Ergative[7]
(सापेक्ष)‡ |
न, नॆ nə, ne | नेनेँ पेड़ दॆखलकꣿ। | The boy saw the tree. | -एँ ẽː, nasalised vowel | No forms | |
| Ablative
(अपादान apādāna) |
तोँ tõː (mostly for comparative)
से seː |
पेड़से फलऺ गिरलकꣿ। | Fruit fell from the tree. | -(अ)तः
(ə)təh -(अ)हु* | ||
| Genitive
(सम्बन्ध sambandha) |
कर kərᵊ | नेनाक खॆॆलॏना छिकꣿ। | The toy is of the boy. | -(अ)क
(ə)kᵊ -(अ)र (ə)rᵊ |
-केर, -आँँक
keːrᵊ, ãːkə̆ᵊ | |
| Locative
(अधिकरण adhikaraṇa) |
तऽ təː
मेँ, मँऽ (Inessive) पर्, पे pər, peː (Superessive) |
छतिपर् रखने छꣿ। |
It is placed on the terrace. | -ए eː** -(अ)हि* |
-आँ ãː | |
| Postpositional
(परसर्गीय parasargīya)§ |
अगला महीनामेँ हॊऎतꣿ। | It will happen in next month. | ∅
(In र, ड़, ढ़, ल, न, ब stems -आ aː) |
-(अ)न,
-(अ)नि (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.
- ‡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 | तक, ला təkᵊ, laː | |
| Abessive | बिनु bɪnʊ | |
| Adverbial | जकाँ , सोँ dʑəkãː, sõː | |
| Genitive adjectives | Masculine object | कऽ, रऽ kɔ, rɔ |
| Feminine object | कि, रि kɪ, rɪ | |
| Neuter object | क, र kə, rə | |
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 सभsuffixes like सभऺ səbʰᵊ; लोकनि loːknɪ̆, सबहि səbəɦɪ̆, गण ɡəɳᵊ, जन dʑənᵊ could be used for animates and आरनि aːrənɪ̆, सनि sənɪ for all.
Common vowel stem[]
| Case name | Singular Inflection | Plural Inflection | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feminine | Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | Masculine | Neuter | |
| Nominative | -इ ɪ | -आ/अऽ aː/ɔ | -इन ɪnᵊ | -अन, -अनि
ənᵊ, ənɪ̆ |
-अन, -अनि
ənᵊ, ənɪ̆ | |
| Accusative
(Indefinite) |
-ई iː | -ई iː | -आ aː | |||
| Instrumental | Postposition used | -एँ ẽː | Postposition used | -अन्हि
ənʰɪ̆ | ||
| Dative | Postposition used | |||||
| -इल ɪlə | -अल ələ | No forms | ||||
| Ergative | -इएँ ɪẽː | -एँ ẽː | ||||
| Ablative | -इतः ɪtəh | -अतः
ətəh | ||||
| Genitive | -इक ɪkᵊ, इर ɪrᵊ | -अक əkᵊ, -अर ərᵊ | -ईंक ĩːkᵊ | -आँँक
ãːkᵊ | ||
| Locative | Postposition used | -ए eː | Postposition used | -आँ
ãː | ||
| Vocative | -इ ɪ/ई iː | -आ/अ२ aː/əː | -इन ɪnᵊ | -अन, -अनि
ənᵊ, ənɪ̆ | ||
Consonant stem[]
| Case name | Singular Inflection | Plural Inflection | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine | Neuter | Masculine | Neuter | |
| Nominative | ∅ | -अन, -अनि
ənᵊ, ənɪ̆ |
-अन, -अनि
ənᵊ, ənɪ̆ | |
| Accusative
(Indefinite) |
∅ | |||
| Instrumental | Postposition used | -एँ ẽː | Postposition used | -अन्हि
ənʰɪ̆ |
| Dative | Postposition used | |||
| -अल ələ | No forms | |||
| Ergative | -एँ ẽː | |||
| Ablative | -अतः
ətəh | |||
| Genitive | -अक əkᵊ, -अर ərᵊ | -आँँक ãːkᵊ | ||
| Locative | Postposition used | -ए eː | Postposition used | -आँ
ãː |
| Vocative | ∅ | -अन, -अनि
ənᵊ, ənɪ̆ | ||
Feminine stem -आ aː[]
| Case name | Singular Inflection | Plural Inflection |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | -आ aː | -अन, -अनि
ənᵊ, ənɪ̆ |
| Accusative
(Indefinite) |
-आ aː | |
| Instrumental | Postposition used, -एँ ẽː* | |
| Dative | Postposition used | |
| -आल aːlə | No forms | |
| Ergative | -आएँ aːẽː, आँ ãː | |
| Ablative | -आतः
aːtəh | |
| Genitive | -आक aːkᵊ, -आर aːrᵊ | -आँँक ãːkᵊ |
| Locative | Postposition used | |
| Vocative | -ए†/आ eː/aː | -अन, -अनि
ənᵊ, ənɪ̆ |
- *Though, used for neuter and inanimates, it is used for female inanimates or abstract.
- †Used for tatsama words (words borrowed from Sanskrit).
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)* |
इएँ | उएँ | एँ | ऒएँ | अयेँ | आयेँ | अवेँ | आवेँ | ||
| Locative
(Neuter only) |
इए | उए | ए | ऒए | अये | आये | अवे | आवे | ||
| Vocative† | ए | इ | ओ | उ | ए | ओ | ए | ओ | ऐ | औ |
- Specifically saying, inanimates.
- Sanskrit vocative, could be used or not.
Adjectives[]
The difference between adjectives and nouns is very minute in Maithili. However, there are marked adjectives there in Maithili.
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Definite | -का/कऽ kaː/kɔ | -कि/कि kɪ/kɪ̆ | का kəː |
| Indefinite | -आ/अऽ aː/ɔ | -इ/इ ɪ/ɪ̆ | अ/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 | हम ɦəmᵊ | Normally Declined अपना सभ ɐpᵊnaː səbʰᵊ | तोँह tõːhᵊ | अहाँ ɐɦãː | Declined Normally अपने ɐpᵊneː |
| Accusative/Postpositional | हमरा ɦəmᵊraː | तॊहरा/तोरा toɦᵊraː/toːraː | अहाँ (के) ɐɦãː (keː) | ||
| Instrumental | हमरेँ ɦəmᵊrẽː | तोहऺरेँ toɦᵊrẽː | अहेँ ɐɦẽː | ||
| Dative | हमरा ɦəmᵊraː | तोहरा/तोरा toɦᵊraː/toːraː | अहाँ के ɐɦãː ke | ||
| हमराल ɦəmᵊraːlə | तोहराल toɦᵊraːlə | अहाँलऽ ɐɦãːləː | |||
| Ergative | हम्मेँ ɦəmmẽː | तोएँ/तोहेँ toːẽː/toɦẽː | अहꣿँ ɐɦə̃ɪ̯̃ | ||
| Genitive | हमर/हम्मर
ɦəmərᵊ/ɦəmmərᵊ |
अपना सभक ɐpᵊnaː səbʰəkə | तोहर toɦərᵊ | अहाँक 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 | ऎकरा ekᵊraː | हिनका ɦɪnᵊkaː | ऎहि, ꣾ, अथि eɦɪ, əɪ, ɐtʰɪ | ऒकरा okᵊraː | हुनका ɦʊnᵊkaː | ऒहि, ॵ oɦɪ, əʊ |
| Instrumental | ऎकरेँ ekᵊrẽː | हिनकेँ ɦɪnᵊkẽː | एँ ẽː | ऒकरेँ okᵊrẽː | हुनकेँ ɦʊnᵊkẽː | ओँ õː |
| Dative | ऎकरा ekᵊraː | हिनका ɦɪnᵊkaː | ऎहि eɦɪ | ऒकरा okᵊraː | हुनका ɦʊnᵊkaː | ऒहि oɦɪ |
| ऎकराल ekᵊraːlᵊ | हिनकाल ɦɪnᵊkaːlᵊ | एलॅ eːlæ | ऒकराल okᵊraːlᵊ | हुनकाल ɦʊnᵊkaːlᵊ | ओलऽ oːləː | |
| Ergative | येँ ɪẽː | येँ, हिनेँ ɪẽː, ɦɪnẽː | एँ ẽː | वेँ ʊẽː | ओँ õː | |
| Genitive | एकर eːkərᵊ | हिनकर, हिनक ɦɪnᵊkərᵊ, ɦɪnəkᵊ | एकर eːkərᵊ | ओकर oːkərᵊ | हुनकर, हुनक ɦʊnᵊkərᵊ, ɦʊnəkaː | ओकर oːkərᵊ |
References[]
- ^ a b c Yadav, Ramawatar (1996). A Reference Grammar of Maithili. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-014558-8.
- ^ Yadav, Ramawatar (1996). A Reference Grammar of Maithili. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-014558-8.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Yadav, Ramawatar (1996). A Reference Grammar of Maithili. Trends in Linguistics: Documentation, 11.: Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. pp. 15–27.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) - ^ "Maithili". lisindia.ciil.org. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
- ^ "Maithili". lisindia.ciil.org. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
- ^ "Maithili Variation". lisindia.ciil.org. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
- Maithili language
- Indo-Aryan grammars