Page:EB1911 - Volume 13.djvu/498

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482
HINDOSTANI


   Agent.   Genitive.   Dative.   Ablative.   Locative. 






 Panjabi  nai    nū̃    vicc
 Hindostani          mē̃
 Braj Bhasha  nē̃  kau  kaũ  tē̃, saũ  maĩ
 Eastern Hindi   None  kēr, k  kā̃    mē̃bikhē 

The agent case is the case which a noun takes when it is the subject of a transitive verb in a tense formed from the past participle. This participle is passive in origin, and must be construed passively. In the Prakrit stage the subject was in such cases put into the instrumental case (see Prakrit), as in the phrase ahaṁ tēṇa māriō, I by-him (was) struck, i.e. he struck me. In Eastern Hindi this is still the case, the old instrumental being represented by the oblique form without any suffix. The other two languages define the fact that the subject is in the instrumental (or agent) case by the addition of the postposition , &c., an old form employed elsewhere to define the dative. It is really the oblique form (by origin a locative) of or , which is employed in Gujarati (q.v.) for the genitive. As this suffix is never employed to indicate a material instrument but here only to indicate the agent or subject of a verb, it is called the postposition of the “agent” case.

The genitive postpositions have an interesting origin. In Buddhist Sanskrit the words kr̥tas, done, and kr̥tyas, to be done, were added to a noun to form a kind of genitive. A synonym of kr̥tyas was kāryas. These three words were all adjectives, and agreed with the thing possessed in gender, number, and case; thus, māla-kr̥tē karaṇḍē, in the basket of the garland, literally, in the garland-made basket. In the various dialects of Apabhraṁśa Prakrit kr̥tas became (strong form) kida-u or kia-u, kr̥tyas became kicca-u, and kāryas became kēra-u or kajja-u, the initial k of which is liable to elision after a vowel. With the exception of Gujarati (and perhaps Marathi, q.v.) every Indo-Aryan language has genitive postpositions derived from one or other of these forms. Thus from (ki)da-u we have Panjabi ; from kia-u we have H. , Br. kau, E.H. and Bihari k and Naipali ; from (ki)cca-u we have perhaps Marathi ; from kēra-u, E.H. and Bihari kēr, kar, Bengali Oriya and Assamese -r, and Rajasthani -; while from (ka)jja-u we have the Sindhi . It will be observed that while k, kēr, kar, and r are weak forms, the rest are strong. As already stated, the genitive is an adjective. Bāp means “father,” and bāp-kā ghōrā is literally “the paternal horse.” Hence (while the weak forms as usual do not change) these genitives agree with the thing possessed in gender, number, and case. Thus, bāp-kā ghōṛā, the horse of the father, but bāp-kī ghōṛī, the mare of the father, and bāp-kē ghōṛē-kō, to the horse of the father, the being put into the oblique case masculine , to agree with ghōṛē, which is itself in an oblique case. The details of the agreement vary slightly in P. and W.H., and must be learnt from the grammars. The E.H. weak forms do not change in the modern language. Finally, in Prakrit it was customary to add these postpositions (kēra-u, &c.) to the genitive, as in mama or mama kēra-u, of me. Similarly these postpositions are, in the modern languages, added to the oblique form.

The locative of the Sanskrit kr̥tas, kr̥tē, was used in that language as a dative postposition, and it can be shown that all the dative postpositions given above are by origin old oblique forms of some genitive postposition. Thus H. , Br. kaũ, is a contraction of kahũ, an old oblique form of kia-u. Similarly for the others. The origin of the ablative postpositions is obscure. To the present writer they all seem (like the Bengal haïtē) to be connected with the verb substantive, but their derivation has not been definitely fixed. The locative postpositions mē̃ and maī are derived from the Skr. madhyē, in, through majjhi, māhī, and so on. The derivation of vicc and bikhē is obscure.

Apabhraṁśa.  Panjabi.   Hindostani.  Braj
Bhasha.
 Eastern 
Hindi.






 I, Nom. 
Obl. 
 haū  maī  maĩ  haũ  maī
 maīmahumajjhu   mai  mujh  mohi  
 WE, Nom. 
Obl. 
 amhē  asī̃  ham  ham  ham
 amahã  asā  hamō̃  hamaūhamani   ham
 THOU Nom. 
Obl. 
 tuhũ  tū̃      taĩ
 taĩ, tuha, tujjhu  tai  tujh  tohi  
 YOU, Nom. 
Obl. 
 tumhē  tusī̃  tum  tum  tum
 tumhahã  tusā  tumhō̃  tumhaū  tum

The pronouns closely follow the Prakrit originals. This will be evident from the preceding table of the first two personal pronouns compared with Apabhraṁśa.

It will be observed that in most of the nominatives of the first person, and in the E.H. nominative of the second person, the old nominative has disappeared, and its place has been supplied by an oblique form, exactly as we have observed in the nominative plural of nouns substantive. The P. asī̃, tusī̃, &c., are survivals from the old Lahndā (see Linguistic Boundaries, above). The genitives of these two pronouns are rarely used, possessive pronouns (in H. mērā, my; hamārā, our; tērā, thy; tumhārā, your) being employed instead. They can all (except P. asāḍā, our; tusāḍā, your, which are Lahndā) be referred to corresponding Ap. forms.

There is no pronoun of the third person, the demonstrative pronouns being used instead. The following table shows the principal remaining pronominal forms, with their derivation from Ap.:—

 Apabhraṁśa.   Panjabi.   Hindostani.  Braj
 Bhasha. 
 Eastern 
Hindi.






 THAT, HE, Nom. 
Obl. 
?  uh  woh    ū
? uh us ō
 THOSE, THEY, Nom. 
Obl. 
 ōi ōh wai unh
? unhā̃ unh uni unh
 THIS, HE, Nom. 
Obl. 
 ēhu  ih  yeh  yah  ī
ēhasu, ēhaho   ih is ē
 THESE, THEY, Nom. 
Obl. 
 ēi ēh yai inh
ēhāṇa inhā̃ inh ini inh
 THAT, Nom. 
Obl. 
         
tasu, taho tih tis
 THOSE, Nom. 
Obl. 
tāṇa tinhā̃ tinh tini tenh
 WHO, Nom. 
Obl. 
         
jasu, jaho jih jis
 WHO (pl.), Nom. 
Obl. 
jāṇa jinhā̃ jinh jini jenh
 WHO? Nom. 
Obl. 
 kō, kawaṇu  kauṇ  kaun    
kasu, kaho kih kis
 WHO? (pl.), Nom. 
Obl. 
kauṇ kaun
kāṇa kinhā̃ kinh kini kenh
 WHAT? (Neut.),  Nom. 
Obl. 
 kiṁ  kiā  kyā  kahā  
kāha, kāsu kāh, kās  kāhē kāhē kāhē

The origin of the first pronoun given above (that, he; those, they) cannot be referred to Sanskrit. It is derived from an Indo-Aryan base which was not admitted to the classical literary language, but of which we find sporadic traces in Apabhraṁśa. The existence of this base is further vouched for by its occurrence in the Iranian language of the Avesta under the form ava-. The base of the second pronoun is the same as the base of the first syllable in the Skr. ē-ṣas, this, and other connected pronouns, and also occurs in the Avesta. Ap. ēhu is directly derived from ē-sas.

There are other pronominal forms upon which, except perhaps kōī (Pr. kō-vi, Skr. kō-’pi), any one, it is unnecessary to dwell. The phrase kōī hai? “Is any one (there)?” is the usual formula for calling a servant in upper India, and is the origin of the Anglo-Indian word “Qui-hi.” The reflexive pronoun is āp (Ap. appu, Skr. ātmā), self, which, something like the Latin suus (Skr. svas), always refers to the subject of the sentence, but to all persons, not only to the third. Thus maĩ apnē (not mērē) bāp-kō dēkhtā-hū̃, “I see my father.”

C. Conjugation.—The synthetic conjugation was already commencing to disappear in Prakrit, and in the modern languages the only original tenses which remain are the present, the imperative, and here and there the future. The first is now generally employed as a present subjunctive. In the accompanying table we have the conjugation of this tense, and also the three participles, present active, and past and future passive, compared with Apabhraṁśa, the verb selected being the intransitive root call or cal, go. In Ap. the word may be spelt with one or with two ls, which accounts for the variations of spelling in the modern languages.

The imperative closely resembles the old present, except that it drops all terminations in the 2nd person singular; thus, cal, go thou.

In P. and H. a future is formed by adding the syllable (fem. ) to the simple present. Thus, H. calū̃-gā, I shall go. The is commonly said to be derived from the Skr. gatas (Pr. gaō), gone, but this suggestion is not altogether acceptable to the present writer, although he is not now able to propose a better. Under the form of -gau the same termination is used in Br., but in that dialect the old future has also survived, as in calihaũ (Ap. calihaũ, Skr. caliṣyāmi), I shall go, which is conjugated like the simple present. The E.H. formation of the future is closely analogous to what we find in Bihari (q.v.). The third person is formed as in Braj Bhasha, but the first and second persons are formed by adding pronominal suffixes, meaning “by me,” “by thee,” &c., to the future passive participle.