Page:A Grammar of the Urdū Or Hindūstānī Language in Its Romanized Character.djvu/76

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Conjagation of a Transitive Verb. The one we select is, like honā and jānā, of very frequent occurrence, and, like them also, slightly irregular in the Past (or Perfect) Participle. It is the Verb

Karnā 'to do or make.' Root, kar.

Verbal Nouns.

The Root of this Verb — though doubtless originally signifying ' doing' or 'making,' and retaining this meaning as a Conjunctive Participle—has come, as a Noun, to signify generally the great 'factor'—the 'human hand.'[1] As a Verbal Root, of course, it is also the 2nd Pers. Sing. of the Imperative, meaning ' do.' The second Verbal Noun— the Gerund or Infinitive—is kārnā 'doing' or 'to do,' 'making' or 'to make'; the third is the Abstract Noun karan 'making,' 'doing,' 'acting'; and the fourth—or Agent— is karnewālā, or karanhār (or -hārā) 'a doer,' 'a maker,' or ' one about to do or make'; kartā being also used for 'an Agent' or 'doer.' As kar is used for 'the hand,' so karan (or karn) is used also for 'the ear,' or 'a cause,' or 'instrument,' the ear being the great cause or instrument of the sense of hearing, as the hand is of touch and feeling.[2]


  1. It also means 'tribute,' or 'tax'; and, as a Persian word, 'purpose,' 'power,' or 'felicity.'
  2. Karan signifies also 'the helm of a boat,' and the hypotenuse of a triangle.