Modern Hindi Grammar

332 Pages·2008·2.09 MB·English

by  Omkar N. Koul

Table of Contents

Preface .......................................................................................... i
Abbreviations ............................................................................ iii
References .................................................................................. iv

1. Introduction
1.1. Area and Its Speakers ......................................................... 1
1.2. Dialects and Classification ................................................. 1
1.3. Hindi - Urdu ....................................................................... 2
1.4. Linguistic Characteristics ................................................... 4
1.5. Status .................................................................................. 4
1.6. Grammars in Hindi ............................................................ 7

2. Phonology
2.1. Phonological Units (Segmental) ...................................... 11
2.1.1. Distinctive Segments .................................................. 11
Vowels ................................................................................ 11
Consonants .......................................................................... 12
2.1.2. Description of Phonemes ............................................ 12
2.1.2.1. Vowels ................................................................... 12
2.1.2.2. Consonants ............................................................. 14
2.1.2.3. Distribution of Phonemes and Allophones ............ 19
2.2. Phonotactics ..................................................................... 20
2.2.1. Vowel Sequences ........................................................ 20
2.2.2. Consonant Clusters ..................................................... 20
2.2.2.1. Word-initial Cosonant Clusters .............................. 20
2.2.2.2. Word-medial Consonant Clusters .......................... 21
2.2.2.3. Word-final Consonant Clusters .............................. 23
2.2.3. Syllable Structure ........................................................ 24
2.3. Supersegmental Features ................................................. 25
2.3.1. Nasalization ................................................................. 25
2.3.2. Length ......................................................................... 26
2.3.3. Stress ........................................................................... 26
2.3.4. Intonation .................................................................... 27
2.3.5. Juncture ....................................................................... 29
2.4. Morphophonemics ........................................................... 30
2.4.1. Loss of Phoneme ......................................................... 30
2.4.2. Addition of Phoneme .................................................. 30
2.4.3. Alternations ................................................................. 31
3. Morphology
3.1. Nouns ............................................................................... 33
3.1.1. Noun Inflection ........................................................... 33
3.1.1.1. Gender .................................................................... 33
3.1.1.2. Number .................................................................. 35
3.1.1.3. Case ........................................................................ 36
3.1.2. Postpositions ............................................................... 37
3.1.2.1. The Postposition nao ne ............................................. 37
3.1.2.2. The Postposition kao ko ............................................ 41
3.1.2.3. The Postposition sao se ............................................. 47
3.1.2.4. The Postposition maoM mẽ ............................................ 52
3.1.2.5. The Postposition pr par .......................................... 53
3.1.2.6. The Postposition ka ka ............................................ 55
3.1.2.7. Compound Postpositions........................................ 57
3.1.3. Noun Derivation .......................................................... 68
3.1.3.1. Nouns from Nouns ................................................. 68
3.1.3.2. Nouns from Adjectives .......................................... 70
3.1.3.3. Nouns from Verbs .................................................. 71
3.1.4. Noun Compounds ....................................................... 72
3.1.4.1. Noun-Noun Compounds ........................................ 73
3.1.4.2. Copulative Compounds .......................................... 73
3.1.4.3. Reduplicated Compounds ...................................... 73
3.1.4.4. Partially Duplicated Compounds ........................... 73
3.1.4.5. Superordinate Compounds ..................................... 74
3.1.4.6. Complex Compounds ............................................. 74
3.1.4.7. Hybrid Compounds ................................................ 74
3.1.4.8. Adjective-Noun Compounds .................................. 74
3.1.4.9. Modifier-Noun Compounds ................................... 75
3.2. Pronouns .......................................................................... 75
3.2.1. Personal Pronouns ....................................................... 75
3.2.2. Demonstrative Pronouns ............................................. 77
3.2.3. Relative Pronouns ....................................................... 77
3.2.4. Reflexive Pronouns ..................................................... 77
3.2.5. Interrogative Pronouns ................................................ 78
3.2.6. Indefinite Pronouns ..................................................... 79
3.2.7. Oblique Forms of Pronouns ........................................ 79
3.2.8. Compound Pronouns ................................................... 80
3.3. Adjectives ........................................................................ 81
3.3.1. Inflected ...................................................................... 82
3.3.2. Uninflected .................................................................. 82
3.3.3. Types of Adjectives .................................................... 82
3.3.4. Degree of Adjectives ................................................... 84
3.3.5. Derivation of Adjectives ............................................. 85
3.3.6. Numerals ..................................................................... 88
3.3.6.1. Cardinals ................................................................ 88
3.3.6.2. Ordinals .................................................................. 90
3.3.6.3. Fractions ................................................................. 91
3.3.6.4. Multiplicatives ....................................................... 92
3.3.6.5. Approximation ....................................................... 92
3.3.6.6. Aggregation ............................................................ 93
3.4. Verbs ................................................................................ 93
3.4.1. The Verb hona: ........................................................... 93
3.4.2. Main Verbs .................................................................. 95
3.4.2.1. Intransitive Verbs ................................................... 95
3.4.2.2. Transitive Verbs ..................................................... 96
3.4.2.3. Ditransitive Verbs .................................................. 98
3.4.2.4. Causative Verbs ..................................................... 98
3.4.2.5. Dative Verbs ........................................................ 100
3.4.2.6. Conjunct Verbs .................................................... 102
3.4.2.7. Compound Verbs ................................................. 103
3.4.3. Tense ......................................................................... 105
3.4.4. Aspect ....................................................................... 107
3.4.4.1. Habitual Aspect .................................................... 107
3.4.4.2. Progressive Aspect ............................................... 111
3.4.4.3. Perfective Aspect ................................................. 113
3.4.5. Mood ......................................................................... 116
3.4.5.1. Indicative Mood ................................................... 116
3.4.5.2. Imperative Mood .................................................. 116
3.4.5.3. Subjuntive Mood .................................................. 119
3.4.6. Voice ......................................................................... 121
3.4.7. Non-finite Verb Forms .............................................. 122
3.4.7.1. Infinitives ............................................................. 122
3.4.7.2. Participles ............................................................. 124
3.4.7.2.1. Imperfective Participles .................................. 125
3.4.7.2.2. Perfective Participles ....................................... 126
3.4.7.2.3. Conjunctive Participles ................................... 128
3.5. Adverbs .......................................................................... 129
3.5.1. Types of Adverbs ...................................................... 130
3.5.2. Expressions of Time ................................................. 133
3.5.2.1. General Time Expressions ................................... 133
3.5.2.2. Time of Day ......................................................... 133
3.5.2.3. Period of Day ....................................................... 135
3.5.2.4. Days of the Week ................................................. 135
3.5.2.5. Months of the Year .............................................. 135
3.5.2.6. Year ...................................................................... 136
3.5.2.7. Seasons ................................................................. 136
3.5.3. Frequentative ............................................................. 137
3.6. Particles .......................................................................... 137
3.6.1. The Particle Bar bhi: ‘also’ ......................................... 137
3.6.2. The Particle hI hi: ...................................................... 150
3.6.3. The Particle tao to ........................................................ 155
3.6.4. The Particle tk tak ‘up to’ ......................................... 157
3.6.5. The Particle Bar bhar .................................................. 158
3.6.6. The Particle maa~ ma:tr ................................................ 159
3.7. Connectives .................................................................... 160
3.7.1. Mono-morphemic ..................................................... 161
3.7.2. Poly-morphemic ........................................................ 161
3.7.3. Phrasal ....................................................................... 161
3.8. Interjections .................................................................... 162

4. Syntax
4.1. Structure of Phrases ....................................................... 165
4.1.1. Noun Phrase .............................................................. 165
4.1.2. Postpositional Phrases ............................................... 171
4.1.3. Adjectival Phrases ..................................................... 173
4.1.4. Adverbial Phrases ..................................................... 176
4.2. Structure of Clauses ....................................................... 179
4.2.1. Subordinate Clauses .................................................. 179
4.2.2. Noun Clauses ............................................................ 180
4.2.2.1. Finite Noun Clauses ............................................. 181
4.2.2.1.1. The ik ki Complement Clauses ........................ 181
4.2.2.1.2. Direct and Indirect Speech .............................. 182
4.2.2.1.3. Non-finite Noun Clause .................................. 184
4.2.3. Relative Clauses ........................................................ 187
4.2.3.1. Restrictive and Non-restrictive Clauses ............... 189
4.2.3.2. Non-finite Relative Clauses ................................. 194
4.2.3.3. Finite Relative Clauses ......................................... 195
4.2.4. Adverbial Clauses ..................................................... 198
4.2.4.1. Adverbial Clauses of Time .................................. 198
4.2.4.2. Manner Clauses .................................................... 200
4.2.4.3. Purpose Clauses ................................................... 202
4.2.4.4. Cause Clauses ...................................................... 203
4.2.4.5. Condition Clauses ................................................ 204
4.2.4.6. Concession Clauses .............................................. 205
4.2.4.7. Result Clauses ...................................................... 206
4.3. Sentence Construction ................................................... 207
4.3.1. Copular Sentences ..................................................... 207
4.3.2. Verbal Sentences ....................................................... 211
4.3.2.1. Direct Object ........................................................ 213
4.3.2.2. Indirect Object ..................................................... 214
4.3.2.3. Other Types of Verb Argument ........................... 215
4.3.3. Negation .................................................................... 216
4.3.3.1. Sentential Negation .............................................. 216
4.3.3.2. Constituent Negation ........................................... 217
4.3.3.3. Double/Multiple Negation ................................... 220
4.3.3.4. Negation and Coordination .................................. 220
4.3.3.5. Negation and Subordination ................................. 221
4.3.4. Interrogative .............................................................. 222
4.3.4.1. Yes-No Questions ................................................ 222
4.3.4.1.1. Neutral Yes-No Questions .............................. 222
4.3.4.1.2. Leading Questions........................................... 225
4.3.4.2. Question-Word Questions .................................... 226
4.3.4.3. Echo-Questions .................................................... 246
4.3.4.3.1. Yes-No Echo-Questions .................................. 246
4.3.4.3.2. Question-Word Echo-Questions ..................... 248
4.3.4.4. Answers ................................................................ 250
4.3.5. Imperatives ................................................................ 254
4.3.5.1. Unmarked or True Imperatives ............................ 254
4.3.5.2. Prohibitive Imperatives ........................................ 255
4.3.5.3. Degrees of Imperatives ........................................ 257
4.3.6. Anaphora ................................................................... 260
4.3.7. Reflexives ................................................................. 263
4.3.8. Reciprocals ................................................................ 269
4.3.9. Equatives ................................................................... 271
4.3.10. Comparison ............................................................. 274
4.3.11. Superlatives ............................................................. 277
4.3.12. Coordination ........................................................... 278
4.3.12.1. Coordination and Accompaniment .................... 286
4.3.12.2. Structural Constraints ......................................... 287

5. Lexicon
5.1. Animals, Birds and Insects............................................. 293
5.2. Flowers, Fruits, and Vegetables ..................................... 294
5.3. Jewels, Metals, and Minerals ......................................... 296
5.4. Miscellaneous Items ....................................................... 296
5.5. Body Parts ...................................................................... 302
5.6. Occupations.................................................................... 303
5.7. Kinship Terms ................................................................ 305
5.8. Adjectives ...................................................................... 307
5.9. Verbs .............................................................................. 310
5.10. Adverbs ........................................................................ 315
5.11. Conjunctions ................................................................ 317
5.12. Pronouns ...................................................................... 317
Preface

Modern Hindi Grammar aims at providing basic information on
various aspects of Hindi phonology, morphology, and syntax along
with their unique features or characteristics.

Hindi has a special status in India. It is spoken by the largest
population in India. It is the official language of the Union of India
and eleven state governments, including Delhi. It is taught as a
second language in all the non-Hindi speaking states under the three-
language formula. Under this formula, a child is supposed to learn
his mother tongue, Hindi, and English. If a child’s mother tongue is
Hindi, (s)he is expected to learn an additional modern Indian
language or a foreign language. Hindi is taught as a foreign language
in a large number of countries throughout the world. Besides need-
based language learning materials, there is a need for a
pedagogically oriented grammar of this language. The present
grammar aims to fulfill the need of second/foreign language learners
of Hindi in India as well as other countries. A large number of Hindi
speakers have settled in non-Hindi speaking states in India, or have
migrated and settled abroad. The second generation of these
migrants is fast losing contact with their mother tongue in the
absence of its use in various domains of their day-to-day life in alien
surroundings. They are looking for suitable language learning
materials including pedagogically oriented grammars for
maintaining the language among their children.

Hindi has a long tradition of grammars and grammatical literature.
The existing grammars mentioned in the introduction as well as in
references are either too old and do not describe modern spoken and
written Hindi, or they are sketchy or too scholarly or detailed. They
do not fulfill the needs of second and/or foreign language learners or
those native speakers who want to maintain the language in an alien
atmosphere.

This grammar is pedagogically oriented. It will be of special interest
to Hindi language learners and teachers in different situations. It will
also be of interest to linguists and researchers working in the area of
language typology, and to general readers as well.

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In Modern Hindi Grammar we have utilized simple terminology and
provided suitable descriptions with tables for grammatical
categories, phrases, and sentence types. The introduction gives a
survey of the Hindi speaking area and the number of its speakers, its
classification and dialects, Hindi-Urdu relationship, the status of
Hindi and its use in administration, education and mass media, Hindi
grammars, and the objectives of the present grammar. The
phonology section describes segmental phonemes, suprasegmentals,
and morphophonology. The morphology provides a description of
different word classes: nouns, pronouns, adjectives, numerals,
adverbs, particles, connectives, and interjections. It deals with
inflectional as well as derivational morphology. The syntax
describes the structure of phrases, sentence types, complex and
compound constructions, special word order variations, and other
intricate syntactic features. The lexicon presents a list of useful
classified vocabulary which is useful for students and teachers of
Hindi as well as general readers. This grammar emphasizes special
features of Hindi that set it apart from other Indo-Aryan languages.
In short, it will fulfill the needs of the basic language learner as well
as provide useful information for the linguist and the general reader.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Thomas Creamer,
Director, Language Research Center (a division of McNeil
Technologies) for asking me to write this grammar and for deciding
to publish it. I would like to thank Prof. Anjani Kumar Sinha, and
Prof. Kashi Wali for going through the first draft of it and for
offering useful comments and suggestions. Finally, I would like to
thank my colleagues at the Indian Institute of Language Studies for
providing their assistance.

I hope students, researchers, teachers, and linguists will find this
book useful.

Omkar N. Koul

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Abbreviations

1. first person NP noun phrase
2. second person obl oblique
3. third person part particle
abl ablative case pass passive
adv adverb pl plural
asp aspirated pol polite
aux auxiliary poss possessive
caus causative postp postposition
cond conditional pre presumptive
cor correlative prox proximate
cp conjunctive participle psp past participle
dat dative ptc participle
emp emphatic q question particle
erg ergative refl reflexive
fut future rel relative
gen genitive case rem remote
hon honorific sbj subjunctive mood
imp imperative sg singular
impf imperfective unas unaspirated
inf infinitive VP verb phrase
indef indefinite vd voiced
ms masculine singular vl voiceless
neg negative * ungrammatical
nom nominative
non hon non honorific
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References

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Agnihotri, Rama Kant 2007. Hindi: An Essential Grammar.
London: Routledge.
Bahl, Kali Charan 1967. A Reference Grammar of Hindi. Chicago:
University of Chicago (mimeographed).
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Banarsidass.
Bahri, U.S. ( ed.) 1981. Topics in Hindi Linguistics. vol. 1.New
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Bhatia, Kailash Chandra 1964.Consonant Sequences in Standard
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Bhatia, Tej K.1987. A History of the Hindi Grammatical Tradition:
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Das, Pradeep Kumar 2006. Grammatical Agreement in Hindi-Urdu
and its Major Variations. Munich: Lincom Europa.
Davison, Alice 2000. Lexical anaphors and pronouns in Hindi/Urdu.
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Selected South Asian Languages. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Fairbanks, Gordon H. and Bal Govind Misra 1966. Spoken and
Written Hindi. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
___. and P.B. Pandit 1965. Hindi: A Spoken Approach. Poona:
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Gambhir, Surendra K. Spoken Hindi-Urdu 1978. Madison:
University of Wisconsin, Center for South Asian Studies.
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Guru, Kamta Prasad 1920. Hindi vya:karan. Kashi: Lakshmi
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