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|''prathamā'' (प्रथमा)
|''prathamā'' (प्रथमा)
|First
|First
|''kartā ''(कर्ता)
|''kartā'' (कर्ता)
|[[Nominative case]]
|[[Nominative case]]
| '''–'''
| '''–'''
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''dwitīyā'' (द्वितीया)
''dwitīyā'' (द्वितीया)
|Second
|Second
|''karma ''(कर्म)
|''karma'' (कर्म)
|[[Accusative case]]
|[[Accusative case]]
| -''lā'' (-ला), -''s'' (-स){{efn|name=schwa}}, -''te'' (-ते)|| -''nā'' (ना), -''s'' (-स){{efn|name=schwa}}, -''te'' (-ते)
| -''lā'' (-ला), -''s'' (-स){{efn|name=schwa}}, -''te'' (-ते)|| -''nā'' (ना), -''s'' (-स){{efn|name=schwa}}, -''te'' (-ते)
Line 101: Line 101:
|''trutīyā'' (तृतीया)
|''trutīyā'' (तृतीया)
|Third
|Third
|''karaṇa''(करण)
|''karaṇa'' (करण)
|[[Instrumental case]] (and [[Ergative case]])
|[[Instrumental case]] (and [[Ergative case]])
| -''ne'' (ने), -''ṣī'' (शी) || -''nī'' (नी), -''ṣī'' (शी)
| -''ne'' (ने), -''ṣī'' (शी) || -''nī'' (नी), -''ṣī'' (शी)
Line 108: Line 108:
|''caturthī'' (चतुर्थी)
|''caturthī'' (चतुर्थी)
|Fourth
|Fourth
|''sampradāna''(संप्रदान)
|''sampradāna'' (संप्रदान)
|[[Dative case]]
|[[Dative case]]
| -''lā'' (-ला), -''s'' (-स){{efn|name=schwa}}, -''te'' (-ते)|| -''nā'' (ना), -''s'' (-स){{efn|name=schwa}}, -''te'' (-ते)
| -''lā'' (-ला), -''s'' (-स){{efn|name=schwa}}, -''te'' (-ते)|| -''nā'' (ना), -''s'' (-स){{efn|name=schwa}}, -''te'' (-ते)
Line 115: Line 115:
|''pancamī'' (पञ्चमी)
|''pancamī'' (पञ्चमी)
|Fifth
|Fifth
|''apādāna''(अपादान)
|''apādāna'' (अपादान)
|[[Ablative case]]
|[[Ablative case]]
| -''un'' (-ऊन){{efn|name=vowel}}, -''hun'' (हुन)|| -''un'' (-ऊन){{efn|name=vowel}}, -''hun'' (हुन)
| -''un'' (-ऊन){{efn|name=vowel}}, -''hun'' (हुन)|| -''un'' (-ऊन){{efn|name=vowel}}, -''hun'' (हुन)
Line 122: Line 122:
|''shhashhthī'' (षष्ठी)
|''shhashhthī'' (षष्ठी)
|Sixth
|Sixth
|''sambandh ''(संबंध)
|''sambandh'' (संबंध)
|[[Genitive case]]
|[[Genitive case]]
| -''cā'' (-चा), -''cī'' (-ची), -''ce'' (-चे)|| -''ce'' (-चे), -''cyā'' (-च्या), -''cī'' (-ची)
| -''cā'' (-चा), -''cī'' (-ची), -''ce'' (-चे)|| -''ce'' (-चे), -''cyā'' (-च्या), -''cī'' (-ची)

Revision as of 16:05, 16 November 2022

This article contains Indic text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks or boxes, misplaced vowels or missing conjuncts instead of Indic text.

The grammar of the Marathi language shares similarities with other modern Indo-Aryan languages such as Odia, Gujarati or Punjabi. The first modern book exclusively about the grammar of Marathi was printed in 1805 by Willam Carey.[1][2]

The principal word order in Marathi is SOV (subject–object–verb).[3] Nouns inflect for gender (masculine, feminine, neuter), number (singular, plural), and case. Marathi preserves the neuter gender found in Sanskrit, a feature further distinguishing it from many Indo-Aryan languages. Typically, Marathi adjectives do not inflect unless they end in an आ (/aː/) vowel, in which case they inflect for gender and number. Marathi verbs inflect for tense (past, present, future). Verbs can agree with their subjects, yielding an active voice construction, or with their objects, yielding a passive voice construction. A third type of voice, not found in English for example, is produced when the verb agrees with neither subject nor object. Affixation is largely suffixal in the language and postpositions are attested.[4] An unusual feature of Marathi, as compared to other Indo-European languages, is that it displays the inclusive and exclusive we feature, that is common to the Dravidian languages, Rajasthani, and Gujarati.

The contemporary grammatical rules described by Maharashtra Sahitya Parishad and endorsed by the Government of Maharashtra are supposed to take precedence in standard written Marathi. These rules are described in Marathi Grammar, written by M. R. Walimbe. The book is widely referred to students in schools and colleges.

Sanskrit influence

Traditions of Marathi Linguistics and above mentioned rules give special status to ‘tatsama’ (तत्सम) words borrowed from the Sanskrit language. This special status expects the rules for ‘tatsama’ words be followed as of Sanskrit grammar.

Parts of speech

Marathi words can be classified in any of the following parts of speech:

English Sanskrit
Noun nāma (नाम)
Pronoun sarvanāma (सर्वनाम)
Adjective vishheshaṇa (विशेषण)
Verb kriyāpada (क्रियापद)
Adverb kriyāvishheshaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
Conjunction ubhayanvayī avyaya (उभयान्वयी अव्यय)
Preposition shabdayogī avyaya (शब्दयोगी अव्यय)
Interjection kevalaprayogī avyaya (केवलप्रयोगी अव्यय)

Nominals

Nouns are primarily divided into three categories – proper nouns (विशेषनाम, visheshnāma), common nouns (सामान्यनाम, samānyanāma), and abstract nouns (भाववाचकनाम, bhāvvāchaknāma) – that are identical in definition to their counterparts in other languages (such as English), and are inflected for gender, number and case. They are also often categorized based on their ending vowel, which is especially useful in studying their inflection – those ending in the schwa (or inherent vowel) a (अ) are termed akārānt (अकारान्त), those ending in the vowel ā (आ) are termed ākārānt (आकारान्त), those ending in the vowel ī (ई) are termed īkārānt (ईकारान्त), and so on.

Gender

There are three genders in Marathi: masculine, feminine, and neuter. Some other modern Indo-European languages have lost these genders, completely or in part, with either neuter and common gender (merging masculine and feminine), as in some Northern Germanic languages, or feminine and masculine (absorbing neuter), as in almost all Romance languages.

While there exists no concrete rules for determining the gender of a given noun, certain observations do help speakers in that regard: masculine nouns can only be akārānt or ākārānt, while neuter nouns can only be akārānt, īkārānt, ukārānt (उकारान्त, ending in u), or ekārānt (एकारान्त, ending in e).

The grammatical gender of common nouns referring to animated objects corresponds to their natural sex – for example, mulgā (मुलगा, 'boy') is a masculine noun, whereas mulgī (मुलगी, 'girl') is a feminine one. Given the masculine forms of such nouns, the feminine noun can often be determined using a set of rules:

  • Some ākārānt nouns have corresponding feminine forms as īkārānt with the same root – mulgā/mulgī (boy/girl), kutrā/kutrī (dog/bitch), ghoḍā/ghoḍī (horse/mare).
  • Some akārānt nouns also have their corresponding feminine forms as īkārānt with the same root – hansa/hansī (male and female swans), vānar/vānrī (male and female monkeys).
  • Some nouns use the suffix -īṇ (ईण) to form their feminine forms – vāgha/vāghīṇ (tiger/tigress), mālaka/mālakīṇ (male and female owners).
  • Some nouns have their feminine forms made out of entirely different words – navrā/bāyko (husband/wife), bāp/āī (father/mother), rājā/rāṇī (king/queen).

Similarly, for masculine ākārānt common nouns referring to inanimate objects, the 'diminutive' (लघुत्वदर्शक, lughatvadarshak) forms are feminine, and are īkārānt – danḍā/danḍī (big/small stick), loṭā/loṭī (big/small mug).

Case

There are differences of opinion regarding grammatical cases in Marathi.[5] According to one view, there are two cases: direct, which is unmarked (e.g. Ram 'Ram') and oblique, which is used before adpositions (e.g. ram-a-la 'to Ram', -a being the oblique case marker and -la the dative adposition) and postpositions (e.g. ram-a-pasun 'from Ram',-a being the oblique case marker and -pasun the postposition). The form of the oblique suffix depends on the gender and the final vowel of the word it is suffixed to.[6]

According to this analysis, true postpositions (like -pasun 'from') have a wide range of meanings and can be separated form the noun by clitics like -cya (e.g. ram-a-cya-pasun). Adpositions (like -la), on the other hand, are only used to mark nominal arguments of the verb in terms of their theta roles and cannot be separated from the noun by clitics (*ram-a-cya-la is ungrammatical).[7] Syntactically, the latter behave the same as case markers corresponding to the traditional grammar. In this view, the cases are: nominative (unmarked), accusative/dative (singular -la, plural -na), ergative, which is traditionally called 'instrumental' (sg. -ne, pl. -ni) and genitive/possessive (-tsa, -tse, -tʃa, -tʃi).

The class of true postpositions will then include -hatun 'through', -hu(n) 'from'/ablative, -t locative, -jagi 'in place of' and many more.[8] The genitive markers inflect to agree with the governing noun.

Traditional grammar

In traditional analyses which follow the pattern of Sanskrit grammatical tradition, case suffixes are referred to as (vibhaktī pratyaya) विभक्ती प्रत्यय. There are eight such (vibhaktī) विभक्ती (विभक्ती) in Marathi. The form of the original word changes when such a suffix is to be attached to the word, and the new, modified root is referred to as saamaanya ruup of the original word. For example, the word (ghodā) घोडा (“horse”) gets transformed into (ghodyā-) घोड्या- when the suffix (-var) वर- (“on”) is attached to it to form (ghodyāvar) घोड्यावर (“on the horse”). The nominal suffixes are tabulated below.

Sanskrit

Ordinal Number

English

Ordinal Number

Sanskrit

Case Description

English

Case Description

Singular Suffixes

(एकवचन)

Plural Suffixes

(अनेकवचन)

Notes
prathamā (प्रथमा) First kartā (कर्ता) Nominative case – – The nominative case uses the unmarked singular or plural form.

dwitīyā (द्वितीया)

Second karma (कर्म) Accusative case -lā (-ला), -s (-स)[a], -te (-ते) -nā (ना), -s (-स)[a], -te (-ते) -s and -te are not typically used[b][c].
trutīyā (तृतीया) Third karaṇa (करण) Instrumental case (and Ergative case) -ne (ने), -ṣī (शी) -nī (नी), -ṣī (शी) -shī is not typically used as an instrumental, and never for the ergative case.[d]
caturthī (चतुर्थी) Fourth sampradāna (संप्रदान) Dative case -lā (-ला), -s (-स)[a], -te (-ते) -nā (ना), -s (-स)[a], -te (-ते) -s and -te are not typically used[b][c].
pancamī (पञ्चमी) Fifth apādāna (अपादान) Ablative case -un (-ऊन)[e], -hun (हुन) -un (-ऊन)[e], -hun (हुन) -hun is used when the noun ends in a vowel.
shhashhthī (षष्ठी) Sixth sambandh (संबंध) Genitive case -cā (-चा), -cī (-ची), -ce (-चे) -ce (-चे), -cyā (-च्या), -cī (-ची) The specific suffix used depends on the gender of the noun.
saptamī (सप्तमी) Seventh adhikaran (अधिकरण) Locative case -t (-त)[a], -i (-इ)[e], -ā (-आ)[e] -t (-त)[a], -ī (-ई)[e], -ā (-आ)[e] The specific suffix used depends on the morphology of the noun and the connotation desired[f].
sambhodan (संबोधन) Vocative case – -no (-नो) The vocative case cannot be used in the singular
  1. ^ a b c d e f Suffixes like -स and -त are pronounced -s and -t, due to the oblique form always ending in a non-schwa vowel, resulting in a mandatory schwa deletion
  2. ^ a b -s, while more prevalent in Old Marathi, is largely restricted to the formal written register, and typically used when talking about people. [9]: 274 
  3. ^ a b -te is obsolete in Modern Marathi but can be found in old poetry.[9]: 274 
  4. ^ -ṣī is only used as an instrumental suffix in northeastern varieties of Marathi but is recognized as such by other speakers[9].: 274  Most speakers use this suffix as a variant of the adessive postposition पाशी pāṣi
  5. ^ a b c d e f Vowel suffixes like -i and -un attach the vowel directly to the ending consonant, and are applied to the unmarked (direct) singular form of the noun, as opposed to the oblique form. For example, सकाळ sakāḷ (morning) has a locative case of सकाळी sakāḷī, and घर ghar (house) has an ablative case of घरून gharun
  6. ^ The -ī suffix must be used for some feminine stems that end in a consonant (e.g. सकाळी sakāḷī), and may be used for some masculine and neuter stems that end in a consonant (e.g. हातात/हाती hātāt/hātī and घरात/घरी gharāt/gharī).[9]: 274  When ambiguous, the -t suffix has a connotation of location inside a well-defined area in space or time, whereas -ī has a connotation of location "at" a less well defined space, time, or concept. As a rough analogy, the difference between gharāt and gharī, both locative cases of ghar (house), is similar to the difference between "in (a) house" and "at (a) home".[9]: 335 
Examples

English

Case

Description

Singular

(एकवचन)

Case Ending

Used

Plural

(अनेकवचन)

Case Ending

Used

Nominative case – – विद्यार्थी अभ्यास करतात –
Accusative case घराला रंग दिला -lā (-ला) घरांना रंग दिला -nā (ना)
त्याने संस्थेस देणगी दिली -sa (-स) त्यानी संस्थेस देणगी दिली -sa (-स)
Instrumental case विद्यार्थी लेखणीने चित्र काढतो -ne (ने) विद्यार्थी लेखण्यांनी चित्र काढतात -nī (नी)
मुलगा दाराशी उभा होता -shī (शी) मुले दाराशी उभी होती shī (शी)
Dative case मी विद्यार्थ्याला ओळखतो -lā (-ला) मी विद्यार्थ्यांना ओळखतो -nā (ना)
मी मुलास ओळखतो -sa (-स) मी मुलांना ओळखतो -nā (ना)
Ablative case मुलगा घरून निघाला -un (-ऊन) मुले घरून निघाली -un (-ऊन)
मुलगा गावाहून आला -hun (हुन) मुले गावाहून आली -hun (हुन)
Genitive case घराचा दरवाजा सुंदर आहे -cā (-चा) घरांचे दरवाजे सुंदर आहेत -ce (-चे)
मुलांची तब्येत सुधारली आहे -cī (-ची) मुलांच्या तब्येती सुधारल्या आहेत -cyā (-च्या)
मुलाचे प्रगती पत्रक मिळाले -ce (-चे) मुलांची प्रगती पत्रके मिळाली -cī (-ची)
Locative case मुलगा घरात होता -ta (-त) मुले घरात होती -ta (-त)
मुलगा घरी होता -ī (-ई) मुले घरी होती -ī (-ई)
गाय घरी परतली -ī (-ई) गायी घरा परतल्या -ā (-आ)
Vocative case – – मुलांनो शांत बसा -no (-नो)
Split Ergativity

Marathi is considered a split ergative language,[7] i.e. it uses both nominative-accusative and ergative-absolutive alignment. In the latter type, the subject of a transitive verb takes ergative marking (identical to that of the instrumental case[10]) instead of having the same form as the subject of an intransitive verb. This change also results in the verb agreeing with the unmarked noun (usually the object) instead of its subject, as it would in nominative-accusative situations:[7]

मुलगा

boy.MASC.SG.NOM

mulgā

पुरी

puri.FEM.SG

purī

खातो

eat-MASC.SG.PRS

khā-to

मुलगा पुरी खातो

boy.MASC.SG.NOM puri.FEM.SG eat-MASC.SG.PRS

mulgā purī khā-to

"The boy eats puri"

मुलाने

boy.MASC.SG-ERG

mulā-ne

पुरी

puri.FEM.SG

purī

खाल्ली

eat-FEM.SG.PST

khā-llī

मुलाने पुरी खाल्ली

boy.MASC.SG-ERG puri.FEM.SG eat-FEM.SG.PST

mulā-ne purī khā-llī

"The boy ate puri"

In case there is no unmarked noun, the verb shows neutral agreement:[10]

मुलाने

boy.MASC.SG-ERG

mulā-ne

चमच्याने

spoon.MASC.SG-INST

camcyā-ne

खाल्ले

eat-NEUT.SG.PST

khā-lle

मुलाने चमच्याने खाल्ले

boy.MASC.SG-ERG spoon.MASC.SG-INST eat-NEUT.SG.PST

mulā-ne camcyā-ne khā-lle

"The boy ate with a spoon"

As in many Indo-Aryan languages, the ergative split in Marathi is primarily aspect-based, specifically triggered by the perfective for transitive verbs, as seen in the examples above.[11] Furthermore, subjects of intransitive verbs in the obligative subjunctive mood are also marked as ergative, as are third-person subjects in the optative:[9]: 44–51 


मुलाने

boy.MASC.SG-ERG

mulā-ne

पुरी

puri.FEM.SG

purī

खाल्ली

eat-FEM.SG.PFV

khā-llī

पाहिजे

should.3SG

pāhije

मुलाने पुरी खाल्ली पाहिजे

boy.MASC.SG-ERG puri.FEM.SG eat-FEM.SG.PFV should.3SG

mulā-ne purī khā-llī pāhije

"The boy must (is obliged to) eat puri"

मुलाने

boy.MASC.SG-ERG

mulā-ne

पुरी

puri.FEM.SG

purī

खावी

eat-FEM.SG.OPT

khā-vī

मुलाने पुरी खावी

boy.MASC.SG-ERG puri.FEM.SG eat-FEM.SG.OPT

mulā-ne purī khā-vī

"(I suggest that) The boy should eat puri"

Adjectives

Adjectives typically precede the noun (although in adjective phrases they can follow the noun) and are divided into declinable and indeclinable categories. Declinable adjectives end in the vowel -ā (आ) and must be declined for the gender, number and case of the nouns they qualify. Declining adjectives for case is easier compared to declining nouns, since a single ending applies to all cases; a complete table listing the different endings is given below, with the masculine nominative singular as the citation form.

Nominative All else Notes
Declinable Masculine Singular -ā (आ) -yā (या) The -yā (या) ending requires the removal of the schwa from the final consonant. In other words, the adjective is transformed to its saamaanya ruup.
Plural -e (ए)
Feminine Singular -ī (-ई)
Plural -yā (या)
Neuter Singular -e (ए)
Plural -ī (-ई)
Indeclinable –

Possessive

Possessive adjectives in Marathi are slight modifications to the personal pronouns, suffixed with the genitive/possessive case markers – चा/ची/चे (cā/cī/ce), for masculine, feminine and plural subjects respectively. However, in the first and second-person singular the case marking is different, as shown below. Possessive adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun they modify; for plural nouns, the markers change from चा/ची/चे to चे/च्या/ची (ce/cyā/cī), with a similar transformation for the first and second-person singular adjectives.

Singular Plural
Singular noun Plural noun Singular noun Plural noun
1st person

माझा

mājhā

/

/

माझी

mājhī

/

/

माझे

mājhe

माझा / माझी / माझे

mājhā / mājhī / mājhe

माझे

mājhe

/

/

माझ्या

mājhyā

/

/

माझी

mājhī

माझे / माझ्या / माझी

mājhe / mājhyā / mājhī

आमचा

āmchā

/

/

आमची

āmchī

/

/

आमचे

āmche

आमचा / आमची / आमचे

āmchā / āmchī / āmche

आमचे

āmche

/

/

आमच्या

āmchyā

/

/

आमची

āmchī

आमचे / आमच्या / आमची

āmche / āmchyā / āmchī

2nd person

तुझा

tujhā

/

/

तुझी

tujhī

/

/

तुझे

tujhe

तुझा / तुझी / तुझे

tujhā / tujhī / tujhe

तुझे

tujhe

/

/

तुझ्या

tujhyā

/

/

तुझी

tujhī

तुझे / तुझ्या / तुझी

tujhe / tujhyā / tujhī

तुमचा

tumchā

/

/

तुमची

tumchī

/

/

तुमचे

tumche

तुमचा / तुमची / तुमचे

tumchā / tumchī / tumche

तुमचे

tumche

/

/

तुमच्या

tumchyā

/

/

तुमची

tumchī

तुमचे / तुमच्या / तुमची

tumche / tumchyā / tumchī

3rd person M

त्याचा

tyāchā

/

/

त्याची

tyāchī

/

/

त्याचे

tyāche

त्याचा / त्याची / त्याचे

tyāchā / tyāchī / tyāche

त्याचे

tyāche

/

/

त्याच्या

tyāchyā

/

/

त्याची

tyāchī

त्याचे / त्याच्या / त्याची

tyāche / tyāchyā / tyāchī

त्यांचा

tyānchā

/

/

त्यांची

tyānchī

/

/

त्यांचे

tyānche

त्यांचा / त्यांची / त्यांचे

tyānchā / tyānchī / tyānche

त्यांचे

tyānche

/

/

त्यांच्या

tyānchyā

/

/

त्यांची

tyānchī

त्यांचे / त्यांच्या / त्यांची

tyānche / tyānchyā / tyānchī

F

तिचा

tichā

/

/

तिची

tichī

/

/

तिचे

tiche

तिचा / तिची / तिचे

tichā / tichī / tiche

तिचे

tiche

/

/

तिच्या

tichyā

/

/

तिची

tichī

तिचे / तिच्या / तिची

tiche / tichyā / tichī

N

त्याचा

tyāchā

/

/

त्याची

tyāchī

/

/

त्याचे

tyāche

त्याचा / त्याची / त्याचे

tyāchā / tyāchī / tyāche

त्याचे

tyāche

/

/

त्याच्या

tyāchyā

/

/

त्याची

tyāchī

त्याचे / त्याच्या / त्याची

tyāche / tyāchyā / tyāchī

Demonstrative

The adjectives हा (hā, this) and तो (to, that) serve as demonstrative adjectives and are always declined for the gender and number of the noun(s) that follows them.

Adjective Singular (M/F/N) Plural (M/F/N)
this/these

हा

hā

/

/

ही

hī

/

/

हे

he

हा / ही / हे

hā / hī / he

हे

he

/

/

ह्या

hyā

/

/

ही

hī

हे / ह्या / ही

he / hyā / hī

that/those

तो

to

/

/

ती

tī

/

/

ते

te

तो / ती / ते

to / tī / te

ते

te

/

/

त्या

tyā

/

/

ती

tī

ते / त्या / ती

te / tyā / tī

Pronouns

There are three grammatical persons (पुरुष purushh) in Marathi. There is gender distinction in the first- and second-persons when the pronouns act as agreement markers on verbs; as independent pronouns this distinction in lost.[12]

English Sanskrit Singular Plural
First Person प्रथम पुरुष (mī) मी “I” (āmhī) आम्ही “we” (exclusive)

(āpaṇ) आपण “we” (inclusive)

Second Person द्वितीय पुरुष (tū) तू “you” (tumhī) तुम्ही “you” (formal)

(āpaṇ) आपण “you” (extremely formal)

Third Person तृतीय पुरुष (to) तो “he”

(tī) ती “she”

(te) ते “it”

(te) ते “they” (masculine) or (“he”) हे (formal)

(tyā) त्या “they” (feminine)

(tī) ती “they” (neuter)

Verbs

Verb stems can end in a vowel (ākārānt, īkārānt, or ekārānt) or a consonant (akārānt) and are declined for person, gender and number. They are usually listed in dictionaries in their infinitive forms, which consist of the verb stem with the suffix – ṇe (णे); for example खाणे (khāṇē, to eat), बोलणे (bolaṇē, to speak), चालणे (cālaṇē, to walk). Verbs are fairly regular, although the copula and other auxiliaries are notable exceptions.

The verbal system, much like in other Indo-Aryan languages, revolves around a combination of aspect and tense – there are 3 main aspects (perfect, imperfect, and habitual) and 3 main tenses (present, past, and future). Tenses are marked using conjugations, while aspects are marked using suffixes and by adding conjugations of a copula/auxiliary verb.

Copula

The verb असणे (asṇē, to be) is an irregular verb that acts as the copula / auxiliary for all tenses and for the perfect and imperfect aspects; its conjugations are shown below.

असणे (asṇē, to be)
Present tense Past tense Future tense
Singular Plural Singular Plural Singular Plural
1st person

आहे

āhe

आहे

āhe

आहोत

āhot

आहोत

āhot

होतो

hoto

/

/

होती

hotī

होतो / होती

hoto / hotī

होतो

hoto

होतो

hoto

असेल

asen

असेल

asen

असो

asū

असो

asū

2nd person

आहेस

āhes

आहेस

āhes

आहात

āhāt

आहात

āhāt

होतास

hotās

/

/

होतीस

hotīs

होतास / होतीस

hotās / hotīs

होता(त)

hotā(t)

होता(त)

hotā(t)

असशील

asshīl

असशील

asshīl

असाल

asāl

असाल

asāl

3rd person

आहे

āhe

आहे

āhe

आहेत

āhet

आहेत

āhet

होता

hotā

/

/

होती

hotī

/

/

होते

hote

होता / होती / होते

hotā / hotī / hote

होते

hote

होते

hote

असेल

asel

असेल

asel

असतील

astīl

असतील

astīl

The habitual aspect uses a different set of conjugations of the same auxiliary verb (असणे); for present-tense and past-tense these conjugations are shown below. In future tense a different auxiliary verb, जाणे (jāṇē, to go), is typically used.

असणे (asṇē, to be, habitual aspect)
Present tense Past tense
Singular Plural Singular Plural
1st person

असतो

asto

/

/

असते

aste

असतो / असते

asto / aste

असतो

asto

असतो

asto

असायचो

asāyco

/

/

असायचे

asāyce

असायचो / असायचे

asāyco / asāyce

असायचो

asāyco

असायचो

asāyco

2nd person

असतोस

astos

/

/

असतेस

astes

असतोस / असतेस

astos / astes

असता

astā

असता

astā

असायचास

asāycās

/

/

असायचीस

asāycis

असायचास / असायचीस

asāycās / asāycis

असायचात

asāycā(t)

असायचात

asāycā(t)

3rd person

असतो

asto

/

/

असते

aste

/

/

असतं

asta

असतो / असते / असतं

asto / aste / asta

असतात

astāt

असतात

astāt

असायचा

asāycā

/

/

असायची

asāyci

/

/

असायचं

asāyca

असायचा / असायची / असायचं

asāycā / asāyci / asāyca

असायचे

asāyce

/

/

असायच्या

asāycyā

/

/

असायची

asāyci

असायचे / असायच्या / असायची

asāyce / asāycyā / asāyci

Causatives

Causatives are created from existing verb stems and typically follow the set of patterns listed below.

  • Attaching 'व' (v) to the stem of the verb; in modern literature 'व' is often replaced by 'वि' (vi). So हसणे (hasaṇē, to laugh) → हसवणे/हसविणे (hasavṇē/hasviṇē, to cause to laugh); चालणे (cālaṇē, to walk) → चालवणे/चालविणे (cālavṇē/cālviṇē, to cause to walk).
    • For verbs with stems that have single syllables (खा, घे, दे; khā, ghē, dē), attach 'ववि' (vavi) instead of 'व'. Thus, खाणे (khāṇē, to eat) → खावविणे (khāvaviṇē, to cause to eat); देणे (dēṇē, to give) → देवविणे (dēvaviṇē, to cause to give).
  • Root vowel change: a → ā (अ → आ), u/ū → o (उ/ऊ → ओ), i/ī → e (इ/ई → ए); sometimes also accompanied by the root final consonant change 'ṭ' → 'ṛ' (ट → ड). So तुटणे (tuṭaṇē, to be broken) → तोडणे (toṛaṇē, to cause to broken/to break); गळणे (gaḷaṇē, to be buried) → गाळणे (gāḷaṇē, to cause to be buried/to bury).

Imperatives

The imperative form of a verb (called आज्ञार्थ, ādñārtha) is formed by applying a simple set of rules to the stem of the verb, and has second-person singular (where there is a distinction between formal and informal) and second-person plural forms (which are the same as the second-person singular formal).

  • For akārānt verbs, the informal imperative form is the verb stem itself. The formal imperative is formed by utilizing the transformation a → ā (अ → आ) to the stem vowel.
  • For ākārānt verbs, the imperative form (formal and informal) is the verb stem itself.
  • For īkārānt and ekārānt verbs, the informal imperative is the verb stem itself. The formal imperative is formed by transforming the final vowel to the semi-vowel या (yā).
  • Negative imperative forms are constructed by adding the suffix -ऊ (ū) to the verb stem, and then by adding a separate negative particle नकोस/नको (nakosa/nako, for informal imperative) or नका (nakā, for formal imperative).
Imperative forms
Verb (infinitive) Second-person singular (informal) Second-person singular (formal) /
Second-person plural

बोलणे

bolaṇē

बोलणे

bolaṇē

to speak

 –

तू

tū

बोल

bola

तू बोल

tū bola

तुम्ही

tumhī

बोला

bolā

तुम्ही बोला

tumhī bolā

Negative

तू

tu

बोलू

bolū

नकोस

nakosa

/

/

नको

nako

तू बोलू नकोस / नको

tu bolū nakosa / nako

तुम्ही

tumhī

बोलू

bolū

नका

nakā

तुम्ही बोलू नका

tumhī bolū nakā

खाणे

khāṇē

खाणे

khāṇē

to eat

 –

तू

tū

खा

khā

तू खा

tū khā

तुम्ही

tumhī

खा

khā

तुम्ही खा

tumhī khā

Negative

तू

tū

खाऊ

khāū

नकोस

nakosa

/

/

नको

nako

तू खाऊ नकोस / नको

tū khāū nakosa / nako

तुम्ही

tumhī

खाऊ

khaū

नका

nakā

तुम्ही खाऊ नका

tumhī khaū nakā

देणे

dēṇē

देणे

dēṇē

to give

तू

tū

दे

de

तू दे

tū de

तुम्ही

tumhī

द्या

dəyā

तुम्ही द्या

tumhī dəyā

Negative

तू

tū

देऊ

deū

नकोस

nakosa

/

/

नको

nako

तू देऊ नकोस / नको

tū deū nakosa / nako

तुम्ही

tumhī

देऊ

deū

नका

nakā

तुम्ही देऊ नका

tumhī deū nakā

Voice

Traditional grammar distinguishes three grammatical voices (प्रयोग, prayog) in Marathi.

  • Active voice (कर्तरी प्रयोग kartrī prayog) refers to a sentence construction in which the verb changes according to the subject

राम

Rām

म्हणतो

mhanto

राम म्हणतो

Rām mhanto

“Rām says”

राम

Rām

आंबा

āmbā

खातो

khāto

राम आंबा खातो

Rām āmbā khāto

“Rām eats a mango”

  • Passive voice (कर्मणी प्रयोग karmanī prayog) refers to a sentence construction in which the verb changes according to the object

रामाने

Rāmāne

आंबा

āmbā

खाल्ला

khāllā

रामाने आंबा खाल्ला

Rāmāne āmbā khāllā

“The mango was eaten by Raam”

रामाने

Rāmāne

सांगितले

sāngitle

रामाने सांगितले

Rāmāne sāngitle

“It was told by Rām”

  • Bhāve prayog (भावे प्रयोग) refers to a sentence construction in which the verb does not change according to either the subject or the object. This is used for imperatives.

माझा

Mājha

निरोप

nirop

त्याला

tyālā

जाऊन

jāūn

सांग

sāng

माझा निरोप त्याला जाऊन सांग

Mājha nirop tyālā jāūn sāng

“Go tell him my message”

Sentence structure

A Marathi sentence generally has three parts: subject (कर्ता kartā), object (कर्म karma), and verb (क्रियापद kriyāpad). In a Marathi sentence, the subject comes first, then the object, and finally the verb. However, in some sentences there is no object.

See also:

References

  1. ^ Rao, Goparaju Sambasiva (1994). Language Change: Lexical Diffusion and Literacy. Academic Foundation. pp. 48 and 49. ISBN 9788171880577. Archived from the original on 7 December 2014.
  2. ^ Carey, William (1805). A Grammar of the Marathi Language. Serampur [sic]: Serampore Mission Press. ISBN 9781108056311.
  3. ^ Dryer, Matthew S. (21 April 2008). "Datapoint Marathi / Order of Subject, Object and Verb". WALS Online. Archived from the original on 7 December 2014.
  4. ^ "UCLA Language Materials Project- Marathi". UCLA Language Materials Project. Archived from the original on 2011-06-05.
  5. ^ Dhongde & Wali 2009, p. 43–44.
  6. ^ Dhongde & Wali 2009, p. 45.
  7. ^ a b c Dhongde & Wali 2009, p. [page needed].
  8. ^ Dhongde & Wali 2009, pp. 44, 109–19.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Pandharipande, Rajeshwari (1997). Marathi. London. ISBN 978-0-203-16854-7. OCLC 1268273538.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  10. ^ a b Wali, Kashi (2005). Marathi. Lincom Europa.
  11. ^ Legate, Julie Anne (2014). "Split ergativity based on nominal type" (PDF). Lingua. 148: 183–212. doi:10.1016/j.lingua.2014.06.002 – via Elsevier Science Direct.
  12. ^ Bhat, D.N.S. 2004. Pronouns. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 18–19

Bibliography

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