Marathi grammar
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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.
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.[citation needed]
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
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 |
माझे mājhe / / माझ्या mājhyā / / माझी mājhī |
आमचा āmachā / / आमची āmachī / / आमचे āmache |
आमचे āmache / / आमच्या āmachyā / / आमची āmachī | |
| 2nd person | तुझा tujhā / / तुझी tujhī / / तुझे tujhe |
तुझे tujhe / / तुझ्या tujhyā / / तुझी tujhī |
तुमचा tumachā / / तुमची tumachī / / तुमचे tumache |
तुमचे tumache / / तुमच्या tumachyā / / तुमची tumachī | |
| 3rd person | M | त्याचा tyāchā / / त्याची tyāchī / / त्याचे tyāche |
त्याचे tyāche / / त्याच्या tyāchyā / / त्याची tyāchī |
त्यांचा tyānchā / / त्यांची tyānchī / / त्यांचे tyānche |
त्यांचे tyānche / / त्यांच्या tyānchyā / / त्यांची tyānchī |
| F | तिचा tichā / / तिची tichī / / तिचे tiche |
तिचे tiche / / तिच्या tichyā / / तिची tichī | |||
| N | त्याचा tyāchā / / त्याची tyāchī / / त्याचे tyāche |
त्याचे tyāche / / त्याच्या tyāchyā / / त्याची 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 |
हे he / / ह्या hyā / / ही hī |
| that/those | तो to / / ती tī / / ते te |
ते te / / त्या tyā / / ती tī |
Pronouns
There are three grammatical persons (पुरुष purusha) 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.[14]
| English | Sanskrit | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Person | प्रथम पुरुष | (mi) मी “I” | (āmhī) आम्ही “we” (exclusive)
(āpaṇa) आपण “we” (inclusive) |
| Second Person | द्वितीय पुरुष | (tū) तू “you” | (tumhī) तुम्ही “you” (formal)
(āpaṇa) 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 (asaṇē, 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.
| Present tense | Past tense | Future tense | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| 1st person | आहे āhe |
आहोत āhota |
होतो/होते hoto/hote |
होतो hoto |
असेन asena |
असू asū |
| 2nd person | आहेसि āhesi |
आहात āhāta |
होतासि hotāsi/hotīsi /
होतीसि
Mismatch in the number of words between lines: 3 word(s) in line 1, 1 word(s) in line 2 (help); |
होता(त) hotā(ta) |
असशील asshīla |
असाल asāla |
| 3rd person | आहे āhe |
आहेत āheta |
होता hotā / / होती hotī / / होते hote |
होते hote |
असेल asela |
असतील astīla |
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.
| Present tense | Past tense | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| 1st person | असतो asato / / असते asate |
असतो asato |
असायचो asāyaco / / असायचे asāyace |
असायचो asāyaco |
| 2nd person | असतोस astosa / / असतेस astesa |
असता asatā |
असायचास asāycāsa / / असायचीस asāycisa |
असायचात asāycā(ta) |
| 3rd person | असतो asato / / असते asate / / असतं asata |
असतात asatāta |
असायचा asāyacā / / असायची asāyaci / / असायचं asāyaca |
असायचे asāyace / / असायच्या asāyacyā / / असायची asāyaci |
Causatives
Causatives are created from existing verb stems and typically follow the set of patterns listed below.
- Attaching 'व' (va) to the stem of the verb; in modern literature 'व' is often replaced by 'वि' (vi). So हसणे (hasaṇē, to laugh) → हसवणे/हसविणे (hasavaṇē/hasaviṇē, to cause to laugh); चालणे (cālaṇē, to walk) → चालवणे/चालविणे (cālavaṇē/cālaviṇē, 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 akārānta 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).
| Verb (infinitive) | Second-person singular (informal) | Second-person singular (formal) / Second-person plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
बोलणे bolaṇē to speak |
– | तू tū बोल bola |
तुम्ही tumhī बोला bolā |
| Negative | तू tu बोलू bolū नकोस nakosa / / नको nako |
तुम्ही tumhī बोलू bolū नका nakā | |
खाणे khāṇē to eat |
– | तू tū खा khā |
तुम्ही tumhī खा khā |
| Negative | तू tū खाऊ khāū नकोस nakosa / / नको nako |
तुम्ही tumhī खाऊ khaū नका nakā | |
देणे dēṇē to give |
तू tū दे de |
तुम्ही tumhī द्या dyā | |
| Negative | तू tū देऊ deū नकोस nakosa / / नको nako |
तुम्ही tumhī देऊ deū नका nakā |
Voice
Traditional grammar distinguishes three grammatical voices (प्रयोग, prayoga) in Marathi.
- Active voice (कर्तरी प्रयोग kartarī prayoga) refers to a sentence construction in which the verb changes according to the subject
राम
Rāma
म्हणतोय
mhaṇtoya
“Rām says”
राम
Rāma
आंबा
āmbā
खातोय
khātoya
“Rām eats a mango”
- Passive voice (कर्मणी प्रयोग karmanī prayoga) refers to a sentence construction in which the verb changes according to the object
रामाने
Rāmānē
आंबा
āmbā
खाल्ला
khāllā
“The mango was eaten by Raam”
रामाने
Rāmānē
सांगितले
sāngitale
“It was told by Rām”
- Bhāve prayoga (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
jāun
सांग
sāng
“Go tell him my message”
Sentence structure
A Marathi sentence generally has three parts: subject (कर्ता kartā), object (कर्म karma), and verb (क्रियापद kriyāpada). While there is no real restriction on word order, SOV is most commonly used. Poetry like Powada often play with the word order for emphasis or to fit the meter or rhyme.
See also: