Page:A Grammar of the Urdū Or Hindūstānī Language in Its Romanized Character.djvu/30



13. Though the Urdū language is mainly founded on the Hindi, which, as well as Persian, belongs to the Aryan family, yet both these languages are closely related to the Semitic family in their grammar and in their vocabularies. The Arabic element which pervaded the Persian passed thereby into the Urdū. Indian grammarians have consequently preferred to adopt the Arabic rather than the Sanskrit terminology and divisions in their works. Thus they acknowledge only three grammatical ' Parts of Speech' —at least all others are considered as included under them. These are—(1) the Verb (fll ); (2) the Noun (ism ); and (3) the Particle (harf'' ). Tinder the first are included Conjugational Verbs, Participles, and Verbal Nouns; under the second, Substantives, Adjectives, and Pronouns ; and under the last, Adverbs, Prepositions, and Conjunctions. In Arabic the Article ''(al ) is also included in the second class; but in Urdū there is properly none, though some words are made partially to supply their place. Other sub-divisions we shall consider under the respective general heads; but adopting the natural and most rational order of Western Grammars, we proceed first of all to treat of the Noun.

14. This, whether Substantive or Adjective, may be divided into three Classes or Declensions, viz. (1) Masculine Nouns, whose final letter is unchangeable ; (2) Those which are subject to inflectional changes; and (3) All Feminine Nouns ending either in Consonants or in Vowels.