Page:A Grammar of the Urdū Or Hindūstānī Language in Its Romanized Character.djvu/31

 15. As to : Nouns may also be divided into three classes, viz. Masculine, Feminine, and of Common or Optional Gender.

The Semitic Grammarians acknowledge no 'Neuter'( i.e. 'neither') Gender, but there are many Urdū Nouns belonging to the third class, namely, 'either.'

16. Then as to : though the Dual is recognised and provided for both in Arabic and Persian, and also in Sanskṛit (the Mother of Hindī), and though many of such Dual forms are in constant use in Urdu literature and parlance, we must admit that the Urdū Grammar acknowledges, or at least makes provision for, as indigenous, but two Numbers—the Singular and the Plural.

17. And lastly, as to : there are, properly speaking (in our opinion), but three original Cases in Urdū, as in the Arabic and Persian Grammars, and also in our own language, viz. (1) the Subjective, (2) the Genitive, and (3) the Objective; as illustrated in the English Pronouns, 'He,' 'his,' 'him,' 'Who,' 'whose,' 'whom,' etc.

18. In Urdū, however, the is expressed by two different forms, viz. (a) the Nominative (corresponding to ours), the primary uninflected form of the word; and (b) the Agent, which is marked by the addition of the <!-- syllable ne to the word, either in its primary or its inflected form. Its use, in connection with certain Verbs and Tenses, will be explained when we come to treat of Verbs.

19. (2) The Genitive, or Possessive Case, is distinguished by the addition of the syllable ka, changeable to ke or Jn, to agree with the governing or qualified Noun. Eor this Case was originally (and still resembles) an Adjective like our own old Possessive ' his' contracted into '«, or the Latin Domini and Dominicus, both meaning ' of a lord.'

20. (3) The Objective Case, which in Urdu may correspond either to the Latin Dative or its Accusative. In the former case it is marked by the affix ko (or optionally, in certain Pronouns, e or en); in the latter either in this way or else by the same form as the Nominative.

21. Thus there are but three original or indigenous Cases with inflectional endings, the so-called Locative, Vocative, und Ablative Cases of Anglo-Urdu Grammars being merely classical imitations (as in English) by prefixing or adding certain words.

22. We append paradigms of the three Declensions.

First Declension.

Including Masculine Nouns and Adjectives ending with an unchangeable letter.

Mard 'a man.'

Singular. Plural.

Nom. Mard, a man. Mard, men.

Agent ''Mard-ne. Mardon-ne.

(''

Genitive Mard-ka, -ke, -kl, Mardon-ka, -ke, -kl, of men. of a man. ^ fAccus. Mard-ko, a man. Mardon-ko, men. ^ I Dat. JfJ Abl.& 1 Mard-se or -m«», Mardoh-se or -m«n, from or in ° [ Loc. ) from or in a man. men.

Voc. (At) Hard, (0)

man ! (-^*) llfardo, (0) men !

If the Noun denotes an inanimate object, or even, sometimes, a mere animal, the Accusative may optionally be the same as the Nominative both in the Singular and the Plural; but if, as above, it means a rational being, the form^jnged must jilwaya he..-like. the. Dative The Vocative is almost always preceded by some Interjection, as ''ai! he! ohe! ''at least in the Singular. In the Plural the terminal o marks the case sufficiently without anything else.

23. If the Masculine word (Noun or Adjective) end in an unchangeable vowel (a, I, or u), it is declined in the same way. But Adjectives, if they precede the Noun qualified, as they generally do, drop the Case-endings; otherwise they may retain them. Accordingly, dana ' a sage ' or ' wise,' is declined thus :

Sing. Nom. Dana, Agent ''dana-ne. ''Dat. ddnd-ko.

Plur. Nom. Dand, Agent ''danaon-ne. ''Dat. danaoh-ko.1

There are a few other Masculine Nouns ending in long vowels belonging to this Declension, such as chacha ' an uncle' (paternal), lald a teacher,' rdja a king,' sahra a desert,' daryd a river,' motl 'a pearl,' bichchhu ' a scorpion,' dfiobi ' a washerman,' pdrii ' water,' jl ' life,' dahl ' curdled milk,' ghl ' clarified butter,' ''hat fa. ' an elephant,' khazanchl ' ''a treasurer.'

1 The student will remember the proper pronunciation of the nasal ri, as given in Chap. I. Second Declension.

24. This consists of all Masculine Nouns (Substantive or Adjective) that end in a changeable final letter. This includes a large number ending in long a, some in short a, and a few in an; as ghora a horse,' beta a son,' larkd a boy,' kutta a dog,' achchha good,' bara great,' cnhota little,' zarra or zarra a little,' ruplya a rupee,' paya ' a foot' or ' leg' (of a thing), parda ' a curtain,' kiruya rent,' baniyan 'a merchant,' rofl.ii ' hair.'

These are thus inflected: Kutta 'a dog.'

Singular. Plural.

Nom. ''Kutta. Kutte.''

Agent. ''Kutte-ne. Kuttonne.''

Gen. ''Kutte-ka (-ke, -ki). Kutton-ka (-k«, -ki).''

Aec. ''Kutta, kutte-ko. Kutte, kutton-ko.''

Dat. ''Kutte-ko. Kutton-ko.''

Abl. ''Kutte-se. Kutton-se.''

Loc. Kutte-men, etc. Kutton-par.

Voc. ''(Ai)Kutte. (At) Kutto.''

Third Decleksion.

25. In this Declension are included all Feminine Xouns and Adjectives, whether ending in a consonant or a long vowel. These retain the final letter unchanged throughout, only adding the Case terminations. Words ending in consonants form the Nominative Plural by adding ''en. A few words ending in long a and o do so also; but all ending in long z (a numerous class) add an or change I into iyan to form the Nominative Plural ; and in all Nouns on ''is inserted before the Case-affixes in the Plural. Aurat a woman.'

Singular. Plural.

Nom. ''-'Aurat. 'Aurateii.''

Agent. '''Aurat-ne. ' Auraton-ne.''

Gen. Aurat-ku, etc. Auraton-ka, etc.

Ace.

, '''Aurat-ko. 'Auraton-ko.''

Dat. )

Voc. '''Aurat. 'Aurato.''

N.B.—This word begins with the guttural letter 'ain (j), represented by the apostrophe ('), and should be pronounced accordingly.

Larkl ' a girl.'

Singular. Plural.

Nom. ''Larkl. Larkiyun.''

Agent. ''Larki-na. Larkiyon-ne.''

Gen. Larki-kd, etc. Larkiyon-kd.

Ace. ''Larkl-ko. Larkiyon-ko.''

Voc. ''Larkl. Larkiyo.

Ni"iw or Nao ' ''a boat.'

Singular. Plural.

K"om. Ndo or Ndw. Nawen.

Agent. ''Nao-ne. Nuwoii (or Naon)-ne.''

Gen. Nao-ka, etc. Nawoii (or Nuon)-ka, etc.

Ace. JVao or ''Nao-ko. Ndwen (or Naori)-ko.

Joru ' ''a wife,' has in the Plural—

Nom. Joruffi or Joruwen, Jbrufin or ''Joruwan.  Gen. Joruon-ka {-ke, -kl) or Joruwoh-ka, ''etc.

The alternative spellings in the Plurals of words ending in z and M represent one and the same spellings in the -->