मराठी बोलींचे सर्वेक्षण

Survey of Dialects of the Marathi Language

  English | मराठी

Verbal agreement in the transitive perfective clause

Download Verbal agreement in the transitive perfective clause
Verbal agreement in the transitive perfective clause
The varients presented in the note below are arranged according to their frequency of occurrence in the survey data-from most frequent to least frequent.

Like Hindi, Punjabi, Gujarati, Konkani and some other New Indo-Aryan languages, standard Marathi is a split ergative language (split for person and aspect). Only the third person agent (both singular and plural) in the transitive perfective clause is overtly marked with the ergative case [-ne] and the verb in such clauses agrees with the highest argument in the nominative case. In the standard Marathi sentence səšane ɡəwət khalle (rabbit-agent grass eat.PFV.3SGN; The rabbit ate the grass.) the verb ‘eat’ agrees with the number and gender of the non-case marked noun, ɡəwət. Similarly, in the sentence kaswane šəryət jiṅkli (tortoise-agent race win.PFV.3SGF; The tortoise won the race.) the verb ‘win’ agrees with the number and gender of the non-case marked object, ‘race’. Overt ergative marking is absent in standard Marathi in the first and second persons though the rule for agreement remains the same. The verb shows default neuter singular agreement when the object is case-marked. E.g. kaswane səšala hərəwle (tortoise-agent rabbit-to defeated; The tortoise defeated the rabbit.)


1.0 Grammatical variation in agreement of the verb in the transitive clause

In several regional and social varieties of Marathi, however, the verb of the transitive-perfective clause optionally agrees with the subject of the clause. Thus, two values of this grammatical feature were attested across dialects of Marathi: (1) The verb in the transitive perfective clause agrees only with the non-case marked object; (2) The verb in the transitive perfective sentence largely agrees with the non-case marked object of the clause and variably with the subject of the clause. The geographical distribution and examples of the variant constructions are given below. 1.1 Variant 1: The verb in the transitive perfective clause agrees only with the non-case marked object

This variant construction was recorded in all the sampled districts in the state of Maharashtra.


1.1.1 Example (District Jalna, taluka Mantha, village Uswad, M45, Maratha, 6th)
ह्या मुलीनं त्या मुलाच्या तोंडात घास घातला
hya mulinə tya mulača toṇḍat ɡʰas ɡʰatla
hya muli-nə tya mula-č-a toṇḍ-a-t ɡʰas ɡʰat-l-a
DEM.PROX.OBL girl.OBL-ERG DEM.DIST.OBL boy.OBL-GEN-OBL mouth-OBL-LOC morsel.3SGM put-PFV-3SGM
This girl put a morsel of food in that boy’s mouth.
1.1.2 Example (District Hingoli, taluka Kalamnuri, village Morwad, F21, Andh (ST), 12th)
त्या मानसाला पानी दिलं तिनं
tya mansala pani dilə tinə
tya mansa-la pani di-l-ə ti-nə
DEM.DIST.OBL man.OBL-DAT water.3SGN give-PFV-3SGN she-ERG
She gave water to that man.
1.1.3 Example (District Parbhani, taluka Palam, village Banvas, M42, Hatkar-Dhangar, 9th)
मंग तेनं आमाला तारीक दिली
məṅɡ tenə amala tarik dili
məṅɡ te-nə ama-la tarik di-l-i
then he.OBL-ERG we.EXCL-DAT date.3SGF give-PFV-3SGF
Then he gave us a date.
1.2 Variant 2: The verb in the transitive perfective sentence largely agrees with the non-case marked object of the clause and variably with the subject of the clause

This variant was recorded in fifteen of the sampled 34 districts in the state of Maharashtra. The geographical spread of this variant and examples are given below:

District Taluka and Village
Chandrapur Rajura - Koshtala, Brahmapuri - Torgaon (Budruk) and Panchgaon
Gadchiroli Gadchiroli - Khursa and Shioni, Korchi - Bori and Mohagon
Gondia Gondia - Temni and Tedhwa, Sadak-Arjuni - Chikhali
Bhandara Bhandara - Dhargaon and Mujbi, Tumsar - Lobhi and Bori
Nagpur Ramtek - Bhojapur
Nanded Mukhed - Halni
Latur Latur - Pakharsangvi, Nilanga - Dadgi, Udgir - Shirol Janapur
Beed Ambejogai - Daradwadi
Osmanabad Omerga - Kasgi
Solapur Akkalkot - Chikkehalli
Sangli Miraj - Mhaisal
Kolhapur Karvir - Gadmudshingi, Chandgad - Chandgad and Tudiye
Sindhudurg Vaibhavwadi - Nadavde, Sawantwadi - Kolgaon and Satarde
Ratnagiri Ratnagiri - Zadgaon, Khed- Savnas and Bahiravli
Raigad Roha - Nagothane


1.2.1 Example (District Gadchiroli, taluka Gadchiroli, village Khursa, M35, OBC, 12th)
येक मानुस आता थोडुसा पानी असलेली बाटल टेबलावर ठेवला
yek manus ata tʰoḍusa pani əsleli baṭəl ṭeblawər ṭʰewla
yek manus ata tʰoḍusa pani əs-lel-i baṭəl ṭebla-wər ṭʰew-l-a
one man.3SGM now little water.3SGN be-PTPL-3SGF bottle.3SGF table.OBL-PP.LOC keep-PFV-3SGM
A man kept a bottle containing a little water on the table.
1.2.2 Example (District Gadchiroli, taluka Korchi, village Bori, F19, Gond, FYBA)
ती मुलगी आपल्या नवर्‍याला पानी दिली
ti mulɡi aplya nəwryala pani dili
ti mulɡi aplya nəwrya-la pani di-l-i
DEM.DIST.3SGF girl.3SGF we.SELF.OBL husband.OBL-DAT water.3SGN give-PFV-3SGF
That girl gave water to her husband.
1.2.3 Example (District Chandrapur, taluka Brahmapuri, village Pachgaon, F51, Dhivar, Illiterate)
आमच्या बाबानं नाय का निस्त्या रोज़गारावरं साडेतीन एकड ज़मीन घेतला
amča babanə nay ka nistya rojɡarawərə saḍetin ekəḍ jəmin ɡʰetla
am-č-a baba-nə nay ka nistya rojɡar-a-wərə saḍetin ekəḍ jəmin ɡʰet-l-a
we.EXCL-GEN-OBL father-ERG NEG DM only wages-OBL-PP.LOC three and half acre land.3SGF take-PFV-3SGM
Our father worked on daily wages and yet was able to buy three and half acres of land.
1.2.4 Example (District Bhandara, taluka Tumsar, village Bori, F25, Phulmali, BSC)
त्यानं टोपी काडली
tyanə ṭopi kaḍli
tya-nə ṭopi kaḍ-l-i
he.OBL-ERG hat.3SGF remove-PFV-3SGF
He removed the hat (from his head).
1.2.5 Example (District Kolhapur, taluka Chandgad, village Chandgad, M19, Maratha, 10th)
त्या पोरगीनं ग्लासातून पानी पिलीन
tya porɡinə ɡlasatun pani pilin
tya porɡi-nə ɡlas-a-t-un pani pi-l-in
DEM.DIST.OBL girl-ERG glass-OBL-LOC-ABL water.3SGN drink-PFV-3SGF
That girl drank water from the glass.
1.2.6 Example (District Kolhapur, taluka Chandgad, village Chandgad, M50, Mahar, 4th)
त्यानं खाली टाकला एक बाटली दुसरी पाडली परत उचलून वर ठेवली
tyanə kʰali ṭakla ek baṭli dusri paḍli pərət ucəlun wər ṭʰewli
tya-nə kʰali ṭak-l-a ek baṭli dusri paḍ-l-i pərət ucəl-un wər ṭʰew-l-i
he.OBL-ERG down throw-PFV-3SGM one bottle.3SGF other fall.CAUS-PFV-3SGF again pick up-CP up keep-PFV-3SGF
He threw down the bottle; he dropped a second bottle, picked it up again and kept it.
1.2.7 Example (District Ratnagiri, taluka Ratnagiri, village Zadgaon, F55, Muslim, 5th)
एक बाटली आनून ठेवलान हेनी
ek baṭli anun ṭʰewlan heni
ek baṭli an-un ṭʰew-l-an he-ni
one bottle.3SGF bring-CP keep-PFV-3SGM he.PROX.OBL-ERG
He brought the bottle and kept it.
1.2.8 Example (District Solapur, taluka Akkalkot, village Chikkehali, F29, Mahar, Illiterate)
पानीतिनं आनून दिली ते पेलं
pani tinə anun dili te pelə
pani ti-nə an-un di-l-i te pe-l-ə
water.3SGN she-ERG bring-CP give-PFV-3SGF DEM.DIST.3SGN drink-PFV-3SGN
She brought water and (he) drank it.