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Case syncretism refers to the correspondence between a single inflected form and two or more case functions. Case functions have been identified here based on the criterion of form: a distinct morphosyntactic case is recognised for a language if it is ever correlated with a formal inflectional distinction (Comrie 1991: 44-47).
Syncretism observed in the regional varieties of Marathi predominantly involves the non-core cases (Blake 2001: 119-144). Further, such syncretism was mainly observed in the speech varieties in the Konkan region.
Accusative-dative syncretism is observed throughout the Marathi-speaking region. For example, in the sentences, tyane radhala pahile ‘He saw Radha’ and aine priyala pustǝk dile ‘Mother gave a book to Priya’ the single suffix [-la] marks both the percept (Radha) and the recipient (Priya) respectively. Further, syncretism of the instrumental case and the ergative case (both marked by suffix [-ne] which is noted in the standard variety of Marathi was, however, not observed in all speech varieties of Marathi. For example, in the sentence penakəḍə čitrə kaḍtoy ‘He is drawing a picture with a pen’ recorded in Hateri taluka in Palghar district, [-kəḍə] is used as the instrumental marker while [-ne] is used as the ergative marker.
Case syncretism observed in western Maharashtra in the Konkan belt is described below.
1.0 Dialectal variation in case syncretism patternsThe case suffix [-ši] marks the sociative case in all varieties of Marathi. It additionally marks other cases in particular varieties of Marathi: (1) Ablative and Sociative, (2) Instrumental and Sociative (3) Ablative, Sociative and Instrumental, (4) Ablative, Sociative and Locative and (5) Ablative, Sociative, Locative and Instrumental. Such case syncretism was observed exclusively in the speech of different castes/tribes in the Konkan region. The geographical and social spread of this feature and its examples is given below.
1.1 Ablative and Sociative Case Syncretism The use of [-ši] to indicate two case functions, namely ablative and sociative was observed in Raigad, Thane and Palghar districts in north Konkan. The geographical and social spread of this variant and examples are given below:| District | Taluka and Village |
|---|---|
| Raigad | Alibag - Bodni (Koli community) and Baple (Agri community), Roha - Nagothane (Sonkoli community),Shriwardhan - Bagmandla (Mahadev Koli community), Mahad - Narwan (Muslim community), Murud - Ekdara (Mahadev Koli community) |
| Thane | Murbad - Patgaon (Agri community),Ambernath - Usatane (Katkari community) |
| Palghar | Mokhada - Dandwal (M Thakur community) |
[-ši] is used to indicate two case functions, namely instrumental and sociative in Palghar district. This syncretism was observed only the Katkari community in Saywan village in Vasai taluka.
1.2.1 Example (District Palghar, taluka Vasai, village Saywan, M26, Katkari, 4th) हातरूमालशी नाक पुसलं [Instrumental function] hatrumalši nak puslə hatrumal-ši nak pus-l-ə hanky-INS nose handkerchief (He) wiped his nose with a handkerchief. 1.2.2 Example (District Palghar, taluka Vasai, village Saywan, M26, Katkari, 4th) त्या एकामेरीशी बोलतात [Sociative function] tya ekameriši boltat tya ekameri-ši bol-t-at they.OBl each other-SOC speak-IPFV-3PLF They talk to each other. N.B. The ablative marker in this speech variety is [-un], as seen in the following example: 1.2.3 Example (District Palghar, taluka Vasai, village Saywan, M35, Katkari, 4th) पिशवीतून सपरचंद काडलं pišwitun səpərčənd kaḍlə pišwi-t-un səpərčənd kaḍ-l-ə bag-LOC-ABL apple.3SGN take out-PFV-3SGN (He) took an apple out from the bag. 1.3 Ablative, Sociative and Instrumental Case SyncretismThe use of the case suffix [-ši/či] to mark three case functions, namely ablative, sociative and instrumental was observed in Palghar and Raigad districts. The geographical and social spread of this variant and examples are given below:
| District | Taluka and Village |
|---|---|
| Palghar | Dahanu - Pimpalshet (Warli community), Vasai - Wagholi (Warli community) |
| Raigad | Karjat - Gaulwadi (Maratha community) and Salokh (Katkari community) |
While the ablative, sociative, locative and instrumental functions of the suffixal form [-ši] were noted in various communities in Palghar, the use of [-či] with an ablative usage was noted only in the Warli community in Wagholi village in Vasai taluka.
1.3.1 Example (District Palghar, taluka Dahanu, village Pimpalshet, M45, Warli, 8th) आता चेंडू घितला हाय तेच्याकडशी [Ablative function] ata čeṇḍu ɡʰitla hay tečakəḍši ata čeṇḍu ɡʰit-l-a hay te-č-a-kəḍ-ši now ball.3SGM take-PFV-3SGM be.PRS he.OBL-GEN-OBL-PP.LOC-ABL Now he has taken the ball from him. 1.3.2 Example (District Palghar, taluka Dahanu, village Pimpalshet, M45, Warli, 8th) वारलीशी त वारली भाषा बोलतो [Sociative function] warliši tə warli bʰaša bolto warli-ši tə warli bʰaša bol-t-o Warli-SOC so Warli language speak-IPFV-1SGM I speak Warli language with Warli people. 1.3.3 Example (District Palghar, taluka Dahanu, village Pimpalshet, M24, Warli, 6th) हाताशी बाटली खाली पडली आहे [Instrumental function] hataši baṭli kʰali pəḍli ahe hat-a-ši baṭli kʰali pəḍ-l-i ahe hand-OBL-INS bottle.3SGF down fall-PFV-3SGF be.PRS The bottle is dropped by hand. 1.3.4 Example (District Raigad, taluka Karjat, village Gaulwadi, F42, Maratha, 2nd) दोनी लोटून दिल्या टेबलावरशी मुलाने [Ablative function] doni loṭun dilya ṭeblawərši mulane doni loṭ-un di-l-ya ṭebla-wər-ši mula-ne both.OBL sweep-CP give-PFV-3PLF table.OBL-PP.LOC-ABL boy.OBL-ERG The boy swept both the bottles off the table. 1.3.5 Example (District Raigad, taluka Karjat, village Salokh, M25, Katkari, Illiterate) काय काडं त्यानी फुल पेन्सलीशी [Instrumental function] kay kaḍə tyani pʰul pensəliši kay kaḍ-ə tya-ni pʰul pensəli-ši what draw-PFV.3SGN he.OBL-ERG flower.3SGN pencil.OBL-INS What has he drawn with the pencil, it’s a flower. 1.3.6 Example (District Raigad, taluka Karjat, village Salokh, M62, Muslim, 10th) बॅगशी त्यानं किताब काडून देल्ली [Ablative function] bæɡši tyanə kitab kaḍun delli bæɡ-ši tya-nə kitab kaḍ-un de-ll-i bag-ABL he.OBL-ERG book.3SGF remove-CP give-PFV-3SGF He removed the book from the bag and gave it (to me). 1.3.7 Example (District Raigad, taluka Karjat, village Salokh, M62, Muslim, 10th) याने याला मारला काठीशी मारला [Instrumental function] yane yala marla kaṭʰiši marla ya-ne ya-la mar-l-a kaṭʰi-ši mar-l-a he.OBL-ERG he.OBL-ACC hit-PFV-3SGM stick-INS hit-PFV-3SGM He hit him with a stick. 1.3.8 Example (District Palghar, taluka Vasai, village Wagholi, F50+, Warli, Illiterate) पिशवीची काय काडलं त्यानी [Ablative function] pišwiči kay kaḍlə tyani pišwi-či kay kaḍ-l-ə tya-ni bag-ABL what remove-PFV-3SGN he.OBL-ERG What did he take out of the bag? 1.3.9 Example (District Palghar, taluka Vasai, village Wagholi, M45, Warli, Illiterate) एकमेकाशी काइतरी बोलतात ते [Sociative function] ekmekaši kaitəri boltat te ekmeka-ši kaitəri bol-t-at te each other-SOC something speak-IPFV-3PL they They are saying something to each other. 1.3.10 Example (District Palghar, taluka Vasai, village Wagholi, F50+, Warli, Illiterate) हाताशी मारलं [Instrumental function] hataši marlə hat-a-ši mar-l-ə hand-OBL-INS hit-PFV-3SGN (He) hit (him) with his hand. 1.4 Ablative, Sociative and Locative Case SyncretismThe use of the case suffix [-ši] to mark three case functions, namely ablative, sociative and locative was observed in northern Konkan. The geographical and social spread of this variant and examples are given below:
| District | Taluka and Village |
|---|---|
| Palghar | Dahanu - Bordi (Wadwal community),Talasari - Girgaon (Warli community) and Udhwa (Warli community) |
| Thane | Ambernath - Usatane (Agri community) |
The use of the case suffix [-ši] to mark four case functions, namely ablative, sociative, locative and instrumental was observed only in the Muslim community in Kondiware village in Sangmeshwar taluka of Ratnagiri district.
1.5.1 Example (District Ratnagiri, taluka Sangmeshwar, village Kondiware, F30, Muslim, 5th) घडी काडलान हाताशी [Ablative function] ɡʰəḍi kaḍlan hataši ɡʰəḍi kaḍ-lan hat-a-ši watch remove-PFV hand-OBL-ABL He removed the watch from his hand. 1.5.2 Example (District Ratnagiri, taluka Sangmeshwar, village Kondiware, F30, Muslim, 5th) लहानपनाक काय खेलत होतीव सगल्यांशी मिलून मिलून येत होतीव [Sociative function] ləhanpənak kay kʰelət hotiw səɡlyanši milun milun yet hotiw ləhanpən-a-k kay kʰel-ət hot-iw səɡlyan-ši mil-un mil-un ye-t hot-iw childhood-OBL-LOC what play-IPFV be.PST-1SGF all.OBL-SOC,/b> together REDUP come-IPFV be.PST-1SGF As a child (I) used to play and come with everyone. 1.5.3 Example (District Ratnagiri, taluka Sangmeshwar, village Kondiware, F75, Muslim, 5th) ते तुज्या पप्पाच्या बुआच्या घराशीस होती [Locative function] te tuǰa pəppača buača ɡʰərašis hoti te tu-ǰ-a pəppa-č-a bua-č-a ɡʰər-a-ši-s hot-i it you-GEN-OBL father-GEN-OBL aunt-GEN-OBL home-OBL-LOC be.PST-3SGF It was near your father’s aunt's house. 1.5.4 Example (District Ratnagiri, taluka Sangmeshwar, village Kondiware, F30, Muslim, 5th) काइतर टाकला डब्ब्याशी [Locative function] kaitər ṭakla ḍəbbyaši kaitər ṭak-l-a ḍəbbya-ši something put-PFV-3SGM box.OBL-LOC (He) put something in the box. 1.5.5 Example (District Ratnagiri, taluka Sangmeshwar, village Kondiware, F75, Muslim, 5th) प्यारशी बाय बोलतो (मुलीला) [Instrumental function] pyarši bay bolto pyar-ši bay bol-t-o love-INS ‘bay’ speak-IPFV-1PL We address our daughter as ‘bay’ with love. References • Comrie, Bernard. (1991). Form and Function in Identifying Cases. In Plank, Frans (ed.), Paradigms: The Economy of Inflection, 41-56. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. • Blake, Barry. (2001). Case. Cambridge: CUP.