The Verb Phrase in Marathi - Etl Voices - India (2014) : July 2018
The Verb Phrase in Marathi - Etl Voices - India (2014) : July 2018
The Verb Phrase in Marathi - Etl Voices - India (2014) : July 2018
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ABSTRACT
The verb is called ‘kriyapad’ in Marathi, which means an action word. It is as important in Marathi
sentence structure as in English. Marathi verbs inflect for person, number and gender of the subject and
the direct object in the sentence. Like English, Marathi, too, has inflectional and derivational verb
morphology. Verbs in Marathi can be classified into various types depending on different criteria. This
paper studies the verb phrase in Marathi from a linguistic point of view. The verb phrase in Marathi
consists of minimum one verb and maximum three verbs. It shows contrasts of tense, aspect, mood and
voice. After discussing the various types of verbs in detail, the paper explores the different concepts
related to the verb phase, namely, finite vs. non-finite verb phrase, tense, aspect, mood and voice. It is
very interesting note that Marathi verb phrase also shows morphological contrasts of tense, aspect,
mood and voice as that of many other languages in the world. It is very important to understand the
difference between tense and aspect as these grammatical categories are often conflated in many Indo-
European languages.
The verb is called ‘kriyapad’ in Marathi, which means an action word. It is as important in
Marathi sentence structure as in English. Every sentence in Marathi must have a verb. A verb
is a word that completes the meaning of a sentence. Marathi verbs inflect for person, number
and gender of the subject and the direct object in the sentence. They show grammatical
contrasts such as tense, aspect, mood and voice. Like English, Marathi, too, has inflectional
and derivational verb morphology.
Verbs in Marathi can be classified into various types depending on different criteria. Navalkar
(1925) classifies Marathi verbs according to their signification, derivation and conjugation.
According to him, the Marathi verbs are divided into transitive verbs (sakarmak) and
intransitive (akarmak) verbs according to their signification. He classifies Marathi verbs into
causal (prayojya), potential (shakya) and compound verbs (samyukta) according to derivation.
The Marathi verbs are classified according to their conjugation into auxiliary verbs (sahaya),
defective verbs (gauna), regular verbs (niyamit), irregular verbs (aniyamit), anomalous verbs
(vidhibhanjak), impersonal verbs (bhavakartruk) and passive verbs (karmani). Walimbe (2004)
also gives various classifications of verbs as akarmak-sakarmak, samyukta-sahaya, siddha-
sadhit and niyamit-aniyamit. He also discusses dhatusadhit and bhavkartruk verbs.
If a sentence has two verbs, the first verb is the main verb and the second verb is the helping
verb. The helping verb reflects tense. For example,
The above sentence is in past continuous. The verb phrase consists of two verbs, viz., /dʒat/
and /hota/. Here, ‘/jat/’ is the main verb and ‘/hota/’ is the helping verb (sahayak kriyapad). In
Marathi grammar, such verb phrase consisting of a main verb and a helping verb (sahayak
kriyapad) is known as a compound verb (samyukta kriyapad). The helping verb (sahayak)
helps the main verb to complete the meaning of the sentence. For example, /əs/, /nəs/, /ho/,
/ye/, /ja/, /de/, /lag/, /tak/, /sək/, /pahije/ and /nəko/. The helping verbs ‘əs’, ‘ho’ and ‘nas’
express tense whereas the helping verbs ‘pahije’, ‘nəko’ and ‘nəye’ express mood. A sahayak
kriyapad in Marathi is also known as a gaun kriyapad.
Verbs in Marathi are divided into two types depending on whether they take their past tense /
perfect endings after their root-forms or after the base-forms of their roots.
The verbs which add their past tense / perfect endings immediately after the root-form are
called regular verbs. For example, the verb ‘/bəs-/’ forms its past tense / perfect form by adding
the past tense / perfect suffix after its stem/root form i.e. ‘/ bəs /+ suffix.’
On the contrary, some verbs form their past tense/ perfect forms by adding the respective
suffixes not to their root forms but to their allomorphic base form. Such verbs are called
irregular verbs. For example, the verb ‘/ja-/’ forms its past tense / perfect form by adding the
respective suffix to its base form. The base form of the root verb ‘/ja-/’ is ‘/ge-/.’ Thus, its past
tense/ perfect form is ‘/ge-/ + suffix.’
Marathi verbs are classified into transitive and intransitive verbs on the basis of whether they
take the direct object or not. Transitive (sakarmak) verbs are the verbs which take a direct
object whereas intransitive (akarmak) verbs are the verbs which do not take a direct object.
According to Navalkar (1925), ‘When an action denoted by the verb passes on to the object, it
is transitive (sakarmak), and when the action terminates in the subject, it is intransitive
(akarmak)’ (p.93). Some transitive verbs can take two objects. They are called ditransitive
(dwikarmak) verbs. Some verbs can be used as both transitive verbs and intransitive verbs.
They are called ubhayavidh verbs in Marathi. Transitive verbs are further divided according to
the agreement rules they follow for the formation of the perfect construction. There is special
class of transitive verbs which form their perfect constructions as that of intransitive verbs.
These verbs are called special transitive verbs (e.g. ‘/bol-/’, ‘/khel-/’, ‘/pi:-/’ and ‘/bhet-/’).
Apte (1962) asserts, ‘There are a number of verbs in Marathi which can be transformed from
one category to another by internal change’ (p.137). He proves that this transformation is a one
way transformation, i.e. from intransitive verbs to transitive verbs or from transitive verbs to
intransitive verbs and from there to causative verbs. He uses the transformational generative
approach in his analysis. For example, the intransitive verb /sut/ undergoes transitive
transformation and the transitive verb /sod/ is formed. This verb further undergoes causative
transformation and the causative verb /sodəw/ is formed. This transformation can be shown as
follows.
/sut/ ^ Tr /sod/
/sod/ ^ Ca /sodəw/
As observed in English, all verbs in Marathi do not show action. There are some verbs which
show the state and not the action of the subject. On this basis, verbs are divided into dynamic
and stative verbs. The examples of dynamic verbs are mar-, kər- etc. whereas the examples of
the stative verbs in Marathi are /əs/, /hot/ etc.
Verbs are also classified according to whether they have a personal noun as the subject or not.
The verbs which have a personal noun as the subject are called personal verbs. For example
/awədəne/ (like) as in
The verbs which do not have a personal noun as the subject are called impersonal verbs. For
example, / tap /as in
The verbs that break the agreement rules are called anomalous (vidhibhanjak) verbs. For
instance, in the past tense or the perfect aspect an intransitive verb agrees with the subject and
a transitive verb agrees with the object. But, some verbs violate this rule. For example,
The verbs that are derived from other nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs are called sadhit
verbs in Marathi. For example,
In the above example, the verb ‘/hatal/’ is derived from the noun ‘/hat/’ and hence is a sadhit
verb.
One of the manifestations of the sadhit verb is prayojak (causal) verb. When the action shown
by the verb is not done by the subject but someone makes the subject do that action, then such
a verb is called a ‘prayojak verb.’ For example,
In the first sentence, the action of laughing is done by children whereas in the second sentence,
the joker is making the children laugh.
Sadhit verbs can also be realized in terms of shakya (potential) verbs. Here, the meaning is
such that the subject is capable of doing the action shown by the verb. For example,
The verb phrase in Marathi consists of minimum one verb and maximum three verbs. It shows
contrasts of tense, aspect, mood and voice. Out of these, tense, aspect and mood are often
studied under the heading of ‘Aakhyaata theory’ in Marathi grammar. Aakhyaata is realized
through aakhyaata pratyaya (suffixes). The verb phrase in Marathi also agrees with the person,
gender and number of some of its arguments (subject and object.). The concord suffixes are
added after the aakhyaata suffixes. It can be shown as ‘verb + aakhyaata suffix + concord
suffix.’
According to Pandharipande (1997), the tense, aspect and mood system of Marathi is very
complex because of the following reasons.
3. Time reference is always not indicated by the tense suffixes on the verb in the same
clause.
The distinction of finite and non-finite verbs also exists in Marathi. A finite verb is a verb that
carries tense, i.e. it is used as the verb element in the sentence structure. It is inflected in terms
of person, number, mood and voice. A Finite verb phrase consists of one or more verbs. If the
finite verb phrase consists of only one verb, it is a finite verb. For example,
Here, the sentence consists of only verb ‘/gela/.’ It is the finite verb phrase indicating the past
tense.
A non-finite verb phrase may function as a noun, an adjective or an adverb. It does not indicate
tense. The non-finite verbs are called dhatusadhite or krudante in Marathi. The non-finite
verbs in Marathi are made by adding suffixes like ‘–ne’, ‘-t’, ‘-ta’, ‘-tana’, ‘-u’, ‘-un’ and ‘–we’
to the base form of the verb. The non-finite verb phrase can consist of one or more verbs. For
example,
In the above example,’/bolne/’ is a non-finite verb phrase which functions as a noun. On the
contrary, the verb phrase ‘/avədəle/’ is a finite verb phrase indicating the past tense.
To understand the system of the verb phrase, it is necessary to grasp the difference between the
two key concepts – tense and aspect. This difference is somewhat difficult to grasp for the
speakers of most of the Indo-European languages, because they have a tendency to conflate the
concept of aspect with the concept of tense. Although the tense and aspect categories are
separated formally, the separation of tense and aspect is not maintained rigidly in most of the
languages. Many traditional and pedagogical grammars achieve a terminological shorthand by
treating combination of tense and aspect as tense e.g. present perfect tense, present continuous
tense.
Grammatical tense and aspect represent a formal distinction encoded in the grammar of a
language. Both are morphological categories. Both deal with time but with a difference. Tense
is used to locate a situation grammatically in time and aspect is used to show the internal
temporal constituency of a situation. Tense is deictic whereas aspect is not deictic. Aspect
refers to the way a situation is viewed, i.e. whether the situation is in progress or completed.
Tense relates the reference time of a situation to the time of utterance whereas aspect relates
the time of reference to the event time. That is the reason Comrie (1976) refers to tense as
‘situation external time’ and to aspect as ‘situation internal time’. Aspect is both a semantic
and grammatical notion. Semantically, it refers to the internal temporal structure of the action
referred to by the verb, i.e. whether the action or state referred by the verb is ongoing or
completed. Morphologically, aspect refers to the way this semantic meaning is reflected in a
language using verbal inflections.
Pandharipande (1997 ) asserts that ‘there is not always a correlation between the morphological
tense forms and the time reference indicated by them’ (p.407). For instance, the present and the
past tense markers may be used to indicate past time. For example,
In the above sentence, both the main and the subordinate clauses refer to past time although
morphologically the subordinate clause is in the present tense.
Marathi language formally distinguishes three tenses, viz., present, past and future. The
suffixes for the three tenses are given below. Usually, the tense suffix is attached to the root
form or stem form of the verb. Then it is followed by the concord suffix. For example, /bəs/ +
present tense suffix + concord suffix (first person singular masculine) is /bəsto/. But there is a
difference at the time of the construction of the past tense or the perfect aspect. If the verb is
regular, it immediately attaches the past tense suffix after the verb stem whereas if the verb is
irregular it changes the verb stem into its base form before attaching the past tense suffix.
For example,
Irregular verb ‘/ ja /’
The structure of verbs in all the three tenses can be shown as follows.
Future Vowel + l/n Vstem + l/n+ concord suffix bəsel / bəsen dʒail /
dʒain
As already discussed earlier, tense and aspect are two different grammatical categories related
to the verb phrase. Tense refers to the time of the action, whereas aspect refers to the way we
view the action. Bernsten and Nimbkar (1975) compare aspect to the cameraman’s technique
in a movie to show an action. They take an example of a horse jumping over a fence. One way
is to show the action as a complete unit. Another way is to show the action in progress. And the
third way is to show the same action many times to suggest repetition. They comment that ‘in
aspect we have the verbal equivalent of the cameraman’s technique. A verbal construction
combining information about both aspect and tense enables the speaker to convey the exact
nuances he wants to emphasize in regard to a particular action’ (p.55).
The major aspectual contrasts shown in Marathi language are Perfect (purna), Progressive
(chalu) and Habitual (riti). The tense and aspect categories in Marathi are combined in various
ways. Marathi language allows the following combinations – present perfect, present
progressive, present habitual, past perfect, past progressive, past habitual, future perfect, future
progressive and future habitual.
The perfect aspect is marked by ‘verb + -l suffix’ followed by the appropriate form of the
auxiliary ‘/ əs /.’ It represents a completed activity. For example,
The progressive aspect is marked by ‘verb + -t suffix’ followed by an appropriate form of the
auxiliary ‘as.’ It represents an ongoing activity. For example,
The Habitual aspect is marked by ‘verb + -t suffix’ followed by the appropriate form of the
auxiliary ‘as.’ It represents a habitual activity. Some other forms are also used to express
habituality in Marathi. For example,
(13) (a) / mi: rodʒ kam kərət əsəte / [Alternative form: / mi: roj kam kərəte/ ]
(Present Habitual)
(b) / mi: rodʒ kam kərət əse / kəratʃe / kəri: / (Past Habitual)
To express that an action started at a prior point of time and continues up to the later point of
time, Marathi speakers usually use progressive aspect. For example,
(Meaning: She has been wating for him since two o’clock.)
Sometimes the perfect and the progressive aspects are combined in order to emphasize
continuity. For example,
(15) (a) /ti: don wərʃanpasu:n tjatʃi: vat pəhat bəsəli: ahe /
(Meaning: She has been waiting for him since two o’clock.)
In all the above aspects, the whole verb phrase i.e. the non-finite verb followed by an auxiliary
shows aspect whereas the tense is marked on the auxiliary verb. Marathi also shows other
Mood in Marathi
Sometimes the form of the verb expresses the attitude of the speaker such as request, order,
advice, wish and intention. When such meanings are reflected through the forms of verbs, it is
known as ‘mood’(artha) in grammar. There are four basic moods in Marathi, viz., Swartha
(indicative), Adnyartha ( Imperative), Vidhyartha ( Subjunctive) and Sanketartha
(Conditional).
The indicative mood (swartha) is used in Marathi in sentences which are statements of facts. It
is an unmarked mood. It expresses basic meaning of the verb. It does not indicate any
additional meaning. The verb forms in all tenses are in the indicative mood. For example,
The imperative mood (Adnyartha) is used in Marathi to express order, request, blessing and
advice. When the form of the verb expresses one of these meanings, it is said to be in
imperative mood. For example,
Usually the imperative is used with the second person only but the traditional grammarians
have accommodated requests for permission using first person in this category. Such sentences
are usually interrogative sentences. They are formed by ‘verb root + u + ka’. For example,
The subjunctive mood (vidyartha) is used to express suggestion, wish and obligation. It is also
known as optative or hortative mood. It is formed by adding the suffix ‘-wa’ (and its variants)
to the verb stem. For example,
The conditional mood (sanketartha) expresses a condition. When one situation depends on
another situation, it expresses the conditional mood. Such sentences are often joined by the
conjunctions‘jar..tar’ ( Marathi equivalent for ‘if’). For example,
Voice in Marathi
When the verb in a Marathi sentence agrees with the subject, it is said to be in kartari proyoga.
This means that the verb in such sentences changes its form with the gender, number and
person of the subject. For example,
The subject in kartari prayoga is always in prathama vibhakti whereas the object is in the
nominative or accusative case. There are two types of kartari prayoga in Marathi, viz.
sakarmak and akarmak. When a kartari prayoga sentence has an object in it, it is called
sakarmak kartari prayoga. For example,
Akarmak kartari prayoga, as the name suggests, is the kartari prayoga when there is no object
in the sentence. For example,
(Meaning: I go to college.)
When the verb in a Marathi sentence agrees with the object, it is said to be in Karmani prayoga
(passive voice). The verb in such a sentence changes its form with the gender, number and
person of the object. For example,
The object in the karmani prayoga is always in nominative case. On the other hand, the subject
is in instrumental or in dative case.
In the above sentences, the meanings are similar but there is a difference in emphasis. In
sentence (a), the emphasis in on the subject i.e. /mule/. The verb ‘maratat’ agrees with the
subject. This sentence is in kartari prayog. On the other hand, in sentence (b), the emphasis is
on the object of the previous sentence, i.e. zural. The verb ‘marale jate’ agrees with ‘zural’ and
not ‘mulankadun.’ Here ‘zural’ is the subject. This is called karmakartari prayog. It is
equivalent to the passive voice in English.
When the verb in a Marathi sentence agrees neither with the subject nor the object, it is said to
be in bhave prayoga. That is, the verb in such a sentence does not agree with the gender,
number and person of the subject or the object. In such sentences, the verb form is third person
singular neuter gender. For example,
The subject in the bhave prayoga is in trutiya or in chaturthi vibhakti. If there is an object in the
sentence, it is in dwitiya vibhakti. Bhave prayog is of two types, viz., sakarmak and akarmak.
Sakarmak, as the name suggests, is the bhave prayog where there is an object in the sentence.
For example,
In the akarmak bhave prayoga, on the contrary, there is no object. For example,
Thus, the verb element plays a vital role in the Marathi sentence construction. It is interesting
note that Marathi verb phrase also shows morphological contrasts of tense, aspect, mood and
voice as that of many other languages in the world. It is very important to understand the
difference between tense and aspect as these grammatical categories are often conflated.
References
Bai, B. And A. Mukherjee (1993). TENSE AND ASPECT IN INDIAN LANGUAGES, Centre
of Advanced Studies in Linguistics, Hyderabad.
Marathe, S. (1972). THE MARATHI VERB SYSTEM, University College of North Wales,
Bangor.