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Image:Example.of.complex.text.rendering.svg This article contains Indic text. The Brahmic family is a family of syllabaries (writing systems used in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and parts of Central Asia and East Asia,
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Nepali grammar is the study of the morphology and syntax of Nepali, an Indo-European language spoken in South Asia. Morphology is the field of Linguistics that studies the internal structure of words In Linguistics, syntax (from Ancient Greek grc συν- syn-, "together" and grc τάξις táxis, "arrangement" is the Nepali is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in Nepal, Bhutan, and some parts of India and Myanmar (Burma

Contents

Script

In matters of script, Nepali uses Devanagari. On this grammar page Nepali is written in "standard orientalist" transcription as outlined in Masica (1991:xv). Oriental studies is the academic field of study that embraces Near Eastern and Far Eastern societies and cultures languages peoples history and archaeology in recent Transcription is the conversion into written typewritten or printed form of a Spoken language source such as the proceedings of a court hearing Nepali grammar is the study of the morphology and Syntax of Nepali, an Indo-European language spoken in South Asia. Being "primarily a system of transliteration from the Indian scripts, [and] based in turn upon Sanskrit" (cf. Transliteration is the practice of Transcribing a Word or text written in one Writing system into another writing system or system of rules for such practice Sanskrit (sa संस्कृता वाक् saṃskṛtā vāk, for short sa संस्कृतम् saṃskṛtam) is a historical IAST), these are its salient features: subscript dots for retroflex consonants; macrons for etymologically, contrastively long vowels; h denoting aspirated stops. The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration ( IAST) is a popular Transliteration scheme that allows a lossless Romanization of Indic This article is about the terms 'subscript' and 'superscript' as used in typography In Phonetics, retroflex consonants are Consonant sounds used in some Languages (They are sometimes referred to as cerebral consonants A macron, from Greek el μακρόv ( makrón) meaning "long" is a Diacritic ¯ placed over or under a Vowel which was originally In Linguistics, vowel length is the perceived duration of a Vowel sound Description Voiceless consonants are produced with the Vocal cords open and voiced consonants are produced when the vocal folds are fractionally closed A stop, plosive, or occlusive is a Consonant sound produced by stopping the airflow in the Vocal tract. Tildes denote nasalized vowels. The tilde (~ (/ˈtɪldə/ is a Grapheme with several uses The name of the character comes from Spanish, from the Latin titulus A nasal vowel is a Vowel that is produced with a lowering of the velum so that air escapes both through Nose as well as the Mouth.

Vowels and consonants are outlined in the tables below. In Phonetics, a vowel is a Sound in spoken Language, such as English ah! or oh!, pronounced with an open Vocal tract In Articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a Speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the upper Vocal tract, the upper vocal Hovering the mouse cursor over them will reveal the appropriate IPA symbol, while in the rest of the article hovering the mouse cursor over underlined forms will reveal the appropriate English translation. The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA is a system of phonetic notation based on the Latin alphabet, devised by the International Phonetic English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States Translation is the interpreting of the meaning of a text and the subsequent production of an equivalent text likewise called a " translation

Vowels
Front Central Back
Close i/ī u/ū
Mid e a o
Open ā
Consonants
Bilabial Labio-
dental		 Dental Alveolar Retroflex Post-alv./
Palatal		 Velar Glottal
Stop p
ph		 b
bh		 t
th		 d
dh		 ṭ
ṭh		 ḍ
ḍh		 k
kh		 g
gh
Affricate c
ch		 j
jh
Nasal m n ṇ ñ ṅ
Fricative s ṣ ś h
Tap or Flap r ṛ
ṛh
Approximant v y
Lateral
approximant		 l

Morphology

Nouns

Nepali nouns that denote male and female beings are sometimes distinguished by suffixation or through pairs of lexically differing terms. In Phonetics, a vowel is a Sound in spoken Language, such as English ah! or oh!, pronounced with an open Vocal tract A front vowel is a type of Vowel sound used in some spoken Languages The defining characteristic of a front vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far forward A central vowel is a type of Vowel sound used in some spoken Languages The defining characteristic of a central vowel is that the tongue is positioned halfway between A back vowel is a type of Vowel sound used in some spoken Languages The defining characteristic of a back vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far back as A close vowel is a type of Vowel sound used in many spoken Languages The defining characteristic of a close vowel is that the tongue is positioned as close as A mid vowel is a Vowel sound used in some spoken Languages The defining characteristic of a mid vowel is that the tongue is positioned mid-way between an An open vowel is a Vowel sound of a type used in most spoken Languages The defining characteristic of an open vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far as In Articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a Speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the upper Vocal tract, the upper vocal In Phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a Consonant articulated with both Lips The bilabial consonants identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet In Phonetics, labiodentals are Consonants articulated with the lower Lip and the upper Teeth. In Linguistics, a dental consonant or dental is a Consonant that is articulated with the tongue against the upper teeth such as /t/ /d/ /n/ and Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior Alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli (the sockets In Phonetics, retroflex consonants are Consonant sounds used in some Languages (They are sometimes referred to as cerebral consonants Postalveolar consonants are Consonants articulated with the tongue near or touching the back of the Alveolar ridge, placing them a bit further back in the Palatal consonants are Consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the Hard palate (the middle part of the roof of the mouth Glottal consonants are Consonants articulated with the Glottis. A stop, plosive, or occlusive is a Consonant sound produced by stopping the airflow in the Vocal tract. Affricate Consonants begin as stops (most often an alveolar, such as or) but release as a fricative (such as or or occasionally into A nasal consonant (also called nasal stop or nasal continuant) is produced with a lowered velum in the mouth allowing air to escape freely through the Fricatives are Consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together In Phonetics, a flap or tap is a type of Consonantal sound which is produced with a single contraction of the muscles so that one articulator (such as the Approximants are speech sounds ( Phonemes) that could be regarded as intermediate between Vowels and typical Consonants In the articulation of approximants Laterals are "L"-like Consonants pronounced with an occlusion made somewhere along the axis of the tongue while air from the lungs escapes at one side or both In Grammar, a suffix (also postfix, ending) is an Affix which is placed at the end of a word [1] Thus one pattern involves masculine -o/ā vs feminine -ī suffixes (e. g. chorā "son" : chorī "daughter", buṛho "old man" : buṛhī "old woman"), while another such phenomena is that of the derivational feminine suffix -nī (e. SON DNA binding protein, also known as SON, is a human Gene. A daughter is a Female offspring; a Girl, Woman, or female animal in relation to her Parents The male equivalent is a Son g. chetrī "Chetri" : chetrīnī "Chetri woman", kukur "dog" : kukurnī "bitch"). Kshatriya (क्षत्रिय kṣatriya from क्षत्र kṣatra) is one of the four varnas (social orders in Hinduism The dog ( Canis lupus familiaris) is a domesticated Subspecies of the gray wolf, a Mammal of the Canidae family of the order Bitch is a term for the female of a canine species in general Beyond this, nouns are otherwise not overtly marked (i. e. inanimate nouns, abstract nouns, all other animates). Animacy is a grammatical and/or Semantic category of Nouns based on how Sentient or alive the Referent of the noun is

Overall, in terms of grammatical gender, among Indo-Aryan languages, Nepali possesses an "attenuated gender" system, in which "gender accord typically is restricted to female animates (so that the system is essentially restructured as zero/+Fem), optional or loose even then [. In Linguistics, grammatical genders, sometimes also called Noun classes are classes of nouns reflected in the behavior of associated words every noun must belong The Indo-Aryan languages (within the context of Indo-European studies also Indic) are a branch of the Indo-European language family In Languages agreement is a form of cross-reference between different parts of a sentence or phrase . . ], and greatly reduced in syntactic scope. [. . . ] In Nepali, the [declensional] ending is a neutral -o, changeable to -ī with Personal Feminines in more formal style. "[2]

Nepali distinguishes two genders, with a common pluralizing suffix for nouns in -harū (e. In Linguistics, grammatical genders, sometimes also called Noun classes are classes of nouns reflected in the behavior of associated words every noun must belong In Grammar, a suffix (also postfix, ending) is an Affix which is placed at the end of a word g. mitra "friend" : mitraharū "friends"). Friendship is a term used to denote co-operative and supportive behavior between two or more beings Unlike the English plural it is not mandatory, and may be left unexpressed if plurality is already indicated in some other way: e. In the English Language, Nouns are inflected for Grammatical number —that is singular or Plural. g. by explicit numbering, or agreement. In Languages agreement is a form of cross-reference between different parts of a sentence or phrase Riccardi (2003:554) further notes that the suffix "rarely indicates simple plurality: it often means that other objects of the same or a like class are also indicated and may be translated as 'and other things'. Nepali grammar is the study of the morphology and Syntax of Nepali, an Indo-European language spoken in South Asia. "

Adjectives

Adjectives may be divided into declinable and indeclinable categories. In Grammar, an adjective is a word whose main syntactic role is to modify a Noun or Pronoun, giving more information about the Declinables are marked, through termination, for the gender and number of the nouns they qualify. The declinable endings are -o for the "masculine" singular, -ī for the feminine singular, and -ā for the plural. e. g. sāno kitāb "small book", sānī keṭī "small girl", sānā kalamharū "small pens". A Book is a set or collection of written printed illustrated or blank sheets made of Paper, Parchment, or other material usually fastened together A girl is any Female Human from birth through Childhood and Adolescence to attainment of Adulthood The term may also be used to mean A pen (Latin pinna, feather is a Writing instrument used to apply Ink to a surface usually Paper.

"Masculine", or rather "neutral" -o is the citation form and the otherwise overwhelmingly more encountered declension, as as previously noted, gender in Nepali is attenuated and accord "typically is restricted to female animates", and "optional or loose even then". In Languages agreement is a form of cross-reference between different parts of a sentence or phrase However, "In writing, there has been a strong tendency by some to extend the use of feminine markers beyond their use in speech to include the consistent marking of certain adjectives with feminine endings. This tendency is strengthened by some Nepali grammars and may be reinforced by the influence of Hindi upon both speech and writing. Hindi ( Devanāgarī: hi [[wiktहिन्दी हिन्दी]] or hi [[wiktहिंदी हिंदी]] IAST:, IPA:) is "[3]

Indeclinable adjectives are completely invariable, and can end in either consonants or vowels (except -o). In Articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a Speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the upper Vocal tract, the upper vocal In Phonetics, a vowel is a Sound in spoken Language, such as English ah! or oh!, pronounced with an open Vocal tract

Postpositions

In Nepali the locus of grammatical function or "case-marking" lies within a system of agglutinative suffixes or particles known as postpositions, which parallel English's prepositions. In Grammar, the case of a Noun or Pronoun indicates its Grammatical function in a greater Phrase or Clause; such as the In Linguistics, agglutination is the morphological process ofadding Affixes to the base of a Word. In Grammar, a suffix (also postfix, ending) is an Affix which is placed at the end of a word In Linguistics, the term particle is a word lacking a strict definition but has the function of changing the relation of the parts of the sentence to one another and is therefore In Grammar, a preposition is a Part of speech that introduces a prepositional phrase. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States In Grammar, a preposition is a Part of speech that introduces a prepositional phrase. There are a number of such one-word primary postpositions:

Beyond this come compound postpositions, composed of a primary postposition (most likely ko or bhandā) plus an adverb.

Pronouns

Nepali has personal pronouns for the first and second persons, while third person forms are of demonstrative origin, and can be categorized deictically as proximate and distal. Personal pronouns are Pronouns used as substitutes for proper or common Nouns. Demonstratives are deictic words (they depend on an external frame of reference that indicate which entities a speaker refers to and distinguishes those entities from others In Pragmatics and Linguistics, deixis is collectively the orientational features of human languages to have reference to points in time space and the speaking event The pronominal system is quite elaborate, by reason of its differentiation on lines of sociolinguistic formality. In Linguistics and Grammar, a pronoun is a Pro-form that substitutes for a (including a noun phrase consisting of a single Noun) with or In this respect it has three levels or grades of formality/status: low, middle, and high (see T-V distinction for further clarification). In Sociolinguistics, a T-V distinction describes the situation wherein a Language has second-person Pronouns that distinguish varying levels of Pronouns do not distinguish gender. In Linguistics, grammatical genders, sometimes also called Noun classes are classes of nouns reflected in the behavior of associated words every noun must belong

The first person singular pronoun is ma, and the first person plural is hāmī. The following table lists the second and third person singular forms.

2nd pn. 3rd pn.
Prox. Dist.
Low tã yo (yas) tyo (tyas) ū (us)
Middle timī yinī (yin) tinī (tin) unī (un)
High tapāī̃ yahā̃ vahā̃

yo and tyo have yī and tī as plurals, while other pronouns pluralize (including hāmī, for emphasis, but excluding ū) with the common suffix -harū. Also, bracketed beside of a number of forms in the above chart are their oblique counterparts, used when they (as demonstrative pronouns) or that which they qualify (as demonstrative determiners) are followed by a postposition. An oblique case (casus generalis in Linguistics is a Noun case of Synthetic languages that is used generally when a Noun is the object In Grammar, a preposition is a Part of speech that introduces a prepositional phrase. However, the need to oblique weakens the longer distance between demonstrative and postposition gets. Also, one exception which does not require obliquing is -sãga "with".

Verbs

Verbs in Nepali are quite highly inflected, agreeing with the subject in number, gender, status and person. They also inflect for tense, mood, and aspect. As well as these inflected finite forms, there are also a large number of participial forms.

Possibly the most important verb in Nepali, as well as the most irregular, is the verb हुनु hunu 'to be, to become'. In the simple present tense, there are at least three conjugations of हुनु hunu, only one of which is regular. The first, the ho-conjugation is, broadly speaking, used to define things, and as such its complement is usually a noun. The second, the cha-conjugation is used to describe things, and the complement is usually an adjectival or prepositional phrase. The third, the huncha-conjugation, is used to express regular occurrences or future events, and also expresses 'to become' or 'to happen'.

They are conjugated as follows:

Simple Present conjugation of the verb हुनु hunu
हो ho छ cha हुन्छ huncha
First person singular हुँ hũ छु chu हुन्छु hunchu
First person plural हौँ haũ छौँ chaũ हुन्छौँ hunchaũ
Second person singular low-grade होस् hos छस् chas हुन्छस् hunchas
Second person middle-grade/plural हौ hau छौ chau हुन्छौ hunchau
High grade हुनुहन्छ hunuhuncha हुनुहन्छ hunuhuncha हुनुहन्छ hunuhuncha
Third person singular low-grade हो ho छ cha हुन्छ huncha
Third person middle-grade/plural masculine हुन् hun छन् chan हुन्छन् hunchan
Third person middle-grade/plural feminine हुन् hun छिन् chin हुन्छिन् hunchin

हुनु hunu also has two suppletive stems in the simple past, namely भ- bha- (the use of which corresponds to the huncha-conjugation) and थि- thi- (which corresponds to both the cha and ho-conjugations) which are otherwise regularly conjugated. In Linguistics and Etymology, suppletion is traditionally understood as the use of one word as the inflected form of another word when the two words भ- bha- is also the stem used in the formation of the various participles. In Linguistics, a participle (from Latin participium, a Calque of Greek μετοχη "partaking" is a derivative of a non-finite

The finite forms of regular verbs are conjugated as follows (using गर्नु garnu 'to do' as an example):

Finite forms of गर्नु garnu 'to do'
Simple Present/Future Probable Future Simple Past Past Habitual Injunctive Imperative
First person singular गर्छु garchu 'I (will) do' गरुँला garũlā 'I will (probably) do' गरेँ garẽ 'I did' गर्थेँ garthẽ 'I used to do' गरुँ garũ 'may I do' -
First person plural गर्छौँ garchaũ 'We (will) do' गरौँला garaũlā 'We will (probably) do' गर्यौ garyaũ 'We did' गर्थ्यौँ garthyaũ 'We used to do' गरौँ garaũ 'may we do, let's do' -
Second person singular low-grade गर्छस् garchas 'you (will) do' गर्लास् garlās 'you will (probably) do' गरिस् garis 'you did' गर्थिस् garthis 'you used to do' गरेस् gares 'may you do' गर् gar 'do!'
Second person middle-grade/plural गर्छौ garchau 'you (will) do' गरौला garaulā 'you will (probably) do' गर्यौ garyau 'you did' गर्थ्यौ garthyau 'you used to do' गरौ garau 'may you do' गर gara 'do'
High grade गर्नुहुन्छ garnuhuncha 'you (will) do' गर्नुहोला garnuhola 'you will (probably) do' गर्नुभयो garnubhayo 'you did' गर्नुहुन्थ्यो garnuhunthyo 'you used to do' गर्नुहोस् garnuhos 'may you do, please do' -
Third person singular low-grade गर्छ garcha 'he does' गर्ला garlā 'he will (probably) do' गर्यो garyo 'he did' गर्थ्यो garthyo 'he used to do' गरोस् garos 'may he do' -
Third person middle-grade/plural masculine गर्छन् garchan 'they (will) do' गर्लान् garlān 'they will (probably) do' गरे gare 'they did' गर्थे garthe 'they used to do' गरून् garūn 'may they do' -
Third person middle-grade/plural feminine गर्छिन् garchin 'she (will) do' गर्लिन् garlin 'she will (probably) do' गरिन् garin 'she did' गर्थिन् garthin 'she used to do' गरुन् garūn 'may she do' -

As well as these, there are two forms which are infinitival and participial in origin, but are frequently used as if they were finite verbs. Again using गर्नु garnu as an example, these are गरेको gareko 'did' and गर्ने garne 'will do'. Since they are simpler than the conjugated forms, these are often overused by non-native speakers, which can sound stilted.

The eko-participle is also the basis of perfect tenses in Nepali. The perfect aspect is variously considered either an aspect or tense which calls a listener's attention to the consequences generated by an action rather than the This is formed by using the auxiliary verb हुनु hunu (usually the cha-form in the present tense and the thi-form in the past) with the eko-participle. So, for example, मैले काम गरेको छु maile kām gareko chu means 'I have done (the) work'.

Infinitives

Nepali has two infinitives. The first is formed by adding -नु nu to the verb stem. This is the citation form of the verb, and is used in a number of constructions, the most important being the construction expressing obligation. This is formed by combining the nu-infinitive with the verb पर्नु parnu 'to fall'. This is an impersonal construction, which means that the object marker -लाई lāī is often added to the agent, unless the verb is transitive, in which case the ergative/instrumental case marker -ले le is added. In Linguistics, a grammatical agent is the Participant of a situation that carries out the action in this situation So, for example, I have to do work would be translated as मैले काम गर्नुपर्छ maile kām garnuparcha. It is also used with the postposition -अघि aghi 'before'. गर्नुअघि garnuaghi, then, means 'before doing'.

The second infinitive is formed by adding -न na to the verb stem. This is used in a wide variety of situations, and can generally be used where the infinitive is used in English. For example, म काम गर्न रामकहाँ गएको थिएँ ma kām garna rāmkahā̃ gaeko thiẽ 'I had gone to Ram's place to do work'.

References

  1. ^ Riccardi (2003:555)
  2. ^ Masica (1991:220-221)
  3. ^ Riccardi (2003:554-555)
  4. ^ Hutt & Subedi (1999:32-33)
  5. ^ Hutt & Subedi (1999:33)

Bibliography

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