Marathi grammar

The grammar of the Marathi language shares similarities with other modern Indo-Aryan languages such as Hindi, Gujarati, Punjabi, etc. The first modern book exclusively on Marathi Grammar was printed in 1805 by 'William Kerry'.^[1]

The principal word order in Marathi is SOV (subject–object–verb).^[2] Nouns inflect for gender (masculine, feminine, neuter), number (singular, plural), and case (nominative, accusative, dative, genitive, locative, instrumental, oblique). Notably, Marathi is the only Indo-Aryan language of Sanskrit origin to preserve the Sanskrit locative case. Additionally, Marathi preserves the neuter gender found in Sanskrit, a feature further distinguishing it from many Indo-Aryan languages. Typically, Marathi adjectives do not inflect unless they end in long a, in which case they inflect for gender and number. Marathi verbs inflect for tense (past, present, future). Verbs can agree with their subjects, yielding an active voice construction, or with their objects, yielding a passive voice construction. A third type of voice, not found in English for example, is produced when the verb agrees with neither subject nor object. Affixation is largely suffixal in the language and postpositions are attested.^[3]

Contemporary grammar

The contemporary grammatical rules described by Maharashtra Sahitya Parishad and endorsed by the Government of Maharashtra are supposed to take precedence in standard written Marathi. These rules are described in Marathi Grammar, written by M.R Walimbe. The book is widely referred to in schools and colleges. words liefhtju

Sanskrit influence

Traditions of Marathi Linguistics and above mentioned rules give special status to 'Tatsam' (Without Change) words adapted from the Sanskrit language. This special status expects the rules for 'Tatsam' words be followed as of Sanskrit grammar. While this supports Marathi Language with a larger treasure of Sanskrit words to cope up with demands of new technical words whenever needed; maintains influence over Marathi.

An unusual feature of Marathi, as compared to other Indo-European languages, is that it displays the inclusive and exclusive we feature, that is common to the Dravidian languages, Rajasthani, and Gujarati.

Gender

Voices

There are three grammatical voices (Prayog प्रयोग) in Marathi.

• Kartarii prayog refers to a sentence construction in which the verb changes according to the subject, which is comparable to the active voice in English.

Raam mhanato राम म्हणतो "Raam says", Raam aambaa khaato राम आमबा खातो "Raam eats a mango"

• Karmanii prayog refers to a sentence construction in which the verb changes according to the object, which is like the passive voice in English.

Raamaane aambaa khallaa "The mango was eaten by Raam", Raamaane saangitale "It was told by Ram"

• Bhaave prayog refers to a sentence construction in which the verb does not change according to either the subject or the object. This is used for imperatives.

Maajha nirop tyaala jaaun saang "Give my message to him"

Pronouns

There are three grammatical persons (Purushh) in Marathi.

• Pratham purushh प्रथम पुरुष (First person)
  • mi मी "I"
  • aamhi आम्ही "we" excluding the listener (exclusive "we")
  • aapan "we" आपण including the listener (inclusive "we")
• Dwitiya purushh द्वितिया पुरुष (Second person)
  • tuu तू "you"
  • tumhi तुम्ही "you" (plural or formal)
  • aapan आपण (extremely formal)
• Trutiya purushh तृतिया पुरुष (Third person)
  • to तो "he"
  • tii ती "she"
  • te ते "it"
  • te ते "they" (masculine) or "he" हे (formal)
  • tyaa "they" त्या (feminine)
  • tii "they" ती (neuter)

Parts of speech

Marathi words can be classified in any of the following parts:

1. naama नाम (noun)
2. sarvanaam सर्वनाम (pronoun)
3. visheShaNa विषेशण (adjective)
4. kriyapada क्रियापद (verb)
5. kriyaavisheShaNa क्रियाविषेशण (adverb)
6. ubhayanvayi avyaya
7. shabdayogi avyaya
8. kevalaprayogi avyaya

Sentence structure

Nominal inflection

Marathi is a highly inflected language, like the other ancient Indo-European languages such as its own mother Sanskrit. While English uses prepositions, in Marathi, such functions are indicated through the use of case-suffixes. These are referred to as vibhaktii pratyay विभक्ति प्रत्याय. There are eight such vibhaktii विभक्ति in Marathi. The form of the original word changes when such a suffix is to be attached to the word, and the new, modified root is referred to as saamaanya ruup of the original word. For example, the word ghodaa घोडा ("horse") gets transformed into ghodyaa- घोड्या when the suffix -var वर ("on") is attached to it to form ghodyaavar घोड्यावर ("on the horse").

See also

• Marathi language

References

1. ^ Maharashtra times article
2. ^ Wals.info
3. ^ UCLA Language Materials Project- Marathi