Gujarati grammar

The grammar of the Gujarati language is the study of the word order, case marking, verb conjugation, and other morphological and syntactic structures of the Gujarati language, an Indo-Aryan language native to the Indian state of Gujarat and spoken by the Gujarati people. This page overviews the grammar of standard Gujarati, and is written in a romanization (see Gujarati script#Romanization). Hovering the mouse cursor over underlined forms will reveal the appropriate English translation.

Morphology

Nouns

Gujarati has three genders, two numbers, and three cases (nominative, oblique/vocative, and to a certain extent, locative). Nouns may be divided into declensional subtypes: marked nouns displaying characteristic, declensional vowel terminations, and unmarked nouns which do not. These are the paradigms for the termination[1][2]

Nom. Obl./Voc. Loc.
Sg. Pl. Sg. Pl.
Masc. - o - ā - e
Neut. -ઉં ũ -આં ā̃ - ā -આં ā̃
Fem. - ī

Two things must be noted about the locative case and its limited nature. First, it only exists as a case for masculines and neuters, which is why the corresponding feminine cell has been left blanked out. Rather, for marked feminine and unmarked nouns the locative is a postposition, which are explained on later in the article. Second, there is no distinction of gender.

Furthermore, there also exists in Gujarati a plural marker - (o). Unlike the English plural it is not mandatory, and may be left unexpressed if plurality is already expressed in some other way: by explicit numbering, agreement, or the above declensional system (as is the case with nominative marked masculines and neuters). And yet despite the declensional system, (o) often gets tacked onto nominative marked masculine and neuter plurals anyway. This redundancy is called the double plural. Historically, the origin of this suffix is murky, but it is certainly morphological rather than lexical. It is new (18th century) and it is not attested in Old Gujarati, Middle Gujarati, and Old Western Rajasthani literature. It may simply be the case that it spread from an unrepresented dialect.[3][4]

Thus combining both the declensional and plural suffixes, the following table outlines all possible Gujarati noun terminations —

Nom. Obl./Voc. Loc.
Sg. Pl. Sg. Pl.
M'd. Masc. - o -આ(ઓ) ā(o) - ā -આઓ āo - e
Neut. -ઉં ũ -આં(ઓ) ā̃(o) -આં(ઓ) ā̃(o)
Fem. - ī -ઈઓ īo - ī -ઈઓ īo
unM'd. - o - o

The next table, of noun declensions, shows the above suffix paradigms in action. Words: છોકરો (chhokro) "boy", ડાઘો (ḍāgho) "stain", મહિનો (mahino) "month", કચરો (kacro) "rubbish", છોકરું (chhokrũ) "child", કારખાનું (kārkhānũ) "factory", બારણું (bārṇũ) "door", અંધારું (andhārũ) "dark", છોકરી (chhokrī) "girl", ટોપી (ṭopī) "hat", બાટલી (bāṭlī) "bottle", વીજળી (vījḷī) "electricity", વિચાર (vichār) "thought", રાજા (rājā) "king", ધોબી (dhobī) "washerman", બરફ (baraf) "ice", ઘર (ghar) "house", બહેન (bahen) "sister", મેદાન (medān) "field", પાણી (pāṇī) "water", બાબત (bābat) "matter", નિશાળ (niśāl) "school", ભાષા (bhāṣā) "language", ભક્તિ (bhakti) "devotion".

Nom. Obl./Voc. Loc.
Sg. Pl. Sg. Pl.
M'd. Masc. છોકરો chhokro
ડાઘો ḍāgho
મહિનો mahino
કચરો kacro
છોકરા(ઓ) chhokrā(o)
ડાઘા(ઓ) ḍāghā(o)
મહિના(ઓ) mahinā(o)

છોકરા chhokrā
ડાઘા ḍāghā
મહિના mahinā
કચરા kacrā
છોકરાઓ chokrāo
ડાઘાઓ ḍāghāo
મહિનાઓ mahināo


મહિને mahine
Neut. chhokrũ
kārkhānũ
bārṇũ
andhārũ
chhokrā̃(o)
kārkhānā̃(o)
bārṇā̃(o)

chhokrā
kārkhānā
bārṇā
andhārā
chhokrā̃(o)
kārkhānā̃(o)
bārṇā̃(o)

kārkhāne

Fem. chhokrī
ṭopī
bāṭlī
vījḷī
chhokrīo
ṭopīo
bāṭlīo

chhokrī
ṭopī
bāṭlī
vījḷī
chhokrīo
ṭopīo
bāṭlīo

unM'd. Masc. vichār
rājā
dhobī
baraf
vichāro
rājāo
dhobīo

h
rājā
dhobī
baraf
vichāro
rājāo
dhobīo

Neut. ghar
bahen
medān
pāṇī
gharo
baheno
medāno

ghar
bahen
medān
pāṇī
gharo
baheno
medāno

Fem. bābat
niśāḷ
bhāṣā
bhakti
bābato
niśāḷo
bhāṣāo

bābat
niśāḷ
bhāṣā
bhakti
bābato
niśāḷo
bhāṣāo

Adjectives

Adjectives may be divided into declinable and indeclinable categories. Declinables are marked, taking the appropriate declensional termination for the noun they qualify. One difference from nouns however is that adjectives do not take the plural marker -o. Neut. nom. sg. () is the citation form. Indeclinable adjectives are completely invariable. All adjectives can be used either attributively, predicatively, or substantively.

Declinable adjective sārũ "good" in attributive use
Nom. Obl./Voc. Loc.
Sg. Pl. Sg. Pl.
M'd. Masc. sāro chhokro
sāro ḍāgho
sāro mahino
sāro kacro
sārā chhokrā(o)
sārā ḍāghā(o)
sārā mahinā(o)

sārā chhokrā
sārā ḍāghā
sārā mahinā
sārā kacrā
sārā chhokrāo
sārā ḍāghāo
sārā mahināo


sāre mahine
Neut. sārũ chhokrũ
sārũ kārkhānũ
sārũ bārṇũ
sārũ andhārũ
sārā̃ chhokrā̃(o)
sārā̃ kārkhānā̃(o)
sārā̃ bārṇā̃(o)

sārā chhokrā
sārā kārkhānā
sārā bārṇā
sārā andhārā
sārā̃ chhokrā̃(o)
sārā̃ kārkhānā̃(o)
sārā̃ bārṇā̃(o)

sāre kārkhāne

Fem. sārī chhokrī
sārī ṭopī
sārī bāṭlī
sārī vījḷī
sārī chhokrīo
sārī ṭopīo
sārī bāṭlīo

sārī chhokrī
sārī ṭopī
sārī bāṭlī
sārī vījḷī
sārī chhokrīo
sārī ṭopīo
sārī bāṭlīo

unM'd. Masc. sāro vichār
sāro rājā
sāro dhobī
sāro baraf
sārā vichāro
sārā rājāo
sārā dhobīo

sārā vichār
sārā rājā
sārā dhobī
sārā baraf
sārā vichāro
sārā rājāo
sārā dhobīo

Neut. sārũ ghar
sārũ bahen
sārũ medān
sārũ pāṇī
sārā̃ gharo
sārā̃ baheno
sārā̃ medāno

sārā ghar
sārā bahen
sārā medān
sārā pāṇī
sārā̃ gharo
sārā̃ baheno
sārā̃ medāno

Fem. sārī bābat
sārī niśāḷ
sārī bhāṣā
sārī bhakti
sārī bābato
sārī niśāḷo
sārī bhāṣāo

sārī bābat
sārī niśāḷ
sārī bhāṣā
sārī bhakti
sārī bābato
sārī niśāḷo
sārī bhāṣāo

Indeclinable adjective kharāb "bad" in attributive use
Nom. Obl./Voc. Loc.
Sg. Pl. Sg. Pl.
M'd. Masc. kharāb chhokro
kharāb ḍāgho
kharāb mahino
kharāb kacro
kharāb chhokrā(o)
kharāb ḍāghā(o)
kharāb mahinā(o)

kharāb chhokrā
kharāb ḍāghā
kharāb mahinā
kharāb kacrā
kharāb chhokrāo
kharāb ḍāghāo
kharāb mahināo


kharāb mahine
Neut. kharāb chhokrũ
kharāb kārkhānũ
kharāb bārṇũ
kharāb andhārũ
kharāb chhokrā̃(o)
kharāb kārkhānā̃(o)
kharāb bārṇā̃(o)

kharāb chhokrā
kharāb kārkhānā
kharāb bārṇā
kharāb andhārā
kharāb chhokrā̃(o)
kharāb kārkhānā̃(o)
kharāb bārṇā̃(o)

kharāb kārkhāne

Fem. kharāb chhokrī
kharāb ṭopī
kharāb bāṭlī
kharāb vījḷī
kharāb chhokrīo
kharāb ṭopīo
kharāb bāṭlīo

kharāb chhokrī
kharāb ṭopī
kharāb bāṭlī
kharāb vījḷī
kharāb chhokrīo
kharāb ṭopīo
kharāb bāṭlīo

unM'd. Masc. kharāb vicār
kharāb rājā
kharāb dhobī
kharāb baraf
kharāb vicāro
kharāb rājāo
kharāb dhobīo

kharāb vicār
kharāb rājā
kharāb dhobī
kharāb baraf
kharāb vicāro
kharāb rājāo
kharāb dhobīo

Neut. kharāb ghar
kharāb bahen
kharāb medān
kharāb pāṇī
kharāb gharo
kharāb baheno
kharāb medāno

kharāb ghar
kharāb bahen
kharāb medān
kharāb pāṇī
kharāb gharo
kharāb baheno
kharāb medāno

Fem. kharāb bābat
kharāb niśāḷ
kharāb bhāṣā
kharāb bhakti
kharāb bābato
kharāb niśāḷo
kharāb bhāṣāo

kharāb bābat
kharāb niśāḷ
kharāb bhāṣā
kharāb bhakti
kharāb bābato
kharāb niśāḷo
kharāb bhāṣāo

Comparatives and superlatives

Comparisons are made by using "than" (the postposition thī; see below) or "instead of" (nā kartā̃), and "more" (vadhu, vadhāre, etc.) or "less" (ochũ). The word for "more" is optional, while "less" is required, denoting that in the absence of either it's "more" than will be inferred.

Gujarati Literal Meaning
Gītā Gautamthī ū̃cī cheGita is tall than GautamGita is taller than Gautam
Gītā Gautam kartā̃ ū̃cī cheGita is tall instead of Gautam
Gītā Gautamthī vadhāre ū̃cī cheGita is more tall than Gautam
Gītā Gautamthī ochī ū̃cī cheGita is less tall than Gautam

In the absence of an object of comparison ("more" of course is now no longer optional):

Gujarati Literal Meaning
vadhu moṭo kūtroThe more big dogThe bigger dog
kūtro vadhu moṭo cheThe dog more big isThe dog is bigger

Superlatives are made through comparisons with "all" (sau).

Gujarati Literal Meaning
sauthī sāf orṛoThe clean than all roomThe cleanest room
orṛo sauthī sāf cheThe room is clean than allThe room is the cleanest

Or by leading with mā̃ "in" postpositioned to the same adjective.

Gujarati Literal Meaning
nīcāmā̃ nīcī chokrīThe short in the short girlThe shortest girl

Postpositions

The sparse Gujarati case system serves as a springboard for Gujarati's grammatically functional postpositions, which parallel English's prepositions. It is their use with a noun or verb that is what necessitates the noun or verb taking the oblique case. There are six, one-syllable primary postpositions. Orthographically, they are bound to the words they postposition.

Postpositions can postposition other postpositions. For example, થી (thī) (as "from") suffixing the two specific locatives can help to specify what type of "from" is meant (પરથી (parthī) "from off of", માંથી (mā̃thī) "from out of").

Beyond this are a slew of compound postpositions, composed of the genitive primary postposition નું (nũ) plus an adverb.

The genitive bit is often optionally omissible with nouns, though not with pronouns[10] (specifically, not with first and second person genitive pronouns, because, as will be seen, they have no outward, distinct, separable નું (nũ)).

Pronouns

Personal

Gujarati has personal pronouns for the first and second persons, while its third person system uses demonstrative bases, categorized deictically as proximate and distal.

The language has a T–V distinction in તું (tũ) and તમે (tame). The latter "formal" form is also grammatically plural. A similar distinction also exists when referring to someone in the third person.

Rare among modern Indo-Aryan languages, Gujarati has inclusive and exclusive we, આપણે (āpṇe) and અમે (ame).

Personal Demonstrative Relative Interrogative
1st pn. 2nd pn. 3rd pn.
Sg. Pl. Sg. &
Inf.
Pl./
Form.
Prox. Dist.
Inc. Exc. Inf. Form. Inf. Form. Inf. Form. Anim. Inan.
Sg. Pl. Sg. Pl. Sg. Pl.
Nominative હું hũઆપણે āpṇeઅમે ame તું tũતમે tame આ āઆઓ āoતે teતેઓ teo જે jeજેઓ jeoકોણ kɔṇશું śũ
Ergative મેં mɛ̃તેં tɛ̃આણે āṇeઆઓએ āoeઆમણે āmṇe તેણે tɛṇeતેઓએ teoeતેમણે tɛmṇeજેણે jɛṇeજેઓએ jeoeજેમણે jɛmṇeકોણે kɔṇe
Dative મને maneઆપણને āpaṇneઅમને amneતને taneતમને tamneઆને āneઆઓને āoneઆમને āmne તેને tɛneતેઓને teoneતેમને tɛmneજેને jɛneજેઓને jeoneજેમને jɛmneકોને kɔneશેને śɛne
Genitive મારું mārũઆપણું āpṇũઅમારું amārũ તારું tārũતમારું tamārũઆનું ānũઆઓનું āonũઆમનું āmnũ તેનું tɛnũતેઓનું teonũતેમનું tɛmnũજેનું jɛnũજેઓનું jeonũજેમનું jɛmnũકોનું kɔnũશેનું śɛnũ

Derivates

Interrogative Relative Demonstrative
Dist. Prox.
Time ક્યારે kyāreજ્યારે jyāre ત્યારે tyāreઅત્યારે atyāre
Place ક્યાં kyā̃જ્યાં jyā̃ ત્યાં tyā̃અહીં ahī̃
Quantity કેટલું keṭlũજેટલું jeṭlũ તેટલું teṭlũઆટલું āṭlũ
Size કેવડું kevṛũજેવડું jevṛũ તેવડું tevṛũઆવડું āvṛũ
Quality કેવું kevũજેવું jevũતેવું tevũઆવું āvũ
Manner કેમ kɛmજેમ jɛmતેમ tɛmઆમ ām

Verbs

Overview

The Gujarati verbal system is largely structured around a combination of aspect and tense/mood. Like the nominal system, the Gujarati verb involves successive layers of (inflectional) elements after the lexical base.[12]

Gujarati has 2 aspects: perfective and imperfective, each having overt morphological correlates. These are participle forms, inflecting for gender, number, and case by way of a vowel termination, like adjectives. The perfective forms from the verb stem, followed by -ય(y)-, capped off by the agreement vowel and the imperfective forms with -ત(t)-.

Derived from હોવું (hɔvũ) "to be" are five copula forms: present, subjunctive, past, contrafactual (aka "past conditional"), and presumptive. Used both in basic predicative/existential sentences and as verbal auxiliaries to aspectual forms, these constitute the basis of tense and mood.

Non-aspectual forms include the infinitive, the imperative, and the agentive. Mentioned morphological conditions such the subjunctive, contrafactual, etc. are applicable to both copula roots for auxiliary usage with aspectual forms and to non-copula roots directly for often unspecified (non-aspectual) finite forms.

Finite verbal agreement is with the nominative subject, except in the transitive perfective, where it is with the direct object, with the erstwhile subject taking the ergative construction -એ(e) (see postpositions above). The perfective aspect thus displays split ergativity. The infinitive's agreement is also with its direct object, if paired with one.

Tabled just below on the left are the paradigms for the major gender and number agreement termination (GN), nominative case. Oblique paradigms differ from those introduced in #Nouns, being either thoroughly -આ(ā) or આં(ā̃). Locative -એ(e) is found in attributive adjectival function only in fixed expressions. To the right are the paradigms for the person and number agreement termination (PN), used by the subjunctive and future. Yellow fields: -એ (e) following C, ઉ (u), ઊ (ū); -ઈ (ī) following ઓ (o), ઓ (ɔ); -ય (y) following આ (ā).

(GN) Sg. Pl.
Masc. -ઓ (o)-આ (ā)
Neut. -ઉં (ũ) -આં (ā̃)
Fem. -ઈ (ī)
(PN) Subj. Fut.
Sg. Pl. Sg. Pl.
1st -ઉં (ũ) -ઈએ (īe) -ઉં (ũ)
2nd -ઓ (o) -ઓ (o)
3rd -એ (e)

Forms

The example verb is intransitive hālvũ "to shake", with various sample inflections. Much of the below chart information derives from Masica (1991:300–302, 323–325).

Non-aspectual Aspectual
Non-finite
Inflection: neut. nom. sg.
(GN = ũ, the citation form).
Root *hāl
Infinitive/
Desiderative
*-v-GNhālvũ
Obl. Infinitive *-v-āhālvā
Conjunctive *-ī(ne)hālī(ne)
Agentive *-nār-GNhālnār(ũ)
Gerund/
Prospective/
Obligatory
*-v-ā-n-GNhālvānũ
Adjectivals. Inflection: neut. nom. sg. (GNC = ũ).
Perfective *-el-(GN)hālel(ũ)
Imperfective *-t-GNhāltũ
Adverbials. Obl. of adjectivals.
Perfective *-y-ā̃hālyā̃
Imperfective *-t-ā̃hāltā̃
Finite
Inflection: 2nd. pl.
(PN = o, Pron. = tame).
Contingent Future *-PNhālo
Definite Future *-(ī)ś-PNhālśo
Inflection: all forms.
2nd pn. 1st pn.
Sg. & Inf. Pl./Form. Pl.
Imperative hālhālohālīe
Future Imp. hāljehāljo
Aspectuals plotted against copulas.
Inflection: 3rd. masc. sg. (GN = o, PN = e, Pron. = te).
Perfective Imperfective
*-y-GN *-t-GN
Present ch-PN hālyo che hāle che
Subjunctive hɔ-PN hālyo hɔī hālto hɔī
Past ha-t-GN hālyo hato hālto hato
Contrafactual hɔ-t hālyo hɔt hālto hɔt
Presumptive ha-(ī)ś-PN hālyo haśe hālto haśe
Unspecified hālyo hālto
Unsp. Contra. *-(a)thālat

Notes

Aff ch-PN hɔ-PN ha-t-GN hɔ-t ha-(ī)ś-PN
Neg nathī na hɔ-PN na ha-t-GN na hɔ-t ha-(ī)ś-PN nahi na, nahi

Causatives

Gujarati causatives are morphologically contrastive. Verbs can be causativized up to two times, to a double causative.

Single

Causatives are made by two main schemes involving alteration of the root.[19]

or

If the causativization is of a transitive, then the secondary agent, whom the subject "causes to" or "gets to" do whatever, is marked by the postposition nī pāse.[20]

Double

Furthermore, that causative can be causativized again, for a double causative ("to cause to cause... "), with a possible tertiary agent.[21]

Passives

The passive has both periphrastic and morphological means of expression. The former has -mā̃ āvvũ postpositioned to infinitive; the latter has ā added to root, with certain phonological processes as work as well: if the root vowel is ā then it becomes a (See Gujarati phonology#ɑ-reduction) and if the root ends in a vowel then h or v is suffixed.[22] Thus lakhvũ "to write" → lakhvāmā āvvũ, lakhāvũ "to be written". The post-position thī marks the agent, As in other New Indo-Aryan languages, formation of passives is not restricted to transitive verbs and has a restricted domain of usage except in special registers.[23] Both intransitive and transitive may be grammatically passivized to show capacity, in place of compounding with the modal śakvũ "to be able". Lastly, intransitives often have a passive sense, or convey unintentional action.

Sample text

Original

પ્રતિષ્ઠા અને અધિકારોની દૃષ્ટિએ સર્વ માનવો જન્મથી સ્વતંત્ર અને સમાન હોય છે. તેમનામાં વિચારશક્તિ અને અંતઃકરણ હોય છે અને તેમણે પરસ્પર બંધુત્વની ભાવનાથી વર્તવું જોઈએ.

Transliteration

Pratiṣṭhā anē adikhārōnī dr̥ṣṭinē sarva mānavō janmathī svatantra anē samān hōy chē. Tēmnāmā̃ vicārśakti anē antaḥkaraṇ hōy chē anē tēmṇē paraspar bandhutvanī bhāvnāthī vartvũ jōiē.

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Other Sample Texts[24]

References

  1. (Dwyer 1995, pp. 65–66)
  2. (Dwyer 1995, p. 282)
  3. (Masica 1991, p. 213)
  4. (Masica 1991, p. 473)
  5. (Tisdall 1892, p. 27)
  6. (Masica 1991, p. 219)
  7. 1 2 (Dwyer 1995, p. 43)
  8. (Masica 1991, p. 78)
  9. (Dwyer 1995, pp. 320–321)
  10. (Masica 1991, p. 234)
  11. (Cardona & Suthar 2003, pp. 675–676)
  12. Masica (1991:257)
  13. (Masica 1991, p. 302)
  14. (Masica 1991, p. 269)
  15. (Dwyer 1995, p. 149)
  16. 1 2 3 (Cardona & Suthar 2003, p. 680)
  17. (Dwyer 1995, pp. 88–89)
  18. (Dwyer 1995, p. 90)
  19. (Dwyer 1995, pp. 304–306)
  20. (Dwyer 1995, p. 307)
  21. (Dwyer 1995, pp. 311–312)
  22. (Dwyer 1995, pp. 292–294)
  23. (Cardona & Suthar 2003, p. 686)
  24. Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Bibliography

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