Similar
features of the absence of concord, optional deletion of number markers,
absence of copula, etc., are found in Naga languages. For instance, in
Sema Naga (Sreedhar : 1982a : 99), concord in number-gender is absent.
|
| niye uwa1 |
‘I went’ |
| nikuzoye uwa |
‘we (dual) went’ |
| apu lakhino kipikamihu
kigae |
a boy caught the
robber’ |
| apuquo kipikamihu kigae |
‘the boys caught the
robber’ |
| apuqo kipikamiqohu kigae |
‘the boys caught the
robbers’ |
| li akilo wu |
‘she went inside the
house’ |
| pa akilo wu |
‘he went inside the
house’ |
| panonu akilo wu |
‘they went inside the
house’,etc. |
|
|
| ilimi tipaqoye akipici |
‘those girls are lazy’ |
| 1
2 3 4 5 |
|
|
(lit. girl that plural
focus |
|
1 2
3 4 |
|
marker lazy) |
|
5 |
| ilimoqo |
‘girls’ |
| ilimikutamo |
‘many girls’ |
| 1
2 |
2 1 |
| ilimi kini |
‘two girls’ etc. |
| NP NP type of sentence : |
|
| hiye aci lakhi |
‘this is a dog’ |
| 1
2 3 |
1
3 2 |
|
The NP NP type of sentence
without a coupula is a regular feature with the Dravidian languages
except Malayalam; Assamese also has copula less sentences. With this
background information regarding the simplified feature found in
different Indian languages, we could look at the features in Assamese
(Source language) along with the features of the Naga languages on the
one hand, and the Naga Pidgin, on the other. Examples are given only for
the grammatical features occurring in the nouns.
|
|
Number:
|
Assamese shows a three-way
opposition in number, viz., singular, dual and plural. Some of the Naga
languages also show this three-way opposition in number (earlier cited
example from Sema), whereas
1For ease of printing, tones are not marked,
Sema has three way opposition in tones. Some phonemes like close
unrounded. central vowel and voiced velar fricative etc. are replaced by
the nearest symbol available on typewriters. |
the Naga
Pidgin shows only a two-way opposition, viz., singular and plural. In
Assamese there are six markers to indicate plurality. These are : bor,
bilak, hot, lak, mokha and kokhol. These markers are conditioned both
phonologically and morphologically. Naga Pidgin has two markers, viz.,
bilak and khan, the former occurring with the nouns and the latter with
the pronouns. The plural marker khan occurring with the pronouns does
not occur in Assamese. What is common in both is that the plural marker
is deleted when the context indicates the plurality e.g.,
|
|
Assamese |
|
|
manuh1
‘man’ :
manubor ‘men’ |
|
but b«hut
manuh ‘many men’ : duta manuha ‘two men’ etc. |
|
Naga Pidgin |
|
|
manu ‘man’
: manubilak ‘men’ |
|
behut manu ‘many men’ : ‘duy
manu ‘two men’ etc. |
|
Case:
|
Assamese does not have a
grammatical gender1. The gender of an object is
indicated in three different ways, viz., (i) by a qualifying term, for
instance maiki ‘female’ or mota ‘male’ is proposed to a noun,
(ii) by using different lexical items and (iii) by suffixing a few
feminine gender marker to the male form of the noun. The Naga FprPidgin
uses only the first two devices, for instance:
Assamese
|
Naga Pidgin
|
|
| ezoni maiki manuh |
mayki ekta |
‘one woman’ |
| (lit. one female man) |
(female one) |
|
| ezone manuh |
manu ekta |
‘one man’ |
| mota kukura |
kukura/murga |
‘cock’ |
| (lit.male fowl) |
|
|
| maiki kukura |
mayki kukura/murgi |
‘hen’ |
| deuta/pitadeu |
bap |
‘father’ |
| bou/ma |
ay |
mother’ etc. |
|
|
Case:
|
The Assamese shows seven way
opposition in case relationship. These are: nominative zero/e,
accusative zero/k, dative loi/k, genitive-r, locative-t, ablative pora,
and instrumental-re, e.g.
nom. ram khai ‘Ram eats’ (the nominative is marked only when the verb is in the transitive construction).
1For ease of typing and printing certain vowels
occurring in Assamese are symbolized here by the nearest one available
on typewriters. The Assamese examples are cited from: ‘The Grammatical
Sketches of Indian Languages’ compiler R.C.Nigam, Language monograph
series (1961), Census of India 1971. |
|
|
|
