Gujarati
From Britannica 11th Edition (1911) Gujarati and RAJASTHANI, the names of two members of the western sub-group of the Intermediate Group of Indo-Aryan languages (q.v.). The remaining member of this sub-group is Panjabi or Punjabi (see Hindostani). In 1901 the speakers of those now dealt with numbered: Gujarati, 9,439,925, and Rajasthani, 10,917,712. The two languages are closely connected and might almost be termed co-dialects of the same form of speech. Together they occupy an almost square block of country, some 400 m. broad, reaching from near Agra and Delhi on the river Jumna to the Arabian Sea. Gujarati (properly Gujarātī) is spoken in Gujarat, the northern maritime province of the Bombay Presidency, and also in Baroda and the native states adjoining. Rajasthani (properly Rājasthānī, from “Rājasthān,” the native name for Rajputana) is spoken in Rajputana and the adjoining parts of Central India.
In the articles Indo-Aryan Languages and Prakrit the history of the earlier stages of the Indo-Aryan vernaculars is given at some length. It is there shown that, from the most ancient times, there were two main groups of these forms of speech—one, the language of the Midland, spoken in the country near the Gangetic Doab, and the other, the so-called “Outer Band,” containing the Midland on three sides, west, north and south. The country to the west and south-west of the Midland, in which this outer group of languages was spoken, included the modern Punjab, Rajputana and Gujarat. In process of time the population of the Midland expanded and carried its language to its new homes. It occupied the eastern and central Punjab, and the mixed (or “intermediate”) language which there grew up became the modern Panjabi. To the west it spread into Rajputana, till its progress was stopped by the Indian desert, and in Rajputana another intermediate language took rise and became Rajasthani. As elsewhere explained, the language-wave of the Midland exercised less and less influence as it travelled farther from its home, so that, while in eastern Rajputana the local dialect is now almost a pure midland speech, in the west there are many evident traces of the old outer language still surviving. To the south-west of Rajputana there was no desert to stop the wave of Midland expansion, which therefore rolled on unobstructed into Gujarat, where it reached the sea. Here the survivals of the old outer language are stronger still. The old outer Prakrit of north Gujarat was known as “Saurāṣṭrī,” while the Prakrit of the Midland invaders was called “Śaurasēnī,” and we may therefore describe Gujarati as being an intermediate language derived (as explained in the articles Prakrit) from a mixture of the Apabhramśa forms of Saurāṣṭrī and Śaurasēnī, in which the latter predominated.
It will be observed that, at the present day, Gujarati breaks the continuity of the outer band of Indo-Aryan languages. To its north it has Sindhi and to its south Marathi, both outer languages with which it has only a slight connexion. On the other hand, on the east and north-east it has Rajasthani, into which it merges so gradually and imperceptibly that at the conventional border-line, in the state of Palanpur, the inhabitants of Rajputana say that the local dialect is a form of Gujarati, while the inhabitants of Gujarat say that it is Rajasthani.
Gujarati has no important local dialects, but there is considerable variation in the speeches of different classes of the community. Parsees and Mussulmans (when the latter use the language—as a rule the Gujarat Mussulmans speak Hindostani) have some striking peculiarities of pronunciation, Language. the most noticeable of which is the disregard by the latter of the distinction between cerebral and dental letters. The uneducated Hindus do not pronounce the language in the same way as their betters, and this difference is accentuated in northern Gujarat, where the lower classes substitute ē for ī, c for k, ch for kh, s for c and ch, h for s, and drop h as readily as any cockney. There is also (as in the case of the Mussulmans) a tendency to confuse cerebral and dental consonants, to substitute r for ḍ and l, to double medial consonants, and to pronounce the letter ā as å, something like the a in “all.” The Bhils of the hills east of Gujarat also speak a rude Gujarati, with special dialectic peculiarities of their own, probably due to the fact that the tribes are of Dravidian origin. These Bhil peculiarities are further mixed with corruptions of Marathi idioms in Nimar and Khandesh, where we have almost a new language.
Rajasthani has numerous dialects, each state claiming one or more of its own. Thus, in the state of Jaipur there have been catalogued no less than ten dialects among about 1,688,000 people. All Rajasthani dialects can, however, be easily classed in four well-defined groups, a north-eastern, a southern, a western and an east-central. The north-eastern (Mēwātī) is that form of Rajasthani which is merging into the Western Hindi of the Midland. It is a mixed form of speech, and need not detain us further. Similarly, the southern (Mālvī) is much mixed with the neighbouring Bundēlī form of Western Hindi. The western (Mārwāṛī) spoken in Marwar and its neighbourhood, and the east-central (Jaipurī) spoken in Jaipur and its neighbourhood, may be taken as the typical Rajasthani dialects. In the following paragraphs we shall therefore confine ourselves to Gujarati, Marwari and Jaipuri.
We know more about the ancient history of Gujarati than we do about that of any other Indo-Aryan language. The one native grammar of Apabhraṁśa Prakrit which we possess in a printed edition, was written by Hēmacandra (12th century A.D.), who lived in what is now north Gujarat, and who naturally described most fully the particular vernacular with which he was personally familiar. It was known as the Nāgara Apabhraṁśa, closely connected (as above explained) with Śaurasēnī, and was so named after the Nāgara Brahmans of the locality. These men carried on the tradition of learning inherited from Hēmacandra, and we see Gujarati almost in the act of taking birth in a work called the Mugdhāvabōdhamauktika, written by one of them only two hundred years after his death. Formal Gujarati literature is said to commence with the poet Narsingh Mētā in the 15th century. Rajasthani literature has received but small attention from European or native scholars, and we are as yet unable to say how far back the language goes.
Both Gujarati and Rajasthani are usually written in current scripts related to the well-known Nāgarī alphabet (see Sanskrit). The form employed in Rajputana is known all over northern India as the “Mahājanī” alphabet, being used by bankers or Mahājans, most of whom are Marwaris. It is noteworthy as possessing two distinct characters for ḍ and ṛ. The Gujarati character closely resembles the Kaithī character of northern India (see Bihari). The Nāgarī character is also freely used in Rajputana, and to a less extent in Gujarat, where it is employed by the Nāgara Brahmans, who claim that their tribe has given the alphabet its name.
In the following description of the main features of our two languages, the reader is presumed to be familiar with the leading facts stated in the articles Indo-Aryan Languages and Prakrit. The article Hindostani may also be perused with advantage.
(Abbreviations. Skr. = Sanskrit. Pr. = Prakrit. Ap. = Apabhraṁśa. G. = Gujarātī. R. = Rājasthānī. H. = Hindōstāanī.)
Vocabulary.—The vocabulary of both Gujarat and Rajasthani is very free from tatsama words. The great mass of both vocabularies is tadbhava (see Indo-Aryan Languages). Rajputana was from an early period brought into close contact with the Mogul court at Agra and Delhi, and even in the 13th century A.D. official documents of the Rajput princes contained many borrowed Persian and Arabic words. Gujarati, under the influence of the learned Nāgara Brahmans, has perhaps more tatsama words than Rajasthani, but their employment is not excessive. On the other hand, Parsees and Mussulmans employ Persian and Arabic words with great freedom; while, owing to its maritime connexions, the language has also borrowed occasional words from other parts of Asia and from Europe. This is specially marked in the strange dialect of the Kathiawar boatmen who travel all over the world as lascars on the great steamships. Their language is a mixture of Hindostani and Gujarati with a heterogeneous vocabulary.
Phonetics.—With a few exceptions to be mentioned below, the sound-system of the two languages is the same as that of Sanskrit, and is represented in the same manner in the Roman character (see Sanskrit). The simplest method for considering the subject in regard to Gujarati is to compare it with the phonetical system of Hindostani (q.v.). As a rule, Rajasthani closely follows Gujarati and need not be referred to except in special cases. G. invariably simplifies a medial Pr. double consonant, lengthening the preceding vowel in compensation. Thus Skr. mrakṣaṇam, Ap. makkhaṇu, H. makkhan, but G. mākhaṇ, butter. In H. this rule is generally observed, but in G. it is universal, while, on the other hand, in Panjabi the double consonant is never simplified, but is retained as in Ap. In G. (and sometimes in R.) when a is followed by h it is changed to e, as in H. shahr, G. śeher, a city. As in other outer languages H. ai and au are usually represented by a short e and by å (sounded like the a in “all”) respectively. Thus H. baiṭhā. G. beṭhō, seated; H. cauthā, G. cåthō (written cōthō), fourth. In R. this e is often further weakened to the sound of a in “man,” a change which is also common in Bengali. Many words which have i in H. have a in G. and R., thus, H. likhē, G. lakhē, he writes; H. din, G. and R. dan, a day. Similarly we have a for u, as in H. tum, G., R. tamē, you. In colloquial G. ā often becomes ả, and ī becomes ē; thus, pảṇī for pāṇī, water; mārēs for mārīs, I shall strike. As in most Indo-Aryan vernaculars an a after an accented syllable is very lightly pronounced, and is here represented by a small a above the line.
The Vedic cerebral l and the cerebral ṇ are very common as medial letters in both G. and R. (both being unknown to literary H.). The rule is, as elsewhere in western and southern intermediate and outer languages, that when n and l represent a double ṇṇ (or nn) or a double ll in Pr. they are dental, but when they represent single medial letters they are cerebralized. Thus Ap. soṇṇaũ, G. sōnũ, gold; Ap. ghaṇaũ, G. ghaṇũ, dense; Ap. callai, G. cālē, he goes; Ap. calai, G. caḷē, he moves. In northern G. and in some caste dialects dental and cerebral letters are absolutely interchangeable, as in ḍāhadō or dahāḍō, a day; tũ or ṭũ, thou; dīdhō or dīḍhō, given. In G. and R. medial ḍ is pronounced as a rough cerebral ṛ, and is then so transcribed. We have seen that in the Marwari alphabet there are actually distinct letters for these two sounds. In colloquial G. c and ch are pronounced s, especially in the north, as in pẵs for pẵc, five; pusyō for puchyō, he asked. Similarly, in the north, j and jh become z, as in zāḍ for jhāḍ, a tree. In some localities (as in Marathi) we have ts and dz for these sounds, as in Tsarōtar (name of a tract of country) for Carōtar. On the other hand, k, kh and g, especially when preceded or followed by i, e or y, become in the north c, ch and j respectively; thus, dicarō for dikarō, a son; chētar for khētar, a field; lājyō for lāgyō, begun. A similar change is found in dialectic Marathi, and is, of course, one of the commonplaces of the philology of the Romance languages. The sibilants s and ś are colloquially pronounced h (as in several outer languages), especially in the north. Thus dēh for dēś, a country; hũ for śũ, what; hamajāvyō for samajāvyō, he explained. An original aspirate is, however, often dropped, as in ’ũ for hũ, I; ’ātē for hāthē, on the hand. Standard G. is at the same time fond of pronouncing an h where it is not written, as in amē, we, pronounced ahmē. In other respects both G. and R. closely agree in their phonetical systems with the Apabhraṁśa form of Śaurasēnī Prakrit from which the Midland language is derived.
Declension.—Gujarati agrees with Marathi (an outer language) as against Hindostani in retaining the neuter gender of Sanskrit and Prakrit. Moreover, the neuter gender is often employed to indicate living beings of which the sex is uncertain, as in the case of dikarũ, a child, compared with dikarō, a son, and dikarī, a daughter. In R. there are only sporadic instances of the neuter, which grow more and more rare as we approach the Midland. Nouns in both G. and R. may be weak or strong as is fully explained in the article Hindostani. We have there seen that the strong form of masculine nouns in Western Hindi generally ends in au, the ā of words like the Hindostani ghōṛā, a horse, being an accident due to the fact that the Hindostani dialect of Western Hindi borrows this termination from Panjabi. G. and R. follow Western Hindi, for their masculine strong forms end in ō. Feminine strong forms end in ī as elsewhere. Neuter strong forms in G. end in ũ, derived as follows: Skr, svarṇakam, Ap. soṇṇaũ, G. sōnũ, gold. As an example of the three genders of the same word we may take G. chōkarō (masc.), a boy; chōkarī (fem.), a girl; chōkarũ (neut.), a child. Long forms corresponding to the Eastern Hindi ghoṛawā, a horse, are not much used, but we not infrequently meet another long form made by suffixing the pleonastic termination ḍō or ṛō (fem. ḍī or ṛī; G. neut. ḍũ or ṛũ) which is directly descended from the Ap. pleonastic termination ḍaü, ḍaī, ḍaũ. We come across this most often in R., where it is used contemptuously, as in Turuk-ṛō, a Turk.
In the article Hindostani it is shown that all the oblique cases of each number in Sanskrit and Prakrit became melted down in the modern languages into one general oblique case, which, in the Midland, is derived in the singular from the Ap. termination -hi or -hĩ, and that even this has survived only in the case of strong masculine nouns; thus, ghōṛā, obl. ghōṛē. In G. and R. this same termination has also survived, but for all nouns as the case sign of the agent and locative cases. The general oblique case is the same as the nominative, except in the case of strong masculine and neuter nouns in ō and ũ respectively, where it ends in ā, not ē. This ā-termination is characteristic of the outer band of languages, and is one of the survivals already referred to. It is derived from the Apabhraṁśa genitive form in -aha, corresponding to the Māgadhī Pr. (an outer Prakrit) termination -āha. Thus, G. chōkarō, a son; chōkarũ, a child; obl. sing. chōkarā.
In G. the nominative and oblique plural for all nouns are formed by adding ō to the oblique form singular, but in the neuter strong forms the oblique singular is nasalized. The real plural is the same in form as the oblique singular in the case of masculines, and as a nasalized oblique singular in the case of neuter strong forms, as in other modern Indo-Aryan vernaculars, and the added ō is a further plural termination (making a double plural, exactly as it does in the Ardhamāgadhī Prakrit puttā-ō, sons) which is often dropped. The nasalization of the strong neuter plurals is inherited from Ap., in which the neuter nom. plural of such nouns ended in -aāĩ In R. the nominative plural of masculine nouns is the same in form as the oblique case singular, and the oblique plural ends in ẫ. The feminine has ẫ both in the nominative and in the oblique plural. These are all explained in the article Hindostani. We thus get the following paradigms of the declension of nouns.
| Apabhraṁśa. | Gujarati. | Rajasthani. | |
| Strong Noun Masc.— | |||
| ”A horse.” Sing. Nom. | ghōḍaũ | ghōḍō | ghōḍō |
| Obl. | ghōḍaaha | ghōḍā | ghōḍā |
| Ag.-Loc. | ghōḍaahi | ghōḍē, ghōḍāē | ghōḍai |
| Plur. Nom. | ghōḍaā | ghōḍā-ō | ghōḍā |
| Obl. | ghōḍaāhā | ghōḍā-ō | ghōḍẫ |
| Ag.-Loc. | ghōḍaahĩ | ghōḍā-ō-ē | ghōḍẫ |
| Strong Noun Neut.— | |||
| ”Gold.” Sing. Nom. | soṇṇaũ | sōnũ | .. |
| Obl. | soṇṇaaha | sōnā | .. |
| Ag.-Loc. | soṇṇaahi | sōnē, sōnāē | .. |
| Plur. Nom. | soṇṇaāĩ | sōnē | .. |
| Obl. | soṇṇaāhā | sōnẫ-ō | .. |
| Ag.-Loc. | soṇṇaahĩ | sōnẫ-ō-ē | .. |
| Strong Noun Fem.— | |||
| ”A mare.” Sing. Nom. | ghōḍiā | ghōḍī | ghōḍī |
| Obl. | ghōḍiahi | ghōḍī | ghōḍī |
| Ag.-Loc. | ghōḍiae | ghōḍīē | ghōḍī |
| Plur. Nom. | ghōḍiā-ō | ghōḍī-ō | ghōḍyẫ |
| Obl. | ghōḍiahu | ghōḍī-ō | ghōḍyẫ |
| Ag.-Loc. | ghōḍiahĩ | ghōḍī-ō-ē | ghōḍyẫ |
| Weak Noun Masc. or Neut.— | |||
| ”A house.” Sing. Nom. | gharu (neut.) | ghar | ghar |
| Obl. | gharaha | ghar | ghar |
| Ag.-Loc. | gharahi | gharē | gharai |
| Plur. Nom. | gharāĩ | ghar-ō | ghar |
| Obl. | gharāhā | ghar-ō | gharẫ |
| Ag.-Loc. | gharahĩ | ghar-ō-ē | gharẫ |
| Weak Noun Fem.— | |||
| ”A word.” Sing. Nom. | vattā | wāt | bāt |
| Obl. | vattahi | wāt | bāt |
| Ag.-Loc. | vattae | wātē | bāt |
| Plur. Nom. | vattā-ō | wāt-ō | bātẫ |
| Obl. | vattahu | wāt-ō | bātẫ |
| Ag.-Loc. | vattahĩ | wāt-ō-ē | bātẫ |
The general oblique case can be employed for any case except the nominative, but, in order to define the meaning, it is customary to add postpositions as in Hindostani. These are:
| Genitive. | Dative. | Ablative. | Locative. | |
| Gujarati | nō | nē | thī | mẫ |
| Rajasthani | rō, kō | nai, rai, kai | sũ | maī |
The suffix nō of the genitive is believed to be a contraction of taṇō, which is found in old Gujarati poetry, and which, under the form tanas in Sanskrit and taṇaü in Apabhraṁśa, mean “belonging to.” It is an adjective, and agrees in gender, number and case with the thing possessed. Thus, rājā-nō dikarō, the king’s son; rājā-nī dikarī, the king’s daughter; rājā-nũ ghar, the king’s house; rājā-nā dikarā-nē, to the king’s son (nā is in the oblique case masculine to agree with dikarā); rājā-nē gharē, in the king’s house. The rō and kō of R. are similarly treated, but, of course, have no neuter. The dative postpositions are simply locatives of the genitive ones, as in all modern Indo-Aryan languages (see Hindostani). Thī, the postposition of the G. ablative, is connected with thawũ, to be, one of the verbs substantive in that language. The ablative suffix is made in this way in many modern Indo-Aryan languages (e.g. Bengali, q.v.). It means literally “having been” and is to be ultimately referred to the Sanskrit root, sthā, stand. The derivation of the other postpositions is discussed in the article Hindostani.
Strong adjectives agree with the nouns they qualify in gender, number and case, as in the examples of the genitive above. Weak adjectives are immutable.
Pronouns closely agree with those found in Hindostani. In the table on following page we give the first two personal pronouns, and the demonstrative pronoun “this.”
Similarly are formed the remaining pronouns, viz. G. ā, R. ũ, he, that; G. tē, R. sō (obl. sing. tĩ), that; G. jē, R. jō, who; G. kảṇ (obl. kảṇ, kō, or kē), R. kuṇ (obl. kuṇ), who?; G. śũ, R. kẵĩ, what?; G., R. kōī, anyone, someone, kāĩ anything, something. G. has two other demonstratives, pēlō and ōlyō, both meaning “that.” The derivation of these and of śũ has been discussed without any decisive result. The rest are explained in the article Hindostani. The reflexive pronoun is G. āpaṇē, R. āpẫ. It is generally employed as a plural of the first personal pronoun including the person addressed; thus G. āpaṇē, we (including you), but amē, we (excluding you). In G. pōtē, obl. pōtā, is used to mean “self.”
| Apabhraṁśa. | Gujarati. | Rajasthani. | ||
| i | Nom. | haũ | hũ | hũ, mhũ, maī |
| Obl. | maĩ, mahu, majjhu | ma, maj | ma, mha, mũ | |
| my | mahāraü | mārō | mārō, mhārō | |
| we | Nom. | amhē | amē | mhē |
| Obl. | amhahã | am-ō | mhẫ | |
| our | amhāraü | amārō | mhẫ-rō, mhẫ-kō | |
| thou | Nom. | tuhũ | tũ | tũ |
| Obl. | taĩ, tuha, tujjhu | ta, tuj | ta, tha, tũ | |
| thy | tuhāraü | tārō | thārō | |
| you | Nom. | tumhē | tamē | thē, tamē |
| Obl. | tumhahã | tam-ō | thẫ, tamẫ | |
| your | tumhāraü | tamārō | thẫ-rō, thẫ-kō | |
| this, he | Nom. | ēho | ē | yō |
| Obl. | (?) ēhaha, imaha | ē | ĩ | |
| these, they | Nom. | ēi | ē-ō | ē, yē |
| Obl. | ēammi, ēhāṇa | em | iṇẫ, yẫ. | |
Conjugation.—The old present has survived as in Hindostani and other Indian languages. Taking the base call or caḷ, go, as our model, we have:
| Apabhraṁśa. | Gujarati. | Rajasthani. | ||
| Sing. | 1 | callaũ | cālũ | caḷũ |
| 2 | callahi | cālē | caḷai | |
| 3 | callai | cālē | caḷai | |
| Plur. | 1 | callahũ | cālīē | caḷẫ |
| 2 | callahu | cālō | caḷō | |
| 3 | callahĩ | cālē | caḷai | |
The derivation of the G. 1 plural is unknown. That of the other G. and R. forms is manifest. The imperative closely follows this, but as usual has no termination in the second person singular.
In R. the future may be formed by adding gō (cf. Hindostani gā), lō, or lā to the old present. Thus, caḷũ-gō, caḷũ-lo or calũ-lā I shall go. The gō and lō agree in gender and number with the subject, but lā is immutable. The termination with l is also found in Bhojpuri (see Bihari), in Marathi and in Nepali. For gō see Hindostani. Another form of the future has s or h for its characteristic letter, and is the only one employed in G. Thus, Ap. callisaũ or callihaũ, G. cālīś, R. (Jaipuri) caḷasyũ, (Marwari) caḷahũ. The other personal terminations differ considerably from those of the old present, and closely follow Ap. Thus, Ap. 3 sing. callisai or callihi, G. cālaśē, Marwari caḷahī.
The participles and infinitive are as follows:
| Apabhraṁśa. | Gujarati. | Rajasthani. | |
| Pres. Part. Active | callantau | cālatō | caḷatō |
| Past. Part. Passive | calliau | cālyō | caḷyō |
| Future Part. Passive | calliavvau | cālavō | caḷabō |
| Infinitive | .. | cālavũ | caḷabō |
In G. the infinitive is simply the neuter of the future passive participle. The participles are employed to form finite tenses; thus G. hũ cālatō, I used to go; hũ cālyō, I went. If the verb is transitive (see Hindostani) the passive meaning of the past participle comes into force. The subject is put into the case of the agent, and the participle inflects to agree with the object, or, if there is no object, is employed impersonally in the neuter (in G.) or in the masculine (in R.). In Hindostani, if the object is expressed in the dative, the participle is also employed impersonally, in the masculine; thus rājā-nē shērnī-kō mārā (masc.), not mārī, (fem.), by-the-king, with reference-to-the-tigress, it-(impersonal)-was-killed, i.e. the king killed the tigress. But in G. and R., even if the object is in the dative, the past participle agrees with it; thus, G. rājāē wāghaṇ-nē mārī, by-the-king, with-reference-to-the-tigress, she-was-killed. Other examples from G. of this passive construction are mẽ kahyũ, by me it was said, I said; tēṇē ciṭṭhī lakhī, by him a letter was written, he wrote a letter; ē bāīē vagaḍā-mẫ, dahāḍā kāḍyā, by this lady, in the wilderness, days were passed, i.e. she passed her days in the wilderness; rājāē vicāryũ, the king considered. The idiom of R. is exactly the same in these cases, except that the masculine must be used where G. has the neuter; thus, rājāai vicāryo. The future passive participle is construed in much the same way, but (as in Latin) the subject may be put into the dative. Thus, mārē ā cåpaḍī vẫcavī, mihi ille liber (est) legendus, I must read that book, but also tēṇē (agent case) ē kām karavũ, by him this business is to be done.
G. also forms a past participle in ēlō (cālēlō), which is one of the many survivals of the outer language. This -l- participle is typical of most of the languages of the outer band, including Marathi, Oriya, Bengali, Bihari and Assamese. It is formed by the addition of the Prakrit pleonastic suffix -illa-, which was not used by the Prakrit of the Midland, but was common elsewhere. Compare, for instance, the Ardhamāgadhī past participle passive āṇ-illia-, brought.
The usual verbs substantive are as follows: G. chũ, R. hũ or chũ, I am, which are conjugated regularly as old presents, and G. hatō, R. hō or chō, was, which is a past participle, like the Hindostani (q.v.) thā. Hũ, hatō and hō are explained in the article on that language. Chũ is for Skr. ṙcchāmi, Ap. acchaũ. The use of this base is one of the outer band survivals. Even in Prakrit, it is not found (so far as the present writer is aware) in the Śaurasēnī of the Midland. Using these as auxiliaries the finite verb makes a whole series of periphrastic tenses. A present definite is formed by conjugating the old present tense (not the present participle) with the present tense of the verb substantive. Thus, G. cālũ chũ, I am going. A similar idiom is found in some Western Hindi dialects, but Hindostani employs the present participle; thus, caltā hũ. In G. and R., however, the imperfect is formed with the present participle as in H. Thus, G. hũ cālatō hatō, I was going. So, as in H., we have a perfect hũ cālyō (or cālēlō) chũ, I have gone, and a pluperfect hũ cālyō (or cālēlō) hatō, I had gone. The R. periphrastic tenses are made on the same principles. With the genitive of the G. future passive participle, cālavā-nō, we have a kind of gerundive, as in hũ cālavānō chũ, I am to be gone, i.e. I am about to go; hũ cālavānō hatō, I was about to go.
The same series of derivative verbs occurs in G. and R. as in H. Thus, we have a potential passive (a simple passive in G.) formed by adding ā to the base, as in G. lakhavũ, to write, lakhāvũ, to be written; and a causal by adding āv or āḍ, as in lakhāvavũ, to cause to write; besavũ, to sit, besāḍavũ, to seat. A new passive may be formed in G. from the causal, as in tapavũ, to be hot; tapāvavũ, to cause to be hot; to heat; tapāvāvũ, to be heated.
Several verbs have irregular past participles. These must be learnt from the grammars. So also the numerous compound verbs, such as (G.) cālī śakavũ, to be able to go; cālī cukavũ, to have completed going; cālyā karavũ, to be in the habit of going, and so on.
Very little is known about the literature of Rajputana, except that it is of large extent. It includes a number of bardic chronicles of which only one has been partially edited, but the contents of which have been described by Tod in his admired Rajasthan. It also includes a considerable religious Literature. literature, but the whole mass of this is still in MS. From those specimens which the present writer has examined, it would appear that most of the authors wrote in Braj Bhasha, the Hindu literary dialect of Hindostani (q.v.) In Marwar it is an acknowledged fact that the literature falls into two branches, one called Pingal and couched in Braj Bhasha, and the other called Ḍingal and couched in Rajasthani. The most admired work in Ḍingal is the Raghunāth Rũpak written by Mansā Rām in the beginning of the 19th century. It is nominally a treatise on prosody, but, like many other works of the same kind, it contrives to pay a double debt, for the examples of the metres are so arranged as to form a complete epic poem celebrating the deeds of the hero Rāma.
The earliest writer of importance in Gujarati, and its most admired poet, was Narsingh Mētā, who lived in the 15th century A.D. Before him there were writers on Sanskrit grammar, rhetoric and the like, who employed an old form of Gujarati for their explanations. Narsingh does not appear to have written any considerable work, his reputation depending on his short songs, many of which exhibit much felicity of diction. He had several successors, all admittedly his inferiors. Perhaps the most noteworthy of these was Rēwā Śankar, the translator of the Mahābhārata (see Sanskrit: Literature). A more important side of Gujarati literature is its bardic chronicles, the contents of which have been utilized by Forbes in his Rās Mālā. Modern Gujarati literature mostly consists of translations or imitations of English works.
Authorities.—Volume ix. of the Linguistic Survey of India contains a full and complete account of Gujarati and Rajasthani, including their various dialectic forms.
For Rajasthani, see S. H. Kellogg, Grammar of the Hindi Language (2nd ed., London, 1893). In this are described several dialects of Rajasthani. See also Rām Karṇ Śarmā, Mārwāṛi Vyākaraṇa (Jodhpur, 1901) (a Marwari grammar written in that language), and G. Macalister, Specimens of the Dialects spoken in the State of Jaipur (contains specimens, vocabularies and grammars) (Allahabad, 1898).
For Gujarati, there are numerous grammars, amongst which we may note W. St C. Tisdall, Simplified Grammar of the Gujarati Language (London, 1892) and (the most complete) G. P. Taylor, The Student’s Gujarati Grammar (2nd ed., Bombay, 1908). As for dictionaries, the most authoritative is the Narma-kōś of Narmadā Śankar (Bhaunagar and Surat, 1873), in Gujarati throughout. For English readers we may mention Shahpurji Edalji’s (2nd ed., Bombay, 1868), the introduction to which contains an account of Gujarati literature by J. Glasgow, Belsare’s (Ahmedabad, 1895), and Karbhari’s (Ahmedabad, 1899).
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