Grammar basics in Konkani

ayk aamcigalaw

2021-06-01 21:25 (updated 2021-06-17 22:45)

In this post, we consider the basic elements of grammar such as sentence structure and the forms taken by nouns and pronouns.

In aamci [1], sentences normally take the structure subject – object – verb. This is a general rule of thumb rather than one that is rigidly followed.

The subjects and objects are nouns or pronouns, and of course there will typically be adjectives, adverbs, prepositions and so on sprinkled into sentences.

Subject pronouns

Subject pronouns represent the doer of an action (verb) and are usually in what's called the nominative case, and these are illustrated in the following table:

Person	Singular	Plural
First	haanhvanh (I)	aammi (we)
Second	toonh (you)	tummi (you)
Third (M)	taw (he)	teenh (they) [2]
Third (F)	tee (she)
Third (N)	tAnh (it)

Some simple examples:

English	Konkani
I sit	haanhvanh basstaanh
You sit	toonh basstaa
He sits	taw basstaa
She sits	tee basstaa
It sits	tAnh basstaa
We sit	aammi basstaati
Y'all sit	tummi basstaati
They sit	teenh basstaati

In the simple past tense with verbs that take an object, the pronouns used change slightly to form what might be called an instrumental case:

Person	Singular	Plural
First	haanhvAnh (I)	aammi (we)
Second	toonhAnh (you)	tummi (you)
Third (M)	taannA (he)	taanni (they)
Third (F)	tinnA (she)
Third (N)	taannA (it)

Some simple examples of this:

English	Konkani
I caught him	haanhvAnh taakkaa dharlaw
You caught him	toonhAnh taakkaa dharlaw
He caught him	taannA taakkaa dharlaw
She caught him	tinnA taakkaa dharlaw
It caught him	taannA taakkaa dharlaw
We caught him	aammi taakkaa dharlaw
Y'all caught him	tummi taakkaa dharlaw
They caught him	taanni taakkaa dharlaw

It's also common to have the subject be described using what might be called the accusative case or the dative case, and these forms are illustrated in the following table.

Person	Singular	Plural
First	maakkaa (to me)	aamkaa (to us)
Second	tukkaa (to you)	tumkaa (to you)
Third (M)	taakkaa (to him)	taankaa (to them)
Third (F)	tikkaa (to her)
Third (N)	taakkaa (to it)

Examples of this:

English	Konkani
I can see	maakkaa disstaa
You can see	tukkaa disstaa
He can see	taakkaa disstaa
She can see	tikkaa disstaa
It can see	taakkaa disstaa
We can see	aamkaa disstaa
Y'all can see	tumkaa disstaa
They can see	taankaa disstaa

It sort of makes sense to use this form with certain verbs – for example, while looking is active, seeing is passive; it sort of happens to you because of things impinging on your sense of sight.

Possessive pronouns

Possessive pronouns take the following forms, which depend upon the gender of the possessed object:

Masculine object

Person	Singular	Plural
First	magalaw (mine)	aamgalaw (our)
Second	tugalaw (your)	tumgalaw (your)
Third (M)	taagalaw (his)	taangalaw (their)
Third (F)	tigalaw (her)
Third (N)	taadzdzaw (its)

Examples:

English	Konkani
My ladle	magalaw doulaw
Your ladle	tugalaw doulaw
His ladle	taagalaw doulaw
Her ladle	tigalaw doulaw
Its ladle	taadzdzaw doulaw
Our ladle	aamgalaw doulaw
Your ladle	tumgalaw doulaw
Their ladle	taangalaw doulaw

Feminine object

Person	Singular	Plural
First	magali (mine)	aamgali (our)
Second	tugali (your)	tumgali (your)
Third (M)	taagali (his)	taangali (their)
Third (F)	tigali (her)
Third (N)	taajji (its)

Examples:

English	Konkani
My chair	magali khurci
Your chair	tugali khurci
His chair	taagali khurci
Her chair	tigali khurci
Its chair	taajji khurci
Our chair	aamgali khurci
Your chair	tumgali khurci
Their chair	taangali khurci

Neuter object

Person	Singular	Plural
First	magalAnh (mine)	aamgalAnh (our)
Second	tugalAnh (your)	tumgalAnh (your)
Third (M)	taagalAnh (his)	taangalAnh (their)
Third (F)	tigalAnh (her)
Third (N)	taajjAnh (its)

Examples:

English	Konkani
My book	magalAnh pustaka
Your book	tugalAnh pustaka
His book	taagalAnh pustaka
Her book	tigalAnh pustaka
Its book	taagalAnh pustaka
Our book	aamgalAnh pustaka
Your book	tumgalAnh pustaka
Their book	taangalAnh pustaka

Note that because of elision, the pronouns, when used in a sentence, usually end up sounding the same regardless of the object's gender. For instance:

magalaw doulaw
magali khurci
magalAnh pustaka

In English, an object pronoun would simply be it, but there is no direct equivalent in aamci – - you use either hAnh (this) or tAnh (that). You'd normally use the former for something that's right by you, so in practice tAnh is the more commonly used, and the closest you'll get to it.

Word order in sentences

While word order in sentences is usually subject – object – verb, this is not rigidly followed. For example, in the question khancAnh pustaka preeti tukkaa? (Which book do you like?), there are some points to note:

There is no verb apparent. This is because preeti is taken to mean preeti aassa, or is liked (by you).
Alternative word orderings would be tukkaa khancAnh pustaka preeti? or khancAnh pustaka tukkaa preeti?. The original, by having tukkaa last, stresses the you in meaning slghtly more than the alternative orderings.

Verbs in sentences

Verbs take different forms in sentences depending in general on a number of factors:

Gender – usually the gender of the doer, but sometimes the gender of the direct object for a transitive verb (one that takes a direct object – the converse is intransitive).
Whether the doer is singular or plural.
Whether the sense of the verb is positive or negative.
The tense of the sentence.

The verb is composed of a BASE followed by a SUFFIX to make up a single word, sometimes termed a conjugation. In general, both BASE and SUFFIX vary according to the four factors above, plus of course the specific verb under consideration.

Unlike in English, where the negative sense of a verb is expressed by inserting a word such as don't, won't, wouldn't, didn't, in aamci the negative is a word in its own right, which sometimes looks quite different from the positive. For example, the verb construction for he came is taw aailaw , but the construction for he didn't come is taw yaynee .

Compound verbs

Some verbs in aamci consist of multiple words. In such cases, they conjugate like the word that ends in -Anh. For example, raandap'a korcAnh (the act of cooking) conjugates like korcAnh, and vikkad'a gheuncAnh (the act of buying) conjugates like gheuncAnh.

Example sentences

To illustrate these elements of grammar, let's look at some simple sentences:

English	Konkani
Do you like spaghetti?	tukkaa spageTTi preeti vA?
Is this correct?	hAnh sama aassa vA?
Which book?	khancAnh pustaka?
When is the exam?	parikshaa kednaa aassa?
I have done that.	haanhvAnh tAnh kellAnh.
Our house is very old.	aamgalAnh ghara massta pornay aassa.
Does she live in London?	tee landan raabtaa vA?
Cats don't like water.	maadzdzraanka uddaaka preeti naa.
I don’t like tea.	maakkaa caa preeti naa.
He loves to play football.	taakkaa futbawl kheLcAnh mhaLAri bho preeti.
He goes to school.	taw skoolaa vattaa.
Arjun talks very fast.	arjunu bho vaggi ullaitaa.
Does he play tennis?	taw Tennis kheLtaa vA?
Anita enjoys cooking.	aneetaaka raandapa korcAnh mhaLAri preeti.
She likes bananas.	tikkaa kayLeenh mhaLAri preeti.
Do they talk a lot?	teenh massta ullaitaati vA?
Does she drink coffee?	tee kaapi pittaa vA?
They don’t have school tomorrow.	taankaa phaai skoola naa.
You don’t listen to me.	toonh haanhvAnh saangilAnh aaikanaa.
You run to the park.	toonh paarkaa laaggi thaai dhauntaa.
She doesn’t use a computer.	tee kampyutara vaaparnaa.
This milk has gone bad.	hAnh dooda vaayTa zaallAnh.
My daughter is washing her clothes.	magali dhoowa tigaleenh oungaaleenh umbaLtassa.
Joe went into the shop.	jo aangdayntu vatsugallaw.
I do not want a big house.	maakkaa hawDa ghara naakkaa.

Subject pronouns

Possessive pronouns

Masculine object

Feminine object

Neuter object

Object pronouns

Word order in sentences

Verbs in sentences

Compound verbs

Example sentences

Comments