'rHE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE 

BENGALI LANGUAGE 



THE 

ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF 
!HE BENGALI LANGUAGE 

-BY 

SUNITI KUMAR CHA TTERJI 
M.A. (Calcutta), D.Lit. (London) 

Khaira Professor of Indian Linguistics and Phonetics IUld Lecturer in 
English and Comparative Philology in the University of Calcutta 

With a Foreword by 

SIR GEORGE ABRAHAM GRIERSON, K.C.I.E. 

In Two Parts 
Part II : Morphology, Bengali Index 

CALCUTTA UNIVERSITY PRESS 
.1926 



PRINThD BY BHUjENDRALAL BANERJEE 

AT THE UNIVERSTTY PRESS, SENATE HOUSE, CALCUTTA, 

Reg, No. 36B, August, 1926-500 

19762· 
2 3 NOY !966 

S'I'. VRRp 

. - STOCKTAKING·2011 



,.... 

~IORPHOLOGY 



• 
• MORPHOLOGY 

CHAPTER I: FORMATIVE AFFIXES 

394. Hoernle's discussion of the NIA. suffixes in his ' Gaudian 
Grammar' remains the most thorough study of the scope and. origin 

eof these, although some of his derivations are more or less speculative. 
The Bengali formative affixes have been discussed in some d~tail by 
Rai Bahadur Yogesh Chandra Vidyanidhi in his Bengali grammar {pub..: 
lished by the VSPJ., pp. 147-191), b~t the arrangement is capable of 
improvement, and some of the etymologies can be questioned. There 
is no doubt as to the source of most NIA. affixes, but there are a few 
which have not been satisfactorily explained. 

· The OIA. affixes, primary or secondary, became disguised, or simply 
dropped o:lt in NIA., through either assimilation or pho~etic decay. 
But a number of OIA. affixes have been preserved, and· occur in 
.NIA. as living forms, although in their present shape they are •widely 
removed from their OIA. originals (e.g., « -pan • < c -tvana- ,. ; « -ab, 
-ib, -iv • < ·c -tavya- •; « -i •· < « -ika~·ika•; etc.). The NIA. speeches 
preserve only the relics of some. OIA. affixes, which as a result of phonetic 
decay now form integ.ral A.nd indivisible parts of the words, and have; 
so far as the speech-feeling of the NIA. speaker is concerned, n'o separate. 
existence, and are not recognisable or analysable any more as an affix. 
Thus, for example, the OIA. primary affixes« -a,'-a, -as •, in noun and 
adjective formatio~, are no longer living ones in Bengali, as they' are 
lost in all inherited words ; but the affix « ;.ana •, to ·form verbal nouns, 
continues to bff in full force as 1:5fif, 'Sot 'c -an~, -ontj. ,. ; and in words 'like st~, 
~t1f « camtJ., kam~ •, the· -~ « -mtJ. • is only partially representative of the 
original OIA. affix « -man •; but it is no longer possible to analyse the 
B erf!gali words as being made up of. a t·oot pluB an affix, ~lid neither can -~ .. 



652 MORPHOLOGY: CHAPTER 1 

« -m:j, • be distinguished from the -l{ « mtf, • in words like iSitlf « jam:j, • 
(jambu) and~« am:j, • (amra). The words in Bengali have becom~ to all 
intents and purposes root-words, or primitive words, the sense of\heir being 
composed forms being long lost, from the beginning of MIA. So in words 
like Sftf5 • rati • (riitri), 9{~ • p£ti • (pa:gkti), ~1 • siita • (MIA. sonta-, 
OIA ... srotas), <~StiSf « kaj4,. (karya), the OIA. affixes « -tri, -ti, -tas, -ya • are 
present, but they are no longer alive. These relics or fragments of dead 
forms are not necessary to consider, unless the subject of study were the 
history of the OIA. suffixes down to NIA. through MIA. 

Below are given in a rough alphabetical order all the living affixes,. 
primary: as well as secondary, which are found in Bengali, Old, Middle 
and ~e~, with indications o:li their origin. 

[1] Su:FFIXEs 

[I] 'l'ADB.HAVA SUFFIXES 

(1) <5I « -a, :j, •: masculine, feminine and neuter noun affix. 

395. Representing the primary affixes of OIA., masculine « -a!) •, 
feminine « -a •, neuter « -am •, also • -as •, with or without « gui}a • of the 
root-v~wel, this affix may be said to have existed in Old Bengali and Early 
Middle Bengali, but was lost from Late Middle Bengali times with the loss 
or assimilation of the final vowel: e.g., 51if « cara • (ciira), l'ftot «sana • 
(sathjfia), l{'f « mal}a • (manas), ~ • sa:gkama • (sa:gkrama) bridge; but 
cf. Late MB. Of • de • (deha), ~ • man~,. (manas), ~t'§ • bat~ • (varta), 
c~r~ .. bol~ • speeck (MlA. *bolla), 51~ • cal~ • toay, style (cala), etc. 

( 2) <51 « -a ,. , also written o.s « -o ,., 

396. This is the pleonastic suffix, found in a number of nouns and 
adjectives-e.g., ~~. <::5te~1 • bhala, bhalo • good; <t>tG'!, ·'fn:;'jj .. kala, kalo ,. 
blaclc; ~~ « dhala ,. white; etc. H comes from the pleonastic or pejorative 
~ -kil. ,. of OIA., added to nouns in • -a • = • -a-ka • > MIA ... -aa- ,. > 
.. ~wa ,. : see ante, pp. 302, 346, 347, MS. The affix is thus of secondary 

• origin. 'l'he employment of the pleonastic « -ka •, giving, with• the 



THE AFFIXES '-A, -0,' '-AN'l'A,' '-AT(A),' '-ATA' 653 

preceding «-a,. of the word, the MIA. forms« -aga, *-ag.a, -awjya •, is quite 
a note-"'orthy thing from the Second MIA. stage; and in Skt. as written in 

. that period, •as well as in later times, this vernacular habit is fully reflected : 
in the Skt. of inscriptions, this is very much in evidence . .(Cf. Damodarpm· 
Copper Plates of the Gupta Period, Ep. Ind., XV, pp. 130, 138.) The 
combination.of « -aa,. > « awa,. seems to have begun to be altered to an 
« &. ,. (long.[<>:]) sound in the OB. period; and it was accomplished 1:w the 
14th century. (See pp. 260, 302, 346.) In MB., it is frequently found in 
personal names, where it is ·commonly written as IS « -o,.: e.g., ~<11 
• SibO ,. (OB. * Sibawa= ts. Siva+ ka), ~1 « Rudo ,. (*Riidawa< Rudra+ 
Ira:), f~~ « Bibho,. (*Bibhawa < *Vibha = Vibbu +ka), PI~~ .. SidhO,. 

• (*Sidhawa < Siddha [ = Siddh~svara] + ka), etc. These common contrac~ions 
of personal names in MB. are thus on the basis of a form in « a- ,., 
shortened from the full names (e .. r;., i9fl:~1 : Jano,. < « Janardana •, f9f1:q1 
« PithO •< « Prthvidhara •, etc.), with the pleonastic « -ka,. added .. Forms 
like the above are very common in MB. genealogical works (kula-grantha, 

. kulaji= kulapafijika) : which shows that they were much in use. 
There is another affix, also (occasionally) written -151: « ·a ,., indicating 

the sense of about to do something : e.g., ~tif-~t"if « kH:da-kiida •, beside ~t1:if1-
~ttlf1 « kado-kiido • 1·eady to burst into tears. 'rhis is a pr~mary affix f~rming 
verbal adjectives and is derived from IS « -o ,. <~ « -u ,., which see, infra. 

(3) Affixes derived from the OIA. Active Present Participle « -ant- ,. : 
151:~ .. -ants •; '51'~ > "51'~1, '51"~ ('51"f'!i) .. -at:/. > -ata., -ati (-a.ti) •, '51"\!i 
« -a.ta •. (Cf. also ~\!i, ~\!i « -ait, -it- •, and 'OI't~ c -anta •.) 

.397. 151:~ « -anta,.: this is a stereotyped form, which occurs only in 
a few adjectives used attributively: e;g., ~~~ « jranta •>iSfJt~ « jyanta,. 
[f5rento] li1Jinq (jrvant-); 5'1~ « calanth moving (calant-); <It~ « baranta.,. 

prospering < <l'tl?~ • .. barhanta,. (vvrdh>*vardhant-); "!_~~ « ghumanta" 
sleeping c,~.v ghum); ~'!~floating (1St'! ylbj:Jas .float); etc. It occurs in a 
feminine form '51"~« -anti,. = «-ant- +-ika,. used with sentient feminine 
nouns: ~ii-it < ~15~ « nacunti<nacanti • (nrtyant-+-ika); Of~<<:"if~~ 
« d!ikhunti < dekhanti ,. see;ng, seer· (MIA. dekkhanti), ~c. '51'~ « -ant·a. ,. 



654 MORPHOLOGY : CHAPTER 1 

is not the regular development in Bengali of the OIA. affix «-ant- •, but 
it became established in some forms, which were set apart in MB.,•because 
of their adjectival force, from the regular -MB. and NB. ch\.nge which 
made~~« -it.• out of MIA.« -anta, -enta •<OIA. «-ant-» (seep. 335). 

~~ « -at~ ,., found commonly in its extended form ~\51 « -at-a •, 
feminine ~~. ~f~ « -at-I, -a.t-i •. This affix seems to be borJ;"owed from the 
Bihiiri dialects, and Hindostiini: « -anta >-at •· The feminine force is lost 
to Bengali. Examples: <:~iii"~ \St<t> « pherat~ gak~ ,. return _post, also Wiif~ 
~St<t> « phir~ti Q_iik' ,. ("fii;iif y'phir); 5-a>!~ <et~ « cal4ti bha~a.,. current speech, 
colloquial (y'cal), cf. Hindi« caltt cakki • the moving wheel (quern-stone-, 

the wor~d); ~~~1 iSl-a>! « bAh~tii jal~,. running water (~v'bah < y'vahjlow); 
~~ <nr~ « uthrj.ti bayas~ ,. growing a_qe, youth (~~ v'uth < ut+stba); 
'f<f-~t~1 « sab~-jantii ,. all-knowing; f<t~t~-<:'l'iif~, or <:~ii1"~1 « bila.t~-pherat~, 
-pher~tii,. 1·etu1·ned.(rom Europe ;• Of~ « dek:h~ta ,. seeing, as in the idiom 
~t~tiif 0f~~1 « amar~ dekh:j.ta • (for ~flf Gif~\51 «ami dekh~tii • ?) zvit!t me 
looking on; <~~~f~ 9f~f~ « jhar~ti par~ti ,. things that are scatteTed and 

fallen, 1·emainder ; etc. 
Another form of this affix is 'Of~ c -ata •, which seems to be a blend 

of~~« -at·+~~« -anta,.: e.g., ~til~« jiinata .. , 9ft!.f~ c parata ,., <t'!.f~ 

« karatS.,., etc. Forms with this affix, however, are rather rare, and they 
have a special employ. ;sJti{~ « janMA,. is used as an absolutive with the 
subject in the genitive, e.g., ~t~tiif ~ti{~ .. iimiirt,L janata ,. me knowing, with 

• my knowledge ( cf. ~t~tiif Of~\51 « amiir:J. dekh~ tii ,. above) ; and it; is 
frequently confused with the ts. passive paPt. adjective in 'r> « -ta •, and 
used as an adjective: e.g., ~t~tiif ~i{~ c~t<l' « imarf!. jiina.ta lok~,. a "'1/zan 

known to me beside ~~tiif ~~~ ~t<~" « imiir" janita lok:J.• (where« janita,. 
= ~il « y'jan ,. + ts. affix « -ita,.). 9(~ « piirata •, also « piirat~ • is 
commonly used in the phrase 9ft!.f~-9fC~ « piirat(a)-pak~:J.e ,. on condition qf 

being able, which is frequently altered to a Skt. 9ft!.f'>t-9f~ « parag~-pak~e :r,- -

<!iii!"~ « karMa ": doing, is !l:;!ed a:; a. conjunctive participle = having done, 
and -sometimes a Sanskrit colour is given to this form by adding a 
« visarga •, which helps to preserve .the final « -a "' in the word: <fi!.f~: 

[koroto] havin{l d~te, after doing. • 



THE AFFIXES '-(A)TI, -(A)TI' ·655 

In onomatopoetic formations in "!ltC1. c -at • like 9(t;t~ c patat • wit! 
a cracking noise, '~{9ft~ c jbapat • with a dashing or splashing sound, :~9tt~, 
'!'9ft~ c k\pat, gapat • with a gnlp, 11i91~ c chalat • with a splash, which are 
used with tire conjunctive ~f<r~1; ~'?:1f c kariya, kore •, we have also possibly 
this c -anta,. affix of MIA. and OIA. 

( 4) <eT~, ~· ( 15Jf\!i, f\!i ) • -ati, -~ti ( -ati, -~ti) ... 

398. This forms abstract no.uns of action or manner: e.g., '9f'¥f5 
c par~ti ,. fall; ~~f\!i c uth~ti • 1·ise ; ~<1sf\!i c cuk~ti • settlement, fixing up ; 

<rf'¥f\!i c bar~ti < barhati • rise, increase; '<lt~f\!i c ghat~ti • decrease; by 
ooalogy, the hybrid ~~f\!i c kam-ti • decrease, from Persian, c kam •; 
~t~f\!i c khllk~ti » greed (cf. onomatopoetic ~t~ « khllkhll • the ~nse qf 
emptiness and hunger) ; ~<{_~\!i c gun~ti • counting; O::S$J.f5 c bhar~ti • fillin~up, 
etc; 

' . 
Hoernle explains this affix (' Gaudian Grammar,' ~ 325) as being a 

Sanskrit (or OIA.) « *-aptika •, from the causative affix« -iip- •+« -ti •+ 
pleonastic« -ka •: e.g., f<lo,f\!i « binati • (vijfiaptika=vijfiaptika>vii::I}attia), 
<rm\!i c bar~ti • (*vardhaptika>*vaqQ.hattia); etc. But this derivation is 
rather problematical. Cases like i5t'<1•t~\!i « Q.akii.(i)t' • rob?m· (\St<fc v Q.ak • 
shout: cf. under; 151t~\!i « -ait • below), i5t<~>t(~)~ c Q.aka(i)ti • robbery, 
'{;1~(~)\!i :> ,;m(~)it ·~Q.h~~(g)a(i)t~ > Q.ha~ga(i)ti • 1'0'H){ly > rou.;lines$ 
, ... --_,O"""JJ_---) ,_..,.,._ -~-... "'• \"'J ... \ ~~ ...,..£. ........ ......_ "'~""'"',-,..;"'-""'-'u.o......,u. \LV.L \'VU1\J1.1 btt 

infra), show that in examples like ~~~~ « uth~ti •, O::S1ff5 c bhar~ti,. etc. 
~hove, we .have an extension of the \51~ « -at • affix ( < present participle 
c -anta •) · by . addition of tJ;re abstract W, ~ « -I, -i »: ~~f5 « uthlf.ti ,. = 
c utha.(n)t(s)+-i »the state qj1·ising=a rise. 

The. change o£ « -anta • to c -at- •, and not to c -it- •, would show 
that this affix is not native to Bengali, but borrowed, with cognate loan-
words, from its western neighbours. . . , . 

It seems also that in the formation of this affix, ,there was. the 
influence of the Skt. nominal affix · « -ti » as well, through the presence 
of a large number ts. as well as 8ts.· forms in c -ti '., like « yukti 
(jugati), bhakti (bhakati), mati, gati ... praqati • etc. In post MB. times, 

• • 



656 MORPHOLOGY: CHAPTER I 

the Perso-Arabic loan-words in « -at,., with the Indian or Persian « -I ,. 

added, re-inforced this affix: e.g., « wakalat,. > IS<l't~ « okala.t-I ,. a . . . 
pleader's prqfession; and by analogy, it was extended to other foreign 
words, e.g., 'Si~ ., jaj ,. =English judge> 'Si%i~~. 'SifiS!~~ « jajiya\, jajiyat-I ,. 

the work qf a J~~clge. 

(5) 'Ofif (lSi!', t!lil ) « -anf/. (-onf/., -enf/.). 

399. This is a living suffix in Bengali, forming abstract verbal 
nouns, some of which have acquired a concrete sense. It is the OIA. 
« -ana ,., Examples: <tf~il « kltdanf/. ,. (krandana); t~il c kiidanf/.: 
(kiirdana); ~t'B(O{, ~t'eil « kbii.anf/., kbaonf/. ,. (khiidana) ; o;tt~il, o;tt~il c gay an~, 
-yfmf/. ~ singer (gayana: *gatbayana? c£. Khaskura « gabine,. singer < 
c g!hiniya ,. ) ; ~~if « ghuranf/. ,. turning round . and round (~~ .V ghur < 
ghiirn-); 5t~il, 5t~Sil « cahan:;, cion~,. gaze, look (5t~ ,Vcab); ~t'iif 

« charan~ ,. leaving (~ v char); WI~ c cMdanf/. ,. binding (chan dana) ; 
~if« jwalan~,. [J5alt>n] (jvalana); <lt't'?il c jharanf/.,. clz~sting, a cluster, 

c~~il' « jhB~anf/. ,. crest, top-knot (see p. 479); ~"!if c jhulanf/. ,. swing 

(see p. 479); ~<1'01' « Q.hakan~ ,. covering > a cover (~<!' .V Q.bak); ~t<t>il' 

« thakan~,. staying (11l't<t> ,Vthak); C'if~il « dekban~,. siglzt; f:!~'\ « dhsral].f/. ,. 
manner(« I},. through Skt. influence) (dharaiJa); ilt5il' c niicanf/.,. dance 

(ift5 V"nac); ~ c paranf/. ,. fall (pagana < *pa~ana < patana); "P!t'Ofil, 
-Ptt~Sil « paan~, paon~,. (prii.pa!]a); -Pit'?il « paranf/. ,. (patana); c-Pit'?if 
., poranf/. ,. burning c~ vpur < Vput) ; c~t'?if « pbOran~ ,. spiee$, chatter 

(vsphut); ~tf:!il' c Mdhan~,. (bandbana); <It~« bajan~,. musie (~ ,Vbaj 
< vadya); <lt'?if « bii.pi.nf/.,. broom (vardhana); c<ff:[il, ~f:(il' c blMhan~, 
bidhanf/. » pie1·cing (viddha < vvyadh); ~~'\ « mara!}~ » (marai}a); ~ifi{ 

« sunanf/. ,. hearing (~if,Vsun < Sf·I]o-ti); ~'Ofil, ~lSi! c ba(w)anf/., haon~ ,. bein1 
(*ahana = as-ana+ bhav-ana) ; etc., etc. . 

This affix is now becoming a little archaic in the Standard Colloquial, 
which prefers the other verbal noun in 'Of1 « -a ,. : but it is a very living 
form in the East Bengali dialects. 

The affix « -an~ ,. has two e:x:tensiins ; 
• • 



THE AFFIXES '-(A)NA, -(A)NI, -(U)NI' 657 

(5a} l:!lf~i > -~1 c -ana > -~na ,. : this is simply 'Sf~ c -an~ ,. extended 
with the 1511 « -a ,. affix. The « -a- ,. in this affix drops when inter-consonan­
tal; whtn after a vowel, it becomes c e.,. or co • and forms a diphthong. 
The original•force of this c -a ,. was to denote simply a coarser or biggish 
aspect of the action, or to indicate a connected object, but this has been 
to a considerable amount modified, so that '5f~1, 0:0 « -ana, -~na ,. in many 
cases is not different from '01~ can~ •. Examples: ~nn < *tlf~1, ~t~ 
c kanna < Ud:j.na, kandana,. (see p. 360), beside ~tlfil c kadan~ ,. (kra~­
dana-) ; ~j c ku~~na. slicing > sliced vegetables (~~ vku~) j ~~i{j 
c ka~~n~,. spindle (~t~vka~ spin); <:~"1~1 « khel~ni,. playing> toy beside 
'~"!if c khelan~ ,. playing (c~o;v'khel); · '$\~i!1, ~~ c gahana, gayna ,. Jewels 

(grahaqa-) ; '$\t~~~ > '$ff'Sif1 « *gahana > gaona ,. singing ( '$\t~ v'iah < 
vgatha.ya-);~<tSif1 cchltk~nii.:. straineT (~<t>vch!k); ~1f~1 cjharfj.~a• 
water-fall (~~ v'jhar: see p .. 478); '[;f<t>~1 « qhak~nii. • largislt tiel ('[;t<f 
v4hak); Oft"'"t1 « dol~na »swing (~ vdulj; clfiO c dena,. givi1zg > debt, 
beside c~"t c denfj.,. giving (clfvde give=yida); so C"'il1 c lena,. beside C"'if 
clea~. taking (cil'f,Vle take<vlah=labh+vni); 9ft-sot1 c paona,. receiving, 

dues (prapa!].a-); . f<Pf~~~ • pi~~na ,. nzatlet to beat with (f~ v pi~); <rt~if1 
c bii.j~na • musical instnment, see <{f~if « bajan~ ,. above; <tt~O:O c bat~na ,. 
paste if pounded spices (<ItS yfbiit pound, nzash) ; ~t'$\i!1, ~t~i!1 « mag~na, 
mau(g)l,tna,. aslci?zg > gt·atis (marga!].a-); ~1l!1 < ~t~1 c ranna< rgdh.ana,. 
cooking (randhana-); ~~ill « sukh~na,. dry, rh'!J-lanil c~~vsukh < su~ka); 

etc. There are some formations from nouns as well : ~~~ « cha.na • 
;ymmglitzg (if animals) (beside ~~ c cba :: = « saba- ,. ) ; 9ft~if1 c pakh~nli "' 
wings (beside 9ft~ pakh~ < pak~a). 

(5b) <o!elt>olt, ~~ (fif, ~f~) c -ani >-~ni, -uni (-~ni, -uni) •. Originally 
feminine in form (-ana+I), indicating a dimunitive or petty aspect of the 
action or object. All grammatical conne"tion with the feminine form is 
now lost, except whe;e the word indicates a woman. The change to c -uni,. 
is by Vowel Harmony (see p. 398). ~~fif < ~tlf~ c kaduni < kfi.dAnl ,. 
weeping, petty fit if u;eeping, supplication; SKK. ift~;{t < O{ll)o{T c nacun1 < 
nacani • danseuse ; c~~ « chen I.<« *cheani .. a cutttng instrument ( chedana, 
chedanika); ~ns~ < ~l'SfolT • chauni. < chaani • aw?zing, camp (chadanika); 

• 83 • 



658 MORPHOLOGY: CHAPTER I 

~~~ « ch£k~ni • small strainer (~t~ .Jcbik); MB. c91~=t c porani • 
burning(~~ \~'pur); ~1folt > ~~ c kurani > kuruni,. scraper (~1f .Jkur 
scrape); ~~~ c mauni,. < c *ma(h)ani ,. ekurnitt~g stick (*mathanikii); 
etc., etc. The word ~t~ < 1ft~~ c radhuni < ra.dhani ,. coo1c is now both 
masculine and feminine, but originally it seems to have been only feminine 
(c randhanika •: or a masc. =« *randhanika,. ?) ; when it means a kind of 

. flavouring spice, it is the feminine form undoubtedly. So MB. C<l;T;;ft 

c becani • a seller (C<It; vbec). 
Causative forms of this affix, in <:51t"l c -an~ ,., '5ft"l, <5ft"l1 c ana, -ana ,. 

15ft~,~ c -iini, -uni • also occur: see i:v-ra. 

In the word ~ c datan~ ,. twi.r1 usecl as tootk-hrusk we do not have 
the c -an~ • affix (unlike in formations from nouns like 91t~ c piikh~na ,., • <lt'l\il1 « baj~na ,., etc.) : tb Maithili « datamani •, BhOjpuriyii c datuan •, 
and Hindostiini « datwan, dataun, datiin ,. show that the word is a 
compound of « danta ,. + c vana ,. (?). 

(6) l5fl « •ii • (i) : Definitive, Pejorative, Connective, Agentive, Pleonastic. 

400. This affix is a very characteristic one of Bengali. It indicates 
definiteness (this definitive force is now considerably weakened); it implies 
coarseness or biggishness in the object ; it means reference or connection; 
it forms agentive adjectives; and frequently it is also pleonastic. In all 
its v::rious forces, the « -a ,. affix of Bengali can be compared with the 
pleonastic affixes giving rise to the strong, long and redundant forms of 
the Bihiiri dialects (see p. 96). • The source of Bengali c -ii •, as an OIA. 
« *-aka •, has been indicated at pp. 302, 3 4&-349. Cf. Sanskritised forms 
like « Nagika, Dhamaka, Visiaka, Bhaluika, Pappaka (beside Pappi), 
Rudaka, Chitariika •, all representing vernacular names in « -ii •, in the 
Siyadoni Inscription (lOth century: Lalitpur District, U.P.; Kielhorn, 
Ep. Ind., I, pp. 162 fi.) Whe1·e no special force of the ..: ~3. ~-is 

present, iiS iu a noun like C'Cf~ « ghora ,. (beside· c~t~- « ghOr~ ,. in 
compounds), that is, where it is merely a pleonastic extension, it is not 
unlikely that the c -ii • represents only the termination of an oblique 
case (seep. 849). Examples: OB. (Caryii 41). ~~ (basta..); (Ca.ryii 49) 

• • • 



THE AFFIX '-A,' ADJECTIVAL & PLEON!.STIC 65!) 

9f~~i c paiili = paWua • (*paduma-~ padma-) ; (Carya 8) ;rt~1 c miiga • 
{miirga-)e; (Carya 2) f~ c pita• pail; (Carya 3, 20) 9f~tm c·pasi"ra•, fo:{lfMi 
c nisam,. (prasii.ra-, nil)sara-); (Carya 4) ~11'1 c bira,. (vira-); (Carya 6) 
~f.<r'!1 c haril}a ,. ,(hari:qa-); MB. ~ c neba. • (sneha-) : MB., · NB. Cil~1 

c neta ,. rag (netra >net:t-fine atV;/f); <tf"lf1 c Usa • (kansya-); SKK. ~o:{~j 
c kanayii ,. (kanaka-) ; 9f~ c pii.ta ,. (patra-) ; ~' ~1 c kiia • (kiipa-) ; 
c~t1f1 c gorii. ,. (giiura-) ; ~-61 · c :iicii ,. ( ucca-) ; Cl>t1f1 'c cora ,. ( caura-) ; <rt~1 
c bagha » (vyaghr:iJ big tiger>tifjer-lilce,fm·ocious, strong (e.f!., <rt'<ii a .common. 

name for a dog, <ft~1 a~~ c bighi t~tul~ » kind qf tamarind with strong 

acid taste) ; ~t~1 c kMra » sacrificial sword (khal}~a-) ; <f""1f1 « bak~rii ,. flOat 

(tarkara-); ~ > 't<f'~, ~I!P1 c kiikura>kiik~ra, kiik~ro • (kukku~a-); 
11'~1 c Rami • contemptuous for c Ram:t •; &flfl c cada • big •round 

• JJwon, beside Stif c cad~ » moon ( cand ra-) : cf .. Stlfi lit~ « c!d-a mach~ » a kind 

.qf ?'mmdish fisk, pomfret; ~011 c thala • platt! beside ~ta; c thalEt » (sthala) ; 
~~ ~"'1 c dhtia • (dhiima-); 1!'~, ~t~~;1 c ra:g(g)-ii • red in coloM (ragga-); 
~a;1 c tel-a • oily ( tiila-) ; ca,tifl c Ion a • salty (laval}!t-) ; ~ c hata. ,. 
handle (basta-) ; ~t~~ c taw a ,. pot for lteatin9 or dry cooking (tapa-) ; <f1~1 
c bii.m~na • a low Braltman (brahmal}a-) ; sts. 'Pf'k~ « pascima • western 

(pascima-); ifN'!'I, by Vowel Harmony w'~ (see pp. 400-40l) cdakkhil}a • 
> [ dokhne] southern ( dak~il}a- > dakkhint1-) ; <!l<f'1 c eki » [ reka], i'""a;i 
« ek~la,. alone (eka-, *ekaka; eka-la-); 11..~ "'muh-a • witk a face (mukha-); 
~WI1 .. bhayf?a • belMtfJinfJ to a buffalo (bhai~IJ< mabieya. +-a) ; c~m c khey§ • 

fe?·ry (k~ep~-) ; etc. • 
In compounds with active. meaning : C~?-;''1-.~~1 c chele-dhar-a ,. child­

stealinfj = lcidnapper ; ~>t'"l·C~t~1 « carl~-dhoa ,. rice-wasking ; ~t9f~-<!it51 

c kapar~-kac-a ,. clotk-was7tinfJ ; <l'"!;r-~t~ ~'1 c kalam~-kat-a churi ,. pen­

{cutting)-!cnife; ~t~-"it~ ~t~ .. hhat~-ra.dh-a Mri • pot that boils rice, 
etc. 

This affix is added to both tatsama and foreign words : C1ft~ « rog-a » 

Biclc, sickly, lean and thin (roga-) ; }[~"ifj c saphed-ii. • rice-powder (Pars. 
safed w!tite) ;' 

·Other affixes of ;Bengali, like c -a~a, -.uta, -I(-i) -u(-u), -ala, .•ara • etc., 
are e,tended by addition of this « -a:: for which see belova 

' 



MORPHOLOGY : CHAPTER I 

(7) .15i1 « ~a. • (ii) : Passive Participle and Verbal Noun Affix. 

401. This suffix is derived from the OIA. affix c -ta, -ita ••> MIA. 
« -a, -ia • plus the preceding pleonastic affix '511 c a •. 'fhe following 
examples illustrate the line of development : « yata > jaa +-a > OB. *jaa, 
NB. <11~~1 *jawa • gone > a going; « krta > *karita (a non-Magadhi 
formation: cf. p. 375) >karia+a > OB. karia><r>~1 karii • done>iloing, as 
in New Bengali. So ~t~1 c rakha • kept > keeping (rak~ita +a) ; ~t'511, ~~m 
« khiiwa ,. (khadita +a), etc. We have the loss of the « -i- ,. already in 
OB. : e.g., Carya 20 « sa~ghara ,. struck; but it is the « -i- ,. forms, with or 
without the pleonastic« -a •, that are common in the Caryas (when witho'lt 
«-a •, the final « -a • is found to have assimilated with the preceding « i •, as 
follo;s: «-ita > -ia>-i, -i •) : e.g., in Carya l9 « uchalia,. (ucchalita+a), • « calia ,. ( cali ta +a) ; Cary a 13 « m unia ,. ( = jfiata-) ; Cary a 17 « sul'}ia ,. 
(=smta-), «milia,. (milita+t), gunia (=gat;~ita+ii.); beside c pahari • 
(praharita), « ahiiri,. (aharita-), etc.; and cases are found with the Western 
Apabhransa modification of the « -ital) ,. to « -iu ,. ( « -ita~} > -ido > -io > 
-iu,.: cf. p. 115 supra). The affix seems to have come into prominence 
only after the Early M B. period: in the SKK. it is non-existent. The 
c -i- ,. as in « -iii,. of OB. probably first became c -e-,. and then was 
drop;ed, following the forms in simple c -a,. like « yata+ -a> ~~~1 jawi •, 
« *dita+ii. > C'fiS~i dewa,. etc.; and possibly also through an attempt to 
distinguish this passive participle affix from the conjunctive participle in 
« -I(-1), -ia,. (e.g. ~t~, ~tf~, ftf~'5!1 « rikbi, rakhi, rakhia.,. having lcept, 
with or without « -a ,. < MIA. « rakkhia. ,. < OIA. c -rak~-ya ,. }. The 
OB. forms of the passive participle in « -iii. ,. show that « -ita+ -a ,. is the 
source of this passive participle affix of MB. and NB. In Pa11jabi, in the 
Old Western Hindi dialects and in Modern Hindostii.ni we find a parallel 
development with loss of « -i- ,. : e.g., c calita-, calitaka • > MIA. (Saura-

- seni) « cali(d)a-, caii(d)aa- •, uominative . ., c::.!i(d)6, ea!i(fl)ao • > Saur. 
Apabhransa « caliu, caliaii •, whence Brajbhii.khii. « calyu, C'alyau •, Early 
Hindi or Hindostani « calya ,. (beside Panjabi « calia, cii.lea • ), but Modern 
Hindostani « cala •, Bundeli and Kanauji « calo •· Oriya has this affix 

• also : e.g., « jaf!J-a ,. known, « kar-a • done, « dekh-ii. ,. seen, etc. • 



THE SUFFIX '-AI' OF VERBAL & ABSTRACT NOUNS 66! 

It has been attempted to connect this « -a» affix in its nominal employ 
with ~he verbal noun affix~~. ~~1 « -iba, -iba • < « itavya+a,.; hut that 
is hardly jienable. . . . . 

In OB. and MB., there was a feminine form of this affix, with the ~ 
c -1,. ( < -ika.); e.g., SKK. (p. 381) iSJ~"t c jarr ,. Jewellerl qualifying~ 
c curr ,. bracelet (jaQ.ita + -ika). 

(8) 15ft~ c -ai,. (i): Verbal and Absti'act Nouns, 

402. This is a Late MIA. formation, being a feminine verbal noun 
from the causative stem of the root: an OIA. c -ap-ika ,. (as in Skt. « jfi-

, ap-ika,. information, whi_ch would be the basis of a possible NIA. « *jar;tai,.) 
wouid give c -avia, .a.via, -aw1, ai > '!>ft~ ai ... The causative in.c -apa > 
-ava,. became established in MIA., .and on the model of the noons in 
« -apana- > -avaz:a- • (see infra, § xxx, pnder 101101 • -ana ,. ), formation of 
abstract and verbal nouns in « -ika ,. from the « ~apa-> -ava- ,. base would 
be a matter of course. Examples: lltl5t~ « jacai ,. enquiry (ll115 vyac: OIA. 
*yacapika) ; <lt~t~ « bachai .. selection c~t~ vbach); .,~~ « larai,. jiqlzt 

("!'¥ vl~r) ; C~tliit{ « khOdai ,., also C~iit~ « kh8dai » engraving (C~tlf, C~tii 
vkhOd, kh3d) ; Clf"t"'t~ « dolai ,. a hood or shawl fdstened round the neck and 

covering tke ears and head, and ltanging on tlte back· (~a;, Cii1"1 « v dul, dol ,. : 
possibly influenced by « dukiilika ,. >~cit c duli ,. [see p. 352]; aJso meaning 
the same thing); ~tG'I~ .. jhalai ,. solrlering (~ta<J ifjhal); ~t'ft~ c Mdhai ,. 
binding (qf a book) (~tot vMdh); 1it<'~ti • c.Jhalai,. founding (in 'metal) (lit"! 
vdhalpour); etc. 

This affix is not found with all roots, and is but restricted in tise. 
Abstract nouns ft·om noun and adjective ·bases are also formed, the 

nouns and adjectives being treated like denominative verbs : e.g., CStift~ 
« corai ,. tltift > stolen property (<cora); ~t'lilt~ « bam~nai,. tlte 1oay qJ a 

Bra1tman, the pf'ide of a Brahman ( <baman~ < brabmaz:a:) ; MB. ~tisrt~ 
« rajai:» lciugsltip, reign (raja) ; f~~l~ c mithii.i ,. 8weetness > sweetmeat 

( < .mithii. < mit:~ta-); 9f1G'I~t~ « pii.l~tai • ea:change, . reiu1·ning • (palat~ = 
paryasta) ; <e't"'t~ c bhalai ,. well-being ( < bhala = bhadra-) ; iltst~ c sltcai • 
~1zest!J (sltca = satya-) ; ~'¥1~ « ~arai »pride, boasting ('1''¥ him\ great) ; 

• 



MORPHOLOGY: CHAPTER I 

c:~ta;~~· c khOI,tai • dazzle, beauty ( < khOla open, clear, *khOla.t- OJJening); 

c:9Jt~t~ c poij~i'ii • nourisking (sts. < pu~ti); and even with foreign words, 
e.g., 11t'<ft~ c saphai • clear (Pers. c sa£ • pure), MB. 1\t'Sft~ c sajai • punish­

ment (Pers. saza). 
There are a few borrowings from Hindostanr also, showing this affix : 

e.g., '5~1~ c carai • ascent; ~~'l1ft~ c utrai • descmtt; C:1!<'1t~ c selai • sewing; 
nrta;t~ c dhOlai • washing, toashing charges; and C:'5ta;t~ c colai :. distiUi11g, 

preparing liquor ( <c vfcii »=« cyav »: may be native Bengali). 
In one or two words, through dialectal in_fluence (see supra, p. 

407), c -iii :. occurs as ~ c -i » in the Standard Colloquial : e.g., 1t-:1l c bani • 
for ~"lt~ c bil.nai ,. making, cltat'fleS for making jewellery (probably from 
Hindostltni c ban iii ,. ). It would be seen that there is semantic alteration 
in th~ affix, making its force that of cost or wages for the 1oork indicated 
by it. • 

Hoernle's derivation of this suffix from the OIA. affix c -ta » plus 
pleonastic c -ka » (c -tika » in the feminine) is not convincing (see 
'Gaudian Grammar,' § 223). 

(9) 15l't~ c -ai » (ii) : Diminutive. 

403. Affectionate diminutives like ~tilt~ c Kani'ii • ( < Kana, Kal).ha, 
Kf~l).a),• ~<'I~' c Baliii,. ( < Bala-riima), c:~~ c Somiii,. (Soma-), w;rt~ 
c DAnai • (Jani'irdana; Danuja- ?), 'l1ft~~ c Ramiii,. (Riima), ~~t~ c JAgai » 

(Jagat- ), llt~t~ c Miidhai • (Miid~va), ~~t~ c Chiriii,. (Sripati), etc., 
which are very common in MB. and fairly frequent in NB., are formed 

• with this affix. It is of pleonastic origin, coming from an OB, c -*iii,. 

• 

from Late MIA. c -aia, -aia •=OIK. c -akika, -aldka (i.e. -aka, -aka+ 
-ika),.: c Kanai<*Kan(h)ar<*Kanhaia, *Kanhaia<*Kf~l).akika, *Kf~I}ak­
ika », 'l'his affix is found in various forms in Hindostani and in Eastern 
Hindi and Bihari. (Cf. Hoernle, op. cit., pp. 100-101.)• The suffixes ~m 
c -iii •, ~~1 c -uii • (as well as ~. ~ c -i, -i ,. _ !!nd ~. s c ~u, -u ,. ) are ·­
connected : ~~e iP.j'm,. 

It is likely that in Bengali the 15l't~ c -iii ,. affix as an affectionate 
diminutive was influenced by the M B. werd 15l't~ c ai ,. long U~'e< c iiyus ,. . ~· . . 



THE AFFIXES ' -A(I)T, -AO' 663 

( 10) 15ft~cs, 15ft~ ~ -ait~, -a.ttj. ., with, extensions. 

404 .. Causative and denbminative pr'esent, participle base: OIA. 
« -iip-ant-,.-ay-ant •>MIA. «-avant-, -aant- • > OB. « -ayjwanta •>:MB. 
'Ol't~\5 « -a1t8. • : ;;stq'it~\5, 15tqo;t~ « Q.ii.kaittj., Q.akattj. • . robbt;r < shouter (;;stqo; 
v Q.ak yell) ; MB. <ft~f~ « haiti • player on a m1t8ieat i11strum~nt (vadayant­
+ -ika). This is a rare affix in Bengali. There are a few instances of this 
affitc with nouns: ~t~t~, ~t(gt~ « sa:g(g)attj. • ([Ja:gat,}re:gat] ; for [ re], see 
p. 322) companion, bosom .(1·ieizrl (sa:g~a); (;~<tt~\5 « sebaittj. • temple-priest 
(seva) ; c9ft'5Tt'S't, c~nrt~, C9ft~~ « po(h)ati • p1·eg1wnt wonzan, a recent nzothe1· 
( « pota • : for intrusive' « h •, see p. 341 : this form has the feminine affi~ 

• ~ .. -I ,. < -ika). Cf. Oriya ~~St~\5 « khai]Q.aita • a militar!l caste (in Orissa 
and S. lfT. Bengal) (khal}Q.a swo1·d) ; Hindostanl « Q.halait • shie'ld-bearer 
( Q.hi\1), etc. . • 

Abstract nouns are formed from flbis affix by adding ~' ~ « -I, -i • 
(see p. 655, snpm) : IS't"t(~)~ « Q.aka(i)ti • 1·obbm:;; MB. Gt~~ .. Q.ha:g-
(g)ati • ?'owdiuess ( Q.ha:gga). · 

(11) *'5f!~>l!ift>S « *-iiii>ao ~: Verbal Noun Affix. 

405. This affix is now confined to a limited number of words; and 
m those ease~ where it is found, it seems there is reinforcement from • 
similar Hindostant forms. It is connected with l!lt~ « -ai • (i) above. 'l'h~ 
source is apparently a verbal noun from the causative base : « -iipa •, with 

• an extension « *-ap.:uk-a (·iipa+-u-ka+-a) •, corresponding to •.*-apika • 
the source of <ett~ « -ai •· '.Phe affix, as « -aw, ~iio, -au • is a common one in 
Hindostiini. "Hoernle traces it (op. cit., §227) to OIA. «-tva •: « -tva 
> .tta > -a •, a derivation which is inadmissible. Examples: ~<s· 

« carao .. agg1·essio1l, attacking (6~ « vc~r.: also used as an adjectiv~, 
through influence o.,f a forrn like iS~t~ « udhao • 1·unning met of one's .~ight= 
« uddhavuka • : cf. also ~m « -oa • in next paragraph); Gt"'t~ « Q.halao • 
abunda1zee, 'galore'. (Gt"' v' Q.hal pr;mr) ; 9ftq'i~j~ c pak,rao • arrest, seizure 
(9ft~~ « ,Vpakf/.ra • to seize); ~t<f~t~ « ghiib~rao • .fright. (~t<~~1 

« ,Vghab~ra • to be checked, tofeM·)~ ~t~~ ~ charao • s(Jparation, f(Jlea_se; 

• • 



664 MORPHOLOGY : CHAPTER I 

<r1a'f1-.s c phalao ,. sp1·eading, abnndanee, from Hind, « phailaw ,. ; 1~1-.s in 
<tfil-1~1-s, beside <ffi{-<t~1 « hani-banao, -bana ,. amity, harmong, cf. Hind . 
c banaw ,. JH'eparatz"mt, co?zeord. • 

• 
(lla) ~~rt~'511,('5li~ISI1)>1S~1 « -iiua>-oa,.: Adjectival as well as Abstract. 

406. This affix is an extension of the preceding one with the adjec­
tival or pleonastic 1511 « -a ,. (see ante, § 400) =e.g., '<1~1~1 « gharoii ,. homely, 
domestic [gfioroa]=c gharao, *gharii.u+-a,. (this word shows extension of 
the affix to a noun); ~l:~t~1 « ja:roa,. jeweUed, adorned witk precious stones 

=« jarao, *jarau+-a,.; ~1!:51~ « Mcoa,. safety, safe state=« Mcao, *Mcau 
+-a ,. ; 1)!:~1~1 « caroa ,. aggressive=« carao, *carau +-a ... 

• 
• 
407. This is not so much an affix as an independent word, phonetic­

ally decayed, and forming part of a disguised compound. It is from <~>n, 
<1'1~ c ka~h~, ka~hi ,. = c kii!?tha, *ka!?~hika •, wood, beam, stick. '~tt<t~1" 
c gab~ra~ ,. lintel (garbMgarakastha); ~1<1'1G't c pakati •, see p. 492; MB. 
~~1" c dharat~ ,. a nantical term = special deck in a boat; 0 B. 1)1~~ 
« camii.~hi ,. whip as in Sarvananda, is explained by that scholar as meaning 
« carma-ya!?~i ,., but it may be equally from « carma+ kii.~~hika :., which 
is also found in Sanskrit. 

(13) 15111,. 15ft~ (1511!:~1) c-an~, -ana (-ano),. (i). 

408. The affix, forming verba1 nouns from causative and denominative 
bases, is from OB. « -al}a, -ii.l}awa, -awal}a, awal)awa,. (OIA. c -ap-ana, -ap­
-ana-ka,. ). The forms without the final c -a,. in New Bengali have in most 
cases obtained a concrete or definite sense. Examples : ~tDt~ c iciina ,. 
waslting 'mouth after meals (*acamapana=ii.camana); ~1~11_, ~~ « jiiniin~, 
janii.na,. nzaking to know, information, intimation (*jal}~pana-=jfiapana-); 

Dt~t~ « calanlj. ,. invoice, send-2tp, 'Dt~t~ « ciilana ,. sending forward (*cala­
pana-=calana); ~t~t~ « mananf/.,. harmony, agreem,ent, beauty (*m~n~pana. 

< manaya-) ; ~~t~ c ujiin~ • flow-tide, up-stream (*udyapana-); ~(1)"1.. 
« uranlj., uran~ .. ~~~. ~~~ « ufii.na, ura~a .. causing to jly away, extravagance, 

• • 

• 



'l'HE AJ;'FIXES '-AN(A), -ANI (-UNI) '· 665 

wastt;(ul expenditu1·r: (*uQ.Q.apana-); t c~~t-I. c chOran~ • sepMati1u;, .freeing, 
disrJlosing .> a lce!J ( C~t<;J V chor =l~:t<;J V char); C"ftiltil c son ana • causing 
to hea1· (MIA• *sul)aval).a = sraval)a); ')\~1"1. c garan~ • slope, $!~til c garana,. 
a rolling, to roll (MIA. *gaQ.Q.); etc.' 'l'here are old and recent formations 

from nouns also: ~~til, ~\!itei!1 c jutana, jutano •, also in Calcutta ~\!itt'i11, 
i!f.~t~1 c jutono, jutuno ,. shoe-beating (''!i1 « juta • ,~hoe); sts. C~l$11"\. 

c jogiin~ • aiding 1oith materials, c~t$ftil c jogana • act if supplying (yoga); 

a'ltQftt<J1 c lathano ,. kicking ( <"'tQf lat.h~, a'ltfQf lathi kick); ~t'!ittil1 c hatano ,. 

obtaining, fiiclting (~j\!! « hatlj. ,. hand); C9f61CO:j « p~cano » twisti11g, 1/WVing 
to and fro (C9f6 c p~c ,. twist from the Persian); <r.~til « kamana ,. lt:ssem'ng 
(Fers. c kam • less) ; ~~ti{ c jamana ,. gathering (Pers. jamq); etc. 

The affix has a feminine form, from OIA. c -apana+ -ika,. = .oB., 
eMB. « -awa!}I, -ani •, which g'ives in NB. • 

(l3a) (5ff-ll ('Ol'tfil) c -ani (-ani) •, ~ (~fil) • -unl (uui) •. 

This affix posses~es only a vague diminutive force. OB. c *-awal_JT,. 

would normally be contracted to MB. and NB. c -ani • (see p. i-\4.9), and 

this c -ani • by Vowel Harmony becomes c -ani,. and c -uni,. (p. a98). 
But in the transformation of the affix from « *.awani,. to.;: -ani, -uni •, it 

seems that there was some influence of the glide c -w- ,. in bring·ing abont 

thec-a·, -u- ,. ; dialect.ally at least., the c w • was pronounced in M B.:. the 

word ~~t~<J) c bhA.yauni • .frighljul (*bhayaw·al).ia "'~ *bhaJi.i.panika), beside 

the other t·egular forms in c -ani •, would indicate that. Examples: ~ilt~ • 
c sunani,. hearing (of a case); 9Jt~til1 c parani,. ferr!Jing >fare paz'd in 
crossing (*pilrapanika) ; <lft~til)•c jh§:kani •, beside <iit'f';j), <lit~Til c jhikani, 

jhikuni,. a shaking ; Clf~tfil c dekhani .. sight > nzoue.lJ paid foJ' a sight 
( = darsa.ni); C'!iiG'!lTi! as in C"fSi-C\!ila'!t1il. « sej~-tolani ,. money paid for making 
or clearing the bed (~"'vtul raise); fil<~>tfil c nikani,. beside fil~f-l « nikuni • 

liJiping, mopping the JlQPr Cfil<~> vnik<vnij, uikta); f~ti!T .. nirani • hoein.r; 
(i1t a,r}1·icnltm·e) (? ni +dru, drav); ~~til\ ~~"'on« urani, uruni,. sheet, ligltt 
shawl may be a blend of « *uQ.Q.apanika • that which flies or jlaps + ISfi<J) 

c orhani,. = « ava-ve~tanika • (see p. :398); 'S\~ < ~'-'lfil « j(w)aluni, 

· j(w)alani,. from "*~fltfil « *j(w)alani •.bn1'1ling, beside ~ta'ltf~ « j(w)alaui • . . 

84 19762 . 
2 3 NOV !966 

• 
Untverstty Library; 

University cf North 'Bengal. 
Raja Rammohanpur. 



666 MORPHOLOGY: CHAPTER I 

causiug a. lmrni1tg =Jirewoorl (seep. 408); SKK. ~tQ!t~ « matbani,. churn­

stick (*manthapanika) ; etc., etc. • • 

• 
( 14) 'Ol'tO{ (~tt0{1) • -ana (-a no) ,. (ii). 

409. The passive participle affix for causative and denominative 

roots= OIA. c -milna-ka, -y-ana-ka •· (See £n:fra, under Verb: 'Causatives.') 
Examples : <l'~tO{ c karana ,. done, caused to be done ( c *kariiwal}aa ,. fot· 
c *karapana-ka, *kara-yana-ka ,. ) ; Clf~tO{ « dekhaos ,. shown; C~5ft0{ « the:g­
gana,. (caused to be) beaten with a stick (C~5f1 the:gga); etc., etc. It is 
sometimes difficult to determine whether the form with c -ana ,. is the • 
verbal noun (p. 664), or the passive participle: e.g., C"'!O{tO{ ~~~tt~ c sonans 

• hai:Y\che,. it has been repo1·ted, which may be either (a) a-cansing-to-be-h,earrl 

has-taken-place, or (b) ca7tsed-to-be-hearrl it-has-been . 
• 

(15) l!ilto'tt ('5l'tf0{) c -ani (-ani)'"· 

410. This is a Bengali formation, from an earlier <Pit9t « pal}I,. 
water ( = paniya) in compounds : « -pal}i ,. becomes c -\\·ani ,. and then there 
is dropping of c w •. Examples : <!i·~tfO{ (seep. 349); cst'Ol'tf"l c c<Sani,. water 

that leaks out (CSJ, CS1 vfc<S, co=cyav); C5t<ltf.! c cobani,. sousiug water, a 

sousing• (est<! v cob to cause to daslt into water, to plunge, duck into water) ; 

cst~tfi{ c cokhani ,. water jt·om the eye, tear (C5t~ cokh < s;sQf caukh~ < 
cakEJul)); c•mltfi{ « dhOani,. washi~s (cff1 vfdho=dhav); C"lt<fl'tfi{ < O{~tfO{, 
c nokani < nakhani ,. wate?' stirred by tlte finger-nails (and 80 not jit jo?" 
drinking) (nakha+ piiniya-) ; O{f<1itf0{ « nakani,. rheum or water from the nose, 

water reaching to the nose (O{t<1' c nak~ ,. nose) ; f~T;<1'tfi{ « chit~kani ,. water 

scattered about (f~\;<1'1 c chit~ka ,. scatter; there is another f~G<I'tfif meaning 
bolt to a door, which shows the« -ani,. affix under [13a] supra) . 

• 
(16) '!111f_, 'Ol't~, ~· ';'f, '!I~ ('Ol'ttil'), <!itil', ~til', ~til', fi{ c -am~~ -am~; -rn¢, -

-m:\, -~mi (-iimi), -ami, -omi, -umi -mi •. 

411. A common affix to form abstract nouns, or nouns indicative 
gf a characteristic ~r profession. It has been confused or connected 'wron~l.r 



i 
THE APF!X '-AM(A), -AMI, -M(A), -MI I 667 

with the ts. affix « ~iman ,.. > ~if, ~~1 « -imil., .-ima •, which Is found in 
Benga,i, as in other NIA. The source of this affix is an OB. <!'~«kama-,. 

work (karrfla), with extensions: « karma>-kamma > -kama > -amil. >15ft~ 
-am~; ka_rma-ka> -kamma-a > *-kamawa > -ama > 15ft~ -am a; karmika, 
karmika > -kammia > *-kami > .ami > l:!l'tfif -ami ... The strong initial 
stress, as well as M B. mutation, has brought about the loss of the « -a- ,. 

in IMB. and NB., and reduced the form to lf., ~'fie« -m~, -rna, -mi.• etc. 
In M B., the word <ftfitii1, <~>tf~~1 = <~>tf~f-1~1 ~ kamina, -inya < -iniya ,. occurs, 
meaning a labourer, and a form 15ftf~i{T, 15ftfilf.l « amini, amini • also is 

• found (as in the 'Sunya-Puraqa ') : the latter word, explained as meaning a 
female devotee .if Dharma, may be connected with <~>t~ « kam~,. w'or1, ·service. 

Examples : ~~t~ « thakama ,. cheating, rogztery (~<~' « tha.k~,. cheat, 'tl!Jtfl '); 
9ft<fl~, 9f1<t>tf~ « pakama, -mi ,. behaving like a 1·ipe (i.e. aged) person, 

precocity (911<~>1 c paka• ripe); so C'Si~t~ c J-ethama,. behaving like a respected 
elde1· uncle = impntinence on the part if a boy or ?JOuth (C'Si~ « jetha,. 
father's elder b1·other) ; Cif<ft~, -Til c nekama, -mi ,. playing a foot (Ci!<f1 
« neka,. idiot,fool); c~t"l~, -til« chelema, -mi,. ehildishness (C~t"l=~tfinn 
« chele, chalia ,. child); <tl¥1~ < <t~1l[, :« baran < baram~ ,. pla!Jing a big 

man, boasting (<11¥ c hara.. big); ~1¥1~, ~~¥~, ~l¥tfil· « bupima, burama, 
burami ,. beltaving like a1t olrl man; f<;~~t~, . f'itjj~ c ginnama, gin.nama ,. 
matronly talk and ways (f'ifrn c ginui ,. = '1~~ .. « grhiqi ,. mistress o/ the 

house); c~st~, -Til c (hetama, -mi,. pen;ersit!J (csi1 c dh1'ita »<« dhr~ta- •); 
<lt'if~t~, -f~ « Md~rama, -mi ,. trickisltne;s (used qf cltildren) (<ltlf~ = <~til~ 
« Mdar~ = banar~ ,. = « vinara .. ) ; ~l)C<ffil, ~~<~>t~ c phil.c~kemi, phac~­

kama,. (~~f~~1 « phac~kiya,. chatterbox, 01m-smart fellow); f~D,G'ft~ 
f~~G'Jll', f~~"'tf~, f~~~f~ « phic~lallJa, -lama, ~!ami, -limi ,. acuteuess, triekery 
(Risl)t"' c phical~,. an acute one); c9fCSit~, c9ftiSitfil c pejoma, pejomi .; 
vicionsness (9ft~ ! paji ,. mischiez•ou; character > 9ft~~1 + '!iltf~ « paj ua + 
-ami»); c'i'ft~nl5!>tfli, -~f~ cg8artaini, -tami .. churlishness, rasltne88, brusquene.~& 
(*c'i'ft~t~~ « g8ara.t~,. one oehaving.like a cltud [see p. 668], with «-at~,. affix, 
see §397, + « -ami,.); Citl;c"lt~fil « chota-lok~-mi ,. meanness; etc., etc. 

'fhe word '<l~t~ c gharami ,. ltonse-bntlder, malce1· of a h1tt ( = '<l~ + <ft~ 
> ~1~ + W « ghar~+ (k )am~ +I •) ~omes undei· th~s. • . 



668 MORPHOLOGY: CHAPTER I 

(17) ISf'tlf, <ertit (<ertf~) « -ar~, -ari ( -ari) •, <etfi, ~f.~, ~f.~ « -sri, -iri, -uri •, 
~1 « -ra • (i). • 

412. From « -kara, -karin ( -karika) ,., forming agent touns : Clft~t~, 
ClftVt~ « do(h)ar~,. < « *dhuara,. member qf a cltm·us (dhruva-kara); 9J_'9ft~ 
« pujari • worshippe1' (puja-kari-~; <i>t;rt'l!f1 « u~ari • brass 01' bell-metal 
worlce1· (kansya-karika); ~~t"lf « kumar~,. potter, by Vowel Harmony ~t~tlf 

c kumor~ • (kumbha-kiira); 5t~t~ « camiir~ • (earma-kiira) ; •it~t~ 
« sitkhar'i • (sankha-kari-) ; r~~t~. f~f~f~ « bhikhiiri > bhik(h )iri • beggar 

(bhik~a-kari-); ~~t"lf1 c juari • (dyuta-kari-), beside ~~%.t « juari • (dyuta­
+v'vrt); MB. <rtM'9ft~ « baqijara • (vaqijya-kara); ~') • kusiiri,. a class 

· qf Jlraltma'(Ls (kusa-kari-); M B. ~'It~ « cuqari • lime-u;orlcm· (ciirqa-kari-) ; 
MB. C~!lt"l:l) « kheyari • ferr!Jman (k~epa-kari-) : ~<It~ « q.ubari •, by Vowel 
Harmony ~~~'t « q.uburi • 1iver (~q- v'Q.ub=MIA. bu1<Ja); ~iltil" « dhun­
ari •, beside ~~f~ « dhunuri ,. cotton-carde1' (~il v' dhun shake) ; f9fvl~ 
c piyar~ •, fern. f9fvt"lf1 « piJari • belo1ied (priya-kara, -karika); i~t~ 
c chutar~ ,. ca1'jJente1· seems to be a blend of « siitra-dhara • and « *sutra­
kara • ; c:;r~"lf1 « sek~rii • goldsmith, see pp. 194-195 ; ~'51tit « uari •, <~t"lf­
~~tit « bar-uari •, see p. 325; c~t~t"lf, < *$\t~'51t"lf « goar~ < gawara • bom· 
(grama+ kara); etc. 

• The word <r>t~nr « kamar~,. bloelc-mtitlt, in Pali « kammara •, represents 
the Vedic « karmara • (which is probably connected with the Dravidian 
[Tamil]« karuma • smith, smelter: cf. P. T. Srinivas Iyengar, 'Life in • Ancient India, etc.' Madras, 1912, p. 15); and the Skt. <r>>jf<fii'"lf « karma-
kara,. is an artificial formation, which •is now used by members of the 
black-smith caste as a surname. 

(18) <ertlf, <ertit ( ~tfu) « -ar~, -ari (-ari) • (ii). 

413. From « -akara- •, slightly modifying or altering the sense of 
the word. It occurs only in a very few words. • 9fvt~ c payar~ ,. a metre 
( « pad{lkara •, see pp. 285, 288) ; ~vt~ • jhiyiki • tla.nghter (~ c jhi ,. < 

- « dhita, duhita ,.-: the affix has only a pleonastic force here : probably through 
analogy of ~vtit bahuari • = C:~T~tit « bauhiiri • [fot· which seep. 345], 
which is WJi>ngly connected with ~ « hahn ,. = c vadhu •, after . the 



'l'HE A:PFIXES '-ARt, -ARU, -AL(A)' . 069 

metathesis of the « h ,. took place); ~1~t~. c majhar4,. m£ddle, ~~tit 
« m!.jhari ,. midclli1tg-sized ( c madhy~kara •, pleonastic; c *madhyAkarika ,. ) . 

• (19) 15lt~. ~t~ ( <5ttf~ ) « -ar4, -ari ( -ari) ,. (iii). 

414 . . li't·om c -agii.ra,·-agarin (-agat·ika., -ika),.: ~t~t~ c bMrar~,. 
store (bhiit}~A.gara); MB. *t~t~, beside <~>t'St~ c kllrar~, kiil)~ar~,. keel qf 
boat (kary~Agiira); :lftl5t~ c sabhar4,. plaee-name (? sabhragara); c~~t~ 

c mehar4 ,. place-name (? mahi\gara) ; ~t~ti'T « bMrari ,. 8tore-1ree_per 
(bhary~i\garika); <~>t'Stjt c kary~iiri ,. helmsman (kiiQQ.agii.t·ika); c~it 
c mehari ,. palace (? mahligarika) ; etc. 

(20) ~t~ « -aru •. 
• 

415. Found in a few MB. words, seems to be from c -\ra,. (i), 

with addition of « -u ,. (i.e. c -ii < -uka ,. ) : fit"'"lt~ c disiru ,. pilot beside 

flr-ttjt « disiiri ,. ( disa = dik- + ka~a-) ; ~<It~ « qubaru ,. divm· beside 

~<ft~ c Q.ubari ,. ; sts. <towtw « bandaru ,. bard, panegyrist ( <.Vvand) ; sts. · 
~t'5tt~ « bagaru,. tallcatit·e person (vfig=vac). 

( 21) 15lt"'T, 15lt"'T c -al4, -ala ,. (i)' modified to '5TO'f, 'S"'l « -ala, -ola ... 

416. The OIA. source of this is« -ii.-1-a •, also probably « -a-1-u •, 
both of which are found in Sanskrit, the sense being 'possessing,' 

'pertaining to.' It has the c -1-a,. affix (for which see i1ffra) :ts its base. 

Examples: <tt~t"'l, <t1igf., « ba:g(g)al4 ~ man qf East Bengal (va:gga + -al4); 
"'lt~t., c pllkal~,. belonging to nwd ~ a fish (pa:gkala); l:ftl!lt., c dharii.l(a) ,. 
sharp-edged (dhara ed.fJe) \ ~~t., c dudhal(s),. y{etd£ng m£llc (dugdha+-ala); 
~t~., c mathal~ ,. 1lJith a head, prom£nent, chirtf (mastaka + -ala); ~., 

c aral~ ,. obstruetion ('5Tt~ c ar4 ,. slanting) ; C~'Sft., c tejal4 ,. spi1·ited 
(tejas) : c"'lt>t1l'l « p~cal4 • with t1lJists (CS$ c p~c4,. < Pers. c pee ,. ) ; 15f&t~t1l'l 

c bha~iyalq, ,. belonging to the rlo1lJn-count?'!J > a follc-melorly ( < 15t~ c bha~i ,. 

flrJ'w qf toater=Sout!t Bengal); <ftt>t., cbacal4,. (vacala); frt~tll'f c d£tal(a),. 
with (big) teeth (danta+-ala-); f~t"'l c cpinal~,. charal!terles.y woman (MIA. 
chinnala-); MB. 9ft<nt., c pall\ala,. heroism (c pa'ik~,. soldier, seep. 383). 

This affix has the usual exten'sions : ~t"l1 > .,1 c -al-a > -Ia ,. : e.g., 
.<tt~tll'fi, <lt~1l'f1, q;t~i!i1 c ba:g(ga)la ,.•JJeugal£ (speech, land .. (va:ggala+-a); ~t~ 



670 MORPHOLOGY: CHAP1'EK I 

« -al-i •, feminine and masculine (-I < -ika, -ika), as well as abstract: 

~.g., Cft51'ta1'!, <l't~St~ « bii.~(g)alr • (Old Bengali = feminine = a uH.nna?z qf 
Ea8t Bengal; NB. = masculine = a man if Bengal, belonging• to Bengal) ; 

i!.r;rnt~ « nagar-al-i ,. city manner8; i!1'511ftil'l) « nagar-al-i ,. gallantry, refined 

wayB (nagara galla1d); ~t~~t~ « thakurah • wa.1J8 qf a god, divinity; 

!)~1ft~ « csturali ,. 8martne88; c~~~ « meyeli < *ma'iali,. belonging to women ; 

f!iii{t~ « chinall • coqnetry; 1119f1~, 1fit9ftili1, 1fi~fa; « rupali > rupoli > 

rnpuli • Bilvery; c~ti!t~ « sonali • golde?l; fi{ift~, f.lil'ft~ « ni(n)dali • 
8leepine88; ~~til'!) « sutali • thin as a thread ; etc. . 

(22) 15!til'l .. al;t • (ii). 

• 
4i 7. This affix, like the preceding one, denotes connexion. It is also 

used to form words indicative of trade or profession. It comes from OIA. 

« pala • keeper, guardian by the 'tlropping of « -p- > -w- • : « -pala >-wala> 

-al;t •. Examples : 1ft~t"' « rikhal;t •, M B. ~tr.:~l15!til'l « rakhoala • he1·dsman, 

(rak~a-pala) ; c<t>r.:"l"' < <t>~it"' « Kesel;t < Kaslyal~ • low class Brahma'(h 

from Benares (Kasi-pala); C<T't1;til'l « kotal;t •, Hind « kotwal • head qf the 

police, holder qf afort (kotta-piila) ; '<lt;'t~t"' « ghatryal;t • holder qf a pa88 m· 
passage ( < ghatr); t'<lt~t"', '<ltr.:1;tl5!t"' « ghatal;t, ghatoala • ma1z in charge 

qf a 'gha(' (ghatta-pala); ~~~til'! « kuthiyal~ • belonging to an office > a 

clerk • (kuthi kothi < ko~~hika); '<!~)~t"' « ghariyal;t • mall in charge qf o. 
clock > '<!'r.:~il'l « ghOrel;t • acnte O?te (ghatika); etc. 

There is an extension to ~ta;1 « -al-a • : C'5Jt~til'l1, t'i\~"~1 « goala > 

· gay la • (gopala-) ; <t~~t"'1 « barrala • landlo10d, owner qf a house ; <T't~~til'l1 
.. kapar-al-a • clotlt selle1· ; g~TI5!1"11 « currala • bangle seller ; 9ft~~M1 
« pahar-ala • watchman (prahara). Also to 15ft~ « -al-i •, masculine and 

feminine ( = -ika, -ika): 'i\~t~ « gayali • Brahma1~ from Ga.1Ja (Gaya-pal-
b ika); c9fr.:1;"!) « pii~eli • < 9ft!S~tai't « patiyali • mairl-servaut (pata, pati order, 

~ arrangement, domeBtic work) ; <tt~l5!t.,. « ha!'iali • land-tad.!!_; etc. Abstracts 

are formed from « -al;t ,. by adding the « -i • of abstraction, e.g., ~t~t"~) 

« rakba}i » th.e UJOJ'k l!l a herrlSJJUl/1. ; (~~~ « kereJi • impertinence, 

1·oughness < *<!filf~~t"' « U;'iyal;t.,. rough < soldier, archer (? kaQ~a 
• arrow) ; etc. • • 



THE AFFIXES '-WALA>-OLA, -WALI>-ULl,-WARA; -I(I)' 671' ·' 

The « -al~, -al-a • of Bengali has within receut times beeri influenced 
by the Cj)gn~te.form in Hindostani, which ·is « -wala •: the latter is substi- , 
tuted in maqy Bengali woi·ds in « -ala •, and ordinarily ·., -wala,. is reduced 

to '€1.'11 « -ohi,. : e.g., <~'t?f~'S~fG'Jt, <~'t9f~'€'-'!1 « kapar-oala ( -wala), -ola ,. ; so 
o;tt1t'€f.'l1 .. gari-ola ,. cabb.'lf; 'Pft~t~'Sf.'lt c pahar-ola • coit8table, ·etc. 'l'h~ 

feminine of « -wala ,. _is «. -waii •, which, ·by . Vowel Harmony1 is .reduced 

to IS~ c -uli ,. in Bengali : e .. r;., <~t1tiS~ c bari-uli • = native . Bengali 

<~t~11!{t.-ft .. hari-aii •· 
'l'hrough Bihari or Rindt influenCP., we have also '€stt~1 « -oara= -wala ,. 

in ~1?:~~1~1 « matoara (ma~wara),. zo£ltl, mad, elated, jJleased (e.,r;., tcith" 
peifum.e) = c matwara •: the Bengali froms are ~t~t"!, ~t~?.i, ){f~ii'l1 c matal~, 

matal,, mat~la ,. drnnlc= Hind. c matwal •. The name <li!'S~f~ c ba~wiiri • 
•. . 

(see p. 521), from the Hindostani, can be equally from .« vana-malt,. 
,r;arlanded with wild flowers or « *va~a-palika • du)eller in woods. 

(~Z3) ~ < ~ « -! < -I • (i), 

418. A secondaty affix, forming nouns and ~djectives. 'l'hree 
separate affixes of OIA. seem to converge into this single NIA. fo·rm: 
(i) c -i < -in •: c malin > NIA. mali ,. gardener:· but the force of the 
nominative form seems to have beeu only of secondary impOI'tance in the 
evolution of the NIA. affix; (ii) « -iya • : « desiya > NIA. desr • n~tive; 
and (iii) « -ika •: . « gramika • > 'iff~ gai ,. nillage name, clan na1lle : the 
feminine form of this « -ika • is also ~. ~ « -'i, -i •, which is the most 
popular. feminine affix of NI1., f<:>r which see .below. Later in NIA. this 
affix was strengthened _by the « -I • of Persian. 

Examples: c -I > -i • w~th the sense of ' possessing, having' : 'St~ 
« bhitr-i • heavy;. sts. ~t~ « rag-'i •full of passion >c!t.ole1'ic; ift~ « diim-I • 

costl!J (dramma < Gk. drakhme); ift~ « dag-i• stained (Pers. diiCJ-); ~~ 
« gug-'i • man qf part~, a1·tist (cf. Skt. gu!)in); '!;t<l'l « ghak-I ,. drummer 

(ghakka.),; C<f~f.l « begun-i ,. purple ( = bai:gag-i < vii.tingal}a-); OB. Ci!T<It~ 
c nau-bii.h-i ,. boat-1llan; .. 'ift~ iS'ft"l « gatb~i jal~ ,. net with knots (granthi-); 
c'itt~t~ c golap-i • rose-aoloured (Pers. · gul-ab = gul) ; · ~~t<lt « hisab-'i ,. 
carefuJ, attentive to details (Perso-Ara~i~ • nisab ·• )'; sts. ~'<!~ « mluam-I ,. 



672 MORPHOLOGY: CHAPTER I 

with a heart (sts. marii.m~ <marman); ts. "5ltil'lt~ c a]ap-I,. cattrleous talker, 

acquaintance (cf. Skt. alapin); Vf~~ c darad~I,. sympatketic (Pers. dard).; 
With the sense of ' pertaining to, coming from ' : CVfifi > fwfit.• desi > 

disi » beton,r;ing to tke conntry, countty-bom or made, native (cf. Skt. desiya); 
~tl?) c Rarhi ,. betong£ng to Racfha; M B. <l'tii'¥T, <!'tilt'¥) • kii.nari, -nari ,. 
(K!trl)apya); '1ft~~~) c Mar~haHI .. , 'lft~fil. -~ c Marat(h)I,. (Mahara~­
triya); ~"Sf~tG'T c Guj~t·ati ,. as if from c *Gurja-r~trtya ,. (~~t" c Guj~­
ra~~ •, for ~~~t~ c Guj~rat~ ,. < c Gurjara-tra •, through influence of 
c ra~tra ,. ) ; <!'~<!') c Kat~ki ,. qf Cttltack (Katakiya); ~"lt;f~, C<l"lf;f~ 
c Banarasi, Benarii.si ,. (Varagaslya); ~~t<l~ « Brndabani,. qf Brinclaban; 

St<!'~ « J)hakai ,. qf IJacca; <fi'"'<!'~t~ « Kal~katai ,. qf Calcutta; etc.; 
With• the sense of 'connected with,' generally forming names of profes­

sions: ·~t'¥"t « hari ,. a lo10 caste (ha<.:~ika) ; C<f'1ft~ < *<fi~t~ c keranl < 
*karii.l)i ,. clerk (karal}.ika + kiraka)o; MB. ~t'¥~'1 c garurl ,. snake-charmer 

(garugika); C<l~t~ « behai ,. son's or daughter's father-in-taw (vaivahika), 
an inherited word, affix and all; ~·~ c suri ,. zDine-dealer (suf_l4ika, 
SawUI}.~ika) ; ·~{f~Ol, ·~(tl!_f.t « radbani, -dhuni :a. cook (see ante, p. 658) ; sts. 

01~~~ c nakh~-kuqi ,. cut or sore £n the nails ( nakha-ko9a +I) ; etc. 
It occurs also as 15\'~ « -ai ,. > ~~ « -ui ,. : <It~~' <It~.._~ c barai > barui ,. 

carpenter (cf. Skt. vat·dhakin); <It~~ > <ltw~ « barai > barui ,., 08. <It!{~ 
« barayi\ (seep: 188) grower qf the betel 'IJine (cf. Skt. « varu-jivin,.: *<~t~ 
« barS.- •, *<~tw « bii.ru,. betel, an Austric word : cf. J. Przylnski in the 
BSLP., XXIV, p. 257). It is ple~nastic in ~w~ « bharui < *bharM ,. 
a bi1·d (bharata: *bharatika); 6'¥.._~ c carui ~ carM ,. sparrow (cataka, 
*catakika), beside 6'¥1, {)~~ c cara, carai » (*cataka, *catakika); etc. 

(2~4.L~ < ~ « ·i- < -i-,. (ii) : ~emi~ine, Diminutive, Abstract. 

419. Presents an « -ika,. of OIA., and is the most common 
feminine affix of NL\. Examples: ~t~ « Rai •, _ M 'B. ~t~ c R.ii.hT ,. _ 

- ·a narae (Radhika); '<J._f~ <*C~t'¥1 « ghnri < *ghori,. 1na1·e (*ghO~ika) ; l!~ 
c mami » matenzalnncle's ?v~fe (mama+-I); <fit<!i't « kii.ki,. father's y01mger 

brotker's wife (k~ka+-i); ~ c khudi,. a tiny girl > name for gi,.Z., 

(k!Judrika); "<!_~ « ~ri .. old woman (*vrdClhika = vrddha) ; 9ftt;f~ c pag~l-· 



FEMININE AND DIMINUTIVE ' -I ' 673 

mad woman (paga.l~ +-I); <qt~oft « bam~oi ,. (*brahmar;tika = brahmaqi); sts. 

;q~~' ;q\_~ « hMtami, -umi,. (*v~i::;l)avika = v~i::>l}avi). 
A number of sts. forms show this «-I » of Bengali, e.g., ~~o#t . . -

« subacani,. a form qf nurga; <51~~) « apsari,. (apsaras); fW'if'nll 
« digambari .. a name qf Kali; ~il~i!) « sunayani ,. with beautij'1d eyes, 
etc., with are solecisms from point of view of Skt. 

n The Skt. feminine affixes « -ini, -ani ,. had an influence in reitricting 

uthe Bengali ~. ~ « -I, -1 ,. < « -ika ,. : see infra) under « -ni •. . 

With names of inanimate objects, the original feminine force is lost ft.­
in Benga~i. In ·Western Hin<li, Panjabi, Rajasthan! etc., the grammatical t 

• gender, however, is preserved in the « -i < -ika ,. forms. The feminine ~~ 
« -ika,. also expressed a diminutive or petty aspect of an acti~n or an 

object. The diminutive has become obscure in many words in Bewgali, 

so that « -i < -ikii.,. has been reduce~ to a mere pleonastic affix. 

Examples: li!'jf « buli ,. talk (bOlla + -I) ; ~'Gi « ruti ,. bread ( cf. rotika) ; 

rfT ., cu::;I • bab.r-soother ( cu~a + -I) ; ~WI c mati ,. ( mrttika); 'if<l~ 
< *'if"'l~T « galui<-x·galahi ,. prow o.f! a boat (gala-vahika); ~~'~~«churl, 
-ri. knif'e, beside c~t~1 « chorii. _. dag,r;er (churika); ~t~ « rai,. mustard 

(rii.jika); 9\t~ « pai ,. a fourth, pice (piidika}; ~'<Yt « puthi ,., if~ « piithi. 

Indian JJ£8., book (pustika), beside MB. c9ftot1 « potha,. (pustaka-) ; <rt~ 

« bati • ca1tdle, lz'ght (vartika); qtft .. layhi,. (*ya~yika = ya~ti)' ~m 
« kii.thi ,. a thin stick (ka~thikii.) ; ~t~ « chati ,. umbrella (*chattrika), beside 
~~;.chat~,. 1·oqj, ~~ .. chata,. 1MnbrelJa (chattra~); ~ « dhuti,. 'dhoti' 

(*dhotrika = dhotra); irt~ « j~ti ,. small _double knife to cut betel-nuts 

(yantrika), beside ~t~j « j~t3; • mill, quern (yantra-) ; <!~~t~~' ;q~~til~ 
« ba:ra-mau(u)~-i,. living li!ce a rich, man, high st.rle (-manu~?a+-I); ~t~t~ 

« rakhal-i • toork (!j a herdsman ( rak~apala + -ikii.) ; iSt~t(~)~ « gaka(i)t-i ,. 

robber,y (see 8upra, p. 655) ; c<{;c~~ < <f;tf~~tai't « k~:reli < M:riyali » imper­

tinancy, rowdiness ( ._ Uriyal~ .. M'c~er ? [ < kal}~a-J :> soldier, rough + -i) ; 
9\fu~') « paQOt-1 ,. belonging to a Pundit > a Pundit's character or ways, 

scholasticism; etc. Cf. Hindi « Hil-i ,. redness, « hariyal-i ,. green colmw, 

g1·eenness, « rakhwal-i • work qf a lzerdsman, etc. In Late ~IA., the 

Persian « -I ,. affix of abstraction or fionnexion greatly reinforced thilil suffix. 
• • 

85 



674 MORPHOLOGY : CHAPTER I 

In some stereotyped words, « -i ,. represents the OIA. « -i ,. : e.g., "lftott, 
~t9t « rani "' ( « rajiii "' : or < « rar;u;tia < *rajiiika ,. ?). • 

(25) ~ « -i,.: Verbal Noun. • 
420. This affix, occurring in OIA., is practically lost to NB. It is 

found only in some epenthetic forms in dialectal Bengali, and it has practic­
ally become a dead suffix; only some S kt. words in « -i,. help to perpetu­
ate it. Examples : 'i'fti;, 'i'ft~l; c ga(i)t ,. (granthi) ; "lt"lf, 'iit~~ c ma(i)r :. a 
beating < 'iit~ c mari "' (*mar-i); ~t~ > }'f1(~)~ « sari > sa(i)r "' row 
(sar-i); MB. ~t}'f « hasa"' ( « has-i .. , which occurs as a ts. in NB.); '5ft1if, 
'5ft~"'l c ga(i)l "' abuse (*garh-i ? c£. Skt. garh-a); "1'1(~)"'1 c sa(i)l ,. a kind qf, 
paddy ~sa.li), also occurs in the ts. form in c -i,.; ete. Cf. also the OIA. 
sufM « -ti ,. in ~1 (~)\> « ~a(i)tJ .. , MB. ~~ c ~athi ,. (~a~-ti), }'f;:e~ « sattar ,. 
(sapta-ti), ~~. sf~~ beside • the full form s'ftf~ « pa(i)t, p[ti ,. row 

(pa~k-ti), etc. 

(26) ~\51'1, ~~1, <£~ « -ia (-iya) > -e ... 

421. This is a compound affix, being from the OIA. « -ika ,. > 
MIA. « -ia ,. + the affix « -a •, as in § 400. It is used in forming 
adjectives with the sense of ' pertaining to ' or ' possessing' ; and frequently 
it is•used with a slightly disparaging sense ; as well as pleonastically. 
In NB., it is contracted to <£1 « -e "'• with accompanying modification 
through the « -i •, of connected -.:>wels. Examples : ~tf0'!~1, C~CO'f « kalia> 
kele,. the blade one (contemptuous) (kala ~lack); ~1ifnt~1, ~GJ[If~1 > ~''l?:l'f 
~'"'!:.?:If c Mla.dia, haludia > h5lude, hOlde ,. yellow (~~ « ha.lud:1- ,. turmeric); 

;qt~'5ff'1~1 > c;q~c"i « baigar;tiyii > begune "'pnrple, qf egg-fruit (vati~gana) 

colour; ~tf~1 > C~CO'f c jalia > jele ,. fisherman (jala net) ; ~tf.1~1, C~CO'f 
c haliya > hele •farmer (hala = hala plough); '{'5ffi-~1 > 0{~~ c nsgariya 
> nsgure ,. man qf the city ; <ttf.lm > c<ICi{ « ban'ia > bene ,. merchant 

(*vanika- = vanik): "lt~1 > c~ii; c matia "> mete,. earthe-n fmii.t.i < ... ~ = ~ • " ·- • - .. .. ' • -

mrttika + -ika +-aka) ; (in the word c~ as in c~cl> w~~ c mete phiri~gi,. 
a Eurasian, a ha{f-caste, we have, however, the French word c metis ,., 
approximated t., the Bengali word• by folk-etymology); @;:e~~ > .iS;:e,c~ 



THE AFFIXES '-IYA>-E,· .. JYE' 675 

c uttariya >utture:. n01·them; ~Nfilm>~f~ti{, ~·~,ti{ .. dakbiniya>dokhine, 
dokhne'• southern ; 9Jf<!~1 < ?J:!:<r c pubiya > pUbe ,. eastern ; 9ffi"sf~m > 9!f"15~ 
c pMcimiylt>poscime,. western; MB. 'Ofl\Stf"lm· « abhagiya • > NB. 'Ofl<!l1:'51 
c aba.ge ,. luckless; 9ft\l?Nt~m > 9!t'¥11:'>k~ c parag[iya < -g~ye » rural 

(pataka+ grama+ -ika +-aka); ~"1~~1> *t!Oti{ c Mdaniya>k[dune,. ready 

to weep; M B. *Co:{~~-~t~f'¥~1 « *neuy~-!lkariya ,. > N B. Ci!~-~t~N. « nei­
[kure,. one who cUngs to argument (nyiiya) > obstinate; i!T51~m > "i!t5\~1:~ 
« Nag~puriya > Nag~ pure • qf Nagpur; ~%."~1 > ~~. ~~ « Oriya > 
Uriya > Ure,. Oriya, !'!! the 0(/,ra country; MB. (SKK.) "i!t~m « natiya .~ 
= "il~ « nati ,. grandson (naptr-); <li~f-1~1 > <li~, <li~i! « kahaniya > 
ko(h)une • talker; iSlT'5tt"R~1 >iSit511ti! c jaganiya > jagane • mze who ,wakens; 

Cif'61'f.f~1, N~f-i~1 > ~i! « deaniya, diyaniya > diune » a give1·; etc. • 
Although one of the most common a.ffixes in Bengali, it is frequently 

disguised in the Standard Colloquial by'contraction and by mutation of 
vowels. 

(27) ~c!!, ~?:~ .. -ie, -iye ». 

422. This NB. affix denotes 'one who is accustomed to do a thing, 
a habitue.' Typical words are ~~'!! « khaie • a (good) eater, o;tt~?:~ 4J. gaie ». 

a good singer, a prf'!fess1:onal singer, <~tfiSfC~ « bajie » a clever 'musician, o:t'W?:'l! 

« nacie » a good dancer, c~f<'f1:~ c khelie ,. a clever player, <t>fi.r~ c karie,. an 

adept, <UG'J1:~ c balie ,. a conversationalist~ <t>~l:~ > <li~~ c ka(h)ie » a good 
talker. Forms like the abov& are used as adjectives or predicatives, and in 
some cases they have become nouns. They recall Western Hindi forms like 
c khawaiya, gawaiya; kahaiya ,. etc. Earlier' Bengali forms, not attested, 
would be c *khai1ya, *ga(h )a'iya, *baja'iya, *naca'iya, *khela'iya, *kara'iya, 
*bola'iya, *kaha'iya ,. etc. The Hindi affix c -aiya, -awaiy!t •, and the source 
of the NB. c -ie :are apparently identical; ;nd it is ;ot unlikely that the 
affix in NB., which is found mainly in the colloquial, is a recent borrowing 
from Hindi, with the usual West Bengali contraction. There is no corres­
ponding affix in Oriy~ and in A.ssamese. Maithili has the pleonastic 
c-a~a •, which, however, is different in meaning. • 



676 MORPHOLOGY : CHAPTER I 

Hoernle takes this suffix to be « -awaiya • and thinks that « -aiya • 
IS a contracted form o£ it; and « -awaiya • he derives £rom an' c :aw • 
£rom MIA. « -avva • ( < OIA. « -ta;ya,.,) + a. pleonastic « -aiya • 
( < -aka + -ika+-ka) (Gaudian Grammar, §314). But it, would b; more 
reasonable' to regard the suffix to be « -aiya •, and the « -w- ,. only as 
a euphonic insertion (c£. J. '1'. Platts, ,v Grammar o£ the Hindustani or 
Urdu Language,' London, 1873, p. WS). The OIA. basis o£ it apparently 
is an agentive in « -aka • (khadaka > khaaa, khawaa, gayaka > gaaa, 
gawaa [*gathayaka > *gahaaa, *gaheaa], *vadya-ka [ =vadaka] >*vajjaa 
>*bajaa, etc.), to which the « -ika > -ia • and then the c -aka > -aa, -a,. 
affixes were added, pleona,stically, in the Early NIA. stage: c *kathaka 

• +-ika+-aka • > c *kaha.a'iaa • > c *kaha'iya • (Hindostanr c kahaiya •) 
• ~ v 

> <tl'fi:c~ « kahie • > <~''<.?:Sf« ka'iye • [koie] . 
• 

(28) ~~ « -it~ •. 

423. The affix~~ « -it- • is derived £rom the OIA. present parti­
ciple base « -ant- • (see supra, pp. 653-4). In Bengali, it forms the present 
participle in an adverbial or conditional sense, with the locative affix « -e • : 
e.g., Clf'<f tit~~ iSi"' c megh;j, cii'ite ( < *cabantahi) jal;j,,. (on one) asking for 

the clottd, (there is) rain; or <!'~?:~ <t>f!if?:~ « karite karite • ( < *karantahi) 
wkilt- doing; and it gives the base £or the past habitual or past conditional 
(and in some East Bengal dialects, £or the future) tense. 

See also supm p. 663, under i>lt~~, ~t~ « -ait;j,, -at;j, •. 

(29) ~<( « -iba ,., 

424. Base £or the future, and £or a verbal noun, with an extended 
form ~~ « -ib-a •. From OIA. « -itavya- ,. > MIA. « -iabba- • > 
c *-ebba, -ibba •. See infra, under 'Verb.' 

(30) ~., « -il;j, ,. (i). • 

425. In MIA. « -ilia •, from OIA. pleonastic and adjectival affix 
« -1-1~.:. ('}t~ Pii.l'}ini_. v; iii; 79).7 forming DOUDS a!!d a-djectives .irl Be~ge.!i, 

from nouns. It is not a living affix in NB., but ·is fairly common in M B . 
• C£. Hindi« chaji • handsome, accomplished (challla, chavila). • 



THE AFFIXES '-IL, -ILA, -U' 67'i 

Examples: ?Jt~ « patil~ » an earthen-pot for cooking (patta, patra); 
tf15G'f l kucil~ ,.. crooked Ct15 vkuc < vkufic); sts. t'SftfuG'f • aq.Q.il~ ,., strong 
one, ch,ie+' ~J?.Qa +.ina) ; MB. sts. '5lt~f~~ « arati-la,. jillecl ~vitk a great 

desire (arati + -ila); 9ftf~G'f « pakila,. ripe (pakva + -ila); etc. Cf. ts. ~!SG'f 
« kutil~ ,. crooked. The ts. word « sarira " is vulgarly pronounced as -t*G'f, 
-tf<rG'f [joril], as if it had the « -il~ ,. affix. 

(31) ~G'f « -ila ,., (ii). 

426. Past base, also (specially in 0 B. and MB.) passive participle 
adjective. From OIA. « -(i)ta ,. + pleonastic affix « -i-la- » whence Late 
MIA.« *-iailla- >*-ilia-,., in Eastern Magadhan. (OIA. « -(i)ta+-alla,. 
probably gave« *-alla- > -al~ •, in Central and Western Magadh;n)• See 
below, under' Verb.' This« -ila »occurs also in a few nouns and adjectives 
in Bengali, although the adjectival and neminal use of « -ila » forms fro~ 

verb root~ is almost obsolete in the language. Examples : MB. ~f~ 
« bhukhila » knngr,z; (bubhukf)ita+-ila); ~f~G'f « sutila »sleeping (supta+ 
Lila); ~Stf~G'f « bha:ugila ,. brolcen (*bha:ugita + -ila); OB. (Carya ~3) ~~ 
~~ « dubila dudhu »milk th,at has been nzilkerl o.ff (*dubita+ila); NB. C~ 
« gel a ,. last < gone (gata + ila) ; etc. 

The affix ~CG'f « -il-e » forming the conjunctive, i'l the old locative 
form of it: 15fG'fr:G'f « calile » on hav£ng walked (*calillahi). • 

(32) @ < ~ « ltU < -fi » (i). 

427. From an OIA .• « -u,. (adjectival and nominal) +« -ka ». It 
implies a pettiness and lovableness of the object indicated, and is found 
in familiar and affectionate forms, specially of names: e.p., sts. ·~~ « du~tu,. ... 
the littte naughty one ( duf?ta-); sts. ~"' « dhuttu » t!te little sly one 

( dhurta ) ; <!OJ..« Balu » affectionate for « Balarama ,. ; t~ « khuku ,. tiny 

little baby, darti?~,g qf a c!tilcl ( < c~t~1 « khoka,. baby) ; ~ « P£cu ,. 
(Paficilnana a name); so 'I~ « Naru • (Narendra), ~~ « Haru • (Harendra, 
Hara-natha, etc.), ~t~ « Radhu .. ( Radha-kanta, etc.), ~t~ « Kanu "' 
( Kf!?Qa-); <!~"' « Barn» title for a ~?·a!tma7J (vatuka = ?vrta + -u + -ka:); etc., 
ei!le. It occurs also (peonastically in some cases) in theeformation of noun!:' 



678 MORPHOLOGY: CHAPTER I 

and adjectives, like '>\%."' « garu,. water-jar witk spout (*gaQ.~uka); ijj~.: ~~ .... 
« laru, naru * sweetmeat (laqcjuka) ; ill"~ « nicu * down, ~n a low posttwn 
(nica); ~~g « ucu,. hi{Jh (ucca-), etc. The« -u • affix of Saur!serii Apa­
bhrarisa, from OIA. « -a~ .. , seems to have influenced this affix in the 

formative period of Bengali (see supra, p. 311). 

(33) *~, ~ > ~ > "5f .. *-u > -u > -o > -a* (ii). 

428. This is a primary affix, and the forms with it are generally 
repeated in N H. the meaning is 'about to do someting,' 'on the point o£ 
doing.' .E.g., ':R~-':R~ « (_lubu-qubu * about to sink; ~~...:-~ ..... « uru-uru,. 
about to flY away, filled with a longing; fil<(-f.:l~ > filc<tl-f~l:<l1 « nibu-nibu > 
nibO-nibO • on the point being extinguished (also f.:l~-fil~ « nibha-nibha •); 

. . 
~l:lf1-~lf1, <t';tlf-~lf « ka:do-kiido, kada-ka:da .. about to burst into tears; 
9ftt<~>1-?ftt~ « pako-pako » nearly• ripe; lft;s.lft:S ~·1:~ i!!&'i!'lt c dau-dau kore 
jwala • to bum fiercely, etc. The form ~~ c habu • [liobu] about-to-be, 

future (e.g., ~1:-~t~t~ c habu jamai • the son-in-law to be, ~'l:"~t~1 «hahn­
raja • the future lcing) seem~ to be for *c~t-~ c *ho-u •, with euphonic 
insertion of « b •: similarly ~t~-~t:S> ~tl:<l1-~tr.:<~:1 ~~1 c khau-khiu> khabo­
khabO kara • to be eager to eat, etc. (Cf. ~l:<! c adobe •, p. 511). 

In Hindostii.ni, there is an affix « -u ,. which appears to be the same 
as the • Bengali one : « bec-ii • seller, c kin-u • b?t.7Jer, « Q.ak-u ,. robber, 
« jag-u • watcher, c ura-u • causer to fly > spendthrift, « bigar-u »spoiler, 
« jhagt/.r-u • quarrelsome person, e\c. Hoernle connects it with the Skt. 
c -tr » + pleonastic c -ka • (op. cit., § 333)_. Hut a likelier derivation 
would be from an OIA. « -u-ka • (c£. J. T. Platts, Hindustani Grammar, 
p. 209). This affix is found in Skt., in words like « ghat-uka, kam-uka., 
bhav-uka » etc., 'having the meaning and construction of a present parti­
ciple' (see Whitney, Skt. Grammar,§ 1180). There was also an « -uka • 
rather rare, in OIA. : c£. Skt. c jagar-fika •. • 

Oriya has the present_ partic!p!c affix « -u ,. ( « kar-u, kha-u, ja-u ,. 
etc.), which seems to be the same affix as the Bengali and Hindostii.ni 
ones ( H oernle derives the Oriya c -u •, however, from the present participle . . 
c -anta •, op. cit., i3U l : this is precluded phonologically). • 



THE AFFIXES '~ UA,' AND '-KA' 

(34) @<o~1 > is-s, -s .. -ua > -uo, -o •. 

679 

429. This is an· extension of the preceding with the c -a ,., used, 
like « -iya l (p. 67 4), to indicate relation or connexion. It is also added to 

proper names, to indicate contempt. When affixed to an ordinary noun, it 

turns the latter to an adjective. There is the usual mutation of the vowels, 

and this fact often disguises this affix in the NB. Standard Colloquial. 

Examples : iSi~ > iSi'~1 « jal-ua > jolo ,. watery ; '<f'll'~1 > c<lt7.:SI1 « ghar-ua 

> ghOro » domestic; ~t~~1 > C~'CS1 ., hat-ua > he~o ,. qf the nwrket; ~~1 > 
i!lil'CSI1 « j(w)ar-ua > joro ,. suffering from fever; MB. ~~~~ c sar-ua ~ like a 

reed> slender (NB. 'I'll',.~¥ « saru, saru •lean and thin< .. sar:t+-ii •); 

~t~~1 > <:~il1 « dhan-ua > dheno ,. (i) (land) growin,r; rice, (ii) 1·ice-beer; 

<fit~ > C<f~ « ka~h-ua > kethO ,. made qf wood; wt~~1 > Clf'Cifl • .. dan-ua 

> deno,. given as a .r;ift ; *$ft5!SI't~5!1 > c~~1 « *dia-rakh-ua > der!rho ,. 
a wooden o1· earthen lamJJ-stand ; *<tit~<o~1 )>- C<liVC<Iii « *ka~hak-ui > ke~ko ,. 
a wooden vessel; ~1~1 > C~<t>1 « ~ak-ua > ~eko ,. bald-pate; . so Ofr:~1 
« mecho,. fishmonger; ~t~..__~1>c<rc~1 « bat-ui>beto,. belonging to the road 

(bata < vartman) > a hack; 9Jt~~1 >C"!Cil1 « Pan.ua > Pen6 ,. co1ttemptuous or 

familiar form qf a name ( = Pra~1a-natha, Panna-lalq,, etc.), <t>t~~j > C<liC"l1 

.. Kalua > Kelo ,. (Kala-), c~c~1, c~c~1 « Remo, ~emo ,. (Ram a, Syama); 

~~1 > t~'Ciii • Jadua > Jodo,. (Yadu), etc., etc.; *~t@>;:'(~1 > ~f.:#fi « *maus-ua 

> meso,. mother's sister's ltusband (« mausi = matrl(lvasr-,.: cf. "*f?f\;f~j 

> f?fC'I « *piusia > pise » fathe1·'s siste1·'s h1ts&ancl); etc., etc. 

(35) <t>, '5!~ .. -ka, (-k~), -ak:t .,\<t> .. -ik~ ,., @<t> .. -uk~,. (i). 

430. This ~ffix is quite a common one. in Bengali, and is employed 

primarily to form nouns (abstract, concrete, or onomatopoetic), generally 

from verb roots: e.g., <:~t~<li « mor-ak~ " packet (~vmu:r fold); ~<e 

« ~an-ak~ »jerk, blow, striking > remembranc~ ("il tan~ sense of tightness, 

~til v ~an pull) ; ~<I' c ca:r-ak~ ,. a raising alqft > swinging by hooks from 

a ltigh post, the kook-swinging festival ( 5~ v car ride); ~"1'<1' « chal-ak~ ,. 

splaslt, spill of water (~01 chal onomatopoetic (oi' splashi1tg qf water) ; .so 5"1'<1' 

« cal-ak~ » spilling qf .nwter; ~~~ « mar-ak~ • pestilence ( <maQ.a=mrta); 

'!~~ .. sa:r-ak~,. road, highway (*sa~a= srta); ~(t)s'<~' « p~a~-ak~, pha~-ak~ ,. 



680 MORPHOLOGY: CHAPTER I 

gate ( cf. ~t\; v' pha9 split) ; <5tt\;<t> « at-aktt • confinement ( cf. <5l'~ artt 
obstruction); <lfil'f<t> « jhal-ak~ flame (<IIi!'! y'jhal, p. 479); 5\;"<1' c c~~-aktt • 
brilliance; 'Si~<l' « jam-ak~,. pomp; C<l~"<l' « bai~h-ak~ • a stand• (bai:Hha< 
upavi~ta); "t"<~>, "t~"<l' « phuktt, phiik~ • pv:ffing, blowing (cf. phutkara); ~"M"<t> 
« jhil-iktt ,. sparkle; fil:fi!'f<t> .c chil-ik~ ,. spilling m· scattering qf water; ~"<!' 

c cuk~ • 1nistake; ~~"'"<!' « sur-uk~ ,. sound qf' quick motion; etc. 
The MIA. forms of the affix would be « -akka » : c *moiakka, 

*taq.akka, *maiakka, *jhalakka, *uvai:Hhakka •, etc. In Sauraseni 
Apabhraiisa, as a matter of fact, we find such forms as « sasaq.ala-jhal­
akkiaii • ( = svasanala-jhalat-krta), « khuiukkai:,. ( = salyayate), « ghu­
iukkai: • ( =garjati), c caveQ.a-caiakka • ( = capeta-catat-krta • ), c phukkij­
j:mta •'( =phut-kriyama{}a) (in the A.pabhransa verses in Hema-eandra: e£. 
Pis~el, 'Materialen znr Kenntnis des Apabhramsa,' Berlin, 1902). 

Following the indication of the frakrit grammarians, the NIA. « -aktt • 
and the MIA. « -akka • can be well affiliated to an OIA. compounding of a 
root or its participle base in « -a(n)t- • with c krta, y'kr •: 50f<1' « camaktt • 
(also eST"<!' c caiik~ •, 5~<1' c cawak~,. in MB., the proper tbh. forms)<MIA. 
c camakka, *camakkaa, camakkia • < OIA. c camat-krta »; so ~<!' « cnk~ • 
(cyut-krta) ; '<!"<!', '<It"<~> « thaktt, thak¢ • rema£n, be arrested (stabh-krta), 
beside '<!~<!' « thamak~ ,. sudden stop ( « *tbambhakk [i]a < stambha + krta • : 
here e,pparently we have a generalised « -akka • added to a noun form in 
MIA.). A connexion with OIA. « -a-ka •, apparently introduced as a ts. in 
Second and Late MIA.. (the pho~etics of which changed it to « -akka ,. ) 
can also well be inferred : e.g., MIA. (Magadhi) c haiakka = *hrd-a-ka; 
hagge = *ahakke = 'ahakam < aham; leQ.(Ir)ukka = le:;tuka; qaakka = 
nayaka •, etc. (See « -ka ,. [ii] below. Cf. Pischel, § 194; Hoernle, 
Gaudian Grammar, § 338; J AS B., 1880, I, p. 37, 'Hindi Roots'; also 
cf. Jules Bloch, 'Langue Mara the,' § 94 ). It has also Leen suggested, 
by Bloch, that the affix in part goes back to the OIA. adjP.P.t.ival a.n.d _ 
pleonastic « -kya •, as in « parakya < para • ( cf. also « maqikya < maqi ,. ). 
Furth~r, Bloch draws our attention to the « -kk- » (also « -k-, -g- ,. ) 
affix which is such a common one in the Dravidian languages, in which, 
apart from other functions, it is Ufied in forming verbal nouns from 

• • 



'-AK(A), -(A)KA, -AKI, -AK(A)' 681 

roots : e.g., c vfnaQ.,. to walk > c naQ.-akk-ai, naQ.-akk-al, naQ.-akk-udal ,. 
wal!cinl; c -/iru .. to be >« iru-kk-ai,. being~ «-/say,. to do > « sey-gai,. 
doing, etc., !ts in Tamil, and « vuJ?.QU ,. to 'eat > « Ul)I)ike ,. eating, as "'in 
Kannada (Bloch, 'Langue Marathe,' p. 105; Caldwell, 'Comparative 
Grammar of the Dravidian Languages 3 ,' 1916, pp. 542-54:3). 

In its origin, it would thus seem that this affix is derived from 

« krta,. and other forms of« vkr '"· There seems also to have been ·present 
the influence of the Sld. affix « -a-ka ,., which was Prakritised into 
c -akka •. And it is not improbable that in MIA. times a « -kk-, -g-, -k-,. 
affix existed in North Indian Dravidian dialects (now superseded by IA.), 
and this affix of Dravidian was not without its influence in the es,ablish-
rnent of « -akka ,. in MIA. of the Second and Third stages. • 

The~~' ~ « -ik~, -uk~ ,. forms seem to be due to Vowel Harmony, 
the c -a- ,. changing to « -i-; -u- ,. when th~ root or base form had thest> 

vowels, by attraction. 
Extensions of <!>, \51<!> c -k~, -ak~ ,. in Bengali: 
(151)~1 "-~ka •, i.e. c -ak~ + -a,.: adjectival and pleonastic, with an 

implication of biggishness or eoarseness: "i~~1 .. pa~~ka ,. cracker, ,yquib, 
beside "!~<!> .. patak~ ,. a th.uno-in,r; down w£th, cracking noi.Ye; 'D"t<fl'1 c cal~kii. ,. 
a dasA and a fall ?f l1:qm:rl tftrrmglt. overflowing; 'l:l'~<fl'1 « pha.t~kii. ... d,·y, 
making a c1·aclcling noise when broken; c~t~'<fl'1 c h5t~ka ,. gnmt£ng, ugly, rude 
person; ~~<1>1 .. hur~ka ,. a bar, a bolt; etc. 

151~1, (151') f'<fl' c -aki, -~ki ,. : with adJ~ctival « -i .. : C<l~~ c baitbaki ,. 
poli!e, of goorl 8ociet.'IJ < belon§i11g to the rb·atoing J'oom. 

(151,'<!1\ (~)f'<fl' « -~ki, -ki < -aki ,. : feminine > diminutive >pleonastic 
in NB., generally names of concrete objects: )'f~~ c sar~ki,. javelin 

(that which moves quickl,'IJ anrl .Yt1'£kes : < srta < v sr) ; C~'Df<t> c h(3c~ki ,. jerk 
>yawn, hiccnp ( cf. C~'D~t'i' c h~c-~-ra-na ,. pull) ; ~l>f'<fl' c kuc~ki ,. groin ( cf. 
t~~til « kuc~kii.na ,; to be curled up); T~~f<fl' c chit~ki •, beside f~~f<fl'~ 
c chit~kini ,. bolt, tatch; etc. 

The affix ~t<f c -i-k~ •, in forms like ~~t<!> c tarak!J. ,. witlt a .Yztdden 
bound ( < trta), "'~t'<fl' c parak~ ,. ~ith a crack, )'f~t<~> « sarak~ ,. with a 
quic/IJ!jglide, '<1"\!?t~ c karak~ ,. witlt a r:rru:k?infi sound, etc.1 vllbich are mostly 

86 



682 MORPHOLOGY: CHAPTER I 

used with the indeclinable conjunctive ~f<rm, w'<:lf ., kAt'iya, kore » having 

done (see sup1·a, p. 655, for a similar formation in ~1!. « -a.t4 » ), to hdicate 
quick and abrupt movement or sound, is undoubtedly connec~ed with t.he 
« -ak:t » affix, the base apparently being a strong form in « -a ». 

Bases in « -ak:t, -:tka ,. (the latter preferably in NB.) are used for 
the denominative in Bengali: e.g., MB. D~<fl", T)~tW « camake, cawake •, 

NB. T)lf<fl"t~ « cam~kay » is startled; f~~<fl"t~ « chi~~kay ,. sprinlctes; etc. 

(36) w .. -:tk:t ,. (ii) > w1 .. -:tka. ,., ~ .. -:tki ,., fw~1 .. -kiya .. , ~~~ .. -kua ... 

. 431. This is an adjectival affix, also used pleonastically : it is also 
found .in the strong form in <1'1 c -ka •, with its feminine <t>'t, ~ « -ki, 
-ki•, and also in its extensions formed by superposing other affixes, ~m 
« -iyi'i :o, ~~1 c ua • etc. Examples : ~<!' « dhanuk:t ,. bow (dha:t].ukka, dha-

• nu~ka); a;tQ'(<fl" « Q.holak:t,. (small) dntm (MIA. dholla-); ~W « samuk:t,. 
(*sambukka=sambu-ka); c~~!i!W't « do-phar:t-ka .. wit1t tzoo blades (phala-); 

dialectal Bengali ~t"f<t>1, C'!t"f<t>1 « am:tka, tom:tka • qf us, qf you = onr, 
your; 'i1lf<t>1 « gad:tka • Indian clttb, cudgel ( < ts. gada); 'ifl!<\1"1 « dam:tka ,. 
a rnslt if wind, a strong puff if wind, beside 'ifl!<l' « damak:t • p'lf;ff, jerk 

(Pers. « dam • breath) ; <!~"'" « bar,kr ,. eldest daughter-in-law (=wife if 
the e/.dest one); so C"l"'9i<t>'t « mej:tki • < « majhua + ki ,., c~~<t>1 c chO~:tkr •, 

etc. ; CW~<t>1 < *<t>t~ « ket,ko < *kath-ak-ua • a wooden vessel; ~r:w 
c put:tke < *piit-ak-iya,. a tiny ~ne (cf. ~! « piiti ,. a tiny girl, a small 

fisk); '"\.l:<r' « mun:tke • <"f'tfw~1 « ma~-ak-iya,. a maund in weight, one who 
can eat .food-stuffs weighing a mauncl; so ~~t<!> c ser~ke < *ser-ak-iya ,. 
weighing a seer; ~w « sat:tke .. < *~fwm « satak-iya .. plain numeration 
table upto 100 (from *~~<fl", ~~<II" c *satak~, saQ.ak:t,. plain movement? seems 
wrongly to be connected with l'f~ « sata,. hunclred, and turned into l'f:!)f<f~1 

«_ sata-k-iya .. as a « sarlh11-bhasi, cquival61J~); ~~tf~·~n « kara-k-iya .. -
numeratio"! table klf fours ancl qttarters (<1'~1 kara) upto 100; o;t-stfwm 
c g&n~a-k-iya ,. ?tumemtion table by .fours ( "1~1 gal].Q.a ) and eighties, upto 

400; so ~r;w < 1_~f~~~ c burke < buri-k-iya • numeration table by twent£es 

( buri 1_~ ) 1tpto 2000 ; ?!'It~ < 9f'!~J11 c pa~:tke < pana-k-iya ,. numeration 
table by eighties'.._ ?f't pal):l- ) upto 8,000; etc. • 



THE AFFIXES '-KA, -:kAR{A), -GOCH{A) ' 683 

This affix would seem to be the Skt. pleonastic and adjectival c. ~ka .,. 
(see W,hitney, Sanskrit Grammar, § 1222), introuuced into Second and 
Late MIA. JtS a ts. form, and normally becoming « -kka ». In Magadhan, 
it seems to have been used for the genitive, as, e.g., in Maithili « ghora-k ,. 
horse's, in O:riya « puru~a~-ka ,. men's, and in early and dialectal Bengali 
as well. In the other NIA. languages, like Western Hindi, however, the 
genitive affix « -ka, kau ,. etc. seems to have come from « kaa < krta ,. ; 
but it is not unlikely th;t there was some influence of this very common 
and resusciated OIA. affix. . An adjective-genitive use of « -kka,. is 
found also in Sauraseni Apabhransa as in Hema-candra: e.g., « bappi-ki 
bhumbaQ.i,. ( = paitrki bhiimi~). In the Avahattha of the' Prakrta-
Pai~ga1a,' the « -ka ';. for the adjective genitive figures largely. • 

There is a pleonastic use of this « -k:l- ,., mainly after verbs, in Bentali 
and in other Magadhan languages (see inf,a, .Verb: 'Pleonastic Affixes') : 
e.g., ~~C<I<I> « haibe-k:l-,. it will be; ~~~ « kar-u-k:l- ,. let him do; t~~ 
« khale-k:l- ,. he ate; iltf~<ti « nahi-k:l- •, MB. ilt~<t>~ « nahi-k-ay ,. is not, 
beside Eady Assamese ilt~<~>~ c nahi-k-anta ,. they are not; and Magahi' 
« y'hi-k •, Maithili « chi-k ,. to be. · These last instances would show that 
« -k:l- •, like the « -r- • affix (iii) below, was added to the root : probably 
here was some confusion with« -k~· (i) ( <v'kr), as in tQ!l « tha• ( <v'stha) 
beside !11<1', !lit<!' « y'thak, thak •, Maitbil « y'thik ,. ( < y'stabh +V'kr). 
But « -ka,. was used after other words also: e.g., tf~~~ « kintu-klj, ,. 
but (kintu); etc. • 

See i1~jra, under 'Tatsama Suffixes: « -ka •' . . 
(37) ~~ c -kar:l- •· 

432. Found in Cift<l'~, C~<l'1! « do-kar:l-, te-kar:j,,. two-fold, th1·ee-jold, 

is the Skt. noun « kara •, which is also partly the source of the genitiveJ 
and of one of the dative affixes of Bengali, as well as of the common 

• 
plural affix « -ra •. 

(38) c~t~, c~ts « -goc(h)~ ,. < c~tc~~ « goch-er:J, ... 

433. This is compounded with adjectives and nouns, and Js used, 
like. the English -ish, to mean 'like, resembling, of the • group of.' The 



684 MORPHOLOGY : CHAPTER I 

word is the Skt. « guccha • bu1zrlle; and c'5\t~(1) « giich:J. (gocha) • occurs as 
a numerative in Bengali. The use of the genitive form is appare\)tly the 
older one: a;~tc'i!t?:~~ OJt~~ c lamba-giicher:J. manuf?:J. • lit. a man 3f the 'tall­
group '=a tallish man, which was shortened to "l~tc'5\t~ O!t~~ c lamba-giich:J. 
manuf?t/. ,. ; so O!tqttift-c'5tt?:~~ > -C'i!t~ c majhari-gocher:j., -giich:J. ,. about 

middlin.fJ-sized; C~ti¥1-C'i!t?:~q > -C'5tt~ c ch5ra-giicher:J. > -giich:J. • 1·ather like 
a lad, yo11ngish. 

(39) s, 'Olts c -~t:J., -ac:J. », 

434. In a few words like <~~"t~ts c kanac:J. ,. belonging to the edge, 
edge, c~t'fts c kii9ac:j. ,. belonging to a corner, aslant, '<lt~1S't c ghamac'i • 
prickly• heat,-the « -c- •, or c -ac- • affix seems to be from the OIA. 
c -tJ'a ,. forming adjectives ( = karT,la-, kiii]a-, gharma- + -tya). 

(4~) 'S/1 c -ja •. 

435. From c jata •, found in some familiar forms of surnamt-s: = 

'son of.' E.g., C'<I~'S/1 « Ghii~:J.-ja • qj' the Ghosh family; C<IPI.:S11 < *<!'$;s'lt~ 

c Biis:J.-ja < Basu-jata ,. of the Bose or Bas16 ( Vasu.) famz"ly; htf'€-;:f'S!l 
« Mittir:J.-ja • qf the Mitter (Mitra) famil/1. 

• ( 41) ~ « -(a)t:J.- • (i), and its extensions . 

436. This affix, found in other NIA. speeches, forms quite an 
important group with its extensioW', and indicates either some resemblance, 
connexion or modification in a general way, or trade or habit. In some 
cases it has become merely pleonastic, like tlie « -i- > -r- ,. suffixes (see 
below, §§449, 450), which seem to have influenced it in its pleonastic usP. 
It represents a MIA. c *vaH- •, from t.he OIA. formations c varta, vartika, 
va.rtika; vrtta, vrttika, vrttika,. from c vvrt •. This affix occurs in 
Hindostani as« -awa~, -aha~ •, and in other forms of ~IA. also. 

1) « -:J.t~ ,. < c vartta ,. : abstract or concrete nouns: 'ift9f~ c dapM~ ,. 
power, puissance, rule, high-handedness (darpa-varta); ~t9f~ « sapat:J. ,. being 
.in a fury, indulging in heroic gestu1·es, seizing boldly (sarpa-varta); <ltt9fG, 
~t9f~ « j(h)iipat~,. gripping, splashinj, struggling, dashing as zodh wzngs 

• • 



THE AFFIXES '-AT(A), -(A)TA, -(A)TI' 685 

(*jhampa-varta); l'!i!lWl;, l'!i!t~l; « a:g(g)M~ • entire, not torn (as of a . 
plantai'l} leaf) ( « a:gga-varta.,. : 15/t!if'l;i « a:g(g)~ta,. ring qf a t•essel, 151tl151;'t 

« a:gti • fineer 1·ing represent c a:ggu~tba •); "ltQ\\) c matbat~ "' capital levy 
(*masta[ka]-varta), etc.; and other words like~~. c~tDl; « ucat~, h3cat~,. 
stumble(? ava-tya+varta) also seem to have this affix. Cf. C<t>..Sl;, <t>Jt..S~ 
« keot~ ,. [kreot] (kevatta < kaivarta) . 

. \; « -~t~ ,. from « vrtta ::, forming adjectives and nouns : c~11ftl; 
c dh5at~ ,. smoky, mass of' smoke (dhiima- > dhfia, dbaa + ~t~ < vrtta); 
c<lt"'t\; « gbolat~ ,. muddy, m'qddiness ( c ghola ,. nwddy, tu1·bid < ghiirQa + 
vrtta); ~lilt\; « bharat~ ,. filled-yp, well-jilted, a filling-up (bbara- + ''vrtta); 
~"It\; c jamat~ • congealed, frozen, compact ( c jama • < Perso-Arab. «jam~ • 
+c vrtta •); etc. • 

\;j c -ta ,. ( = c -at~ ,. above + c a ,. ) : forms adjectives and neuns, 
and denominative bases from forms with <; c -t- ,. : C59fl;J_ <*fD~\;j « cep~ta 
<*cipata •fiat (c~cip•press,flatten+cvrtta•: cf. MIA. ccivi~aa•, Skt. 
c ci1jitaka •= fD\!?1, fs~i c cira, cira:ojlattened rice, with the affix-:--~->-r-•, 
see p. 689) ; ~t~\;j « jhapl}',ta » spray qf water, an ornmnentfor the head w~th 
tassel of pearls (cf. c jhapat~,. above); Co:{IS\;1 by Vowel Harmony ~\Sr;\;1 
c neota ,. > [ nreoto] affectionate, attached (*nehat~a < l}eha-vaHa-, sneha­
vrtta-); ~~,\;1 « gha~~ta,. getting rubbed, 01' rubbing continuously, as opposed 
to '<l~ c ~ gha~ ,. to n~b (gharf:la-varta-) ; ~-~<1'1 < *"1_~\;i c suW,ka < 
*siikbata ·lea1t and thin, dried up, shrivelled (su~ka + vrtta); ~<t>\)1 c uk~ta,. 
1·ummage, eagerly search (*utka-vartae); <t>'t_\;1, <t>!>\;1 « kas~ta, kac~ta ,. 
rinse (kar~a-varta-) ; C~OlSi « khem~ ta » a kinrl qf style in da1wing and 

8inging (? + varta); c~~\;1• c ne:gta ,., tc•m'ijj [nre:gto], calli!'\;! c le:ggl}',ta,. 
nalcerl (*oa:ggawat.ta-, naggavatta-, nagna-vrtta-); 9fr~\;j « pitsuta ,. ashen 

or grey in colour (pailsu-vrtta-); fDlj_\;1 c cim~ta » tongs; pincers (MIA. 
? *cimma+vrtta); etc. 

t;'t, fG' « -ti, -~i ,., generally = the feminine form of the « .t- » affix 
. ( < -vattia = vartika, vrttika). In MB. and NB., the feminine force 
is absent, and c • ti, -ti » has become eithPr merely pleonastic, or vaguely 
diminutive: e.g., '<lt?!!;t, ~9ffG' c ghap~ti, ghup~ti,. lying in wait to wa!Jlay 
(? MIA. *ghappa, *ghuppa = gh~ppa- + vrttika; cf. dialectal Bengali 

• • 



686 MORPHOLOGY: CHAPTER 1 

tc"<Tt?f(1) « ghop(a) ,. corner, nook); f6l{,~ « cim~ti,. (MIA. *cimma + vrttika); 
~~~ « gum~ti » bastion, sent1'y-box, tower (gulma + vartika); *"1_~Wt > 
~·~Wt « *siikhat;I > sut~ki,. dried fish (? su~ka-vrttika); ~~ •« chip~ti » 

wltip (k~ipra-); similarly we have this affix in words like '1_il~~ « khun~­
suti » biclce1'ing, picking up a quan·el ; etc. 

~~ « -ta » and ~. Js « -ti, -ti » have given the so-called post-fixed 
'Definite Articles,' or' Enclitic Definitives 'of Bengali,-« -ta•, the original 
strong masculine base, implying biggishness or crudeness of the object, 
and c -~I, -ti •, originally feminine, implying' smallness or daintiness. 
Thus, we have l!l'<l5~1 « ek~ta » one piece, a bi,r; or ungainly article, l!l<ll~ 
« ek~ti,. one piece, a small and nice one ( =*ekka-vaH;a-, *ekka-vattia < 
~ka-vrtta, -vrttika) : so ~(~)T;j > ~?:~1, ~(~)~ > « du(i)-~a > duto, -ti,.; 
f'!il~ > f~"l_cl;, f~~~ c tinta > tinte, -ti •, etc. The affix has gradually 
become a distinct definitive in l3tlngali, being added to names of persons 
and things and to adjectives : e.g., ~1~~1 « gach~ta » that tree, that big t1'ee, 
but ~1~~ « gach~ti ,. tltat tree, that nice l£ttle tree; ~1~~1 « Riim~ta » tlwt 
ungainly, awkward, or bad felloz,, if a Rama, but ~l~~ c Ram~ti » our good 

fellow Rama; so ~1"'1~1, ~ti71~ « bhala-ta, bhala-ti,.; etc. T;j, ~ alRo occur 
dialectally as \51, @t .. -<Ja, -Qi •. rrhe source ol' this s1, ~ .. -ta, -ti,. has 
been suggested as being c~tS1, ~~ « gota, guti » piece: but the latter is a 
differ~nt word. See inf1·a : under' Numeratives or Enclitic Definitives.' 

!S~1 > ci; c -tiya > -te,. C+ + -i- + -a< -vrtta + -ika- +- -aka), 
indicating 'habit' or 'nature,' 1¥ 'resemblance': F.g., ~~?:1; < ~t~~~ 
« a~~~e < *a(w)isatiya ,. smelling if ?'anlc fish and jleslt (ami~a-vrttika+ 

aka); C'<lt"'lt~ c gholate,. muddy-like (see C'<~t"'tT; cghOlat~ ,., p. 685); ~tt~ 
< ~<¥tffl'~1 « bharate < bharatiya,. tenant, (cab) plying for hi1·e (bhataka­
vrtta + ~ika + -aka); C~t~ttT; « dh3ate » smolcing-lilce (see C~Hfti; « dheiat~ :., 
p. 685); \!i~ « tam ate ,. copper-1·ed_ in colour (tama < taml'R-) ;- ~t~tl:'s -
c ra:g (g)ate ,. 1·eddish (~1~1 ta:gga red) ; 9ft~tT; « p!.sute ,. greyish (see 
9ft~~~ c pasuta •, p. 685); ct:~t$~ c rogate,. sickly, lean and thin lilce 

( < ct:~t<;fl « rog-a ,. siclc, see p. 659); '11~~1~ « jhag~rate,. qua1'1'elsome 

( < jhag~ra) ; f~"'~t~ < *~ ~~<ll~~~ « hrs~ku te < ts. -K· hinsuka +-tiya .. , 
beside ft~~t~ « h1nsute ,. e1nious and s_?iteful; etc., etc. • 



THE AFFIXES ( -(A)'f(A) (II) & (III), -1}.- (I)' 687 

Connected with this « + » affix is i!p « -Q.- > -r- » (i) below. 

• ( 4.:~) ~ « -~ ~~ • ( i i) . 

437. Iu a few words, which may he called disguised compounds : 

from Skt. or OIA. « paHa •. Examples : ·cil'l~~. WIT~~ .. lengat~, langat~,. 
(*la:nga-paHa, li:nga-patta), see p. 347; ;;'l'!t~ « malat~ • cover qf a book, 

literally dust-board (;;'1'11 c mala ,. + ?ft1i .. pata ,. < .. paHa ,. ) ; a feminine 

> diminutive-pleonastic extension as in <!'~~- « ka~~ti, ka~ati < ka~ati ,. 
assaying stone (karf?a-paHika, Hind. kasa2ti) ; etc. 

(43) 11 « + • (iii) > 'SIT~« -at~ •, also 'Sit~ « -ati .,, ~~ « -uti.•, 
~~ .. -iti ., iS« -ti •. • 

438. Like some of the other suffixei noted above, this is really a 
decayed word figuring in a number of disguised compounds. The source of 
it is c *mrtta, mrttika,. earth, Beng. ;;111, ort~ «mat~, mati •. Examples: 
C~ta'!t~ « dholat·~ • soil zvasherl down by ?'ains; ~i'fl~ « dhiuati ,. earth heaped 

up for an embankment (dhara+mati < mrttika); tC9IC~tJr,, C?!~~ « petoti, 
pet uti • earth and bits if Jute nzi:red, for plaste1·in,r; murl huts (pat~+ mati > 
*patawaty, *patuati); ~~t~, ~'I_~ « tu~a~I, tut;~uti .. cha:ff and earth. mi:recl 

(tu~a-+ mrttika); ~~iS « khariti • challc and earth (khatika chalk). • 

( 44) i!? .. -r- ,. (i) > -~1 c -ra •, ~1 ... rr •, fi!?~i > ~ .. -riya > -re •. 

439. Tl1e « -r- • aflh in a number of words indicates habit or 

profession, or some sort of connexion : e.q.,, ~t'lt?:~ < ~t'ltf~~j c basare > 
basariya • d1velle1· in a lorlgin.r; house or hired apartments ( < hasa lodging 

house,< vasa-); c<rt<;tt~ « jogar~ • an·angenwzt, supply ( < ts. yoga); c<rt5\t~i!?< 

C<!t5\tfi!?~1 « jogare < -.riya,. an 01:qaniser, a man cleve1' at a?'ranging things ; ~~'¥ 
< *f'!!~i!? « tukhar~ < * tikhara,. sharp one, cle?-•er one ( < tikkha=tikE;!qa); 

~~'¥1 B~kura,. name qf a jJC1"801l in MB. « ba~ka, vauka, vakra,. : when the 
place name, = Bankumh, the affix would seem to he of different origin : 

see under« -r- • [ii] below; 'Sit5\i!? ... agar~ • basket-wo?'k door qf hut (agra-); 

*~'f'l!~i > ~t~?;i!? « *pMsariya > pMsure ,. one ~vho !trangtes and robs 



688 MORPHOLOGY: CHAPTER I 

travellers (phas;j. hatteN·ope with loop); ~tPnrt~1 > C'<I'Cl'f~ « ghasiarii > 
ghesera ,. gmss-cutter (gh:,i,slj., *gbii.si grass); ti!tl5?:~ « naure < *niiwariii.,. a 

boat-man; MB. ~t\5~, ~t~f~~j « dbii.ur;j., dhau:riya » a nmiu!r; C~?:"l~%. 
« kheloii.rlj. ,. a playe1·, an expert > a smart and sha1p person (slang) ; ~~%.) 
« jua:ri ,. gamester, see p. 668 ; *1lt9ff~m < ~t9J:!;~ « *siipariya > sii.pu:re ,. 
snake-charme1·; <J_?:~~1 < *~~~t~ « lu~herii<*luthiara » <cylluth » plnndm·, 
cf. Hindi « lu~erii » robber; ~t~~ « bha~(g)ar;j. » one who indulges in 
' bhang'; c<ll"'e~1 « keop'i. ,. a low caste (*kevata-), beside c<I"Sl; c keot;j. ,. 
( < kevaHa, kiiivarta); etc. 

The sour~e of this c -:r- ,. would seem to be the OIA. c ylv:rt •, in a 
form like c vrta ,. = work, labmw, movement, found in the Rig-Veda, which 
would give a MIA.« *vata> *vaQ.ii> *vaQ.a,. By extension with« -ii., -iyii, 
-i < -ika ,. etc., we get the \1?1, f~~1, ~ etc . 

• 
(45) ~ .. -r- .. , ~ .. -ra .. , \!?) .. -ri ,. (ii). 

440. This occurs in some place-names, and it comes from a Late 
OIA. and Early MIA. « vii.~a,. enclosure which is found in Sanskrit as 
a c guf}a,. formation from« vata < vr-ta .. , < « vvr,. to cover, to enclose. 
~' f~ c -:ri, -ri ,. as an affix in Bengali would therefore represent « vatikii » 

compo•mded with words. Examples: \5!1~1 c iikhlj.ra ,., Hind. « akhara ,. 
enclosed grou1ul for physical exercise, club (ak~a-vii.ta-); ~51%. « bbagar:t ,. 
place outside 11illage where dead cattle M'e cast away (? « bhagna + vii~a ,. : 

• connexion with ~~ « har:t » bones is popularly suggested); C'>ltm~ 

c goa:rr ,. place-name = Gowari near Krishna§ar in Nacliya (gopa-vatika) ; 
c~~t~ c kb8ar:t »pig-sty (? Persian « xug ,. swine> Bengali c *.khoga, *kho, 
kh5 » + « vata ,. ). 'l'he Sanskritised « nii~-vata » a fleet qf boats or ship.~, 

a clock, met with in old Bengal inscriptions, represents an Old Bengali­
c *nawa-wiiQ.a •, which was Persianised into c na:vwarah » by the 
Mohammedans : « *nii.wa-waQ.a ,. may be connected with the dialectal word 
ilt~ above ( §449). 

'rhe word « vita » may equally be the source of ~ « -ra » in place 
names, although a non-Aryan ongm, .Kol or Dravidian, for that affix is 
not unlikely (see ltpra, p. 66). • 



THE AFFIX ' IJ.' (III) 689 

The word ~nrt~ c batoar¢ • high-way robber (bata < vartman) has 
nothing to do with c r •, (i) or (ii), although c -r- ,. (i) might have been 

·~confused wtth it.: it comes from MB. 'tt~9f~ « bata-para •, in which form 
it still occurs in NB. ( < causative root« pataya- •). 

(46) ~ .. -r- ., ~ .. -ra •, ~ .. -ri ,. (iii). 

·441. Pleonastic affix, derived from« -Q.a- •, which was widely. used in 
Late MIA. : e.g., .. vaccha-Q.a (vatsa), diaha-Q.a (divasa), gora-Q.-I (g-auri), 
neha-Q.-a (sneha), hiya-Q.-a (hrdaya), dosa-Q.-a (do~a), parakka-Q.-a (parakiya), 
bhumha-Q.-I (bhUmi), teva-Q.-u (tadvat), bh(r)anta-Q.-i (bhranti), nidda-Q.-t 
(nidrii.), desa-Q.a (desa), sandesa-Q.a (sandesa) •, as in the Apabhrarisa 
fragments in Hema-candra; « dukkha-Q.-a (dul}kha) •, as in the' Safujama­
maiijari '; etc. The c -Q.a- • affix seems to have come into special pro•mi­
nence in the spokert dialects of Northern jndia in the closing centuries 
of the lst millennium A. C. It is also very likely that it was largely used 
in the spoken language in the earlier stages of MIA., but the remains of 
Firs~, Transitional and Second MIA. do not use it lavishly ; and in Third 
MIA. literary remains, where the style is exclusively artificial and is 
modelled on the Prakrit kavyas (as in the Jaina works. like the., Bhavisatta­
Kaha '), it is not so common either. The Ap. verses in Hema-candra's 
grammar form specimens of genuine popular poetry, and hence the ··-Q.- • 
words are so much in evidence there. All NIA. speeches show numerous 
forms with « -Q.a- > -r· •; and some kinas of NIA., e.g., the Rajasthan! 
dialects, employ it more lavishly than the rest, affixing it to _passive 
partici pies quite freely. 

The Second and Third MIA. « -Q.a • rests on a First MIA. « -ta- •, 
which would normally represent an OIA. « -ta-,. (or a dental c -ta- .,.with 
or without a c r • or« f • to cerebralise it). (Cf. Pischel, §599.) In Skt., 
we have a number oft words with a c -ta • affix, words which are mostly 
late, but a few like c marka-ta • undoubtedly go back to pre-Buddhic 
times: e.g., c marka-ta (regarded as being Dravidian in origin : cf. 
Tamil « maram • tree) ; ka:gka-~a, karka-ta (see p. 368); karpa-ta mg 

( < *:V[s]karp); parka-ti; karva-~:t; lrukku-ta; lak-u-ta > lae--u-da.: 
• ' ' . ' f ., y ' <(' 

$7 



690 MORPHOLOGY ; CHAPTER I 

muk-u-ta (?); cip-i-tajlattened rice; vadhu-ti; kula-ta (explained as being 
from « kula + ylat ,. ) ; barba-ta ,. ; etc. This « -ta ,. is not found in 
Vedic. There is nothing in the non-Aryan languages, D~vidian and 
Kol, to warrant any influence from that side. And such a characteristic 
lA. suffix, so persistent in all the forms of NIA., can reasonably be 
expected to have an OIA. source. It seems quite possible that this « -ra 
< -Q.a < -ta ,. is only a form of a « -ta •, undoubtedly the same as' the 
passive participle affix, which was used as a secondary affix in . some 
noun and adjective formations in Vedic (cf. Whitney, Sanskrit Grammar, 
§ 1176, § 1245; Macdonell, Vedic Grammar, § 209): e.g.,« eka-ta, dvi-ta, 
tri-ta; .muhur-ta; ava-ta weU ;·raja-ta; parva-ta •. Some sense of connex­
ion ~ith or modification of the original idea is implied by this « -ta •, which 
also is not absent in the NIA. « -ra ». By spontaneous cerebralisation 
(see supra, pp. 487 -488), « -ta- :can very well give « -ta,. in dialectal OIA. 
and in Early MIA. Thus we have OIA. « vibhi-ta-ka (beside « vibhidaka,.: 
< « ylbhid,. ?) > *vibhi-ta-ka •> MIA.« baheQ.aa- •> NIA. « bahera,.; 
OIA. « amr-a-ta-ka > *amra-ta-ka ,. > MIA. « am biiQ.aa- ,. > NIA. l!lt~lfl 
« am,ra,.; ~nd OIA .. « sr~g-a-ta-ka-, sr~g-a-ta-ka- • > NIA. « sigara •· 
Throughout th~ whole history of lA., « -ta> -ta > -Q.a> -ra,. would se!'lm 
to haie been fairly common in . the spoken language; and after phonetic 
decay had put an end to most of the characteristic 01 A. affixes in the 
Second NIA. stage, the « -Q.a ,. affix, with its strong cerebral sound, seems 
to have become quite a prominent\nd a popular one. The large number of 
names in « -Q.a •, Sanskritised to « -ta • during the Second and Third MIA. 
periods (see ante, p. 89), would also indicate its popularity in the Indo-Aryan 
speech from the early centuries of the first millennium A.C. 

Hoernle's derivation of this affix from a Skt. « -drsa ,. (Gaudian 
Grammar, § 218) is phonologically inadmissible; there is also the fact.that 
the earlier form of « -ra < -Q.a • was « -ta ,., • 

Examples of-« ·ra· ,. from Be~gali: OB. (Carya 38) « ~ava-r-i • 
(nava, nau); (Caryas 10, 20) « bap-u-r-a • a Kapalilca (cf. Sauraseni 
Ap. vappuQ.a); (Caryii 10) « pakh-u-r-i • petal (pak~a = parva); MB. 
(SKK.)·,~ "! ~udart • beside t~ : mudi • rin!J (mudra); MB. ~ 



THE AFFIXES '-1}-, (Ill), '-T-' (I) 

c diyari,. tamp ( < dipa); ~t<f~ c makArl/..• (markata); '<ft~ « kapa~,. 

(karpata.); ~t~1 c rij~rll ,. king, riek men as in ~t~t-~t~~1 c raja-riijf/.ra,. 
Icings and ttweUs ; so 'il~-'il~~i c gachrJ.-gach~ra ,. plants and :heros 

(gaccha), <11"~--.t~"i c katb~-kath~ra,. wood and timber (kaf?tha); ~~ 
c patrJ.ra,. leaves and sticks ( < patra); ~t<f'~ « AkrJ.rr ,. loopin w1·iting 

(a:gka.); "tt~<ft < *llj'tllj'~ « sasari <- *sasari .. nwtker-in-law, beside llj't-t 

c sas',. in compounds (svasrii); ~"1 c ciimrJ.ra,. !tide, slcin (carma); ?ft~~i 

c pakhrJ.ra,. scapular-bone (pak~a); ~t'il~i c khagrJ.ra,. reed, marsk plant 
witk sharp edge (khaQ.ga); ~t~1 « bag~r~,. obstruction (sts. < vyiighiita+ 
-ra); ~'it~ « jhag~pi.,. quarrel (see p. 47 8); ~~~. iJt~,~ « a:t{u)ri ,. entrails 

(antra); ~~~ « ba(h)urr " (vadhii~I, vadhiiti, vadhii~ika) ; f~~~ <*f~~ 
c jhiuri < *jhiari .. ( <duhitr) ; c:~~'¥1 <~'it « mohsra< muhara,. vanguard 
(mukha); C:<f'S'¥1 c keora .. (ketaka-); f~~1, f5'¥1 « cira, cira ,. flattened •rice 
( cipita-); ~'¥1 « cumkuri ,. making tke so~d if kis;ing > assu1·ing (as 'a 

horse) (cumba-); ~'t~f'¥ « phaskuri,. a sm_all_boil beside c:~tJ'f._<11'1 « phoska,. 
a larg~ boil or sore ; ~tl{~ « ma~~ri ,. crust. on- the suiface, as on a healing sore 

(marman sensitive or exposed part); ~~' ~<!~ « etip,ri, cub~ri,. bas!ret 
(from a desi root meaning 'to cover ? cf. ~?f c cup~' .. quiet, hidden; Dt?f 

« -V cap ,. press) ;. ·5t~'¥1 « ci1:g(g)~ra ,. ta1·ge basket; f~~~~ ·« hij!J.ra ,. ketm­
aphrodite ( < Pers. « biz ,. )'; etc. · · · . 
. The « -r ,. affix also figures in verb-roots : OtT'¥ « -V dau..;r- ,. run ~dava-

Q.a, drava- < dl'U); see infra, under 'Verb: Roots.' - "' 

In some cases, « -r- ,. figures as ~ « •r-,. apparently--through originally 
dialectal pronunciation : e.g., <ft~'!1 « ka~h~ra •, see s1tpra; 'itt~~ beside 
~1 « gH.th~ri, -ri .;- baggag/ '(granthi) ; ~<11"'11 · « tak~ra,. ·a· piece, beside 
Hindostani « tukra ,. (see p. 489) ;· c:~t<f'11' « choklj.rii,. a boy (conn. with 
« saba ,. > ~~ « cha "' ?) ; 5t~~ • « cag(g)ari .. little 'basket, beside j)f~~ 
« cii:g(g)~ra • above; c:~\;$Jj • p~~~ra ,. box. (*pel)-~a = petta = pe~a~) ;· <lM~ 
c Msari,. bamboo ]lute (var1sa); t~HI~1 « ch.i'Lyra,. shade (seep. 342)'; ~111 
« bhayra < bhai ··wife's sister's husband; etc. 

(4~) ~ ~ -t~ ,., ~ ~ -ti,. (i). 

442. Found m a few words,ein the abstract. sense. ~rOJD MIA. 
• • 



69~ :MORPHOLOGY : CHAPTER l 

• -tta • < OIA. c -tva •: e.g., MB. ~t~~~ > ~t'SIJ\!5 > NB. <!!'€~ c ai:hati. 
> ayy3t~ > eottj,,. (avidhavatva), also with ~ .. -ti,. with .. -i < -ika,. ; 
ata. t• raizot • ( = rii.jya +tva) in the 'Crepar Xaxtrer Orthbhed.' 'L'his affix 
was later reinforced by the Perso-Arabie affix noted at p. 656. 

( 48). \!5 .. -ttf. •, '!51 .. -ta •, ~"t .. -ti .. (ii). 

443. From « patra- • as well as « piitra- •, a decayed word figuring 
m some disguised compounds in which it has acquired the force of an 
affix: e.g., ~\!51 « nii.mfl.tii. • mnltiplication tabte (nama-patra-); ~1~\!5'1 

c rli~(g)fl.ta • tinsel, copper;(oil (ra:gga-patra·) ; 15t<t>f1§ c cak~ti • some jlat 
or ma~llerl obJect out into a ring (cakra-patra + -ika); g~tf