TOWARD A DEFINITIVE GRAMMAR OF BENGALI - A PRACTICAL STUDY AND CRITIQUE OF RESEARCH ON SELECTED GRAMMATICAL STRUCTURES HANNE-RUTH THOMPSON Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of PhD SOUTH ASIA DEPARTMENT SCHOOL OF ORIENTAL AND AFRICAN STUDIES LONDON O c t o b e r ZOO Laf ProQuest Number: 10672939 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10672939 Published by ProQuest LLC(2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 ABSTRACT This thesis is a contribution to a deeper understanding of selected Bengali grammatical structures as far as their syntactic and semantic properties are concerned. It questions traditional interpretations and takes a practical approach in the detailed investigation of actual language use. My methodology is based on the belief that clarity and inquisitiveness should take precedence over alliance to particular grammar theories and that there is still much to discover about the way the Bengali language works. Chapter 1 This chapter on non-finite verb forms discusses the occurrences and functions of Bengali non-finite verb forms and concentrates particularly on the overlap of infinitives and verbal nouns, the distinguishing features between infinitives and present participles, the semantic properties of verbal adjectives and the syntactic restrictions of perfective participles. Chapter 2 In the attempt to define Bengali compound verbs I question the appropriateness of purely semantic criteria, which have prevailed in previous analyses. If syntactic criteria are taken into account we arrive at a more diverse and more accurate picture of the relationship between the two combined verb forms. Chapter 3 The majority of Bengali so-called postpositions are locative noun forms (spatial postpositions) or non- finite verb forms, which can function as postpositions. I have tried to develop some syntactic and semantic criteria in order to define the 'wordclass' of postpositions. Chapter 4 Bengali tenses are remarkably flexible in their uses. In order to gain a clearer picture of their parameters I have examined the co-occurrence of tenses and of tense restrictions in sentences with particular time adverbials. Chapter 5 Verbs of being and having zero verb, ^STTt and ’alW ) are analysed according to their syntactic uses, restrictions, semantic features and overlap with one another, taking into account negative and non-present tense sentences. The chapter also establishes the importance of the zero verb as the main copula in Bengali. Chapter 6 This chapter looks at word order and selected sentence structures. The discussion focusses on the features and parameters of Bengali passive and impersonal structures. Findings from previous chapters have been taken into account. All chapters suggest areas of further research. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT 2 INTRODUCTION 10 CHAPTER 1 NON-FINITE VERB FORMS 16 TERMINOLOGY 17 THE AUTHORS 19 THE STRUCTURES 22 0. PRELIMINARY: COMPARISON WITH ENGLISH 22 1. THE CONDITIONAL PARTICIPLE 2 7 1.1 conditional use 28 1.2 temporal use 28 1.3 followed by ’fa, 29 1.4 with preceding infinitive 29 1.5 followed by ^ or 'Q 29 1.6 with ^Q'Ht and T5»Tt 30 2. THE INFINITIVE 32 2.1 with other verbs 32 2.2 with nouns 35 2.3 with adjectives 36 2.4 in other idiomatic structures 37 3. THE PRESENT PARTICIPLE 37 4. THE VERBAL NOUN 39 4.1 as sentence subject 39 4.1.1 in active sentences 40 4.1.2 in equational sentences (W&'S) 40 4.1.3 passive sentences 41 4.2 in the genitive with abstract nouns 42 4.2.1 with WSPt? and ^ l t 42 4.2.2 with other abstract nouns 44 4.3 in the locative 44 4.4 with postpositions 45 4.5 used attributively 46 4.6 future verbal nouns 47 5. THE VERBAL ADJECTIVE 4 8 6 . THE PERFECTIVE PARTICIPLE 5 0 -3- 6.1 describing previous actions or events 51 6.2 describing simultaneous actions or events 51 6.3 used adverbially 52 6.4 with ^ and G 54 6.5 uses of (Smith) 55 6.6 same subject condition (Klaiman) 55 7. SUMMARY 58 7.1 Combinations and Overlap of Non-Finite Verb Forms 58 7.2 Abstract Nouns Preceded by Infinitives or Verbal Nouns 63 7.3 Suminaiy 66 CHAPTER 2 COMPOUND VERBS 68 THE STRUCTURES 68 THE TERMINOLOGY 68 THE BACKGROUND 69 DEFINITIONS 71 BORDERLINES 73 THE AUTHORS 73 Dusan Zbavitel 74 Alibha Dakshi 74 Probal Dasgupta 75 E.M.Bykova 76 Animesh Pal 78 Qazi Din Muhammad 79 T h e c o m p o u n d m a k e r s 80 T h e v e r b s 81 TftQJti-go 81 Wfrft - come 83 G<5t - rise and -fall 83 ^Tt - sit 84 WGTIt - give 85 'Gt'SUt -take 85 gs M - raise, lift 85 - throw 86 - keep, put 86 -stay, remain, be 86 other verbs 87 SUMMARY 87 -4- CHAPTER 3 POSTPOSITIONS 91 THE AUTHORS 91 S.K. Chatterji 91 W.S. Milne 92 W.L. Smith 94 D e f in it io n 96 C haracteristics a n d distribution o f postpositions 98 D e r iv a t io n s 99 1. non-derived 99 2. derived from verbs 99 3. derived from nouns 99 T h e s t r u c t u r e s 100 - before, ago 100 - in order to, with the purpose o f 101 - above, over, on 101 close, mar, by, on (a person), with 101 isWt- besides, without, apart from 102 W1!!, WliR — for, for the sake of, because of 102 ssfc?* - fi'om, since 103 f ^ ! 5 - towards 104 f ^ l with through, by means o f 105 during 106 under, underneath 106 1%c?l with, about for, on behalf of 107 after 108 instead o f * IW until 109 at the side of, next to 110 behind 110 instead o f <llRC<r outside o f 111 ■^tUT except, after 111 f^Rt except, without against 112 (4*10*1 about 112 in, within '5F® like 113 ’SRSff between, among, in 114 between, in the middle 114 'srto^i through, by means o f 115 with 115 -5- in spite o f 116 about, concerning 117 >lNH in front o f 117 ^55, from 118 as, for, via, through 118 %ftC? as 119 SUMMARY 120 CHAPTER 4 TENSE AND SOME ASPECTS OF TIME ADVERBIALS 122 1. TIME IN LANGUAGE - TENSE IN TIME 123 2. B e n g a l i t e n s e s in u s e - a u t h o r s a n d e x a m p l e s 125 i) simple present 125 ii) present continuous tense 126 iii) present perfect 127 iv) future tense 128 v) simple past 129 vi) past continuous 130 vii) past perfect 130 viii) past habitual 132 3. relationship b e t w e e n t h e t e n s e s - COOCCURRENCE OF TENSES IN SAME OR ADJACENT SENTENCES 132 0) Example sentences with more than two tenses in one sentence or adjacent sentences 134 1) cooccurrence with simple present 135 ii) cooccurrence with present continuous 136 iii) cooccurrence with present perfect 136 iv) cooccurrence with future tense 137 v) cooccurrence with simple past 138 vi) cooccurrence with past continuous 138 vii) cooccurrence with past perfect 139 viii) cooccurrence with past habitual 139 CONCLUSIONS 140 4. BENGALI TIME ADVERBIALS - CLASSIFICATION 141 5. TIME ADVERBIALS AND THE TENSES THEY ARE USED WITH 143 now 144 (<3^|>Pl) just now 144 ^5*1*1 then 144 'o)l'SK<p today 145 - 6 - ^ 5 'S|t5T / ^35 ^<5 yesterday, last month, last year 145 xsitsHf^cT / $lN lf ?Tt7f / tomorrow, next month, next year 145 4>Mt4» tomorrow, yesterday 146 ratTS, >i4»ICoi, etc at dawn, in the morning, at night etc 146 t%*T in the day 146 PT at that time (7*1 on that day) 146 before that 147 after that 147 ^ W v®' at this moment, 7*1 *1^5 at that moment 147 t£f^n> •s^ a bit later 148 a long time ago 148 ifl^’srtig just now 148 TR’TO always 149 sometimes 149 never 150 stf^f^T, T^t'Sf every day, daily 150 <£R*rm, ^1?T etc once, twice, again and again 151 still, not yet 151 'ffeR&T, in the meantime 152 until now 153 5 for so long 153 'W t9lx5 all day, all night 154 again 154 early, late 155 eWW at first 155 at the beginning 155 7*il^ («!<(c*l^) at the end, finally 155 SUMMARY 156 CHAPTER 5 VERBS OF BEING AND HAVING 158 INTRODUCTION 158 THE AUTHORS 159 THE STRUCTURES 162 1, uses of ’®Tter 164 1.1 ’auxiliary'use 164 1.2 with definite subjects 165 1.3 existential / locative / possessive uses 165 1.4 uses with participles, adjectives and verbal nouns/ adjectives 167 -7- 1.5 following an infinitive 170 1.6 with modal and other abstract nouns 170 1.7 omission of 171 2. uses of the zero-verb 172 2.1 copulative uses (equadonal) 173 2.2 copulative uses (possessive and with postpositional phrases) 175 2.3 with modal adjectives 176 2.4 with evaluative nouns 177 2.5 use of a pro-copula 178 3.