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Language and Culture
Documentation and Description 36
Hajong Verbal Morphology
Virginia Crowell Phillips
Hajong Verbal Morphology
Virginia Crowell Phillips
SIL International®
2018
2
SIL Language and Culture Documentation and Description
36
© 2018 SIL International®
ISSN 1939-0785
Fair Use Policy
Documents published in the Language and Culture Documentation and Description series are intended
for scholarly research and educational use. You may make copies of these publications for research or
instructional purposes (under fair use guidelines) free of charge and without further permission.
Republication or commercial use of Language and Culture Documentation and Description or the
documents contained therein is expressly prohibited without the written consent of the copyright
holder(s).
Series Editor
Lana Martens
Content Editor
Lynn Frank
3
Abstract
The Hajong language is spoken mainly in Assam and Meghalaya in India and in Mymensingh and
Netrokona Districts of Bangladesh. It is classified as Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Eastern,
Bengali-Assamese (Lewis et al. 2016). However, both Grierson and Masica suggest that Hajong is a
Tibeto-Burman based creole. Further research is needed to compare Hajong to Tibeto-Burman languages
in its geographical vicinity. This paper gives an overview of the verbal morphology of Hajong, noting
how it is similar to surrounding Eastern Indo-Aryan languages and how it differs. Hajong follows the
Eastern Indo-Aryan patterns of using perfective and imperfective conjunctive participles, conditional
adverbials, composite verbs, compound verbs and modal verbs. It differs from other Eastern Indo-Aryan
languages in that the Hajong verb is unmarked for person (except for imperatives), number or
honorificity.
4
Contents
Morpheme gloss abbreviations
1
Introduction
2
Finite Morphology
2.1
Future, Present, Past, Past Imperfective, Perfective
2.2
Imperative
3
Non-finite Morphology
4
Verb Phrases with Multiple Stems
5
4.1
Composite Verbs
4.2
Compound Verbs
4.3
Modal Verbs
Conclusion
5
Morpheme gloss abbreviations
ADV
COND
DAT
DEF
FUT
GEN
ICP
IMP
INF
IPFV
LOC
PCP
PL
PFV
PRS
PST
Q
SG
adverb
conditional
dative
definite
future
genitive
imperfective conjunctive participle
imperative
infinitive
imperfective
locative
perfective conjunctive participle
plural
perfective
present
past
question
single
6
1
Introduction
The Hajong people group is one of the scheduled tribes of North East India. They live mainly in Assam
and Meghalaya in India and in Mymensingh and Netrokona Districts of Bangladesh. There are
approximately seventy-one thousand speakers of Hajong, which is classified as Indo-European, IndoIranian, Indo-Aryan, Eastern, Bengali-Assamese (Lewis et al. 2016). It is therefore related to Bangla,
Asamiya, Rajbanshi, and Sylheti.
Grierson in his Linguistic Survey of India describes the Hajong language as a “corrupt form of Eastern
Bengali spoken by members of the Haijong (often incorrectly called Hajong) tribe, a Tibeto-Burman clan
settled in the districts of Mymensingh and Sylhet” (1903:214). He notes that although their language had
been classified as Tibeto-Burman, they have long since abandoned their original speech. In his inventory
of New Indo-Aryan languages and dialects, Masica refers to “haijong” as a “Bengali-based creole spoken
by originally Tibeto-Burman speaking tribals in Northeastern Bangladesh and Cachar Dt. Assam”
(1991:429).
Hajong is an SOV language. This paper will describe the verbal morphology of Hajong. The data
was gathered by first-hand interaction with speakers in Meghalaya and Assam, India from 2006 through
2010 and in Bangladesh in 2016. All the data is oral since written forms of the language are still in their
infancy. There is some messiness in the data with multiple forms listed for some suffixes. This may be
due to different dialects of the language. The Hajong people, who are Hindu, fled Bangladesh in 1971 to
escape attacks by Muslims during the war for independence. Their patterns of spreading north and
settling in India obscured any geographical basis for dialect differences that there may have been.
The close back unrounded vowel /ɯ/ is used in all dialects of the language in both Bangladesh and
India. The Hajong people consider this an important part of their language which distinguishes it from
Bangla.
2
Finite Morphology
In contrast to other Eastern Indo-Aryan languages, the Hajong verb is unmarked for person (except for
imperatives—see tables 1 and 2), number or honorificity. In Hajong, temporal (past, present, future),
aspectual (past imperfective, perfective) and modal (imperative) meaning (or TAM) are represented by a
single set of verbal suffixes in exclusive distribution. This, combined with the fact that there are no
personal agreement markers, leaves us with a very simple construction for the verb:
verb stem + TAM
2.1
Future, Present, Past, Past Imperfective, Perfective
Table 1 gives a summary of the morphology that falls in the TAM slot on a finite verb. I give two Hajong
verbs as examples; one with a vowel-final stem and one with a consonant-final stem.
7
Table 1. Finite morphology in Hajong
Future
/-bo, -ibo/
Present
/-i, -e/
Past
/-le, -ile/
Past Imperfective
/-bɯn, -ibɯn/
Perfective
/-se, ise/
/dʒa-/ ‘go’
/dʒa-bo/
/dʒa-i/
/dʒa-le/
/dʒa-ile/
/dʒɯ-ile/
/dʒa-bɯn/
/dʒɯ-bɯn/
/dʒa-se/
/kor-/ ‘do’
/kor-bo/
/kor-ibo/
/kur-ibo/
/kor-e/
/kor-le/
/kur-ile/
/kur-bɯn/
/kur-ibɯn/
/kur-se/
/kur-ise/
Many of these morphemes have allomorphs which include an epenthetic /-i-/. In his description of
Bangla, Dasgupta also gives alternate verb endings with an epenthesized /-i-/ (2003ː369). He recognizes
a difference between High (“Standard Written”) and Low (“Standard Colloquial”) forms of Bangla. The
High forms, with the epenthesized /-i-/ among other differences, reflect a spoken form of Bangla from
the sixteenth or possibly seventeenth century, which he claims is no longer spoken. The fact that they
are in use in at least some dialects of Hajong may give a clue as to when Hajong became distinct from
Bangla. The epenthesized /-i/, as a high vowel, sometimes causes the vowel of the stem to be raised as
well.
The past imperfective morpheme /-bɯn, -ibɯn/ is not found in related Indo-Aryan languages. It is
used for habitual actions or states in the past. In discourse, it is used for the setting of a story and to give
background information. Another allomorph /-iɯm/ is used in Netrokona district of Bangladesh. It was
not found anywhere in India.
The perfective morpheme /-se, -ise/ views the event described as a completed whole. When this
morpheme is used, the past/present time reference is supplied by context.
2.2
Imperative
The imperative forms of the verb are the only forms in Hajong where 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person
distinctions are made. There is no distinction between singular and plural.
Table 2. Imperative forms in Hajong
Imperative, 1st person
(hortative)
/de-ŋ/
/dʒa-ŋ/
/dʒa-m/
/kor-oŋ/
/kur-um/
/t ̪ʰak-im/
/t ̪ʰɔ-ŋ/
/kʰa-ŋ/
/kʰɯ-m/
Imperative, 2nd person
/∅, -ek, -ik/
/di/
/kor/
/kor-ek/
/hun-ik/
/kʰɯ-k/
/mur-uk/
Imperative, 3rd person
/-k, -uk/
‘let me/us give’
‘let me/us go’
‘let me/us go’
‘let me/us do’
‘let me/us do’
‘let me/us stay’
‘let me/us put [it]’
‘let’s eat’
‘let’s eat’
‘give’
‘do’
‘do’
‘listen’
‘let him/them eat’
‘may he/they die’
8
I give a list of all the first person imperative/hortative forms I have found in recorded stories as
these forms are not found in other Indo-Aryan languages. In his description of Hajong, Grierson mentions
karanga, similar to the first person hortative listed here, as a future tense unique to Hajong with a “pure
Tibeto-Burman termination” (1903:215). I have not found a pattern to explain the variant forms in the
first person. The /-m/ allomorph is similar to the Asamiya first person future form /-im/.
The second and third person /-k/ endings are also found in Asamiya (Goswami and Tamuli
2003:423) and in third person in Bangla (Dasgupta 2003:369). In second person, no ending is needed to
express the imperative for vowel final stems. Consonant final stems can go either way, with no overt
imperative morpheme or using /-ek/ or /-ik/. Stems with mid or low vowels take the /-ek/ ending and
stems with high vowels take the /-ik/ ending. In third person, /-k/ occurs after vowel final stems and
/-uk/ after consonant final stems.
Example (1) illustrates both the first and second person imperative.
(1) tɔi pitʰɯ bʰadʒek,
mɔi ebʰai kam korong
tɔi pitʰɯ bʰadʒ
-ek, mɔi ebʰai kam kor
-ong
2SG bread fry
-2IMP 1SG here work do
-1IMP
‘You fry the pitha bread, let me do work here.’
Example (2) illustrates the third person imperative.
(2) radʒagilɯlɯ
sʰawa sota muruk
radʒa
-gilɯ -lɯ sʰawa sota mur
-uk
king
-PL
-GEN children
die
-3IMP
‘May the kings’ children die.’
Example (3) is a common expression used when a group of people is ready to go out somewhere.
(3) tʃʰo,
jang
tʃʰo,
ja
-ng
come.on go
-1IMP
‘Come on, let's go.’
Section 2 is not an exhaustive list of all the ways aspectual and modal meaning can be encoded.
Participles, modal verbs and compound verb constructions are also used to express aspectual and modal
nuances.
3
Non-finite Morphology
All four of the non-finite verb forms listed in table 3 are similar to forms found in related Eastern IndoAryan languages such as Bangla.
9
Table 3. Non-finite morphology in Hajong
/kʰa-/ ‘eat’
/kʰa-ia/
/kʰɯ-iɯ/
/dʒa-/ ‘go’
/dʒa-ia/
/dʒɯ-iɯ/
Imperfective Conjunctive Participle
/-te, -ite/
Infinitive /-ba, -iba/
/kʰa-ite/
/kʰa-ba/
/dʒɯ-ite/
/dʒa-ite/
/dʒa-ba/
Conditional Adverbial /-le/
/kʰa-le/
/dʒa-le/
Perfective Conjunctive Participle
/-ia, -iɯ/
/kor-/ ‘do’
/kor-iɯ/
/kur-iɯ/
/kur-ia/
/kur-te/
/t ̪ʰak-/ ‘stay’
/t ̪ʰak-ia/
/t ̪ʰak-iɯ/
/t ̪ʰɯk-iɯ/
/t ̪ʰak-te/
/kur-ba/
/kur-iba/
/kur-ibɯ/
/kur-bɯ/
/kor-le
/t ̪ʰak-iba/
/t ̪ʰak-ibɯ/
/t ̪ʰɯk-bɯ/
/t ̪ʰak-le/
Similar to the finite morphemes, the imperfective conjunctive participle and infinitive have
allomorphs that begin with /-i-/.
The perfective conjunctive participle (PCP), also called a past participle, is formed by adding /-ia/ or
/-iɯ/ to the verb stem. The conjunctive participle ending in High Bangla is also /-ia/ where Low
(Standard Colloquial) Bangla uses /-e/ (Dasgupta 2003ː370). Conjunctive participles are used before the
vectors in compound verbs (see section 4.2), before some modal verbs (see section 4.3) and on
subordinate verbs indicating a series of events in a sentence as in the following examples.
(4) duɯr mɛkia
lait dʒɔlia
tʃai
kʊnni
kolha ɯse
duɯr mɛk -ia lait dʒɔl -ia tʃa -i
kʊn
-ni kolha ɯse.
door open -PCP light light -PCP look -PRS where -LOC pot
is
‘Opening the door, turning on the light, [he] looks for where the pot is.’
The imperfective conjunctive participle (ICP) /-te / is used when the action indicated by the
participle is happening at the same time as the action indicated by the main verb of the sentence. The
participle with the /-te/ ending is usually duplicated.
(5) beraite
berai
-te
walk
-ICP
‘As [they] were
beraite
kibɯ poka ola
ʊdɯ
berai
-te
kibɯ poka o
-la
ʊdɯ
walk
-ICP some bug
3SG -GEN there
walking, a bug flew by them.’
diɯ
diɯ
through
ʊriɯ
ʊri
fly
dʒase
-ɯ
dʒa
-PCP go
The infinitive is used before certain modal verbs (see section 4.3), in subordinate clauses meaning
‘in order to’, and on verbs that are arguments of other verbs as in the example below.
(6) mɔi ʊdɯ rua
lagaba
tʃai
mɔi ʊdɯ rua
laga
-ba tʃa
-i
1SG there rice.seedling plant -INF want -PRS
‘I want to plant rice seedlings there.’
The conditional adverbial morpheme /-le/ attaches to the subordinate verb in a conditional
sentence.
(7) pitʰɯ khʰaba
tʃale
to
kʰuri
aniba
lagibo
pitʰɯ khʰa
-ba tʃa
-le
to
kʰuri
ani
-ba lag
-ibo
bread eat
-INF want -COND then firewood bring -INF need -FUT
‘If [we] want to eat bread, then [we] have to bring firewood.’
-se
-PFV
10
4
Verb Phrases with Multiple Stems
There are three varieties of verb phrases that contain multiple stems but reflect a single event, not a
series of events. These are composite verbs, compound verbs and modal verbs, all common to Eastern
Indo-Aryan languages.
Masica (1991ː373) notes the rule of thumb for New Indo-Aryan that the main verb is the leftmost
verb stem of the verb phrase. The TAM auxiliary is the rightmost element, closing the verb phrase. The
simplest form of the verb phrase would beː
verb stem + TAM
This is the construction seen in the section 2 “Finite Morphology.” In composite verbs, the noun or
adjective which is the semantically main element is to the left of the main verb and forms a lexical unit
with the main verb. In both compound and modal verbs, an additional verb stem is inserted between the
main verb and the TAM auxiliary.
4.1
Composite Verbs
The first type of verb phrase that contains multiple stems is the composite or conjunct verb. Here, the
semantically main element can either be a noun or an adjective. This forms a lexical unit with the
following verb which then takes the TAM morphology.
noun/adjective + verb-TAM
(8) daw diɯ tʃot
dise
niŋkurag
daw diɯ tʃot
di
-se niŋku
-ra -g
knife using wound give -PFV tail
-DEF -DAT
‘[He] wounded the tail using a knife.’
Composite verb constructions usually contain the verbs /kor-/ ‘do’ or /de-/ ‘give’.
Table 4. Composite verbs in Hajong
/dʒigas kor-/
/ʃeʃ kor-/
/tʃoʈ d̪e-/
/gʰum d̪e-/
4.2
Literal Meaning
‘inquiry do’
‘end do’
‘wound give’
‘sleep give’
Meaning
to inquire
to finish
to wound
to sleep
Compound Verbs
Compound verbs consist of a semantically main verb followed by a vector verb, also sometimes called a
specifier, explicator or intensifier (Masica 1991ː326). The semantically main verb is in the form of a
perfective conjunctive participle and the vector verb takes the TAM morphology:
conjunctive participle + vector-TAM
(9) dakrage
gʊniɯ
pʰɛlase
ɔi
dak
-ra -ge gʊn
-iɯ pʰɛla
-se ɔi
dot
-DEF -DAT count -PCP throw -PFV 3SG
‘He counted the dots.’
11
Vector verbs are a small closed class that cannot be used with just any main verb. They are difficult
to translate, at least into English. They color the meaning of the main verb often giving it a stronger
sense. The three main vector verbs in Hajong are /di-/ ‘give’, /dʒa-/ ‘go’ and /pʰɛl-/ ‘throw’.
Table 5. Compound verbs in Hajong
/lag-ia di-/
/pʰat-ia dʒa-/
/d̪ʰur-ia pʰɛla-/
4.3
Literal Meaning
‘attach-ing give’
‘tear-ing go’
‘grasp-ing throw’
Meaning
apply (as a lotion)
burst
seize or take to heart
Modal Verbs
Finally, there are modal verbs. The first verbal stem is the semantically main verb and the second, called
the modal, specifies various modal and aspectual nuances. The main verb will be in its infinitive or
perfective conjunctive participle form and the modal verb will take the TAM morphology.
verb-INF/PCP + verb-TAM
As Masica (1991ː374) notes, the problem is to distinguish these from a sequence of verbs formed by
embedding (learn to V, enjoy V-ing) on the one hand and the vectors of compound verbs on the other
hand. He points out that modal verbs, which have been grammaticalized to some extent, do not occur
outside these combinations in sentences by themselves with the same meaning. Unlike the vectors of
compound verbs, they have aspectual or modal meaning independent of the main verb.
Table 6. Modal verbs in Hajong
Modal Verb
Infinitive +/lag/ ‘attach’
Infinitive + /d̪ʰor/ ‘grasp’
Infinitive + /pa/ ‘be able’ ‘get’
Infinitive + /di/ ‘give’
Perfective conjunctive participle + /t ̪ʰak/
‘remain’
Perfective conjunctive participle + /ro/ ‘stop’
Perfective conjunctive participle + /t ̪ʰo/ ‘put’
Perfective conjunctive participle + /ase/ ‘be’
Meaning
Must, should, need to V;
Start V-ing
Start V-ing
Be able to V
Allowed / caused to V
Keep V-ing
Was V-ing
Had V-ed
Is V-ing
Each of the following examples includes a different modal verb construction, as listed in table 6.
(10) agal bʰai ɯnbɯ
lɯgbɯn
agal bʰai ɯn
-bɯ lɯg
-bɯn
top side bring -INF should -PST.IPFV
‘[You] should have brought the top part.’
(11) ɔi
bakrai
paliba
dʰʊrse
ɔi
sʰawarage
ɔi
bak
-ra -i
pal
-iba dʰʊr
-se ɔi
sʰawa
-ra -ge
that tiger -DEF -EMP raise -INF start -PFV that cub
-DEF -DAT
‘That tiger began to raise that cub.’
12
(12) tora gopalbʰorla
kunu dʒinis tʃor kurba
pabo
niki
tora gopalbʰor -la kunu dʒinis tʃor kur
-ba pa
-bo niki
2PL Gopalbhor -GEN any thing steal do
-INF be.able -FUT Q
‘Are you able to steal anything of Gopalbhor’s?’
(13) buhibɯ
dile
buh
-ibɯ di
-le
sit
-INF give -PST
‘[She] seated [him].’
(14) galani
piniɯ
t ̪ʰakle,
har mala tʃorke
ɯnbo
gala -ni pini
-ɯ t ̪ʰak
-le,
har mala tʃor
-ke ɯn
-bo
neck -LOC wear -PCP remain -COND necklace steal -ADV bring -FUT
‘[even] If [she] keeps wearing [it] on her neck, the necklace will be stolen.
(15) tʃorrato
ɯhiɯ
hʊniɯ
ruse
te
dʒanle
tʃor
-ra -to
ɯh
-iɯ hʊn
-iɯ ru
-se te
dʒan -le
thief
-DEF -contrast come -PCP listen -PCP stop -PFV then know -PST
‘The thief, coming, was listening [and] then knew.’
(16) burɯ babra
ali
banea
t ̪ʰuse
burɯ bab
-ra ali
ban
-ea t ̪ʰu
-se
old
father -DEF boundary.marker make -PCP put -PFV
‘[My] old father had made the boundary marker.’
(17) ɔi
pɯtlɯni
burɯ
buri
hamia
ase
ɔi
pɯtlɯ -ni burɯ
buri
ham -ia ase
that jar
-LOC old.man old.woman get.in -PCP be
‘The old man [and] woman are getting in to the jar.’
5
Conclusion
In this paper, I have given an overview of the verbal morphology of Hajong. I have listed the finite
morphology, the non-finite morphology and given examples of three types of verb phrases with multiple
stems. There are also a variety of clitics which I have not attempted to explain in this paper. I have noted
where Hajong is similar to and different from other Indo-Aryan languages. However, both Grierson and
Masica suggest that Hajong is a Tibeto-Burman based creole. Further research is needed to compare
Hajong to Tibeto-Burman languages in its geographical vicinity. More research is also needed to sort out
the question of dialects.
13
References
Dasgupta, Probal. 2003. Bangla. In George Cardona and Dhanesh Jain (eds.), The Indo-Aryan languages,
351–390. London: Routledge.
Goswami, Golok Chandra, and Jyotiprakash Tamuli. 2003. Asamiya. In George Cardona and Dhanesh
Jain (eds.), The Indo-Aryan languages, 391–443. London: Routledge.
Grierson, George A. 1903. Specimens of the Bengali and Assamese languages. Part 1. Indo Aryan Family:
Eastern Group. Vol. 5. Linguistic survey of India. Reprint, Delhi 1967. Calcutta: Motilal Banarsidass.
Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig, eds. 2016. Ethnologue: Languages of the world.
Nineteenth edition. Dallas, TX: SIL International. www.ethnologue.com.
Masica, Colin P. 1991. The Indo-Aryan languages. Cambridge Language Surveys. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Language and Culture
Documentation and Description 36
Hajong Verbal Morphology
Virginia Crowell Phillips
Hajong Verbal Morphology
Virginia Crowell Phillips
SIL International®
2018
2
SIL Language and Culture Documentation and Description
36
© 2018 SIL International®
ISSN 1939-0785
Fair Use Policy
Documents published in the Language and Culture Documentation and Description series are intended
for scholarly research and educational use. You may make copies of these publications for research or
instructional purposes (under fair use guidelines) free of charge and without further permission.
Republication or commercial use of Language and Culture Documentation and Description or the
documents contained therein is expressly prohibited without the written consent of the copyright
holder(s).
Series Editor
Lana Martens
Content Editor
Lynn Frank
3
Abstract
The Hajong language is spoken mainly in Assam and Meghalaya in India and in Mymensingh and
Netrokona Districts of Bangladesh. It is classified as Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Eastern,
Bengali-Assamese (Lewis et al. 2016). However, both Grierson and Masica suggest that Hajong is a
Tibeto-Burman based creole. Further research is needed to compare Hajong to Tibeto-Burman languages
in its geographical vicinity. This paper gives an overview of the verbal morphology of Hajong, noting
how it is similar to surrounding Eastern Indo-Aryan languages and how it differs. Hajong follows the
Eastern Indo-Aryan patterns of using perfective and imperfective conjunctive participles, conditional
adverbials, composite verbs, compound verbs and modal verbs. It differs from other Eastern Indo-Aryan
languages in that the Hajong verb is unmarked for person (except for imperatives), number or
honorificity.
4
Contents
Morpheme gloss abbreviations
1
Introduction
2
Finite Morphology
2.1
Future, Present, Past, Past Imperfective, Perfective
2.2
Imperative
3
Non-finite Morphology
4
Verb Phrases with Multiple Stems
5
4.1
Composite Verbs
4.2
Compound Verbs
4.3
Modal Verbs
Conclusion
5
Morpheme gloss abbreviations
ADV
COND
DAT
DEF
FUT
GEN
ICP
IMP
INF
IPFV
LOC
PCP
PL
PFV
PRS
PST
Q
SG
adverb
conditional
dative
definite
future
genitive
imperfective conjunctive participle
imperative
infinitive
imperfective
locative
perfective conjunctive participle
plural
perfective
present
past
question
single
6
1
Introduction
The Hajong people group is one of the scheduled tribes of North East India. They live mainly in Assam
and Meghalaya in India and in Mymensingh and Netrokona Districts of Bangladesh. There are
approximately seventy-one thousand speakers of Hajong, which is classified as Indo-European, IndoIranian, Indo-Aryan, Eastern, Bengali-Assamese (Lewis et al. 2016). It is therefore related to Bangla,
Asamiya, Rajbanshi, and Sylheti.
Grierson in his Linguistic Survey of India describes the Hajong language as a “corrupt form of Eastern
Bengali spoken by members of the Haijong (often incorrectly called Hajong) tribe, a Tibeto-Burman clan
settled in the districts of Mymensingh and Sylhet” (1903:214). He notes that although their language had
been classified as Tibeto-Burman, they have long since abandoned their original speech. In his inventory
of New Indo-Aryan languages and dialects, Masica refers to “haijong” as a “Bengali-based creole spoken
by originally Tibeto-Burman speaking tribals in Northeastern Bangladesh and Cachar Dt. Assam”
(1991:429).
Hajong is an SOV language. This paper will describe the verbal morphology of Hajong. The data
was gathered by first-hand interaction with speakers in Meghalaya and Assam, India from 2006 through
2010 and in Bangladesh in 2016. All the data is oral since written forms of the language are still in their
infancy. There is some messiness in the data with multiple forms listed for some suffixes. This may be
due to different dialects of the language. The Hajong people, who are Hindu, fled Bangladesh in 1971 to
escape attacks by Muslims during the war for independence. Their patterns of spreading north and
settling in India obscured any geographical basis for dialect differences that there may have been.
The close back unrounded vowel /ɯ/ is used in all dialects of the language in both Bangladesh and
India. The Hajong people consider this an important part of their language which distinguishes it from
Bangla.
2
Finite Morphology
In contrast to other Eastern Indo-Aryan languages, the Hajong verb is unmarked for person (except for
imperatives—see tables 1 and 2), number or honorificity. In Hajong, temporal (past, present, future),
aspectual (past imperfective, perfective) and modal (imperative) meaning (or TAM) are represented by a
single set of verbal suffixes in exclusive distribution. This, combined with the fact that there are no
personal agreement markers, leaves us with a very simple construction for the verb:
verb stem + TAM
2.1
Future, Present, Past, Past Imperfective, Perfective
Table 1 gives a summary of the morphology that falls in the TAM slot on a finite verb. I give two Hajong
verbs as examples; one with a vowel-final stem and one with a consonant-final stem.
7
Table 1. Finite morphology in Hajong
Future
/-bo, -ibo/
Present
/-i, -e/
Past
/-le, -ile/
Past Imperfective
/-bɯn, -ibɯn/
Perfective
/-se, ise/
/dʒa-/ ‘go’
/dʒa-bo/
/dʒa-i/
/dʒa-le/
/dʒa-ile/
/dʒɯ-ile/
/dʒa-bɯn/
/dʒɯ-bɯn/
/dʒa-se/
/kor-/ ‘do’
/kor-bo/
/kor-ibo/
/kur-ibo/
/kor-e/
/kor-le/
/kur-ile/
/kur-bɯn/
/kur-ibɯn/
/kur-se/
/kur-ise/
Many of these morphemes have allomorphs which include an epenthetic /-i-/. In his description of
Bangla, Dasgupta also gives alternate verb endings with an epenthesized /-i-/ (2003ː369). He recognizes
a difference between High (“Standard Written”) and Low (“Standard Colloquial”) forms of Bangla. The
High forms, with the epenthesized /-i-/ among other differences, reflect a spoken form of Bangla from
the sixteenth or possibly seventeenth century, which he claims is no longer spoken. The fact that they
are in use in at least some dialects of Hajong may give a clue as to when Hajong became distinct from
Bangla. The epenthesized /-i/, as a high vowel, sometimes causes the vowel of the stem to be raised as
well.
The past imperfective morpheme /-bɯn, -ibɯn/ is not found in related Indo-Aryan languages. It is
used for habitual actions or states in the past. In discourse, it is used for the setting of a story and to give
background information. Another allomorph /-iɯm/ is used in Netrokona district of Bangladesh. It was
not found anywhere in India.
The perfective morpheme /-se, -ise/ views the event described as a completed whole. When this
morpheme is used, the past/present time reference is supplied by context.
2.2
Imperative
The imperative forms of the verb are the only forms in Hajong where 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person
distinctions are made. There is no distinction between singular and plural.
Table 2. Imperative forms in Hajong
Imperative, 1st person
(hortative)
/de-ŋ/
/dʒa-ŋ/
/dʒa-m/
/kor-oŋ/
/kur-um/
/t ̪ʰak-im/
/t ̪ʰɔ-ŋ/
/kʰa-ŋ/
/kʰɯ-m/
Imperative, 2nd person
/∅, -ek, -ik/
/di/
/kor/
/kor-ek/
/hun-ik/
/kʰɯ-k/
/mur-uk/
Imperative, 3rd person
/-k, -uk/
‘let me/us give’
‘let me/us go’
‘let me/us go’
‘let me/us do’
‘let me/us do’
‘let me/us stay’
‘let me/us put [it]’
‘let’s eat’
‘let’s eat’
‘give’
‘do’
‘do’
‘listen’
‘let him/them eat’
‘may he/they die’
8
I give a list of all the first person imperative/hortative forms I have found in recorded stories as
these forms are not found in other Indo-Aryan languages. In his description of Hajong, Grierson mentions
karanga, similar to the first person hortative listed here, as a future tense unique to Hajong with a “pure
Tibeto-Burman termination” (1903:215). I have not found a pattern to explain the variant forms in the
first person. The /-m/ allomorph is similar to the Asamiya first person future form /-im/.
The second and third person /-k/ endings are also found in Asamiya (Goswami and Tamuli
2003:423) and in third person in Bangla (Dasgupta 2003:369). In second person, no ending is needed to
express the imperative for vowel final stems. Consonant final stems can go either way, with no overt
imperative morpheme or using /-ek/ or /-ik/. Stems with mid or low vowels take the /-ek/ ending and
stems with high vowels take the /-ik/ ending. In third person, /-k/ occurs after vowel final stems and
/-uk/ after consonant final stems.
Example (1) illustrates both the first and second person imperative.
(1) tɔi pitʰɯ bʰadʒek,
mɔi ebʰai kam korong
tɔi pitʰɯ bʰadʒ
-ek, mɔi ebʰai kam kor
-ong
2SG bread fry
-2IMP 1SG here work do
-1IMP
‘You fry the pitha bread, let me do work here.’
Example (2) illustrates the third person imperative.
(2) radʒagilɯlɯ
sʰawa sota muruk
radʒa
-gilɯ -lɯ sʰawa sota mur
-uk
king
-PL
-GEN children
die
-3IMP
‘May the kings’ children die.’
Example (3) is a common expression used when a group of people is ready to go out somewhere.
(3) tʃʰo,
jang
tʃʰo,
ja
-ng
come.on go
-1IMP
‘Come on, let's go.’
Section 2 is not an exhaustive list of all the ways aspectual and modal meaning can be encoded.
Participles, modal verbs and compound verb constructions are also used to express aspectual and modal
nuances.
3
Non-finite Morphology
All four of the non-finite verb forms listed in table 3 are similar to forms found in related Eastern IndoAryan languages such as Bangla.
9
Table 3. Non-finite morphology in Hajong
/kʰa-/ ‘eat’
/kʰa-ia/
/kʰɯ-iɯ/
/dʒa-/ ‘go’
/dʒa-ia/
/dʒɯ-iɯ/
Imperfective Conjunctive Participle
/-te, -ite/
Infinitive /-ba, -iba/
/kʰa-ite/
/kʰa-ba/
/dʒɯ-ite/
/dʒa-ite/
/dʒa-ba/
Conditional Adverbial /-le/
/kʰa-le/
/dʒa-le/
Perfective Conjunctive Participle
/-ia, -iɯ/
/kor-/ ‘do’
/kor-iɯ/
/kur-iɯ/
/kur-ia/
/kur-te/
/t ̪ʰak-/ ‘stay’
/t ̪ʰak-ia/
/t ̪ʰak-iɯ/
/t ̪ʰɯk-iɯ/
/t ̪ʰak-te/
/kur-ba/
/kur-iba/
/kur-ibɯ/
/kur-bɯ/
/kor-le
/t ̪ʰak-iba/
/t ̪ʰak-ibɯ/
/t ̪ʰɯk-bɯ/
/t ̪ʰak-le/
Similar to the finite morphemes, the imperfective conjunctive participle and infinitive have
allomorphs that begin with /-i-/.
The perfective conjunctive participle (PCP), also called a past participle, is formed by adding /-ia/ or
/-iɯ/ to the verb stem. The conjunctive participle ending in High Bangla is also /-ia/ where Low
(Standard Colloquial) Bangla uses /-e/ (Dasgupta 2003ː370). Conjunctive participles are used before the
vectors in compound verbs (see section 4.2), before some modal verbs (see section 4.3) and on
subordinate verbs indicating a series of events in a sentence as in the following examples.
(4) duɯr mɛkia
lait dʒɔlia
tʃai
kʊnni
kolha ɯse
duɯr mɛk -ia lait dʒɔl -ia tʃa -i
kʊn
-ni kolha ɯse.
door open -PCP light light -PCP look -PRS where -LOC pot
is
‘Opening the door, turning on the light, [he] looks for where the pot is.’
The imperfective conjunctive participle (ICP) /-te / is used when the action indicated by the
participle is happening at the same time as the action indicated by the main verb of the sentence. The
participle with the /-te/ ending is usually duplicated.
(5) beraite
berai
-te
walk
-ICP
‘As [they] were
beraite
kibɯ poka ola
ʊdɯ
berai
-te
kibɯ poka o
-la
ʊdɯ
walk
-ICP some bug
3SG -GEN there
walking, a bug flew by them.’
diɯ
diɯ
through
ʊriɯ
ʊri
fly
dʒase
-ɯ
dʒa
-PCP go
The infinitive is used before certain modal verbs (see section 4.3), in subordinate clauses meaning
‘in order to’, and on verbs that are arguments of other verbs as in the example below.
(6) mɔi ʊdɯ rua
lagaba
tʃai
mɔi ʊdɯ rua
laga
-ba tʃa
-i
1SG there rice.seedling plant -INF want -PRS
‘I want to plant rice seedlings there.’
The conditional adverbial morpheme /-le/ attaches to the subordinate verb in a conditional
sentence.
(7) pitʰɯ khʰaba
tʃale
to
kʰuri
aniba
lagibo
pitʰɯ khʰa
-ba tʃa
-le
to
kʰuri
ani
-ba lag
-ibo
bread eat
-INF want -COND then firewood bring -INF need -FUT
‘If [we] want to eat bread, then [we] have to bring firewood.’
-se
-PFV
10
4
Verb Phrases with Multiple Stems
There are three varieties of verb phrases that contain multiple stems but reflect a single event, not a
series of events. These are composite verbs, compound verbs and modal verbs, all common to Eastern
Indo-Aryan languages.
Masica (1991ː373) notes the rule of thumb for New Indo-Aryan that the main verb is the leftmost
verb stem of the verb phrase. The TAM auxiliary is the rightmost element, closing the verb phrase. The
simplest form of the verb phrase would beː
verb stem + TAM
This is the construction seen in the section 2 “Finite Morphology.” In composite verbs, the noun or
adjective which is the semantically main element is to the left of the main verb and forms a lexical unit
with the main verb. In both compound and modal verbs, an additional verb stem is inserted between the
main verb and the TAM auxiliary.
4.1
Composite Verbs
The first type of verb phrase that contains multiple stems is the composite or conjunct verb. Here, the
semantically main element can either be a noun or an adjective. This forms a lexical unit with the
following verb which then takes the TAM morphology.
noun/adjective + verb-TAM
(8) daw diɯ tʃot
dise
niŋkurag
daw diɯ tʃot
di
-se niŋku
-ra -g
knife using wound give -PFV tail
-DEF -DAT
‘[He] wounded the tail using a knife.’
Composite verb constructions usually contain the verbs /kor-/ ‘do’ or /de-/ ‘give’.
Table 4. Composite verbs in Hajong
/dʒigas kor-/
/ʃeʃ kor-/
/tʃoʈ d̪e-/
/gʰum d̪e-/
4.2
Literal Meaning
‘inquiry do’
‘end do’
‘wound give’
‘sleep give’
Meaning
to inquire
to finish
to wound
to sleep
Compound Verbs
Compound verbs consist of a semantically main verb followed by a vector verb, also sometimes called a
specifier, explicator or intensifier (Masica 1991ː326). The semantically main verb is in the form of a
perfective conjunctive participle and the vector verb takes the TAM morphology:
conjunctive participle + vector-TAM
(9) dakrage
gʊniɯ
pʰɛlase
ɔi
dak
-ra -ge gʊn
-iɯ pʰɛla
-se ɔi
dot
-DEF -DAT count -PCP throw -PFV 3SG
‘He counted the dots.’
11
Vector verbs are a small closed class that cannot be used with just any main verb. They are difficult
to translate, at least into English. They color the meaning of the main verb often giving it a stronger
sense. The three main vector verbs in Hajong are /di-/ ‘give’, /dʒa-/ ‘go’ and /pʰɛl-/ ‘throw’.
Table 5. Compound verbs in Hajong
/lag-ia di-/
/pʰat-ia dʒa-/
/d̪ʰur-ia pʰɛla-/
4.3
Literal Meaning
‘attach-ing give’
‘tear-ing go’
‘grasp-ing throw’
Meaning
apply (as a lotion)
burst
seize or take to heart
Modal Verbs
Finally, there are modal verbs. The first verbal stem is the semantically main verb and the second, called
the modal, specifies various modal and aspectual nuances. The main verb will be in its infinitive or
perfective conjunctive participle form and the modal verb will take the TAM morphology.
verb-INF/PCP + verb-TAM
As Masica (1991ː374) notes, the problem is to distinguish these from a sequence of verbs formed by
embedding (learn to V, enjoy V-ing) on the one hand and the vectors of compound verbs on the other
hand. He points out that modal verbs, which have been grammaticalized to some extent, do not occur
outside these combinations in sentences by themselves with the same meaning. Unlike the vectors of
compound verbs, they have aspectual or modal meaning independent of the main verb.
Table 6. Modal verbs in Hajong
Modal Verb
Infinitive +/lag/ ‘attach’
Infinitive + /d̪ʰor/ ‘grasp’
Infinitive + /pa/ ‘be able’ ‘get’
Infinitive + /di/ ‘give’
Perfective conjunctive participle + /t ̪ʰak/
‘remain’
Perfective conjunctive participle + /ro/ ‘stop’
Perfective conjunctive participle + /t ̪ʰo/ ‘put’
Perfective conjunctive participle + /ase/ ‘be’
Meaning
Must, should, need to V;
Start V-ing
Start V-ing
Be able to V
Allowed / caused to V
Keep V-ing
Was V-ing
Had V-ed
Is V-ing
Each of the following examples includes a different modal verb construction, as listed in table 6.
(10) agal bʰai ɯnbɯ
lɯgbɯn
agal bʰai ɯn
-bɯ lɯg
-bɯn
top side bring -INF should -PST.IPFV
‘[You] should have brought the top part.’
(11) ɔi
bakrai
paliba
dʰʊrse
ɔi
sʰawarage
ɔi
bak
-ra -i
pal
-iba dʰʊr
-se ɔi
sʰawa
-ra -ge
that tiger -DEF -EMP raise -INF start -PFV that cub
-DEF -DAT
‘That tiger began to raise that cub.’
12
(12) tora gopalbʰorla
kunu dʒinis tʃor kurba
pabo
niki
tora gopalbʰor -la kunu dʒinis tʃor kur
-ba pa
-bo niki
2PL Gopalbhor -GEN any thing steal do
-INF be.able -FUT Q
‘Are you able to steal anything of Gopalbhor’s?’
(13) buhibɯ
dile
buh
-ibɯ di
-le
sit
-INF give -PST
‘[She] seated [him].’
(14) galani
piniɯ
t ̪ʰakle,
har mala tʃorke
ɯnbo
gala -ni pini
-ɯ t ̪ʰak
-le,
har mala tʃor
-ke ɯn
-bo
neck -LOC wear -PCP remain -COND necklace steal -ADV bring -FUT
‘[even] If [she] keeps wearing [it] on her neck, the necklace will be stolen.
(15) tʃorrato
ɯhiɯ
hʊniɯ
ruse
te
dʒanle
tʃor
-ra -to
ɯh
-iɯ hʊn
-iɯ ru
-se te
dʒan -le
thief
-DEF -contrast come -PCP listen -PCP stop -PFV then know -PST
‘The thief, coming, was listening [and] then knew.’
(16) burɯ babra
ali
banea
t ̪ʰuse
burɯ bab
-ra ali
ban
-ea t ̪ʰu
-se
old
father -DEF boundary.marker make -PCP put -PFV
‘[My] old father had made the boundary marker.’
(17) ɔi
pɯtlɯni
burɯ
buri
hamia
ase
ɔi
pɯtlɯ -ni burɯ
buri
ham -ia ase
that jar
-LOC old.man old.woman get.in -PCP be
‘The old man [and] woman are getting in to the jar.’
5
Conclusion
In this paper, I have given an overview of the verbal morphology of Hajong. I have listed the finite
morphology, the non-finite morphology and given examples of three types of verb phrases with multiple
stems. There are also a variety of clitics which I have not attempted to explain in this paper. I have noted
where Hajong is similar to and different from other Indo-Aryan languages. However, both Grierson and
Masica suggest that Hajong is a Tibeto-Burman based creole. Further research is needed to compare
Hajong to Tibeto-Burman languages in its geographical vicinity. More research is also needed to sort out
the question of dialects.
13
References
Dasgupta, Probal. 2003. Bangla. In George Cardona and Dhanesh Jain (eds.), The Indo-Aryan languages,
351–390. London: Routledge.
Goswami, Golok Chandra, and Jyotiprakash Tamuli. 2003. Asamiya. In George Cardona and Dhanesh
Jain (eds.), The Indo-Aryan languages, 391–443. London: Routledge.
Grierson, George A. 1903. Specimens of the Bengali and Assamese languages. Part 1. Indo Aryan Family:
Eastern Group. Vol. 5. Linguistic survey of India. Reprint, Delhi 1967. Calcutta: Motilal Banarsidass.
Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig, eds. 2016. Ethnologue: Languages of the world.
Nineteenth edition. Dallas, TX: SIL International. www.ethnologue.com.
Masica, Colin P. 1991. The Indo-Aryan languages. Cambridge Language Surveys. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.