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Documentation and Description 36

Hajong Verbal Morphology

Virginia Crowell Phillips

Hajong Verbal Morphology Virginia Crowell Phillips

SIL International® 2018

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SIL Language and Culture Documentation and Description

36

© 2018 SIL International®

ISSN 1939-0785

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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.

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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

4.1 Composite Verbs 4.2 Compound Verbs 4.3 Modal Verbs

5 Conclusion

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Morpheme gloss abbreviations

ADV adverb COND conditional DAT dative DEF definite FUT future GEN genitive ICP imperfective conjunctive participle IMP imperative INF infinitive IPFV imperfective LOC locative PCP perfective conjunctive participle PL plural PFV perfective PRS present PST past Q question SG single

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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, Indo-Iranian, 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.

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Table 1. Finite morphology in Hajong

/dʒa-/ ‘go’ /kor-/ ‘do’ Future /-bo, -ibo/

/dʒa-bo/ /kor-bo/ /kor-ibo/ /kur-ibo/

Present /-i, -e/

/dʒa-i/ /kor-e/

Past /-le, -ile/

/dʒa-le/ /dʒa-ile/ /dʒɯ-ile/

/kor-le/ /kur-ile/

Past Imperfective /-bɯn, -ibɯn/

/dʒa-bɯn/ /dʒɯ-bɯn/

/kur-bɯn/ /kur-ibɯn/

Perfective /-se, ise/

/dʒa-se/ /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 ̪h ak-im/ /t ̪h ɔ-ŋ/ /kʰa-ŋ/ /kʰɯ-m/

‘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’

Imperative, 2nd person /∅, -ek, -ik/

/di/ /kor/ /kor-ek/ /hun-ik/

‘give’ ‘do’ ‘do’ ‘listen’

Imperative, 3rd person /-k, -uk/

/kʰɯ-k/ /mur-uk/

‘let him/them eat’ ‘may he/they die’

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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 Indo-Aryan languages such as Bangla.

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Table 3. Non-finite morphology in Hajong

/kʰa-/ ‘eat’ /dʒa-/ ‘go’ /kor-/ ‘do’ /t ̪h ak-/ ‘stay’ Perfective Conjunctive Participle /-ia, -iɯ/

/kʰa-ia/ /kʰɯ-iɯ/

/dʒa-ia/ /dʒɯ-iɯ/

/kor-iɯ/ /kur-iɯ/ /kur-ia/

/t ̪h ak-ia/ /t ̪h ak-iɯ/ /t ̪h ɯk-iɯ/

Imperfective Conjunctive Participle /-te, -ite/

/kʰa-ite/ /dʒɯ-ite/ /dʒa-ite/

/kur-te/ /t ̪h ak-te/

Infinitive /-ba, -iba/ /kʰa-ba/ /dʒa-ba/ /kur-ba/ /kur-iba/ /kur-ibɯ/ /kur-bɯ/

/t ̪h ak-iba/ /t ̪h ak-ibɯ/ /t ̪h ɯk-bɯ/

Conditional Adverbial /-le/ /kʰa-le/ /dʒa-le/ /kor-le /t ̪h ak-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 beraite kibɯ poka ola ʊdɯ diɯ ʊriɯ dʒase berai -te berai -te kibɯ poka o -la ʊdɯ diɯ ʊri -ɯ dʒa -se walk -ICP walk -ICP some bug 3SG -GEN there through fly -PCP go -PFV

‘As [they] were walking, a bug flew by them.’ 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.’

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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

Literal Meaning Meaning /dʒigas kor-/ ‘inquiry do’ to inquire /ʃeʃ kor-/ ‘end do’ to finish /tʃoʈ d̪e-/ ‘wound give’ to wound /gʰum d̪e-/ ‘sleep give’ to sleep

4.2 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.’

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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

Literal Meaning Meaning /lag-ia di-/ ‘attach-ing give’ apply (as a lotion) /pʰat-ia dʒa-/ ‘tear-ing go’ burst /d̪ʰur-ia pʰɛla-/ ‘grasp-ing throw’ seize or take to heart

4.3 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 Meaning Infinitive +/lag/ ‘attach’ Must, should, need to V;

Start V-ing Infinitive + /d̪ʰor/ ‘grasp’ Start V-ing Infinitive + /pa/ ‘be able’ ‘get’ Be able to V Infinitive + /di/ ‘give’ Allowed / caused to V Perfective conjunctive participle + /t ̪h ak/ ‘remain’

Keep V-ing

Perfective conjunctive participle + /ro/ ‘stop’ Was V-ing Perfective conjunctive participle + /t ̪h o/ ‘put’ Had V-ed Perfective conjunctive participle + /ase/ ‘be’ 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.’

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(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 ̪h akle, har mala tʃorke ɯnbo gala -ni pini -ɯ t ̪h ak -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 ̪h use burɯ bab -ra ali ban -ea t ̪h u -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.

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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.