Indo-Aryan Languages: Lecture Notes

Introduction

• Topic: Language universals and language typology with focus on Indo-Aryan languages.
• Scope:
  • World order universals in Indian languages
  • India as a linguistic area
  • Parametric variations in Indian languages
  • Specific features of Indo-Aryan languages
• Overview:
  • Indo-Aryan languages have the largest number of speakers in India.
  • Examples include Hindi, Urdu, Kashmiri, Punjabi, Marathi, Bangla, Odia, Assamese, and Nepali.

World Order Universals

• General Word Order: Subject-Object-Verb (SOV)
• Verb-final languages: All Indo-Aryan languages are verb-final.
• Kashmiri: Exhibits V2 (verb-second) position. Verb occurs in the second position, similar to Dutch and German.

Word Order Examples

1. Hindi Example: Rama gave Sam a book

   • ROM: Subject
   • SAMKO: Indirect object
   • KITAB: Direct object
   • DI: Verb

2. Kashmiri Example: Roma gave Sam a book

   • ROM: Subject
   • AN: Subject marker
   • SHAMAS: Indirect object
   • KITAB: Direct object
   • DIV: Verb (in V2 position)

Specific Features of Indo-Aryan Languages

Postpositions

• Example from Bengali: ROOMER VITOR (inside the room)
• Assamese Example: DAN GAETA (on the hill)
• Postpositions indicate grammatical relationships and direction of case assignment from right to left.

Indirect & Direct Objects

• Indirect object precedes direct object.
• Example from Bangla: Rama gave Sita a book (RAMA - Subject, SITA - Indirect object, BOOK - Direct object).

Genitive Constructions

• Genitive precedes the governing noun.
• Example from Bengali: ROOMER DOOR (the door of the room).

Adverbial Order

• Time adverbs precede place adverbs.
• Example from Hindi: Das baje ghar (at 10:00 at home).
• Descending order in word-final languages.

Comparative & Superlative Constructions

• Comparative marker comes after the standard of comparison in Indo-Aryan languages.
• Example: Sita is more beautiful than Gita.

Evidence Supporting India as a Linguistic Area

Compound Verbs

• Formed by combining a main verb with a vector verb.
• Vector verb adds aspectual meaning to the main verb.
• Example from Hindi: BACCHE KHANA KHA LETE HAIN (Children can eat food).

Conjunct Verbs

• Noun + Verb sequences where the noun takes a case marker indicating grammatical relations.
• Example from Bangla: AMI RAMKE SAHAJA KORI DILAM (I helped Ram).

Free Word Order

• Exhibit relatively free word order allowing constituent scrambling for focus.

Reduplication

• Repeats entire constituent (noun, pronoun, adjective, adverb, etc.) for distributive interpretation.

Echo Words

• Example: CHAI WAI (tea and the like).

Conjunctive Participial Construction

• Typical of South Asian languages with forms like KAR KE in Hindi or KARI in Bangla.

Quotative

• Used for complementizing, reasoning, and naming.
• Variations in placement depending on language.

Parametric Variation in Indian Languages

Pro-drop Feature

• Subjects, direct objects, indirect objects can be dropped.

Absence of Tense and Person Harmony

• Can feature main verbs in past tense with embedded verbs in future tense.

Free Word Order and Superiority Effects

• Indian languages show free word order without obligatory question word movement.

Expletive Constructions

• Lack expletives for weather and existential constructions.

Specific Features

Nominative Subject Construction

• Marking subjects with cases other than nominative marker.

Cleft Constructions

• Used for emphasis; elements can be left or right facing.
• Example from Sinhala: Element in focus occurs rightmost.

Long Distance Binding

• Permitted with simplex forms, not permitted with complex forms.

Conclusion

• Summarized world order universals, evidence of India as a linguistic area, parametric variations, and specific features of Indo-Aryan languages.
• Key takeaways: understanding of complex language structures and typological features in Indo-Aryan and Indian languages.