Saturday 30 January 2016

Tulu Lesson 2: Subjective Pronouns and Cases

Hello Everyone. Welcome back!

Last week we learned some subjective nouns and their declension in Tulu. I hope you had no problems with them. Today we are going to learn subjective pronouns in Tulu. Hopefully you know them in English. These are the subjective pronouns: I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they. Now, let’s see their equivalents in Tulu.

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Person.
Singular.
Plural.
Plural. (to give respect)



First Person.



yAn-I

enkulu-We (the person to whom spoken is not included)
nama – We (the person to whom spoken also included)




n/a

Secon Person.


I - you

nikulu - you

Ir – you


Third Person.

Gender
Proximate.
Remote.
Proximate.
Remote.
Proximate.
Remote.
Masc.

imbe-He
Aye-He

mokulu-They

akulu-They

mEr/imber-They

Ar-They
Fem.
mOlu/imbal-she
Al-she
Neut.
undu/indu-this
au-it
undekulu-They
aikulu-They
n/a
n/a


yAn - I
Cases
Singular
Plural
Nominative
yAn - I
nama
enkulu
Accusative
enan - me
naman
enklen
Ablative or Instrumental
enaDd – from/by me
namaDd
enkleDd
Dative
enk - to me
nank, namak
enkleg
Genitive
enna - my
namana, namma
enklena
Locative
enaD – in me
namaD
enkleD
Communicative
eNDa – to/with me
namaDa
enkleDa

I - You
Cases
Singular
Plural
Nominative
I
nikulu
Ir
Accusative
ninan
niklen
iren
Ablative or Instrumental
ninaDd
nikleDd
ireDd
Dative
nikk
nikleg
ireg
Genitive
ninna
niklena
irena
Locative
ninaD
nikleD
ireD
Communicative
niNDa
nikleDa
ireDa

imbe & mOlu – He & She (Proximate)
Cases
Singular
Plural
Masc.
Fem.
Nominative
imbe
mOlu
mokulu
mEr
Accusative
imben
molen
moklen
meren
Ablative or Instrumental
imbeDd
moleDd
mokleDd
mereDd
Dative
imbeg
moleg
mokleg
mereg
Genitive
imbena
molena
moklena
merena
Locative
imbeD
moleD
mokleD
mereD
Communicative
imbeDa
moleDa
mokleDa
mereDa

Aye & Al – He & She (Remote)
Cases
Singular
Plural
Masc.
Fem.
Nominative
Aye
Al
akulu
Ar
Accusative
Ayen
alen
aklen
aren
Ablative or Instrumental
AyeDd
aleDd
akleDd
areDd
Dative
Ayeg
aleg
akleg
areg
Genitive
Ayena
alena
aklena
arena
Locative
AyeD
aleDd
akleD
areD
Communicative
AyeDa
aleDa
akleDa
areDa

undu and au – This and That/It

Cases
Singular
Plural
Proximate.
Remote.
Proximate.
Remote.
Nominative
undu
au
undekulu
aikulu
Accusative
unden/nEn
aven/ain
undeklen
aiklen
Ablative or Instrumental
undeDd/nEDd
aiDd
undekleDd
aikleDd
Dative
undek/nekk
aik
undekleg
aikleg
Genitive
undeta/netta
aita
undeklena
aiklena
Locative
undeT/neTT
aiT
undekleD
aikleD
Communicative
undeTa/neTTa
aiTa
undekleDa
aikleDa


Now we have learnt some subjective nouns and pronouns in Tulu. Let me explain each case briefly for you. 

Nominative case: (suffix: ‘e’ or ‘o’ or nothing)

Nominative generally marks the subject of a sentence.

rAme batte – Rama came. (Kannada: rAma banda)
mara bUr’ND - A tree fell down. (Kannada: mara bittu)
appae lettal – Mother called. (Kannada: tAyi karedaLu)
akulu pOyer – They went. (Kannada: avaru hOdaru)

Apart from this, it also marks things equal to the subject.

Aye ori buddhivante – He is a clever man. (Kannada: avanu obba buddhivanta)
I ori kalve – You are a thief. (Kannada: nInu obba kaLLa)
undu mara – this is a tree (Kannada: idu mara)
Ar dEver – He is a god. (Kannada: avaru dEvaru)

The suffix ‘e’ is added only to masculine singular nouns ending with ‘a’ vowel. Eg: ‘rAma’ becomes ‘rAme’ in nominative case.  If nouns ending with other vowel or consonant sounds, then there is no suffix added. Most of the modern masculine names end with consonant sound, but they actually had final ‘a’. Eg. Karthik, Harish etc. In this case, it is optional to add suffix. Eg. harIshe/harIsh onas malthe – Harish had lunch/dinner.

The suffix ‘o’ is added only to neuter singular nouns ending with ‘a’ vowel. Eg. ‘mara’ becomes ‘maro’ in nominative case. But it depends on dialect. In common Tulu, there is no suffix added to neuter nouns. So both ‘mara’ and ‘maro’ should be correct.  Also, there is no suffix added to feminine nouns. rAdha battal – Radha came.

Accusative: (suffix: 'n')

Accusative used to mark the direct object of a verb.

rAme rAvaNen keriye – Rama killed Ravana. (Kannada: rAma rAvaNanannu konda)
amma enan letter – Mom called me. (Kannada: amma nannannu karedaru)
akulu suden kaDater – They crossed the river (Kannada: avaru nadiyannu dATidaru)

If the preceding vowel is ‘u’ or ‘o’, then ‘nu’ is added instead of ‘n’ to make it easier to pronounce. Eg. guru – gurunu, maro – maronu.
Aye maronu kaDte – He cut down the tree. (Kannada: avanu maravannu kaDida)

Sometimes noun in its basic form (without any suffix) is used instead of accusative case.

Aye satya paNDe – He said the truth. (Kannada: avanu satya hELida)
yAn onas maltae – I had lunch/dinner (Kannada: nAnu UTa mADide)
poppa nIr pariyer – Dad drank water (Kannada: appa nIru kuDidaru)


 Ablative or Instrumental: (suffix: 'Dd')

Ablative case used generally to express motion away from something.

sAleDd battae – I came from school (Kannada: shAleyinda bande)
maroDdu tArai bUr’ND – coconut fell from the tree. (Kannada: maradinda tenginakAyi bittu)

Instrumental case used to express the cause or instrument of an action.

nama kaiDd bElae malpuva – We work with our hands. (Kannada: nAvu kaiyinda kelasa mADuttEve)

To express passive voice.

yAn AyeDd mOsa pOyae – I was deceived by him. (Kannada: nAnu avaninda mOsa hOde)

To show comparison.

rAme bhImeDd malla - Rama is older (bigger) than Bhima. (Kannada: rAma bhImaniginta doDDava)

Dative case: (suffix: 'k/g')

Dative case generally used to indicate the noun to which something is given or the motion to a place.

daikleg nIr pADla – water the plants (Kannada: giDagaLige nIru hAku)
Ayeg korla – give to him. (Kannada: avanige koDu)
Aye Urugu pOye – He went to his village. (Kannada: avanu Urige hOda)

To express the feelings.

enk bEjar ApuNDu – I feel sad. (Kannada: nanage bEjar Aguttade)
Ayeg bAjel ApuNDu – He feels thirsty. (Kannada: avanige bAyArike Aguttade)
enk au ishTa – I like it (nanage adu ishTa)

To show possession.

Ayeg buddhi ijji – He doesn’t have knowledge. (Kannada: avanige buddhi illa)
areg ori mage ulle – He has a son. (Kannada: avarige obba maga iddAne)

To signify needs.

Ayeg kAs bODu – He needs money (Kannada: avanige duDDu bEku)
enk I bODu – I need (want) you (Kannada: nanage nInu bEku)

To denote intention or purpose.

Al pEr’g pOyal – She went for milk. (Kannada: avaLu hAlige hOdaLu)
onas’g portAND – It’s time for lunch (Kannada: UTakke hottAyitu)

To denote measure and price.

dinoku raDD sarti – 2 times per day (Kannada: dinakke eraDu sala)
patt rupAyig aven mAriyae – I sold it for 10 Rupees. (Kannada: hattu rupAyige adannu mAride)

To denote time.

mUji gaNTeg bala – come at 3 O’clock. (Kannada: mUru gaNTege bA)
bayyag po – go in the evening (Kannada: sanje hOgu)

Genitive case: (suffix: 'na', 'ta/da', 'a')

Genitive case marks a noun as being the possessor of another noun.

ninna pudar enchina? – What is your name? (Kannada: ninna hesaru Enu?)
enna ill – my house (Kannada: nanna mane)
puchcheda kinni – kitten (Kannada: bekkina mari)
kukkuda mara – mango tree (Kannada: mAvina mara)
niklena Uru – your village (nimma Uru)

The suffix ‘ta/da’ used for singular neuter nouns. Eg: marata – tree’s, eruta – bull’s, pettada – cow’s, Uruda – village’s.

The suffix ‘na’ is used for masculine and feminine nouns. Eg: rAmena – Rama’s, ninna - your, Aayena - his, alena – her, akkana – elder sisters, aNNena – elder brothers aklena – their etc. It also used for plural neuter nouns. Eg: aiklena – their, eruklena – of bulls etc.


Sometimes suffixes ‘ta/da’ and ‘na’ are omitted.

tuluverena – tuluvere – of Tuluvas
niklena Uru – nikle Uru – your village

After removing suffixes ‘ta/da’ and ‘na’, if the word ends with a consonant sound then the vowel ‘a’ is added.

tulunAD’da - tulunADa – of Tulu Nadu
ill’da piravu – illa piravu – back side of house.

Locative case: (suffix: 'D/T')

Locative case indicates a location.
Aye shAleD ulle – He is in the school. (Kannada: avanu shAleyalli iddAne)
UruDu onji dEvastAna uNDu – There is a temple in the village. (Kannada: Uralli ondu dEvastAna ide)

Also it used to express superlative degree of adjectives.

mAta poNNuleD mOlu shOku – she is the prettiest of all girls. (ellA huDugiyaralli ivaLu chanda)
A patt janoTu imbe ori eDDentinAye - among those 10 people he is the best person. (A hattu janaralli ivanu obba oLLeyava)

This case is never used with masculine and feminine nouns. Eg: rAmeD, sItaD or aleD, AyeD are not used. It is only used with neuter nouns nouns. Eg: aiT – in that, aikleD – in/among them, illaD - in home etc.

Communicative case: (suffix: 'Da/Ta')

Communicative case generally used with verbs related to communication.

AyeDa paNDae – I told him (Kannada: avanige hELide)
areDa kENDae – I asked him (Kannada: avaralli kELide)
rAmeDa ellae pAtervae – I will speak to Rama tomorrow. (Kannada: rAmanondige nALe mAtannADuve)

To show possession of property.

AyeDa onji kOTi rupAyi uNDu – He has 1 crore Rupees. (Kannada: avanalli ondu kOTi rupAyi ide)
akleDa onji petta uNDu – They have a cow. (Kannada: avaralli ondu dana ide)

Vocative case:

Vocative case used to address a person (animal, object, etc.) being spoken to.

Eg: rAmA! iDe bala – Rama! Come hither. (Kannada: rAmA! illi bA)
dEverae! yAn dAda malpoDu? – O God! What should I do? (Kannada: dEverE! nAnu Enu mADali?

All right. With this we come to the end of lesson 2. From next week we will begin with verbs. 

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14 comments:

  1. Hello, I m pradnya poojari I m Maharashtrian married to Manglorean. I hv came across your site "easy tulu"recently while surfing on net in search of learning more tulu language, I must say this is D best site I hv ever found till now to learn tulu. Keep doing ur work it is really helping me to understand and communicate better with my husband and specially in-laws while visiting Kudla. A big thank you n applause to you on behalf of all who desire or wants to learn tulu as a language.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you Pradnya for your encouraging words, I am glad to know that my blog was helpful for you to learn Tulu.

    ReplyDelete
  3. In genetive case, when to use 'ta' and when 'da'?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If a noun takes 2 ‘matras’ to pronounce (nouns which have one syllable with long vowel and nouns which have 2 syllables with short vowels), then the suffix ‘ta’ (Unvoiced) is used. If a noun takes more than 2 ‘matras’ to pronounce, then the suffix ‘da’ (voiced) is used. Same rule applies for Dative case suffix 'k'(unvoiced) and 'g' (voiced), Locative case suffix 'T' (unvoiced) and 'D' (voiced) and Communicative case suffix 'Ta' (unvoiced) and 'Da' (voiced).

      E.g. tU (One syllable with long vowel) = fire

      Dative: tUk(u)
      Genitive: tUta
      Locative: tUT(u)
      Communicative: tUTa




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  4. Why aleDd in locative for she?

    ReplyDelete
  5. How do you say...

    ಯಾವುದನ್ನು
    ತನ್ನ
    ನನ್ನದು, ನನ್ನವು
    ನಿನ್ನದು, ನಿನ್ನವು and all other forms like
    His, hers, its, ours, yours, theirs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yavudannu = oven
      tanna = tanna
      nannadu = ennau
      nannavu = ennaikulu
      ninnadu = ninnau
      avanadu = Ayenau
      avaLadu = alenau
      adaradu = aitau
      nammadu = nammau
      nimmadu = niklenau
      avaradu = aklenau

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  6. bayyag po – go at the evening (Kannada: sanje hOgu)

    Please change 'at the evening' to 'in the evening'. 'At the evening' is grammatically incorrect.

    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  7. dEverae! yAn dAda malpoDu? – O God! What should I do? (Kannada: dEverE! nAnu Enu mADali?

    nAnu Enu mADali? = What shall I do?
    nAnu Enu mADabEku? = What should I do?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In Tulu both the sentences can be translated as "yAn dAda malpoDu?"

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