Marathi language

All you want to know about Marathi language

Not to be confused with Konkani language.

Konkani refers to the collection of dialects of Marathi language spoken in the Konkan region. It is often mistakenly extended to cover Goan Konkani which is an independednt language. Grierson has referred to this dialect as the Konkan Standard of Marathi in order to differentiate it from Konkani language.[22]. The sub-dialects of Konkani gradually merge from standard Marathi into Goan Konkani from north to south Konkan. The various sub dialects are: Parabhi, Koli, Kiristanv, Kunbi, Agari, Dhangari, Thakri, Karadhi, Sangameshwari, Bankoti and Maoli.[23]

Wadvali

This dialect may not necessarily be named thus. It was primarily spoken by Wadvals, which essentially means agricultural plot owners, of the Naigaon, Vasai to Dahanu region. Somavamshi Kshatriyas speak this dialect. This language is preserved mostly by the Roman Catholics native to this region, since they are a closely knit community here and have very few relatives outside this region. It was also widely spoken among the Hindus native to this region, but due to external influences, ordinary Marathi is now more popular among the Hindus. There are many songs in this language. Recently a book was published by Nutan Patil containing around 70 songs. The songs are about marriage, pachvi etc. The dialect of the Kolis (fisherfolk) of Vasai and neighbouring Bombay resembles this dialect closely, though they speak with a heavier accent.

Samavedi

Samavedi is spoken in the interiors of Nala Sopara and Virar region to the north of Mumbai in the Vasai Taluka, Thane District of Maharashtra. The name of this language correctly suggests that its origins lie with the Samavedi Brahmins native to this region. Again this language too finds more speakers among the Roman Catholic converts native to this region (who are known as East Indians), but nevertheless is popular among the Samavedi Brahmins. This dialect is very different from the other Marathi dialects spoken in other regions of Maharashtra, but resembles Wadvali very closely. Both Wadvali and Samavedi have relatively higher proportion of words imported from Portuguese as compared to ordinary Marathi, because of direct influence of the Portuguese who colonized this region till 1739.

Are Marathi

Are Marathi, written in Devanagari script as अरे मराठी, is another dialect spoken mostly in Andhra Pradesh.[citation needed]

Thanjavur Marathi and Namdev Marathi

Thanjavur Marathi, Namdev Marathi and Bhavsar Marathi are spoken by many Southern Indians. This dialect evolved from the time of occupation of the Marathas in Thanjavur in southern Tamil Nadu. It has speakers in parts of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

Others

Other dialects of Marathi include Warli of Thane District, Dakshini (Marathwada), Deshi (Eastern Konkan Ghats), Deccan, Nagpuri, Ikrani and Gowlan.

Other languages having considerable Marathi influence

  • Kannada: especially the northern Karnataka Kannada has been heavily influenced by Marathi. E.g. the feature of aspiration, quite non-native to any Dravidian language, is found in northern Kannada. Also some kinship terms like vahini (brother's wife) are adapted from Marathi. The use of Marathi for numbers is also common amongst Northern districts of Karnataka.

Sounds

Main article: Marathi phonology

The phoneme inventory of Marathi is similar to that of many other Indo-Aryan languages. An IPA chart of all contrastive sounds in Marathi is provided below.

Consonants
  Labial Dental Alveolar Retroflex Alveopalatal Velar Glottal
Voiceless
stops		 p
pʰ		 t̪
t̪ʰ		   ʈ
ʈʰ		 cɕ
cɕʰ		 k
kʰ		  
Voiced
stops		 b
bʰ		 d̪
d̪ʰ		   ɖ
ɖʰ		 ɟʝ
ɟʝʰ		 ɡ
ɡʰ		  
Voiceless
fricatives		     s   ɕ   h
Nasals m
mʰ		 n̪
n̪ʰ		   ɳ
ɳʰ		 ɲ ŋ  
Liquids ʋ
ʋʰ		   l ɾ
lʰ ɾʰ		 ɭ ɽ j    
Vowels
  Front Central Back
High i   u
Mid e ə o
Low   a  

Vowels

Like other abugidas, Devanagari writes out syllables by adding vowel diacritics to consonant bases. The table below includes all the vowel symbols used in Marathi, along with a transliteration of each sound into the Roman alphabet and IPA.

There are two more vowels in Marathi to denote the pronunciations of English words such as of a in act and a in all. These are written as अँ and आँ. The IPA signs for these are /æ/ and /ɔ/, respectively.

Consonants

The table below includes all the consonant bases onto which vowel diacritics are placed. The lack of a vowel diacritic can either indicate the lack of a vowel, or the existence of the default, or "inherent", vowel, which in the case of Marathi is the schwa.

Writing

Modi script was used to write Marathi
Modi script was used to write Marathi
Main articles: Devanagari script and Modi script

Marathi first appeared in writing during the 11th century in the form of inscriptions on stones and copper plates. From the 13th century until the mid 20th century, it was written with the Modi alphabet. Since 1950 it has been written with the Devanāgarī alphabet.[24]

Devanagari script

Marathi is written in the Devanagari script, an alphasyllabary or abugida consisting of 16 vowel letters and 36 consonant letters making a total of 52 letters. It is written from left to right. Devnagari used to write Marathi is slightly different than that of Hindi or other languages. Marathi Devnagari script is called as Balbodh (बाळबोध) script.

Modi script

Marathi was written in Modi script-- a cursive script designed for minimising the lifting of pen from paper while writing.[25] Most writings of Maratha empire are in Modi script. However, Persian-based scripts were also used for court documentation. With the advent of large-scale printing, Modi script fell into disuse, as it proved very difficult for type-setting. Currently due to availability of Modi fonts and the enthusiasm of the young generation the script is far from being vanished. (See Reference Links).

Consonant clusters

In Marathi, the consonants by default come with a schwa. Therefore, तयाचे will be 'təyāce', not 'tyāce'. To form 'tyāce', you will have to add त् + याचे, giving त्याचे.

When two or more consecutive consonants are followed by a vowel then a jodakshar (consonant cluster) is formed. Some examples of consonant clusters are shown below:

  • त्याचे - tyāce - "his"
  • प्रस्ताव - prastāv-"proposal"
  • विद्या - vidyā - "knowledge"
  • म्यान - myān
  • त्वरा - tvarā
  • महत्त्व - mahattva - "importance"
  • फक्त - phakt - "only"
  • बाहुल्या - bāhulyā - "dolls"

Marathi has a few consonant clusters that are rarely seen in the world's languages, including the so-called "nasal aspirates" (ṇh, nh, and mh) and liquid aspirates (rh, ṟh, lh, and vh). Some examples are given below.

  • कण्हेरी - kaṇherī - "a shrub known for flowers"
  • न्हाणे - nhāṇ - "bath"
  • म्हणून - mhaṇūn - "because"
  • तऱ्हा - taṟhā - "different way of behaving"
  • कोल्हा - kolhā - "fox"
  • केंव्हा - keṃvhā "when"

Grammar

Main article: Marathi grammar
Rajya Marathi Vikas Sanstha was established by Government of Maharashtra
Rajya Marathi Vikas Sanstha was established by Government of Maharashtra

Marathi grammar shares similarities with other modern Indo-Aryan languages such as Hindi, Gujarati, Punjabi, etc. The first modern book exclusively on Marathi Grammar was printed in 1805 by William Kerry.[26] Sanskrit Grammar used to be referred more till late stages of Marathi Language.[citation needed]

The contemporary grammatical rules described by Maharashtra Sahitya Parishad and endorsed by the Government of Maharashtra are supposed to take precedence in standard written Marathi. Traditions of Marathi Linguistics and above mentioned rules give special status to 'Tatsam' (Without Change) words adapted from the Sanskrit language. This special status expects the rules for 'Tatsam' words be followed as of Sanskrit grammar. While this supports Marathi Language with a larger treasure of Sanskrit words to cope with demands of new technical words whenever needed; maintains influence over Marathi.

An unusual feature of Marathi, as compared to other Indo-European languages, is that it displays the inclusive and exclusive we feature, that is common to the Dravidian languages, Rajasthani, and Gujarati.

Unlike its related languages, Marathi preserves all three grammatical genders (Linga) from Sanskrit, masculine, feminine and neuter. Marathi contains three grammatical voices (prayog) i.e. Kartari, Karmani and Bhave. Detailed analysis of grammatical aspects of Marathi language are covered in Marathi grammar.

Marathi organisations

Many government and semi-government organisations exist which work for regulation, promotion and enrichment of Marathi language. These are either initiated or funded by Government of Maharashtra. Few prominent Marathi organisations are given below:[27]

Outside Maharashtra state

  • Gomantak Marathi academy
  • Madhya Pradesh Sahitya Parishad, Jabalpur
  • Andhra Pradesh Sahitya Paraishad, Hyderabad
  • Marathi Sahitya Parishad, Karnataka

Vocabulary

Sharing of linguistic resources with other languages

A signboard in Marathi
A signboard in Marathi

Over a period of many centuries Marathi language and people came into contact with many other languages and dialects. The primary influence of Prakrit, Maharashtri, Apbhramsha and Sanskrit is understandable.

Day-to-day Marathi includes a higher number of Sanskrit-derived (tatsam) words than sister languages like Hindi. Some Sanskrit words that are common in day-to-day spoken Marathi include nantar (from nantaram or after), purṇa (purṇam or complete, full, or full measure of something), anna (annam or food), karaṇ (karaṇam or cause) kadāchit (kadāchit or perhaps) satat (satatam or always), abhyās (abhyāsam or study), vichitra (vichitram or strange), svatah (svatah or himself/herself), prayatna (prayatnam or effort), bhiti (from bhiti, or fear) and vishesh (vishesham or special), amongst others.

Marathi has also shared directions, vocabulary and grammar with languages like Indian Dravidian languages, and a few foreign languages like Persian, Arabic, English and a little from Portuguese.

While recent genome studies suggest some amount of political and trade relations between the Indian subcontinent and East Africa, Middle East, Central Asia over a millennium, these studies are still not conclusive about exact effect on linguistcs.

Influence of foreign languages

  • Usage of punctuation marks was one of the major contributions to Indic script by foreign languages. Previously, due to Sanskritised poetry, textual punctuation requirements of many texts may have been less.[citation needed]

Word formation and origin

Marathi has taken words from and given words to Sanskrit, Kannada, Hindi, Urdu, Arabic, Persian, and Portuguese. At least 50% of the words in Marathi are either taken or derived from Sansrit.

  • Adakitta "nutcracker" directly borrowed from Kannada
  • Khurchii "chair" is derived from Arabic kursi
  • Jaahiraat "advertisement" is derived from Persian zaahiraat See Note 1
  • Shiphaaras "recommendation" is derived from Persian sifarish
  • Marjii "wish" is derived from Persian "marzi"
  • Batataa "potato", is derived from Portuguese
  • Ananas "pineapple", is derived from Portuguese See Note 2
  • Niga "looking after" is derived from Persian nîgâh "sight-vision"
  • Hajeri Attendance from Hajiri Urdu

A lot of English words are commonly used in conversation, and are considered to be totally assimilated into the Marathi vocabulary. These include "pen" (native Marathi lekhaṇii), "shirt" (sadaraa).

Many Marathi words are very close to English. It is interesting to have a look at the similarity.

  • Navy compared to Nau
  • Dew compared to Dav
  • Tree compared to Taru
  • path compared to patha

Forming complex words

Marathi uses many morphological processes to join words together, forming complex words. These processes are traditionally referred to as sandhi (from Sanskrit, "combination"). For example, ati + uttam gives the word atyuttam.

Another method of combining words is referred to as samaas (from Sanskrit, "margin"). There are no reliable rules to follow to make a samaas. When the second word starts with a consonant, a sandhi can not be formed, but a samaas can be formed. For example, miith-bhaakar ("salt-bread"), udyog-patii ("businessman"), ashṭa-bhujaa ("eight-hands", name of a Hindu goddess), and so on. There are different names given to each type of samaas.

Counting

Like many other languages, Marathi uses distinct names for the numbers 1 to 20 and each multiple of 10, and composite ones for those greater than 20.

As with other Indic languages, there are distinct names for the fractions 1⁄4, 1⁄2, and 3⁄4. They are paava, ardhaa, and pauṇa, respectively. For most fractions greater than 1, the prefixes savvaa-, saaḍe-, paavaṇe- are used. There are special names for 3⁄2 (diiḍ) and 5⁄2 (aḍich).

The powers of ten are as follows:

  • 100: shambhar (also constructed with number prefix and "-she" suffix)
  • 1,000: hazaar (or sahasra, a word close to the Sanskrit version)
  • 100,000: laakh (or laksha)
  • 10,000,000: koti
  • 1,000,000,000: abja
  • 10,000,000,000: kharva
  • 100,000,000,000: nikharva
  • 100,000,000,000,000,000: parardha

A positive integer is read by breaking it up from the tens digit leftwards, into parts each containing two digits, the only exception being the hundreds place containing only one digit instead of two. For example, 1,234,567 is read as 12 laakh 34 hazaar 5 she 67. Every two-digit number after 18 (11 to 18 are predefined) is read backwards. For example, 21 is read एक-वीस (1-twenty). Also, a two digit number that ends with a 9 is considered to be the next thens place minus one. For example, 29 is एकुणतीस (Thirty minus one). Two digit numbers used before hazaar, etc. are written in the same way

Example short phrases

Words/phrases Transliteration Meaning
नमस्कार Namaskār. Hi/Hello.
तुम्ही कसे आहात? Tumhī kase āhāt? How do you do?
तू कसा आहेस? Tū kasā āhes? How are you? (to a male)
तू कशी आहेस? Tū kaśī āhes? How are you? (to a female)
आपण कसे आहात? Āpaṇ kase āhāt? How are you? (formal)
तुम्हाला भेटून आनंद झाला Tumhālā bheṭūn ānand jhālā. Pleased to meet you.
पुन्हा भेटू Punhā bheṭū. Goodbye. (Lit.: "We will meet again.")
धन्यवाद Dhanyavād. Thank you.
हो Ho. Yes.
नाही Nāhī. No.
नको Nako. No, thank you.
किती? Kitī? How much?/How many?
कुठे? Kuthe? Where?
कसे? Kase? How?
केव्हा? Kevha? When?
कोण? Kon? Who?
काय? Kaay? What?
शुभ रात्री Śhubh Ratri. Good night.

Akhil Bhartiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan

An annual gathering of all marathi poets, writers and critics happens at various places across the country. In 2007 it was organised at Sangli in Maharashtra. The purpose of these gatherings is to enrich Marathi literature by making knowledge sharing and throwing innovative ideas. This also gives the people in that region an opportunity to meet and interact with their favourite writers.

Marathi on computers and internet

Historically, Marathi has suffered from weak support by computer operating systems and Internet services as have other Indian languages. But recently, with the introduction of language localisation projects and new technologies, various software and internet applications have been introduced. Shrilipi, Shivaji and Kiran fonts were used prior to introduction of Unicode standard for Devanagari script. Various Marathi typing software is widely used and display interface packages are now available on both Windows and Linux. Many Marathi websites, including prominent Marathi newspapers, have become popular especially with Maharashtrians outside India. Online projects like the Marathi language Wikipedia, the Marathi blogroll and Marathi blogs have gained immense popularity.[28][29]

Voyager Golden Record

The Golden Record carries greetings from earth to the Universe in 55 Different Languages, Marathi is one of them. The words are "Namaskar! Hya prithvitil lok tumhala tyanche shubhavichar pathavitat, ani tyanchi iccha ahe ki tumhi hya janmi dhanya vha"[30]

See also

v • d • e
Topics related to the Marathi language
Maharashtra portal

References

  1. ^ a b Ethnologue report of Marathi language
  2. ^ a b c d e UCLA language materials project- Marathi
  3. ^ a b Languages Spoken by More Than 10 Million People
  4. ^ a b The Goa, Daman and Diu Official Language Act, 1987 makes Konkani the sole official language, but provides that Marathi may also be used for "for all or any of the official purposes". The Government also has a policy of replying in Marathi to correspondence received in Marathi. Commissioner Linguistic Minorities, 42nd report: July 2003 - June 2004, pp. para 11.3
  5. ^ a b Marathi is an official language of Dadra and Nagar HaveliAdministration's profile.
  6. ^ Abstract of Language Strength in India: 2001 Census
  7. ^ arts, South Asian." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica 2007 Ultimate Reference Suite.
  8. ^ Official Languages Resolution, 1968, para.2
  9. ^ Dept. of Marathi, M.S. University of Baroda
  10. ^ Dept. of Marathi, Osmania University, Hyderabad
  11. ^ Dept. of Marathi, Gulbarga University
  12. ^ LIST OF STATUTES (Devi Ahilya University of Indore
  13. ^ Dept.of Marathi, Goa University
  14. ^ Jawaharlal Nehru University
  15. ^ 1994, Kolarkar
  16. ^ History of medieval Hindu India (Being a history of Indian from 600 to 1200 AD) Vol I pg.317 by C.V.Vaidya
  17. ^ Khodade, 2004
  18. ^ Marathyancha Itihaas by Dr. Kolarkar (pg.3)
  19. ^ a b 1966, Deshpande
  20. ^ Dnyaneshwari
  21. ^ Marathi to be compulsory in CBSE, ICSE curricula schools
  22. ^ Konkani Detailed Description —
  23. ^ Konkani Detailed Description —
  24. ^ Marathi language, alphabet and pronunciation
  25. ^ Modi lipi
  26. ^ Maharashtra times article
  27. ^ Encyclopaedia of Indian literature Volume I, Published by Sahitya Akademi ISBN 8126018038
  28. ^ Askari, Faiz. "Inside the Indian Blogosphere". Express Computer. Retrieved on 2008-10-10.
  29. ^ Kumar, Rashmie. "Language No Bar". Express India. Retrieved on 2008-10-10.
  30. ^ http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/spacecraft/languages/marathi.html
  • Marathi: The Language and its Linguistic Traditions - Prabhakar Machwe, Indian and Foreign Review, 15 March 1985.
  • 'Atyavashyak Marathi Vyakaran' (Essential Marathi Grammar) - Dr. V. L. Vardhe
  • 'Marathi Vyakaran' (Marathi Grammar) - Moreshvar Sakharam More.
  • 'Marathi Vishwakosh, Khand 12 (Marathi World Encyclopedia, Volume 12), Maharashtra Rajya Vishwakosh Nirmiti Mandal, Mumbai
  • 'Marathyancha Itihaas' by Dr. Kolarkar, Shrimangesh Publishers, Nagpur
  • 'History of Medieval Hindu India from 600AD to 1200 AD, by C. V. Vaidya
  • Marathi Sahitya (Review of the Marathi Literature up to I960) by Kusumavati Deshpande, Maharashtra Information Centre, New Delhi

External links

Wikipedia
Marathi language edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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