English
, implying a beginning or change of state), and also with the verbs tWCJ' T o be (the mere copula which is used attributively) ; or its negative form ; ufS'CT To be, to exist , to be present ; its negative form ; its emphatic or intensive form (hardly ever used), and one or two other forms of the verb To be used in Literary Tibetan ; there is practically no such thing in Tibetan as a verb governed by the Nominative Case. The following is an instance in which, though the practice is irregular, it is allowable and .common in the Colloquial to use the Nominative in the usual European way :—- | Will you drink lea f The more correct way would be :—- ( or gi^c-Sjsr) N 5 or W) | Honorific*}! lly r — or I he subject, however, sentences like the following, is also Passive :_ is a I wav where. s put in the Nominative Case though the verb is Transitive, in it c (or ) gW^g^-TVq^Erii I aftt bet tiff beaten, 7 // * *j * / / Ls- fooetl , TIBETAN GRAMMAR. <13 In such cases OJ* la is optional, and may be omitted if desired The subject is always put in the Nominative Case in sentences like the following, where the verbs are intransitive (active, neuter or in¬ ceptive) :— SP ST3i The horses run . I am going down to the bazaar. It is raining. The sun shines. The child slee/ A9. The child too,tees, or breaks from slumber. Where, however, the verb is transitive, the Nominative Case is never used, but always the Agentive Case. .See § 25. VI. II.—Thk Vocative Case. There is practically no \ ocative Case, but several polite expres¬ sions are often used by way of assent, dissent, or address. The com¬ monest is OJCTj^r L.A, and its variants. HI-—The Objective or Accusative Case. This is the same as the Nominative, with or without 3J* la, siarni- fying As regards. 10x. ;— (Of) He loves the girl. Literally Hi, him. as regards the girl, a loving IS igy^src- <ar, srsyergs | Do not forget un IV. —Genitive Case. The signs are : — Gi, used after words ending with -H' 64 TIBETAN GRAMMAR, TJ' Kyi, used after worda ending with Q'* or or in the Colloquial after J>i ) This. T f or OT . after vowels. in verse. N.B. —^Tj'^ and may all alike be pronounced 61 in conversation. 0* 6YI, I tAJ* YI YI 1 . —Possessive Aspect. When the word to which the sign is annexed is in that part of the sentence which contains the subject, it should precede the chief substan- The fame of Lhassa is great. The gracious wisdom of the Almighty is everywhere pervade- ing. igqvp-q^*i| | 2 .—Qualitative Aspect. \\ hen the word to which the sign is annexed is indicative of some quality, it may be regarded as an adjective; but, unlike Tibetan adjectives in general, it should precede whatever it qualifies. Ex. :_ Lhassa is the city of the Johno (a sweet-singing bird). (™ "flC- Tibet was formerly a hidden (or | secret) land. N.B .—The particle <5^ Ni (see § 27, 2 ) has the effect of singling out and laying stress on the word fto’-YU. Tibet. This tive or the subject, i^x. :— (or TIBETAN GRAMMAR, 65 English word Tibet seems to have originated from some phrase such as Di-bod, whence Ti~bot = Tibet ; for, to a European (i.e., Con¬ tinental, e.g. German) ear the sound of J?* is very like t. As to the adjectival use of the Genitive case-sign see also S 30 I, (vi). 6 8 ’ 3 -—Purposive Aspect. C*. T For medicine the box, The medicine box. g-iw^-j^-sror g-pwfor, For tobacco a bay—A tobacco better still, simply £J*|qcn| pouch. Mon ey-bag. A leather bag for dry barley flour. V,— The Dative Case. 1— The only genuine Dative sign is OJ* la, which should be used in this sense after verbs of giving , teaching , and some others. Ex. :— or or <W 1 ! NP irar-^nrpiq^c* | qgq-DTc* | * * 3 ^'^.* (for BT) WfERi] shewing , speaking or telling , and I will give you the book. My syce showed him the way. Tell the man to come. He will teach them his (religions) law. Did you tell the servant not to go ? 9 66 TIBETAN GRAMMAR. 2. When the verb To be - is used, impersonally * for instance, in sentences intended to be the equivalent of English sentences beginning with the phrases, There is. There was, There has been, Tibetan requires that the word to which 0|* la, when used, is annexed, should precede the chief substantive of the subject. With regard to the idiom for expressing the verb To have, Tibetans use the verb Sk*cp YO-pa To be present , To exist, in connection with the Dative in QT la, after the manner of the Russians when the latter, instead of saying Ya imEyu, 1 nave, say U menya vest, To me is, or To me there is. Ex j There is snow on that hill-top. If the speaker has some uncertainty regarding the fact to which he is speaking,.he will use the verb instead of ESSk’ Thus ^ | There is (I am almost sure ) snow ** on that hill-top. If he is not at all sure, but is only hazarding tne statement, he will use the phrase VO-pa-ufe',pronounced Yaw-a-itfe’,instead of either or or he may even use Sjc’ Yono. Thus yAere * (/ umUrstand) snow on ( or tXk') | ^ ia *' hill-top. When There is. There was, etc., is used indefinitely, iXfcr Yong, Will be, takes the place of the above, much as the future is employed by a Highlander in Scotland to express the present tense. Thus :_ There are (/ or There ver y maif iy trees in that valley down there. 3 * Tbe Showing examples also illustrate the verb To have : _ ^•orsrsr^ | Thu man has parents. TIBETAN GRAMMAR. 07 o^-p-orsrs,:^, (i8 not No he has no used now.) QJcTprpaj-^aq-y^* Yes, he has parents (emphatic). 4. The Dative instead of the direct construction may also be used thus :— ^ 5 ! I suppose your mother is aged. Literally, To my mind your mother seems aged. The Honorific form of this would be : GT # La, is used to express for in sentences like the following - I will sell this horse for Rs. 100. About, or concerning, is also expressed bv la. Thus : — / was or have been troubled about (Wgrc* (£J) or £fc*l many affairs. VI.— The Agentive Case, This case, which expresses the idee, of anything being done by a person or thing, should always be used instead of the Nominative case with Transitive Verbs. The oase-signs are as follow, and are annexed to the subject, that is to say, to the noun-substantive, the adjective if any, the definite or indefinite article, if any, or to the phrase constitut¬ ing the subject. usable after vowels, or after a consonant sounding in in¬ herent -a. This is silent, but modifies the immediately preceding vowel-sound. See § 3. used after words ending with *T or t" >. >, t. > > > > V or *r ,, ,, ,, >, ,, or QT Sa, 6t, TJ*r Kyi, §*T 6y i. 68 TIBETAN GRAMMAR. (. N.B .— T WW* Yt y* 3^** and 3^’ ma, y aU be pronounced §j*T St.) used after words ending with vowels. used in versification after vowels. Examples :— $WV1! C^rg^-farfc-i^q^ I C^SfnreWnf^’^wJj^ | 5I-5f^irrn)tr| , 3'§j , 5I - 5^ | ^•aj^rS-g-tllSjeq-^r ( or qpXjqp £F(^1'%0 pe^-p-Sfc-qj-^- or p-gq-DTc- or p-gery^i S3 gsrsfc- | Lamas often drink tea. If you had told me the truth I would have forgiven you. I cannot give him the work. She will not eat her food. Then a serving layman will bring food. (Amundsen). Then the messenger pours out the wooing-beer for both the parents of the girl. (Amundsen), The two parents of the boy thus consulted ( conversed )-. (Amundsen). 2.—In connection with the Agentive Case it is convenient here to notice the affix £!PWj’ K‘an, whioh in various ways is extensively used in Tibetan, much as Kdr , or )£ Gar, is used in Persian to indicate a Doer. It may also be likened to the English affix er, in words such as BeholdER, MurderER, etc. Later on it will be fully dealt with in connection with the Verb. Here it is only briefly alluded to as a sort of Active Participle annexed to Verbal Roots. Ex.— TIBETAN GRAMMAR. 09 sa'upT Do-K‘ AN , Yono-K‘Xn, Di-K‘an, * The goer. He who goes. The comer, He icho comes. The writer, He who writes. It is found thus in the Literary Tibetan into which the New Testa¬ ment has been translated ;— <^-er^q^-er3}^ 1 It is also used adjectively, thus He icho built all th itigs is God (Heb. iii. 4). But he that seeketh the glory of him that sent him , the same is true (John vii. IS). The man who steals sheep. the different tenses will be found Pronoun <§ 31, IX, A), and Appendix of Conjugations. The way in which it is used with explained in the paragraphs on The The Y erb (§ 38, V., D.), and in the VII,— The Locative Case. This case expresses relations of Space, but implies also the idea of Rest. The common case-signs are the following primitive particles : - or La 5* Na \ ) In, On, At, By, etc. s o GyU’-nX : Through . Sometimes the more Literary particles Tu, Du, Rtr O ^ * R., 5J" Su, are also met with. Examples :— py^c-orlp-g-a^iq] i He lives in Lhassa proper. saw the Sha-pe on the road 70 TIBETAN GRAMMAR. (for ^* } Please speak in Tibetan . I saw him sitting next his brother. ^*T^'^'£^ c 'SFT a >‘a 5r Does the chhorten remain by the | shepherd's tree ? ^c^-crarRfc-, He will be ai his own | / have read it in a historyicok P~^'W'^'p’q^^'q-arpcrgaj* ?Tc*| His mother kissed him on the forehead. The following Colloquial examples illustrate the use of compound postpositions as expressive of the same Looative idea :_ tTpip’CJ ^1* g'd|ci]^raj*wcT|*qj* ■ or sppfc-csj i Will the servant wait outside ?