English
The functions of the Definite Article are sometimes performed by the particles CJ’ pa and £]* po, when affixed to numerals. (See § 26, Notes 6, 8, 14.) 4. The particles CJ* po, £J‘ pa, R* K‘a, etc., as performing the function of the Definite Article in connection also with nouns and adjectives, are used when the idea of individuality t or definiteness y is particularly desired. Thus, The great king. But they are also sometimes discarded. Thus, The four great kings. They are also discarded in enumerations like the following :— ! Il *i1 **! Great and small . Birth. Old aae. Sickness The conjunction *F Dang, And t is also discarded in such ex¬ pressions. The particles under notioe and conjunctions are also discarded in enumerations of nouns that are in apposition or contrast. Ex. :— 1 Hope and Fear. •vrih i Virtue and Vice m Heaven and Earth. In a sentence like * s r T r er (otherwise The pillar of hope , the particle is omitted from the first noun, Re-ua, and annexed only to the second. TIBETAN GRAMMAR, 9 Sometimes however a phrase is contracted and the particle omitted in both its members. Ex. : The pillar of hope. 5. The student may also be reminded of the various affixes set out at the end of § 24, since they too occasionally perform the func¬ tions of the Hefinite Article. § 28 —The Indefinite Article. 1. 5=T|* A , An, Some, is a modification of =T|{ 5 =T|’ Owe, and is seen in the following forms, which may be used even in the Colloquial, if it is desired to be very correct, though as a matter of fact the form Chi’ is the one most favoured:_ 5^* after final T, *Y, or 1 q^T after all vowels, or after final C, <3^, JT Xf or QJ | after final | 2. Being an adjective when it qualifies a noun, and an adverb when it qualifies an adjective, its place in the sentence is immediately after the noun, or noun and adjective, that it qualifies. Ex. :— ( or 3^)! A horse. ^ j virtuous man. *7 | A horse and a carriage. 3. and not the noun or adjective to which it is annnexed, takes the case-sign, but only in what we would call the Nominative. In the other cases ^ £ Tj" is usually dropped. Ex. S=Ij-5j^rc:-df^*a]3^4r A Strange, horse has eaten our hag. T live near a large river. 100 TIBETAN GRAMMAR. 4. Annexed to approximate numerals, it signifies colleotiveness. Thus A group of three or four men. A force of one or two thousand soldiers. 5. Used with the adverb Tsam, About, it signifies Some. Thus :— Some seventy or ninety sheep. Another expression for Some is K‘a-shX, and another is 7T Tod-TSE. The Literary form of is C\=Tp^(sqj* Gx-2hyi*. A few, Solely, Only, Alone, may be rendered in Colloquial by Tod-TSE, Sha-*a’, and Cirid-po ; and in Literature by Ba-2hyi\ 6. Affixed to Interrogative Pronouns, the Article signifies (in Literary Tibetan) Whoever. Whatever. Whichever .Anyone, Anything. Thus:_ § r ^'g^'^'T^ q T a P'’ cr eto * ^q,-3j--a|-np^£T|' (or > £r WU Whoever with loving eyes should even regard , etc. (S.C.D.), i.e. anyone who, etc. There is nothing {anything, with negative) in it. The Article is also used thus in ^‘TT^P 1 1 Literature :— On account of some law-suit. What (is it) wanted for? 3'^ 1 Once, on some occasion, some time. After a little, some time afterwards. TIBETAN GRAMMAR. 101 7. Affixed in any of its appropriate forms to a verbal root, it imports in Literature the Imperative Mood as addressed to servants and inferiors, and also the Hortative and Optative Moods Thus :_ Do ; Let do. Let .. do ; may .. do ; May, .be done. In the Colloquial also it is frequently used to express an emphatic order, and commonly takes the form Shi’, though it would be more correct to say % Shi', ® p \' Zhyi\ or 5^]* Chi’, according to rule. Ex. : — | Run quickly. Shut the door. Be quiet . 8 Here may also be mentioned = T|C*WC’ Any. Ex. :— Is there any fresh news to-fhti/ ? § 29.—The Noun. A.— Structure. 1. The Tibetan Noun ends in either a consonant or a vowel, and is either :— (a) A Monosyllable without any affixed particle, and either without or with any vowel-sign, head-letter, subjunct or prefix. Ex. :— *h Fish ; End ; OT Mountainr jtass ; -A* Flesh ; Earth > soil, ground, place ; 5T Man ; 5T Fire ; Water ; O' Bird, fowl; Head. Door £j* Deer; Wound; ~-0=3^Vq=r,, g '*pi i 102 TIBETAN GRAMMAR. Year ; Food, provision ; Sg* Head (Honorific); % Hair (Human, on head). (6) A Monosyllable, simple or complex, with an affixed particle, such as Ef # ! CJ* S 2<J', q\ ST, T. F T. S', S', 3', 3', F>\ 5', g - , r, S', and which particle sometimes indicates the gender. Ex. :— 'Jlj'SJ’ ^ ox • ^34**1* Vixen ; 1^*54' Father; Mother ; Bitch ; 3'*r Cock-bird ; g‘3f' Hen-bird ; qj'fiT or S^TCT Monk ; e&STST < Nun ; Mare ; i5on ,* daughter ; ftjnyq* Ram. Sometimes, however, the particle does not indicate gender. Ex. :— SF‘ A mountain-shrub ; Hag , sun ; ^q|C"5T Evening ; /Sjj'ST Monk, priest ; ^Al'ST Music ; gjC.*5T A kind of tree ; Ba-wa, Goitre ; Pledge ; efj*£T Envelope , wrapper. Sometimes the particle serves merely to differentiate the meanings of roots otherwise similarly or somewhat similarly spelt. Ex.:— To show , to teach . but w Autumn ; *F Marrow , pith i descent , origin ; but Root ; EJKC* Confidence ; but The expanded hood of a snake. If the particle is either ZJ' f q* ( or it may be and often is dropped (especially when followed by on adjective), without affecting the meaning of the word. Ex. :— The or a great elephant. gorEf%Hfq<31 The four great kings. Some of such I bus, in the case of particles perform the functions Q’ the inherent or Nl ' * / of DIMINUTIVES of the final or the TIBETAN GRAMMAR. 103 only consonant of the noun, is turned into W, anti is followed by the particle. Ex. :— 9* Fish ; ?A* Little fish ; Q' Cow ; Calf. In other oases the final consonant, if a £ T, is cut off the noun, and turned into a second syllable, to which Zhyab-byu is added. Kx, : - Spy Hand; Spl]* Little hand ; g=T|* Child ; gp’ Little child ; *J=T Sheep ; (ajp* Lamb. In other cases the Diminutive particle is simply added to the primitive noun as it stands. Ex. :— *T Man ; R’fV .1/anni£in ^5^* NS * 1 Sack ; -Sacklet. Another way of expressing the Diminutive is to qualify the noun by the adjective Small . Ex, : — .-1 little inn. A little mind , narrow mind Or lastly— <c) A Dissyllable , or even a Polysyllable, either without or with a particle. Those nouns, and especially the polysvllabio nouns, which are mostly proper names, and sometimes even amount to phrases, are often comparatively modern words which have either gradually developed or been deliberately compounded out of originally simple elements. Ex. : - Ghair ; Cot ; SJ ^ u ; Contract ; Diligence , industry , zeal ; City ; or ■N3 '‘is Advocate or pleader ; 3' q Petitioner ; NVE-tHTU, Petition : Gamester, juggler icith words ; *T*'F Tobacco .* or Ch'en-PBM-ma, (Colloquial), or (Literary), Butterfly. 104 TIBETAN GRAMMAR. N.B .—Words with the definite particles etc., are generally * * cs t “ v used without the article or unless the latter is intended to express This or That. 2. Besides the particles above referred to, mention may be made of K‘ an, which, annexed to substantives or verbal roots, is extensively used in the Colloquial to signify a person who. in some capacity or character, is connected with some particular act, state, or thing. Ex. :< — Guard ; Liar : £jp^gr^-^pj*3qpa^ Magician ; g'STSIpSj' Author ; 5l^y^\*CTpC*5ipaj* Deceiver ; <£ip<3j’ Murderer; Informant. In book-language the following may be found :— p^Tpdf Dancer ; Ol^aqp^* Guide ; Flutist ; Ov c* srgjcaqpaj' Violinist, harpist ; •£psjp^ Joiner , carpenter ; "BT 5lp<3j' Bow-maker ; ^.S'SjpSj Artisan „ worker ; ?4*^|p^* Peasant , agriculturist , raiat. Such compounds m ^p<3j' (at least in the Literary language) may take the indicative particles CJ' 9 CJ', 5T # or ST as expressive not only of the definite or indefinite article but also of gender. Ex. :_ Qpj'-Sip^-g 7 (Masculine) (Feminine) Masculine) (Feminine) A Walker , The Walker. Ditto. 3. Instead of £jp<3T use is vsometimes made of the verb 3 ^ To do. TIBETAN GRAMMAR. 105 Ex. :- gyr*r S'V'T g^'cj'Br 3 ^ gy=r*r 3^' g^-cr^r IK^ 1 ^ (Masculine) J (Feminine) J A doer. The doer. Sometimes, even in the Colloquial, both and £Jp3<^’ are used together either with or without the Indicative Particles CJ* £)* yj* yr ® * 9 i 1 f though in the Colloquial these are commonly discarded. Ex. :— Literary. (Common (Masculine) (Feminine) J* J A walker } The walker. N.B .—When or or the indefinite article §erp i 3 used with any of the above, the indicative particle is discarded, e.g. :_ WS^FFS' The walker. That walker . A uxilker. Colloquial. Agriculturist , Farmer. a, * r S‘V3‘V S! P^' v ** Guide. 106 TIBETAN GRAMMAR Guarantor. ^=T|*r§^*Sjpaj' Helper. 4. 3S> however, is not the only auxiliary that takes the affix in this way. There are others ; for instance, 0q* Ex. :— Argner, Reasoner . Sfsraersjps;- Roarer. Briber. Calculator. In fact, the functions of ar *d 0^* in this respect, y Sitxnlii r to those of the Urdu word wala , or the Persian words ban , gar, '? gar, kar, etc,, or even the Tibetan particle *T in words like ^’q* Scholar , Monk, Disciple , Novice ; Water-carrier y Bhisti ; &*q* Horseman , etc. 6. Another common affix of a similar nature annexed to noun- substantives is qsq*, or ^3’ Maker, Manufacturer , etc. Ex.:_ s'srcis’q* r Boot-maker. \ ) ^jC'qifq* Carpenter.