English
—torm ana Place. (i) There is little or no structural difference between the noun and the adjective. In fact, the latter may, for the most part, be regarded merely as a noun performing qualifying functions with respect to some other noun or verbal substantive. As a rule the adjective follows the noun, and then it is the adjec¬ tive and not the noun which takes the case-sign. If the adjective is distinguished by a following article, definite or indefinite, or a demon¬ strative pronoun, it is the article or the pronoun and not the adjective winch takes the case-sign. So, the adjective, and not the noun, takes the sign of the plural, .f there is no article or demonstrative pronoun If there is, the article or pronoun takes the sign. If, as is sometimes the case, the adjective precedes the noun, the adjective is put in the genitive case, and the case-sign is annexed to the noun, or to the article, if any, or to the plural sign, if any. Examples :— That black cat saw a white mouse. CS €> The black cat has caught the tf touse. TIBETAN GRAMMAR. Nd Hr^j I 17 If htte leopartis are uncommon. These white leopards are valuable. These beautiful white beasts of ffrey kill other wild animals. Those crimson clouds are very bea utiful. (ii) A very common practice in Colloquial is to turn what we would call a relative clause into an adjectival phrase. Kx. :— or The man who killed the wolf. q^-jqpdj-Sr^ | ~ laterally, /hr .^If-killing m. 11 > S’WT The too// ,ha, killed the Sjp33j’®C-'T]-?| fiii) The idiomatic use of this affix 5lPJ<3j* is undoubtedly most difficult to understand, for Colloquially it may express the passive as Cv C- well as the active voice. For instance, signifies, not only The man who kills or killed , but also the man who was or has been killed. Probably the difficulty arose with the alleged Colloquial custom of using tile perfect root of most verbs even in the present tense. If only that custom were not in vogue, it would be possible to use present roots in present tenses, and perfect roots in past tenses, and confine the use of to the active voice, and use the past participle of the verb for the passive voice alone. Ex. :— or sra]^' t he man who kills. I or The man who killed. F^1 The man who teas killed. 118 TIBETAN GRAMMAR. This can be done, of course, even as things are; nevertheless it remains a fact that, in Colloquial, and may also signify The man who is, or was, or has been, killed. Under these ciroumstanees the context alone can decide what the intended meaning really is. 31, lx. A, on the use of the different roots of the auxiliary •“v v,r., 3=^r To do. for the purpose of distinguishing the Active from t he Passive Voice. (iv) The Relative Tdea is also frequently expressed by turning a participial clause into an adjectival phrase. Ex. :_ %s-§-q^-|-2?TTlC-gC-gC-3N-35'c- A growing child (a child (ha! is grouting) will eat anything il gets. or 3 I !or Literary p‘$IC' ) pS' The man whom you sent yesterday _ o os. ^ _ is (Ieo<l m Literall v The up^tpr*. Tj^rq^'qS-^rc-^-^-’QCcn i • . i ne yestet xs- / 'll ' 1 I I aay-by-you-sent man is dead. The participle, being here an adjective, may also follow the Thus :— noun. O F’[ I The man , etc. Now, let another adjective be inserted, thus :_ p'^c;*g^*0^-q*5cqQ v '^-q3c:-q‘- £\2j-Sfc- | The good man whom yesterday is dead. *-! Or thus:— |xrS4C'jg^*0*r*rq=>C'q*^3 Svj'SJt’ | The negative is inserted thus : — The (food man. etc. you sent The yood man whom you did not send yesterday is dead. TIBETAN OR A MM Alt. I 19 (v) Use of the Particles 5J* ? 5T f | If we desired to be very correot as regards the particles annexed to adjectival roots, we would use or CJ* with a masculine noun and 5T # with a feminine noun ; beinu more properly employed with the Indefinite Article, and 24 ' with the Definite Article when 1 I masculine nouns are concerned ; while Sr, may be used with either the Indefinite or the Definite Article when the noun is feminine. In common parlance is often pronounced pu. Ex. : — A black dog A or the bitick bitch. ^Bf^rp-er- tv, e white horse .4 or the white mare. But, as a matter of fact, these distinctions are not observed Collo¬ quially, and a Tibetan would express himself thus : — I 1 A black dog. white horse. A black bitch. V | > The white mare. However, there are many adjectives which, even in Colloquial, are seen in CJ* and 5|* without reference to gender. Ex. :— Afad, insane. Wet. Necessary, needful. 34*^CT|*CI* Wrong , incorrect. N ew. <£C*£T Alt. ir Old. ^TJSTST Ord i nnry , vulgar Yon tig. gsr*r V Sham . 120 TJUETAN GRAMMAR. oiaj'cr Other. ^c*sr Previous, former. Clean. There arc ^lso one or two hooh ; Vi' •. i , r seen*in without reference to gender Ex. s?c***r <gc-sT- Sweet. Cold, chilly. J Of/OHS. In the Literary language the adjective, j„ j ts root form alone is olten seen immediately preceding the noun. Ex *_- ¥TC' Black dog. Black hitch. So, when the adjective has a particle and precedes the noun Literary Tibetan follows the same rule as obtains in the Colloquial of putting the adjective in the genitive case. Ex -_ C*v A black dog. The black dog. A or the black bitch. But even in the Colloquial ,t is allowable, for brevity’s sake t, orm adjectival expressions by placing before a noun an adjectiv, nnnuK its particle. Ex. :_ J 1 I netend of : — (or So also : 7 f> my mind the dry land i better than the ocean. Vo my mind , etc Formerly Tibet teas a stcret (or hidden) country. TIBETAN GRAMMAR. 121 Instead of :— Forme}ly Tibet , etc. (vi; Adjectives are also sometimes formed from nouns and post- positions, the latter being put in the genitive case, and the whole expression made to precede the noun that it qualities. Kx. : — Some tune (ujo a Furojtenn -v ev-v soldier was living in Tibet ^c-^-g-afjarpsw&afersic:- S’ ^or^ • pvuq • 5 ,^' ■ <v?ni (or r^’) ^3=T|-cT]-^ir | C*pc'C|*^’ or y^S/^C^rycry Some of the many great ancient empires are still remembered. The rut htts broken the stow ituj. I hi'e (or hare u dicelltny filar * ) nt an tt/ifjer room of that House. The adjectives to which attention is drawn in the foregoing illustia- tions are, in the first European : in the second, sy^’JTT Ancient, in the third *ff% or If 5; Stone; and, in tin* fourth, f’pper. (vii) S • ome adjectives consist merel \ -5=T]%*=T]' B roke n. n^vfk,- tjc 'me* Concave. Straight . of a primitive repeated { Circular , round. Flat. 122 TIBETAN GRAMMAR. STST ) c Bent. curved. JTjcq*m=T|‘ ) ^JSpTJST Pliant , flexible. ata'cqq- "] 'i-Flat 'gJC’^C* I 3^*3^* Quaking, trembling (viii) Others consist of two primitives, similar as regards their consonantal form, but with different vowels. Ex. :_ l3 c Tg c T jjsijjs- 3 q V3 q l' Soft, low. Prom iscuons , disorderly Steep, rugged. Weak , feeble. Curved t crooked. fix) Or of a repeated dissyllable with a difference in the vowels. Ex.:— siorar^arar ) crarargarar \ ^ar^ar Lukewarm. Irregular. Mixed u />, jtitabled. (x) Or of two different dissyllables in juxtaposition. Ex. : — Having. (xi) Or of two different monosyllables in juxtaposition. Ex.: — £F1**C- Far , distant. remote. ^'SW Measureless, immeetsutable. I m tn e n se. (xii) As to the formation of Abstract Nouns from adjectives, see § 29, A. 6. TIBETAN GRAMMAR. 123 (xiii) English adjectives ending in able and ible are usuallv rendered in Colloquial Tibetan by NYiir, or S^T]* Ch‘o\ or C'H'od ch'o’, added to the root of the verb. Ex. : — I 9* = T4 T \^’^| ar ^T q I^ I (n-q^CTj-gqV^n)^ t EV^SC-a^C^lV^I | CV rnjf & -v-^° 3-a|a]7^'&7^£cr^*J$*q^cT] | ^^'5|*=Tr^*^i§c:*qrj*q’li'(^^£T| f Is this road jxissctble ? -Vo, the road is not jtassabh . Is this stream fordable ? A T o, the stream is not fordable He is ready to go. This tea is very drinkable. That jxistry is not eatable. These goods are not saleable. God is invisible. Goil is Jcnowable. (xiv) The Literary equivalent of <£ cr |’, or * s ^ Rung- w.a, or RrNG. Ex. or 5C- This spectacle is terrible, or calm - la ted to terrify. E^MC^-W'SC'C - or SC’SvST^K I This tea is not drinkable. or fit to ^ ^ drink. or | This food is not eatable, or fit to eat. Sometimes, however, the supinal particle 9 ^ , or ^ , attached s> to the verbal root, is omitted, and the particle ^ after js also dropped. 7*)x. :— 124 TIBETAN GRAMMAR. E'^gc-^c-SysrS.^- or a^cS - $c’q-^ | wrn^-a-srfj-sr^- or a-Sr^c- q-^| This sight is terrible. That tea is undrinkable. This food is uneatable. (xv) Where a noun is qualified by two or more adjectives joined by the conjunction and, or or t the construction is as follows (or §|-C-^=r|-er^-^-q-(o r ^pT)*, W-^srq^ | *0 (rood and bad addled l eggs. Th ree or four men. (xvi) Negative Adjectives corresponding to such as begin in English with Un t In, II, Itn, Ir t or Dis, or end in less , are not very much used, Tibetans preferring to use an affirmative adjective and to put the verb in the negative. Ex. :_ Instead of saying:_ P ^1^ J //f is an irreligious man. A Tibetan would prefer to sav :_ | He is not a religions man. However, when such negative adjectives are employed, they are tunned with the aid of the Colloquial negative expressions *T t Sf, and a "d tlie Literary expressions and y^T | Ex. : - V n necessary. 'O cv CV l n n onto ns *r^xr / nt jjossible M'*r*icev Without fault.