y:Üen:v:es:ýXi Aaôf em:eS:g:n:

Disappearing  ka of patient.

      Hindi-Urdu has numerous expressions which require the postposition  ka or  ki with their patients:
1.  ray: s:ahb: kað p:Ürð G:NXð-B:r un:ki )t:ix:a krn:i p:_i
      'Rây Sâhab had to wait for him for a full hour.'

      (from Chapter Twenty-two of   g:aðdan:. See context.)

A certain number of such expressions may occur either with or without  ka ( or  ki ) of patient:
2. m:ðrð s:am:n:ðy:h S:bd // Es: S:bd kakB:i )y:aðg: eky:a t:að p:t:a c:l:ðg:a !
      'If you ever use this word in front of me, then you'll know!'

3a. us: s:økX m:ðø m:al:t:i kað ISv:r ki y:ad AaI. . .
3b. us: s:økX m:ðø m:al:t:i kað ISv:r y:ad Aay:a. . .
      'In that hour of need Mâlatî remembered God...'

      [ (3b) is from Chapter Seven of   g:aðdan:. See context.]

      When  ka of patient is deleted the patient becomes the direct object or [in (3b)] the subject. Accordingly the verb agrees with the patient in gender and number:

4.  B:òy:ð n:ð Ap:n:i t:aqt: Est:ðm:al: ki.
      'Brother used his strength.'

If  ka of patient is not dropped, some part of the verbal expression remains as either the direct object [such as  )y:aðg: in (2) or  Est:ðm:al: in (4)] or the subject [such as  y:ad in (3a)] and the verb agrees with it rather than with the patient. Compare (3a) with (3b) and (4) with (5):

5.  didi n:ð Ap:n:i Aql: ka Est:ðm:al: eky:a.
      'Sister used her wits.'

      There are many Hindi-Urdu expressions made up of a verb like  kr,  hað, or  Aa plus some other element which never show  ka of patient:  S:Ø- kr,  S:Ø- hað,  p:s:nd Aa, etc.  There are others like  Ent:z:ar kr or  Ent:z:ar hað which always require  ka of patient.  There is no simple way of predicting which of such expressions always take  ka of patient; which never do; and which sometimes do, sometimes don't.  For instance,  m:hs:Üs: kr,  An:ØB:v: kr, and  Ohs:as: kr are three nearly synonymous expressions meaning 'to experience' or 'to feel'.  Yet the first never takes  ka of patient, the second may or may not, while the third requires it:

6a. Oðs:a uts:ah us:n:ð kB:i m:hs:Üs: n:hiø eky:a T:a.
6b. Oðs:ð uts:ah ka us:n:ð kB:i An:ØB:v: n:hiø eky:a T:a.
6c. Oðs:a uts:ah us:n:ð kB:i An:ØB:v: n:hiø eky:a T:a.
6d. Oðs:ð uts:ah ka us:n:ð kB:i Ahs:as: n:hiø eky:a T:a.
      'He had never felt such enthusiasm.'

      However, a few hints can be given:

I. If an expression contains an adjective, it never has  ka of patient:  Q:al:i kr  'to empty',  m:hs:Üs: krhað  'to feel',  )y:ØVt: kr  'to use',  p:s:nd krhað  'to like', etc. However, knowledge of Persian, Arabic, and Sanskrit may be needed in order to tell what is an adjective and what is not.

II. If  ka of patient can disappear it is more likely to do so if the patient is inanimate. Compare (7) with (8):

7.  s:hs:a us:ð g:aðb:r ki y:ad AaI.
      'Suddenly she remembered Gobar.'

      (from Chapter Four of   g:aðdan:. See context.)

8.  t:b: us:ð v:h edn: y:ad Aay:a . . .
      'Then she remembered that day...'

      (from Chapter Eighteen of   g:aðdan:. See context.)

III. If such an expression contains a noun which is itself modified by an adjective,  ka of patient is more likely to appear:

9.  c:aðr n:ð Ap:n:ð edm:a^: ka s:hi Est:ðm:al: n:hiø eky:a.
      'The thief made bad use of his intelligence.'

If in such instances the  ka  does disappear then the agreement shifts to the patient. Compare (10a)  [in which  b:_i  agrees with  y:ad]  with (10b)  [in which  b:_ð  agrees not with  y:ad  but with  edn:]:

10a. l:el:t:a H  kal:ðj: kñ edn:aðø ki b:_i y:ad Aat:i hò.
10b. l:el:t:a H  kal:ðj: kñ edn: b:_ð y:ad Aat:ð hòø.
        Lalîtâ :  I remember (our) college days a lot.

        [ (10b) is from Chapter Dialog DD by   kÙs:Øm: j:òn:. See context.)

   Since there is no reliable way to predict which expressions taking  ka of patient allow it to disappear, we must rely on lists. In list A below we have excluded expressions like  X  ( kað )  m:øz:Ür kr,  X  ( kað ) p:òda kr,  or  m:al:Üm: hað  in which the non-verbial element is (originally) an adjective since these never take  ka of patient. Again the vast majority of expressions (like X  ki )t:ix:a kr or  ka ez:# kr /  hað ) which have a noun as a partly incorporated element always take  ka of patient. Consequently it is probably most efficient to learn by heart the fully noun-incorporating expressions like  AarmB: kr 'begin' and  sv:ikar krhað 'accept' / 'be accepted' which never take  ka of patient and the somewhat larger number of expressions like those in list C which take disappearing  ka of patient. In the absence of evidence to the contrary assume that the remainder of noun-incorporating expressions belong to list B.

The lists below do not include items already discussed:

A: Expressions which never take  ka or  ki of patient:
  X  kað n:z:r Aa 'Y be visible to X'      us:ð hrdm: m:aòt: s:am:n:ð K:_i n:z:r AaI.  ( from  g:aðdan: )
  X  kam: Aa 'die (on field of battle); be useful'    y:hi p:rl:aðk m:ðø kam: AaOg:a.  ( from  g:aðdan: )
  AarmB: kr /  hað 'begin, start'    hm: p:aY AarmB: krðøg:ð.  ( from  b:ahri )
  X  kað x:m:a kr 'forgive X'    eb:radri n:ð Ap:raD: x:m:a kr edy:a. ( from  g:aðdan: )

B: Expressions which always take  ka of patient:
  X  ka Ent:z:ar kr 'wait for X'    s:B:aðø ki AaúK:ðø s:v:ari kñ Ent:z:ar m:ðø T:iø.  ( from  c:ndÓkant:a, 1.22.022 )
  X  ka Qy:al: kr /  rK: /  hað 'look after X; keep X in mind, remember X; think of X; pay attention to X'
         Aap: dað b:at:aðø ka Qy:al: reK:y:ðg:a  ( from  c:ndÓkant:a, 1.14.060 )
         b:dÓin:aT: n:ð un:ki g:ael:y:aðø ka kÙC B:i Qy:al: n: eky:a.  ( from  c:ndÓkant:a, 4.13.136 )
         En:kað B:i c:p:l:a ka b:hØt: kÙC Qy:al: T:a.  ( from  c:ndÓkant:a, 2.04.009 )
  X  ka Afs:aðs: kr /  hað /  rh 'regret X, be sorry about X'     m:haraj:a kað t:ðj:es:øh ka b:hØt: Afs:aðs: rha . . .
                     ( from  c:ndÓkant:a, 1.16 081 )
  X  ka B:raðs:a kr /  hað 'rely on X; trust X'    us:kñ qs:m: ka B:raðs:a n:hiø !  ( from  g:aðdan: )
  X  ka ev:Sv:as: kr /  hað 'believe X; trust X'    hira ka Vy:a ev:Sv:as: ? ( from  g:aðdan: )
  X  ka s:aT: dð 'accompany X'   hm: t:að l:_ki ka s:aT: dðøg:ð !    ( from  c:ndÓkant:a, 1.23 028 )
  X  ki m:dd kr 'help X'   B:aI ki m:dd B:aI B:i n: krð,  t:að kam: kós:ð c:l:ð ( from  g:aðdan: )
C: Expressions which take disappearing  ka of patient:
  X ( ka )  b:y:an: kr 'describe X'
      ray: s:ahb: n:ð T:að_ð s:ð S:bdaðø m:ðø Ap:n:i s:ari keYn:aEy:aú b:y:an: kr diø  ( from  g:aðdan: )
  X ( ki )  t:l:aS: kr /  hað 'search for X' / 'be sought'
      Es:kñ m:an:ð y:h hò ek Aap: hq ki t:l:aS: n:hiø krt:ð . . .  ( from  g:aðdan: )
      m:haraj: n:ð ) hØVm: edy:a ek faòrn: us:ð t:l:aS: krn:ð kñ el:O Aadm:i B:ðj:ð j:ay:ðø.  ( from  c:ndÓkant:a, 1.18.005 )
  X ( ka )  ty:ag: kr /  hað 'relinquish X' / 'be given up'
  X ( ka )  dan: dð /  hað 'donate X' / 'be donated'
  X ( ka )  dan: l:ð 'take X (in gift)'
  X ( ka )  p:øc:r kr /  hað 'puncture X' / 'be punctured'
  X ( ki )  c:aðri kr /  hað 'steal X' / 'be stolen'
  X ( ka )  p:t:a kr /  hað 'find out X' / be found out; be known'
  X ( ka )  s:øc:y: kr /  hað 'accumulate X'

        An earlier version of these notes appears as § 17B in Hook 1979, pp. 158-9.

To exercise.

To index of grammatical notes.

To index of  m:lhar.

Redrafted and posted 14 May 2001.