Page 310 - A GRAMMAR OF BHOJPURI _ PhD Dissertation 2020 TU

besi b ̤ ɑ kʌm lʌɽɑi mẽ cʰʌti dunu or ɦolɑ
besi b ̤ ɑ kʌm lʌɽɑi mẽ cʰʌti du-nu or ɦo-lɑ

more OR less WAR loc casualty two-EMPH side be-3SG.PRES

'More or less, casualties are unavoidable for both sides in war.'
b. कमबेस जे होखे, हमनी दालेभात खानी ।

kʌmbes je ɦokʰe ɦʌmni dɑleb ̤ ɑt kʰɑni
kʌmbes je ɦo-e ɦʌm-ni dɑl-e-b ̤ ɑt kʰɑ-ni
less or more COND be-3.PRES 1SG-PL rice-EMPH-lentil eat-PRES.H

'Less or more, whatever is, we eat only rice and lentil.'

In (17a-b), बेसी भा कम /besi b ̤ ɑ kʌm/ 'more or less' maintains positive>negative
order in (17a) but कमबेस /kʌmbes/ 'less or more' follows reverse order in (17b).

d) Noun phrases derived by nominalization
Givόn (2001b:24) defines nominalization as the process via which a finite

verbal clause is converted into a noun phrase. He further quotes Hopper and
Thompson (1984) to describe the process in terms of the syntactic adjustments from

the finite verbal-clause prototype to the nominal (NP) prototype. Thus nominalized
verbs have virtually all the same properties as prototype nominals.

(i) Verb becoming a head noun
The nominalized verb in Bhojpuri functions as the head noun, as shown in (18).

(18) िबना साधना <ान ना होला ।
binɑ sɑd ̤ nɑ ɡyɑn nɑ ɦolɑ

binɑ sɑd ̤ nɑ ɡyɑn nɑ ɦo-lɑ
without devotion knowledge NEG be-3SG.PRES

'Knowledge is not possible without devotion.' (09.241)
In (18), hान /ɡyɑn/ 'knowledge' is a prototype noun derived from the prototype

verb stem जान /jɑn/ 'know' and has acquired property of subject in the finite clause.

(ii) Verb acquiring nominalizing morphology
A verb once nominalised, as shown in (18), acquires all the properties of

nominalized morphology. So, it is inflected for number and case, as shown in (19).
(19) अधूरा hान बेइiतो करा देला ।

ʌd ̤ urɑ ɡyɑn beijjʌto kʌrɑ delɑ

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