A Grammatical Sketch of Hunza Burushaski

(This is a work in progress)

Sadaf Munshi (Ph.D.)

University of North Texas

In collaboration with

Piar Karim

University of North Texas

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 A Grammatical Sketch of Hunza Burushaski1

Table of Contents

Symbols and Abbreviations in the Gloss ................................................................................................................. 4

Languages .............................................................................................................................................................. 6

Chapter 1: Phonology ............................................................................................................................................ 7

1.0 Introduction .........................................................................................................................................................7

1.1 Consonantal Inventory ....................................................................................................................................7

1.1.1 Contrastive Distribution of Consonants ......................................................................................................8

1.2 Burushaski Vowel Inventory ..............................................................................................................................9

1.2.1 Contrastive Distribution of Vowels ........................................................................................................... 10

Chapter 2 Morpho-syntax ..................................................................................................................................... 11

2.1 Constituent order Typology .............................................................................................................................. 11

2.1.1 Main Clause (S)OV ................................................................................................................................... 11

2.1.2 Adpositional Phrase (Postpositional Phrase) ............................................................................................. 11

2.1.3 Adjectives and Noun (AN) ........................................................................................................................ 12

2.1.4 Possessor Noun (GN) ................................................................................................................................ 12

2.2 Typology of the Verb Component .................................................................................................................... 13

2.2.1 Intransitive Clause (with or without pronominal prefix) .......................................................................... 13

2.2.2 Auxiliary Verb ........................................................................................................................................... 14

2.2.3 Transitive Verb .......................................................................................................................................... 15

2.3 Noun Phrase ...................................................................................................................................................... 15

1This is a work in progress. Any mistakes – factual, typographic, or otherwise, are regretted and will be
addressed in the final version.

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 2.4 Postpositions ..................................................................................................................................................... 17

2.4.1 Locational Postpositions ............................................................................................................................ 17

2.4.2 Temporal Postpositions ............................................................................................................................. 19

2.4.3 Other Postpositions .................................................................................................................................... 20

2.4.4 Postpositions with pronominal prefixes .................................................................................................... 22

2.5 Grammatical Relations, Case and Agreement .................................................................................................. 26

2.5.1 Verb Classes and Agreement Patterns ...................................................................................................... 26

2.6 Question Formation .......................................................................................................................................... 30

2.6.1 Wh-Questions ............................................................................................................................................ 30

2.6.2 Yes/No Questions: ..................................................................................................................................... 34

2.6.2 Tag Questions: ........................................................................................................................................... 35

2.7 Clause Combination .......................................................................................................................................... 35

2.7.1 Coordinating Clause .................................................................................................................................. 36

2.7.2 Conditional Clauses ................................................................................................................................... 37

2.7.3 Relative Clause .......................................................................................................................................... 38

2.7.4 Embedded Clause ...................................................................................................................................... 39

Chapter 3: Morphology ......................................................................................................................................... 41

3.1 Inflectional Morphology ................................................................................................................................... 41

3.1.1 Nominals and Nominal Inflection ............................................................................................................. 41

3.1.1.1 Nouns and Noun Classes ................................................................................................................... 41

3.1.1.2 Number.............................................................................................................................................. 44

3.1.1.3 Case Morphology ............................................................................................................................... 44

3.1.1.4 Personal Pronouns .............................................................................................................................. 48

3.1.1.5 Possessability of Nouns...................................................................................................................... 49

3.1.1.5.1 Body parts ................................................................................................................................... 50

3.1.1.5.2 Kinship Terms............................................................................................................................. 51

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 3.1.1.6 Modifiers ............................................................................................................................................ 52

3.1.1.6.1 Adjectives ................................................................................................................................... 52

3.1.1.6.2 Numerals .................................................................................................................................... 53

3.1.1.7 Numerals with Pronominal Prefixes ....................................................................................................... 54

3.1.1.8 Ordinal Numbers .................................................................................................................................... 55

3.1.1.9 Demonstrative and Relative Pronoun ..................................................................................................... 56

3.1.2 Verbs and Verb Morphology ......................................................................................................................... 57

3.1.2.1 Verb ‘to be’ in Burushaski ..................................................................................................................... 62

3.1.2.2 D-Prefix Verbs........................................................................................................................................ 67

3.1.2.3 Causatives ............................................................................................................................................... 68

3.1.2.4 Negatives ................................................................................................................................................ 70

3.1.2.5 Imperative Mood .................................................................................................................................... 71

3.1.2.6 Conjunctive Participle ............................................................................................................................ 72

3.1.2.7 Optative .................................................................................................................................................. 73

3.1.2.8 Verbs in Presumptive and Potential Mood ............................................................................................. 74

3.1.2.9 Dubitative Mood ..................................................................................................................................... 74

3.2.1 Derivational Process ...................................................................................................................................... 76

3.2.1.1 Compounding ......................................................................................................................................... 76

4.2.1.2 Suffixation .............................................................................................................................................. 77

3.2.1.3 Reduplication .......................................................................................................................................... 78

Chapter 4: Dialectal Comparison.......................................................................................................................... 81

4.1 Phonological Variation ..................................................................................................................................... 81

4.2 Morphonological Variation ............................................................................................................................... 82

4.3 Lexical Variation .............................................................................................................................................. 82

References ............................................................................................................................................................ 83

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Symbols and Abbreviations in the Gloss

1 First person

2 Second person

3 Third person

+h Human

(-h,I) Animate non-human, and solid inanimate

(-h,II) Liquids and soft inanimate

ABL Ablative (Case)

ABS Absolutive (Case)

ADJ Adjective

CAUS Causative

COMP Complimentizer

COM Comitative

DAT Dative

EMPH Emphatic

ERG Ergative

F (Human) Female

GEN Genitive (Case)

HAB Habitual

IMPER Imperative

IPFV Imperfective (Aspect)

INDF Indefinite (Article)

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INF Infinitive

LOC Locative

M (Human) Male

NEG Negation, Negative

OBJ Object

OPT Optative

PL Plural

PRES Present

PROG Progressive

PST Past

PTC Particle

PTCP Participle

Q Question (particle/marker)

SG Singular

SUBJ Subject

V Verb

VOC Vocative

NMLZ Nominalizer

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Languages

Bur Burushaski

E English

SB Sirinagar Burushaski

HB Hunza Burushaski

HB-NB Hunza and Nagar Burushaski

IA Indo-Aryan

K Kashmiri

NB Nagar Burushaski

Sh Shina

Ur Urdu

YB Yasin Burushaski

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Chapter 1: Phonology

1.0 Introduction

This chapter looks at Burushaski Phonology. It provides the phonemic inventory of consonants

in section 1.1 and vowels in section 1.22

1.1 Consonantal Inventory

Burushaski consonantal inventory is provided in Table 1.1

Table 1.1: Burushaski consonantal inventory

Place Bilabial Labio-Dental Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal

Manner /Retroflex

Stop p b t t d k g q

pʰ tʰ tʰ kʰ

Affricates c č ǰ

ʰ ʰ čʰ

Fricatives f v s z ʂ ʐ š x ɣ h

Nasal m n ŋ

Liquid l r

Glide w ɻ y

2The data for this grammatical sketch are based on the Hunza dialect of Burushaski. The data were mainly
provided by Piar Karim, a native speaker of Hunza Burushaski and a research assistant for the Burushaski
Language Documentation Project.

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1.1.1 Contrastive Distribution of Consonants

The contrastive distribution of the obstruents in the same environment with a change in meaning
is provided with minimal pairs below. We have seen that Burushaski has 29 obstruents. There
are a small number of occurrences of [f] and [v] [+labiodental, +fricative] in the recently
borrowed loan words from English and Urdu. We will briefly look at the contrastive distribution
of plosives, affricates, fricatives and sonorants in Table 1.2 below.

Table: 1.2: Contrastive Distribution of Plosives, Affricates and Fricatives

Plosives
Consonants Phonetic form Gloss Consonants Phonetic form Gloss
p [pal] ‘long sleep’ kʰ [kʰareti] ‘basket’
b [bal] ‘wall’ t [tal] ‘ eiling’
pʰ [pʰal] ‘throw’ [ al] ‘north’
t [tak] ‘button’ tʰ [tʰaal] ‘plate’
d [dak] ‘kno k’ [ aal] ‘elevate ’
tʰ [tʰak] ‘flap’ q [qam] ‘pit’
k [kar] ‘wan er’ qʰ [qʰam] ‘ urry’
g [gar] ‘we ing’
Affricates
c [car] ‘tear’ [ am] ‘ ig’
ʰ [ ʰar] ‘splash’ ʰ [ ʰam] ‘extreme
č [čak] ‘hit’ ǰ [ǰal] ‘s atter’
hunger’
čʰ [čʰak] ‘hunger’ č [čal] ‘fight’
Fricatives
f [fan] ‘fan’ ʂ [ʂaw] ‘hit’
v [van] ‘van’ ʐ [ʐaw] ‘ islike’
s [sar] ‘threa ’ ɣ [ɣaʂ] ‘soap bubble’
z [zar] ‘ǰolt’ h [han] ‘one’

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 Liquids
Consonants Phonetic form Gloss Consonants Phonetic form Gloss
l [laq] ‘nake ’ r [raq] ‘ esire’
Nasals
m [ am] ‘steam’ n [ an] ‘stone’
n [ an] ‘stone’ ŋ [ aŋ] ‘sleep’
Glides
ɻ [aɻa] ‘father’ w [waʂ] ‘ben ’
y [ayas] ‘sister’ m [maʂ] ‘boil’

Note that the nasal sound [ŋ] [+nasal, +velar] and retroflex glide [ɻ] are not permitted in the

word-initial position but both sounds appear in the word-medial (intervocalic) and word-final

position.

1.2 Burushaski Vowel Inventory

There are five basic vowels in Burushaski /i, e, u, o. a/ and their long counterparts /ii, ee, uu,

oo, aa/. The surface vowel inventory in provided in Table 1.3

Table 1.3: Burushaski vowel inventory

Front Central Back/Round

High [i] [ii] [u] [uu]

Med [e] [ee] [o][oo]

Low [a][aa]

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1.2.1 Contrastive Distribution of Vowels

In the Table 1.4 below, the contrastive distribution of the vowels in the same environment (i.e.

minimal pairs or near minimal pairs) with change in meaning is provided.

Table: 1.4: Contrastive distribution of short vowels

Vowel Phonetic Form Gloss Vowel Phonetic Form Gloss

i [bis] ‘fat’ e [bes] ‘why’
i [hin] ‘ oor’ a [han] ‘one’
u [gus] ‘woman’ o [gos] ‘your heart’
e [mel] ‘wine’ a [mal] ‘fiel ’
o [tol] ‘snake’ a [tal] ‘pegon’

In the Table 1.5 below, the contrastive distribution of short and long vowels is provided.

Table 1.5: Contrastive Distribution of short and long vowels

V(short) Example Gloss V: (long) Example Gloss

i [bik] ‘s are ’ ii [biik] ‘tree’
u [bur] ‘hair’ uu [buur] ‘sun set’
e [men] ‘who’ ee [meen] ‘worn out’
o [mos] ‘floo ’ oo [moos] ‘you.pl wife’
a [gar] ‘we ing’ aa [gaar] ‘tran e’

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Chapter 2 Morpho-syntax

2.1 Constituent order Typology

Burushaski is a S(ubject)-O(bject)-V(erb) language. Thus, the verb occurs in the sentence final

position. The (S)OV word order is also reflected in other constituents orders. Thus, the

language is postpositional, and not prepositional in terms of word order. The noun follows the

relative clause (RelN). The nouns follow adjectives (AN) and the Genitive (GN). These

constituent orders make Burushaski a “hea final language”. This ten en y is very regular in

Burushaski with a very few exceptions. Let us look at the constituent order in the following

sentences:

2.1.1 Main Clause (S)OV

(1) Intransitive Sentence:

hiles gu ʰar-imi

boy walk-3MSG

‘The boy walke ’

(2) Transitive Sentence:

ǰa-a kitap i-riin-ar i-čʰiy-am

1SG-ERG book[-h,II] 3MSG-hand-DAT 3MSG-give-1SG

‘I gave the book into his han ’.

2.1.2 Adpositional Phrase (Postpositional Phrase)

The word order in an Adpositional Phrase is also head-final. Consider (3) for illustration:

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(3) Postpositional Phrase

a) raanuma altit um baltit-a-r ziboon-mo kaa gu ʰar-umo

raanuma bltit from baltit-GEN-DAT ziboon-F.GEN with walk-3F

‘Rahnuma walke from Altit to Baltit with Ziboon’

b) in haal-a-r mu-ulus-e kaa nimo

3F home-GEN-DAT 3F-brother-GEN with go-3F

‘She went to the house with her brother’

2.1.3 Adjectives and Noun (AN)

Adjectives precede the qualified Noun in Burushaski. Consider (4) for illustration:

(4) a) altas giyaas-an

beautiful baby-SG.IND

‘A beautiful baby’

b) burum balas-an

white bird-SG.IND

‘A white bir ’

2.1.4 Possessor Noun (GN)

The Possessor noun, which takes the Genitive case, precedes the Possessed noun. Consider
examples in (5) for illustration:

(5) a. hurmat-e oʂ um

hurmat-GEN waist band

‘The waist ban of Hurmat’ or ‘Hurmat’s waist ban ’

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2.2 Typology of the Verb Component

The inflected verb occurs mostly in the final position of the sentence. The inflected verb carries

information for Person, Number, and Gender of the Noun Phrase arguments in the sentence. It

also carries the information about (Tense and) Aspect. The template for a highly inflected

Burushaski verb is given in (6) below:

(6) NEG-D.prefix-Object/Subject-TRASITIVE-root-Subject/Number/Gender-Q

a- -ugu-s- aal-umuw-a//

[a-t-uku-s-tal-umuw-a]

‘NEG-D.prefix-2SG-TR-wake-3F-Q’

‘Di n’t she wake you?

The verb root is optionally preceded by four prefixes, the negative prefix, the pre-verb prefix d-

, and followed by subject suffix, various pronominal subject or object markers, transitive

maker. The root is followed by subject and number suffix, and question marker. The inflected

verb consists of a verb stem which contains a verb root and information on Aspect. Below we

will look at the morpho-syntax of intransitive verbs with and without a pronominal prefix

(section 2.2.1), auxiliary verb (section 2.2.2), and transitive verb (section 2.2.3).

2.2.1 Intransitive Clause (with or without pronominal prefix)

(7) Intransitive Verb with pronominal prefix

a) ine hiles i-waal-imi

DEM boy 3SG-lost-3SG

‘That boy lost’

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 b) uwe hilešo u-waal-uman

DEM boy.PL 3PL-lost-3PL

‘Those boys lost’

(8) Intransitive verb without pronominal prefix

a) in gu ʰar-imi

3M walk-3M

‘He walke ’

The inflected verb stem [-wal-] ‘lose’ in senten es (7) a & b above possesses a pronominal

prefix agreeing with the Absolutive NP whereas the inflected verb stem [gu ʰar-] in sentence

(8) a & b does not.

2.2.2 Auxiliary Verb

The auxiliary verb always follows the main verb with no syntactic material between them. The

ungrammatical sentence (9b) (with an asterisk “*” mark) illustrates that the main verb and

auxiliary verb form a syntactic component.

(9) Word order with Auxiliary verb

a) in-e gunc sabaq ɣatay bay

3M-ERG every.day lesson read.IPFV be.PRES.3M

‘He is reading lesson every day.’

* in-e gunc ɣatay sabaq bo

3F-ERG every.day read.IPFV lesson be.PRES.3F

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2.2.3 Transitive Verb

The mono-transitive inflected verb in sentence (10a) below consists of a verb stem and a suffix

which agrees with the subject and a pronominal prefix agreeing with object. But, the sentence

(10b) does not have a pronominal prefix. The presence/absence of pronominal prefix is

determined by the [+/- animacy] feature of the NP.

(10) Transitive sentence

a) in-e hiles i- el-umo

3SG-ERG boy 3MSG-hit-3FSG

‘She hit the boy’

b) in-e mu-riin el-umo

3SG-ERG 3F-hand hit-3FSG

‘She hurt her han ’

2.3 Noun Phrase

The noun phrase in Burushaski consists minimally of a noun and optional modifiers preceding

the head noun schematically represented as follows (The elements within the parentheses are

optional):

(Dem/Relative pronoun/Possessor Pronoun/Quantifiers) (Modifiers) (Adjective(s)){Noun}

Consider examples for illustration in (11) Demonstrative and Noun, (12) Possessor Pronoun

and Noun (13) Quantifier and Noun to (14) Adjective below:

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(11) amin hiles

which boy

‘Whi h boy’

(12) in-e laqpis

3SG-GEN handkerchief

‘His han ker hief’

(13) hin hiles-an

one boy-SG.IND

‘One boy’

(14) matum buš-an

black cat-SG.IND

‘A bla k at’

Based on the examples in (11) to (14) above, a generalized structure for the Burushaski Noun

Phrase can be given as:

(Specifier)-(Adverb)-(Adjective)-Noun

(A) khine hin but altas asinan

DEM one very beautiful girl

‘This is one beautiful girl’

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2.4 Postpositions

Burushaski postpositions represent a large class of words which functions like English

prepositions but they follow rather than precede the object NP. There are different kinds of

postpositions in Burushaski: locational, temporal, other postpositions, and postpositions with

pronominal prefixes.

2.4.1 Locational Postpositions

Table 2.1 gives the list of location postpositions in Burushaski. Examples in sentences (15-21)

illustrate the use of postpositions in the list respectively.

Table 2.1: Locational Postpositions

Burushaski Gloss Burushaski Gloss

yaare ‘un er’ yoon al ‘above’
yate ‘on’ haraŋ ‘mi le’
yatisate ‘on the top of’ apači ‘near or next to’
ulo ‘in’ yakal ‘towar ’

(15) [yaare] ‘below’ or ‘un er’

a) birkíş tik yaare bila

treasure ground below be.PRES.

‘The treasure is below the groun ’

b) buš miiz yaare b-i

cat table under be.PRES.3

‘The at is un er the table’

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(16) [yate] ‘on’ an [yatis-ate] ‘on the top’

a) keemrá teebal-ate bila

Camera table-on be.PRES.3

‘Camera is on the table’

b) naziir čʰar-e yatis-ate bay

Nazir mountain-GEN head-on be.PRES.3

‘Nazir is on the top of the mountain.’

(17) [ulo] ‘in’

a) huyes ter-ulo biyen

cattel pasture-in be.3PL[-h,I]

‘The attle are in pasture’

(18) [yoon al] ‘above’

a) huk bal-e yoon al hal el-imi

dog wall-GEN above jump hit-3SG

‘The og jumpe above the wall’

(19) [haraŋ] ‘among’ an [haraŋulo] ‘in the mi st’

a) minaš-in haraŋ cum gute minas e-č-am

story-PL among from this[-h,II] story 3-do.IPFV-1

‘Among stories, I will o this’

b) mi-i haraŋ-ulo čal e-t-as šuwa a-pi

1PL-GEN middle-in fight 3-do-INF good NEG-be.PRES.3

‘It is not goo to fight with ea h other’

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(20) [apači] ‘with me’

a) ǰaa a-pači rupaya a-piyen

1-GEN 1-with money NEG-be.PRES.PL

‘I on’t have money’

(21) [ayakal] ‘towar s me’

a) ise pen a-yakal pʰal e-t-iya

that[-h,I] Pen 1-towards throw 3-do-IMP

‘Throw that pen towar s me’

2.4.2 Temporal Postpositions

Table 2.2 below gives the list of temporal postposition. Examples (22-26) provide sentences to

illustrate the temporal postposition in the list respectively:

Table 2.2: Temporal Postpositions

Burushaski Gloss Burushaski Gloss

uuŋ ‘while’ i-ciyate ‘after it’
xaa ‘until’ yar ‘before’

(22) [a iyate] ‘after me’

a) in ǰe a-ciyate bay

3MSG 1SG 1-after be.PRES.3MSG

‘He is after me’

(23) [yar] ‘before’

a) ǰe in cum yar kʰolar aaya bayam

1SG 3MSG from before here come.1SG be.PST.1SG

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 ‘I ame here before him’

(24) [ uuŋ] ‘while’

a) un kʰole uuŋ huro

2SG here while stay.IMP

‘You stay here for a while’

(25) [xaa] ‘until’ [xaaʂinar] ‘to until’

a) mi elar ni-ʂ xaa u ele a-pam

1PL there go-INF until 3PL there NEG-be.PRES.3SG

‘They were not there until we went there’

2.4.3 Other Postpositions

There are several other postpositions which also appear as case marking with nouns. Table 2.3

provides the list of other postpositions. Examples in sentences (26-30) provide an illustration of

these postpositions.

Table 2.3: Other Postpositions

Burushaski Gloss Burushaski Gloss

-ate ‘on’ kaa ‘with’
cum ‘than’ or ‘from’ ce ‘at’
-ar ‘to’, ‘for’

(26) [ate] ‘with’

a) mu-uri ċʰur-ate thic e-t-umo

3F-nail knife-with cut 3-do-3F

‘She ut her finger nail with the knife’.

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 b) ise pen teebal-ate bi

that pen table-on be.PRES.3

‘That pen is on the table’

(27) [ um] ‘than’ or ‘from’

a) in ǰa-a cum alto den-e uyum bo

3FSG 1-GEN from two year-GEN older be.PRES.3F

‘She is two years ol er than me’

(28) [-ar] ‘to’ or ‘for’

a) in haal-a-r ni-mi

3MSG home-GEN-DAT go-3MSG

‘He went to home’

b) ǰa-a ɣatay-a-r ite kitap-an gan-am

1-ERG read.IPFV-GEN-for that[-h,II] book-SG.IND buy-1SG

‘I bought that book for reading.’

(29) [kaa] ‘with’

a) ǰe ine kaa uro e-t-am

1SG 3MSG-GEN with work 3-do-1SG

‘I worked with him.’

(30) [ e] ‘at’

a) in ha-a hin ce bay.

3MSG home-GEN door at be.PRES.3

‘He is at the oor of the home’

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2.4.4 Postpositions with pronominal prefixes

Most of the postpositions discussed above are attached to the pronominal prefixes. Table 2.4

provides a detailed list of postpositions attached to pronominal prefixes. Examples in sentences

(31-40) below illustrate these postpositions.

Table 2.4: Postpositions with Pronominal Prefixes

Burushaski Gloss 1 [a-] 2 [gu-] 3M [i-] 3F [mu-] 1PL[mi-] 2PL[ma-] 3PL[u-]

yare under ayaare guyaare iyaare muyaare miyaare mayaare uyaare

yaarar to under ayaarar guyaarar iyaarar muyaarar miyaarar mayaarar uyaarar

yarum from under ayaarum guyaarum iyaarum muyaarum miyaarum mayaarum uyaarum

yate on/above ayate guyate iyate muyate miyate mayate uyate

yatar to above ayatar guyatar iyatar muyatar miyatar mayatar uyatar

yatum from above ayatum guyatum iyatum muyatum miyatum mayatum uyatum

yakal towards ayakal guyakal iyakal muyakal miyakal mayakal uyakal

yakalar to towards ayakalar guyakalar iyakalar muyakalar miyakalar mayakalar uyakalar

lǰi behind alǰi gulǰi ilǰi mulǰi milǰi malǰi ulǰi

lǰikan behind alǰikan gulǰikan ilǰikan mulǰikan milǰikan malǰikan ulǰikan

lǰikanar to behind alǰikanar gulǰikanar ilǰikanar mulǰikanar milǰikanar malǰikanar ulǰikanar

iǰikanum from behind alǰikanum gulǰikanum ilǰikanum mulǰikanum milǰikanum malǰikanum ulǰikanum

yar before ayar guyar yar muyar miyar mayar uyar

yarum from before ayarum guyarum yarum muyarum miyarum mayarum uyarum

ciyate after aciyate guciyate iciyate muciyate miciyate maciyate uciyate

pači near apači gopači epači mopači mepači mapači opači

pačiyar to near apačiyar gopačiyar epačiyar mopačiyar mepačiyar mapačiyar opačiyar

ci of or with aci guci ici muci mici maci uci

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(31) [ayaare] or [ayaarar] or [ayaarum]‘un er me’

a) pen a-yaare bi

pen 1SG-under be.PRES.3SG

‘The pen is un er me’

b) in-e a-yaar-ar pen waš-imi

3SG-ERG 1SG-under-DAT pen throw-3SG

‘He threw the pen un er me’

c) in-e a-yaar-um pen ʰu-mi

3SG-ERG 1SG-under-from pen take-3SG

‘He took the pen from me’

(32) [ayate] or [ayatar] or [ayatum] ‘on me’

a) kamalo a-yate bi

blanket 1SG-on be.PRES.3SG

‘The blanket is on me’

b) kamalo a-yat-ar aa-waši-imi

blanket 1SG-on-DAT 1SG-put-3SG

‘He put the planket on me’

c) kamalo a-yat-um ʰu-mi

blanket 1SG-on-from take-3SG

‘He took the blanket from me’

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(33) [ayakal] an [ayakalar] ‘towar s me’

a) in ǰe a-yakal pʰar man-imi

3SG 1SG 1SG-towards move become-3SG

‘He move towar s me’

b) in a-yakal-ar -ii-mi

3SG 1SG-towards-DAT x-3SG-come-3SG

‘He ame towar s me’

(34) [alǰi], [alǰikan], [alǰikanar] an [alǰikanum] ‘behin me’

a) in a-lǰi *alǰikan bay

3SG 1SG-behind be.PRES.3SG

‘He is behin me’ (not physi ally present)

b) in *alǰi alǰikan nuuro bay

3SG 1SG-behind sit be.PRES.3Sg

‘He is sitting behin me’ (physi ally present)

c) in *alǰiyar a-lǰikan-ar ii bay

3SG 1SG-behind-DAT come be.PRES.3SG

‘He has ome behin me’

d) ine kitaap *alǰim alǰikan-um ʰu-mi

3SG-ERG book 1SG-behind-from take-3SG

‘He took the book from behin me’

24
(35) [ayar] an [ayarum] ‘before me’

a) in a-yar bay

3SG 1-ahead be.PRES.3SG

‘He is ahea of me’

b) un a-yar-um daal mane

2SG 1SG-before-from stand become-IMP

‘You stan from ahea of me’

(36) [a iyate] ‘after me’

a) in a-ciyate ii bay

3SG 1SG-after come be.PRES.3SG

‘He has ome after me’

(37) [apači] an [apačiyar] ‘with me’

a) in kʰole a-pači bay

3SG here 1SG-with be.PRES.3SG

‘He is here with me’

b) in a-pačiy-ar a-t-imi

3SG 1SG-with-DAT NEG-do-3SG

‘He i not ome to me’

(38) [a- i] ‘after or of me’

a) hiles a-ci ta-mi

boy 1-after follow-3MSG

‘The boy came after me.’

25
2.5 Grammatical Relations, Case and Agreement

Grammatical/syntactic relations in Burushaski correlate with the semantic content of the verb,

and animacy hierarchy of the NP argument. The distinction of the various verb classes helps to

understand the grammatical relation, case marking and agreement patterns.

2.5.1 Verb Classes and Agreement Patterns

Verbs can be classified into five classes on the basis of their semantic content and argument

structure. This has implication on the agreement pattern.

Class 1: Intransitive verb which requires an absolutive argument.

This group includes intransitive verbs which involve some kind of volition and require a single

argument designated as “Absolutive”. The Absolutive argument is unmarked and the verb carries

a suffix agreement for the Absolutive NP. The sentences in (39) below are provided for an

illustration.

(39) Intransitive verb for Absolutive NP

a) ǰe-∅ hurut-am

1SG-ABS sit-1SG

‘I sat.’

b) un-e go- o-∅ gučʰa-mi

2SG-GEN 2SG-brother-ABS sleep-2SG

‘Your brother slept.’

26
Class 2: Intransitive verb which requires double marking of the Subject NP

This includes intransitive verbs which require a single Absolutive argument. The subject of these

intransitive verbs is also an experiencer/undergoer of an action. The verb carries a suffix

agreement for the Absolutive NP and also a (pronominal) prefix agreement for an animate NP,

thus, being double marked for agreement (pronominal prefix and suffix). The sentences in(40)

a, b, and c below provide an illustration for this class of verbs.

(40) Intransitive Verb Clause of subject of experiencer/under-goer

a) giyaas-∅ -ee-ɣas-imi

baby x-3MSG-laugh-3MSG

‘The baby laughe ’

b) giyaas e-yan-imi

baby 3MSG-sleep-3MSG

‘The baby slept’

c) giyaas i-war-imi

baby 3MSG-tired-3MSG

‘The baby got tire ’

Class 3: Transitive verb [+human] Agent and Patient

This class includes transitive verbs which require one Agent-like argument designated as

“Ergative” an one Patient Theme-like Absolutive argument. Verbs in this category may take a

pronominal prefix agreeing with the Absolutive argument. Both Agent and Patient are animate

in the following examples (41).

27
(41) Transitive verb [+human]

a) hamal-e arbeʂ i- ʰarkan-uman

neighbor-ERG arbes 3M-beat-3PL

‘The neighbors beat Darbes’

Class 4: Transitive verb [-human] Absolutive NPs

If the Absolutive participant of an event is inanimate then the transitive verb does not get

pronominal prefix agreement, but the agreement marking for subject and object is in the suffix

position.

(42) Transitive Verb [-human] Absolutive NPs

a) ǰa-a ʂapik ʂ-iy-am

1SG-ERG bread eat-3SG-1SG

‘I ate a brea (Sg.)’

b) ǰa-a ʂapik-uc ʂ-uw-am

1SG-ERG bread-PL eat-PL-1SG

‘I ate brea (Pl)’

Class 5: Di-transitive verbs which require one Agent-like (Ergative) argument, one Patient-like

(Absolutive) argument, and one Recipient/Beneficiary/Goal argument which is designated as

“Dative” when [+animate] or “Oblique” when [-animate].

The pronominal prefix agrees with the Dative and the suffix agrees with the Ergative (Agent or

syntactic Subject). Consider example (43) below:

28
(43) Transitive verb with multi-argument

a) ǰa-a in-mo-r laqpisan mu-čʰiy-am

1SG-ERG 3F-GEN-DAT handkerchief 3FSG-give-1SG

‘I gave a han ker hief to her’

b) ǰa-a uw-a-r laqpiš-iŋ u-ɣun-am

1SG-ERG 3PL-GEN-DAT handkerchief-PL 3PL-give-1SG

‘I gave a han ker hief to her’

29
2.6 Question Formation

2.6.1 Wh-Questions

In Burushaski,wh Questions are formed in situ as illustrated in the example in (44) below.

(44) Question formation with [besan] ‘what’ in the Obje t position:

a) Base form: Subject-Object-Verb

nasreen-e baaltan ʂi-mo

nasreen-ERG apple eat-3F

‘Nasreen ate an apple’

b) Subject-wh-word-Object

nasreen-e besan ʂi-mo

nasreen-ERG what eat-3FSG

‘What i Nasreen eat?’

The list of interrogative lexemes for Wh-Questions is provided in Table 2.5 below. This is

followed by examples in (45)-(53) with base forms and question forms.

Table 2.5: List of Interrogative Lexemes

Burushaski Gloss Burushaski Gloss

amular ‘where’ amin ‘who’
bešal ‘when’ bes ‘why’
beeruman ‘how mu h how many’ besan ‘what’
belate ‘how’ aminar for whom
amik ‘whi h.PL[-h,II]’ amit ‘whi h.SG[-h,II]’
amic ‘whi h.PL[-h,I]’ amis ‘whi h.SG[-h,I]’

30
(45) Base form and Wh-Question with [amular] ‘where’

a) Base form: S-O-V

api yasinar ni-mo

grandmother yasin-DAT go-3SG

Grandmother went to Yasin.

b) Question form: S-wh-word-V

api amular ni-mo?

grandmother where go-3F?

Where did the grandmother go?

(46) Base form and Wh-Question with [amin] ‘who’

a) Base form

ǰe kariim baa

1SG karim be.PRES.3SG

‘I am Karim.’

b) Question form

un amin baa?

2SG who be.PRES.2SG?

‘Who are you?’

(47) Base form and Wh-Question with [amular] ‘where’

a) Base form

ǰe gatoŋ gay-ar bazaar-ar niya bay-am

1SG clothes buy-DAT market go-1 be.PST-1SG

‘I went to bazar to buy lothes.’

31
 b) Question form

un gatoŋ gay-ar amul-ar ni bam?

2SG clothes buy-DAT where-DAT go be.PST.2SG

‘Where i you go to buy lothes?’

(48) Base form and Wh-Question [bes] ‘why’

a) Base form

ǰe bazaar-ar čap gay-ar niya bayam?

1SG market-DAT meat buy-DAT go.1SG be.PST.1SG

‘I went to the market to buy some lothes.’

b) Question form

un bazaar-ar bes ni bam?

2SG market-DAT why go be.PAST.2SG?

‘Why i you go to market?’

(49) Base form and Wh-Question [beerumar] ‘how mu h’

a) Base form

gute kitap toorumo rupay-aar gan-am

this[-h,II] book ten rupee-DAT buy-1SG.

‘I bought this book for ten rupees.’

b) Question form

gute kitaap beeruman-ar gan-uman?

this[-h,II] book how.much-DAT buy-2PL?

‘How much did you buy this book for?’

32
(50) Base form and Wh-Question [beerum] ‘how many times’

a) Base form

ǰe alto dam amirikaar niya baa

1SG two times amirika-DAT go-1SG be.PST.1SG

‘I went to Ameri a two times.’

b) Question form

un beerum dam amirika-ar ni baa

2SG how.many times america-DAT go be.PST.1SG

‘How many times did you go to America?’

(51) Base form and Wh-Question [besan] ‘what’

a) Base form

ǰa-a kʰole go-or biraqič-a baa

1SG-ERG here 2SG-DAT dig.IPFV-1SG be.PRES.1SG

‘I am igging (a grave) for you’

b) Question form

un-e ele besan e-č-aa?

2-ERG there what 3SG-do,IPFV-2SG?

‘What are you doing there?’

(52) Base form and Wh-Question [belate] ‘how’

a) Base form

ǰe kʰol-ar gu ʰarčume -aa-y-am

1SG here-DAT walk.IPFV.PROG x-1SG-come-1SG

‘I came here by foot (walking)’

33
 b) Question form

un kʰolar belate -uko-o-uma

2SG here how x-2SG-come-2SG

‘How i you ome here?’

(53) Base form and Wh-Question [amis] ‘whi h’

a) Base form

ɣeeyil amis zaq i-man-imi

baby finger hurt 3-become-3

‘My baby finger got hurt.’

b) Question form

amis go-miʂ zaq i-man-imi

which.SG[-h,I] 2-finger hurt 3-become-3

‘Whi h finger got hurt?’

2.6.2 Yes/No Questions:

Yes/No questions are formed by adding a suffix [–a] to the inflected verbs. Base form and

Question form are provided below (54).

(54) Base form and Yes/No Question

a) Base form

awa, un ni

yes, 2SG go

‘Yes, you go’

34
 b) Question form

ǰe nič-am-a

1SG go.IPFV.1SG-Q

‘Shall I go?’

2.6.2 Tag Questions:

Tag questions are forme by a ing [bee] ‘no’ or borrowe wor [naa] ‘no’ at the en of

Yes/No Question. Base form and tag questions in (55) below:

(55) Base form and Tag question

a) Base form

awa, ǰe sukuul-ar niy-a baym

Yes, 1SG school-DAT go-1SG be.PST.1SG

‘Yes, I went to s hool’

b) Question form

un sukul-ar ni bam-a bee

2SG school-DAT go be.PRES.2SG-Q, tag question

‘Di you got to s hool, no?’

2.7 Clause Combination

There are different ways to make complex sentences in Burushaski. We will look at the

different strategies below for forming coordinating clauses, conditional clauses, relative clauses,

and embedded clauses.

35
2.7.1 Coordinating Clause

There are ifferent oor inating onjun tions to ombine two senten es. We will look at the

use of [ aa] an [ke] ‘an ’, [yaa] ‘or’ [magam] ‘but’, and [xaa] ‘until’ in senten es (56-59)

below:

(56) Coor inating onjun tion [ aa] an [ke] ‘an ’

a) šaapiya-a ha-a uro e-ču bo aa (*ke) hurmat-e

shaapiya-ERG home-GEN work 3-do be.PRES.3F and hurmat-ERG

mal basiy-ar barey bay.

field garden-DAT look be.PRES.3MSG

‘Shapia oes the work of home an Hurmat looks after the garden and the fiel ’

(57) Coor inating Conjun tion [yaa] or [hal] ‘or’

mi nawrooz-ar hunzuw-ar yaa/hal gulmit-ar nič-an

1PL Nawroz-DAT Hunza-DAT or Gulmit-DAT go.IPFV-1PL

We will go to Hunza or Gulmit for Nawroz (new year)

(58) Coor inating Conju tion [magam] ‘but’

ǰa-a gašk but ǰaaʂ e-t-am magam -i-c-as a-ya-man-am

1-ERG rope very pull 3-do-1 but x-3-bring-INF NEG-1-become-1

‘I pulled hard the rope but I oul not bring it’

36
(59) Coor inating Conjun tion [xaa] ‘until’

a) šapiya ke hurmat gon man-iʂ xaa

Šapiya an Hurmat morning become-OPT until

kaa hurut-uman

together sit-3PL

‘Shapiya an Hurmat staye together until morning’

b) yuul i-xoliʂ xaa hurmat-e ʂi-mi

3-stomach 3-pain until hurmat-ERG eat-3MSG

‘Hurmat ate until it hurt his stoma h’

2.7.2 Conditional Clauses

Syntactically, the condition is the subordinate clause and the consequence is the main clause.

Burushaski uses a complimentizer [ke] to conjoin these two clauses in conditional sentences.

Examples of the conditional clauses are provided in (60) below:

(60) Conditional Clauses joined by complementizer [ke]

a) bal oor-imi ke gu-yate oorč-i

wall fall-3SG if 2-on fall.IPFV-3

‘If the wall fell down, (then) it will fall on you’

b) haralt a-tiyar -imi ke naltar-ar nič-an

rain NEG-fail-3SG if Naltar-DAT go.IPFV-3PL

‘If it i not rain, (then) we will go to Naltar’

37
 c) himat e-t-uman ke -ime-ʂqalč-an

quick 3-do-3PL if x-3PL-reach.IPFV-3PL

‘If we walk qui kly, (then) we will rea h’

d) gan-ulo yeec-am ke teey go-s-ay e-š-am

road-in 3.see-1SG if such 2SG-say-3MSG 3MSG-say.IPFV-1SG

‘If I see him on the way, (then) I will tell him your message’

e) un-e e-t-am ke sabuur e-č-umce

2-ERG 3-do-NMLZ if yesterday 3-do.IPFV-Cond

‘If you ha one, you woul have one yester ay’

2.7.3 Relative Clause

Burushaski relative clause construction is externally headed and Prenominal. The head comes

after the relative pronoun. We can discuss its syntactic structure in the sentences (61) below:

(61) Relative Clause Construction

sadap-e karim-a-r yuu-m ise baalt

sadap-ERG karim-GEN-DAT give-ADJ that[-h,I] baalt

ǰa-a ʂiy-am

1SG-ERGeat-1SG

‘I ate the apple that Sa af gave to Karim’

38
The syntactic structure of Burushaski relative clause differs considerably from its English

translation above. The verb for [yuum] ‘give’ with nominalize suffix [–m] like other non-finite

verbs in Burushaski which requires a subject (Sadaf) in ERG. If it was genitive, it woul have

taken [-mu] not [-e]. The relative parti le [ise] pre e es the hea noun [baalt] whi h makes it

prenominal relative clause. Consider more examples of prenominal relative clauses in (62&63)

(62) chil min-um ine hir

water drink-ADJ Rel man

‘The man who rank water’

(63) hir-e min-um ite chil

man-ERG drink-ADJ that water

‘The water that the man rank’

2.7.4 Embedded Clause

An embedded clause is a clause that is structurally surrounded by another clause. For example,

in complex sentence The man that the child kicked in the shin winced in pain, the matrix clause

is ‘the man.....win e in pain’ an the embe e lause is ‘the child kicked in stoma h’. The

sentences in (64) below provide examples of embedded clauses in Burushaski.

(64) Embedded Clauses

a) karim-e [hin tam e-t-as] til ee-l-imi

Karim-ERG door shut 3-do-INF] forgot 3-do-3MSG

‘Karim forgot to shut the oor’

39
b) ǰa-a [in-e e-s-ulo balič-i] sen-am

1-ERG [3MSG-GEN 3-heart-in enter.IPFV-3] say-1SG

‘I thought he un erstan s’

c) in-e [un gaarc-as] gu-yeec-imi

3MSG-ERG [2SG run-INF] 2SG-see-3MSG

‘He saw you running’

d) ǰe [un -uko-ʂqalt-a nu-se] -a-yal-a bayam

1SG [2SG x-2SG-arrive-1SG PTCP-say] x-1SG-listen-1SG be.PST.1SG

‘I hear that you arrive ’

e) ǰa-a [ine giyaas a-šak-ate yan-as-e] ray

1-ERG [that baby 1-arm-on carry-INF-GEN] want

e-č-a baa

3-do.IPFV-1SG be.PRES.1SG

‘I want to take that boy in my arms’

f) ǰa-a [kaafi min-aas-e] ray a-pi

1-ERG [coffee drink-INF-GEN] want NEG-be.PRES-3

‘I on’t want to rink offee’

40
Chapter 3: Morphology

3.1 Inflectional Morphology

The inflectional morphology of Burushaski is rich and complex. Burushaski is an Ergative-

Absolutive language and it has direct marking and indirect marking. The participants and

events are inflected with suffixes and prefixes. These affixes perform different grammatical

functions.

3.1.1 Nominals and Nominal Inflection

Nouns in Burushaski have been classified into four classes in previous literature. These noun

classes are: human male, human female, x and y. Munshi, 2006 claims that the distinction

between x and y is not clear in the previous literature. She has classified the last unclear classes

into ‘x’ (non-human on rete noun) an ‘y’ (abstra t an amorphous noun). The latter are

designated as [-h, I] and [-h, II] (respectively) in the present study.

3.1.1.1 Nouns and Noun Classes

The noun class distinctions as mentioned above are expressed on distinct verb roots or in verbal

inflection. The features of these noun classes are also expressed in the form of specific class of

modifiers or inflections on modifiers (demonstrative pronoun and relative pronouns). The

sentence in (65) provides some examples to show noun-ending for various nouns beloning to

the major class [+human]

41
(65) Demonstrative pronoun [+human]

a) kʰine hiles bay

this[+h] boy be.PRES.3MSG

‘This is a boy’

b) ine hiles bay

that[+h] human be.PRES.3MSG

‘That is a boy’

c) kʰuwe hile-šo baan

these[+h] boy-PL be.PRES.3PL

‘These are boys’

d) uwe hile-šo

those[+h] boy-PL

‘Those boys’

As discussed earlier, [-human] nouns are classified into ‘non-human concrete noun or -h, I, and

‘abstract and amorphous noun or -h, II’. Such class of nouns is expressed by the specific class

endings on demonstrative pronouns and the verb agreement is also different expressing the

class feature of these nouns. We can see this in (2) (3) in the sentences below.

(66) Demonstrative pronoun [-h,I]

a) guse buš bi

this[-h,I] cat be.PRES.3SG[-h,I]

‘This is a at’

42
 b) ise buš bi

that[-h,I] cat be.PRES.3SG[-h,I]

‘That is a at’

(67) guce buš-oŋo biyen

these[-h,1] cat-PL be.PRES.3PL[-h,II]

‘These are ats’

(68) ice buš-oŋo biyen

those[-h,1] cat-PL be.PRES.3PL[-h,II]

‘these are ats’

(69) Demonstrative pronoun [-h,II]

a) gute iš bila

this[-h,II] place be.PRES.3SG[-h,II]

‘This is the pla e’

b) guke iš-miŋ bican

these[-h,II] place-PL be.PRES.3PL[-h,II]

‘These are pla es’

c) ite iš bila

that[-h, II] place be.PRES.3SG

‘That is the pla e’

d) ike iš-miŋ bican

those[-h,II] place-PL be.PRES.3PL[-h,II]

‘Those are the pla es’

43
3.1.1.2 Number

Noun and noun phrases carry different kinds of suffix endings for marking number. Tiffou

(1993) claimed that there are almost 50 different suffixes for marking plural in Burushaski.

Below in Table 3.1 there are some of the very common plural marking suffixes which mark

number.

Plural marking suffixes Table 3.1

SG: PL SG PL Gloss SG: PL SG PL Gloss

-s : -šo hiles hilešo ‘boy’ -Ø : -o har haro ‘oxen’

belis belišo ‘sheep’ -Ø : -yaŋ bul bulyaŋ ‘stream’

-n : -yo fin fiyo ‘boy’ -Ø : -(a)ync šun šunayn ‘vine’

aan ayo ‘stone’ -Ø: -ko finč finčko ‘polo sti k’

-o : -(m)uc toq toquc ‘woo ’ -Ø : -(m)iŋ mel melmiŋ ‘wine’

sa samuc ‘sunny’ sukuul sukuuliŋ ‘s hool’

-nc : -aaŋ(n) manc maan ‘axe’ -Ø : -(m)iŋ mel melmiŋ ‘wine’

ɣaten ɣataaŋ ‘swor ’

3.1.1.3 Case Morphology

The table 3.2 below provides the list of the declension patterns in Burushaski based on Case

morphology. In the sentences (70-76) below provides an illustration of these declensions.

44
Table 3.2 Case Marking

Case Ending BSK Gloss

Absolutive -∅ giyaas--∅ ‘baby’
Ergative -e hiles-e ‘boy’
Genitive -e in-e ‘his’
Genitive -mo in-mo ‘her’
Dative
Female -ar haal-ar ‘to home’
Locative -ulo haal-ulo ‘in the home’
-ate teebal-ate ‘on the table’
Instrumental -ate ʰur-ate ‘with the knife’
Ablative -um, -cum in-cum ‘from him’
el-um ‘from there’

(70) Ergative Case: marked by adding –e to the NP

a) hiles-e giyaas-∅ yan-imi

boy-ERG baby-ABS carry-3SG

‘The boy arrie the baby’

b) asin-e mu-riin-∅ baalt-umo

girl-ERG 3F-hand-ABS wash-3FSG

‘The girl washe her han ’

c) ustaat-e kitaap cyam a-a-r bisya-mi

teacher-ERG book pocket-GEN-DAT put-3MSG

‘The tea her put the book in the po ket’

45
(71) Absolutive case: zero ornull case marking

a) giyaas-∅ her-imi

baby-ABS cry-3SG

‘The baby rie ’

b) balas-∅ -u-wal-imi

bird-ABS x-u-fly-3SG

‘The bir flew away’

(72) Genitive case

a) hiles-e kitaap

boy-GEN book

‘The boy’s book’

b) asin-mo kitaap

girl-GEN.F book

‘The girl’s book’

(73) Dative

a) ǰe huzuw-ar niy-am

1SG Hunza-DAT go-1SG

‘I went to Hunza’

b) ǰot-umuc ʂapik ʂi -ar ni-man

boy-PL food eat.IPFV-DAT go-3PL

‘Boys went to have a meal.’

46
 c) tʰam giraš-ar uun-imi

king dance-DAT start-3MSG

‘The king starte an ing’

(74) Locative

a) mi basy-ulo baan

1PL garden-LOC be.PRES.1PL

‘We are in the gar en’

b) huyeltarč-o ter-ulo hurusy-aan šini-mo

shepherd-PL pasture-LOC stay.IPFV-3PL summer-in

‘Shepar s stay in pasture in summer’

(75) Instrumental

a) nana čʰey-ate hin oon-imi

uncle key-INS door open-3MSG

‘Un le opene the oor with the key’

b) in-e ʰur-ate čʰap čuruk e-t-imi

3-ERG knife-INS meat cut 3-do-3

‘He ut the meat with the knife’

c) ǰa-a a-s-ate a-pi

1-GEN 1-heart-on NEG-be.PRES.3

‘I on’t remember it’

47
(76) Ablative

There are more than one morphemes depicting Ablative, viz., -cum and-mu

a) mi hunzu-cum -imee-man

1PL Hunza-ABL x-1PL-come-1PL

‘We ame from Hunza’

b) ǰe hunzu-mu baa

1SG Hunza-ABL be.1SG

‘I am from Hunza’

c) ǰa-a haa --cum un-e haal-ar gaarš-an

1-GEN home-from 2-GEN home-DAT run.IPFV-1PL

‘We will run from your house to my house’

d) ǰa-a a-riin-cum gilaas pʰat man-imi

1-GEN 1-hand-from glass drop become-3

‘The glass roppe from my han ’

e) gu-kʰar-cum -u-ɣarus

2-self-from x-3-ask

‘Ask yourself’

3.1.1.4 Personal Pronouns

Personal Pronouns and their corresponding possessor pronouns are listed in the Table 3.3

below. Possession is marked by adding the possessor (Genitive) suffix –e on the possessor noun

or pronoun. The possessor suffix is added to both human and non-human nouns. The only

exception to this is that third person singular human female is marked by –mo suffix.

48
Table 3.3: Personal Pronouns and Possessor Pronouns

Person SG/PL Personal Pronouns Possessive Pronouns

1 SG ǰe ǰaa
2 un une
3M in ine
3F in inmo
1 PL mi mii
2 ma maa
3 u uwe

3.1.1.5 Possessability of Nouns

There is a distinction between inherently possessed and optionally possessed nouns.

Possessibility of nouns is expressed by pronominal prefixes attached to the inherently possessed

nouns. The pronominal prefixes are presented in Table 3.4 below.

Table 3.4: Pronominal Prefixes for inherently possessed nouns

Person SG/PL Pronominal Prefixes Gloss

1 SG a-, o- [ašak] ‘my arm’ , [ool] ‘my stoma h’
2 gu-, go- [guxat] ‘your mouth’ [goqat] ‘your armpit’
3M i-, e-, ∅- [iriin] ‘his han ’ [eqat] ‘his armpit’ [∅-yatis] ‘his hea ’
3F mu-, mo- [muriin] ‘her han ’ [moqat] ‘her armpit’
1 PL mi-, me- [mixat] ‘our mouth’ [meqat] ‘our armpit’
2 ma- [mariin] ‘you.PL han ’
3 u-, o- [uxat] ‘their mouth’ , [oqat] ‘their armpit’

49
The inherently possessed nouns in HB are body parts, kinship terms, and nouns that refer to

personal belongings like name, pillow, bedding, shoes, footstep and postpositions with referent

to human [+h] nouns

3.1.1.5.1 Body parts

Body parts in Burushaski belong to the class of inherently possessed nouns. Most of thewords

for body parts have a pronominal prefix which marks Person and Number (and also Gender in

case of Third Person Singular Human nouns). The para igm for Burushaski wor s ‘arm’ and

‘stoma h’ are presente in (77) an (78) below:

(77) Wor for ‘arm’ is [šak]

1SG ašak ‘my arm’

2SG gušak ‘your arm’

3M išak ‘his arm’

3F mušak ‘her arm’

1PL mišak ‘our arm’

2PL mašak ‘you all arm’

3PL ušak ‘their arm’

(78) Wor for ‘stoma h’ is [ul]

1SG ool ‘my stoma h’

2G guul ‘your stoma h’

3M yuul ‘his stoma h’

3F muul ‘her stoma h’

1PL miyul ‘our stoma h’

2PL mool ‘you all stoma h’

3PL uul ‘their stoma h’

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There are a few (possibly) borrowed words for body parts in Burushaski which are not

inherently possesse . For example: [girkis] ‘bi ep’, [čʰarban] ‘ erriere’, [bur] ‘hair’, [gapal]

‘hea ’ (cf. Indo-Aryan/Sanskrit. kapaala) and [mato] ‘brain’ (possibly also of Indo-Aryan

origin).

3.1.1.5.2 Kinship Terms

Kinship terms, like body parts, are also inherently possessed in Burushaski, except some of the

kinship terms which are not inherently possessed. The paradigm for Burushaski words

‘brother’ and ‘ aughter in law’ are presente in (79) an (80).

(79) The wor for ‘brother’ or ‘sister’ (same gen er sibling) is [ o]

1SG aċo ‘my brother’ or ‘my sister’

2SG goċo ‘your brother’ or ‘your sister’

3SG eċo ‘his brother’

3FSG moċo ‘her sister’

1PL meċo ‘our brother’ or ‘our sister’

2PL maċo ‘you all brother’ or ‘you all sister’

3PL oċo ‘their brother’ or ‘their sister’

(80) The wor for ‘ aughter in law’ is [xakin]

1SG axakin ‘my aughter in law’

2SG guxakin ‘your aughter in law’

3SG ixakin ‘his aughter in law’

3FSG muxakin ‘her aughter in law’

1PL mixakin ‘our aughter in law’

2PL maxakin ‘you all aughter in law’

3PL uxakin ‘their aughter in law’

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There are a few borrowed kinship terms (attested in Hunza as well as Nagar dialects of

Burushaski) whi h are not inherently possesse . For example: [nana] ‘maternal un le’ an

[mama] ‘mother’.

There are other nouns which are inherently possessed are like personal belongings, [aaʂki] ‘my

pillow’, and non-concrete [ačʰar] ‘my voi e’ and [asate] ‘my memory’

3.1.1.6 Modifiers

It was established earlier that Burushaski is a head final language. Thus, modifiers like

adjectives, numerals, and demonstrative pronouns always precede the head noun. Here are a

few examples:

3.1.1.6.1 Adjectives

Adjectives in Burushaski always come before nouns in Burushaski. Adjectives are non-

inflected which modify singular nouns. But most of the adjectives which modify plural nouns

are inflected for number and they take plural suffixes. Examples are provided in (15) below:

(81) Adjective precedes Noun (AN)

SG PL Gloss

šuwa sisan šuwa sisik ‘goo person people’

šuwa išan šuwa išminik ‘good place’

altas asinan altaško asiwan ik ‘beautiful girl’

naas hilesan naašo hilešuyik ‘bad boy’

uyum haan uyonko hakičan ‘big house’

uyum gocilan uonko go ilišo ‘big stream’

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3.1.1.6.2 Numerals

The Numeral system of Burushaski is vigesimal or base 20. And just like other modifiers, the

numeral precedes the head noun. Numerals may carry a class ending based on the noun class of

the modified noun. This distinction is maintained in the first few numerals when they modify

[+human] and [-human, I] nouns; however, the distinction is very regular with respect to the [-

human, II] noun class. Table 3.5 below lists numerals from 1-10 showing class distinction:

Table 3.5: Numerals based on different noun classes

English (+h) male/female (-h, I) (-h, II )

One hin han hik

Two altan alta alto

Three isken usko iski

Four walto walto walti

Five ʰun o ʰun o ʰin i

Six mišin o mišin o mišin i

Seven tʰalo tʰalo tʰale

Eight altambo altambo altambi

Nine hunčo hunčo hunti

Ten toorumo toorumo toorimi

The para igm for numerals ‘one’, ‘two’, ‘three’ an ‘four’ are provi e in (82) below:

(82) Paradigm for numeral

a) ‘one X’

hin hilesan ‘one boy’

han anan ‘one stone’

hik gilaas ʰil ‘one glass of water’

53
 b) ‘two X’

altan hilešo ‘two boys’

alta ayo ‘two stones’

alto gilaas ʰil ‘ two glasses of water’

alto ɣarum ‘two o’ lo k’

c) ‘three X’

isken hilešo ‘three boys’

iski gilaas ʰil ‘three glasses of water’

iski ɣarum ‘three o’ lo k’

d) ‘four X’

walto hilešo ‘four boys’

walto ayo ‘four stones’

walti gilaas ʰil ‘four glasses of water’

walti ɣarum ‘four o’ lo k’

3.1.1.7 Numerals with Pronominal Prefixes

Numerals in Burushaski can also occur with pronominal prefixes in certain constructions such

as ‘both of us’, ‘both of you’, ‘three of you’, et .. Examples for numerals with pronominal

prefix are provided below in (83) below:

(83) Numerals with pronominal prefixes

a) me-ltal-ik

1PL-two-PL.IND

‘Both of us’

54
 b) ma-ltal-ik

2PL-two-PL.IND

‘Both of you’

c) o-ltal-ik

3PL-two-PL.IND

‘Both of them’

d) mi-iskiy-an

1PL-three-SG.IND

‘Three of us

3.1.1.8 Ordinal Numbers

Ordinal numerals in Burushaski are formed from numerals by adding the suffix [–ulum]. The

ordinal numbers for ‘first’ [a ʰamanum] is the only exception in this case. Table 3.6 provides

the list of or inal numers from ‘first to tenth’

Table 3.6: List of ordinal numbers

a ʰamanum ‘first’

altolum ‘se on ’

iskiulum ‘thir ’

waltilum ‘fourth’

ʰin iwlum ‘fifth’

mišin iwlum ‘sixth’

tʰalewlum ‘seventh’

huntiwlum ‘ninth’

55
Ordinal numbers also precede head nouns in Burushaski. Consider example in (84) for

illustration:

(84) Ordinal numbers with head nouns

a) a ʰamnum e-yi

first 1SG-child

‘My first hil ’

b) altolum gunc-ar

second day-DAT

‘On the se on ay’

3.1.1.9 Demonstrative and Relative Pronoun

Burushaski demonstrative pronouns have different endings depending on the class feature of

the head noun. Like other modifiers and specifiers, demonstrative pronouns also precede head

noun. Table 3.7 provides the paradigm for singular and plural forms of demonstrative pronouns

with respect to different noun classes.

Table 3.7: Demonstrative Pronouns

[deictic] [+human] [-h,I] [-h,II]

SG PL SG PL SG PL
Proximal kʰine kʰuwe guse guce gute guke
Distal
(this) (that) ine uwe ise ice ite ike
Interrogative menan/amin menik amis amic amit amik

See section 3.1.1.1 example (1) and (2) for an illustration of these demonstrative pronouns.

56
3.1.2 Verbs and Verb Morphology

The Burushaski verb component consists of a main verb (in simple verbs), a main verb with an

auxilary verb, or a noun with a (light) verb. Each verb typically has two stems – the base stem

and the derived stem. The base stem expresses a complete action (perfective form) and the

derived stem expresses an incomplete action (imperfective form).

Burushaski verb is highly inflected. The final element is invariably a suffix, in finite

forms referring to the agent/subject of the verb; the imperative often has a zero suffix. The

stem is in many verbs preceded by a person-marking prefix of the set a-, gu-, i-, mu-, mi-, ma-

and u- (the referent of these prefixes is usually the object, or sometimes what one might rather

call the Experiencer of the verbal action). This, finally, is preceded by the -prefix in a large

number of verbs.

Most of the verbs have regular inflectional paradigms. The base stem and the derived

stem for verbs ‘ o’, ‘walk’, ‘eat’, ‘run’, ‘ an e’, ‘go’ an ‘ ry’ are given in Table 3.8 below:

Table 3.8: Verb Paradigm

Base stem Derived stem

Gloss Infinitive Perfective Imperfective
‘to o’ e-t-as -t- -č-
‘to walk’ gu ʰar-as gu ʰar- gu ʰarč-
‘to eat’ ʂ-iy-as ʂ-i ʂ-i-
‘to run’ gaarc-as gaarc- gaarš
‘to an e’ girat-as girat- giraš-
‘to go’ ni(y)-as ni- nič-
‘to ry’ her-as her- herč-

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The paradigm for inflected verbs ‘work’ an ‘ ry’ are provi e in (19) an (20) below:

(85) Inflectional paradigms for verb ‘work’ [ uro -t-] lit: ‘work+ o’

a) Simple Past: ‘X worke ’ or X i the work’

Person senten e ‘x i the work’

1SG ǰa-a uro e-t-am
2SG un-e uro e-t-uma
3MSG in-e uro e-t-imi
3FSG in-e uro e-t-umo
1PL mi-i uro e-t-uman
2PL ma-a uro e-t-uman
3PL uw-e uro e-t-uman

b) Present Perfe t: ‘X has worke ’ or ‘X has one’

senten e ‘x have one the work’
1SG
Person ǰa-a uro e-t-a baa
2SG un-e uro e-t-aa
3MSG in-e uro e-t-ay
3FSG in-e uro e-t-u bo
1PL mi-i uro e-t-aan
2PL ma-a uro e-t-aan
3PL uw-e uro e-t-aan

c) Past Perfe t ‘X ha one the work’

Person senten e ‘X ha one the work’
1SG ǰa-a uro e-t-a bayam
2SG un-e uro e-t-am
3MSG in-e uro e-t-am
3FSG in-e uro e-t-u bom
1PL mi-i uro e-t-am
2PL ma-a uro e-t-am
3PL uw-e uro e-t-am

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 d) Future Tense: ‘x will o the work’

Person senten e ‘x will o the work’

1SG ǰe uro e-č-am
2SG un-e uro e-č-uma
3MSG in-e uro e-č-i
3FSG in-e uro e-č-o
1PL mi-i uro e-č-an
2PL ma-a uro e-č-uman
3PL uw-e uro e-č-uman

e) Present Progressive ‘x works’

Person senten e ‘x is oing work’

1SG ǰa-a uro e-č-a baa
2SG un-e uro e-č-aa
3MSG in-e uro e-č-ay
3FSG in-e uro e-č-u bo
1PL mi-i uro e-č-a baan
2PL ma-a uro e-č-aan
3PL uw-e uro e-č-aan

f) Present Perfect Continuous: ‘x has been oing the work’

Person senten e ‘x has been oing the work’

1SG ǰa-a uro e-č-ume baa
2SG un-e uro e-č-ume baa
3MSG in-e uro e-č-ume bay
3FSG in-e uro e-č-ume baa
1PL mi-i uro e-č-ume baan
2PL ma-a uro e-č-ume baan
3PL uw-e uro e-č-ume baan

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 g) Past Progressive ‘x use to o the work’

Person senten e ‘x use to o the work’

1SG ǰa-a uro e-č-a bayam
2SG un-e uro e-č-am
3MSG in-e uro e-č-am
3FSG in-e uro e-č-u bom
1PL mi-i uro e-č-a bam
2PL ma-a uro e-č-am
3PL uw-e uro e-č-am

(86) Inflectional paradigms for verb ‘run’ [gaar ]

a) Simple Past: ‘X ran’

Person senten e ‘x ran’

1SG ǰe gaarcam
2SG un gaarcuma
3MSG in gaarcimi
3FSG in gaarcumo
1PL mi gaarcuman
2PL ma gaarcuman
3PL u gaarcuman

b) Past Perfe t ‘X ha run’

Person senten e ‘X ha run’

1SG ǰe gaarca bayam
2SG un gaarcam
3MSG in gaarcam
3FSG in gaarcu bom
1PL mi gaarcam
2PL ma gaarcam
3PL u gaarcam

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c) Future Tense: ‘x will run’

Person senten e ‘x will run’

1SG ǰe gaaršam
2SG un gaaršuma
3MSG in gaarši
3FSG in gaaršo
1PL mi gaaršan
2PL ma gaaršuman
3PL u gaaršuman

d) Present Progressive ‘x runs’

Person senten e ‘x is runing’

1SG ǰe garša baa
2SG un gaaršaa
3MSG in gaaršay
3FSG in gaaršu bo
1PL mi gaarša baan
2PL ma gaaršaan
3PL u gaaršaan

e) Present Perfe t Continuous: ‘x has been running’

Person senten e ‘x has been running’

1SG ǰe gaaršume baa
2SG un gaayrsume baa
3MSG in gaaršume bay
3FSG in gaaršume bo
1PL mi gaaršme baan
2PL ma gaaršume baan
3PL u gaaršume baan

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 f) Past Progressive ‘x use to run’

Person senten e ‘x use to run’

1SG ǰe gaarša bayam
2SG un gaaryam
3MSG in gaaršam
3FSG in gaaršu bom
1PL mi gaarša bam
2PL ma gaaršam
3PL u gaaršam

3.1.2.1 Verb ‘to be’ in Burushaski

The stem of the verb ‘to be’ in Hunza Burushaski is [b] to which the suffix for Number and

Gender are added; its surface form also depends on the class feature of the NP argument. Table

3.9 presents a paradigm for Present and Past forms of the verb ‘to be’ in HB with respect to

different noun classes.

Table 3.9: Present an Past Tense forms for verb ‘to be’

(+human) (-h, I) (-h,II)

1st Person 2nd Person 3rd Person
SG PL SG PL SG.M SG.F PL SG PL SG PL
PRES baa baan baa baan bay bo baan bi biye(n) bila bica(n)
PAST bayam bam bam bam bam bom bam bim biyum bilum bicum

Examples in (87) for present tense and (88) for past tense below illustrate the different forms of

verb ‘to be’ when the verb agrees with [+human] NPs:

62
(87) Morphology of the verb ‘to be’ (Present tense) for [+human] NPs

a) ǰe hiles baa

1SG boy be.PRES.1SG

‘I am a boy’

b) mi hileš-o baan

1PL boy-PL be.PRES.1PL

‘We are boys’

c) un asin baa.

2SG girl be.PRES.2SG

‘You are a girl’

d) ma asi-wanc baan

2PL girl-PL be.PRES.2PL

‘You are girls’

e) in hiles bay

3MSG boy be.PRES.3MSG

‘He is a boy’

f) in asin bo

3FSG girl be.PRES.3FSG

‘She is a girl’

g) u hileš-o baan

3PL boy-PL be.PRES.3PL

‘They are boys’

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(88) Morphology of the verb ‘to be’ (Past tense) for [+human] NPs

a) ǰe ɣaliis bayam

1SG sick be.PST.1SG

‘I was si k’

b) ite kʰeen-ulo mi matʰan bam

that[-h,II] time-LOC 1PL far be.PST.1PL

‘We were far that time’

c) un ɣaliis bam

2SG sick be.PST.2SG

‘You were si k’

d) ma matʰan bam

2PL far be.PST.2PL

‘You were far’

e) in ɣaliis bam

3SG sick be.PST.3SG

‘You were si k’

f) in ɣalis bom

3FSG sick be.PST.3FSG

‘She was si k’

g) u matʰan bam

3PL far be.PST.3PL

‘They were far’

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Examples in (89) below and (90) for past tense illustrates different forms of verb ‘to be’ when

the verb agrees with [-human] NPs

(89) Morphology of verb ‘to be’ (present tense) agreement with [-human] NPs

a) guse čyar tʰaanum bi

this[-h,I] mountain high be.PRES.SG

‘This mountain is high’

b) guce čʰar-ko tʰay-ko biyen

these[-h,I] mountain-PL high-PL be.PRES.PL

‘These mountains are high’

c) gute altas iš-an bila

this[-h,II] beautiful place-SG.INDF be.PRES.(-h,II)

‘This is a beautiful pla e’

d) guke alttaš-ko išm-in bican

these[-h,II] beautiful-PL place-PL be.PRES.PL[-h,II]

‘These are beautiful pla es’

(90) Morphology of verb ‘to be’ (present tense) agreement with [-human] NPs

a) guse maɣun teebal-ate bim

this[-h,I] pearl table-LOC be.PST.SG

‘This pearl was on the table’

b) guce maɣu-yo teebal-ate biyum

these[-h,I] pearl-PL table-LOC be.PST.PL

‘These pearls were on the table’

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 c) ite iš matʰan bilum

that[-h,II] place far be.PST.SG

‘That pla e was far’

d) ike iš-min matan bicum

those[-h,11] place-PL far be.PST.PL

‘Those places were far away’

The compound verb consists of a main verb and followed by verb ‘to be’. Examples in (91)

below are provided to illustrate this:

(91) Morphology of ‘be’ as an Auxilary

a) tap aa tiʂ mey bila

night all wind become be.PRES.3

‘It blew all night’

b) in-e i-moos ii bila

3SG-GEN 1SG-anger come be.PRES.3

‘He is getting angry’

c) in sabuur mucum herč-ume bo

3SG yesterday since cry.IPFV-PROG be.3FSG

‘She has been rying yester ay’

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3.1.2.2 D-Prefix Verbs

D-prefix is a pre-verbal prefix; the function of this prefix is not clear. The verbs with d-prefix

have been called d-prefix verbs in the literature. Some examples of -prefix verbs are: [ -i-

man-imi], ‘(it) be ame rea y’, [ -i-r-imi] ‘(it) ooke ’, [ -i-tal-imi] ‘he woke’. Examples (92),

(93), and (94) below provide the use of d-prefix verbs in sentences:

(92) -i-man-imi ‘he was born’

a) hiles-an -i-man-imi

boy-SG.IND x-3-become-3

‘A boy was born.’

(93) -i-r-imi ‘it ooke ’

a) aalu ši-ulo -i-r-imi

potato hearth-in x-3-cook-3

‘Potato ooke in the hearth’

b) ǰa-a a-riin ši-ce -i-r-imi

1SG-EGG 1SG-hand hearth-with x-3-burn-3

‘My han burnt with the hearth’

(94) [ -i-tal-imi] ‘he woke up’

a) giyaas -i-tal-imi

baby x-i-woke-3

‘Baby woke up’

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3.1.2.3 Causatives

Burushaski has morphological causatives. There are three strategies to form causative

construction on inflected verb: 1) [s-] prefix insertion on unaccusative verbs 2) [∅-] prefix

insertion on unergative verbs 3) lengthening of object prefix vowel or vowel lengthening

on transitive verbs. Formation of the causative constructions involves an increase the valency

of the verb. The causative voice is applied to a verb and its valency increases by one. For

example if the original verb is intransitive the causative becomes transitive or if the original

verb is transitive the causative verb becomes di-transitive. Many causative verbs in Burushaski

are formed by adding a pronominal prefix to the verb. Consider (95) below where the new

participant is the subject (Agent) of the causative construction and the old subject of the (non-

causative form of the) verb (intransitive) is demoted to be the direct object. The subject marker

[-mo] ‘3FSG’ of the inflected intransitive verb ‘gučʰa-mo’ in suffix position now occupies the

position of the pronominal prefix in the derived (causative) form ‘mo-guča-mi’ ‘he put her to

sleep’ Consider (95a&b) below.

(95) Intransitive verb changes into transitive (-∅ prefix strategy)

a) sabrina gučʰa-mo

sabrina sleep-3FSG

‘Sabrina slept’

b) saliim-e sabrina mo-guča-mi

saliim-ERG sabrina 3FSG-sleep-3MSG

‘Saleem put ause Sabrina to sleep’

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In the example (96) below the underlying verb stem /-s-man- ‘make’ is transitive and the

causative form is di-transitive. The agent of the sentence (96-a) is demoted to direct object. On

the derived verb the position of the subject marker on the underlying verb demotes from the

suffix to the pronominal prefix position and the vowel coalescence on the derived verb

lengthens the vowel. The verb stem remains the same. -umu-e-s-man-imi/ be omes -umo-

o-s-man-imi//.

(96) Transitive verb changes into di-transitive (vowel lengthening)

a) sabrina-a keek -e-s-man-umo

sabrina-ERG cake x-3cake-TR-make-3F

‘Sabrina ma e the ake’

b) karim-e sabrina keek -umo-o-s-man-imi

karim-ERG sabrina cake x-3F-3cake-TR-make-3MSG

‘Karim ause Sabrina to make the ake.

If the verb is intransitive, the causative construction is formed by [s-] prefix insertion. Consider

example (97) below.

(97) Intransitive verb (s-) prefix insertion

a) hiles i-war-imi

boy 3SG-tired-3SG

‘The boy is tire ’

b) ǰa-a hiles e-s-par-am

1SG-ERG boy 3SG-CAUS-tired-1SG

‘I ma e the boy tire ’

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3.1.2.4 Negatives

In HB negation is formed by adding a prefix [a-] ‘NEG’ before the infle te verb. Consider

examples (98), (99), (100) and (101) below for illustration:

(98) Negation of verb [galimi] ‘break-3SG’

a) gilaas a-kal-imi

glass NEG-break-3SG

‘The glass i not break’

(99) Negation of verb [a-s-imi] ‘he tol me’. We an see in the examples below that a gli e

[y] is inserted between two vowels to avoid hiatus.

a) in-e ǰa-a-r a-s-imi

3SG-ERG 1SG-GEN-DAT 1SG-say-3SG

‘He told him’

b) in-e ǰa-a-r ay-a-s-imi

3SG-ERG 1SG-GEN-DAT NEG-3MSG-say-1SG

‘I i not tell him’

(100) Negation of verb [ʂi] ‘eat’

a) ʂapik ee-ʂi

bread NEG-eat

‘Don’t eat brea ’

(101) Negation of verb [min-e] ‘ rink it’

a) ʰil oo-min

water NEG-drink

‘Dont rink water’

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3.1.2.5 Imperative Mood

Imperative in Burushaski is expressed with non-inflected verb. Example (102) expresses direct

command.

(102) Direct commands

a) kʰol-ar ʐu

here-DAT come

‘Come here’

b) el-ar ni

there-DAT go

‘Go there’

c) huru

‘sit’

A suffix [-in] is added for politeness or for plural forms. Thus, example (103) expresses a

polite request or command; the addressee NP is in the plural form here.

(103) Polite request

a) ma kʰolar ʐu-in

2PL here come-PL

‘Come here please’

b) ma elar ni-in

2PL there go-PL

‘Go there you.PL’

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3.1.2.6 Conjunctive Participle

Conjun tive parti iple ‘n- -n’ appears in HB in the form of prefix, suffix and/or circumfix

which is attached to verb stem. This conjunctive participle or co-verb performs many

grammatical functions. Examples (104), (105), and (106) below illustrate different grammatical

functions. In (104) below, The conjunctive participle expresses the temporal sequence of action.

The action expressed by the conjunctive participle comes before the action of the matrix clause.

(104) Sequential Action

je bazaar-ar n-aa-n kitaap-an n-u-kan-i-n

1SG market-DAT PTCP-1SG.go.1SG-PTCP book-SG.IND PTCP-3-buy-3-PTCP

ʐu -am

come.IPFV-1SG

‘I will go to market buy book an ome ba k’

(105) Clause joining

haralt-in n-u-man-i-n iš ʂiqam man-imi

rain-PL PTCP-3PL-become-3PL-PTCP place greem become-3SG

‘The pla es be ome green ue to rain.’

(106) Reason Adverb

kaako ii-n kʰot e-qušal-imi

brother come.3-PTCP this 3-mess-3SG

Having come, brother messed it up.

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3.1.2.7 Optative

Optative as a grammatical category of Mood expresses hopes, wishes or curses. In Burushaski

optative is formed by adding an optative suffix to the uninflected verb. A suffix [–iʂ ] expresses

hopes and wishes and [ –um] expresses curses . Example (107) illustrates that optative (wishes

and hopes) is formed by adding suffix –iʂ and (108) optative (curses) are formed by adding

suffix –um.

(107) Optative(wishes and hopes) expressed by suffix –iʂ

aman-e ma xoš ma-wrut-iʂ

lord-ERG 2PL happy 2PL-stay-OPT

‘May Go will keep you happy’

(108) Optative (curses) expressed by suffix –um

a) ma-riin gal-um

2PL-hand break-OPT

‘May your han will break’

b) gu-riin gal-um

2-hand break-OPT

‘May your han will break’

c) ɣaa-yuw-e gu-ʂu-um

crow-PL-ERG 2-eat-OPT

‘May rows will eat you’

d) gu-ci-mo pʰat man-iʂ

2-COM-GEN drop become-OPT

‘May it rop from you!’

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3.1.2.8 Verbs in Presumptive and Potential Mood

Presumptive mood expresses presupposition or hypothesis relating a fact denoted by the verb as

well as other similar functions such as doubt or curiosity. Potential mood expresses probability

of an action expressed by the verb. In Burushaski, Potential mood is expressed by adding a

suffix –ce to the derived verb (the imperfective form). Example (109) below is provided to

illustrate this.

(109) Potential Mood expressed by suffix –ce

a) in nu-ku-yc-in but xoš i-may-mce

3MSG PTCP-2SG-see-PTCP very happy 3MSG-become.IPFV-POT

‘Having seen you, he must have been happy.’

b) gu-kʰaran-as-ar mama goo-kaa ɣarič-umce

2SG-late-INF-DAT mother 2SG-with scold.IPFV-POT

‘On getting late, mother must have s ol e you.’

c) pʰiti -i-may-mce akʰurum

bread x-3-become.IPFV-POT until.now

‘The bread may be ready by now.’

3.1.2.9 Dubitative Mood

Dubitative Mood in Burushaski is expressed in the form of an embe e lause of the type ‘I

think guess believe.....X....’ in whi h [heyam] ‘I learn’ an [aaɣayam] ‘it appears’. Examples

in (110) below are provided to illustrate this:

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(110) Dubitative Sentences

a) une uro man-imi hey-am

2-GEN work become-3 learn.IPFV-1SG

‘I guess your work is omplete.’

b) u akʰurum -o-ʂqalč-uman aa-ɣay-am

3PL until.now x-3PL-reach.IPFV-3PL 1SG-appear.IPFV-1SG

‘I guess they woul have rea he by now.’

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3.2.1 Derivational Process

The derivation processes in Burushaski includes: Compounding, Suffixation, and

Reduplication. Suffixation is employed in the formation of nouns, adjectives and verbal nouns

in Burushaski.

3.2.1.1 Compounding

Compound nouns are formed in Burushaski by adding two nouns [Noun+Noun]. The

modifying inflected noun with Genitive suffix –e precedes the head noun. The Genitive ending

–e functions like modifier. Examples in (111) are provided for illustration

(111) Compund Noun (Noun+Noun)

a) hun-e uro

wood-GEN work

‘Woo work’ or ‘ arpenter’

b) an-e uro

stone-GEN work

‘Stone work’ or ‘mason’

Compounds are also formed by adding [Adjective + Noun]. Examples in (112) are provided

for illustration:

(112) Compound Noun [Adjective + Noun]

a) ni-m en

go-ADJ year

‘The last year’

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 b) waal-um hiles

loose-ADJ boy

‘The lost boy’

[Verb + Nouns] also form compound nouns. The verb in infinitive form which modifies the

head noun precedes the head noun. Examples in (133) are provided to illustrate this:

(113) Compound Noun [Verb+Noun]

a) gučʰay-as iš

sleep-INF place

‘Sleeping pla e’ or ‘be ’

b) min-aas ʰil

drink-INF water

‘Drinking water’

4.2.1.2 Suffixation

Suffixation forms nouns, adjectives and adverbs in Burushaki. Abstract nouns are formed by

adding the suffix –kuʂ to base adjectives. Examples in (114) are provided to illustrate this:

(114) Adjective>Noun formation: -kuʂ suffixation

Adjective Derived Abstract Noun

[uyam] ‘sweet’ [uyamkuʂ] ‘sweetness’

[ altas] ‘beautiful’ [ altaskuʂ] ‘beauty’

[ utang] ‘ ark’ [dutangkuʂ] ‘ arkness’

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It can be assumed that –um is the basic adjective forming suffix in Burushaski. Verbs are

nominalized into adjectives by adding –um suffix. This is illustrated in (115). Similarly, nouns

can be changed into adjectives by the addition of –um, as illustrated in (116).

(115) Verb > Adjective formation : -um suffixation

Verb Adjective

[hen] ‘learn’ [henum uro] ‘learne work’

[gučʰa] ‘slee’ [gučʰam iš] ‘sleeping pla e’

[ ukoyal] ‘listen’ [ ukoyalum čaɣa] ‘the wor you hear ’

(116) Noun> Adjective formation

Noun Adjective

[hunzo] ‘Hunza’ [hunzum] ‘the inhabitant of Hunza’

[ al] ‘North’ [ alum] ‘native to the North’

[xat] ‘South’ [xatum] ‘native to the South’

[garu] ‘Summer’ [garurum] ‘hot’

[nager] ‘Nagar’ [nagerum] ‘the inhabitant of Nagar’

3.2.1.3 Reduplication

Reduplication of verbs, nouns, and adjectives is very common in Burushaski. The root or stem

of the word is repeated exactly or with a slight change. Examples of partial reduplication of

nouns are given in (117).

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(117) Partial Reduplication : Nouns

a) haralt ʰu~ ʰur man-imi

rain drop~RED become-3

‘It rizzle ’

b) haralt ča~čar manimi

rain pour-RED become-3

‘It raine heavily’

c) giyaas-e ǰi~ǰir e-t-imi

baby-ERG cry-RED 3-do-3

‘The baby rie lou ly’

d) hiles-e galtar a~ al e-t-imi

boy-ERG tree branch RED-drag 3-do-3

‘The boy ragge the tree bran h’

e) in a~ ar i-man-imi

3SG RED-shake 3-become-3

‘He shivere ’

Complete reduplication of adjectives is illustrated in (118) below:

(118) Complete Reduplication: Adjectives

a) altaško~ altaskyo baalt osqat-in

nice~RED apple x-3PL-select-PL

Select nice apples.

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 b) ǰotišo-ǰotišo

small~RED

‘fairly small’

Complete reduplication of adverbs is illustrated in (119) below:

(119) Complete Reduplication: Adverbs

a. thala~thala

slow-RED

‘gra ually’

b. kaa~kaa

with-RED

‘ lose together’

c. bešal~bešal

when~RED

‘sometime’

(120) Complex reduplication of Adjectives is illustrated in examples below:

a) loto-ke-loto

RED-and-naked

‘no ap on hea ’

b) čʰu-ke-čʰu

RED-and-naked

‘bare feet’

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Chapter 4: Dialectal Comparison

4.1 Phonological Variation

(121) [o] ~ [u] variation

NB HB Gloss

oro uro ‘work’

kʰote gute ‘this[-h,II]’

hosen husun ‘beauty’

esulo esulu ‘in his heart’

hiŋulo hinulo ‘in the oor’

kʰose guse ‘this[-h,I]’

kʰoke guke ‘these[-h,II]’

(122) [e]~[a] variation

NB HB Gloss

[ečen] [ečan] ‘we will o it’

[iner] [inar] ‘for him’

[estʰačer] [estačer] ‘for putting out fire’

[ uumen] [ uuman] ‘they ame’

(123) [e] ~[i] variation

NB HB Gloss

[ete] [ite] ‘that [-h,II]’

[eke] [ike] ‘those [-h,II]’

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(124) [Ch] ~[C] variation

NB [HB] Gloss

[estʰačer] [estačer] ‘for putting out fire’

[ ʰapʰayma] [ ʰapayma] ‘you will sti h’

[ e ʰiri] [ e iri] ‘you ook burn it’

4.2 Morphonological Variation

(125) Verb be

NB HB Gloss

ila bila ‘be.PRES.3SG’

ilum bilum ‘be.PST.3SG’

bom bam ‘be.PRES.3MSG’

4.3 Lexical Variation

(126) Lexical words

NB HB Gloss

rau ɣut traa ɣut ‘ ompletely eaf’

at iyemen al iyeman ‘stoo up’

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References
An erson Greg, (1997) ‘Burushaski phonology.’ In: Phonologies of Asia an Afri a (in lu ing

the Caucasus), ed. Kaye AS, Daniels PT. (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns) pp. 1021-41.

Berger, Hermann (1998). Die Burushaski-Sprache von Hunza und Nager. Unter Mitarbeit von

Nasiruddin Hunzai. (Neuindische Studien, 13. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz). Teil i: Grammatik.

Teil ii: Texte mit Übersetzungen. Teil iii: Wörterbuch Burushaski-Deutsch Deutsch-Burushaski.

Lorimer, David L. R. (1935-1938). The Burushaski Language. I: Introduction and Grammar; II:

Texts and Translation; III: Vocabularies and Index. Oslo: Instituttet for sammenlignende

kulturforskning.

Munshi, S (2006). Jammu and Kashmir Burushaski language, language contact and change.

(PhD Dissertation, University of Texas, Austin) 81-81

Verma. Sidderheshwar. (1941). “Stu ies in Burushaski iale tology”. Journal of Royal Asiatic

Society of Bengal. Vol VIII. 132-178.

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