An-hán khuth na khutha, they could not do it (them-by done not was done). Wakht-a má wártha na khutha, I could not eat at the time (the time-at me-by eaten not was done). Many other examples are given in the exercises and translations. 170. The potential just discussed has reference to transitive verbs. When dealing with intransitives, such as to walk, to stand, to arrive, and many others, the place of the verb, khanagh, to do, is taken by bíagh, to be, to become: e.g., shwá wath-í sar-a kharo bitha na b-en, you will not be able to stand on your head; ma yak máh-a ángo rasitha na b-án, I shall not be able to arrive there in a month. This construction is of limited application, being generally confined to the future tenses. Like khanagh, the verb bíagh can be compounded with itself; thus we come to have the verbs khutha khanagh, to be able to do, and bitha biagh, to be able to be, to be able to become. Obs. Pakkhto potential compounds are made up of the conjunctive participle of a principal verb and the various tenses and persons of the intransitive verb shwal, to become, to go: e.g., tsok lah Khudá' e sara khabare kawalai shi, who can talk with God (who with God with conversation make can)? 171. What may be termed a completive compound is got by combining the conjunctive participle of a principal verb, that denoting the action, with the present perfect tense of ravagh, to go. This present perfect tense is irregular as regards ravagh, but in itself quite regular: shuthagh-án, shuthagh-en, shutha; shuthagh-ún, shuthagh-en, shuthagh-ant, I have gone, thou hast gone, etc. Shutha is frequently shortened to shtha: e.g., áñ-hí pith murtho shtha, his father is dead (him-of the-father havingdied is gone). Besides being completive, its signification is passive and emphatic. Its first member denotes an action and its second the completion of that action. In the course of conversation the example just given might mean: Why, his father is already dead! This compound is confined to the present perfect tense, and usually to the 3rd persons of that tense. Obs. 1. The verb ravagh, to go, has its own, regular, present perfect tense, raptagh-án, raptagh-en, rapta; raptagh-ún, raptagh-en, raptagh-ant, I have gone, thou hast gone, etc. Shuthagh-án is a second form, and one in very wide use, as will have been seen. Obs. 2. The completive compound is distinct from the compound sentence in which the conjunctive participle figures and takes the place of a conjunction as well as that of a verb: e.g., wázhá thartho ákhta, master has returned, master has gone and come back. Obs. 3. The Sindhí completive compound is formed by attaching to the conjunctive participle of a principal verb certain other verbs denoting completion, etc.: e.g., kháe vathanu, to have done eating; kare chukanu, to finish doing; vathi rahanu, to have taken, to finish taking. Duzhman shingo-shángo ḍriktho shuthagh-án, the enemy fled in all directions (the-enemy here, there, having-run have gone). Thír án-hí saghar-a pár gwasto shutha, the bullet passed clean through his head (the bullet him-of the-head through having-passed went). Thír-án ch'án-hí jind-a pár gwasto shuthagh-án, the bullets passed clean through his body (the-bullets from-him-of the-body through having passed went). Darmán udartho shutha, the powder blew up (the-powder having-blown-up went). We might use the plural shuthaghant, the subject darmán being very often considered a plural noun. Báz-e mard murtho shutha, many men died. The presence of báz-e justifies the singular shutha. Why indicate the plural more than once in a sentence? asks the Baloch. Why, indeed! 172. The continuative compound is made up of the present participle ending in ána of the principal verb and the various tenses and persons of ravagh, to go: e.g., án likh-ána ravagh-e ma gush-ána ravagh-án, he goes on writing and I go on talking. It denotes the continuance of an action, and may be made to refer to past, present, or future time. Examples of the continuative compounds : Thau pha chi wafs-ána ravagh-en, why do you go on sleeping (thou for what sleeping goest on)? Thau e rang-a gush-en, mashe án duz-ána rav-í, you may say so, but he will go on stealing (thou this way mayest speak, but he stealing will go). Nariyán thash-ána rapta, the horse went on galloping (thehorse galloping went). Ma har ro har ro lághar bí-ána raptagh-án, I kept getting thinner every day (I every day every day thin becoming went on). Má juz-ána shuthagh-ún, we kept journeying on (we going went). 173. In intensive compounds the leading verb is always a conjunctive participle. The second verb-it may be any verbmodifies and intensifies in a degree the meaning conveyed by the first e.g., áñ-híá wath-í nariyán drikentho duz phadha burtha, he galloped after the thief. Baragh, past participle burtha, means, to take away. Drikentha alone would not give the same meaning, nor would burtha. In the intensive compound the connexion between the principal and secondary verb is close, supporting, and intensifying, much more so than in the ordinary sentence, where the conjunctive participle acts as a connective particle as well as a verb. Obs. Compare this with the Sindhí idiom: marí vananu, having died to go, to die; jí pavanu, having lived to fall, to live. Examples of the intensive compound :— Sarbura ya khargaz jhaṭí dátho án-hí whard burtho bál gipta, suddenly a kite swooped down and carried away his food. Had the sentence ended with burtha, which it could, the description of what happened would have been weak and incomplete: as it is, the picture of the occurrence is complete and vivid. 174. An inceptive compound is got by placing the present perfect tense of khafagh, to fall, before the inflected infinitive of another or principal verb: e.g., guda áñ-hán khaptagh-án dris janagh-a, they then began to dance, they then took to dancing. The present perfect tense of khafagh is khaptagh-án, khaptagh-en, khapta; khaptagh-ún, khaptagh-en, khaptagh-ant, khaptagh-án, or khapt-ant, I have fallen, thou hast fallen, etc. The present perfect of khafagh, to fall, gives to the principal verb the idea of beginning the action denoted by it. For the sake of clearness and greater emphasis the preposition pha, on, etc., is sometimes inserted before the inflected infinitive: e.g., guda wazir wath-í hál khapta pha likhenagh-a, the minister then began to write out his case. Less frequently pha is made to follow the inflected infinitive. 175. This same sense of inception is got by using the present perfect tense of mirenagh, to attack, in place of that of khafagh, to fall. The conjugation of this tense of mirenagh, to attack, is quite regular: mirenthagh-án, mirenthagh-en, mirentha; mirenthagh-ún, miṛenthagh-en, mirenthagh-ant, or miṛenthagh-áñ, I attacked, thou attackedst, etc. But this construction is less frequently heard. to begin Then they Obs. 1. This idea of "falling","attacking", to denote is exemplified in our own provincial idiom, strange to say : fell to with a will. This used to be said of eating in the good old days of the barons. Again, when speaking of evildoers we still hear: they then took to thieving, meaning, they then began to steal. Assuredly, idioms travel far. Obs. 2. A somewhat similar idea is conveyed by the Sindhí compound paí khianu, having fallen to eat, to eat on, to eat up. A Persian will say, man bi-khanda uftádam, I began to laugh, I fell to laughing. Examples of inceptive compounds : Guda án e kissav khapta gushagh-a, he then began to unfold this story (then he this story fell to tell). Guda pha wath-án khaptagh-án miragh-a, they then began to fight among themselves (then among themselves they fell to fight). Tholagh khaptagh-án pha kurainagh-a, the jackals took to howling (the-jackals fell to howl). Bing-gal di khaptagh-ant pha bhaunkagh-a, the dogs also began to bark (the-dogs also fell to bark). Guda ma khaptagh-án ravagh-a, then I began to go (then I fell to go). In the above sentences we might have translated: Telling, fighting, howling, barking, going, instead of to tell, to fight, etc. 176. Nominal compounds constitute a numerous class. They consist of a substantive, an adjective, or a preposition so combined with an original verb as to form with it a single idea. Some verbs enter more freely into such constructions than others. Frequently the noun or adjective takes the place of an object in the mind of the speaker e.g., thau drogh bandagh-en, thou liest. Here drogh means false, and bandagh to fasten, and the union of the two, to lie. Nominal compounds may be transitive or intransitive and may govern almost any case, according to the sense conveyed. A list of the more common is given below: to enumerate all would be a futile task. Examples of nominal compounds : Án-hí dem-a khas-e-á drogh bastha, someone has lied to him (him-of before someone-by false has been fastened). Har do bráth khishár-a khishagh-ant, both brothers till the ground (both brothers crops cultivate). Ma-i chana shart janagh jawáin n-en, in my opinion it is not wise to gamble (me-of the-opinion-in gambling to strike good not is). Er-be-y-á, come down. Guda má tha-ra wáhú khutha, I then shouted to you (then me-by thee-to a-shout was made). Wáhú khanagh, to shout. Ágh, to come. Dast ágh, to get. Áragh, to bring. Gir áragh, to remember. Biagh, to become. |