Obs. 1. In the tables given above those forms that are in most general use have been placed first. There may be others.

Obs. 2. Those in ast hail from the Persian, while those having th and th savour of the Urdú and Hindí.

Obs. 3. In asti the letter i has the sound of e, of yá e majhul. Tha and thi are pronounced as in Urdú, but shorter of course.

100. The forms given under the heading "in composition" are worth careful attention. Once these are mastered and remembered the conjugation of almost any verb in the language becomes a simple matter. It will be noted, for instance, that the leading suffixes for the singular are, in order of the persons, án, en, e, and for the plural, ún, eñ, ant or áñ.

Examples of the substantive verb:-

Sahí ne-y-án, I do not know (informed not I am). The letter y is required to help out the sound of the vowel: ne is converted na, not.

Thav-en ganokh, thou art a fool. The letter v is inserted to prevent the two vowels clashing.

Tha-ra chon-en, what is the matter with you (thee-to what is)?

The letter n in cho is required before the vowel in en.

Wazir wath sání nestath, the minister himself was not present. Nestath is the same as na astath, which cannot be used. In the same way we have nesti for na asti, and nesten for na asteń.

An-hí phith ná-duráh ne-y-ath, his father was not ill (him-of the father ill not was).

Sáín, má chí sahí ne-y-ún, my good sir, we know nothing about it (sir, we anything knowing not are).

Baloch ne-y-ant, they are not Baloches (Baloches not they are). Tha-i dost astathant, were they your friends (thee-of the friends they were) ?

Kullán jar-án ki logh-a athant már dátha-í, he gave us all the clothes in the house (all the-clothes that the-house-in were us-to were given-by-him).

Shwá khai eth, who are you (you who are)? But the singular is generally used.

THE INTRANSITIVE VERB.

101. Balochí infinitives end in agh. To this rule there are very few exceptions. By dropping this slightly guttural syllable we come by the root: e.g., thashagh to gallop, to run, root, thash; juzagh, to walk, to go, root, juz.

102. This root is also one of the forms of the 2nd person singular of the imperative, and, as might have been expected on the analogy of other eastern languages, from it are formed the contingent future and absolute future tenses.

Plural.

1. Thash-ún, we may run.

2. Thash-eth, you may run.

3. Thash-ant, they may run.

Examples of the contingent future :

Miragh, to die: root, mir: mir-án, mir-en, mir-íth; mir-ún, mir-eth, mir-ant.

Tharagh, to return: root, thar: thar-án, thar-en, thar-ith; thar-ún, thar-eth, thar-ant.

Nindagh, to sit: root, nind: nind-án, nind-en, nind-íth; nind-ún, nind-eth, nind-ant.

Juzagh, to walk: root, juz: juz-án, juz-eň, juz-íth; juz-ún, juz-eth, juz-ant.

Rasagh, to arrive: root, ras: ras-án, ras-en, ras-íth; ras-ún, ras-eth, ras-ant.

(2)

The absolute future.

Thash-án, I shall run, etc.

Singular.

1. Thash-án, I shall run, I shall gallop.

2. Thash-en, thou wilt run.

3. Thash-í, he will run.

Plural.

1. Thash-ún, we shall run.

2. Thash-eth, you will run.

3. Thash-ant, they will run.

103. Both tenses it will be seen are formed by adding the present imperfect tense of the defective substantive verb to the root thash. The 3rd person singular contingent future takes the ending ith and the same person in the absolute future í, which is but a softened form of ith. The distinction, however, is as often neglected as observed. In the 2nd persons plural of both tenses the ending en is in everyday use thash-en, you may run, or, you will run. This may have arisen through confusing the singular with the plural.

104. The only real difference between the contingent and absolute future tenses lies in their 3rd persons singular: the contingent future generally ends in ith, the absolute future in í. Put otherwise, the ending ith will nearly always denote "may and the suffix í "will"; the opposite seldom.

105. The Baloches themselves generally use these two tenses promiscuously and as if they denoted present time, not infrequently as if they denoted present habitual time.

Obs. The examples given under the contingent future are equally illustrative of the absolute future, except in the 3rd persons singular, which become mir-í, thar-i, nind-í, juz-í, ras-í, respectively.

106. The third tense in the verb scheme is the present imperfect. It is formed from the infinitive by the simple addition of the verbal endings án, en, e, for the singular, and ún, en, ant for the plural. The suffix eth is also in use with the 2nd person plural as an alternative to en.

(3)

The present imperfect.

Thashagh-án, I am running, etc.

Singular.

1. Thashagh-án, I am running, I am galloping.

2. Thashagh-en, thou art running.

3. Thashagh-e, he is running.

Plural.

1. Thashagh-ún, we are running.
2. Thashagh-en, you are running.
3. Thashagh-ant, they are running.

Examples of the present imperfect :—

Miragh-án, I am dying, miragh-en, miragh-e; miragh-ún, miragh-en, miragh-ant.

Tharagh-án, I am returning, tharagh-en, tharagh-e; tharagh-ún, tharagh-en, tharagh-ant.

Nindagh-án, I am sitting, nindagh-en, nindagh-e; nindagh-ún, nindagh-en, nindagh-ant.

G

Juzagh-án, I am walking, juzagh-en, juzagh-e; juzagh-ún, juzagh-en, juzagh-ant.

Rasagh-án, I am arriving, rasagh-en, rasagh-e; rasagh-ún, rasagh-en, rasagh-ant.

107. The fourth tense is the past imperfect. Here also the infinitive remains unchanged throughout, taking the endings ethán, ethen, etha to form the singular, and ethún, ethen, ethant to make up a plural (99 astathún, etc.). The 3rd person singular has an alternative form ending in eth, and the 3rd person plural an alternative in ethán. Thus the 3rd person plural and 1st person singular may be alike. We shall often find this (99 án, I am, and án, they are).

(4)

The past imperfect.

Thashagh-ethán, I was running, etc.

Singular.

1. Thashagh-ethan, I was running, I was galloping.
2. Thashagh-e then, thou wert running.

3. Thashagh-e tha, he was running.

Plural.

1. Thashagh-e thún, we were running.
2. Thashagh-ethen, you were running.
3. Thashagh-ethant, they were running.

Obs. 1. The suffix ant is often pronounced as if written aint.
Obs. 2. Dames gives these endings as athán, ather, etc., using the
short vowel a in place of e. The correct sound appears to be e, yá e majhul,
slightly slurred.

Examples of the past imperfect :

Miragh-ethan, I was dying, miragh-ethen, miragh-etha ; miragh-ethún, miragh-ethen, miragh-ethant.

Tharagh-ethán, I was returning, tharagh-ethen, tharagh-etha; tharagh-ethún, tharagh-ethen, tharagh-ethant.

Nindagh-ethan, I was sitting, nindagh-ethen, nindagh-etha; nindagh-ethún, nindagh-ethen, nindagh-ethant.