Verb Morphology in Uranw-Kudþux

Abstract

Uranw-KudÞux is a Dravidian language spoken in Nepal by Uranw/KudÞux people. They live in the Terai districts. It is one of the endangered languages of Nepal. Most of its speakers are gradually shifting their tongues to other languages for various reasons. In addition, with the pace of time, speakers are scattering over different places, which may have two results: either the emergence of dialect or the gradual loss of the language, Uranw-KudÞux in many places is facing situation referred to by the latter. However, the language still retains the strong linguistic identity. This work 'Verb Morphology in Uranw-KudÞux' is divided into five chapters. The first chapter deals with introduction of the Uranw-KudÞux language, its people and linguistic demography. The second chapter includes brief summary of the Uranw-KudÞux phonological sketch and nominal morphological system. The chapter three analyzes its required morphophonemic processes. The chapter four is the analysis of the verb morpho logy of UranwKudÞux. It examines both inflectional and derivational morphology of the language in details.

The verb morphology in Uranw-KudÞux introduces a productive system like other Dravidian languages with which it shares many linguistic affinities. The Uranw-KudÞux verb stems are classified into three categories: primitive, derivative and compound. The morphological structure of the first one is simple i.e. it employs only one morpheme, and the morphological structure of the latter two are complex i.e. they are made up of more than one morphemes. Further classification of the stem is in terms of the final segment it contains because the final segment can be the major conditioning factor for the stem's structural modification during affixation. Two broad divisions as vowel final stem and consonant final stem can be put forward. Both vowel and consonant final stems undergo vaious modifications. A simple finite verb in Uranw-KudÞux consists of a stem and concord. The verb becomes finite after the affixation of the finite suffix. If the verb is in the aspectual form the occurrence of finite auxiliary is obligatory. The situation external time implied by the verb can be presented by contrast of two tenses: Past and Non-past. The situation internal time is indicated by different aspectual forms of the verb. In Uranw-KudÞux, there are seven different moods: Indicative, Interrogative, Imperative, Optative, Hortative, Subjunctive (Conditional) and Probabilative. There are two different forms of the 'be' verb: /rə/ existential and /hik/ identificational. In Uranw-KudÞux, the verb inflects for number, person, gender, tense, mood agreeing with its subject. There are single and double causative constructions in it. The passive construction is derived from active. And, the Uranw-KudÞux compound verb is formed by combining a verb with a substantive or with a verb.