Negative and Interrogative Transformations in the English and Maithili Languages: A Comparative Study

Abstract

This thesis entitled 'Negative and Interrogative Transformations in the English and Maithili Languages: A Comparative Study' is an attempt to identify the processes of negative and interrogative transformations and to compare and contrast them with those in English. The researcher utilized both primary and secondary sources of date. The sample of the study consisted of 60 Maithili native speakers who were selected using stratified random sampling procedure. Negative and interrogative transformation processes of English were taken from secondary sources of data. The major findings of the study were: the negative marker in English is 'not' or 'n't' which is placed after an auxiliary verb whereas the negative marker in Maithili is '' which is added immediately before the main verb and sometimes at the middle or final position of the relational verb; the same Maithili negative marker '' occurs in imperative sentences. In yes/no question, an auxiliary verb occurs in the beginning of the sentence in English whereas the yes/no question marker '' is introduced and placed in the beginning of the sentence in Maithili. The thesis consists of four chapters. Chapter one deals with introduction. It consists of general background, review of the related literatures, objectives of the study, significance of the study and definitions of the specific terms. Chapter two deals with methodology. It encompasses sources of data, sample population and sampling procedure, research tools, processes of data collection and limitations of the study. Chapter three deals with analysis and interpretation of the data. It comprises rules of negative and interrogative transformations in English and Maithili, and comparison of the processes of negative and interrogative transformations in Maithili with those in English. Chapter four encompasses findings, recommendations and pedagogical implications.