Pluralization in English and Dhimal

Abstract

This research work entitled “Pluralization in English and Dhimal” is an attempt to identify the pluralization systems in the Dhimal language and to find out the similarities and differences between pluralization processes of Dhimal and English. The researcher used both primary and secondary sources of data. The primary sources of the data were fifty Dhimal native speakers of Belbari VDC of Morang district. The secondary sources of the data were different books, journals, and theses. The sample population was fifty Dhimal native speakers of Belbari VDC of Morang district who were selected by using the snowball sampling procedure. The researcher used interview schedule and questionnaire as major tools to collect the data. The collected data were analyzed, interpreted and presented descriptively and comparatively. The researcher came up with the finding that suffixes ‘-gelāī’ and ‘-lāī’ are used to change singular nouns into plural forms in the Dhimal language. He also found that pluralization of nouns in English affects the form of the verb at the sentence level whereas pluralization of nouns in Dhimal does not affect the form of the verb at the sentence level. This thesis has been divided into four chapters: introduction, methodology, analysis and interpretation and findings and recommendations. The first chapter deals with the general background, literature review, objective and the significance of the study. The second chapter contains the methodology which is sub-divided into the sources of data, sampling procedure, and tools for data collection, process of data collection and limitation of the study. The third chapter includes the analysis and interpretation of data obtained from the field. The last chapter has the findings and recommendations of the study.