A grammar of the Telugu language/BOOK THIRD
BOOK THIRD
NOUNS
It may be worth while to remark that house-hold servants at Madras talk a broken English with fluency; but the learner will find it profitable to employ only those domesticks who will speak to him in the language he is studying: such are always to be had. Our initiatory native instructors also speak English, but we should as soon as possible lay aside such aid and employ a teacher who speaks Telugu alone.
ON PRONOUNS.
The pronouns may be divided into two kinds, viz. the personal and the adjective pronouns. There are no Relative pronouns.
Personal pronouns have two numbers like those of substantive nouns, and three persons in each number, as ~i$i&> I, fcsS thou, ■sr-sfe he. Plu. we, you, •sr'Oo they.
The Gender of the 1st and 2d person is always clear. But the 3d person calls for distinction. Thus Mas. he, Fem. and
Neut. wa.sAe, it, and Plu. Mas. and Fem. Tst»0o those persons. Neut.
a those things.
The pronouns have all the cases of nouns except the Vocative, which, however, is used in compound words, as Aj-5t»tw° O Gardener! r» "V" O milk maid he.
On The First Person. The first person (I, myself) has two modes of forming the plural, viz. we and s&iS^o thou and I, or you and roe, or thou and
we; for this includes the person addressed.
Singular. Plural.
N. I N. "&>sfaa we
G. ~F°, T^csm jy^dj my G. term, sSj^oJnSf^ s£r°i£> our
D. "i^so to me D. *&»5o to us
A. fSpS^L, jSjSo me A. sfosto fS.JfcsSn, s&sfoMy
or s&sfo,e)ff> us.
- In poetry Wm is sometimes changed into £>j& enu or £> E'; and "t5os5i» is changed into 'Less • and jt)>g) into పుట:A grammar of the Telugu language.pdf/102 పుట:A grammar of the Telugu language.pdf/103 పుట:A grammar of the Telugu language.pdf/104 పుట:A grammar of the Telugu language.pdf/105 పుట:A grammar of the Telugu language.pdf/106
ADJECTIVE PRONOUNS.
Adjective pronouns have no singular; and are thus declined. పుట:A grammar of the Telugu language.pdf/108 Such as that. «£n£ot3 such as Mis (talis) cikasSofi what sort? (qualis.)
So So many <^^X Now many.
e>o&, S\o«£ #o much °*otS .Hba; muck &c.
Instead of the initial vowels A, I, E, the syllables TA, TI, TE are perpetually written. Thus t5^_2», there, here,
where, are written cx"^_^, S3a|f_Ji. This mode of spell
ing is not inconvenient. But by an error in which all persist (and the same appears in copies of poems) the letter Te (denoting which) is almost always written Ya meaning that. Thus abo& how much? becomes cssioS thus much. A little practice will enable'us to recollect this perversion; which otherwise may sometimes create a doubt. We merely have to recollect that instead of ye it is customary, though wrong, to write ya.
DEFECTIVE NOUNS.
Some nouns have no singular nominative; and are placed in the plural form in the Dictionary. Thus, ^e», «milk.' Many names of particular kinds of grain are thus defective. Thus
The word water is used in the plural: unless in poems, which at pleasure use the singular as is already explained. Thus g" a little water: literally a few waters.
Irregular Defective Nouns and Adverbial Declension. Some adverbs and other parts of speech are capable of declension as defective nouns of the third declension. Thus above, §o« beneath, etc+ within are properly mere adverbs; and though they have no nominative they have a genitive, and sometimes other cases. But it will be perceived that in translation these cases become other parts of speech. పుట:A grammar of the Telugu language.pdf/110 పుట:A grammar of the Telugu language.pdf/111
ON THE ADJECTIVE.
The Telugu adjective like that used in English, is devoid of rmmber, gender, (unless what affixes supply) and case. Comparatives and Superlatives are formed merely by adding the words more, less, most or very. Some adjectives add the rela
tive participle of to become: thus ^016) or ^"oa&oMjS pret
ty. But this will be placed under the Eelative participle.
"These three words feJiit^sfc appudu, S^StSjSfc ippudu, success eppudu, are sometimes (in poetry) contracted: being written fcS^S) 9,^), oio5) ap'du, ip'du, ep'du. But this is not used in common life.
Some few Sanscrit adjectives are used in the Sanscrit comparative or superlative forms: just as in English we use the Latin forms superior, inferior, prior; supreme, extreme, maximum.
Other particulars regarding adjectives are placed in the Syntax.
INTERJECTIONS are fully described in the Dictionary.