Sandhi with verb inflection (ಕ್ರಿಯಾಪದಗಳ ರೂಪನಿಷ್ಪತ್ತಿಯ ಸಂಧಿ) Sandhi is the mutation of the final or initial letters of a word for euphony. Sandhi with verbs applies in any case when the form of a verb is being changed. When any verb form (ಕ್ರಿಯಾರೂಪ) ends with the vowel 'ಅ' ('atva') or with the vowel 'ಉ' ('utva'), eliminate that final vowel if a suffix that begins with a vowel follows. The contingent-future form expresses the idea of the possibility of an action's occurrence at the present or in the future; the imperative form commands, exhorts, or optates. As in English, the three tenses (ಕಾಲಗಳು) include the present tense (ವರ್ತಮಾನಕಾಲ), the past tense (ಭೂತಕಾಲ), and the future tense (ಭವಿಷ್ಯತ್ತುಕಾಲ). However, distinct forms for each of these tenses exist only in the affirmative form.
Word order (ಪದವಿನ್ಯಾಸ) Kannada word order is 'S-O-V', or 'subject-object-verb', as opposed to English, which is a 'S-V-O', or 'subject-verb-object' language. However, in Kannada, due to its highly inflected nature, a sentence's word order may be freely changed for style or emphasis.
Sentence constituents (ವಾಕ್ಯದ ಭಾಗಗಳು) Kannada sentences have two basic parts: the subject and the predicate. The subject consists of the central topic of the sentence, declined to the nominative case, while the predicate consists of a verb, often with an object (which formally should be in the accusative case),
or may have no verb and object at all but rather simply have another noun declined in the nominative case, known as the predicate nominative, where an equivalency statement is intended. ''Example: ನಾನು (subject) ಮೇಜನ್ನು (object) ಕಟ್ಟಿದೆನು (verb). ('I built the table.' Here, the subject is 'I' and 'built the table' is the predicate, with 'built' as the verb and 'the table' as the object.'' ''Example: ನಾನು (subject) ಕನ್ನಡದ ವಿದ್ಯಾರ್ಥಿಯು (predicate nominative). ('I (am) a student of Kannada.' Note that there is no direct Kannada equivalent for the verb 'to be' as a copula [linking verb], because Kannada is a zero-copula language, although the sentence may be alternatively written 'ನಾನು ಕನ್ನಡದ ವಿದ್ಯಾರ್ಥಿ(ಯನ್ನು) ಆಗಿದ್ಧೇನೆ.' literally meaning 'I am/exist having become a student of Kannada.'''
Subject (ಕರ್ತೃ) In Kannada, the subject is declined to the nominative case. While the subject almost always performs the action in Kannada (use of the passive voice is highly rare), the subject may actually be the patient. In a sentence with a subject, verb, and object, if the subject has already been made clear or is known from context, the subject may be omitted, with the predicate standing alone to make the sentence. ''Example: ಮನೆಗೆ ಹೋಗುವೆನು. ('I will go home.' Here, we can omit the subject 'ನಾನು', meaning 'I' because it is clear by the termination of the verb (a first-person singular termination, the same person and number of 'I') that the subject is 'I'.'' ''Example: ವಿನಯನು ಇವತ್ತು ವಶಾಲೆಗೆ ಹೋಗಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಮನೆಗೆ ಬಂದನು. ('Vinay did not go to school today. {Vinay/he} came home.' In the second sentence, the subject 'Vinay' is omitted because it is clear from the previous sentence that the subject is 'Vinay'.)''
Verb (ಕ್ರಿಯಾಪದ) In Kannada, there cannot be more than one finite, or conjugated, verb in the sentence. For example, the sentence 'I went to school and came home.' cannot be literally translated into Kannada. The Kannada equivalent of that sentence would be 'Having gone to school, I came home.' In Kannada, adverbial participles must be used. ''Example: ನಾನು ವಿದ್ಯಾಲಯಕ್ಕೆ ಹೋಗಿ ಮನೆಗೆ ಬಂದೆನು. ('I, having gone to school, came home.' / 'I went to school and came home.')'' ''Example: ನಾನು ಓಡಿ ಆಡುವೆನು. ('I, having run, will play.' / 'I will run and play.' Note that if the intention is to say that the two actions will happen simultaneously ('I will play as I run.') then the sentence would be written 'ನಾನು ಓಡುತ್ತ ಆಡುವೆನು.')''
Object (ಕರ್ಮ) Dative construction (ಸಂಪ್ರದಾನಪದ ಕಾರ್ತೃವಾಗಿರುವ ವಾಕ್ಯ) In Kannada, the
dative construction is used often. The dative construction occurs when the semantic subject is in the dative case and semantic direct object is in the nominative case. For example, in Kannada, one does not say 'I feel cold'; rather, one says the equivalent of 'cold is happening to me' ('ನನಗೆ ಚಳಿಯು ಆಗುತ್ತ ಇದೆ'). Similarly, one says 'dinner is wanted to me' ('ನನಗೆ ಉಟವು ಬೇಕು' or 'ನನಗೆ ಊಟವು ಬೇಕಾಗಿದೆ'; the latter literally is broken apart 'ನನಗೆ ಊಟವು ಬೇಕಾಗಿ ಇದೆ', literally meaning 'to me, dinner has become wanted/needed'). Yet another example is the use with 'ಇಷ್ಟ'. For example, one says 'ನನಗೆ ಸೇಬುಗಳು ಇಷ್ಟ ಆಗುತ್ತವೆ' (idiomatically--'I like apples'; literally--'to me, apples become pleasure'). Dative constructions are used to make the equivalent of English sensory linking verbs and with many modal auxiliary verbs. For example, 'I see him' is translated as 'he causes me to see (him)', with 'me' in the dative case.
Interrogation (ಪ್ರಶ್ನಿಸುವುದು) Negation (ನಿಷೇಧ) Negative words (ನಿಷೇಧಾರ್ಥಕ ಪದಗಳು) Kannada does
not have any semantically negative words such as 'never', 'no one', and 'nothing'. These words are expressed by negating the verb with the positive equivalent of the negative word. For example, in Kannada, one cannot say 'students never go to school on Sundays'; one must say the equivalent of 'students do not go to school on Sundays ever' ('ಭಾನುವಾರ ವಿದ್ಯಾರ್ಥಿಗಳು ಯಾವತ್ತು ಶಾಲೆಗೆ ಹೋಗರು'). Similarly, for 'no one goes to school on Sundays', one says 'anyone does not go to school on Sundays' ('ಯರೂ ವಿದ್ಯಲಯಕ್ಕೆ ಭಾನವಾರಗಳ ಮೇಲೆ ಹೋಗುವದಿಲ್ಲ').
Example: 'ಎಲ್ಲೂ ಆ ಘೋಷಣೆಯನ್ನು ಜನರು ಅಂಗೀಕರಿಸಲಿಕ್ಕಿಲ್ಲ.' ('Nowhere will the people accept that declaration.')
Negative finite verbs (ನಿಷೇಧಾರ್ಥಕ ಆಖ್ಯಾತಗಳು) Although there is a negative 'mood' or form of the verb in Kannada, it is not used commonly anymore. In addition, the negative form does not express time distinctions, so
analytic negative forms are employed. There is no negative adverb like 'not' in Kannada. Analytic verb negation is very peculiar, and it employs a form of 'ಇರು' ('to be, exist'), which is 'ಇಲ್ಲ'. However, negative Kannada verbs with 'ಇಲ್ಲ' do not have personal terminations—they do not indicate the person, gender, or number of the subject. To form a past negative verb with 'ಇಲ್ಲ', suffix 'ಇಲ್ಲ' to the infinitive form of the verb ending in 'ಅಲ್'. To form a present negative verb with 'ಇಲ್ಲ', suffix 'ಇಲ್ಲ' to the verbal noun of the verb. To form a future negative verb, either use the present-tense negative form of the verb with 'ಇಲ್ಲ' or suffix 'ಇಲ್ಲ' to the infinitive form of the verb ending in 'ಅಲಿಕ್ಕೆ'. Aspect is expressed by 'ಇಲ್ಲ' in the normal way—by using a negative form of 'ಇರು' with an adverbial participle. For example, 'I will not have been being hit' is 'ಹೊಡಿಯಲ್ಪಡುತ್ತ ಇದ್ದು ಇರಲಿಕ್ಕಿಲ್ಲ'.
Example: 'ಹೋಗುತ್ತ ಇರುವದಿಲ್ಲ.' ('I am not going.')
Example: 'ಹೋಗಿ ಇರಲಿಲ್ಲ.' ('I had not gone.') However, in the present tense, one can directly use 'ಇಲ್ಲ' after the participle to express aspect.
Example: 'ಹೋಗುತ್ತ ಇಲ್ಲ.' ('I am not going.')
Example: 'ಹೋಗಿ ಇಲ್ಲ.' ('I have not gone.')
Negation of adverbial participles (ಕ್ರಿಯಾನ್ಯೂನಗಳ ನಿಷೇಧ) Adverbial participles have a negative form, created by suffix 'ಅದೆ' to the crude form of the verb. This form is tenseless, and is best translated as 'without ___ing'. For example 'ನೋಡಿ ಹೋದೆನು' means 'I went having seen (it)', 'ನೋಡುತ್ತ ಹೋದೆನು' means 'seeing (it), I went' or 'I went seeing (it)', and 'ನೋಡದೆ ಹೋದೆನು' means 'I went not seeing (it)', "I went not having seen (it)', or 'I went without seeing (it)'. However, 'ಇಲ್ಲ', derived from 'ಇರು' has an adverbial participle form – 'ಇಲ್ಲದೆ' – and this can be used to keep tense when the adverbial participle must be negated. For example, one can say 'ನೋಡಿ ಇಲ್ಲದೆ' to definitively mean 'not having seen, and 'ನೋಡುತ್ತ ಇಲ್ಲದೆ' to definitively mean 'not seeing'. == References ==