The Maithili language has a complex verbal system, nominal declension with a few inflections, and extensive use of honoroficity. It is an Indo-Aryan language, native to the Maithili people and is spoken in the Indian state of Bihar with some speakers in Jharkhand and nearby states. The language has a large number of speakers in Nepal too, which is second in number of speakers after Bihar, grouped under Bihari languages and Nepalese languages, often disputed by many linguists.
Maithili has the following characteristic morphological features:
Number is not grammatically marked. Gender distinctions are also absent in verbs and pronouns, only marked in nominals, which in standard dialect is optional. Gender has no role in agreement of verbsThird person feminine in non transitive verbal forms is sometimes inflected in higher dialects, but is remarkably non standard. and optionally with adjectives. There is a lexical distinction of gender in the third person pronoun, that is only among animate and inanimate classes. Transitive verbs are distinguished from intransitive verbs.
Phonology Vowels FrontCentralBack short long short long short longClosed Script Rom. i ī u ūMid Script ~ Rom. e ē a o ōOpen Script ~ Rom. æ/ê ă/ä ā åDiphthongs Scriptəɪ̯ əʊ̯ Rom. ai au
All vowels have nasal counterparts, represented by "~" in IPA and romanization, and ँ in Devanagari, upon the vowels, like आँ [ãː] . All vowel sounds are realized as nasal when occurring before or after a nasal consonant. Word final अ [a] is always deleted, except in monosyllabic words, non-syllabic य /e̯/ final words, if preceded by any non-central vowel and conjunct final words. For example, न na (no/not), प्रिय prie̯ə or even prije̯ (dear), and शास्त्र śāstra. In the middle position, it is shortened to [a] /ə̆/, if unstressed. Both extra short vowel and deleted vowel are pronounced in poetry though. Ramavatar Yadav ignores the contrast between short and long vowels, as its length is often determined by position. Others maintain the contrast as only some of the differences can be explained by the position, but not all of them, like पुर pur 'city' vs पूर pūr 'full'. Though it is often that both of them will be pronounced as pūr, but the distinction is maintained in orthography and careful pronunciation. For this page, it will be differentiated as पु२र 'pu:r' vs पूर 'pūr', if needed. [ɔ] is realised as [əː] in northern dialects and o in southernmost dialects. There are three extra short vowels that were described by Grierson, अ [ ə̆ ] (Rom. as a ), इ' [ ɪ̆ ] (Rom. as i), उ' [ ʊ̆ ] (Rom. as u), but are not considered by Ramavatar Yadav. A peculiar type of phonetic change is recently taking place in Maithili by way of epenthesis, i.e. backward transposition of final extra short i and u in all sort of words. Thus:
Standard Colloquial - Common Pronunciation अछि' / achi / - अइछ / aich / 'is' मधु' / madhu / - मउध / maudh / 'honey' बालु' / bālu / - बाउल / bāul / 'sand'
Only extra short i and u have been applicable for this rule, however recently short i and u have started to observe same pattern, though it is very scattered, and non-standard- रवि / rabi / - रइब / raib / 'Sunday' This phenomenon is observed only in northern dialects, in southern dialects it is often maintained or even lengthened. achi→(a)chī madhu→madhū bālu→bālū rabi→rabī ꣾ is a Unicode letter in Devanagari, (IPA /əe̯/) which is not supported currently on several browsers and operating systems, along with its mātrā (vowel sign).
The following diphthongs are present: अय/ꣾ / əe̯ / ~ /ɛː/ - अयसन/ꣾसन /aisan/ ~ /êsan/ 'like this' अउ/ॵ / əo̯ / ~ /ɔː/- चउमुख/चॏमुख /caumukh/ ~ /cåmukh/ 'four faced' अऎ /ꣾ / əe̯ / - अऎलाह/ꣾलाह /aelah/ 'came' अऒ/ॵ / əo̯ / - अऒताह/ॵताह /aotah/ 'will come' आइ / aːi̯ / - आइ /āi/ 'today' आउ / aːu̯ / - आउ /āu/ 'come please' आऎ / aːe̯ / - आऎल /āel/ 'came' आऒ / aːo̯ / - आऒब /āob/ 'will come' यु/इउ / iu̯/ - घ्यु/घिउ /ghiu/ 'ghee' यॆ/इऎ / ie̯ / - यॆह/इऎह /ieh/ 'only this' (dialectical variation of इहꣿ/यꣿह) इऒ / io̯ / - कहिऒ /kahio/ 'any day' उइ / ui̯ / - दुइ /dui/ 'two' वॆ/उऎ /ue̯/ - वॆह/उऎह /ue:h/ 'only that' (dialectical variation of उहꣿ/वꣿह)
There are some graphemes, borrowed from Sanskrit, which are written as pronounced in Sanskrit-
LetterSans. Pron.Rom.Maithili Pron.ऋr̩r̥/ṛr̩/rɪॠr̩ːr̥̄/ṝr̩ː/riːऌl̩l̥/ḷl̩/lɪऐae̯ː / aːɪ̯ variousऔao̯ː / aːʊ̯ various
Consonants Maithili has four classes of stops, one class of affricate, which is generally treated as a stop series, related nasals, fricatives and approximant.
LabialDental/AlveolarRetroflexPalatalVelarGlottal NasalunaspiratedScript () Rom.mnṇñṅaspiratedScript () () () Rom.mhnhṇhñhṅh Plosive/Affricate voiceless unaspiratedScript Rom.ptṭck aspiratedScript Rom.phthṭhchkh voiced unaspiratedScript Rom.bdḍjg aspiratedScript Rom.bhdhḍhjhgh Fricative voicelessScript (~) before [p] and [ph]. () () () before [k] and [kh]. -()* Rom.ḫsṣ/sś/sḫ(x)ḥ voicedScript () after [ɦ]. Rom.y(ž)h Rhotic unaspiratedScript ~ () Rom.rṛ aspiratedScript () Rom.rhṛh LateralunaspiratedScript Rom.laspiratedScript Rom.lh ApproximantScript (~) () Rom.vy
Fricative sounds only occur marginally, and are typically pronounced as a dental fricative in most styles of pronunciation. - both are defective phonemes, occurring intervocalically and word finally only if preceded by a nasal consonant. Word finally and postvocalically, surfaces as . Non-initially, both are interchangeable with and respectively. Approximant sounds and fricative sounds , mainly occur in words that are borrowed from Sanskrit or in words of Perso-Arabic origin. [v, w] are replaced by [b]. Word initial [ʋ, w] can be replaced by [o] in non-tatsama words. Word initial [j], and [j] between [r/ɾ] and central vowels are replaced by [dʑ] in tatsama words, and in rest of the positions by [e]. Word initial [j] can be replaced by ['i] in non-tatsama words. Both [j] and [ʋ/w] can occur due to glide formation. Perso-Arabic and fricatives are generally replaced by [pʰ, dʑ, s, kʰ] respectively, even in orthography, whereas Sanskrit [ɕ, ʂ]) are replaced by [s], but only in speech, in orthography, Sanskrit spelling is often followed, but can be replaced by [s]. [ɸ~f] and [x] are the occurrences of remnants of Sanskrit jihvamuliya and upadhmaniya. The conjunct [ʂp] is pronounced in Maithili e.g. . The conjunct [ɦj] is pronounced as in .
These non-syllabic vowels in Maithili- e̯, o̯ written in Devanagari as य़/य, व.
Stress Stress is not as strong in Maithili as in English. It is useful for determining the pronunciation of अ [a] though. The stress is not indicated in writing in native scripts, though indicated in this section.
Final unpronounced अ [a→∅], final extra short इ' [i] and उ' [u] are not considered for counting syllables for determining the position of stress. Conjunct consonants are considered long. Monosyllabic words have the accent on the single vowel. As in न ˈna "not", ई ˈī "this", के ˈkē "who", and माछ ˈmāch "fish". The accent falls on the final vowel, if it is long and closed (i.e. followed by a consonant or consonant cluster). As in किसा॔न kiˈsān "farmer", दॆखलिꣾ॔न्हि' dekhaliˈainhi "I saw" (object - 3PHon.), and दॆखलहू॔न्हि' dekhalaˈhūnhi "You saw" (object - 3PHon.). The accent falls on the penultimate (i.e. the word being vowel final), if it is long. As in पा॔नि ˈpāni "water", and छॊट॔क्का choˈṭakkā "small" (adj. long form). In non-tatsama words, the accent falls on the antepenultimate in the rest of the cases. As in ह॔मरा ˈhamarā "me", and दॆ॔खलहुँ ˈdekhalahũ "I saw". In tatsama words, the accent falls on the vowel before the antepenultimate. It may alternatively be on the antepenultimate. कु॔टिलता ˈkuṭilatā or कुटि॔लता kuˈṭilatā "deceitfulness". If the initial vowel doesn't have a primary accent (as explained above), it carries a secondary accent. As in कि॓सा॔न ˌkiˈsān, दॆ॓खलिꣾ॔न्हि' ˌdekhaliˈainhi, छॊ॓ट॔क्का ˌchoˈṭakkā, कु॓टि॔लता ˌkuˈṭilatā. Words with a final इ' [i] and उ' [u] always have secondary accent on the preceding vowel, if it doesn't have the primary accent. As in दॆ॔ख॓थि' ˈdēˌkhathi or ˈdeˌkhaith "he/she (Hon.) saw", क॔कर॓हुँ' ˈkakaˌrahũ or kˈakarˌaũh "anyone (acc.)", दॆ॔खल॓हुँ' ˈdekhaˌlahũ or ˈdekhaˌlaũh "I saw". Causative verbs, whether finite or non-finite, have the primary accent on the final vowel of the root verb, if it has four ir less syllables. If more syllables, then it is optional, it may be stressed if it needs to be stressed. As in ह॓टा॔ऎब ˌhaˈtāeb "to remove" (infinitive)/ "I will remove", but प॓हुँचꣿलथी॔न्हि' ˌpahũcăelathˈīnhi or प॓हुँचऻ॔ꣾलथीन्हि' ˌpahũcăˈelathīnhi "he/she (Hon.) sent". अ [a], if unstressed, is always deleted word finally. It is shortened to [a], in other positions, but may be retained if it is not just after the stressed vowel. As in कु॔टिलता ˈkuṭilatā "deceitfulness". Here [a] after [l] is retained, even though it is unstressed.
Rule of the Short Antepenultimate This peculiar rule was first observed by Hoernle, but properly described by Grierson. It is a very important and essential rule for Maithili and other Bihari languages.
For this rule the final unpronounced अ [a→∅], final extra short इ' [i] and उ' [u] are not considered for counting syllables, and diphthongs are considered as separate syllables, except for the verbal suffices ꣾ [ai] ॵ [au], which are otherwise considered as अइ and अउ for this rule. Any long monophthong, in antepenultimate position is shortened, if it is not followed by the euphonics य or व/अ (pronounced [a]). As in बऻतिया bătiyā (the talk), ॴगिया ăgiyā (the fire), नऻउआ/नॏआ năuā (the barber), मऻरलक măralak (he/she/it killed/beaten), सिखलक sikhalak (he/she/it learned), दॆखलक dekhalak (he/she/it saw), सुतलन्हि' sutalanhi (he/she slept), but सीयलक sīalak (he/she/it sewed), चूअलऻह cualăh (it/he/she dripped). ॴ [ā] is often replaced by अ [a], when there is no confusion in meaning. As in बऻतिया/बतिया bătiyā/batiyā, and ॴगिया/अगिया ăgiya/agiyā. In verbs, the difference between the two is very important for the difference in the meaning. As in मऻरलहुँ' măralahũ (I killed) v/s मरलहुँ maralahũ (I was killed). In verbs, therefore the difference is always maintained. Any long monophthong in a position further removed from antepenultimate position is always shortened, whether followed by euphonic syllable or not. As in चुअलकꣿ cualakai (it/he/she dripped), हॊइꣾ hoiai (I become), दॆखितिॵ dekhitiau (if I had seen you (Non-Hon.)). Doubled consonants are shortened to single, and the vowel before nasal conjuncts are nasalised, and the nasal consonant is removed, or alternatively the conjunct is converted to the corresponding nasal consonant, if they are to be shortened. As in छॊटकवा choṭakavā (small), बँधुआ bãdhuā or बन्हुआ banhuā (bound).
Morphology Nouns Nouns in Maithili can be roughly characterized into four genders- Masculine, Feminine, Neuter and Common. Unmarked nouns can be of any gender. Marked nouns are those nouns, which can be distinguished by its suffix. Marked nouns are mostly either Masculine-neuter or Feminine.(Masculine and neuter, and sometimes even common gender are distinguished, if the word is of tatsama origin). There is no grammatical gender however, i.e. nouns can be distinguished by the suffix in the marked nouns, and overall by the origin of the word, but that doesn't affect other parts of speech. (There are some forms, but are optional and obsolete, and are generally ignored in modern speech and writing). The only instance, where grammatical agreement occurs are adjectives, which are also optional, and in spoken language, often ignored altogether. Maithili is therefore often considered to be lacking grammatical gender altogether. It might have marked nouns, but they rarely form an agreement with the verb.
Similarly, grammatical number is also absent. There are some forms of plural present, but there is no grammatical distinction. Periphrastic plural is used, but again there is no grammatical distinction.