128 Mulaksher In Egllish Grammer

The Vachanamrut - Spiritual Discourses of Swaminarayan (An English Translation). The Swaminarayan Sampraday Gunatitanand Swami was referred to as Mul-Akshar Murti/Brahm. Gopalanand Swami pursued deep study and showed great interest of grammar, Indian philosophy of Nyaya and Vedanta.

1. Tenses In English Grammar
2. How To Learn English Grammar
3. Free English Grammar Lessons

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English grammar is the way in which meanings are encoded into wordings in the English language. This includes the structure of words, phrases, clauses, and sentences, right up to the structure of whole texts.

There are historical, social, cultural and regional variations of English. Divergences from the grammar described here occur in some dialects. This article describes a generalized present-day Standard English – a form of speech and writing used in public discourse, including broadcasting, education, entertainment, government, and news, over a range of registers from formal to informal. There are differences in grammar between the standard forms of British, American, and Australian English, although these are more minor than differences in vocabulary and pronunciation.

Modern English has largely abandoned the inflectionalcase system of Indo-European in favor of analytic constructions. The personal pronouns retain morphological case more strongly than any other word class (a remnant of the more extensive Germanic case system of Old English). For other pronouns, and all nouns, adjectives, and articles, grammatical function is indicated only by word order, by prepositions, and by the 'Saxon genitive or English possessive' (-'s).^[1]

Eight 'word classes' or 'parts of speech' are commonly distinguished in English: nouns, determiners, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, and conjunctions. Nouns form the largest word class, and verbs the second-largest. Unlike many Indo-European languages, English nouns do not have grammatical gender.

• 1Word classes and phrases
  • 1.1Nouns
  • 1.3Pronouns
  • 1.4Verbs
  • 1.5Adjectives
  • 1.6Adverbs
• 3Clause and sentence structure
• 7Further reading

Word classes and phrases[edit]

Nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs form open classes – word classes that readily accept new members, such as the noun celebutante (a celebrity who frequents the fashion circles), and other similar relatively new words.^[2] The others are considered to be closed classes. For example, it is rare for a new pronoun to enter the language. Determiners, traditionally classified along with adjectives, have not always been regarded as a separate part of speech. Interjections are another word class, but these are not described here as they do not form part of the clause and sentence structure of the language.^[2]

English words are not generally marked for word class. It is not usually possible to tell from the form of a word which class it belongs to except, to some extent, in the case of words with inflectional endings or derivational suffixes. On the other hand, most words belong to more than one word class. For example, run can serve as either a verb or a noun (these are regarded as two different lexemes).^[3] Lexemes may be inflected to express different grammatical categories. The lexeme run has the forms runs, ran, runny, runner, and running.^[3] Words in one class can sometimes be derived from those in another. This has the potential to give rise to new words. The noun aerobics has recently given rise to the adjective aerobicized.^[3]

Words combine to form phrases. A phrase typically serves the same function as a word from some particular word class.^[3] For example, my very good friend Peter is a phrase that can be used in a sentence as if it were a noun, and is therefore called a noun phrase. Similarly, adjectival phrases and adverbial phrases function as if they were adjectives or adverbs, but with other types of phrases the terminology has different implications. For example, a verb phrase consists of a verb together with any objects and other dependents; a prepositional phrase consists of a preposition and its complement (and is therefore usually a type of adverbial phrase); and a determiner phrase is a type of noun phrase containing a determiner.

Nouns[edit]

There are many common suffixes used to form nouns from other nouns or from other types of words, such as -age (as in shrinkage), -hood (as in sisterhood), and so on,^[3] although many nouns are base forms not containing any such suffix (such as cat, grass, France). Nouns are also often created by conversion of verbs or adjectives, as with the words talk and reading (a boring talk, the assigned reading).

Nouns are sometimes classified semantically (by their meanings) as proper nouns and common nouns (Cyrus, China vs. frog, milk) or as concrete nouns and abstract nouns (book, laptop vs. heat, prejudice).^[4] A grammatical distinction is often made between count (countable) nouns such as clock and city, and non-count (uncountable) nouns such as milk and decor.^[5] Some nouns can function both as countable and as uncountable such as the word 'wine' (This is a good wine, I prefer red wine).

Countable nouns generally have singular and plural forms.^[4] In most cases the plural is formed from the singular by adding -[e]s (as in dogs, bushes), although there are also irregular forms (woman/women, foot/feet, etc.), including cases where the two forms are identical (sheep, series). For more details, see English plural. Certain nouns can be used with plural verbs even though they are singular in form, as in The government were ... (where the government is considered to refer to the people constituting the government). This is a form of synesis; it is more common in British than American English. See English plural § Singulars with collective meaning treated as plural.

English nouns are not marked for case as they are in some languages, but they have possessive forms, through the addition of -'s (as in John's, children's) or just an apostrophe (with no change in pronunciation) in the case of -[e]s plurals and sometimes other words ending with -s (the dogs' owners, Jesus' love). More generally, the ending can be applied to noun phrases (as in the man you saw yesterday's sister); see below. The possessive form can be used either as a determiner (John's cat) or as a noun phrase (John's is the one next to Jane's).

The status of the possessive as an affix or a clitic is the subject of debate.^[6][7] It differs from the noun inflection of languages such as German, in that the genitive ending may attach to the last word of the phrase. To account for this, the possessive can be analysed, for instance as a clitic construction (an 'encliticpostposition'^[8]) or as an inflection^[9][10] of the last word of a phrase ('edge inflection').

Phrases[edit]

Noun phrases are phrases that function grammatically as nouns within sentences, for example as the subject or object of a verb. Most noun phrases have a noun as their head.^[5]

An English noun phrase typically takes the following form (not all elements need be present):

In this structure:

• the determiner may be an article (the, a[n]) or other equivalent word, as described in the following section. In many contexts it is required for a noun phrase to include some determiner.
• pre-modifiers include adjectives and some adjective phrases (such as red, really lovely), and noun adjuncts (such as college in the phrase the college student). Adjectival modifiers usually come before noun adjuncts.
• a complement or postmodifier^[5] may be a prepositional phrase (... of London), a relative clause (like ...which we saw yesterday), certain adjective or participial phrases (... sitting on the beach), or a dependent clause or infinitive phrase appropriate to the noun (like ... that the world is round after a noun such as fact or statement, or ... to travel widely after a noun such as desire).

An example of a noun phrase that includes all of the above-mentioned elements is that rather attractive young college student to whom you were talking. Here that is the determiner, rather attractive and young are adjectival pre-modifiers, college is a noun adjunct, student is the noun serving as the head of the phrase, and to whom you were talking is a post-modifier (a relative clause in this case). Notice the order of the pre-modifiers; the determiner that must come first and the noun adjunct college must come after the adjectival modifiers.

Coordinating conjunctions such as and, or, and but can be used at various levels in noun phrases, as in John, Paul, and Mary; the matching green coat and hat; a dangerous but exciting ride; a person sitting down or standing up. See § Conjunctions below for more explanation.

Noun phrases can also be placed in apposition (where two consecutive phrases refer to the same thing), as in that president, Abraham Lincoln, ... (where that president and Abraham Lincoln are in apposition). In some contexts the same can be expressed by a prepositional phrase, as in the twin curses of famine and pestilence (meaning 'the twin curses' that are 'famine and pestilence').

Particular forms of noun phrases include:

• phrases formed by the determiner the with an adjective, as in the homeless, the English (these are plural phrases referring to homeless people or English people in general);
• phrases with a pronoun rather than a noun as the head (see below);
• phrases consisting just of a possessive;
• infinitive and gerund phrases, in certain positions;
• certain clauses, such as that clauses and relative clauses like what he said, in certain positions.

Gender[edit]

A system of grammatical gender, whereby every noun was treated as either masculine, feminine or neuter, existed in Old English, but fell out of use during the Middle English period. Modern English retains features relating to natural gender, namely the use of certain nouns and pronouns (such as he and she) to refer specifically to persons or animals of one or other genders and certain others (such as it) for sexless objects – although feminine pronouns are sometimes used when referring to ships (and more uncommonly some airplanes and analogous machinery) and nation states.

Some aspects of gender usage in English have been influenced by the movement towards a preference for gender-neutral language. Animals are triple-gender nouns, being able to take masculine, feminine and neuter pronouns.^[11] Generally there is no difference between male and female in English nouns. However, gender is occasionally exposed by different shapes or dissimilar words when referring to people or animals.^[12]

Many nouns that mention people's roles and jobs can refer to either a masculine or a feminine subject, for instance 'cousin', 'teenager', 'teacher', 'doctor', 'student', 'friend', and 'colleague'.^[12]

• Jane is my friend. She is a dentist.
• Paul is my cousin. He is a dentist.

Often the gender distinction for these neutral nouns is established by inserting the words 'male' or 'female'.^[12]

• Sam is a female doctor.
• No, he is not my boyfriend; he is just a male friend.
• I have three female cousins and two male cousins.

Rarely, nouns illustrating things with no gender are referred to with a gendered pronoun to convey familiarity. It is also standard to use the gender-neutral pronoun (it).^[12]

• I love my car. She (the car) is my greatest passion.
• France is popular with her (France's) neighbors at the moment.
• I travelled from England to New York on the Queen Elizabeth; she (the Queen Elizabeth) is a great ship.

Determiners[edit]

English determiners constitute a relatively small class of words. They include the articlesthe, a[n], certain demonstrative and interrogative words such as this, that, and which, possessives such as my and whose (the role of determiner can also be played by noun possessive forms such as John's and the girl's), various quantifying words like all, some, many, various, and numerals (one, two, etc.). There are also many phrases (such as a couple of) that can play the role of determiners.

Determiners are used in the formation of noun phrases (see above). Many words that serve as determiners can also be used as pronouns (this, that, many, etc.)

Determiners can be used in certain combinations, such as all the water and the many problems.

In many contexts, it is required for a noun phrase to be completed with an article or some other determiner. It is not grammatical to say just cat sat on table; one must say my cat sat on the table. The most common situations in which a complete noun phrase can be formed without a determiner are when it refers generally to a whole class or concept (as in dogs are dangerous and beauty is subjective) and when it is a name (Jane, Spain, etc.) This is discussed in more detail at English articles and Zero article in English.

Pronouns[edit]

Pronouns are a relatively small, closed class of words that function in the place of nouns or noun phrases. They include personal pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, relative pronouns, interrogative pronouns, and some others, mainly indefinite pronouns.

Personal[edit]

The personal pronouns of modern standard English, and the corresponding possessive forms, are as follows:

The second-person forms such as you are used with both singular and plural reference. In the Southern United States, y'all (you all) is used as a plural form, and various other phrases such as you guys are used in other places. An archaic set of second-person pronouns used for singular reference is thou, thee, thyself, thy, thine, which are still used in religious services and can be seen in older works, such as Shakespeare's - in such texts, the you set of pronouns are used for plural reference, or with singular reference as a formal V-form. You can also be used as an indefinite pronoun, referring to a person in general (see generic you) compared to the more formal alternative, one (reflexive oneself, possessive one's).

The third-person singular forms are differentiated according to the sex of the referent. For example, she is used to refer to a female person, sometimes a female animal, and sometimes an object to which female characteristics are attributed, such as a ship or a country. A male person, and sometimes a male animal, is referred to using he. In other cases it can be used. (See Gender in English.) The word it can also be used as a dummy subject, in sentences like It is going to be sunny this afternoon.

The third-person plural forms such as they are sometimes used with singular reference, as a gender-neutral pronoun, as in each employee should ensure they tidy their desk. Despite its long history, this usage is sometimes considered ungrammatical. (See singular they.)

The possessive determiners such as my are used as determiners together with nouns, as in my old man, some of his friends. The second possessive forms like mine are used when they do not qualify a noun: as pronouns, as in mine is bigger than yours, and as predicates, as in this one is mine. Note also the construction a friend of mine (meaning 'someone who is my friend'). See English possessive for more details.

Demonstrative and interrogative[edit]

The demonstrative pronouns of English are this (plural these), and that (plural those), as in these are good, I like that. Note that all four words can also be used as determiners (followed by a noun), as in those cars. They can also form the alternative pronominal expressions this/that one, these/those ones.

The interrogative pronouns are who, what, and which (all of them can take the suffix -ever for emphasis). The pronoun who refers to a person or people; it has an oblique form whom (though in informal contexts this is usually replaced by who), and a possessive form (pronoun or determiner) whose. The pronoun what refers to things or abstracts. The word which is used to ask about alternatives from what is seen as a closed set: which (of the books) do you like best? (It can also be an interrogative determiner: which book?; this can form the alternative pronominal expressions which one and which ones.) Which, who, and what can be either singular or plural, although who and what often take a singular verb regardless of any supposed number. For more information see who.

All the interrogative pronouns can also be used as relative pronouns; see below for more details.

Relative[edit]

The main relative pronouns in English are who (with its derived forms whom and whose), which, and that.^[13]

The relative pronoun which refers to things rather than persons, as in the shirt, which used to be red, is faded. For persons, who is used (the man who saw me was tall). The oblique case form of who is whom, as in the man whom I saw was tall, although in informal registerswho is commonly used in place of whom.

The possessive form of who is whose (the man whose car is missing ...); however the use of whose is not restricted to persons (one can say an idea whose time has come).

The word that as a relative pronoun is normally found only in restrictive relative clauses (unlike which and who, which can be used in both restrictive and unrestrictive clauses). It can refer to either persons or things, and cannot follow a preposition. For example, one can say the song that [or which] I listened to yesterday, but the song to which [not to that] I listened yesterday. The relative pronoun that is usually pronounced with a reduced vowel (schwa), and hence differently from the demonstrative that (see Weak and strong forms in English). If that is not the subject of the relative clause, it can be omitted (the song I listened to yesterday).

The word what can be used to form a free relative clause – one that has no antecedent and that serves as a complete noun phrase in itself, as in I like what he likes. The words whatever and whichever can be used similarly, in the role of either pronouns (whatever he likes) or determiners (whatever book he likes). When referring to persons, who(ever) (and whom(ever)) can be used in a similar way (but not as determiners).

'There'[edit]

The word there is used as a pronoun in some sentences, playing the role of a dummy subject, normally of an intransitive verb. The 'logical subject' of the verb then appears as a complement after the verb.

This use of there occurs most commonly with forms of the verb be in existential clauses, to refer to the presence or existence of something. For example: There is a heaven; There are two cups on the table; There have been a lot of problems lately. It can also be used with other verbs: There exist two major variants; There occurred a very strange incident.

The dummy subject takes the number (singular or plural) of the logical subject (complement), hence it takes a plural verb if the complement is plural. In informal English, however, the contractionthere's is often used for both singular and plural.^[14]

The dummy subject can undergo inversion, Is there a test today? and Never has there been a man such as this. It can also appear without a corresponding logical subject, in short sentences and question tags: There wasn't a discussion, was there? There was.

The word there in such sentences has sometimes been analyzed as an adverb, or as a dummy predicate, rather than as a pronoun.^[15] However, its identification as a pronoun is most consistent with its behavior in inverted sentences and question tags as described above.

Because the word there can also be a deictic adverb (meaning 'at/to that place'), a sentence like There is a river could have either of two meanings: 'a river exists' (with there as a pronoun), and 'a river is in that place' (with there as an adverb). In speech, the adverbial there would be given stress, while the pronoun would not – in fact the pronoun is often pronounced as a weak form, /ðə(r)/.

Other[edit]

Other pronouns in English are often identical in form to determiners (especially quantifiers), such as many, a little, etc. Sometimes, the pronoun form is different, as with none (corresponding to the determiner no), nothing, everyone, somebody, etc. Many examples are listed as indefinite pronouns. Another indefinite (or impersonal) pronoun is one (with its reflexive form oneself and possessive one's), which is a more formal alternative to generic you.^[16]

Verbs[edit]

The basic form of an English verb is not generally marked by any ending, although there are certain suffixes that are frequently used to form verbs, such as -ate (formulate), -fy (electrify), and -ise/ize (realise/realize).^[17] Many verbs also contain prefixes, such un- (unmask), out- (outlast), over- (overtake), and under- (undervalue).^[17] Verbs can also be formed from nouns and adjectives by zero derivation, as with the verbs snare, nose, dry, and calm.

Most verbs have three or four inflected forms in addition to the base form: a third-person singular present tense form in -(e)s (writes, botches), a present participle and gerund form in -ing (writing), a past tense (wrote), and – though often identical to the past tense form – a past participle (written). Regular verbs have identical past tense and past participle forms in -ed, but there are 100 or so irregular English verbs with different forms (see list). The verbs have, do and say also have irregular third-person present tense forms (has, does/dʌz/, says/sɛz/). The verb be has the largest number of irregular forms (am, is, are in the present tense, was, were in the past tense, been for the past participle).

Most of what are often referred to as verb tenses (or sometimes aspects) in English are formed using auxiliary verbs. Apart from what are called the simple present (write, writes) and simple past (wrote), there are also continuous (progressive) forms (am/is/are/was/were writing), perfect forms (have/has/had written, and the perfect continuous have/has/had been writing), future forms (will write, will be writing, will have written, will have been writing), and conditionals (also called 'future in the past') with would in place of will. The auxiliaries shall and should sometimes replace will and would in the first person. For the uses of these various verb forms, see English verbs and English clause syntax.

The basic form of the verb (be, write, play) is used as the infinitive, although there is also a 'to-infinitive' (to be, to write, to play) used in many syntactical constructions. There are also infinitives corresponding to other aspects: (to) have written, (to) be writing, (to) have been writing. The second-person imperative is identical to the (basic) infinitive; other imperative forms may be made with let (let us go, or let's go; let them eat cake).

A form identical to the infinitive can be used as a present subjunctive in certain contexts: It is important that he follow them or ... that he be committed to the cause. There is also a past subjunctive (distinct from the simple past only in the possible use of were instead of was), used in some conditional sentences and similar: if I were (or was) rich ...; were he to arrive now ...; I wish she were (or was) here. For details see English subjunctive.

The passive voice is formed using the verb be (in the appropriate tense or form) with the past participle of the verb in question: cars are driven, he was killed, I am being tickled, it is nice to be pampered, etc. The performer of the action may be introduced in a prepositional phrase with by (as in they were killed by the invaders).

The English modal verbs consist of the core modals can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would, as well as ought (to), had better, and in some uses dare and need.^[18] These do not inflect for person or number,^[18] and do not have infinitive or participle forms (except synonyms, as with be/being/been able (to) for the modals can/could). The modals are used with the basic infinitive form of a verb (I can swim, he may be killed, we dare not move, need they go?), except for ought, which takes to (you ought to go).

The copulabe, along with the modal verbs and the other auxiliaries, form a distinct class, sometimes called 'special verbs' or simply 'auxiliaries'.^[19] These have different syntax from ordinary lexical verbs, especially in that they make their interrogative forms by plain inversion with the subject, and their negative forms by adding not after the verb (could I ...? I could not ...). Apart from those already mentioned, this class may also include used to (although the forms did he use to? and he didn't use to are also found), and sometimes have even when not an auxiliary (forms like have you a sister? and he hadn't a clue are possible, though becoming less common). It also includes the auxiliary do (does, did); this is used with the basic infinitive of other verbs (those not belonging to the 'special verbs' class) to make their question and negation forms, as well as emphatic forms (do I like you?; he doesn't speak English; we did close the fridge). For more details of this, see do-support.

Some forms of the copula and auxiliaries often appear as contractions, as in I'm for I am, you'd for you would or you had, and John's for John is. Their negated forms with following not are also often contracted (see § Negation below). For detail see English auxiliaries and contractions.

Phrases[edit]

A verb together with its dependents, excluding its subject, may be identified as a verb phrase (although this concept is not acknowledged in all theories of grammar^[20]). A verb phrase headed by a finite verb may also be called a predicate. The dependents may be objects, complements, and modifiers (adverbs or adverbial phrases). In English, objects and complements nearly always come after the verb; a direct object precedes other complements such as prepositional phrases, but if there is an indirect object as well, expressed without a preposition, then that precedes the direct object: give me the book, but give the book to me. Adverbial modifiers generally follow objects, although other positions are possible (see under § Adverbs below). Certain verb–modifier combinations, particularly when they have independent meaning (such as take on and get up), are known as 'phrasal verbs'.

For details of possible patterns, see English clause syntax. See the Non-finite clauses section of that article for verb phrases headed by non-finite verb forms, such as infinitives and participles.

Adjectives[edit]

English adjectives, as with other word classes, cannot in general be identified as such by their form,^[21] although many of them are formed from nouns or other words by the addition of a suffix, such as -al (habitual), -ful (blissful), -ic (atomic), -ish (impish, youngish), -ous (hazardous), etc.; or from other adjectives using a prefix: disloyal, irredeemable, unforeseen, overtired.

Adjectives may be used attributively, as part of a noun phrase (nearly always preceding the noun they modify; for exceptions see postpositive adjective), as in the big house, or predicatively, as in the house is big. Certain adjectives are restricted to one or other use; for example, drunken is attributive (a drunken sailor), while drunk is usually predicative (the sailor was drunk).

Comparison[edit]

Many adjectives have comparative and superlative forms in -er and -est,^[22] such as faster and fastest (from the positive form fast). Spelling rules which maintain pronunciation apply to suffixing adjectives just as they do for similar treatment of regular past tense formation; these cover consonant doubling (as in bigger and biggest, from big) and the change of y to i after consonants (as in happier and happiest, from happy).

The adjectives good and bad have the irregular forms better, best and worse, worst; also far becomes farther, farthest or further, furthest. The adjective old (for which the regular older and oldest are usual) also has the irregular forms elder and eldest, these generally being restricted to use in comparing siblings and in certain independent uses. For the comparison of adverbs, see Adverbs below.

Many adjectives, however, particularly those that are longer and less common, do not have inflected comparative and superlative forms. Instead, they can be qualified with more and most, as in beautiful, more beautiful, most beautiful (this construction is also sometimes used even for adjectives for which inflected forms do exist).

Certain adjectives are classed as ungradable.^[22] These represent properties that cannot be compared on a scale; they simply apply or do not, as with pregnant, dead, unique. Consequently, comparative and superlative forms of such adjectives are not normally used, except in a figurative, humorous or imprecise context. Similarly, such adjectives are not normally qualified with modifiers of degree such as very and fairly, although with some of them it is idiomatic to use adverbs such as completely. Another type of adjectives sometimes considered ungradable is those that represent an extreme degree of some property, such as delicious and terrified.

Phrases[edit]

An adjective phrase is a group of words that plays the role of an adjective in a sentence. It usually has a single adjective as its head, to which modifiers and complements may be added.^[23]

Adjectives can be modified by a preceding adverb or adverb phrase, as in very warm, truly imposing, more than a little excited. Some can also be preceded by a noun or quantitative phrase, as in fat-free, two-metre-long.

Complements following the adjective may include:

• prepositional phrases: proud of him, angry at the screen, keen on breeding toads;
• infinitive phrases: anxious to solve the problem, easy to pick up;
• content clauses, i.e. that clauses and certain others: certain that he was right, unsure where they are;
• after comparatives, phrases or clauses with than: better than you, smaller than I had imagined.

An adjective phrase may include both modifiers before the adjective and a complement after it, as in very difficult to put away.

Adjective phrases containing complements after the adjective cannot normally be used as attributive adjectives before a noun. Sometimes they are used attributively after the noun, as in a woman proud of being a midwife (where they may be converted into relative clauses: a woman who is proud of being a midwife), but it is wrong to say *a proud of being a midwife woman. Exceptions include very brief and often established phrases such as easy-to-use. (Certain complements can be moved to after the noun, leaving the adjective before the noun, as in a better man than you, a hard nut to crack.)

Certain attributive adjective phrases are formed from other parts of speech, without any adjective as their head, as in a two-bedroom house, a no-jeans policy.

Adverbs[edit]

Adverbs perform a wide range of functions. They typically modify verbs (or verb phrases), adjectives (or adjectival phrases), or other adverbs (or adverbial phrases).^[24] However, adverbs also sometimes qualify noun phrases (only the boss; quite a lovely place), pronouns and determiners (almost all), prepositional phrases (halfway through the movie), or whole sentences, to provide contextual comment or indicate an attitude (Frankly, I don't believe you).^[25] They can also indicate a relationship between clauses or sentences (He died, and consequently I inherited the estate).^[25]

Many English adverbs are formed from adjectives by adding the ending -ly, as in hopefully, widely, theoretically (for details of spelling and etymology, see -ly). Certain words can be used as both adjectives and adverbs, such as fast, straight, and hard; these are flat adverbs. In earlier usage more flat adverbs were accepted in formal usage; many of these survive in idioms and colloquially. (That's just plain ugly.) Some adjectives can also be used as flat adverbs when they actually describe the subject. (The streaker ran naked, not **The streaker ran nakedly.) The adverb corresponding to the adjective good is well (note that bad forms the regular badly, although ill is occasionally used in some phrases).

There are also many adverbs that are not derived from adjectives,^[24] including adverbs of time, of frequency, of place, of degree and with other meanings. Some suffixes that are commonly used to form adverbs from nouns are -ward[s] (as in homeward[s]) and -wise (as in lengthwise).

Most adverbs form comparatives and superlatives by modification with more and most: often, more often, most often; smoothly, more smoothly, most smoothly (see also comparison of adjectives, above). However, a few adverbs retain irregular inflection for comparative and superlative forms:^[24]much, more, most; a little, less, least; well, better, best; badly, worse, worst; far, further (farther), furthest (farthest); or follow the regular adjectival inflection: fast, faster, fastest; soon, sooner, soonest; etc.

Adverbs indicating the manner of an action are generally placed after the verb and its objects (We considered the proposal carefully), although other positions are often possible (We carefully considered the proposal). Many adverbs of frequency, degree, certainty, etc. (such as often, always, almost, probably, and various others such as just) tend to be placed before the verb (they usually have chips), although if there is an auxiliary or other 'special verb' (see § Verbs above), then the normal position for such adverbs is after that special verb (or after the first of them, if there is more than one): I have just finished the crossword; She can usually manage a pint; We are never late; You might possibly have been unconscious. Adverbs that provide a connection with previous information (such as next, then, however), and those that provide the context (such as time or place) for a sentence, are typically placed at the start of the sentence: Yesterday we went on a shopping expedition.^[26]

A special type of adverb is the adverbial particle used to form phrasal verbs (such as up in pick up, on in get on, etc.) If such a verb also has an object, then the particle may precede or follow the object, although it will normally follow the object if the object is a pronoun (pick the pen up or pick up the pen, but pick it up).

Phrases[edit]

An adverb phrase is a phrase that acts as an adverb within a sentence.^[27] An adverb phrase may have an adverb as its head, together with any modifiers (other adverbs or adverb phrases) and complements, analogously to the adjective phrases described above. For example: very sleepily; all too suddenly; oddly enough; perhaps shockingly for us.

Another very common type of adverb phrase is the prepositional phrase, which consists of a preposition and its object: in the pool; after two years; for the sake of harmony.

Prepositions[edit]

Prepositions form a closed word class,^[25] although there are also certain phrases that serve as prepositions, such as in front of. A single preposition may have a variety of meanings, often including temporal, spatial and abstract. Many words that are prepositions can also serve as adverbs. Examples of common English prepositions (including phrasal instances) are of, in, on, over, under, to, from, with, in front of, behind, opposite, by, before, after, during, through, in spite of or despite, between, among, etc.

A preposition is usually used with a noun phrase as its complement. A preposition together with its complement is called a prepositional phrase.^[28] Examples are in England, under the table, after six pleasant weeks, between the land and the sea. A prepositional phrase can be used as a complement or post-modifier of a noun in a noun phrase, as in the man in the car, the start of the fight; as a complement of a verb or adjective, as in deal with the problem, proud of oneself; or generally as an adverb phrase (see above).

English allows the use of 'stranded' prepositions. This can occur in interrogative and relative clauses, where the interrogative or relative pronoun that is the preposition's complement is moved to the start (fronted), leaving the preposition in place. This kind of structure is avoided in some kinds of formal English. For example:

• What are you talking about? (Possible alternative version: About what are you talking?)
• The song that you were listening to ... (more formal: The song to which you were listening ...)

Notice that in the second example the relative pronoun that could be omitted.

Stranded prepositions can also arise in passive voice constructions and other uses of passive past participial phrases, where the complement in a prepositional phrase can become zero in the same way that a verb's direct object would: it was looked at; I will be operated on; get your teeth seen to. The same can happen in certain uses of infinitive phrases: he is nice to talk to; this is the page to make copies of.

Conjunctions[edit]

Conjunctions express a variety of logical relations between items, phrases, clauses and sentences.^[29] The principal coordinating conjunctions in English are and, or, and but, as well as nor, so, yet, and for. These can be used in many grammatical contexts to link two or more items of equal grammatical status,^[29] for example:

• Noun phrases combined into a longer noun phrase, such as John, Eric, and Jill, the red coat or the blue one. When and is used, the resulting noun phrase is plural. A determiner does not need to be repeated with the individual elements: the cat, the dog, and the mouse and the cat, dog, and mouse are both correct. The same applies to other modifiers. (The word but can be used here in the sense of 'except': nobody but you.)
• Adjective or adverb phrases combined into a longer adjective or adverb phrase: tired but happy, over the fields and far away.
• Verbs or verb phrases combined as in he washed, peeled, and diced the turnips (verbs conjoined, object shared); he washed the turnips, peeled them, and diced them (full verb phrases, including objects, conjoined).
• Other equivalent items linked, such as prefixes linked in pre- and post-test counselling,^[30] numerals as in two or three buildings, etc.
• Clauses or sentences linked, as in We came, but they wouldn't let us in. They wouldn't let us in, nor would they explain what we had done wrong.

There are also correlative conjunctions, where as well as the basic conjunction, an additional element appears before the first of the items being linked.^[29] The common correlatives in English are:

• either ... or (either a man or a woman);
• neither ... nor (neither clever nor funny);
• both ... and (they both punished and rewarded them);
• not ... but, particularly in not only ... but also (not exhausted but exhilarated, not only football but also many other sports).

Subordinating conjunctions make relations between clauses, making the clause in which they appear into a subordinate clause.^[31] Some common subordinating conjunctions in English are:

• conjunctions of time, including after, before, since, until, when, while;
• conjunctions of cause and effect, including because, since, now that, as, in order that, so;
• conjunctions of opposition or concession, such as although, though, even though, whereas, while;
• conjunctions of condition: such as if, unless, only if, whether or not, even if, in case (that);
• the conjunction that, which produces content clauses, as well as words that produce interrogative content clauses: whether, where, when, how, etc.

A subordinating conjunction generally comes at the very start of its clause, although many of them can be preceded by qualifying adverbs, as in probably because ..., especially if .... The conjunction that can be omitted after certain verbs, as in she told us (that) she was ready. (For the use of that in relative clauses, see § Relative pronouns above.)

Case[edit]

Although English has largely lost its case system, personal pronouns still have three morphological cases that are simplified forms of the nominative, objective and genitive cases:^[32]

• The nominative case (subjective pronouns such as I, he, she, we, they, who, whoever), used for the subject of a finite verb and sometimes for the complement of a copula.
• The oblique case (object pronouns such as me, him, her, us, it, us, them, whom, whomever), used for the direct or indirect object of a verb, for the object of a preposition, for an absolute disjunct, and sometimes for the complement of a copula.
• The genitive case (possessive pronouns such as my/mine, his, her(s), our(s), its, our(s), their, theirs, whose), used for a grammatical possessor. This is not always considered to be a case; see English possessive § Status of the possessive as a grammatical case.

Most English personal pronouns have five forms: the nominative and oblique case forms, the possessive case, which has both a determiner form (such as my, our) and a distinct independent form (such as mine, ours) (with two exceptions: the third person singular masculine and the third person singular neuter it, which use the same form for both determiner and independent [his car, it is his]), and a distinct reflexive or intensive form (such as myself, ourselves). The interrogative personal pronoun who exhibits the greatest diversity of forms within the modern English pronoun system, having definite nominative, oblique, and genitive forms (who, whom, whose) and equivalently coordinating indefinite forms (whoever, whomever, and whosever).

Forms such as I, he, and we are used for the subject ('I kicked the ball'), whereas forms such as me, him and us are used for the object ('John kicked me').^[33]

Declension[edit]

Nouns have distinct singular and plural forms; that is, they decline to reflect their grammatical number; consider the difference between book and books. In addition, a few English pronouns have distinct nominative (also called subjective) and oblique (or objective) forms; that is, they decline to reflect their relationship to a verb or preposition, or case. Consider the difference between he (subjective) and him (objective), as in 'He saw it' and 'It saw him'; similarly, consider who, which is subjective, and the objective whom.

Further, these pronouns and a few others have distinct possessive forms, such as his and whose. By contrast, nouns have no distinct nominative and objective forms, the two being merged into a single plain case. For example, chair does not change form between 'the chair is here' (subject) and 'I saw the chair' (direct object). Possession is shown by the clitic-'s attached to a possessive noun phrase, rather than by declension of the noun itself.^[34]

Negation[edit]

As noted above under § Verbs, a finite indicative verb (or its clause) is negated by placing the word not after an auxiliary, modal or other 'special' verb such as do, can or be. For example, the clause I go is negated with the appearance of the auxiliary do, as I do not go (see do-support). When the affirmative already uses auxiliary verbs (I am going), no other auxiliary verbs are added to negate the clause (I am not going). (Until the period of early Modern English, negation was effected without additional auxiliary verbs: I go not.)

Most combinations of auxiliary verbs etc. with not have contracted forms: don't, can't, isn't, etc. (Also the uncontracted negated form of can is written as a single word cannot.) On inversion of subject and verb (such as in questions; see below), the subject may be placed after a contracted negated form: Should he not pay? or Shouldn't he pay?

Other elements, such as noun phrases, adjectives, adverbs, infinitive and participial phrases, etc., can be negated by placing the word not before them: not the right answer, not interesting, not to enter, not noticing the train, etc.

When other negating words such as never, nobody, etc. appear in a sentence, the negating not is omitted (unlike its equivalents in many languages): I saw nothing or I didn't see anything, but not (except in non-standard speech) *I didn't see nothing (see Double negative). Such negating words generally have corresponding negative polarity items (ever for never, anybody for nobody, etc.) which can appear in a negative context, but are not negative themselves (and can thus be used after a negation without giving rise to double negatives).

Clause and sentence structure[edit]

A typical sentence contains one independent clause and possibly one or more dependent clauses, although it is also possible to link together sentences of this form into longer sentences, using coordinating conjunctions (see above). A clause typically contains a subject (a noun phrase) and a predicate (a verb phrase in the terminology used above; that is, a verb together with its objects and complements). A dependent clause also normally contains a subordinating conjunction (or in the case of relative clauses, a relative pronoun or phrase containing one).

Word order[edit]

English word order has moved from the Germanic verb-second (V2) word order to being almost exclusively subject–verb–object (SVO). The combination of SVO order and use of auxiliary verbs often creates clusters of two or more verbs at the centre of the sentence, such as he had hoped to try to open it. In most sentences English marks grammatical relations only through word order. The subject constituent precedes the verb and the object constituent follows it. The Object–subject–verb (OSV) may on occasion be seen in English, usually in the future tense or used as a contrast with the conjunction 'but', such as in the following examples: 'Rome I shall see!', 'I hate oranges, but apples I'll eat!'.^[35]

Questions[edit]

Tenses In English Grammar

Like many other Western European languages, English historically allowed questions to be formed by inverting the positions of verb and subject. Modern English permits this only in the case of a small class of verbs ('special verbs'), consisting of auxiliaries as well as forms of the copulabe (see subject–auxiliary inversion). To form a question from a sentence which does not have such an auxiliary or copula present, the auxiliary verb do (does, did) needs to be inserted, along with inversion of the word order, to form a question (see do-support). For example:

• She can dance. → Can she dance? (inversion of subject she and auxiliary can)
• I am sitting here. → Am I sitting here? (inversion of subject I and copula am)
• The milk goes in the fridge. → Does the milk go in the fridge? (no special verb present; do-support required)

The above concerns yes-no questions, but inversion also takes place in the same way after other questions, formed with interrogative words such as where, what, how, etc. An exception applies when the interrogative word is the subject or part of the subject, in which case there is no inversion. For example:

• I go. → Where do I go? (wh-question formed using inversion, with do-support required in this case)
• He goes. → Who goes? (no inversion, because the question word who is the subject)

Note that inversion does not apply in indirect questions: I wonder where he is (not *... where is he). Indirect yes-no questions can be expressed using if or whether as the interrogative word: Ask them whether/if they saw him.

Negative questions are formed similarly; however if the verb undergoing inversion has a contraction with not, then it is possible to invert the subject with this contraction as a whole. For example:

• John is going. (affirmative)
• John is not going. / John isn't going. (negative, with and without contraction)
• Isn't John going? / Is John not going? (negative question, with and without contraction respectively)

See also English auxiliaries and contractions § Contractions and inversion.

Dependent clauses[edit]

The syntax of a dependent clause is generally the same as that of an independent clause, except that the dependent clause usually begins with a subordinating conjunction or relative pronoun (or phrase containing such). In some situations (as already described) the conjunction or relative pronoun that can be omitted. Another type of dependent clause with no subordinating conjunction is the conditional clause formed by inversion (see below).

Other uses of inversion[edit]

The clause structure with inverted subject and verb, used to form questions as described above, is also used in certain types of declarative sentence. This occurs mainly when the sentence begins with an adverbial or other phrase that is essentially negative or contains words such as only, hardly, etc.: Never have I known someone so stupid; Only in France can such food be tasted.

In elliptical sentences (see below), inversion takes place after so (meaning 'also') as well as after the negative neither: so do I, neither does she.

Inversion can also be used to form conditional clauses, beginning with should, were (subjunctive), or had, in the following ways:

• should I win the race (equivalent to if I win the race);
• were he a soldier (equivalent to if he were a soldier);
• were he to win the race (equivalent to if he were to win the race, i.e. if he won the race);
• had he won the race (equivalent to if he had won the race).

Other similar forms sometimes appear, but are less common. There is also a construction with subjunctive be, as in be he alive or dead (meaning 'no matter whether he is alive or dead').

Use of inversion to express a third-person imperative is now mostly confined to the expression long live X, meaning 'let X live long'.

Imperatives[edit]

In an imperative sentence (one giving an order), there is usually no subject in the independent clause: Go away until I call you. It is possible, however, to include you as the subject for emphasis: You stay away from me.

Elliptical constructions[edit]

Many types of elliptical construction are possible in English, resulting in sentences that omit certain redundant elements. Various examples are given in the article on Ellipsis.

Some notable elliptical forms found in English include:

• Short statements of the form I can, he isn't, we mustn't. Here the verb phrase (understood from the context) is reduced to a single auxiliary or other 'special' verb, negated if appropriate. If there is no special verb in the original verb phrase, it is replaced by do/does/did: he does, they didn't.
• Clauses that omit the verb, in particular those like me too, nor me, me neither. The latter forms are used after negative statements. (Equivalents including the verb: I do too or so do I; I don't either or neither do I.)
• Tag questions, formed with a special verb and pronoun subject: isn't it?; were there?; am I not?

History of English grammars[edit]

The first published English grammar was a Pamphlet for Grammar of 1586, written by William Bullokar with the stated goal of demonstrating that English was just as rule-based as Latin. Bullokar's grammar was faithfully modeled on William Lily's Latin grammar, Rudimenta Grammatices (1534), used in English schools at that time, having been 'prescribed' for them in 1542 by Henry VIII. Bullokar wrote his grammar in English and used a 'reformed spelling system' of his own invention; but many English grammars, for much of the century after Bullokar's effort, were written in Latin, especially by authors who were aiming to be scholarly. John Wallis's Grammatica Linguae Anglicanae (1685) was the last English grammar written in Latin.

Even as late as the early 19th century, Lindley Murray, the author of one of the most widely used grammars of the day, was having to cite 'grammatical authorities' to bolster the claim that grammatical cases in English are different from those in Ancient Greek or Latin.

English parts of speech are based on Latin and Greek parts of speech.^[36] Some English grammar rules were adopted from Latin, for example John Dryden is thought to have created the rule no sentences can end in a preposition because Latin cannot end sentences in prepositions. The rule of no split infinitives was adopted from Latin because Latin has no split infinitives.^[37][38][39]

See also[edit]

Notes and references[edit]

1. ^Payne, John; Huddleston, Rodney (2002). 'Nouns and noun phrases'. In Huddleston, Rodney; Pullum, Geoffrey (eds.). The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press. pp. 479–481. ISBN0-521-43146-8. We conclude that both head and phrasal genitives involve case inflection. With head genitives it is always a noun that inflects, while the phrasal genitive can apply to words of most classes.
2. ^ ^abCarter & McCarthy 2006, p. 296
3. ^ ^abcdeCarter & McCarthy 2006, p. 297
4. ^ ^abCarter & McCarthy 2006, p. 298
5. ^ ^abcCarter & McCarthy 2006, p. 299
6. ^Hudson, Richard (2013). 'A cognitive analysis of John's hat'. In Börjars, Kersti; Denison, David; Scott, Alan (eds.). Morphosyntactic Categories and the Expression of Possession. John Benjamins Publishing Company. pp. 123–148. ISBN9789027273000.
7. ^Börjars, Kersti; Denison, David; Krajewski, Grzegorz; Scott, Alan (2013). 'Expression of Possession in English'. In Börjars, Kersti; Denison, David; Scott, Alan (eds.). Morphosyntactic Categories and the Expression of Possession. John Benjamins Publishing Company. pp. 149–176. ISBN9789027273000.
8. ^Quirk, Randolph; Greenbaum, Sidney; Leech, Geoffrey; Svartvik, Jan (1985). A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. Harlow: Longman. p. 328. ISBN978-0-582-51734-9. [the -s ending is] more appropriately described as an enclitic postposition'
9. ^Greenbaum, Sidney (1996). The Oxford English Grammar. Oxford University Press. pp. 109–110. ISBN0-19-861250-8. In speech the genitive is signalled in singular nouns by an inflection that has the same pronunciation variants as for plural nouns in the common case
10. ^Quirk, Randolph; Greenbaum, Sidney; Leech, Geoffrey; Svartik, Jan (1985). A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. Longman. p. 319. In writing, the inflection of regular nouns is realized in the singular by apostrophe + s (boy's), and in the regular plural by the apostrophe following the plural s (boys')
11. ^Siemund, Peter (2008). Pronominal Gender in English: A Study of English Varieties form a Cross-Linguistic Perspective. New York: Routledge.
12. ^ ^abcdNOUN GENDERedufind.com
13. ^Some linguists consider that in such sentences to be a complementizer rather than a relative pronoun. See English relative clauses: Status of that.
14. ^Fowler 2015, p. 813
15. ^For a treatment of there as a dummy predicate, based on the analysis of the copula, see Moro, A., The Raising of Predicates. Predicative Noun Phrases and the Theory of Clause Structure, Cambridge Studies in Linguistics, 80, Cambridge University Press, 1997.
16. ^'One Definition'. dictionary.com. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
17. ^ ^abCarter & McCarthy 2006, p. 301
18. ^ ^abCarter & McCarthy 2006, p. 303
19. ^C.D. Sidhu, An Intensive Course in English, Orient Blackswan, 1976, p. 5.
20. ^Dependency grammars reject the concept of finite verb phrases as clause constituents, regarding the subject as a dependent of the verb as well. See the verb phrase article for more information.
21. ^Carter & McCarthy 2006, p. 308
22. ^ ^abCarter & McCarthy 2006, p. 309
23. ^Carter & McCarthy 2006, p. 310
24. ^ ^abcCarter & McCarthy 2006, p. 311
25. ^ ^abcCarter & McCarthy 2006, p. 313
26. ^esl.about.com
27. ^Carter & McCarthy 2006, p. 312
28. ^Carter & McCarthy 2006, pp. 314–315
29. ^ ^abcCarter & McCarthy 2006, p. 315
30. ^British Medical Association, Misuse of Drugs, Chapter 4, 'Constraints of current practice.'
31. ^Carter & McCarthy 2006, p. 316
32. ^The Chambers Dictionary, 11th edition
33. ^Finkenstaedt, Thomas; Dieter Wolff (1973). Ordered profusion; studies in dictionaries and the English lexicon. C. Winter.
34. ^James Clackson (2007) Indo-European linguistics: an introduction, p.90
35. ^Crystal, David (1997). The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN0-521-55967-7.
36. ^Stamper, Kory (2017-01-01). Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. pp. 27–28. ISBN9781101870945.
37. ^'From 'F-Bomb' To 'Photobomb,' How The Dictionary Keeps Up With English'. NPR.org. Retrieved 2017-04-21.
38. ^Stamper, Kory (2017-01-01). Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. p. 47. ISBN9781101870945.
39. ^Stamper, Kory (2017-01-01). Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. p. 44. ISBN9781101870945.

Further reading[edit]

Grammar books[edit]

• Aarts, Bas (2011). Oxford Modern English Grammar. Oxford University Press. p. 410. ISBN978-0-19-953319-0.
• Biber, Douglas; Johansson, Stig; Leech, Geoffrey; Conrad, Susan; Finegan, Edward (1999). Longman grammar of spoken and written English. Pearson Education Limited. p. 1203. ISBN0-582-23725-4.
• Biber, Douglas; Leech, Geoffrey; Conrad, Susan (2002). Longman student grammar of spoken and written English. Pearson Education Limited. p. 487. ISBN0-582-23726-2.
• Bryant, Margaret (1945). A functional English grammar. D.C. Heath and company. p. 326.
• Bryant, Margaret; Momozawa, Chikara (1976). Modern English Syntax. Seibido. p. 157.
• Carter, Ronald; McCarthy, Michael (2006), Cambridge Grammar of English: A Comprehensive Guide, Cambridge University Press, p. 984, ISBN0-521-67439-5 A CD-Rom version is included.
• Celce-Murcia, Marianne; Larsen-Freeman, Diane (1999). The Grammar Book: An ESL/EFL teacher's course, 2nd ed. Heinle & Heinle. p. 854. ISBN0-8384-4725-2.
• Chalker, Sylvia; Weiner, Edmund (eds.). The Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar. Oxford University Press. p. 464. ISBN0-19-280087-6.
• Cobbett, William (1883). A Grammar of the English Language, In a Series of Letters: Intended for the Use of Schools and of Young Persons in General, but more especially for the use of Soldiers, Sailors, Apprentices, and Plough-Boys. New York and Chicago: A. S. Barnes and Company.
• Cobbett, William (2003, originally 1818). A Grammar of the English Language (Oxford Language Classics). Oxford University Press. p. 256. ISBN0-19-860508-0.Check date values in: year= (help)
• Curme, George O., College English Grammar, Richmond, VA, 1925, Johnson Publishing company, 414 pages . A revised edition Principles and Practice of English Grammar was published by Barnes & Noble, in 1947.
• Curme, George O. (1978; original 1931, 1935). A Grammar of the English Language: Volumes I (Parts of Speech) & II (Syntax). Verbatim Books. p. 1045. ISBN0-930454-03-0.Check date values in: year= (help)
• Declerck, Renaat (1990). A Comprehensive Descriptive Grammar of English. Kaitakusha,Tokyo. p. 595. ISBN4-7589-0538-X. Declerck in his introduction (p.vi) states that almost half his grammar is taken up by the topics of tense, aspect and modality. This he contrasts with the 71 pages devoted to these subjects in The Comprehensive Grammar of English. Huddleston and Pullman say they profited from consulting this grammar in their Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. (p. 1765)
• Dekeyser, Xavier; Devriendt, Betty; Tops, Guy A. J.,; Guekens, Steven (2004). Foundations of English Grammar For University Students and Advanced Learners. Uitgeverij Acco, Leuven, Belgium. p. 449. ISBN978-90-334-5637-4.CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link)
• Fowler, H.W. (2015), Butterfield, Jeremy (ed.), Fowler's Dictionary of Modern English Usage, Oxford University Press, p. 813, ISBN978-0-19-966135-0
• Greenbaum, Sidney (1996). Oxford English Grammar. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. p. 672. ISBN0-19-861250-8.
• Greenbaum, Sidney (1990). A Student's Grammar of the English Language. Addison Wesley Publishing Company. p. 496. ISBN0-582-05971-2.
• Halliday, M. A. K.; Matthiessen, Christian M. I. M. (revised by) (2004). An Introduction to Functional Grammar, 3rd. edition. London: Hodder Arnold. p. 700. ISBN0-340-76167-9.CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link)
• Huddleston, Rodney D. (1984) Introduction to the Grammar of English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Huddleston, Rodney D. (1988) English Grammar: An outline. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Huddleston, Rodney D.; Pullum, Geoffrey K., eds. (2002). The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge University Press. p. 1860. ISBN0-521-43146-8.
• Huddleston, Rodney D.; Pullum, Geoffrey K. (2005). A student's introduction to English grammar. Cambridge University Press. p. 320. ISBN0-521-61288-8.
• Jespersen, Otto. (1937). Analytic Syntax. Copenhagen: Levin & Munksgaard, 1937. 170 p.
• Jespersen, Otto. (1909–1949). A modern English grammar on historical principles (Vols. 1-7). Heidelberg: C. Winter.
• Jespersen, Otto (1933). Essentials of English Grammar: 25th impression, 1987. London: Routledge. p. 400. ISBN0-415-10440-8.
• Jonson, Ben (1756). 'The English grammar: Made by Ben Jonson for the benefit of all strangers, out of his observation of the English language now spoken and in use'. The Works of Ben Jonson: Volume 7. London: D. Midwinter et al.
• Kolln, Martha J. (2006). Rhetorical Grammar: Grammatical Choices, Rhetorical Effects, 5th edition. Longman. p. 336. ISBN0-321-39723-1.
• Kolln, Martha J.; Funk, Robert W. (2008). Understanding English Grammar (8th Edition). Longman. p. 453. ISBN0-205-62690-4.
• Korsakov, A. K. (Andreĭ Konstantinovich). 1969. The use of tenses in English. Korsakov, A. K. Structure of Modern English pt. 1. oai:gial.edu:26766 at http://www.language-archives.org/item/oai:gial.edu:26766
• Maetzner, Eduard Adolf Ferdinand, 1805–1892. (1873). An English grammar; methodical, analytical, and historical. J. Murray, London.CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link)Three Volumes, translated by Clair James Grece from the German edition Englische Grammatik: Die Lehre von der Wort- und Satzfügung. Professor Whitney in his Essentials of English Grammar recommends the German original stating 'there is an English version, but it is hardly to be used.' (p. vi)
• Meyer-Myklestad, J., (1967). An Advanced English Grammar for Students and Teachers. Universitetsforlaget-Oslo. p. 627.CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link)
• Morenberg, Max (2002). Doing Grammar, 3rd edition. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 352. ISBN0-19-513840-6.
• Poutsma, Hendrik. A grammar of late modern English, Groningen, P. Noordhoff, 1914–29, 2 pt. in 5 v. Contents: pt. I. The sentence: 1st half. The elements of the sentence, 1928. 2d half. The composite sentence, 1929.--pt. II. The parts of speech: section I, A. Nouns, adjectives and articles, 1914. section I, B. Pronouns and numerals, 1916. section II. The verb and the particles, 1926.
• Quirk, Randolph; Greenbaum, Sidney; Leech, Geoffrey; & Svartvik, Jan. (1972). A Grammar of Contemporary English. Harlow: Longman.
• Quirk, Randolph (1985). A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. Harlow: Longman. p. 1779. ISBN0-582-51734-6.
• Schibsbye, Knud (1970). A Modern English Grammar: Second edition. London: Oxford University Press. p. 390. ISBN0-19-431327-1. This book is a translation of Schibsbye's three volume Engelsk Grammatik published between 1957 and 1961. Schibsbye was a student of Jespersen's and co-author of the sixth volume –Morphology –of Jespersen's seven volume Modern English Grammar.
• Sinclair, John, ed. (1991) Collins COBUILD – English Grammar London: Collins ISBN0-00-370257-X second edition, 2005 ISBN0-00-718387-9. Huddleston and Pullman say they found this grammar 'useful' in their Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. (p. 1765) A CD-Rom version of the 1st edition is available on the Collins COBUILD Resource Pack ISBN0-00-716921-3
• Sledd, James. (1959) A short introduction to English grammar Chicago: Scott, Foresman.
• Strang, Barbara M. H. (1968) Modern English structure (2nd ed.) London: Arnold.
• Thomson, A. J. (Audrey Jean); Martinet, A. V. (Agnes V.) (1986). A practical English grammar:Fourth Edition. Oxford University Press. p. 384. ISBN0-19-431342-5.CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link)
• Visser, F. Th. (Fredericus Theodorus) (2003). An historical syntax of the English language. Brill. ISBN90-04-07142-3. 4th impression. pts. 1-2. Syntactical units with one verb.--pt.3. 1st half. Syntactical units with two verbs.--pt.3. 2d half. Syntactical units with two and more verbs.
• Whitney, William Dwight, (1877) Essentials of English Grammar, Boston: Ginn & Heath.
• Zandvoort, R. W. (1972) A Handbook of English Grammar (2nd ed.) London: Longmans.
• Peter Herring (2016), The Farlex Grammar Bookhttp://www.thefreedictionary.com/The-Farlex-Grammar-Book.htm

Monographs[edit]

• Adams, Valerie. (1973). An introduction to modern English word-formation. London: Longman.
• Bauer, Laurie. (1983). English word-formation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Fries, Charles Carpenter. (1952). The structure of English; an introduction to the construction of English sentences. New York: Harcourt, Brace.
• Halliday, M. A. K. (1985/94). Spoken and written language. Deakin University Press.
• Huddleston, Rodney D. (1976). An introduction to English transformational syntax. Longman.
• Huddleston, Rodney D. (2009). The Sentence in Written English: A Syntactic Study Based on an Analysis of Scientific Texts. Cambridge University Press. p. 352. ISBN0-521-11395-4.
• Jespersen, Otto (1982). Growth and Structure of the English Language. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press. p. 244. ISBN0-226-39877-3.
• Jespersen, Otto (1992). Philosophy of Grammar. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press. p. 363. ISBN0-226-39881-1.
• Jespersen, Otto (1962). Selected Writings. London: Allen & Unwin. p. 820.—includes Jespersen's monographs Negation in English and Other Languages, and A System of Grammar.
• Kruisinga, E. (1925). A handbook of present-day English. Utrecht: Kemink en Zoon.
• Leech, Geoffrey N. (1971). Meaning and the English verb. London: Longman.
• Marchand, Hans. (1969). The categories and types of present-day English word-formation (2nd ed.). München: C. H. Beck.
• McCawley, James D. (1998). The syntactic phenomena of English (2nd ed.). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
• Onions, C. T. (Charles Talbut), (1904, 1st edition) An advanced English syntax based on the principles and requirements of the Grammatical society. London: Keegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & co. A new edition of An advanced English syntax, prepared from the author's materials by B. D. H. Miller, was published as Modern English syntax in 1971.
• Palmer, F. R. (1974). The English verb. London: Longman.
• Palmer, F. R. (1979). Modality and the English modals. London: Longman.
• Plag, Ingo. (2003). Word-formation in English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Scheurweghs, Gustave. (1959). Present-day English syntax: A survey of sentence patterns. London: Longmans.

External links[edit]

• The Internet Grammar of English at the UCL
• English Grammar at the British Council
• English Grammar Guide at EF Education First
• Modern English Grammar by Daniel Kies

Devanagari (/ˌdeɪvəˈnɑːɡəri/DAY-və-NAH-gər-ee; देवनागरी, IAST: Devanāgarī, Sanskrit pronunciation: [deːʋɐˈnaːɡɐɽiː]), also called Nagari (Nāgarī, नागरी),^[4] is a left-to-right abugida (alphasyllabary),^[5] based on the ancient Brāhmī script,^[1] used in the Indian subcontinent. It was developed in ancient India from the 1st to the 4th century CE,^[1] and was in regular use by the 7th century CE.^[4][6] The Devanagari script, composed of 47 primary characters including 14 vowels and 33 consonants, is one of the most adopted writing systems in the world,^[7] being used for over 120 languages.^[8] The ancient Nagari script for Sanskrit had two additional consonantal characters.^[9]

The orthography of this script reflects the pronunciation of the language.^[8] Unlike the Latin alphabet, the script has no concept of letter case.^[10] It is written from left to right, has a strong preference for symmetrical rounded shapes within squared outlines, and is recognisable by a horizontal line that runs along the top of full letters.^[5] In a cursory look, the Devanagari script appears different from other Indic scripts such as Bengali, Odia, or Gurmukhi, but a closer examination reveals they are very similar except for angles and structural emphasis.^[5]

Among the languages using it – as either their only script or one of their scripts – are Sanskrit, Hindi,^[11]Nepali, Pali, Prakrit, Apabhramsha, Awadhi, Bhojpuri, Braj Bhasha, Chhattisgarhi, Haryanvi, Magahi, Nagpuri, Rajasthani, Bhili, Dogri, Marathi, Maithili, Kashmiri, Konkani, Sindhi, Bodo, Nepalbhasa, Mundari and Santali.^[8] The Devanagari script is closely related to the Nandinagari script commonly found in numerous ancient manuscripts of South India,^[12][13] and it is distantly related to a number of southeast Asian scripts.^[8]

• 2History
• 3Letters
  • 3.2Consonants
• 4Transliteration
  • 4.5ITRANS
• 5Encodings
• 6Devanagari keyboard layouts
• 8References

Etymology[edit]

Devanagari is a compound of 'deva' देव and 'nāgarī' नागरी.^[4]Deva meaning 'heavenly or divine', and is also one of the terms for a deity in Hinduism,^[14]Nagri comes from नगर (nagar), which means abode or city. Hence, Devanagari denotes from the abode of divinity or deities.

History[edit]

Devanagari is part of the Brahmic family of scripts of India, Nepal, Tibet, and South-East Asia.^[15][16] Some of the earliest epigraphical evidence attesting to the developing Sanskrit Nagari script in ancient India, in a form similar to Devanagari, is from the 1st to 4th century CE inscriptions discovered in Gujarat.^[1] It is a descendant of the 3rd century BCE Brahmi script through the Gupta script, along with Siddham and Sharada.^[16] Variants of script called Nāgarī, recognisably close to Devanagari, are first attested from the 1st century CE Rudradaman inscriptions in Sanskrit, while the modern standardised form of Devanagari was in use by about 1000 CE.^[6][17] Medieval inscriptions suggest widespread diffusion of the Nagari-related scripts, with biscripts presenting local script along with the adoption of Nagari scripts. For example, the mid 8th-century Pattadakal pillar in Karnataka has text in both Siddha Matrika script, and an early Telugu-Kannada script; while, the Kangra Jvalamukhi inscription in Himachal Pradesh is written in both Sharada and Devanagari scripts.^[18]

The Nagari script was in regular use by the 7th century CE and it was fully developed by about the end of first millennium.^[4][6] The use of Sanskrit in Nagari script in medieval India is attested by numerous pillar and cave temple inscriptions, including the 11th-century Udayagiri inscriptions in Madhya Pradesh,^[19] and an inscribed brick found in Uttar Pradesh, dated to be from 1217 CE, which is now held at the British Museum.^[20] The script's proto- and related versions have been discovered in ancient relics outside of India, such as in Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Indonesia; while in East Asia, Siddha Matrika script considered as the closest precursor to Nagari was in use by Buddhists.^[9][21] Nagari has been the primus inter pares of the Indic scripts.^[9] It has long been used traditionally by religiously educated people in South Asia to record and transmit information, existing throughout the land in parallel with a wide variety of local scripts (such as Modi, Kaithi, and Mahajani) used for administration, commerce, and other daily uses.

.^[22] Other closely related scripts such as Siddham Matrka were in use in Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan and other parts of East Asia by between 7th- to 10th-century.^[23][24] Sharada remained in parallel use in Kashmir. An early version of Devanagari is visible in the Kutila inscription of Bareilly dated to Vikram Samvat 1049 (i.e. 992 CE), which demonstrates the emergence of the horizontal bar to group letters belonging to a word.^[2] One of the oldest surviving Sanskrit texts from the early post-Maurya period consists of 1,413 Nagari pages of a commentary by Patanjali, with a composition date of about 150 BCE, the surviving copy transcribed about 14th century CE.^[25]

Nāgarī is the Sanskrit feminine of Nāgara 'relating or belonging to a town or city, urban'. It is a phrasing with lipi ('script') as nāgarī lipi 'script relating to a city', or 'spoken in city'.^[26]

The use of the name devanāgarī emerged from the older term nāgarī.^[16] According to Fischer, Nagari emerged in the northwest Indian subcontinent around 633 CE, was fully developed by the 11th-century, and was one of the major scripts used for the Sanskrit literature.^[16]

Southeast Asia[edit]

Most of the southeast Asian scripts have roots in the Dravidian scripts, except for a few found in south-central regions of Java and isolated parts of southeast Asia that resemble Devanagari or its prototype. The Kawi script in particular is similar to the Devanagari in many respects though the morphology of the script has local changes. The earliest inscriptions in the Devanagari-like scripts are from around the 10th-century, with many more between 11th- and 14th-century.^[27][28] Some of the old-Devanagari inscriptions are found in Hindu temples of Java, such as the Prambanan temple.^[29] The Ligor and the Kalasan inscriptions of central Java, dated to the 8th-century, are also in the Nagari script of North India. According to the epigraphist and Asian Studies scholar Lawrence Briggs, these may be related to the 9th-century copper plate inscription of Devapaladeva (Bengal) which is also in early Devanagari script.^[30] The term Kawi in Kawi script is a loan word from Kavya (poetry). According to anthropologists and Asian Studies scholars John Norman Miksic and Goh Geok Yian, the 8th-century version of early Nagari or Devanagari script was adopted in Java, Bali (Indonesia), and Khmer (Cambodia) around 8th or 9th-century, as evidenced by the many inscriptions of this period.^[31]

Letters[edit]

The letter order of Devanagari, like nearly all Brahmic scripts, is based on phonetic principles that consider both the manner and place of articulation of the consonants and vowels they represent. This arrangement is usually referred to as the varṇamālā 'garland of letters'.^[32] The format of Devanagari for Sanskrit serves as the prototype for its application, with minor variations or additions, to other languages.^[33]

Vowels[edit]

The vowels and their arrangement are:^[34]

1. Arranged with the vowels are two consonantal diacritics, the final nasalanusvāraंṃ and the final fricativevisargaःḥ (called अंaṃ and अःaḥ).Masica (1991:146) notes of the anusvāra in Sanskrit that 'there is some controversy as to whether it represents a homorganic nasal stop [...], a nasalised vowel, a nasalised semivowel, or all these according to context'. The visarga represents post-vocalic voiceless glottal fricative[h], in Sanskrit an allophone of s, or less commonly r, usually in word-final position. Some traditions of recitation append an echo of the vowel after the breath:^[35]इः[ihi]. Masica (1991:146) considers the visarga along with letters ङṅa and ञña for the 'largely predictable' velar and palatal nasals to be examples of 'phonetic overkill in the system'.
2. Another diacritic is the candrabindu/anunāsikaँअँ. Salomon (2003:76–77) describes it as a 'more emphatic form' of the anusvāra, 'sometimes [...] used to mark a true [vowel] nasalization'. In a New Indo-Aryan language such as Hindi the distinction is formal: the candrabindu indicates vowel nasalisation^[36] while the anusvār indicates a homorganic nasal preceding another consonant:^[37] e.g. हँसी[ɦə̃si] 'laughter', गंगा[ɡəŋɡɑ] 'the Ganges'. When an akshara has a vowel diacritic above the top line, that leaves no room for the candra ('moon') stroke candrabindu, which is dispensed with in favour of the lone dot:^[38]हूँ[ɦũ] 'am', but हैं[ɦɛ̃] 'are'. Some writers and typesetters dispense with the 'moon' stroke altogether, using only the dot in all situations.^[39]
3. The avagrahaऽअऽ (usually transliterated with an apostrophe) is a Sanskrit punctuation mark for the elision of a vowel in sandhi: एकोऽयम्eko'yam ( ← ekas + ayam) 'this one'. An original long vowel lost to coalescence is sometimes marked with a double avagraha:सदाऽऽत्माsadā'tmā ( ← sadā + ātmā) 'always, the self'.^[40] In Hindi, Snell (2000:77) states that its 'main function is to show that a vowel is sustained in a cry or a shout': आईऽऽऽ!āīīī!. In Madhyadeshi Languages like Bhojpuri, Awadhi, Maithili, etc. which have 'quite a number of verbal forms [that] end in that inherent vowel',^[41] the avagraha is used to mark the non-elision of word-final inherent a, which otherwise is a modern orthographic convention: बइठऽbaiṭha 'sit' versus बइठbaiṭh
4. The syllabic consonants ṝ, ḷ, and ḹ are specific to Sanskrit and not included in the varṇamālā of other languages. The sound represented by ṛ has also been lost in the modern languages, and its pronunciation now ranges from [ɾɪ] (Hindi) to [ɾu] (Marathi).
5. ḹ is not an actual phoneme of Sanskrit, but rather a graphic convention included among the vowels in order to maintain the symmetry of short–long pairs of letters.^[33]
6. There are non-regular formations of रुru and रूrū.
7. There are two more vowels in Marathi as well as Konkani, ॲ and ऑ, that respectively represent [æ], similar to the RP English pronunciation of <a> in ‘act’, and [ɒ], similar to the RP pronunciation of <o> in ‘cot’. These vowels are sometimes used in Hindi too, as in डॉलरdôlar, 'dollar'.^[42] IAST transliteration is not defined. In ISO 15919, the transliteration is ê and ô, respectively.

Consonants[edit]

The table below shows the consonant letters (in combination with inherent vowela) and their arrangement. To the right of the Devanagari letter it shows the Latin script transliteration using International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration,^[43] and the phonetic value (IPA) in Hindi.^[44][45]

• Rounding this out where applicable is ळḷa (IPA: [ɭ] or [ɭ̆]), the intervocalic lateral flap allophone of the voiced retroflex stop in Vedic Sanskrit, which is a phoneme in languages such as Marathi, Konkani, Garhwali, and Rajasthani.^[46]
• Beyond the Sanskritic set, new shapes have rarely been formulated. Masica (1991:146) offers the following, 'In any case, according to some, all possible sounds had already been described and provided for in this system, as Sanskrit was the original and perfect language. Hence it was difficult to provide for or even to conceive other sounds, unknown to the phoneticians of Sanskrit'. Where foreign borrowings and internal developments did inevitably accrue and arise in New Indo-Aryan languages, they have been ignored in writing, or dealt through means such as diacritics and ligatures (ignored in recitation).
  • The most prolific diacritic has been the subscript dot (nuqtā) ़. Hindi uses it for the Persian, Arabic and English sounds क़qa/q/, ख़xa/x/, ग़ġa/ɣ/, ज़za/z/, झ़zha/ʒ/, and फ़fa/f/, and for the allophonic developments ड़ṛa/ɽ/ and ढ़ṛha /ɽʱ/. (Although ऴḷha/ɭʱä/ could also exist, it is not used in Hindi.)
  • Sindhi's and Saraiki's implosives are accommodated with a line attached below: ॻ[ɠə], ॼ[ʄə], ॾ[ɗə], ॿ[ɓə].
  • Aspiratedsonorants may be represented as conjuncts/ligatures with हha: म्हmha, न्हnha, ण्हṇha, व्हvha, ल्हlha, ळ्हḷha, र्हrha.
  • Masica (1991:147) notes Marwari as using ॸ for ḍa[ɗə] (while ड represents [ɽə]).

For a list of the 297 (33×9) possible Sanskrit consonant-(short) vowel syllables see Āryabhaṭa numeration.

Allophony of 'v' and 'w' in Hindi[edit]

[v] (the voiced labiodental fricative) and [w] (the voiced labio-velar approximant) are both allophones of the single phoneme represented by the letter 'व' in Hindi Devanagari. More specifically, they are conditional allophones, i.e. rules apply on whether 'व' is pronounced as [v] or [w] depending on context. Native Hindi speakers pronounce 'व' as [v] in vrat (व्रत, fast) and [w] in pakvān (पकवान, food dish), perceiving them as a single phoneme and without being aware of the allophone distinctions they are systematically making.^[47] However, this specific allophony can become obvious when speakers switch languages. Non-native speakers of Hindi might pronounce 'व' in 'व्रत' as [w], i.e. as wrat instead of the more correct vrat. This results in a minor intelligibility problem because wrat can easily be confused for aurat,^{[citation needed]} which means woman, instead of the intended fast (abstaining from food), in Hindi.^[47]

Compounds[edit]

Table: Compounds. Vowels in their independent form on the left and in their corresponding dependent form (vowel sign) combined with the consonant 'k' on the right. 'ka' is without any added vowel sign, where the vowel 'a' is inherent. ISO 15919^[48] transliteration is on the top two rows.

A vowel combines with a consonant to form their compound letter. For example, the vowel आ (ā) combines with the consonant क् (k) to form the compound का (kā), with halant removed and added vowel sign which is indicated by diacritics. The vowel अ (a) combines with the consonant क् (k) to form the compound क (ka) with halant removed. But, the compound letter series of क, ख, ग, घ ... (ka, kha, ga, gha) is without any added vowel sign, as the vowel अ (a) is inherent.

Conjunct consonants[edit]

As mentioned, successive consonants lacking a vowel in between them may physically join together as a conjunct consonant or ligature. When Devanagari is used for writing languages other than Sanskrit, conjuncts are used mostly with Sanskrit words and loan words. Native words typically use the basic consonant and native speakers know to suppress the vowel when it is conventional to do so. For example, the native Hindi word karnā is written करना (ka-ra-nā).^[49] The government of these clusters ranges from widely to narrowly applicable rules, with special exceptions within. While standardised for the most part, there are certain variations in clustering, of which the Unicode used on this page is just one scheme. The following are a number of rules:

• 24 out of the 36 consonants contain a vertical right stroke (खkha, घgha, णṇa etc.). As first or middle fragments/members of a cluster, they lose that stroke. e.g. त + व = त्वtva, ण + ढ = ण्ढṇḍha, स + थ = स्थstha. In Unicode, these consonants without their vertical stems are called half forms.^[50]शś(a) appears as a different, simple ribbon-shaped fragment preceding वva, नna, चca, लla, and रra, causing these second members to be shifted down and reduced in size. Thus श्वśva, श्नśna, श्चścaश्लśla, and श्रśra.
• रr(a) as a first member takes the form of a curved upward dash above the final character or its ā-diacritic. e.g. र्वrva, र्वाrvā, र्स्पrspa, र्स्पाrspā. As a final member with टṭaठṭhaडḍaढḍhaड़ṛaछcha it is two lines below the character, pointed downwards and apart. Thus ट्रṭraठ्रṭhraड्रḍraढ्रḍhraड़्रṛraछ्रchra. Elsewhere as a final member it is a diagonal stroke extending leftwards and down. e.g. क्र ग्र भ्र ब्र. तta is shifted up to make त्रtra.
• As first members, remaining characters lacking vertical strokes such as दd(a) and हh(a) may have their second member, reduced in size and lacking its horizontal stroke, placed underneath. कk(a), छch(a), and फph(a) shorten their right hooks and join them directly to the following member.
• The conjuncts for kṣ and jñ are not clearly derived from the letters making up their components. The conjunct for kṣ is क्ष (क् + ष) and for jñ it is ज्ञ (ज् + ञ).

Accent marks[edit]

The pitch accent of Vedic Sanskrit is written with various symbols depending on shakha. In the Rigveda, anudātta is written with a bar below the line (◌॒), svarita with a stroke above the line (◌॑) while udātta is unmarked.

Punctuation[edit]

The end of a sentence or half-verse may be marked with the '।' symbol (called a daṇḍa, meaning 'bar', or called a pūrṇa virām, meaning 'full stop/pause'). The end of a full verse may be marked with a double-daṇḍa, a '॥' symbol. A comma (called an alpa virām, meaning 'short stop/pause') is used to denote a natural pause in speech.^[51][52] Other punctuation marks such as colon, semi-colon, exclamation mark, dash, and question mark are currently in use in Devanagari script, matching their use in European languages.^[53]

Old forms[edit]

The following letter variants are also in use, particularly in older texts.^[56]

Numerals[edit]

Fonts[edit]

A variety of unicode fonts are in use for Devanagari. These include, but are not limited to, Akshar,^[57]Annapurna,^[58]Arial,^[59]CDAC-Gist Surekh,^[60]CDAC-Gist Yogesh,^[61]Chandas,^[62] Gargi,^[63]Gurumaa,^[64] Jaipur,^[65] Jana,^[66] Kalimati,^[67] Kanjirowa,^[68]Lohit Devanagari, Mangal,^[69] Raghu,^[70]Sanskrit2003,^[71]Santipur OT,^[62]Siddhanta, Thyaka,^[72] and Uttara.^[62]

The form of Devanagari fonts vary with function. According to Harvard College for Sanskrit studies, 'Uttara [companion to Chandas] is the best in terms of ligatures but, because it is designed for Vedic as well, requires so much vertical space that it is not well suited for the 'user interface font' (though an excellent choice for the 'original field' font). Santipur OT is a beautiful font reflecting a very early [medieval era] typesetting style for Devanagari. Sanskrit 2003^[73] is a good all-around font and has more ligatures than most fonts, though students will probably find the spacing of the CDAC-Gist Surekh^[60] font makes for quicker comprehension and reading.'^[62]

Google Fonts project now has a number of new unicode fonts for Devanagari in a variety of typefaces in Serif, Sans-Serif, Display and Handwriting categories.

Transliteration[edit]

There are several methods of Romanisation or transliteration from Devanagari to the Roman script.^[74]

Hunterian system[edit]

The Hunterian system is the 'national system of romanisation in India' and the one officially adopted by the Government of India.^[75][76][77]

ISO 15919[edit]

How To Learn English Grammar

A standard transliteration convention was codified in the ISO 15919 standard of 2001. It uses diacritics to map the much larger set of Brahmic graphemes to the Latin script. The Devanagari-specific portion is nearly identical to the academic standard for Sanskrit, IAST.^[78]

IAST[edit]

The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is the academic standard for the romanisation of Sanskrit. IAST is the de facto standard used in printed publications, like books, magazines, and electronic texts with Unicode fonts. It is based on a standard established by the Congress of Orientalists at Athens in 1912. The ISO 15919 standard of 2001 codified the transliteration convention to include an expanded standard for sister scripts of Devanagari.^[78]

The National Library at Kolkata romanisation, intended for the romanisation of all Indic scripts, is an extension of IAST.

Harvard-Kyoto[edit]

Compared to IAST, Harvard-Kyoto looks much simpler. It does not contain all the diacritic marks that IAST contains. It was designed to simplify the task of putting large amount of Sanskrit textual material into machine readable form, and the inventors stated that it reduces the effort needed in transliteration of Sanskrit texts on the keyboard.^[79] This makes typing in Harvard-Kyoto much easier than IAST. Harvard-Kyoto uses capital letters that can be difficult to read in the middle of words.

ITRANS[edit]

ITRANS is a lossless transliteration scheme of Devanagari into ASCII that is widely used on Usenet. It is an extension of the Harvard-Kyoto scheme. In ITRANS, the word devanāgarī is written 'devanaagarii' or 'devanAgarI'. ITRANS is associated with an application of the same name that enables typesetting in Indic scripts. The user inputs in Roman letters and the ITRANS pre-processor translates the Roman letters into Devanagari (or other Indic languages). The latest version of ITRANS is version 5.30 released in July, 2001. It is similar to Velthius system and was created by Avinash Chopde to help print various Indic scripts with personal computers.^[79]

Velthuis[edit]

The disadvantage of the above ASCII schemes is case-sensitivity, implying that transliterated names may not be capitalised. This difficulty is avoided with the system developed in 1996 by Frans Velthuis for TeX, loosely based on IAST, in which case is irrelevant.

ALA-LC Romanisation[edit]

ALA-LC^[80] romanisation is a transliteration scheme approved by the Library of Congress and the American Library Association, and widely used in North American libraries. Transliteration tables are based on languages, so there is a table for Hindi,^[81] one for Sanskrit and Prakrit,^[82] etc.

WX[edit]

WX is a Roman transliteration scheme for Indian languages, widely used among the natural language processing community in India. It originated at IIT Kanpur for computational processing of Indian languages. The salient features of this transliteration scheme are as follows.

• Every consonant and every vowel has a single mapping into Roman. Hence it is a prefix code, advantageous from computation point of view.
• Lower-case letters are used for unaspirated consonants and short vowels, while capital letters are used for aspirated consonants and long vowels. While the retroflex stops are mapped to 't, T, d, D, N', the dentals are mapped to 'w, W, x, X, n'. Hence the name 'WX', a reminder of this idiosyncratic mapping.

Encodings[edit]

ISCII[edit]

ISCII is an 8-bit encoding. The lower 128 codepoints are plain ASCII, the upper 128 codepoints are ISCII-specific.

It has been designed for representing not only Devanagari but also various other Indic scripts as well as a Latin-based script with diacritic marks used for transliteration of the Indic scripts.

ISCII has largely been superseded by Unicode, which has, however, attempted to preserve the ISCII layout for its Indic language blocks.

Unicode[edit]

The Unicode Standard defines three blocks for Devanagari: Devanagari (U+0900–U+097F), Devanagari Extended (U+A8E0–U+A8FF), and Vedic Extensions (U+1CD0–U+1CFF).

Free English Grammar Lessons

Devanagari keyboard layouts[edit]

InScript layout[edit]

InScript is the standard keyboard layout for Devanagari as standardized by the Government of India. It is inbuilt in all modern major operating systems. Microsoft Windows supports the InScript layout (using the Mangal font), which can be used to input unicode Devanagari characters. InScript is also available in some touchscreen mobile phones.

Typewriter[edit]

This layout was used on manual typewriters when computers were not available or were uncommon. For backward compatibility some typing tools like Indic IME still provide this layout.

Phonetic[edit]

Such tools work on phonetic transliteration. The user writes in Roman and the IME automatically converts it into Devanagari. Some popular phonetic typing tools are Akruti, Baraha IME and Google IME.

The Mac OS X operating system includes two different keyboard layouts for Devanagari: one is much like INSCRIPT/KDE Linux, the other is a phonetic layout called 'Devanagari QWERTY'.

Any one of Unicode fonts input system is fine for Indic language Wikipedia and other wikiprojects, including Hindi, Bhojpuri, Marathi, Nepali Wikipedia. Some people use inscript. Majority uses either Google phonetic transliteration or input facility Universal Language Selector provided on Wikipedia. On Indic language wikiprojects Phonetic facility provided initially was java-based later supported by Narayam extension for phonetic input facility. Currently Indic language Wiki projects are supported by Universal Language Selector (ULS), that offers both phonetic keyboard (Aksharantaran, Marathi: अक्षरांतरण, Hindi: लिप्यंतरण, बोलनागरी) and InScript keyboard (Marathi: मराठी लिपी).

The Ubuntu Linux operating system supports several keyboard layouts for Devanagari, including Harvard-Kyoto, WX notation, Bolanagari and phonetic. The 'remington' typing method in Ubuntu IBUS is similar to the Krutidev typing method, popular in Rajasthan. The 'itrans' method is useful for those who know English well (and the English keyboard) but not familiar with typing in Devanagari.

See also[edit]

• Shiksha – the Vedic study of sound, focusing on the letters of the Sanskrit alphabet

References[edit]

Footnotes

1. ^ ^abcdGazetteer of the Bombay Presidency at Google Books, Rudradaman’s inscription from 1st through 4th century CE found in Gujarat, India, Stanford University Archives, pages 30–45, particularly Devanagari inscription on Jayadaman's coins pages 33–34
2. ^ ^abIsaac Taylor (1883), History of the Alphabet: Aryan Alphabets, Part 2, Kegan Paul, Trench & Co, p. 333, ISBN978-0-7661-5847-4, ... In the Kutila this develops into a short horizontal bar, which, in the Devanagari, becomes a continuous horizontal line ... three cardinal inscriptions of this epoch, namely, the Kutila or Bareli inscription of 992, the Chalukya or Kistna inscription of 945, and a Kawi inscription of 919 ... the Kutila inscription is of great importance in Indian epigraphy, not only from its precise date, but from its offering a definite early form of the standard Indian alphabet, the Devanagari ...
3. ^Salomon, Richard (1998). Indian epigraphy: a guide to the study of inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the other Indo-Aryan languages. South Asia research. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 39–41. ISBN978-0-19-509984-3.
4. ^ ^abcdKathleen Kuiper (2010), The Culture of India, New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, ISBN978-1615301492, page 83
5. ^ ^abcDanesh Jain; George Cardona (26 July 2007). The Indo-Aryan Languages. Routledge. p. 115. ISBN978-1-135-79710-2. Nagari has a strong preference for symmetrical shapes, especially squared outlines and right angles [7 lines above the character grid]
6. ^ ^abcRichard Salomon (2014), Indian Epigraphy, Oxford University Press, ISBN978-0195356663, pages 40–42
7. ^David Templin. 'Devanagari script'. omniglot.com. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
8. ^ ^abcdDevanagari (Nagari), Script Features and Description, SIL International (2013), United States
9. ^ ^abcGeorge Cardona and Danesh Jain (2003), The Indo-Aryan Languages, Routledge, ISBN978-0415772945, pages 75–77
10. ^Akira Nakanishi, Writing systems of the World, ISBN978-0804816540, page 48
11. ^Hindi, Omniglot Encyclopedia of Writing Systems and Languages
12. ^George Cardona and Danesh Jain (2003), The Indo-Aryan Languages, Routledge, ISBN978-0415772945, page 75
13. ^Reinhold Grünendahl (2001), South Indian Scripts in Sanskrit Manuscripts and Prints, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, ISBN978-3447045049, pages xxii, 201–210
14. ^Monier Monier-Williams, A Sanskrit-English Dictionary” Etymologically and Philologically Arranged to cognate Indo-European Languages, Motilal Banarsidass, page 492
15. ^George Cardona and Danesh Jain (2003), The Indo-Aryan Languages, Routledge, ISBN978-0415772945, pages 68–69
16. ^ ^abcdSteven Roger Fischer (2004), A history of writing, Reaktion Books, ISBN978-1-86189-167-9, (p. 110) '... an early branch of this, as of the fourth century CE, was the Gupta script, Brahmi's first main daughter. [...] The Gupta alphabet became the ancestor of most Indic scripts (usually through later Devanagari). [...] Beginning around AD 600, Gupta inspired the important Nagari, Sarada, Tibetan and Pali scripts. Nagari, of India's northwest, first appeared around AD 633. Once fully developed in the eleventh century, Nagari had become Devanagari, or 'heavenly Nagari', since it was now the main vehicle, out of several, for Sanskrit literature.'
17. ^Krishna Chandra Sagar (1993), Foreign Influence on Ancient India, South Asia Books, ISBN978-8172110284, page 137
18. ^Richard Salomon (2014), Indian Epigraphy, Oxford University Press, ISBN978-0195356663, page 71
19. ^Michael Willis (2001), Inscriptions from Udayagiri: locating domains of devotion, patronage and power in the eleventh century, South Asian Studies, 17(1), pages 41–53
20. ^Brick with Sanskrit inscription in Nagari script, 1217 CE, found in Uttar Pradesh, India (British Museum)
21. ^Wayan Ardika (2009), Form, Macht, Differenz: Motive und Felder ethnologischen Forschens (Editors: Elfriede Hermann et al.), Universitätsverlag Göttingen, ISBN978-3940344809, pages 251–252; Quote: 'Nagari script and Sanskrit language in the inscription at Blangjong suggests that Indian culture was already influencing Bali (Indonesia) by the 10th century CE.'
22. ^William Woodville Rockhill, Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, p. 671, at Google Books, United States National Museum, page 671
23. ^David Quinter (2015), From Outcasts to Emperors: Shingon Ritsu and the Mañjuśrī Cult in Medieval Japan, Brill, ISBN978-9004293397, pages 63–65 with discussion on Uṣṇīṣa Vijaya Dhāraṇī Sūtra
24. ^Richard Salomon (2014), Indian Epigraphy, Oxford University Press, ISBN978-0195356663, pages 157–160
25. ^Michael Witzel (2006), in Between the Empires : Society in India 300 BCE to 400 CE (Editor: Patrick Olivelle), Oxford University Press, ISBN978-0195305326, pages 477–480 with footnote 60;
    Original manuscript, dates in Saka Samvat, and uncertainties associated with it: Mahabhasya of Patanjali, F Kielhorn
26. ^Monier Williams Online Dictionary, nagara, Cologne Sanskrit Digital Lexicon, Germany
27. ^Avenir S. Teselkin (1972). Old Javanese (Kawi). Cornell University Press. pp. 9–14.
28. ^J. G. de Casparis (1975). Indonesian Palaeography: A History of Writing in Indonesia from the Beginnings to c. AD 1500. BRILL Academic. pp. 35–43. ISBN90-04-04172-9.
29. ^Mary S. Zurbuchen (1976). Introduction to Old Javanese Language and Literature: A Kawi Prose Anthology. Center for South and Southeast Asian Studies, University of Michigan. pp. xi–xii. ISBN978-0-89148-053-2.
30. ^Briggs, Lawrence Palmer (1950). 'The Origin of the Sailendra Dynasty: Present Status of the Question'. Journal of the American Oriental Society. JSTOR. 70 (2): 79–81. doi:10.2307/595536. ISSN0003-0279.
31. ^John Norman Miksic; Goh Geok Yian (2016). Ancient Southeast Asia. Taylor & Francis. pp. 177–179, 314–322. ISBN978-1-317-27904-4.
32. ^Salomon (2003:71)
33. ^ ^abSalomon (2003:75)
34. ^Wikner (1996:13, 14)
35. ^Wikner (1996:6)
36. ^Snell (2000:44–45)
37. ^Snell (2000:64)
38. ^Snell (2000:45)
39. ^Snell (2000:46)
40. ^Salomon (2003:77)
41. ^Verma (2003:501)
42. ^'Hindi Translation of 'dollar' Collins English-Hindi Dictionary'. www.collinsdictionary.com. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
43. ^Wikner (1996:73)
44. ^Stella Sandahl (2000). A Hindi reference grammar. Peeters. pp. 1–4. ISBN978-9042908802.
45. ^Tej K. Bhatia (1987). A History of the Hindi Grammatical Tradition. BRILL Academic. pp. 51–63, 77–94. ISBN90-04-07924-6.
46. ^Masica (1991:97)
47. ^ ^abJanet Pierrehumbert, Rami Nair, Volume Editor: Bernard Laks, Implications of Hindi Prosodic Structure (Current Trends in Phonology: Models and Methods), European Studies Research Institute, University of Salford Press, 1996, ISBN978-1-901471-02-1, ... showed extremely regular patterns. As is not uncommon in a study of subphonemic detail, the objective data patterned much more cleanly than intuitive judgments ... [w] occurs when /व/ is in onglide position ... [v] occurs otherwise ...CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link)
48. ^Difference between ISO 15919 & IAST
49. ^Saloman, Richard (2007) “Typological Observations on the Indic Scripts” in The Indic Scripts: Paleographic and Linguistic Perspecticves D.K. Printworld Ltd., New Delhi. ISBN812460406-1. p. 33.
50. ^'The Unicode Standard, chapter 9, South Asian Scripts I'(PDF). The Unicode Standard, v. 6.0. Unicode, Inc. Retrieved 12 February 2012.
51. ^Unicode Consortium, The Unicode Standard, Version 3.0, Volume 1, ISBN978-0201616330, Addison-Wesley, pages 221–223
52. ^Transliteration from Hindi Script to Meetei Mayek Watham and Vimal (2013), IJETR, page 550
53. ^Michael Shapiro (2014), The Devanagari Writing System in A Primer of Modern Standard Hindi, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN978-8120805088, page 26
54. ^Śiṣyalekha (MS Add.1161), University of Cambridge Digital Libraries
55. ^Salotgi Inscription, The Indian Antiquary: A Journal of Oriental Research, S.P. Pandit (1872), pp.205–211; Quote: 'The inscription of which a translation is given below, is engraved on a stone pillar about 4 feet 10 inches in height, 1 foot 2 inches thick, and 1 foot 9 inches broad. It is cut in Devanagari characters on three of its four sides, and [...]'
56. ^(Bahri 2004, p. (xiii))^{[full citation needed]}
57. ^Akshar Unicode South Asia Language Resource, University of Chicago (2009)
58. ^Annapurna SIL Unicode, SIL International (2013)
59. ^Arial Unicode South Asia Language Resource, University of Chicago (2009)
60. ^ ^abCDAC-GIST Surekh Unicode South Asia Language Resource, University of Chicago (2009)
61. ^CDAC-GIST Yogesh South Asia Language Resource, University of Chicago (2009)
62. ^ ^abcdSanskrit Devanagari Fonts Harvard University (2010); see Chanda and Uttara ttf 2010 archive (Accessed: July 8, 2015)
63. ^Gargi South Asia Language Resource, University of Chicago (2009)
64. ^Gurumaa Unicode – a sans font KDE (2012)
65. ^Jaipur South Asia Language Resource, University of Chicago (2009)
66. ^Jana South Asia Language Resource, University of Chicago (2009)
67. ^Kalimati South Asia Language Resource, University of Chicago (2009)
68. ^Kanjirowa South Asia Language Resource, University of Chicago (2009)
69. ^Mangal South Asia Language Resource, University of Chicago (2009)
70. ^Raghu South Asia Language Resource, University of Chicago (2009)
71. ^Sanskrit Ashram South Asia Language Resource, University of Chicago (2009)
72. ^Thyaka South Asia Language Resource, University of Chicago (2009)
73. ^Devanagari fontArchived 2 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine Unicode Standard 8.0 (2015)
74. ^Daya Nand Sharma, Transliteration into Roman and Devanagari of the languages of the Indian group, Survey of India, 1972, ... With the passage of time there has emerged a practically uniform system of transliteration of Devanagari and allied alphabets. Nevertheless, no single system of Romanisation has yet developed ...
75. ^United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Technical reference manual for the standardisation of geographical names, United Nations Publications, 2007, ISBN978-92-1-161500-5, ... ISO 15919 ... There is no evidence of the use of the system either in India or in international cartographic products ... The Hunterian system is the actually used national system of romanisation in India ...
76. ^United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations Regional Cartographic Conference for Asia and the Far East, Volume 2, United Nations, 1955, ... In India the Hunterian system is used, whereby every sound in the local language is uniformly represented by a certain letter in the Roman alphabet ...
77. ^National Library (India), Indian scientific & technical publications, exhibition 1960: a bibliography, Council of Scientific & Industrial Research, Government of India, 1960, ... The Hunterian system of transliteration, which has international acceptance, has been used ...
78. ^ ^abDevanagari IAST conventions Script Source (2009), SIL International, United States
79. ^ ^abTransliteration of Devanāgarī D. Wujastyk (1996)
80. ^'LOC.gov'. LOC.gov. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
81. ^'0001.eps'(PDF). Retrieved 13 June 2011.
82. ^'LOC.gov'(PDF). Retrieved 13 June 2011.

Sources

• Masica, Colin (1991), The Indo-Aryan Languages, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN978-0-521-29944-2.
• Snell, Rupert (2000), Teach Yourself Beginner's Hindi Script, Hodder & Stoughton, ISBN978-0-07-141984-0.
• Salomon, Richard (2003), 'Writing Systems of the Indo-Aryan Languages', in Cardona, George; Jain, Dhanesh (eds.), The Indo-Aryan Languages, Routledge, pp. 67–103, ISBN978-0-415-77294-5.
• Verma, Sheela (2003), 'Magahi', in Cardona, George; Jain, Dhanesh (eds.), The Indo-Aryan Languages, Routledge, pp. 498–514, ISBN978-0-415-77294-5.
• Wikner, Charles (1996), A Practical Sanskrit Introductory.

Census and catalogues of manuscripts in Devanagari[edit]

Thousands of manuscripts of ancient and medieval era Sanskrit texts in Devanagari have been discovered since the 19th century. Major catalogues and census include:

• A Catalogue of Sanskrit Manuscripts in Private Libraries at Google Books, Medical Hall Press, Princeton University Archive
• A Descriptive Catalogue of the Sanskrit Manuscripts at Google Books, Vol 1: Upanishads, Friedrich Otto Schrader (Compiler), University of Michigan Library Archives
• A preliminary list of the Sanskrit and Prakrit manuscripts, Vedas, Sastras, Sutras, Schools of Hindu Philosophies, Arts, Design, Music and other fields, Friedrich Otto Schrader (Compiler), (Devanagiri manuscripts are identified by Character code De.)
• Catalogue of the Sanskrit Manuscripts, Part 1: Vedic Manuscripts, Harvard University Archives (mostly Devanagari)
• Catalogue of the Sanskrit Manuscripts, Part 4: Manuscripts of Hindu schools of Philosophy and Tantra, Harvard University Archives (mostly Devanagari)
• Catalogue of the Sanskrit Manuscripts, Part 5: Manuscripts of Medicine, Astronomy and Mathematics, Architecture and Technical Science Literature, Julius Eggeling (Compiler), Harvard University Archives (mostly Devanagari)
• Catalogue of the Sanskrit Manuscripts at Google Books, Part 6: Poetic, Epic and Purana Literature, Harvard University Archives (mostly Devanagari)
• David Pingree (1970–1981), Census of the Exact Sciences in Sanskrit: Volumes 1 through 5, American Philosophical Society, Manuscripts in various Indic scripts including Devanagari

External links[edit]

• Digital Nagari fonts, University of Chicago
• Devanagari in different fonts, Wazu, Japan (Alternate collection: Luc Devroye's comprehensive Indic Fonts, McGill University)
• Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, p. 30, at Google Books, Rudradaman’s inscription in Sanskrit Nagari script from 1st through 4th century CE (coins and epigraphy), found in Gujarat, India, pages 30–45
• Numerals and Text in Devanagari, 9th century temple in Gwalior Madhya Pradesh, India, Current Science
• Maurer, Walter H. (1976). 'On the Name Devanāgarī'. Journal of the American Oriental Society. 96 (1): 101–104. doi:10.2307/599893. JSTOR599893.