Many of the learners complain about the difficulties encountered with various forms of nouns and pronouns in different sentences. Yes the concept of "case" is tricky but I'll try my best to explain it simply.
Wikipedia says:
"Case is a grammatical category
whose value reflects the grammatical function
performed by a noun
or pronoun
in a phrase
, clause
, or sentence. In some languages, nouns, pronouns and their modifiers
take different inflected
forms depending on what case they are in. English
has largely lost its case system, although case distinctions can still be seen with the personal pronouns
: forms such as I, he and we are used in the role of subject
("I kicked the ball"), while forms such as me, him and us are used in the role of object
("John kicked me")."
So, in short, nouns and pronouns change their form depending upon the function performed by or upon them. These different cases is what's called "CASE" of that noun/pronoun.
While I'll discuss different cases (8 in total) separately in different posts, let me first discuss about the "case form" (ਕਾਰਕ ਰੂਪ/کارک روپ) of nouns and pronouns. There are 4 forms which a noun or a pronoun can take depending upon the type of case (represented by the symbol of that case) it is used with:
1. Direct form (ਸਧਾਰਨ ਰੂਪ سدھارن روپ):
When no "case symbol" (ਕਾਰਕ ਚਿੰਨ کارک چنہ) is used. In all the conjugations shown till now, we've been using this case, the simplest of 'em all.
ਮੁੰਡਾ ਪੜ੍ਹਦਾ ਹੈ।
منڈا پڑھدا ہے۔
The boy reads.
ਕੁੜੀਆਂ ਨੱਚ ਰਹੀਆਂ ਹਨ
।
کڑیاں نچّ رہیاں ہن۔
The girls are dancing.
Since no case symbol is used, ਮੁੰਡਾ/منڈا and ਕੁੜੀਆਂ/کڑیاں are in their direct form.
2. Post-positional form (ਸਬੰਧਕੀ ਰੂਪ سبندھکی روپ):
As the name suggests, whenever the noun or pronoun is followed by a post-position (Punjabi uses post-positions and not prepositions!) this form is used. Here the post-position used is the case symbol.
ਕੁੱਤੇ ਨੇ ਰਾਜੂ ਨੂੰ ਵੱਢਿਆ।
کتے نے راجو نوں وڈھیا۔
The dog bit Raju.
ਕੁੱਤੀ ਨੇ ਰਾਜੂ ਨੂੰ ਵੱਢਿਆ।
کتی نے راجو نوں وڈھیا۔
The bitch bit Raju.
ਇਹ ਮੈਨੂੰ ਦੇ ਦਿਓ।
ایہہ مینوں دے دیو۔
Give it to me.
The nouns 'ਕੁੱਤਾ/کتا', 'ਕੁੱਤੀ/کتی', 'ਰਾਜੂ/راجو', 'ਮੈਂ/میں' are all in their post-positional form since they are followed by post-positions like 'ਨੇ' or 'ਨੂੰ'.
3. Integrated post-positional form (ਸੰਮਿਲਤ ਸਬੰਧਕੀ ਰੂਪ سملت سبندھکی روپ):
Well this form takes the previous one to whole new level!!! The case symbol (i.e. the post-position) is incorporated into the noun or pronoun itself. The expanded forms (as chalked out in point 2 above) are given in parentheses. This form is very common in colloquial Punjabi but they are not applicable for each and every noun or pronoun. Only few nouns/pronouns use it.
ਮੈਂ ਪਿੰਡੋਂ ਆ ਗਿਆ। (from ਮੈਂ ਪਿੰਡ ਤੋਂ ਆ ਗਿਆ।)
(میں پنڈوں آ گیا۔ (میں پنڈ توں آ گیا۔
I came from the village.
ਉਹ ਘਰੇ ਹਨ। (from ਉਹ ਘਰ ਵਿਚ ਹਨ।)
(اوہ گھرے ہن۔ (اوہ گھر وچ ہن۔
They are home.
ਮੈਥੋਂ ਕਿਤਾਬ ਲੈ ਲੈ। (from ਮੇਰੇ ਤੋਂ ਕਿਤਾਬ ਲੈ ਲੈ।)
(میرے توں کتاب لے لے۔ ( میتھوں کتاب لے لے۔
Take the book from me.
4. Vocative form (ਸੰਬੋਧਕੀ ਰੂਪ سمبودھکی روپ):
The form with which the noun/pronoun is addressed. Again, not applicable to every noun/pronoun.
ਓ ਮੁੰਡਿਆ! ਇੱਧਰ ਆ।
او منڈیا! ادھر آ۔
Oi lad! Come here.
ਨੀ ਕੁੜੀਓ! ਕਿੱਥੇ ਹੋਂ ਤੁਸੀਂ?
نی کڑیو! کتھے ہوں تسیں؟
Hey girls! Where are you?
Rules to be followed:
- The unchanged form of a noun/pronoun is used for direct case (point 1).
- Pronouns don't change their form with the change in case.
- Feminine nouns whether singular or plural do not change their form for post-positional case.
- Masculine nouns do change their form for post-positional case. There can be two categories of masculine nouns:
1. Those ending in a
kanna in their singular forms (-ਾ). e.g.: ਮੁੰਡਾ/منڈا (boy), ਚਾਚਾ/چاچا (uncle), ਖੋਤਾ/کھوتا (ass), ਘੋੜਾ/گھوڑا (horse)
Singular nouns (ਮੁੰਡਾ/ਚਾਚਾ/ਖੋਤਾ/ਘੋੜਾ منڈا/چاچا/کھوتا/گھوڑا): Terminal kanna is changed to terminal laanv (-ੇ). So they become ਮੁੰਡੇ/منڈے, ਚਾਚੇ/چاچے, ਖੋਤੇ/کھوتے, ਘੋੜੇ/گھوڑے etc. which is incidentally the plural form in the direct/simple case. The direct case is given as a reference.
Direct case (DC): ਮੁੰਡਾ ਕੰਮ ਕਰ ਰਿਹਾ ਹੈ। منڈا کم کر رہا ہے۔ (The boy is doing the job.)
Post-positional case (PPC): ਮੁੰਡੇ ਨੇ ਕੰਮ ਕੀਤਾ। منڈے نے کم کیتا۔ (The boy finished the job.)
Plural nouns (ਮੁੰਡੇ/ਚਾਚੇ/ਖੋਤੇ/ਘੋੜੇ منڈے/چاچے/کھوتے/گھوڑے): Terminal laanv is changed to a sihari (ਿ) with the penultimate character and ending with ਆਂ. So they become ਮੁੰਡਿਆਂ/منڈیاں, ਚਾਚਿਆਂ/چاچیاں, ਖੋਤਿਆਂ/کھوتیاں, ਘੋੜਿਆਂ/گھوڑیاں etc. which vaguely (there's a difference of sihari vs bihari) resembles the plural forms of feminine nouns.
DC: ਮੁੰਡੇ ਕੰਮ ਕਰ ਰਹੇ ਹਨ। منڈے کم کر رہے ہن۔ (The boys are doing the job.)
PPC: ਮੁੰਡਿਆਂ ਨੇ ਕੰਮ ਕੀਤਾ। منڈیاں نے کم کیتا۔ (The boys finished the job.)
2. Those with other endings. e.g: ਘਰ/گھر (house), ਪੁੱਤਰ/پتر (son), ਭਾਲੂ/بھالو (bear)
Singular nouns: No change. So they remain ਘਰ/گھر, ਪੁੱਤਰ/پتر, ਭਾਲੂ/بھالو.
DC: ਪੁੱਤਰ ਕੰਮ ਕਰ ਰਿਹਾ ਹੈ। پتر کم کر رہا ہے۔ (The son is doing the job.)
PPC: ਪੁੱਤਰ ਨੇ ਕੰਮ ਕੀਤਾ। پتر نے کم کیتا۔ (The son finished the job.)
Plural nouns: Addition of ਾਂ or ਆਂ depending on whether the noun ends in a consonant or a vowel symbol. So they become ਘਰਾਂ/گھراں, ਪੁੱਤਰਾਂ/پتراں, ਭਾਲੂਆਂ/بھالوآں.
DC: ਪੁੱਤਰ ਕੰਮ ਕਰ ਰਹੇ ਹਨ। پتر کم کر رہے ہن۔ (The sons are doing the job.)
PPC: ਪੁੱਤਰਾਂ ਨੇ ਕੰਮ ਕੀਤਾ। پتراں نے کم کیتا۔ (The sons finished the job.)
- The vocative forms (point 4) of both masculine and feminine nouns will be discussed under the post of 'Vocative Case'. So stay connected! It's gonna get more interesting.
