Modern Hindi Grammar - Indian Institute of Language Studies (IILS)

3. MORPHOLOGY

3. Morphology

This chapter deals with the morphological structure of different
word classes, describing their inflectional and derivational forms.
Word classes described include nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs,
adverbs, particles, connectives, and interjections.

3.1. Nouns

3.1.1. Noun Inflection

Nouns in Hindi are inflected for gender, number, and case. There are
three declensions of nouns; Declension I includes Aa /a:/ ending
masculine nouns; Declension II includes all other masculine nouns;
and Declension III includes all feminine nouns.

3.1.1.1. Gender

There are two genders in Hindi: masculine and feminine. Besides
the natural gender of animate nouns, every inanimate noun is
assigned a gender. Though the gender of a large number of
inanimate nouns can be predicted by their endings, there are no hard
and fast rules for assigning the genders. Masculine forms are
traditionally taken as basic. The gender formation involves (a)
suffixation, (b) phonological changes, and (c) suppletion. We can
make some general observations as follows.

(i) Most of the Aa /a:/ ending masculine nouns have their feminine
forms ending in [- /i:/.

laD,ka larka: boy laD,kI larki: girl
caacaa ca:ca: uncle caacaI ca:ci: aunt
iballaa billa: he cat iballaI billi: she cat
baccaa bacca: child (m) baccaI bacci: child (f)
dada da:da: father’s father dadI da:di: father’s mother
naanaa na:na: mother’s father naanaI na:ni: mother’s mother
saalaa sa:la: wife’s brother saalaI sa:li: wife’s sister
pgalaa pagla: a mad man pgalaI pagli: a mad woman