Kannada Barahada Sollarime — Volume 4
English Summary: Pronouns and Demonstratives
Author: D. N. Shankara Bhat (ಡಿ. ಎನ್. ಶಂಕರ ಭಟ್) Published: —, Bāshāprakāshana, Heggodu Language: Kannada Source quality: PDF (Google Drive) — Baraha font → Unicode conversion
Book Overview
Volume 4 of Kannada Barahada Sollarime (ಕನ್ನಡ ಬರಹದ ಸೊಲ್ಲರಿಮೆ) completes the syntax volumes (Vols 3–4) with two chapters on reference tracking and deixis. Chapter 9 analyses personal pronouns (ಆಡುಪದಗಳು — nānu/nīnu/tānu), arguing that they are a fundamentally distinct word class whose primary job is not substitution but the expression of speech-participant relationships. Chapter 10 analyses demonstratives (ತೋರುಪದಗಳು — ivanu/avanu/idu/adu etc.), distinguishing definite demonstratives used for exophoric and anaphoric reference from indefinite ones used in interrogatives and unknown-reference expressions. Together the two chapters give a unified account of how Kannada tracks referents across discourse. DNS Bhat’s analysis throughout is grounded in native Kannada terminology and avoids unnecessary Sanskrit grammatical categories.
Table of Contents
- Chapter 9 — Personal Pronouns (ಆಡುಪದಗಳು)
- Chapter 10 — Demonstratives (ತೋರುಪದಗಳು)
- Key Concepts Table
- Cross-References
Chapter 9 — Personal Pronouns
(ಅಧ್ಯಾಯ ೯ — ಆಡುಪದಗಳು)
Bhat groups the three words ನಾನು (nānu ‘I’), ನೀನು (nīnu ‘you’), and ತಾನು (tānu ‘self/he/she’) into a special class called ಆಡುಪದಗಳು (ādupodagaLu — lit. ‘speech words’). Their defining function is to express the relationship between a sentence participant and the speech event — not simply to substitute for a noun phrase. This makes them distinct from nouns and from demonstratives.
9.1 Overview (ಮುನ್ನೋಟ)
- nānu, nīnu, tānu form a distinct class: they signal that a participant is the speaker, hearer, or neither.
- Unlike nouns (e.g. ರಾಜು rāju), pronouns do not identify who is meant — only the speech role. To know the actual person, one must know the speech context.
- tānu differs from the other two: it signals the participant is neither speaker nor hearer (a third-party reflexive/logophoric).
- Pronouns differ from demonstratives (ಅವನು avanu) in that their reference is speech-role-based rather than deictic.
- Three sub-categories of role-in-sentence-formation are distinguished: speaker-role, hearer-role, and other-role constructions.
9.2 Function of Personal Pronouns (ಆಡುಪದಗಳ ಕೆಲಸ)
- Pronouns are often called ‘substitutes for nouns’, but Bhat argues this description is wrong: pronouns don’t substitute for nouns, they perform a distinct referential function tied to speech roles.
- ಮಾರಿಕೆಯ ಪದಗಳು (mārikeyada padagaLu — substitution words): the classic but incorrect description; Bhat shows that pronouns can appear in contexts where no prior noun exists to substitute.
- An indirect method of argument identification: pronouns don’t directly name a participant; they identify them via their speech role.
- In quotative clauses (endu clauses), pronouns in the embedded clause refer to the speaker/hearer of the quoted speech event, not the main clause event.
- The endu complementizer and ante (reportative particle) both interact with pronoun reference in embedded clauses.
9.3 Use of tānu (ತಾನು ಪದದ ಬಳಕೆ)
- tānu is Kannada’s reflexive/logophoric pronoun — it refers back to a participant in the sentence who is neither the current speaker nor hearer.
- Clause-boundedness constraint (ಪಾಂಗು ಸೊಲ್ಲಿನೊಳಗಿರಬೇಕೆಂಬ ಕಟ್ಟಲೆ): the antecedent of tānu must be within the same clause. Cross-clause antecedent (tānu in one clause, antecedent in another) is generally prohibited.
- In sentences with multiple speakers or hearers, the clause-boundedness constraint resolves ambiguity.
- In different types of subordinate clauses (relative clauses, purpose clauses, converb clauses), tānu shows varying behavior.
- In genitive forms (tanna, tanage), tānu similarly refers back to a clause-internal participant.
- With the focus particle (tānē), tānu gets emphatic meaning (‘himself/herself in particular’).
- tānu has restricted scope compared to English reflexive pronouns.
9.4 Pronouns and Morphological Properties (ಆಡುಪದಗಳು ಮತ್ತು …)
- Case suffix attachment: When case suffixes attach to pronouns (nanninda, ninage, tanage), irregular morphophonological forms result.
- Honorific system (ಆಳ್ತನದ ಕಟ್ಟುಪಾಡು): Three levels — plain (nīnu), polite (nīvu), highly respectful (tāvu). This honorific distinction triggers corresponding verb agreement.
- Plural forms: nāvu (‘we’) = nānu + others; nīvu (polite ‘you’) = nīnu (polite); tāvu (plural 3rd, polite).
- Pronouns in proverbs and formulaic speech: fixed or shifted reference in proverbs.
- Name vs address forms: nīnu/nīvu choices for addressing someone interact with social register.
- Argument type and quality: pronouns can predicate the type of the participant (nānu oddavanu ‘I am an expert’).
- Equative sentences: nānu nīne (‘I am you’) — identity statements with pronoun subjects.
9.5 Pronouns vs Demonstratives (ಆಡುಪದಗಳು ಮತ್ತು …)
- Systematic comparison of personal pronouns and demonstratives across six dimensions.
- Position (ಇಟ್ಟಳ): pronouns typically fill nuclear argument positions; demonstratives can fill nuclear or peripheral positions.
- Function (ಕೆಲಸ): pronouns signal speech role; demonstratives signal deictic or anaphoric reference.
- Scope (ಹರವು): pronouns don’t bind into sub-clauses the way demonstratives used anaphorically can.
- Agreement patterns (ಹೊಂದಾಣಿಕೆ): pronouns trigger specific verb agreement; demonstratives have their own agreement patterns.
- In relative clauses: pronouns and demonstratives in embedded/relative clauses show distinct behavior regarding antecedent binding.
- tānu sometimes has ‘substitution meaning’ (reflexive), sometimes ‘demonstrative meaning’ — this ambiguity is systematically analyzed.
- Reduplicated forms (nānu-nānu, nīnu-nīnu): pragmatic/emphatic uses.
9.6 Summary (ತಿರುಳು)
- nānu, nīnu, tānu form a special class: their reference is determined by the speech event, not by prior nominal mention or deictic pointing.
- tānu is clause-bound, has restricted scope, and is Kannada’s primary reflexive/logophoric marker.
- The honorific system in Kannada pronoun usage is systematic and grammatically encoded.
- Personal pronouns are distinct from demonstratives in function, position, scope, and agreement.
Chapter 10 — Demonstratives
(ಅಧ್ಯಾಯ ೧೦ — ತೋರುಪದಗಳು)
The chapter analyses Kannada’s two-way demonstrative system built on the proximal stem i- (ಇ- ‘near’) and distal stem ā- (ಆ- ‘far’). Bhat distinguishes three major uses: exophoric (pointing to the real world), anaphoric (pointing back to prior discourse), and indefinite (expressing the speaker’s ignorance). The chapter carefully separates definite demonstratives (both exo- and anaphoric) from indefinite ones (interrogatives and ignorance-markers).
10.1 Overview (ಮುನ್ನೋಟ)
- Two-stem system: i- (proximal: ivanu, ivaLu, idu, illi, iga) and ā- (distal: avanu, avaLu, adu, alli, āga).
- Full paradigm: person, number, gender, and case all play a role in the realized forms.
- Additional demonstratives: iShTu/aShTu (this much/that much), ittana/attana (this kind/that kind), ivarū/avarū (all these/those).
- Four types of deixis (ತೋರ್ಕೆಯ ಬಗೆಗಳು): (1) exophoric (pointing to the world), (2) anaphoric/argument (pointing to prior participant), (3) discourse-anaphoric (pointing to prior proposition), (4) indefinite (signalling ignorance).
- Two kinds of awareness underlying definite demonstrative use: (1) baLake arivu (pragmatic/perceptual awareness — you can see it), (2) nanasu arivu (epistemic/factual awareness — you already know it).
10.2 Distribution of Demonstratives (ತೋರುಪದಗಳ ಹರವು)
- Demonstratives function as noun phrases (avanu bandanu), verb predicates (avanu ivane), and noun modifiers (ā huDuganu, ī mane).
- With case suffixes (avaninda, ivarige, adannu), demonstratives take regular case morphology.
- Demonstratives can identify arguments (pointing to who/what a role-filler is), predicate qualities (avanu oddavanu), indicate quantity (iShTu nīru), and anchor arguments (establishing referents as discourse-known).
- With emphatic particles ū (‘even’), ō (‘like/approximately’), ē (‘indeed/only’), demonstratives acquire specific pragmatic nuances.
- Agreement: when two demonstratives share an antecedent, number and gender agreement patterns arise.
- Identification use: idu adalla (‘this is not that’) — marking or distinguishing referents.
10.3 Definite Demonstratives: Exophoric Use (ತಿಳಿದ ತೋರುಪದಗಳ ಬಳಕೆ — ಹೊರತೋರ್ಕೆ)
- Exophoric reference (ಹೊರತೋರ್ಕೆ): the demonstrative points to something in the physical/perceptual context of the speech event.
- Proximal–distal contrast: i- for near (speaker-proximate), ā- for far (speaker-distal). This is the classic deictic use.
- Temporal proximity: i- also covers the recent past or near future; ā- covers remote time.
- In some contexts (especially anaphoric), the proximal–distal contrast is neutralized — ā- forms alone are used regardless of physical distance.
- Two types of definite demonstratives: those based on baLake awareness (perceptual — you see it) and those based on nanasu awareness (factual — you know about it from elsewhere).
10.4 Definite Demonstratives: Anaphoric Use (ತಿಳಿದ ತೋರುಪದಗಳ ಬಳಕೆ — ಒಳತೋರ್ಕೆ)
- Argument anaphora (ಪಾಂಗುತೋರ್ಕೆ): a demonstrative refers back to a participant previously established in the discourse. ā- forms are the canonical anaphor.
- Zero anaphora: Kannada frequently drops the demonstrative (and even the subject/object NP) when the referent is discourse-established. Zero anaphora is the unmarked option.
- ā- forms (distal) are the primary anaphoric forms; i- forms (proximal) signal the referent was recently introduced.
- Cataphora (ಹಿನ್ನುಡಿತ): occasionally ā- introduces a referent that will be elaborated later in the same sentence or the next.
- Discourse anaphora (ಸೊಲ್ಲುತೋರ್ಕೆ): adu/idu refers to an entire prior proposition, not just a participant. avanu bandanu — idu sata (‘He came — that is a lie’).
- Argument anaphora vs discourse anaphora: both use ā- forms, but the distinction between pointing to a participant vs pointing to a whole proposition is semantically important.
10.5 Indefinite Demonstratives (ತಿಳಿಯದ ತೋರುಪದಗಳು)
- Indefinite demonstratives (ತಿಳಿಯದ ತೋರುಪದಗಳು): yāru (‘who’), yāva (‘which’), ēdu (‘what thing’), elllige (‘where’), ēntu (‘how much’), etc.
- These forms do not express deixis — they signal the speaker’s ignorance about the referent’s identity.
- With conjunctive particle ū (yārū ‘anyone/everyone’), disjunctive ilvē (yārO ‘someone-or-other’), or free-choice reading — the basic forms shift meaning.
- Five types of indefiniteness (ತಿಳಿಯದಿಕೆಯ ಅಯ್ದು ಬಗೆಗಳು): (1) specific unknown (some particular person the speaker doesn’t know), (2) interrogative (question about identity), (3) general indefinite (anyone, whatever), (4) free-choice any (yāvadudrū), (5) explicit speaker ignorance.
- In relative/embedded clauses, indefinite demonstratives behave as relative pronouns.
10.6 Uses of Indefinite Demonstratives (ತಿಳಿಯದ ತೋರುಪದಗಳ ಬಳಕೆ)
- Marking speaker ignorance: yārō bandaru (‘somebody came’) — the speaker knows someone came but doesn’t know who. This requires the speaker to actually be ignorant.
- Constraint: if the speaker knows who came, yārō is infelicitous. The ignorance must be genuine.
- In interrogatives: yāru bandaru? (‘Who came?’) — the speaker solicits information from the hearer.
- In exclamatory sentences: ēnō māDidanu! (‘What a thing he did!’) — surprise or wonder, not genuine question.
- In relative/embedded clauses as free relatives: yāru bandanō avanu bandanu (‘Whoever came, that person came’) — yāru acts as a relative pronoun introducing a free relative clause.
- In other embedded clauses: endu/ante clauses allow indefinite demonstratives in an ignorance-signalling rather than interrogative meaning.
10.7 Summary (ತಿರುಳು)
- Kannada has a two-stem demonstrative system: i- (proximal) and ā- (distal).
- Definite demonstratives are used exophorically (pointing to the world) and anaphorically (pointing to discourse-established referents).
- The proximal–distal contrast is realized in exophoric use; in anaphoric use, ā- forms dominate.
- Discourse anaphora (adu pointing to a proposition) and argument anaphora (avanu pointing to a participant) are distinct.
- Indefinite demonstratives are built from the same stems but signal ignorance rather than deixis.
- The five types of indefiniteness (specific unknown, interrogative, general, free-choice, explicit ignorance) account for the full range of yāru/yāva/ēdu type expressions.
Key Concepts
| Kannada Term | Eke | English |
|---|---|---|
| ಆಡುಪದ | ADupada | personal pronoun (speech-participant word) |
| ತೋರುಪದ | tOrUpada | demonstrative |
| ತಾನು | tAnu | reflexive/logophoric pronoun |
| ಮಾರಿಕೆ | mArike | substitution |
| ಮದಿಪು | madipu | focus particle |
| ಆಳ್ತನ | ALtana | honorific level / politeness |
| ತೋರ್ಕೆ | tOrke | deixis / reference |
| ಹೊರತೋರ್ಕೆ | horatOrke | exophoric reference |
| ಪಾಂಗುತೋರ್ಕೆ | pAngutOrke | argument anaphora |
| ಸೊಲ್ಲುತೋರ್ಕೆ | sollutOrke | discourse anaphora |
| ತಿಳಿದ ತೋರುಪದ | tiLida tOrUpada | definite demonstrative |
| ತಿಳಿಯದ ತೋರುಪದ | tiLiyada tOrUpada | indefinite demonstrative |
| ಬಳಕೆ ಅರಿವು | baLake arivu | perceptual/pragmatic awareness |
| ನನಸು ಅರಿವು | nanasu arivu | epistemic/factual awareness |
| ಅಂಗುತೋರ್ಕೆ | angutOrke | anaphoric reference |
| ಹರವು | haravu | scope / range |
| ಹಲವೆಣಿಕೆ | halaveNike | plurality |
| ಕಡಿತ ಹರವು | kaDita haravu | restricted scope |
| ಒಳಸೊಲ್ಲು | oLasollu | embedded/subordinate clause |
| ಹಿನ್ನುಡಿತ | hinnuDita | cataphora |
Cross-References to Other DNS Bhat Works
| Related Book | Connection |
|---|---|
| 07 Vol3 — Verbal Arguments | Vol3 establishes the argument frame system that Vol4’s pronouns and demonstratives fill |
| 07 Vol1 — Phonology/Script | Foundational volume; the i-/ā- demonstrative stems are analysed phonologically there |
| 07 Vol2 — Morphology | Case suffixes (pattuge oTTugaLu) that attach to pronouns and demonstratives are detailed in Vol2 |
| 33 — ಕನ್ನಡ sollarime (YouTube) | YouTube lecture series companion — covers pronoun and demonstrative topics in accessible form |
| 08 — Kannada ke Mahaprana Yake Beda | Phonological argument that informs native Kannada term formation used in Vols 3–4 |