# Bhojpuri grammar

Bhojpuri grammar (Bhojpuri: भोजपुरी व्याकरण) is the grammar of the Bhojpuri language. In many aspects, it is quite similar to other Eastern Indo-Aryan languages. Modern Bhojpuri grammar was written in 1915 by Pt. Shivadas Ojha.

## Nouns

Nouns in Bhojpuri have three forms, viz. short, long and redundant. Thus, for ghōṛā ("horse"), the forms will be ghōṛā, ghoṛwā and ghoṛawā respectively. In some cases, the long form ends with /ē/, ghoṛwē. The redundant form has two more variants, /-ā/ and /-yā/. Thus for kukur ("a dog"), it can take the form kukurā and for māli ("a gardener") maliyā. /-ā/ is used with nouns which have a disyllabic structure like bhatār, bhatarā ("husband") or sonār, sonarā ("goldsmith"). The suffix /-yā/ is added to nouns ending in /-i/, including feminine forms derived by adding /-i/, like bētī, betiyā ("daughter") and aurat, auratiyā ("women"). The oblique forms of nouns are identical to the nominative with the exception of verbal nouns.

### Definitness

The redundant form, as it is called by Greirson, actually does the grammatical task of coding definiteness in the noun morphology. It is same as the definite articles the and la of English and French respectively. Thus, ghorawā is "the horse" and maliyā is "the gardener".

### Morphology

To characterize nouns the suffixes -wala and -iya are extensively used. -wala is also used in Hindustani but its use is more extensive in Bhojpuri where it can replace the adjective-forming suffixes of borrowed words, e.g. /-dār/. For instance, Hindi: इज़्ज़तदार, romanized: izzatdār becomes ijjatwalā in Bhojpuri. The suffix /-iyā/ (also /-aiyā/, /-vaiyā/ variations) is also used extensively as characterizing suffix, as in kalkatiyā, characteristic or belonging to Kolkata, and puraniyā, characterized by old age.

### Gender

The Animate nouns in Bhojpuri are gendered. Those referring to females are feminine and rest are masculine. The feminine is formed by adding /-i/, /-in/ and /-ni/ to masculine nouns, e.g. /ājā/ ("grandfather") → /ājī/ ("grandmother") or /māli - mālin/ and /babuā - babunī/ (boy - girl).

### Number

To form the plural in Bhojpuri, the final long vowel is shortened and -n, -nh or -ni is added. In some cases, nouns of multitude like sabh (all) or lōg (people) are added to nouns to make plurals.
| Definition | Singular Form (Short) | Singular Form (long) | Plural Form |
| House | ghar | gharwā | gharan/gharwan/ ghar sabh |
| Horse | ghoṛā | ghoṛwā | ghoṛan/ghoṛwan/ghōṛā sabh |
| Boy | laïkā | laïkwā | laïkan/laïka sabh |
| King | rājā | rajwā | rājā lōg |

### Cases

Cases are generally formed by adding prepositions to the Nominative case or the oblique form (if exists) of the nouns. Sometimes true cases are also found, such as an Instrumental and Locative formed by adding -ē, as in Bengali. Thus, the locative and Instrumental case of ghar ("house") is ghare ("in/by the house"). These case forms are only found in the singular, however.
Noun Inflection :
| | Short | Short | Long | Long |
| | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural |
| Nominative | 𑂐𑂩ghar𑂐𑂩gharthe house | 𑂐𑂩𑂢gharana𑂐𑂩𑂢gharanathe Houses | 𑂐𑂩𑂫𑂰gharvā𑂐𑂩𑂫𑂰gharvāthe House | 𑂐𑂩𑂫𑂢gharvana𑂐𑂩𑂫𑂢gharvanathe Houses |
| Accusative | 𑂐𑂩ghar𑂍𑂵/𑂍ke/ka'𑂐𑂩 𑂍𑂵/𑂍ghar ke/ka'(to) the House | 𑂐𑂩𑂢gharan𑂍𑂵/𑂍ke/ka𑂐𑂩𑂢 𑂍𑂵/𑂍gharan ke/ka(to) the houses | 𑂐𑂩𑂫𑂰gharvā𑂍𑂵/𑂍ke/ka'𑂐𑂩𑂫𑂰 𑂍𑂵/𑂍gharvā ke/ka'(to) the House | 𑂐𑂩𑂫𑂢gharvana𑂍𑂵/𑂍ke/ka'𑂐𑂩𑂫𑂢 𑂍𑂵/𑂍gharvana ke/ka'(to) the House |
| Genitive | 𑂐𑂩ghar𑂍𑂵/𑂍ke/ka'𑂐𑂩 𑂍𑂵/𑂍ghar ke/ka'(of) the House | 𑂐𑂩𑂢gharan𑂍𑂵/𑂍ke/ka𑂐𑂩𑂢 𑂍𑂵/𑂍gharan ke/ka(of) the houses | 𑂐𑂩𑂫𑂰gharvā𑂍𑂵/𑂍ke/ka'𑂐𑂩𑂫𑂰 𑂍𑂵/𑂍gharvā ke/ka'(of) the House | 𑂐𑂩𑂫𑂢gharvana𑂍𑂵/𑂍ke/ka'𑂐𑂩𑂫𑂢 𑂍𑂵/𑂍gharvana ke/ka'(of) the House |
| Locative | 𑂐𑂩ghar𑂧𑂵,me,𑂐𑂩𑂵gharē𑂐𑂩 𑂧𑂵, 𑂐𑂩𑂵ghar me, gharē(in/on) the House | 𑂐𑂩𑂢gharan𑂧𑂵me𑂐𑂩𑂢 𑂧𑂵gharan me(in/on) the houses | 𑂐𑂩𑂫𑂰gharvā𑂧𑂵me'𑂐𑂩𑂫𑂰 𑂧𑂵gharvā me'(in/on) the House | 𑂐𑂩𑂫𑂢gharvana𑂧𑂵me'𑂐𑂩𑂫𑂢 𑂧𑂵gharvana me'(in/on) the House |
* To form the instrumental case; sē, tē, santē and kartē are also added to the noun forms, hence ghar se is to the house.
* To form the dative, lā, lag, khātir are added, ex:- ghar la (for the house)
* For the ablative case, sē, lē are added.

### Noun Phrases

Nouns can be preceded by quantifiers. The quantifiers -gō, -ṭhō and -ṭhē are used with numeral to emphasize countability as opposed to totality. The limiter expression in Bhojpuri are marked morphologically by using the suffixes -ē and -ō, to show inclusiveness and exclusiveness respectively, as in ham āmē khāïb (I will eat only mangoes) and ham āmō khāïb (I will eat mango, too).

## Pronouns
### Personal Pronouns

The first-person pronoun has two forms viz. inferior (mē) and superior (ham). The inferior form was used in Old Bhojpuri but is obsolete in Modern Bhojpuri and is mostly found in poetry. Ham is used as the first-person singular pronoun; the oblique form is Hamrā, however sometimes ham (ham-kē) also serves as oblique form. In the Sadri dialect, mōe is used instead of ham.
| Number | Form | First Person | First Person | Second Person | Second Person | Second Person | Third Person | Third Person | Third Person |
| Number | Form | Inferior | Superior | Inf. | Formal | Honorific | Inf. | Formal | Honorific |
| Singular | Nom. | मे (mē) | हम (ham) | तें (tēṃ) | तूँ (tūṃ) | रउवा (raüvā) / रवा (ravā) / रउरा (raürā) / अपने (apnē) | ई (ī), ऊ (ū) | ई (ī), ऊ (ū) | इहाँ के (ihāṁ kē), उहाँ के (uhāṁ kē) |
| Singular | Obl. | मोहि (mohi) / मो (mō) | हमरा (hamrā) | तो (tō) / तोहि (tōhi) / तोरा (tōrā) | तोहरा (tohrā) | रउवा (raüvā) / रवा (ravā) / रउरा (raürā) / अपना (apnā) | ए (ē), एह (ēh), एकरा (ekrā), ओ (ō), ओह (ōh), ओकरा (okrā) | इन (in), इनका (inkā), इनकरा (inkarā), उन (un), उनका (unkā), उनकरा (unkarā) | इहाँ (ihāṁ), उहाँ (uhāṁ) |
| Singular | Gen. | मोर (mōr), मोरे (mōrē) | हमार (hamār) / हमरे (hamarē) | तोर (tōr) / तोरे (tōre) | तोहार (tohār) / तोहरे (tohrē) | राउर (rāür) / रउरे (raürē) / अपने के (apnē kē) | एकर (ekar), ओकर (okar) | इनकर (inkar), उनकर (unkar) | इहाँ के (ihāṁ kē), उहाँ के (uhāṁ kē) |
| Plural | Nom. | हमनी के (hamnī kē) | हमहन (hamhan) | तोहनी के (tohnī ke) | तूँ लोग (tuṃ lōg) | रउरा सभ/लोग, अपने सभ/लोग (raürā sabh/lōg, apnē sabh/log) | एकनी के (ekanī kē), ओकनी के (okanī kē) | इ लोग (I Iōg), उ लोग (u lōg) | इहाँ सभ (ihāṁ sabh), उहाँ सभ (uhāṁ sabh) |
| Plural | Obl. | हमनी (hamnī) | हमहन (hamhan) | तोहनी (tohnī) | तूँ लोग (tūṃ lōg) | रउरा सभ/लोग, अपने सभ/लोग (raürā sabh/lōg, apnē sabh/log) | एकनी (ekanī), ओकनी (okanī) | इ लोग (I Iōg), उ लोग (u lōg) | इहाँ सभ (ihāṁ sabh), उहाँ सभ (uhāṁ sabh) |
In the second person, tē is the most non-honorific form, used toward people younger than the speaker, to servants, and also while speaking disrespectfully. It can also show deep affection, informality and intimacy in a relationship. For instance, a son always uses tē for his mother. tū is ordinarily respectful term and can be used to address anyone, whether younger or older. To show extreme respect or honour, raüwā or apnē is used. The demonstrative pronouns ī and ū are used as third-person pronouns in Modern Bhojpuri; the sē and tē of Old Bhojpuri survive but are not used frequently or mostly only in a proverbial sense. For instance, jē jaïsan karī tē taïsan pāï (lit. "Who as he does, he so obtains").

### Demonstrative Pronouns

The proximate demonstrative pronouns ("this" or "those") of Modern Bhojpuri are given in the following table.
| Forms | Forms | Singular | Plural |
| Nominative | Non Honorific | ī, haï | eknī kē, inhan kē, hekni kē, hinhan kē |
| Nominative | Formal | ī, haï | ī lōg |
| Nominative | Honorific | इहाँihāṁकेkēइहाँ केihāṁ kē | इहाँihaṁसभsabh//सभनsabhan//सभनीsabhaniकेkeइहाँ सभ / सभन / सभनी केihaṁ sabh / sabhan / sabhani ke |
| Oblique | Non Honorific | ए,ē,एह,eh,हेhēए, एह, हेē, eh, hē | एकनी,eknī,इनहन,inhan,हेकनी,hekni,हिनहनhinhanएकनी, इनहन, हेकनी, हिनहनeknī, inhan, hekni, hinhan |
| Oblique | Formal | इनका,inakā,इनकराinakarāइनका, इनकराinakā, inakarā | ईīलोगlōgई लोगī lōg |
| Oblique | Honorific | इहाँihāṁइहाँihāṁ | इहाँihaṁसभsabh//सभनsabham//सभनीsabhaniकेkeइहाँ सभ / सभन / सभनी केihaṁ sabh / sabham / sabhani ke |
The genitive form is ēkar, hēkar, inkar, hinkar. Sometimes the suffix -i is added to them and used a feminine. The remote form of demonstrative adjectives can be made by replacing i with u and e with o in the proximate form. Thus, eknī will becomes oknī and so on.

### Relative Pronouns

| Forms | Singular | Plural |
| Direct | jē, jawan, jaün, jinhī or sabh | Same as Singular along with जिन्हनि (jinhani) and जिन्हनि लोग (jinhani log) |
| Oblique | जे (jē), जवना (javanā), जउना (jaünā), जेह (jeh), जिन्हि (jinhi), जेकरा (jekrā), जिनकरा (jinkarā), जेहकरा (jehkarā) | Same as Singular along with जिन्हनि (jinhani) and जिन्हनि लोग (jinhani log) |
| Genitive | जेकर (jēkar), जेहकर (jehkar), जिनकर (jinkar) | Same as Singular along with जिन्हनि (jinhani) and जिन्हनि लोग (jinhani log) |
The relative pronoun jē in Bhojpuri is the same as other Eastern Indo-Aryan languages.
| Case | Case | Demonstrative | Demonstrative | Demonstrative | Demonstrative | Relative | Relative | Interrogative | Interrogative |
| 3rd person ||||||||
| Case | Case | Proximal | Proximal | Non-proximal | Non-proximal | sg. | pl. | sg. | pl. |
| Case | Case | sg. | pl. | sg. | pl. | sg. | pl. | sg. | pl. |
| Nominative | Informal | ī, haï | eknī ke, hēknī ke, inhan ke, hinhan ke, ī log (logan/sabh) | ū, haü | oknī ke, hoknī ke, unban ke, hunhan ke, ū log (logan/sabh) | jē, jawan, jaün | jeknī kē, jinhan kē, | kē, kewan, kawan, kaün | kē, kewan, kawan lōg, kaün |
| Nominative | Formal | ī, inhī, hinhī | eknī ke, hēknī ke, inhan ke, hinhan ke, ī log (logan/sabh) | ū, unhī, hunhī | ū log (logan, sabh) | jē, jawan, jaün | jē lōg, jinhan lōg | kē, kewan, kawan, kaün | kē, kewan, kawan lōg, kaün |
| Nominative | Honorific | ihāṃ kē | ihāṃ sabh (sabhan/sabhani ke) | uhāṃ kē | uhāṃ sabh (sabhan/sabhani ke) | jihāṃ kē | jihāṃ sabh (sabhani) | kē, kewan, kawan, kaün | kē, kewan, kawan lōg, kaün |
| Oblique | Informal | ē, eh, hē, ekrā, hekrā | eknī, heknī, inhani, hinhanī | ō, oh, ho, okrā, hokrā | okanī, hoknī, unhani | jē, jekrā, jeh, jawanā, jaünā | jeknī, jinhan | kē, keh, kawanā, kaünā, kewanā, kekrā, kehakarā | kē, keknī, kinhan |
| Oblique | Formal | in, inkarā, inkā, inhani ka | i log (logan) | un, unkā, unkarā,. hunkā, hunkarā | u log (logan) | jē, jeh, jawanā, jaünā, jin, jinkā, jinkarā | jē lōg, jawan lōg | kinkarā, kinkā | kinhan, kawan log |
| Oblique | Honorific | ihāṃ | ihāṃ (sabh/sabhan/sabhani) | uhāṃ | uhāṃ (sabh/sabhan/sabhani) | jihāṃ | jihāṃ sabh (sabhan/sabhani) | kihāṃ | |
| Genitive | Informal | ēkar, hēkar | eknī ke, heknī ke | ōkar, hōkar | oknī kē, hokni kē | jēkar, jehakar | jeknī ke | kēkar | keknī ke |
| Genitive | Formal | inkar, hinkar | i log (logan) | unkar, hunkar | u log (logan) | jinkar | je/jawan/jaün log ke | kinkar | kawan log |
| Genitive | Honorific | ihaṃ ke | ihāṃ sabh ke (sabhan/logan/log) | uhāṃ kē | uhāṃ sabh ke (sabhan/logan/log) | jihaṃ | jihāṃ sabh ke (sabhan/logan/log) | | |

### Other Pronouns

* Keu, Kēhu and Kawano are used as animate forms of indefinite pronouns and kichu, kuchu, kichuo, kuchuo as inanimate forms.
* apanā and apne are used to show relative sense, nija is used in instrumental case.

## Adjectives

Like the nouns, adjectives also have short, long and redundant forms, e.g. baṛ, baṛkā, baṛkawā. Sometimes, the suffixes -han and -har are also used with adjectives, e.g. lām - lamhar and baṛ - baṛhan.
Adjectives don't agree in gender with the noun. Hence the adjective baṛ (big) is same for laïkā ("boy") and laïki ("girl"), just as in other Magadhan languages. In Bhojpuri, however, the long form with suffix /-ka/ and /-kī/ is gendered, thus baṛkā and baṛkī are used for masculine and feminine respectively.

### Degree of Comparison

There are no inflexions for comparative and superlative forms. The words equivalent to "more" like besi, jiādā, dhēr and "less" like kam are used before the adjectives while comparing:
ई
ī
लइक
laïkā
ओकरा
okarā
से
se
ढेर
ḍhera
सुन्नर
sunnara
बाटे
bāṭe
ई लइक ओकरा से ढेर सुन्नर बाटे
ī laïkā okarā se ḍhera sunnara bāṭe
This boy is fairer than that.
Sometime comparison is done using the numerals unaïs (nineteen) and bīs (twenty), where former is used for less and later for more.
ऊ
ū
लइका
laīkā
एकरा
ekarā
से
se
उमिर
umira
मे
me
तनि
tani
उनइस
unaïsa
हवे
hawe
ऊ लइका एकरा से उमिर मे तनि उनइस हवे
ū laīkā ekarā se umira me tani unaïsa hawe
The boy is a bit younger in age. (lit. That boy is slightly nineteen than this in age.
The superlative is expressed by adding sabh mē or sabh sē or sabh mē baṛhi kē or sabh se baṛhi kē (best of all) before the adjective, for example u laïka sabh mē nīk hawe (the boy is best of all).

## Verbs

Chaterji has classified Bhojpuri verbs into two categories viz. primary root and secondary root. The former one are those which are inherited from Old Indo-Aryan while the latter are causitive, denominative or compounded. Like Bengali, Bhojpuri has two moods, indicative and imperative.

## History of Bhojpuri Grammars

The earliest mentions of some grammatical features of Bhojpuri can he found in Buchanan's report on Shahabad in 1812. A detailed grammatical sketch of Bhojpuri was first published by Beames in 1868. In 1877, J.R. Reid tried to give a picture of the Bhojpuri spoken in Azamgarh district. Greirson's Linguistic Survey of India Vol. V, Part II, published in 1903, contained a skeleton grammar of Bhojpuri with specimens.
Current Bhojpuri grammer is which is widely used is Bhojpuri Bayakaran, written by Pt. Shivdas Ojha in 1915. He was a Bhojpuri scholar from Shahabad district of Bihar. It was later published by Bhojpuri Akademi, Patna.