Marathi

Book excerpt: Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language, is the official language of Maharashtra, including Mumbai. Father Thomas Stephens, the first English traveler to Goa, a pioneer linguist, wrote "Christa Puran" in Marathi (1616) and "Arte da Lingoa Canarim" in Portuguese, printed in (1640). The latter is a grammar of Konkani, a language closely related to Marathi. It is the first grammar of its kind marking a new grammatical tradition for modern Indo-Aryan languages. The present volume contains an extensive account of Marathi phonology, morphology, word formation and syntax. It succinctly describes the accentual system, special compound verb forms, unique pronominal anaphors, complex agreement due to split ergative system, and special pronominal marking. The book also contains a case study of a child s acquisition of Marathi and an essay on Women s Language, the two topics that are increasingly becoming relevant to the grammar."