Dear Madhav,

In his 1991 book The Indo-Aryan Languages, beginning on p. 344, Colin Masica writes:

Where distinctive marking of the ergative Agent is retained , it has taken several

forms:

1. a direct phonological descendant of the Sanskrit Instrumental (-ena , --ina ,

-unā, -ayā, -yā; -aiḥ], -bhiḥ] , etc.) in the form of the common Oblique case into

which it has merged (different in Masculine and Feminine , and in singular and

plural) is the marker - in Sindhi and "Lahnda" (including Siraiki) , most forms of

Rajasthani (lost except as an alternate with 3rd person pronouns in the form of

Marwari studied by Magier 1983), Bhadarwahi , and several Dardic dialects; in

Kashmiri where the old cases are less completely merged, some declensions

preserve a recognizably Instrumental form (-an, -en) in the singular; in Kalasha

and Khowar, where. they are even better preserved, the ergative construction

does not exist (the old Preterite also having been preserved) , and the case retains

a purely instrumental function, primarily with inanimgte nouns (Morgenstierne

1947, 1965) ;

2. one (most common) direct phonological descendant (-ena > -e~ > -e) is

generalized for all genders and both numbers as an agglutinized marker — in

Gujarati , Assamese (with some East Bengali dialects and Bishnupriya [K. P .

Sinha 1981: 81]), and most West Pahari dialects (Kangri, Jaunsari, Baghati ,

Sirmauri, Kiunthali, Kului , Mandeali , Churahi, but Standard Chameali and

Bhadarwahi show gender variants) ; this suffix partly coincides with the Locative

(the Eastern languages attempt to keep them separate by means of new Locatives

in -t-), but new suffixes (G. -thī, A. -ere) compete for the properly "instrumental"

fun􀲆tion, leaving it almost as a distinctively "Agentive" case;

3. "reinforced" versions of an instrumental marker characterize Hindi, Punj abi,

and Marathi , distinct as Agentives from new Instrumentals in the first two (-ne vs.

H. se, P . -nāḷ) , retaining an instrumental function (and distinct singular/plural

forms) in Marathi (-ne, -nə/-nī) ;

4. "new" instrumental markers have usurped the agentive function in Nepali and

Kumauni (-Ie) , also partly in Shina (-s/se - possibly borrowed from the neighboring

Balti dialect of Tibetan) , with still newer markers coming in (N. -baṭa) to pick

up the ordinary instrumental function.

Many NIA languages have neutralized the Nominative/Agentive distinction in

1st and 2nd person pronouns , often in favor of the Agentive in the former: P.

mai~, Marw. mhe~ 'I (Nom/Ag)’ (vs. G. hu~/me~ 'I (Nom)/I (Ag)') . Hindi

pleonastically reinforces mai~, originally Agentive, as mai~-ne.

Best,

Tim

From: INDOLOGY <indology-bounces@list.indology.info> on behalf of INDOLOGY <indology@list.indology.info>
Reply-To: Madhav Deshpande <mmdesh@umich.edu>
Date: Sunday, April 12, 2020 at 1:17 PM
To: INDOLOGY <indology@list.indology.info>
Subject: Re: [INDOLOGY] Source of the post-position ने in Hindi

To me, it is clear that there is no direct link between the Sanskrit instrumental -ena and Modern Marathi forms like देवाने.  Old Marathi has देवें, and at some point -ने in singular and -नी in plural emerge.  It is unlikely that Marathi would be reverting directly to Sanskrit in this late phase.  The old Marathi inscription has चामुंडरायें करवियले, where Modern Marathi would have चामुंडरायाने करविले.  G. V. Tulpule in his यादवकालीन मराठी भाषा provides many forms that have a similar ending, i.e गंगराजें, दंडनाकें, सावंतें etc. and the plural forms like गुरवीं, पंडितीँ, म्हाइंभटीं etc.  The endings that appear in Modern Marathi are not there in the Marathi of the Yadava period.  But ज्ञानेश्वरी has a few forms like तेणे and जेणे and देवाचेनि, indicating that the endings ने/नि do exist at least marginally in Old Marathi.  Some have connected this to the influence of Kannada in the neighborhood.  However, the endings -ने/नी are to be seen in the Marathi of the Peshwa period and then they continue into Modern Marathi.

Madhav M. Deshpande

Professor Emeritus, Sanskrit and Linguistics

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

Senior Fellow, Oxford Center for Hindu Studies

[Residence: Campbell, California, USA]

On Sun, Apr 12, 2020 at 9:06 AM Madhav Deshpande <mmdesh@umich.edu> wrote:

Dear Indologists,

     What is the historical source for the post-position ने in Hindi and ने/नी  in Marathi?  I see some folks connect this directly with the instrumental ending -एन, as in फलेन.  At least in Marathi, I noticed Jules Bloch saying this this -एन simply becomes एं, as in देवें केले in Old Marathi.  But then what is the source of देवाने/देवांनी  in Modern Marathi and ने in राम ने?  Any suggestions?

Madhav M. Deshpande

Professor Emeritus, Sanskrit and Linguistics

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

Senior Fellow, Oxford Center for Hindu Studies

[Residence: Campbell, California, USA]