LWM 485: A Grammar of Hadoti

A Grammar of Hadoti

Amitabh Vikram Dwivedi
Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University

‘A Grammar of Hadoti’ follows an approach to describe the core grammatical features i.e., phonology, morphology, and syntax of Hadoti. It embraces a linguistic way of looking at grammar – seeing it not as a prescribed grammar, but as the tool with which we apply theoretical applications of linguistics. ‘A Grammar of Hadoti’ is written to be accessible to the global reader. It shows the unique grammatical features of Hadoti as it is. It is useful both in its combination of the formal grammar reference section and the guide to usage structured along systemic lines.

Hadoti is a macro language of Indo-Aryan family. It is spoken in the state of Rajasthan in India by fifty two million people approximately according to the latest census. It is a descendent of Gurjari Apabransha, one of the languages of Prakrit derived from Sanskrit. Hadoti is not specified in the constitution of India. It comes neither in the scheduled languages nor in the non-scheduled languages of India. But its structure (both morphological and syntactic) shows partial vicinity to Hindi, Gujarati and other seven macro languages of Rajasthan.

The first linguistic attempt to write anything on Hadoti was done by G. A. Grierson. Since then no linguistic grammar has been written on Hadoti. This work documents the language in the descriptive linguistic tradition.

Hadoti is a SOV language. Structurally, sentences are either simple or complex. A simple sentence contains a main clause and a complex sentence contains one or more subordinate clauses. This structural division of sentences can also be classified functionally, as statements, questions, volitional utterances and exclamations.

ISBN 9783862881703. Languages of the World/Materials 485. 175pp. 2012.