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This study makes a modest attempt to consider certain productive word for-
mation rules in Bengali and tries to determine why certain potential but non-
existing words can gain acceptability among native speakers whereas certain
others are not at all acceptable. An attempt will be made to give a psycho-
semantic interpretation to this problem which alone can explain what is possi-
ble and what is impossible in Bengali. In particular, this study is an attempt to
understand the properties of noun formation rules by considering the entire
verbal stock of Bengali in relation to certain formative a½xes.
1. Introduction
This paper is concerned with the internal structure of Bengali words. In par-
ticular, it deals with certain possible nominals and adjectivals in Bengali
derivable from the basic verbs. The productivity of certain derivational suf-
®xes in Bengali (such as On and naa changing verbs to nouns and that
of (u)ni deriving adjectives from verbs) will be tested here.
2. Methodology
In order to exhaust the nominal and other constructions under consider-
ation, a large lexical database was ®rst created using dBase III Plus by in-
putting 6,251 verbal entries obtained from one of the standard dictionaries
in BengaliÐthe Sahitya Samsad Dictionary. This included a large number
of conjunct verbs, causative forms with some semantic di¨erences in shades
of meaning, and the non-causative -no verbs, out of which an exhaustive set
of 219 verbs was considered for this exercise in word generation to see if
there was a pattern. The 250-odd non-causative roots with -no, which are
listed in the appendix, were kept out of our list, because they would not par-
ticipate in a construction involving -on.
The data described here also includes possible but unavailable forms,
which have been shown within parentheses with a question mark preceding
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38 Udaya Narayana Singh and Suchita Singh
them. These are, indeed, forms which may or may not have actual realiza-
tion but which must have been in conformity with the phonological, syntac-
tic and semantic pattern of the language, which is evident from the fact that
they pass the test of informant elicitation as possible (but unavailable)
entries.
3. Theoretical Background
Generative grammarians have only recently reached some kind of consen-
sus regarding the properties of word formation processes and rules. But the
issue as to where exactly this process of word formation takes place still re-
mains unresolved. Whereas Kiparsky (1982) and Mohanan (1982) advocate
that it occurs at the phonological level, Fabb (1984) and many others claim
that it takes place in syntax. The argument seems to be that syntax not only
has a role in the in¯ection of a given word but that it also plays a crucial
role in word formation, particularly in the case of compoundings. Fabb
(1984) postulates a set of diagnostics to determine whether word formation
is a lexical or a syntactic phenomenon. According to him, for instance, a
word formation process is syntactic if it (i) is productive, (ii) does not vio-
late the Projection Principle, and (iii) is semantically transparent. Arono¨
(1976), in contrast to Fabb's claim for the syntactic role in the productive
process, argues that several factors combine to decide the productivity of
a process. In this study, however, we consider a few very productive pro-
cesses, which operate at the level of lexis and as such are not syntactic.
Even now, i.e. even after the introduction of many new forms in the last
few decades, they show many gaps, although the forms generated and fur-
ther generable are all semantically transparent. Although The Origin and
Development of the Bengali Language (ODBL), the voluminous work of
Chatterji (1926), did devote a few pages to the exempli®cation of use of
these as well as a few other verb-to-noun formations (ODBL, Vol II: 651±
659), we are unaware of any literature on this particular problem where
such word formation programmes are to be checked.
The productivity of a word formation rule can be judged on the basis of
the frequency and acceptability of the words which are produced by a par-
ticular word formation rule, and are listed in the lexicon. The use of a new
word depends upon the kind of productivity or the potentiality of the word
formation rule, as is evidenced by the native speakers attitude in using new
words (cf. Dowty 1979 and Dressler 1982). The general trend is the ready
acceptance of the words produced by a productive word formation rule as
against the reluctance to accept the words produced by the less productive
ones. Arono¨ (1978) advocates testing the synchronic reality of the produc-
tivity experimentallyÐby using the technique of cognitive psychology (but
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The Possible and the Impossible in Bengali Word Formation 39
5. Structure of Data
Let us consider the following data (on marks a nominalization with the
interpretation: `of the state of', naa has di¨erent types of meaning load,
uni is usually used for an individual possessing the quality of the activity
denoted by the verb, and the -i at the end indicates femininity in many
cases)
Data Structure
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40 Udaya Narayana Singh and Suchita Singh
6. aanaa Ð Ð Ð
7. aaSaa Ð Ð Ð
8. ucchraa Ð Ð Ð
9. ubaa Ð Ð Ð
10. upjaa Ð Ð Ð
11. oThaa oThon Ð (uThti)
12. opRaa @ -(upTOn) Ð Ð
upRaa
13. oRaa oRon oRnaa uRni @ oRoni
14. olaa olon *olnaa uluni
15. kOhaa @ kOhon/kaahon *kOhnaa *kouni
kOwaa
16. kaaMdaa kaaMdon kaannaa kaaMduni
17. kaaMpaa kaaMpon *kaaMpnaa kaampuni
18. kaacaa Ð Ð Ð
19. kaaTaa *kaaTon kaaTnaa [?kaaTuni]
20. kaaRaa kaaRaan *kaaRnaa *kaaR(u)ni
21. kuMthaa kuMtaan/ *kuMthnaa *kuMthni
koM-
22. kuTaa koTon kuTnaa KuTni/kuRuni
23. kuhOraa kuhoron *kuhornaa *kuhorni
24. kenaa ?*kenon ?kinnaa/ *kinuni
kenaa
25. koMdaa koMdon *kuMdnaa kudaali
26. khaaoaa khaaon khaanaa *khaauni
27. khaaTaa *khaaTon *khaaTnaa khaaTuni
(dial)
28. khElaa khElon khElnaa [?kheluni]
29. khoMjaa *khoMjon *khoMjnaa [?khoMjuni]
30. khodaa khodon/ *khodnaa *khoduni
khodaai
31. kholaa kholon kholnaa khuluni
32. gOlaa gOlon *gOlnaa [*goluni]
33. *gOhaa gOhon gOhnaa/ *gOhni
gOynaa
34. gaaRaa gaaRon *gaaRnaa *gaaRo/uni
35. gaadaa Ð Ð Ð
36. gaalaa gaalon *gaalnaa [*gaaluni]
37. gaaoaa gaahon gaaonaa gaauni
38. gelaa gelon *gelnaa *geluni
39. golaa Ð Ð Ð
40. ghOSaa ghOSon *ghOSnaa ghiSni
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The Possible and the Impossible in Bengali Word Formation 41
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42 Udaya Narayana Singh and Suchita Singh
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The Possible and the Impossible in Bengali Word Formation 43
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44 Udaya Narayana Singh and Suchita Singh
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The Possible and the Impossible in Bengali Word Formation 45
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46 Udaya Narayana Singh and Suchita Singh
212. SEMkaa Ð Ð Ð
213. SoMkaa Ð Ð Ð
214. Sonaa shunon *Sunnaa Sunaani
215. hOwaa *hOon (dial) *hOonaa *houni
216. hOThaa Ð Ð Ð
217. haaMkaa *haaMkan ?haaMkna [?haaMkni]
(haaMk/
haaMkaa)
218. haaMcaa Ð Ð Ð
219. haaSaa Ð Ð [?haaSni, esp.
in slang]
6. Observations
If we take a closer look at the table presented above, we notice that there
are indeed a large number of basic verbs that do not participate in this par-
ticular word form generation in Standard Chalit Bengali (SCB). These in-
clude about 116 out of the 219, i.e. 52.96% of the basic verbs already men-
tioned above. These stems include the following (where we have deleted the
in®nitive marking, i.e. -aa):
Level O
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The Possible and the Impossible in Bengali Word Formation 47
Level 7
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48 Udaya Narayana Singh and Suchita Singh
Level 1
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The Possible and the Impossible in Bengali Word Formation 49
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50 Udaya Narayana Singh and Suchita Singh
If we add the 14 level 2 verbs above and the 25 level 3 verbs to the initial
35, we see that gradually these forms are making inroads into all kinds of
verbs, and consequently the Bengali lexicon is enriched more and more.
Thus approximately 18% of the basic verbs have been drifting towards the
highest level over the years.
There are two more layers of forms, assigned to levels 4 and 5 as shown
below:
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The Possible and the Impossible in Bengali Word Formation 51
We would expect that all forms generated by adding the other two suf-
®xes would also have a corresponding -On form in each case. But this is
further seen in the problem of the level 6 forms given below, which have
both -naa and -(u)ni forms, but no trace of -On anywhere in SCB:
References
Arono¨, Mark (1976). Word formation in generative grammar. Cambridge: Massachusetts
Institute of Technology Press.
Ð (1978). The relevance of productivity in a synchronic description of word formation. J.
Fisiok (ed.), Historical morphology. The Hague: Mouton.
Chatterji, Sunit Kumar (1926). The Origin and Development of the Bengali Language, vol. II.
Calcutta: Calcutta University Press.
Dan, Mina (1998). ``Bangla verb morphology: The actual derivation.'' Indian Linguistics, 59(1±
4): 43±79.
Dowty, David R. (1979). Word meaning and Montague grammar. Dordrecht: Reidel.
Dressler, Wolfgang (1982). On a polycentristic theory of word formation. Proceedings of 12th
International Congress of Linguistics.
Fabb, Nigel A. (1984). Syntactic a½xation. Doctoral dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology.
Ferguson, C.A. and Munier Choudhury (1960). ``The Phonemes of Bengali.'' Language 36:
22±59.
Kiparsky, Paul (1982). Lexical morphology and phonology. I. S. Yang, ed. Linguistics in the
morning calm. Seoul: Hanshin.
Mohanan, Karuvannur P. (1982). Lexical phonology. Doctoral dissertation, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology.
Paul, Jayashree (1985). A Concrete Approach to Bengali Phonology. Unpublished Ph.D. Dis-
sertation, Kanpur: Indian Institute of Technology.
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52 Udaya Narayana Singh and Suchita Singh
Appendix
The excluded -no in®nitives
aaMTaano aaTkaano Aaglaano
aagaano aachRaano uMcaano
uKhRaano uchlaano uSkaano
uSkhuSaano utraano/utrono oRaano
kOclaano kOckOcaano kaatraano
kaamRaano koMkRaano kucono
kaaMcaano kElaano kuono
kodlaano khOtaano khaaMkhraano
olaano Eraano khaaRaano
khaapaano haablaano khiMcono
khoMcaano khuMTaano khoaano
khEpaano gOjraano gORaano
gonaano guMRono guchaano/guchono
guTaano gumraano gongonaano
ghOngaano ghaaMTaano ghaabRaano
ghaamaano ghucaano ghEMgaano
ghumaano ghuraano gholaano
cokcOkaano cOTkaano cOTaano
cOTcOTaano cORaano cORbORaano
cOnmOnaano cOraano cOlkaano
cOlaano caagaano caapRaano
caapaano caabkaano caaraano
caalaano cibaano/cibono cillano
cunaano cuTaano cupSaano
cumRaano culkaano Cetaano
cEpTaano cElaano CoTaano
connano copaano chOTphOTaano
chORaano chaadaano choRaano
chaaMTaano choMkchoMkaano jhOlkano
jhaalaano jhimaano/jhimono TOnTOnaano
Topkano TaMpano TaTano
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The Possible and the Impossible in Bengali Word Formation 53
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