यूनिवर्सिटी ऑफ़
मिशिगन
Notes on V + बैठ
and the expression of misguided action
Compound verbs are composed of the
non-finite form of the main (or polar) verb followed by the
inflected form of a vector. In (1) भेज is the polar and देना is the future imperative form of the vector
दे :
1. गोबर को ऊख गोड़ने
भेज देना ।
'Send Gobar to hoe the cane.'
(from Chapter One of गोदान. See context.)
The great majority of Hindi-Urdu
compound verbs are made with one of the three vectors जा, दे, and
ले, which are homonymous with the
main verbs for 'go', 'give', and 'take'. By using one of these three
vectors speakers may specify the completeness and (where relevant) the
physical orientation of the action expressed by the polar verb. Other,
less common vectors, in addition to completeness and orientation, may be
used to express the attitude of the speaker to the action denoted by the
polar. Among these is बैठ which is
homonymous with the verb meaning 'sit' or 'sit down'. As a vector
बैठ implies misguided action. In
example (2) the modifying clause जो न
करना चाहिए makes this explicit:
2. हाँ, झुनिया पर उसे कभी- कभी अवश्य क्रोध आता, क्योंकि वह अज्ञान के कारण जो न करना
चाहिए, वह कर बैठती।
'Yes, she would occasionally get angry with Juniya,
because out of ignorance she would go and do things which she shouldn't.'
(from Chapter Thirty-three of गोदान. See context.)
Depending on tense and mood, the implication of misguided action may
engender a connotation either of fear (3), of regret (4), or of derision
(5):
3. हीरा के सिर हत्या सवार है,
न जाने क्या कर बैठे ।
'Hira's got murder on his mind. There's no telling what
he might do!'
(from Chapter Nine of गोदान. See context.)
4. लाखों कमाये,
मगर शामत आयी कि एक मेम से
आशनाई कर बैठे। मुक़दमेबाज़ी हुई।
जेल जाते- जाते
बचे।
'He made millions, but had the misfortune of falling in
love with an Englishwoman. The matter wound up in court. He almost went
to jail.'
(from Chapter Six of गोदान. See context.)
5. मालती ने उनकी लगाम
खींची -- अच्छा, आपको भी फ़लिासफ़ी में दख़ल है।
मैं तो समझती थी, आप बहुत पहले अपनी फ़लिासफ़ी को
गंगा में डुबो बैठे।
नहीं, आप इतने
बैंकों औरर कंपनियों के
डाइरेक्टर न होते।
'Mâlati decided to pull his chain. "Oh, so you,
too, are an expert in philosophy. I thought you must have thrown your
philosophy into the Ganges a long time ago. Otherwise, how could you be
the director of so many banks and companies!"'
(from Chapter Six of गोदान. See context.)
These connotations render vector बैठ
particularly apt to appear in कहीं-clauses expressing fear or anxiety:
6. हरदम थर- थर
काँपती रहती है कि कहीं धनिया कुछ कह न
बैठे ।
'She kept trembling with fear. What if Dhaniya were to
say something (that she shouldn't)?'
(from Chapter Eleven of गोदान. See context.)
7. उसे चिन्ता थी गोबर की।
लड़का लज्जाशील है, अनाड़ी
है, आत्माभिमानी है,
कहीं कोई नादानी न कर
बैठे।
'He was worried about Gobar. The boy was introverted,
he was naïve, he was egoistic. What if he were to do something
foolish?'
(from Chapter Ten of गोदान. See context.)
See related notes on कहीं and the expression of fear.
It is worth noting that compound verbs in बैठ that have the implication of misguided
action almost always have [+human] subjects. An apparent
counterexample:
8. चिड़िया का अपराध-भाव अब आक्रमण का आकार ले बैठा.ाम्प्ऌ.ाम्प्ऌ.ाम्प्ऌ
'Chiriya's feeling of guilt took an aggressive form...'
(from चिड़िया औरर
चील by सुषम
बेदी. See context.)
Compound verbs in बैठ are generally made from transitive
(rather than intransitive) polar verbs. However, because vector
बैठ itself comes from an
intransitive verb, compound verbs made from it do not allow ने with their subjects. See examples (4)
and (5).
Not every compound verb in बैठ has the implication of misguided
action. There is a set of polar verbs whose compounds in बैठ suggest irresistibility (9) or
undesirability (10):
9. शराब का नशा उनके ऊपर सिंह की
भाँति झपटा औरर दबोच बैठा। वह
कहते कुछ हैं, मुँह से निकलता कुछ है।
'The intoxication of drink pounced on him like a lion.
He would say one thing and out of his mouth would come another thing.'
(from Chapter Six of गोदान. See context.)
10. इसी तरह तुम लोगों
ने किसानों को लूट- लूटकर मजूर बना डाला औरर आप उनकी
ज़मीन के मालिक बन बैठे।
'This is how you people robbed the small-holders, turned
them into landless laborers, and became yourselves the owners of their
land.'
(from Chapter Twenty-one of गोदान. See context.)
The sequence बन बैठ in (10)
is a commonly occurring fixed idiom meaning something like 'usurp'.
When used with intransitive polar
verbs like चढ़ 'climb' and उठ 'get up', vector बैठ retains much more of its literal
meaning 'sit':
11. होरी उनकी छाती पर चढ़ बैठा
औरर ज़ोर से दाढ़ी पकड़कर खींची।
'Hori sat on his chest and grasping his beard pulled on
it with all his strength.'
(from Chapter Six of गोदान. See context.)
12. सहसा गोबर चौंककर उठ
बैठा औरर आँखें मलता हुआ
बोला -- अरे !
यह तो भोर हो गया।
'Gobar suddenly started and sat up. Rubbing his eyes he
said, "Hey! It's already morning!"'
(from Chapter Four of गोदान. See context.)
This last may actually be not a compound verb at all but a sequence of two
full verbs, the first denoting a prior action, the second a later one.
Compare the उठ बैठा in (12)
with the उठकर बैठ गये
in (13), both meaning 'sat up (in bed)':
13. मेहता को ऐसा जान
पड़ा, उन कोमल हाथों
ने जैसे सारा दर्द खींच लिया। उठकर
बैठ गये औरर बोले -- दर्द तो दोपहर से ही हो रहा था
औरर ऐसा सिर- दर्द
मुझे आज तक नहीं हुआ था, मगर तुम्हारे हाथ रखते ही सिर ऐसा
हल्का हो गया है मानों दर्द था ही नहीं।
'To Mehta it seemed as if those delicate hands drew out
all the pain. He sat up and said, "I have been in pain since the afternoon
and I have never in my life had a headache like this one. But as soon as
your hands touched me my head felt light again, as if there hadn't been
any pain at all."'
(from Chapter Thirty-three of गोदान. See context.)
To exercise (in progress)
To related notes on कहीं and the expression of fear.
Other sections dealing with compound verbs:
General functions.
Marked
compound verbs ( कहे देता
हूँ ! )
Vector
डाल .
Vector
पड़ .
Compound-compound verbs ( यह गमीर् तो मारके रख
देती है। )
Additional readings: 1. Paul Hacker (in
German). 2.
To index of grammatical notes.
To index of मल्हार.
Drafted 17-18 Mar 2001. Posted 18-19 Mar 2001. Augmented 17 Feb
2003 & 7 Jul 2004.