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भागते-भागते गिर पड़ा : Compound verbs made with  पड़

        One of the more elusive kinds of compound verbs in Hindi-Urdu are those formed with vector  पड़ :
  1. सहसा धनिया ने . . . झपटकर हीरा को इतने ज़ोर से धक्का दिया कि वह धम से गिर पड़ा।
        'All of a sudden Dhaniya lunged . . . and knocked into Hira with such force that he fell like a sack of potatoes.'
        (from Chapter Four of  गोदान.  See
context.)
Perhaps because of their relative antiquity compound verbs in  पड़  display a disconcerting variety of functions and associations.  Developing an account of which function developed into which is not easy.  The attempt here will be limited to setting out those functions and arranging them into groups.
        One of the oldest uses of vector  पड़  is as a marker of the passive of verbs of perception:
  2. सहसा धनिया का कर्कश स्वर कान में आया।  हीरा की गरज भी सुन पड़ी।
        'All of a sudden Dhaniya's shrill voice reached (Hori's) ears.  Hira's shouting could also be heard.'
        (from Chapter Four of  गोदान.  See
context.)
 This use of vector  पड़  is now mostly limited to the very common set phrase  जान पड़  'seem' (from 'be known'?):
  3. होरी को ये शब्द ज़रूरत से ज़्यादा कठोर जान पड़े।
        'To Hori these words seemed unnecessarily harsh.'
        (from Chapter Four of  गोदान.  See
context.)
  In older and / or more rural forms of Hindi vector  पड़  figures as part of a phrasal passive:
  4.  सब-के-सब देखते रह गए।    किसी के किये कुछ न बन पड़ा।
        'Everyone looked on helplessly.  No-one could do anything.'
        (from Section Three of Chapter Two of  चन्द्रकान्ता  by  देवकीनन्द खत्त्री .)
        ( See notes for more on the  बनाए न बन-construction. )
        More typically vector  पड़  is used with the following four groups of intransitive verbs: A. verbs of motion, B. verbs of appearance, C. verbs of expression of emotion, and D. verbs of struggle and attack.
        A. Verbs of motion include  चल  'walk',  लौट  'return',  कूद  'jump',  घुस  'enter',  उतर  'get down',  बरस  'rain (down)',  फूट  'break out; divulge',  ढुलक  'roll; slip; drop',  निकल  'exit', and (perhaps most commonly)  गिर  'fall' [example (1)]:
  5. यह गधी उसके साथ चल पड़ी।
        'This little fool went with him.'
        (from Chapter Ten of  गोदान.  See
context.)
  6. कार रुक गयी।  मालती उतर पड़ी औरर बिना हाथ मिलाये चली गई।
        'The car stopped.  Malati got out and walked away without a by-your-leave.'
        (from Chapter Fifteen of  गोदान.  See
context.)
 Notice that in these uses with verbs of motion there is very often a downward direction:
  7. इस विजय का उसे इतना आनन्द हुआ कि बाप की गोद में रह न सकी।  ज़मीन पर कूद पड़ी ...
        'She was so happy with this victory that she couldn't remain in her father's lap.  She jumped to the ground ...'
        (from Chapter Three of  गोदान.  See
context.)
 but the downwards component is not always present:
  8.   क्रूरसिंह मारे ख़ुशी के उछल पड़ा।
        'Krursingh leapt with joy.'
        (from Section Sixteen of Chapter One of  चन्द्रकान्ता  by  देवकीनन्द खत्त्री.)
        Effect of point of view? In (9) the use of  पड़  rather than  जा  as vector allows the action of turning to be understood as towards Malati rather than as a movement away from her.
  9.  मेहता लौट पड़े औरर मालती को एक हाथ से पकड़ लिया।
        'Mehta turned back and with one hand caught hold of Malati (before she was carried away by the current).'
        (from Chapter Seven  गोदान.  See
context.)
        Comparing (10) and (11) we see an analogous distinction. In (10) the bus has left the scene. In (11) the bus has left but the writer is in the bus:
 10.  आखिरी बस निकल गई तो सोचा, अब पैदल ही घर लौट जाऊँ ।
       'The last bus left so I thought I'd go home on foot.'
        (from शरद जोशी's novel राग भोपाली, 2009: 182)
 11.  कुछ मिनटों में बस निकल पड़ी ... मैं भी सोने की कोशिश करने लगा ।
       'After a few minutes the bus left ... I also began trying to sleep .'
        (from worldbetweenears.blogspot.com/2012/)
B. Verbs of appearance may occur with vector  पड़ :
 12.  गोबर के मुख पर आश्ाा की रेखा झलक पड़ी।
        'A line of hope showed on Gobar's face.'
        (from Chapter Twenty-seven of  गोदान.  See
context.)
Verbs of more salient appearance seem to prefer vector  उठ- :
 13.  खन्ना के चेहरे पर दिल की ख़ुश्ाी चमक उठी।
        'Heartfelt joy shone on Khanna's face.'
        (from Chapter Fifteen of  गोदान.  See
context.)
  C. Verbs of emotional expression occurring with vector  पड़  include  रो  'weep',  हँस  'laugh',  मुस्करा  'smile',  चौंक  'start' (= 'be startled)', etc.  With  पड़  as vector there is an implication of sudden onset:
 14.  वह गिर पड़ी औरर उठकर रोने लगी।  सोना भी दाँतों के निश्ाान देखकर रो पड़ी।
        'She fell down and began to wail.  Sona, too, seeing the marks of teeth, burst into tears.'
        (from Chapter Twenty-one of  गोदान.  See
context.)
 15.  सहसा किसी की आहट पाकर वह चौंक पड़ी।
        'Sensing someone's approach she suddenly started.'
        (from Chapter Thirty-four of  गोदान.  See
context.)
 Here, too, there is competition with vector  उठ  used for more violent reactions and outbursts.  (See remarks in R.S. McGregor's Hindi-English Dictionary, p. 331, under  चौंकना .)
  D. verbs of struggle and attack commonly occurring with vector  पड़  include  लड़  'fight',  टूट  'attack; light into',  उलझ  'tangle with':
 16.  आज सबेरे-सबेरे दादा से क्यों उलझ पड़े ?
        'Why did you have to tangle with Dada first thing in the morning?'
        (from Chapter Twenty-one of  गोदान.  See
context.)
 17.  तुम तो भूखे सियार की तरह टूट पड़े।
        'You fell upon (her) like a hungry jackal.'
        (from Chapter Twenty-nine of  गोदान.  See
context.)
Like  जान  in the sense of 'seem'  टूट  in the sense of 'attack, fall upon' is rarely if ever seen without its vector  पड़ .
        Competition.  Depending on which set of main verbs is in play other vectors compete with  पड़.  With verbs of motion the main competitor is  जा :
 18. " तुम भी बड़े मुरहे हो,  मुझसे कहा भी नहीं कि लौट जाओ। "
      यह कहकर वह लौट पड़ी।
        ' "You are also a sneaky guy.  You didn't even tell me to go back."
        ' Saying this she turned back.'
        (from Chapter Five of  गोदान.  See
context.)
 In (19a) the  अवसर  'time, occasion' referred to is neutral, while in (19b)  अवसर  is understood to refer to bad times or to misfortune:
 19a. कभी-कभी इतिहास में ऐसे अवसर आ जाते हैं,  जब धन को आंदोलन के सामने नीचे देखना पड़ता है ...
        ' Occasionally there are times in history when money has to give way to (the power of) a social movement...'
        (from Chapter Thirteen of  गोदान.  See
context.)
 19b. तुम मुझसे प्रेम करते हो  ...  औरर मुझे भरोसा है कि आज अवसर आ पड़े तो तुम मेरी रक्षा प्राणों से करोगे।
        'You love me ... and I'm confident that today if (bad) times were to befall me you would defend and protect me to the last.'
        (from Chapter Thirty-three of  गोदान.  See
context.)
  While use of vector  पड़  is dissonant with main verb    to express the coming of good things, the use of vector  जा  with    to express the coming of bad things is by no means excluded:
 19c. झगड़ा इतना बढ़ा कि अलगौझे की नौबत आ गयी।
        'The fight got so bad that in the end separation (of the joint family) could not be avoided.'
        (from Chapter Twenty-five of  गोदान.  See
context.)
       With verbs of expression of emotion vector  पड़'s main competitor is  उठ :
 20a. उसका सूना खटोला देखकर वह रो उठती।
        'Seeing his empty crib she would burst into tears.'
        (from Chapter Twenty-four of  गोदान.  See
context.)
 20b. मातादीन  ...  बोला, " कब तक रोये जाएगी,  सिलिया !  रोने से वह फिर तो न आ जायगा।  यह कहते-कहते वह ख़ुद रो पड़ा।
        'Matadin ... said, "How long will you go on crying, Siliya! Crying won't bring him back (to life). While saying this he began crying himself.'
        (from Chapter Thirty-four of  गोदान.  See
context.)
 For a subset of verbs of expression of emotion  पड़  competes with  दे  :
 21a. अब उसकी गालियों पर लोग हँस देते थे ...
        'Now people just laughed at her curses ...'
        (from Chapter Twenty-three of  गोदान.  See
context.)
 21b. मातादीन को देखकर वह हँस पड़ा।
        'He laughed when he saw Matadin.'
        (from Chapter Thirty-four of  गोदान.  See
context.)
 Is the laughter louder in (21a) or in (21b)?
       Occasionally what appears to be competition among vectors actually serves to distinguish competing meanings of the main verb.  For instance, the verb  भूल  has two senses: the familiar one of 'forget (something)' and the less common one of 'err; become lost, lose ones way'.  Vector  जा  occurs with  भूल  in the first meaning; vector  पड़  with  भूल  in the second:
 22. अहा !  आइये,  आइये।  आज रास्ता कैसे भूल गयीं ?
        'Aha!  Come in, come in!  How come you forgot where you were going today?"'
        (from Dialog  दो सहेलियों की बातें  by  कुसुम जैन.  See
context.)
 23. धनिया ने उसे सिर से पाँव तक आलोचना की आँखों से देखकर कहा,  " आज इधर कैसे भूल पड़ीं ? "
        'Dhaniya gave her a critical look from head to foot and asked, "How did you lose your way (and wind up) over here today?"'
        (from Chapter Twenty-six of  गोदान.  See
context.)
                *                                 *                                 *                                 *
       For further reflexion:  How do we get from easily explained instances of the use of vector  पड़- like that in (24) [where falling is a salient feature of the event] to uses like that in (25) where there is no element in the situation which can be thought of, even metaphorically, as falling?
 24. ...  वे मालती के चरणों की तरफ़ झुके औरर मुँह के बल फ़र्श पर गिर पड़े।
          'He leaned towards Malati's feet and fell on his face on the floor.'
          (from Chapter Six of  गोदान.  See
context.)
 25. ...  जयदेव  ...  काँपती तथा क्षमाथीर् आवाज़ में बोल पड़ा, " सर,  मेरी कोई ग़लती नहीं थी। "
          '... in a trembling, pleading voice ... Jayadev blurted out, "Sir, it wasn't my fault."'
           (from Narendra K. Sinha's story  विडम्बना.  See
context.)
(NB: As a vector पड़- never occurs with main verb पड़-.)
Exercise.
Other sections of  मल्हार  dealing with compound verbs:
        1.   General functions of compound verbs .
        2.   Marked compound verbsकहे देता हूँ ! )
        3.   Vector  डाल .
        4.   Vector  बैठ .
        5.   Compound-compound verbsगमीर् मारकर रख देती है। )
To index of grammatical notes.
To index of  मल्हार.
Keyed in 9 Jul 2004.
Augmented 10 Jul. Augmented again and linked 13-19 & 21-22 Jul 2004.
Corrected 23 & 25 Jul 2004.
Augmented ("further reflection") 19 Aug 2004.
Additions made 13 Sep 2015.