यूनिवर्सिटी ऑफ़ मिशिगन
बनाए न बने: Paired
verbs in the expression of incapacity
In Hindi-Urdu there are a number of ways to
express the inability to perform an action. One of these uses what
we shall refer to as "paired verbs" - the juxtaposition of a transitive
and its corresponding derived intransitive (aka "antitransitive".
See notes.):
1. घोड़ा ऐसा पसर गया कि
फिर उठाए न उठा।
'The horse sprawled out in such a way that
despite every effort it could not be stood up again.'
(from Rastogi 1973, p 361)
In example (1) the form उठाए is the
oblique masculine singular default form of the past participle of उठा 'lift; rouse', the derived
transitive form of the verb उठ 'rise;
get up'. The form उठा is the
masculine singular form of the simple past of the antitransitive
उठ 'be lifted; be roused'. The
phrase उठाए न उठा has a literal
meaning something like '(even though) lifted didn't lift'. Two more
examples, from ग़ालिब:
2. इश्क़ . . .
है . . . वह आतिश . .
. कि लगाए न लगे . . .
(See context.)
'Love ... is the fire ... that can't be
(intentionally) lit ...' (Literally: '... that (when) lit
will not light.')
3. क्या बने बात जहाँ बात
बनाए न बने ?
'How can you get what you want if you can't
say what's on your mind?' (See context.)
The बनाए न
बने structure seems to be a short way of expressing
inability in spite of effort. Compare the more explicit expression
in (4a):
4a. तसवीर बनाता
हूँ; तसवीर नहीं
बनती।
'I (try to) make a picture (of her), but I
can't.' (Literally: 'The picture doesn't make.')
(from the song
by " ख़ुमार " बाराबँकवी from the film बिरादरी.)
The same idea can be expressed more succinctly as:
4b. तसवीर बनाए नहीं
बनती।
If no corresponding antitransitive is
available, the passive can be used:
5. " देते ही
हो, तो तीन
खाँचे दे दो। . . . "
" तीन खाँचे तो
मेरे दिये न दिये जाएँगे !
'"Since you're giving (anyway), why not give
three bushels?"
"(Even if I try) I can't give three bushels!"'
(from Chapter Three of गोदान. See context.)
The verb बन
is available as a general stand-in for the more specific antitransitive.
For instance, in example (7) the form बने stands in place of the form उठे in (6):
6. बोझ वह सर से गिरा
है कि उठाये न उठे
'A burden has fallen from my head that no
matter how I try cannot be picked up (again).'
(from a ग़ज़ल
by ग़ालिब. See context.)
7. पर्दा छोड़ा है वह
उसने कि उठाए न बने।
'He's let down the veil that can't be lifted.'
(from a ग़ज़ल
by ग़ालिब. See context.)
The availablitiy of बन increases the versatility of the construction to
allow its use with basic intransitives like आ.
8. उसपे बन जाए कुछ
ऐसी कि बिन आये न बने।
'Let something be done that she can't help but
come.' (Literally: '... so that she cannot not come.'
(from a ग़ज़ल
by ग़ालिब. See context.)
Example (8) involves the use of double negative to make an affirmative
statement. For discussion and more examples, see notes on V-ए बिना.
Notice also that the finite verb बने in (8) has no subject.
Example (9) illustrates the structural
difference that results from use of दब,
the antitransitive counterpart to the transitive दबा, rather than a form of बन. While in (10) the finite form बनेगा is in the third person singular
masculine default form that occurs when there is no subject available for
the verb to agree with; दबेंगे, the finite form of the
antitransitive that corresponds to the participle दबाए in (9) must agree with हम :
9. हम ( किसी
से ) दबाए नहीं
दबेंगे।
'We will not give in (even if they try to make
us give in).'
10. हम को किसी से दबाए
नहीं बनेगा।
'No-one will be able to make us give in.'
The agent of the participle, which in (9) may be optionally expressed
using the postposition से,
must be expressed when a form of बन is used in place of the antitransitive
दब [as in example (10)].
For some speakers it is possible - in a very
colloquial style of language - for बन
to be used personally. In (11), for instance, बन agrees in person, gender, and number with
the subject हम :
11. हम किसी से दबाए नहीं
बनेंगे।
'No-one will be able to make us give in.'
[Thanks to सदफ़ मुंशी at the
University of Texas for discussion of exx (9), (10), and (11).]
The present participle (again in the
masculine singular oblique default form) is an option to the use of the
past passive participle in these constructions in बन, especially when बन itself is in the present tense:
12. ऐसी दशा में कुछ
करते-धरते भी तो नहीं
बनता।
'In such a condition there is nothing you
can do or anything.'
(from Chapter Ten of गोदान. See context.)
13. मुझसे तो कुछ
कहते नहीं बनता।
'I can't say anything (even though I try).'
(from Chapter Twelve of गोदान. See context.)
While the use of V-ए न बन- and of co-ordinated paired verbs
(of the उठाए न उठे type)
is almost always negative (ie, to express inability), the
construction is occasionally found in "near-negative" contexts:
if-clauses (14), indefinite relative clauses (15),
and rhetorical questions (16):
14. गोबर ने कहा "
नहीं काका, भगवान् ने चाहा औरर इनसे
रहते बना तो साल दो साल में आदमी
हो जायँगे। "
" हाँ,
जब इनसे रहते बने। "
'Gobar said, "No, Uncle. God-willing, if he
can stay (with the job), in a year or two he'll become a man."
"Yes, if he can stick with it."
(from Chapter Twenty of गोदान. See context.)
15. मैंने
तुम्हारे-जैसे
बेदर्द आदमी कभी न देखा था। बिल्कुल पत्थर
हो। ख़ैर, आज सता
लो, जितना सताते
बने; मैं भी कभी
समझूँगी।
'I have never seen such an unsympathetic,
unfeeling man as you! You've a heart of stone! Well, today torment me as
much as you can. I'll get even with you someday.'
(from Chapter Seven of गोदान. See context.)
If the बन in the V-ए न
बन- construction occurs in compound verb form it takes
vector पड़ rather than जा :
16. सब-के-सब
देखते रह गए , किसी
के किये कुछ न बन पड़ा।
'Everyone looked on helplessly.
Nobody succeeded in doing a thing!'
(from Section Three of Chapter Two
of चन्द्रकान्ता by
देवकीनन्द खत्त्री. )
Beside the use of V-ए न बन- and of co-ordinated paired verbs (of the
उठाए न उठे type), there are other
options which may be more idiosyncratic, such as the pairing of
आ 'come' with बुला 'call, invite' as in (17):
17. वह मेरे
बुलाए न
आए, तेरे बुलाए क्या
आएँगे ?
'They didn't come on my invitation. Do you
think they will come on yours?'
(example supplied by सदफ़ मुंशी )
Exercise.
Other sections dealing with negation:
1. V-नेवाला to express disapproval, disbelief, defiance or
denial.
2. मजाल
है ! Warning and
warding off.
3. मार
खाए बिना नहीं मानता : Without V-ing.
4. रहा
नहीं जाता : Passive of incapacity
5. जाने का नाम नहीं लेता
: Empahtic
negation.
To index of grammatical notes.
To index of मल्हार.
*
*
*
The बनाए न
बने-construction resembles a construction type found in
Southeast Asia and in Chinese: the "serial verb construction" (SVC),
defined and explored by Eric Schiller. In a
typical SVC there is a concatenation of two verbs, a transitive followed
by an intransitive. The direct object of the first is the subject of the
second:
| 18. | wo3.men
|
ju3 | bu4
|
qi3 | shi2.tou
|
lai2 |
| we |
lift | not |
rise | stone |
come |
'(Despite our
efforts) we couldn't lift up the stone.'
[(18) thanks to
Hsin-hsin
Liang (pronounced शिन1-शिन1 ल्याङ2)]
| 19. | khäw
|
kòt | pùm
|
mây | long
|
| he |
press | button |
not | descend |
'(Despite his
efforts) he couldn't push down the button.'
[(19) thanks to
Kingkarn Thepkanjana]
While the SVC occurs frequently in Mandarin and other forms of Chinese
as well as in Thai and other languages of southeast Asia, it is rather
infrequent in Hindi-Urdu.
Keyed in 20-23 Oct 2001. Corrected 25, 27 & 30 Oct 2001. Augmented and
linked 28 Oct 2001. Proofed 6-8 Nov 2001. Augmented 25 Jan and 17 April
2002 and again on 10 Jul 2004. Cross-referenced 22 Aug 2004.
Thanks to तहसीन सिद्दीक़ी,
राजेश कुमार, समीक्षा बाजपाई, असमा
सिद्दीक़ी, सदफ़
मुंशी, Prof. रमाकान्त
अग्निहोत्री, and other members of the Delhi University
Linguistics Club for advising on grammaticality and suggesting variations
on the examples from ग़ालिब.