11.2 Kannada Grammar II — Samasa, Linga-Vachana & Vibhakti
Key Takeaways
- Kannada samasas divide into Kannada compounds — tatpurusha, karmadharaya, dvigu, dvandva, bahuvrihi, kriya, gamaka and amshi — and the Sanskrit avyayibhava.
- Kannada has three lingas — pullinga, strilinga and napumsakalinga — and gender in Kannada follows meaning rather than grammatical convention as in Sanskrit or Hindi.
- Plural is formed with -ru for rational nouns and -galu for non-rational nouns, so huduga becomes hudugaru and mara becomes maragalu.
- Kannada has seven vibhaktis plus the sambodhana form; the chaturthi suffix is -ge and the panchami is expressed with deseyinda.
- A tatsama word is borrowed from Sanskrit almost unchanged while a tadbhava has been phonologically altered, so agni gives the tadbhava aggi and jnana the tadbhava janna.
Samasa (ಸಮಾಸ) — Compound Words
Samasa is the joining of two or more words into a single grammatical unit, with the case markers between them dropped. The two parts are the purvapada (first word) and the uttarapada (second word). Kannada grammar lists eight compound types of its own plus the Sanskrit avyayibhava, and the exam tests identification.
| Samasa | Test | Example | Gloss |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tatpurusha (ತತ್ಪುರುಷ) | The second word is the head; a case relation links them | tale + nōvu → talenōvu (ತಲೆನೋವು) | "head-ache" — ache of the head |
| Karmadharaya (ಕರ್ಮಧಾರಯ) | Both words in the same case; the first describes the second | hosa + mane → hosamane (ಹೊಸಮನೆ) | "new house" |
| Dvigu (ದ್ವಿಗು) | The first word is a numeral | eraḍu + dāri → eraḍudāri | "two roads" |
| Dvandva (ದ್ವಂದ್ವ) | Both words are equal partners, joined by "and" | kai + kālu → kaikālu (ಕೈಕಾಲು) | "hands and feet" |
| Bahuvrihi (ಬಹುವ್ರೀಹಿ) | Refers to a third thing that possesses the compound's quality | nīla + kaṇṭha → nīlakaṇṭha | "blue-throated one", i.e. Shiva |
| Kriya (ಕ್ರಿಯಾ) | The second word is a verb | kai + tolе → kaitolе | "wash the hands" |
| Gamaka (ಗಮಕ) | The first word is a participle or pronoun form | māḍida + kelasa → māḍidakelasa | "the work done" |
| Amshi (ಅಂಶಿ) | The first word names a part, the second the whole | mundu + kai → mundugai | "forearm" |
| Avyayibhava (ಅವ್ಯಯೀಭಾವ, Sanskrit) | The first word is an avyaya (indeclinable); the whole behaves as an indeclinable | prati + dina → pratidina | "every day" |
How to identify quickly: ask what relation holds between the two words. A numeral first word means dvigu; an "and" relation means dvandva; a describing first word means karmadharaya; a case relation means tatpurusha; a part-whole relation means amshi; and if the compound names something outside itself, it is bahuvrihi.
Linga (ಲಿಂಗ) and Vachana (ವಚನ) — Gender and Number
Kannada has three lingas, and an important structural point: Kannada gender is natural, following the meaning of the word, unlike Sanskrit or Hindi where gender is often grammatical and arbitrary.
| Linga | Applies to | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Pullinga (ಪುಲ್ಲಿಂಗ, masculine) | Male humans and gods | avanu (ಅವನು, "he"), huḍuga (ಹುಡುಗ, "boy"), rāma |
| Strilinga (ಸ್ತ್ರೀಲಿಂಗ, feminine) | Female humans and goddesses | avaḷu (ಅವಳು, "she"), huḍugi (ಹುಡುಗಿ, "girl"), sīte |
| Napumsakalinga (ನಪುಂಸಕಲಿಂಗ, neuter) | Everything else — objects, animals, abstractions | adu (ಅದು, "it"), mara (ಮರ, "tree"), dana (ದನ, "cow") |
Note the consequence: in Kannada a cow and a tree are both neuter, because Kannada groups all non-human referents as aprāṇi (non-rational) regardless of biological sex. That rational/non-rational split (prāṇi / aprāṇi) governs plural formation:
| Vachana | Suffix | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Ekavachana (singular) | — | huḍuga, mara, mane |
| Bahuvachana (plural), rational nouns | -ru | huḍuga → huḍugaru; hennu → hennuru |
| Bahuvachana (plural), non-rational nouns | -gaḷu | mara → maragaḷu; mane → manegaḷu; pustaka → pustakagaḷu |
Vibhakti Pratyaya (ವಿಭಕ್ತಿ ಪ್ರತ್ಯಯ) — Case Suffixes
A vibhakti is a case, marked by a pratyaya (suffix) attached to the noun stem. Kannada grammar counts seven vibhaktis, with sambodhana (the vocative) treated as a separate address form rather than an eighth case. The paradigm below uses mara (ಮರ, "tree") and rāma.
| # | Vibhakti | Function | Suffix | Example | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Prathama | Subject (nominative) | -u | marau / mara (ಮರ) | "the tree" |
| 2 | Dwitiya | Object (accusative) | -annu | maravannu (ಮರವನ್ನು) | "the tree" (as object) |
| 3 | Tritiya | Instrument (instrumental) | -inda | maradinda (ಮರದಿಂದ) | "by/with the tree" |
| 4 | Chaturthi | Recipient (dative) | -ge | maradaге / marakke (ಮರಕ್ಕೆ) | "to the tree" |
| 5 | Panchami | Source (ablative) | deseyinda | marada deseyinda (ಮರದ ದೆಸೆಯಿಂದ) | "from / because of the tree" |
| 6 | Shashti | Possession (genitive) | -a | marada (ಮರದ) | "of the tree" |
| 7 | Saptami | Location (locative) | -alli | maradalli (ಮರದಲ್ಲಿ) | "in the tree" |
| — | Sambodhana | Address (vocative) | -ē / -ā | maravē (ಮರವೇ) | "O tree!" |
Two points examiners exploit. First, the chaturthi suffix is properly -ge (as in rāmanige, "to Rama"); the surface form marakke arises when -ge combines with the stem. Second, panchami in modern Kannada is not marked by a simple suffix but expressed with deseyinda, which is why many textbooks say Kannada "effectively uses seven vibhaktis with panchami weakly attested". If a question offers -inda for both tritiya and panchami, choose tritiya for the plain instrumental sense.
Word Classes by Origin
Kannada vocabulary is classified by where a word came from, and this is a reliable objective-question topic.
| Class | Meaning | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Tatsama (ತತ್ಸಮ) | Sanskrit words taken into Kannada almost unchanged | bhakti (ಭಕ್ತಿ), jñāna (ಜ್ಞಾನ), dharma (ಧರ್ಮ), rāja (ರಾಜ) |
| Tadbhava (ತದ್ಭವ) | Sanskrit words phonologically altered on the way into Kannada | agni → aggi (ಅಗ್ಗಿ, "fire"); jñāna → janna; rāja → rāya; mukha → moga; sūrya → sūrya / sujja |
| Desya (ದೇಶ್ಯ) | Native Kannada words | mane (house), nīru (water), tale (head), kai (hand) |
| Anyadesya (ಅನ್ಯದೇಶ್ಯ) | Words from other languages — Hindustani, Persian, Arabic, Portuguese, English | kurchi (chair), kāgada (paper), jāmīnu (surety), sābūnu (soap), iskūlu (school) |
The test to apply: if the word looks essentially like its Sanskrit form, it is tatsama; if it looks like a worn-down version of a Sanskrit word, it is tadbhava; if it has no Sanskrit source at all, it is desya; and if it is recognisably foreign, it is anyadesya. Note carefully that the tadbhava of agni is aggi, not agga — ಅಗ್ಗ (agga) is a different, native word meaning "cheap".
Exam Angle for Section 11.2
- Identify the samasa type from a compound, using the relation test.
- Split a compound into purvapada and uttarapada.
- Supply the correct vibhakti pratyaya for a blank, and name the vibhakti of a given form.
- Form the plural of a given noun, choosing -ru or -galu by rational versus non-rational.
- Classify a word as tatsama, tadbhava, desya or anyadesya.
Most of these are one-step identifications. The two highest-value memory items are the samasa relation tests and the vibhakti table, because between them they account for the large majority of Kannada grammar questions.
Kai + kaalu becoming kaikaalu, meaning "hands and feet", is an example of which samasa?
Which is the correct tadbhava form derived from the Sanskrit word agni, and what does it mean?
In Kannada, how is the plural of the non-rational noun mara formed, and why does it differ from the plural of huduga?