Tulu Lesson 2: Subjective Pronouns and Cases

Hello Everyone. Welcome back!

Last week we learned some subjective nouns and their declension in Tulu. I hope you had no problems with them. Today we are going to learn subjective pronouns in Tulu. Hopefully you know them in English. These are the subjective pronouns: I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they. Now, let’s see their equivalents in Tulu.

Person.		Singular.		Plural.			Plural. (to give respect)
First Person.		yAn-I		enkulu-We (the person to whom spoken is not included) nama – We (the person to whom spoken also included)			n/a
Secon Person.		I - you		nikulu - you			Ir – you
Third Person.	Gender	Proximate.	Remote.	Proximate.		Remote.	Proximate.	Remote.
	Masc.	imbe-He	Aye-He	mokulu-They	akulu-They		mEr/imber-They	Ar-They
	Fem.	mOlu/imbal-she	Al-she
	Neut.	undu/indu-this	au-it	undekulu-They		aikulu-They	n/a	n/a

yAn - I

Cases	Singular	Plural
Nominative	yAn - I	nama	enkulu
Accusative	enan - me	naman	enklen
Ablative or Instrumental	enaDd – from/by me	namaDd	enkleDd
Dative	enk - to me	nank, namak	enkleg
Genitive	enna - my	namana, namma	enklena
Locative	enaD – in me	namaD	enkleD
Communicative	eNDa – to/with me	namaDa	enkleDa

I - You

Cases	Singular	Plural
Nominative	I	nikulu	Ir
Accusative	ninan	niklen	iren
Ablative or Instrumental	ninaDd	nikleDd	ireDd
Dative	nikk	nikleg	ireg
Genitive	ninna	niklena	irena
Locative	ninaD	nikleD	ireD
Communicative	niNDa	nikleDa	ireDa

imbe & mOlu – He & She (Proximate)

Cases	Singular		Plural
	Masc.	Fem.
Nominative	imbe	mOlu	mokulu	mEr
Accusative	imben	molen	moklen	meren
Ablative or Instrumental	imbeDd	moleDd	mokleDd	mereDd
Dative	imbeg	moleg	mokleg	mereg
Genitive	imbena	molena	moklena	merena
Locative	imbeD	moleD	mokleD	mereD
Communicative	imbeDa	moleDa	mokleDa	mereDa

Aye & Al – He & She (Remote)

Cases	Singular		Plural
	Masc.	Fem.
Nominative	Aye	Al	akulu	Ar
Accusative	Ayen	alen	aklen	aren
Ablative or Instrumental	AyeDd	aleDd	akleDd	areDd
Dative	Ayeg	aleg	akleg	areg
Genitive	Ayena	alena	aklena	arena
Locative	AyeD	aleDd	akleD	areD
Communicative	AyeDa	aleDa	akleDa	areDa

undu and au – This and That/It

Cases	Singular		Plural
	Proximate.	Remote.	Proximate.	Remote.
Nominative	undu	au	undekulu	aikulu
Accusative	unden/nEn	aven/ain	undeklen	aiklen
Ablative or Instrumental	undeDd/nEDd	aiDd	undekleDd	aikleDd
Dative	undek/nekk	aik	undekleg	aikleg
Genitive	undeta/netta	aita	undeklena	aiklena
Locative	undeT/neTT	aiT	undekleD	aikleD
Communicative	undeTa/neTTa	aiTa	undekleDa	aikleDa

Now we have learnt some subjective nouns and pronouns in Tulu. Let me explain each case briefly for you. 

Nominative case: (suffix: ‘e’ or ‘o’ or nothing)

Nominative generally marks the subject of a sentence.

rAme batte – Rama came. (Kannada: rAma banda)

mara bUr’ND - A tree fell down. (Kannada: mara bittu)

appae lettal – Mother called. (Kannada: tAyi karedaLu)

akulu pOyer – They went. (Kannada: avaru hOdaru)

Apart from this, it also marks things equal to the subject.

Aye ori buddhivante – He is a clever man. (Kannada: avanu obba buddhivanta)

I ori kalve – You are a thief. (Kannada: nInu obba kaLLa)

undu mara – this is a tree (Kannada: idu mara)

Ar dEver – He is a god. (Kannada: avaru dEvaru)

The suffix ‘e’ is added only to masculine singular nouns ending with ‘a’ vowel. Eg: ‘rAma’ becomes ‘rAme’ in nominative case.  If nouns ending with other vowel or consonant sounds, then there is no suffix added. Most of the modern masculine names end with consonant sound, but they actually had final ‘a’. Eg. Karthik, Harish etc. In this case, it is optional to add suffix. Eg. harIshe/harIsh onas malthe – Harish had lunch/dinner.

The suffix ‘o’ is added only to neuter singular nouns ending with ‘a’ vowel. Eg. ‘mara’ becomes ‘maro’ in nominative case. But it depends on dialect. In common Tulu, there is no suffix added to neuter nouns. So both ‘mara’ and ‘maro’ should be correct.  Also, there is no suffix added to feminine nouns. rAdha battal – Radha came.

Accusative: (suffix: 'n')

Accusative used to mark the direct object of a verb.

rAme rAvaNen keriye – Rama killed Ravana. (Kannada: rAma rAvaNanannu konda)

amma enan letter – Mom called me. (Kannada: amma nannannu karedaru)

akulu suden kaDater – They crossed the river (Kannada: avaru nadiyannu dATidaru)

If the preceding vowel is ‘u’ or ‘o’, then ‘nu’ is added instead of ‘n’ to make it easier to pronounce. Eg. guru – gurunu, maro – maronu.

Aye maronu kaDte – He cut down the tree. (Kannada: avanu maravannu kaDida)

Sometimes noun in its basic form (without any suffix) is used instead of accusative case.

Aye satya paNDe – He said the truth. (Kannada: avanu satya hELida)

yAn onas maltae – I had lunch/dinner (Kannada: nAnu UTa mADide)

poppa nIr pariyer – Dad drank water (Kannada: appa nIru kuDidaru)

 Ablative or Instrumental: (suffix: 'Dd')

Ablative case used generally to express motion away from something.

sAleDd battae – I came from school (Kannada: shAleyinda bande)

maroDdu tArai bUr’ND – coconut fell from the tree. (Kannada: maradinda tenginakAyi bittu)

Instrumental case used to express the cause or instrument of an action.

nama kaiDd bElae malpuva – We work with our hands. (Kannada: nAvu kaiyinda kelasa mADuttEve)

To express passive voice.

yAn AyeDd mOsa pOyae – I was deceived by him. (Kannada: nAnu avaninda mOsa hOde)

To show comparison.

rAme bhImeDd malla - Rama is older (bigger) than Bhima. (Kannada: rAma bhImaniginta doDDava)

Dative case: (suffix: 'k/g')

Dative case generally used to indicate the noun to which something is given or the motion to a place.

daikleg nIr pADla – water the plants (Kannada: giDagaLige nIru hAku)

Ayeg korla – give to him. (Kannada: avanige koDu)

Aye Urugu pOye – He went to his village. (Kannada: avanu Urige hOda)

To express the feelings.

enk bEjar ApuNDu – I feel sad. (Kannada: nanage bEjar Aguttade)

Ayeg bAjel ApuNDu – He feels thirsty. (Kannada: avanige bAyArike Aguttade)

enk au ishTa – I like it (nanage adu ishTa)

To show possession.

Ayeg buddhi ijji – He doesn’t have knowledge. (Kannada: avanige buddhi illa)

areg ori mage ulle – He has a son. (Kannada: avarige obba maga iddAne)

To signify needs.

Ayeg kAs bODu – He needs money (Kannada: avanige duDDu bEku)

enk I bODu – I need (want) you (Kannada: nanage nInu bEku)

To denote intention or purpose.

Al pEr’g pOyal – She went for milk. (Kannada: avaLu hAlige hOdaLu)

onas’g portAND – It’s time for lunch (Kannada: UTakke hottAyitu)

To denote measure and price.

dinoku raDD sarti – 2 times per day (Kannada: dinakke eraDu sala)

patt rupAyig aven mAriyae – I sold it for 10 Rupees. (Kannada: hattu rupAyige adannu mAride)

To denote time.

mUji gaNTeg bala – come at 3 O’clock. (Kannada: mUru gaNTege bA)

bayyag po – go in the evening (Kannada: sanje hOgu)

Genitive case: (suffix: 'na', 'ta/da', 'a')

Genitive case marks a noun as being the possessor of another noun.

ninna pudar enchina? – What is your name? (Kannada: ninna hesaru Enu?)

enna ill – my house (Kannada: nanna mane)

puchcheda kinni – kitten (Kannada: bekkina mari)
kukkuda mara – mango tree (Kannada: mAvina mara)

niklena Uru – your village (nimma Uru)

The suffix ‘ta/da’ used for singular neuter nouns. Eg: marata – tree’s, eruta – bull’s, pettada – cow’s, Uruda – village’s.

The suffix ‘na’ is used for masculine and feminine nouns. Eg: rAmena – Rama’s, ninna - your, Aayena - his, alena – her, akkana – elder sisters, aNNena – elder brothers aklena – their etc. It also used for plural neuter nouns. Eg: aiklena – their, eruklena – of bulls etc.

Sometimes suffixes ‘ta/da’ and ‘na’ are omitted.

tuluverena – tuluvere – of Tuluvas

niklena Uru – nikle Uru – your village

After removing suffixes ‘ta/da’ and ‘na’, if the word ends with a consonant sound then the vowel ‘a’ is added.

tulunAD’da - tulunADa – of Tulu Nadu

ill’da piravu – illa piravu – back side of house.

Locative case: (suffix: 'D/T')

Locative case indicates a location.

Aye shAleD ulle – He is in the school. (Kannada: avanu shAleyalli iddAne)

UruDu onji dEvastAna uNDu – There is a temple in the village. (Kannada: Uralli ondu dEvastAna ide)

Also it used to express superlative degree of adjectives.

mAta poNNuleD mOlu shOku – she is the prettiest of all girls. (ellA huDugiyaralli ivaLu chanda)

A patt janoTu imbe ori eDDentinAye - among those 10 people he is the best person. (A hattu janaralli ivanu obba oLLeyava)

This case is never used with masculine and feminine nouns. Eg: rAmeD, sItaD or aleD, AyeD are not used. It is only used with neuter nouns nouns. Eg: aiT – in that, aikleD – in/among them, illaD - in home etc.

Communicative case: (suffix: 'Da/Ta')

Communicative case generally used with verbs related to communication.

AyeDa paNDae – I told him (Kannada: avanige hELide)

areDa kENDae – I asked him (Kannada: avaralli kELide)

rAmeDa ellae pAtervae – I will speak to Rama tomorrow. (Kannada: rAmanondige nALe mAtannADuve)

To show possession of property.

AyeDa onji kOTi rupAyi uNDu – He has 1 crore Rupees. (Kannada: avanalli ondu kOTi rupAyi ide)

akleDa onji petta uNDu – They have a cow. (Kannada: avaralli ondu dana ide)

Vocative case:

Vocative case used to address a person (animal, object, etc.) being spoken to.

Eg: rAmA! iDe bala – Rama! Come hither. (Kannada: rAmA! illi bA)

dEverae! yAn dAda malpoDu? – O God! What should I do? (Kannada: dEverE! nAnu Enu mADali?

All right. With this we come to the end of lesson 2. From next week we will begin with verbs. 

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