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Title A Comparative Study of Inflectional Morphemes in Punjabi and English

Author(s) M. MUNAWAR HUSSAIN

Abstract The present study aims to highlight and compare the nominal and verbal morphological differences and similarities in the Punjabi and English languages. It also describes the variety in its form, function, and meaning. The study uses morphological analysis method to analyse the data, and contributes to the field of canonical typology, as typology is a testing ground for theories to be proven right or wrong (Audring & Masini, 2019). The study analyses the data with the help of Canonical Morphosyntactic Feature Values Theory presented by Greville G. Corbett, along with its three principles and ten criteria (Arkadiev, 2010). These principles and criteria not only shape the data collection method but maneuver the data analysis procedure as well. The examples from both Punjabi and English are taken against these principles and criteria and analysed to check if the data matches the principles and criteria presented in the theoretical framework. The data is collected from two sources, i.e., Bhatia (1993) and Shah (2015). The major differences found in Punjabi and English morphemes are striking. Punjabi nouns are inflected either by prepositional marking or postpositional ergativity. Punjabi verbs pose ambiguity with the rule of split ergativity in the form of causative, conjunct, and compound verbs. However, these features are nowhere to be found in English. The findings of the study revealed that nouns and verbs in Punjabi vary tremendously from their English counterparts, and their behaviours do not line up perfectly simple morphologically, syntactically, and semantically. The Punjabi morphosyntactic features and their values transcend the simple syntactic and semantic rules. For instance, the ergatives or case markers do not admit to the syntactic rules, i.e., inanimate nouns in Punjabi usually do not take the accusative postposition nu, whereas animate objects require it. This study is not only going to help language learners and translators from Punjabi and English origins but also assist researchers with the concept of morphological analysis and classification of inflectional differences and similarities in both origins.

Type Thesis/Dissertation

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Department English

Language English

Publication Date 2024-04-05

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