Variation in Agreement in the Nepali Finite Verb

Book chapter

Carol Genetti
In Yogendra P. Yadava, Warren W. Glover (eds.), Topics in Nepalese Linguistics, Royal Nepal Academy, Kathmandu, 1999, 542-555. [Reprint of Genetti 1993].

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APA Click to copy
Genetti, C. (1999). Variation in Agreement in the Nepali Finite Verb. In I. Y. P. Yadava & W. W. G. (eds.) (Eds.), Topics in Nepalese Linguistics (pp. 542–555. [Reprint of Genetti 1993].). Kathmandu: Royal Nepal Academy.

Chicago/Turabian Click to copy
Genetti, Carol. “Variation in Agreement in the Nepali Finite Verb.” In Topics in Nepalese Linguistics, edited by In Yogendra P. Yadava and Warren W. Glover (eds.), 542–555. [Reprint of Genetti 1993]. Kathmandu: Royal Nepal Academy, 1999.

MLA Click to copy
Genetti, Carol. “Variation in Agreement in the Nepali Finite Verb.” Topics in Nepalese Linguistics, edited by In Yogendra P. Yadava and Warren W. Glover (eds.), Royal Nepal Academy, 1999, pp. 542–55. [Reprint of Genetti 1993].

BibTeX Click to copy

@inbook{carol1999a,
  title = {Variation in Agreement in the Nepali Finite Verb},
  year = {1999},
  address = {Kathmandu},
  pages = {542-555. [Reprint of Genetti 1993].},
  publisher = {Royal Nepal Academy},
  author = {Genetti, Carol},
  editor = {Yadava, In Yogendra P. and (eds.), Warren W. Glover},
  booktitle = {Topics in Nepalese Linguistics}
}

ABSTRACT
In the prescriptive pattern of Nepali verb agreement the verb agrees with the subject in gender, number, and honorific status. This paper presents a quantitative study of gender and number agreement. It shows that the prescriptive pattern is robust only in formal, written Nepali. Spoken narrative shows less agreement than written Nepali, while in conversation agreement is quite scarce. Variation in percentages of agreement across speakers suggests that sociolinguistic factors are involved. Data from two earlier time periods is also presented, which suggests that this variation is not recent, indicative of change in progress, but is a stable feature of Nepali grammar. Possible motivations for this stable variation include internal markedness considerations, and external language contact with speakers of Tibeto-Burman languages. The pressures for loss of agreement are counterbalanced by the conservative influence of the writing system.