INTRODUCTION
We don’t like lies, but when I give you one, then you are better off appreciating it as lies are very important in Nepali (they’re not, don’t take my word). The word in Nepali which is pronounced in the same way as the English synonym for untruth, which is लाई (lāī), is important not because it states false facts or misleads, but rather works in an entirely different way as a case marker. Specifically, लाई (lāī) is the sometimes-accusative and mostly-dative case marker, used to show the object of a sentence.
Before we move on, we have to first learn the concept of what an object is, specifically what constitutes one and what I mean when I say either direct or indirect object.
VOCABULARY
कलम (kalam) = Pen
दिनु (dinu) = To give
जर्मन (jarman) = German
भाषा (bhāṣā) = Language
सिकाउनु (sikāunu) = To teach
पिट्नु (piṭnu) = To hit; To beat up
भात (bhāt) = Rice
खानु (khānu) = To eat
राम्रो (rāmro) = Good
भोक लाग्नु (bhok lāgnu) = To feel hungry
DIRECT AND INDIRECT OBJECT
By this time, we know what transitivity is. For a recap, it is the property of a verb to be able to take up an object in the sentence. Now, what is an object? An object is anything that takes the action of a transitive verb. So for example:
Benedict eats fish
[subject + verb + object]
Here, the subject is Benedict while the action is “to eat”. The object is the thing that the action “to eat” is acting upon, basically which is “fish” in this case. Now, to be very specific, actions can affect the object in one way or the other, as not every action directly affects the object. In the case above, the object is more specifically called the direct object, the object which directly takes the action of the verb.
Now, there is also another class of object which takes the action of the verb, but indirectly. For example:
Benedict gave the child a book
[subject + verb + indirect object + direct object]
In the statement above, “the child” is an object, as it is being affected by the verb “to give”, but not in a direct manner. Somehow, the action of giving something “a book” is also being done on “the child”, but the effect is indirect at best. Basically, an indirect object is an object that is affected by the action of a transitive verb (typically as a recipient), but is not the direct object. It shows where the action of the effect takes place. Here is another example:
I build a school for the students
[subject + verb + direct object + indirect object]
I build “a school”, since the action of building something is directly related to the something “a school”. However, the side effect is that the action also affects someone else in this case, which is “the students”. By this way, we can conclude that “a school” is the direct object here, while “the students” is the indirect object. In many ways, the indirect object is marked by the prepositions to or for in English, and we do that in Nepali as well, but use the case marker लाई (lāī) instead to show the indirect object.
DATIVE MARKER
The primary function of लाई (lāī) is to function as the dative case marker. Simply put, the dative marker is the case marker which shows the dative case in a sentence, or in other words, the indirect object or where the action takes place. Take the sentence:
म कलम दिन्छु (ma kalam dinchu)
= I give (a) pen
[subject + direct object + verb]
In the above sentence, “pen” is the direct object, as the action of giving directly affects the object. Now, the way लाई (lāī) works is by showing where the action takes place, or show what the indirect object is:
म तिमीलाई कलम दिन्छु (ma timī-lāī kalam dinchu)
= I give you (a) pen
[subject + indirect object + direct object + verb]
In Nepali, there is a strong tendency for the indirect object to be placed before the direct object. Take one more example:
बेनेडिक्टले मलाई जर्मन भाषा सिकायो (beneḍikṭ-le ma-lāī jarman bhāṣā sikāyo)
= Benedict taught me (the) German language
[subject + indirect object + direct object + verb]
In the above sentence, “German language” is the direct object as the action of teaching by the subject “Benedict” is directly affecting “German language”, and “me” is the indirect object as the effect of teaching is only affecting me indirectly.
ACCUSATIVE MARKER
The secondary function of लाई (lāī) is to function as the accusative case marker. This sounds very confusing, as लाई (lāī) is apparently used to mark the direct object as well! However, things will be clearer as I explain when this happens and when it does not. As an accusative marker, लाई (lāī) marks the direct object in a sentence, but only if there is no indirect object in the sentence and the direct object is a human animate. Take the sentence:
म जनलाई पिट्छु (ma jan-lāī piṭchu)
= I hit John
[subject + direct object (+) lāī-case marker + verb]
In the statement above, the direct object is “John”, but is marked by लाई (lāī) because it fulfills the two criteria set down for marking the direct object: there is no indirect object in the sentence, and “John” is a human animate. This can’t be said for the same if the direct object was inanimate or non-human (though this is a grey area):
म भात खान्छु (ma bhāt khānchu)
= I eat rice
[subject + direct object + verb]
Yet if you somehow resort to cannibalism and decide to consume John anyway in a violation of his human rights and your country’s criminal code, लाई (lāī) magically appears:
म जनलाई खान्छु (ma jan-lāīkhānchu)
= I eat John
[subject + direct object (+) lāī-case marker + verb]
When an indirect object appears, लाई (lāī) preferably marks the indirect object, thus even if you may have a human animate direct object, it will not be marked in favour of the indirect object:
म बेनेडिक्टलाई तिमी दिन्छु (ma beneḍikṭ-lāī timī dinchu)
= I give you to Benedict
[subject + indirect object (+) lāī-case marker + direct object + verb]
DATIVE CONSTRUCTION
Take the following sentence and interpret it as you see it:
I am cold
Now, the English sentence above could mean two things: either that you are feeling cold, or you are a cold person. A German speaker would never be confused however, as the two meanings are two separate sentences in German:
Ich bin kalt (as in, I am a cold person)
Mir ist es kalt (as in, I am feeling cold)
What is going on in German (and Nepali) that separates the two but requires context to understand in English? Simply put, the difference is that some languages like German and Nepali employ a different sentence structure to describe feelings, states and emotions (or so on), while reserving the normal sentence solely to describe something. The structure which employs the dative case, which is marked by लाई (lāī) in Nepali, is called dative construction. In this construction, the subject which would be nominative in English is converted into the dative case (which is marked by लाई (lāī)) to describe feelings, emotions etc.
There are a few verbs that require the dative case in Nepali, whose subject is marked by लाई (lāī). These are mostly verbs that describe your state, feelings or emotions. Take the following sentence:
म राम्रो छु (ma rāmro chu)
= I am (a) good (person)
[subject + adjective + verb]
The above sentence clearly describes that you are a good person, since it uses the nominative म (ma) followed by the copula छु (chu) which is conjugated according to the subject. Now, if you however employ the dative construction:
मलाई राम्रो छ (ma-lāī rāmro cha)
= I am (feeling) good
[dative subject(+) lāī-case marker + adjective + verb]
The meaning changes entirely. This is because you used the dative construction, which shows how you feel instead of stating a quality like how the first one did. If you notice, the verb is conjugated according to the third person, so when using the dative construction, it is important that you do not conjugate according to the dative subject but rather just use the 3rd person conjugation. For a closer translation, you could say “for me, (it) is good” instead of “I am good”, but it sounds much less natural. Another example:
बेनेडिक्टलाई भोक लाग्यो (beneḍikṭ-lāī bhok lāgyo)
= Benedict felt hungry
[Benedict (+) lāī-case marker + hunger + felt]
The above sentence is more closer to “Benedict is hungry”, so the use of the past indefinite tense to define a current state is mostly a quirk used to describe how you feel than anything highly technical. Nevertheless, the dative construction can be found all over the language, mostly to describe feelings and emotions which we will be discussing later in detail. As for the use of लाई (lāī), it is used precisely because it is the dative marker.
SUMMARY
- The direct object is the object which directly takes the action of the verb.
- An indirect object is an object that is affected by the action of a transitive verb (typically as a recipient), but is not the direct object.The primary function of लाई (lāī) is to function as the dative case marker.
- The dative marker is the case marker which shows the dative case in a sentence, or in other words, the indirect object or where the action takes place. In Nepali, there is a strong tendency for the indirect object to be placed before the direct object.
- The secondary function of लाई (lāī) is to function as the accusative case marker.
- As an accusative marker, लाई (lāī) marks the direct object in a sentence, but only if there is no indirect object in the sentence and the direct object is a human animate.When an indirect object appears, लाई (lāī) preferably marks the indirect object, thus even if you may have a human animate direct object, it will not be marked in favour of the indirect object.
- The structure which employs the dative case, which is marked by लाई (lāī) in Nepali, is called dative construction.
- The dative construction is used mostly to describe feelings and emotions.
EXERCISES
Nepalgo 