Grammar Topics (Class X) MCQs Quiz | Class 10

Understanding Sherpa Grammar (Sum-tag)

Sherpa grammar, known as Sum-tag, forms the backbone of the Sherpa language, a Tibeto-Burman language spoken by the Sherpa people. It shares many characteristics with other Tibeto-Burman languages, particularly in its agglutinative nature and use of postpositions. Mastering these grammatical concepts is crucial for accurate communication and deeper understanding of the language.

Key Grammatical Concepts:

1. Tri-tsom (Nouns)

In Sherpa grammar, Tri-tsom refers to nouns. Nouns are fundamental to constructing sentences, representing people, places, things, and ideas. Unlike many Indo-European languages, Sherpa nouns typically do not inflect for grammatical gender. Number (singular/plural) is often indicated by context or specific suffixes when necessary. The most significant aspect of Sherpa nouns is their interaction with cases, which are primarily marked by postpositions rather than inflectional endings.

2. Threh Jyen-Wang-Chen Gyad (Verbs)

Threh Jyen-Wang-Chen Gyad covers verbs, which are central to expressing actions, states, and occurrences. Sherpa verbs are complex, conjugating for tense (present, past, future), aspect (perfective, imperfective), and mood (indicative, imperative, conditional). They often incorporate auxiliary verbs and particles to convey precise meanings and nuances. Sherpa verbs typically appear at the end of a sentence.

3. Thre Rang-Wang Chen Truk (Adjectives and Adverbs)

This category, Thre Rang-Wang Chen Truk, encompasses adjectives and adverbs. Adjectives modify nouns, providing descriptive detail, while adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs, indicating manner, time, place, or degree. In Sherpa, adjectives generally precede the nouns they modify. Adverbs often behave similarly, providing crucial context to actions and descriptions.

4. Tsig-trang (Sentence Structure)

Tsig-trang refers to sentence structure. Sherpa language predominantly follows a Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) word order. This means the subject comes first, followed by the object, and finally the verb. This structure is common in many Asian languages and is a key feature distinguishing Sherpa from languages like English (SVO). Understanding SOV is vital for constructing grammatically correct sentences.

5. Thag (Postpositions/Case Markers)

Thag are postpositions and case markers. Instead of prepositions (like “in,” “on,” “at” in English) that come before a noun, Sherpa uses postpositions that come after it. These particles indicate the grammatical role or case of the noun phrase, such as location, direction, agent, or recipient. Sherpa is an ergative-absolutive language, meaning the subject of a transitive verb takes an ergative case marker, while the subject of an intransitive verb and the object of a transitive verb take the absolutive (unmarked) case. This is a critical feature of Sherpa grammar.

Some common ‘Thag’ (postpositions) and their general functions:

6. Tsom Tri (Pronouns)

Tsom Tri covers pronouns, which are words that substitute for nouns or noun phrases. This category includes personal pronouns (e.g., I, you, he/she, we, they), demonstrative pronouns (e.g., this, that), interrogative pronouns (e.g., who, what), and possessive pronouns (e.g., mine, yours). Sherpa pronouns often carry implications of social status and formality, especially in second-person forms.

7. Tong yig (Vocabulary/Lexicon)

Tong yig pertains to vocabulary and the lexicon of the Sherpa language. This includes the study of individual words, their meanings, usage, and how new words are formed. While strictly not grammar, it’s intrinsically linked, as a rich vocabulary enables the application of grammatical rules to convey diverse messages.

8. Ked Gyur (Voice and Mood)

Ked Gyur deals with voice (e.g., active, passive) and mood (e.g., indicative, imperative, conditional). While active voice is prevalent in Sherpa, understanding how the language expresses different perspectives on an action (like who performs it versus who receives it) is part of this topic. Moods indicate the speaker’s attitude towards the proposition, such as certainty, possibility, or command.

9. Pay tam dang Shy-sa (Idioms, Phrases, and Etiquette)

Pay tam dang Shy-sa focuses on idioms, common phrases, and linguistic etiquette. Idioms are expressions whose meaning cannot be deduced from the literal meanings of their constituent words. Etiquette in language involves polite forms of address, honorifics, and culturally appropriate expressions, which are vital for respectful and effective communication within Sherpa society.

Quick Revision Checklist:

• Tri-tsom: Nouns, lack of grammatical gender, case marked by postpositions.
• Threh Jyen-Wang-Chen Gyad: Verbs, conjugation for tense, aspect, mood; appear sentence-finally.
• Thre Rang-Wang Chen Truk: Adjectives and Adverbs, modifying nouns and verbs respectively.
• Tsig-trang: SOV (Subject-Object-Verb) word order.
• Thag: Postpositions used as case markers (e.g., ergative -gi, dative/locative -la, genitive -i).
• Tsom Tri: Pronouns, including personal, demonstrative, interrogative; sensitivity to formality.
• Tong yig: Vocabulary, lexical items, and word formation.
• Ked Gyur: Active voice prevalence, different moods.
• Pay tam dang Shy-sa: Idiomatic expressions and polite language usage.

Extra Practice Questions:

1. Identify the Sherpa grammatical concept that distinguishes between subjects of transitive and intransitive verbs by applying different case markers.
2. What is the primary role of “Thre Rang-Wang Chen Truk” in enriching sentence meaning?
3. Which of the following topics would include specific politeness markers for addressing elders or respected individuals?
4. The use of auxiliary verbs to indicate perfective aspect or duration falls under what main grammar topic?
5. If you want to express possession (e.g., ‘my book’ or ‘book of mine’) in Sherpa, which type of “Thag” (postposition) would you likely use with the possessor noun?