§97.] A I AND DI. 47 



§ 97. Altogether peculiar to Ormuri, and of very frequent occurrence are the 

 particles at and dl. One or other of these appears in every finite sentence when 

 the substantive to which it refers is not definite, i.e. when it is not preceded by the 

 definite article a- (see § 55) or is not a proper name or a personal pronoun. If the 

 verb of the sentence is intransitive, or a copula, then they refer to the subject. If 

 the verb is transitive, they refer to the object. If the word to which either refers is 

 singular, then al is used. If it is plural, or a singular noun of multitude, then dl 

 is used. 



It is difficult to determine the exact force of these particles. They are often used 

 with a slightly adversative force, as in : — 

 yras al ha, ka ziyar al ha? susr al ha, 



black . . is, or ^^ellow . . is ? red . . is, 

 i.e. is it black ? or is it yellow ? (nay) it is red. 



ho al tar-mun marza ha ; ha al ta-f" x^af ha, 



this . . my brother is ; this . . his sister is, 

 i.e. (on the one hand) this is my brother ; (on the other hand) this is his sister. 



They often have an emphatic force, like that of the Hindi hi. Thus : — 



ku-Zaid gad dl hi maxlug ga bick-in; x^ i>l kukk-ir dl nak dzok, 



Zaid with . . other people also were ; but other anyones-(to-me) . . not came, 

 Zaid al rl-dzok, 

 Zaid . . came, 



i.e. (on the one hand) other persons also were with Zaid ; but (on the other hand) no 

 others came {-ir-(kdk) ; Zaid alone (Hindi Zaid-hl) came {n-(kdk). 



But most often they have no apparent translatable force, and simply indicate 

 the subject or object of a sentence. For instance, if there are two nouns in a sentence, 

 one singular and the other plural, and if al appears, then we know that it is the 

 singular noun which is the subject, if the verb is intransitive, or which is the object, 

 if the verb is transitive. Similarly dl points out a plural noun in the same way. 

 Thus, take the phrase : — 



sarai dl bu panducl xU'^l. 



man . . . . pomegranates eats, 

 i.e. a man eats {hu x'^'w^i) pomegranates. Here the verb is transitive, and therefore 

 dl refers to the object. As dl, not al, is used, the object must be plural, and is there- 

 fore ' pomegranates/ and not ' man.' 



Again : — 

 a-sarai al panduk xwalak. 



the-man . . pomegranate ate, 

 i.e. the man ate a pomegranate. Here, as savai has the definite article, al cannot 

 refer to it. It must therefore refer to panduk^ which is therefore the object of the 

 transitive verb ' ate.' 



In such cases these particles are generally pleonastic and cannot be translated, 

 as in the following sentences : — 



