GRAMMA R. 
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THE ARTICLE. 
1. Definite article.— In Ladakhi the definite article has almost 
entirely lost its individuality. It has become an essential part of the word 
to which it is added. This fact is most plainly shown in the case of adjec- 
tives, most of which are quite unable to adapt their article to the 
gender of the substantive they belong to. Thus chenmo , great, invari¬ 
ably retains the feminine article mo, whilst chugpo, rich, retains the 
masculine article po. 
The gender of the article agrees with that of the noun in the case of 
living beings. Thus the feminine articles ma and mo are met with in 
senggemo, lioness; jamo, hen ; hhyimo, bitch ; shema, lady ; whilst the 
masculine articles po and bo, pa and ba, are found in rgyalpo, king ; 
thapa, Indian; dagpo, owner; hhyirapa, hunter; ladagspa, Ladakhi. 
Note.— The word shamma , man or woman of Sham, Lower Ladakh, retains the 
article ma for masculine and feminine. Here we may have a similar case of con¬ 
traction as in samma for sampar , see Verb Supine. Probably the masculine form 
was shampa originally and contracted to shamma. 
Compound words. —The definite articles, though they must necessarily 
be considered as forming an essential part of the word they are connected 
with, are dropped for one reason only, viz., for forming compound 
words. Thus rhangpa, foot, and lagpa, hand, form the compound rhang - 
lag, hand and foot. 
The Ladakhi has two kinds of compounds : 
a. Copulative compounds. In these the compound simply shows the 
result of adding the ideas of the two or more original words. Examples ; 
rkanglag, hand and foot, or limb ; drangdro, cold and warmth, or climate ; 
jashrag, bird and wild fowl, or all birds, 
b. Determinative compounds. In these one of the constituent parts 
(either the first or the second) is the attributive adjunct to the other. 
Examples : buzhung, the little boy ; chugthrug, the rich child ; chumig , the 
eye of water, the well; shingsta, the horse of wood, the carriage; gur - 
harmarser, the tents, which aro white, red and yellow. 
