FW: question regarding Urdu-Hindi

[Colin P Masica]

Dear Prof. Moravcsik and others,

Yes, I see the difference. Meanwhile, I have managed to pester my former
colleague C.M. Naim regarding another hunch, involving the Hindi-Urdu form
of many uses [with analogous forms in some other Indo-Aryan languages]
-waalaa (Msg.; F. -waalii, Pl.M. -waalee) [from Sanskrit -pâla, acc. to
McGregor]. In addition to its uses in forming an Immediate Future ("I am
about to go") and a substitute for a relative clause, it forms adjectives
(useable in turn as nouns) from nouns and adverbs (e.g. uuparwaalaa/e 'the
one/s upstairs'), dilliiwaalaa/e 'the person/people belonging to Delhi'. My
question to Prof. Naim was, can it be used with a proper name (such as
"Ashok")? His reply is as follows:

>Ashok-wala is most likely to be used as an adjective. ashok-waalii baat: the
>matter concerning ashok.   But ashok-waale can also mean for some [purposes]
>the people of Ashok's family, particularly in the context of a marriage or
>court case, where two parties are implied. [Ashok is a given name, not a family
name -- CPM]

Is this a bit closer to what you wanted? In English also, we can say, 'the
Joneses', 'the Smiths' -- but here we are not using the family name, but a
special coinage to fit the occasion. Note that this affords the option -- is
this possible with other associative plurals? -- of citing a single member
of the group so designated: ashok-waalaa 'one of Ashok's party or group'.

Colin P. Masica