Syntax

On a broader scale, many of Toda’s syntactic features are derived from other languages within the Dravidian language family. The default word order in the Toda language is SOV (Subject Object Verb), like other Dravidian languages, with some freedom in the organization of SO or OS (Emeneau 1984). The V in Toda refers to the “verb root,” which is unique since it is said to be expanded in 4 main ways: 1) expansion by stem suffixes 2) expansion by non-finite suffix 3) expansion by noun-derivative suffix 4) expansion of verb root into subordinate predication, creating complex sentences (Emeneau 1984: 49). Toda also contains “echo-word construction” or “echo-morphemes” in nouns and verbs, which is also found in Tamil (Emeneau 1984: 68-69).

 

Examples of sentences in Toda:

ni, pït. θut.s.pi.      ‘You fried cakes.’

a kwat., öw midy oyčin.      ‘That palace had seven stories.’

koy, ni pïkwïl.y xot.yfiči.      ‘The hand has become blistered.’

ki tik, ïr nar.kin.      ‘I will migrate with the buffaloes to the lower ti diary.’

icïl fïd.θti.      ‘They suffer pollution.’

an mox makas̠m, pït.n. oyčïn.      ‘That man’s son Makas̠ also, was a fool.’

kog foɫ.y ïr, toy oθi ti ïr, kog foɫ.y ïr xor̠ïyi.      ‘The kog foɫ.y buffalo is the mother buffalo.’

 

Examples of questions in Toda:

on, et fït. θut.s.n.    ‘How many (et) cakes did I fry?’

aθ inu.      ‘What is that?’

ay oɫ. oryu.      ‘Who is that man?’

ay ïr, or(y)tu.      ‘Whose is that buffalo?’

en das̠ar̠ on.y xat̠s ory.      ‘Who has learned more tricks than I?’

 

REFERENCES:

Emeneau, Murray B. 1984. Toda grammar and texts. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society. xiii+426pp.

Sakthivel, S. 1976. Phonology of Toda with vocabulary. Annamalainagar: Annamalai University. 382pp.