One of the more complex constructions in Hindi-Urdu is that formed from the conjunctive participle (V-kr form) of a main verb followed by the compound form of  rh 'stay, remain; live'. The meaning (usually) is that the subject is limited in some way either in the degree to which it becomes something:

(1)  kÙC khn:ð ki EcCa Ok s:ÜK:i m:ØskÙrahX m:ðø ks:kr rh g:y:i.
      'The desire to say something ebbed into a dry smile.'

(2)  l:ðekn: D:irð D:irð us:ka y:h p:ag:l:p:n: b:it: g:y:a T:a A>r s:ari sm:àet:y:aú us: eb:st:r,  eK:_ki A>r km:rð t:k hi b:XÙrkr rh g:y:i T:i.
      'But gradually this anguish of his subsided and all his memories came to be centered in the bed, the window, the room (and nowhere else).'

      (from Singh 1973, p. 133).

or the subject is limited in what it does:

(3)  t:b:iy:t: S:m:aü ki Ok J:ap:_ dðn:ð k< kÙl:b:Øl:a uYi p:r es:g:rðX s:Øl:g:akr rh g:y:a.
      'Sharma was dying to slap (him in the face), but he contented himself with lighting up a cigarette.'

      (from Sobati 1968, p. 24)

(4)  g:l:ð t:k Ok g:al:i AaI.  ePr m:n: m:ðø hi khkr rh g:y:a.
      'A curse came to (Mohan's) lips (lit: throat) but he settled for uttering it silently.'

      (from Verma 1993, p. 12)

(5)  eCn:- B:r Aaram: krn:ð kað j:i t:rs:kr rh j:at:a hò.
      'You yearn to have a moment's rest.'

     (from  )ðm:c:nd 's  YakÙr ka kÙAaú.  See context.)

or in its number or amount:

(6)  hm:ðù t:< hv:al:at: n:hiø l:ð j:at:a.  d< c:ar g:ael:y:aú - G:Ø_eky:aú em:l:kr rh j:at:i hòö.
      'He doesn't take us to the lock-up. All that we get are a few curses and warnings, nothing more.'

      (from Premchand 1966:22)

(7)  B:y: T:a t:< y:hi ek ePr b:ðXi n: h< j:ay: . . .  n:hiø t:< v:hi b:úD:a hØAa Ok ,p:y:a A>r Ok s:a_i em:l:kr rh j:ay:g:i.
      'They were afraid that once again it would be a girl and then all they would get would be that same old sari and a single rupee knotted up in a cloth.'

(Premchand 1962: context)

(8)  l:aðg: s:m:J:t:ð hòø ek m:ðrY es:fý ep:Cl:i S:t:abdi m:ðø ^:dr kr kñ rh g:y: .
    'People are under the impression that the only thing that Meerut ever did was to rebel in the last (19th) century."
(from  D:m:üv:ir B:art:I's 1970 essay  ram:ay:N: H  b:t:z:ü m:ðrY

   A common component of situations expressed with V-kr rh j:an:a is a sense of frustration. The subject's actions are limited and the subject feels thwarted:

(9)  c:aðri Aaòr s:in:az:aðri.  dðv:ij:i daút: p:is:kr rh g:y:iø.  m:art:iø t:< us:i dm: sn:an: krn:a p:_t:a.
      'Caught in the act and answers back! Devi Ji ground her teeth in rage. If she hit him, she'd have to bathe immediately.'

      (Premchand 1966:46)

The presence of  j:a to form the compound form of  rh is a necessary feature of the construction. Without  j:a the sense is one of 'certainly' or 'no matter what' rather than the sense of 'only' or 'no more than X':

(10) m:ØJ:ð p:t:a hò ekt:n:a m:ØeSkl: haðg:a y:h . . .  ePr B:i y:h b:at: m:òø us:kð edm:a^: m:ðø eb:Yakr rhÜûg:a Es: b:ar ek . . .
      'I know how hard it will be but this time no matter what I will make him see that . . . '

      (from Rakesh 1978, p. 94).

Compare (11) with (3) and (12) with (7):

(11)  v:h es:g:rðX s:Øl:g:akr rha.
      'He lit a cigarette (defiantly, despite someone's warning or disapproval).'

(12)  Ok ,p:y:a A>r Ok s:a_i em:l:kr rhðg:i.
        'They are bound to receive a rupee and a sari no matter what.'

(For more, see notes on V- kr rh.)
For transitive counterpart to V-kr rh j:a- see notes on V-kr rK: dð-, etc.
Go to V-kr rh j:an:a exercise.
Return to index of grammatical notes.

Return to index of Mellon Project.

Posted in June, 1999. Updated 7 Aug 1999, 3 Feb 2001, 28 Apr 2001. Reformatted 20 April 2003.

(These notes include material from Hook 1995. "Learn Hindi-Urdu in just Thirty Years?" Designing a Dictionary of Constructions for the Advanced Student. In The Teaching and Acquisition of South Asian Languages. Vijay Gambhir, Ed. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. Pp 153-4.)