Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "Map" to "Mars"

Chapter VII: Part 7

Text size

On the whole, the consonantal system is much the same as in other
Indian languages. Nasalization of long vowels is very common,
especially in Konkani. In this article it is indicated by the sign ~
placed over the affected vowel. The palatals are pronounced as in Skr.
in words borrowed from that language or from Hindostani, and also in
Marathi _tadbhavas_ before _i_, _i_, _e_ or _y_. Thus, _cand_
(_tatsama_), fierce; _jama_ (Hindostani), collected; _cikhal_ (M.
_tadbhava_), mud. In other cases they are pronounced _ts_, _tsh_,
_dz_, _dzh_ respectively. Thus _tsakar_ (for _cakar_), a servant;
_dzane_ (for _jane_), to go. There are two _s_-sounds in the standard
dialect which are very similarly distinguished. _S_, pronounced like
an English _sh_, is used before _i_, _i_, _e_ or _y_; and _s_, as in
English "sin," elsewhere. Thus, _simphi_, a caste-name; _sil_, a
stone; _set_, a field; _syam_, dark blue; but _sap_, a snake; _sumar_
(Persian _shumar_), an estimate; _stri_, a woman. In the dialects _s_
is practically the only sibilant used, and that is changed by the
vulgar speakers of Konkani to _h_ (again as in north-western India).
Aspirated letters show a tendency to lose their aspiration, especially
in Konkani. Thus, _bhik_ (for _bhikh_), alms, quoted above; _hat_ (Pr.
_hattho_), a hand. In Konkani we have words such as _boin_, a sister,
against standard _bhain_; _ger_, standard _ghari_, in a house; _ami_,
standard _amhi_, we. Here again we have agreement with north-western
India. Generally speaking Marathi closely follows Maharastra when that
differs from the Prakrits of other parts of India. Thus we have Skr.
_vrajati_, Maharastri _vaccai_ (instead of _vajjai_), he goes; Konkani
_votsu_, to go; Sauraseni _genhiduim_, Maharastri _ghettum_, to take;
Marathi _ghet^ale_, taken. There is similarly both in Marathi and
Maharastri a laxness in distinguishing between cerebral and dental
letters (which again reminds us of north-western India). Thus, Skr.
_dasati_, Maharastri _dasai_, he bites; M. _das^ane_ to bite; Skr.
_dahati_, Maharastri _dahai_, he burns; M. _dadz^ane_, to be hot; Skr.
_gardabhas_; Sauraseni _gaddaho_; Hindostani _gadha_; but Maharastri
_gaddaho_; M. _gadhav_, an ass; and so many others. In Maharastri
every _n_ becomes _n_, but in Jaina MSS. when the _n_ was initial or
doubled it remained unchanged. A similar rule is followed regarding
_l_ and the cerebral _l_ common in Vedic Sanskrit, in MSS. coming from
southern India, and, according to the grammarians, also in the Pisaca
dialects of the north-west. In M. a Pr. double _nn_ or _ll_ is
simplified, according to the usual rule, to _n_ or _l_ respectively,
with lengthening of the preceding vowel in compensation. Both _n_ and
_l_ are of frequent occurrence in M., but only as medial letters, and
then only when they represent _n_ or _l_ in the Pr. stage. When the
letter is initial or represents a double _nn_ or _ll_ of Pr. it is
always _n_ or _l_ respectively, thus offering a striking testimony to
the accuracy of the Jaina and southern MSS. Thus, ordinary Maharastri
_na_, but Jaina Maharastri _na_, M. na, not; Maharastri (both kinds)
_ghano_, M. _ghan_, dense; Maharastri _sonnaam_, Jaina _sonnaam_, M.
_sone_, gold; Maharastri _kalo_, time, southern MSS. of the same
_kalo_, M. _kal_, time; Maharastri _callai_, M. _tsale_, he goes or
used to go. In some of the local dialects, following the Vedic
practice, we find _l_ where _d_ is employed elsewhere, as in (Berar)
_ghola_ for _ghoda_, a horse; and there are instances of this change
occurring even in Maharastri; e.g. Skr. _tadagam_, Maharastri
_talaam_, M. _tale_, a pond.

The Skr. compound consonant _jñ_ is pronounced _dny_ in the standard
dialect, but _gy_ in the Konkan. Thus, Skr. _jñanam_ becomes _dnyan_
or _gyan_ according to locality.

_Declension._--Marathi and Gujarati are the only Indo-Aryan languages
which have retained the three genders, masculine, feminine and neuter,
of Sanskrit and Prakrit. In rural dialects of Western Hindi and of
Rajasthani sporadic instances of the neuter gender have survived, but
elsewhere the only example occurs in the interrogative pronoun. In
Marathi the neuter denotes not only inanimate things but also animate
beings when both sexes are included, or when the sex is left
undecided. Thus, _ghode_, neut., a horse, without regard to sex. In
the Konkan the neuter gender is further employed to denote females
below the age of puberty, as in _cedu_, a girl. Numerous masculine and
feminine words, however, denote inanimate objects. The rules for
distinguishing the gender of such nouns are as complicated as in
German, and must be learned from the grammars. For the most part, but
not always, words follow the genders of their Skr. originals, and the
abrasion of terminations in the modern language renders it impossible
to lay down any complete set of rules on the subject. We may, however,
say that strong bases (see below) in _a_--and these do not include
_tatsamas_--are masculine, and that the corresponding feminine and
neuter words end in _i_ and _e_ respectively. Thus, _mul^aga_, a son;
_mul^agi_, a daughter; _mul^age_, a child of so and so. As a further
guide we may say that sex is usually distinguished by the use of the
masculine and feminine genders, and that large and powerful inanimate
objects are generally masculine, while small, delicate things are
generally feminine. In the case of some animals (as in our "horse" and
"mare") sex is distinguished by the use of different words; e.g.
_bokad_, he-goat, and _seli_, a nanny-goat.

The nominative form of a _tadbhava_ word is derived from the
nominative form in Sanskrit and Prakrit, but _tatsama_ words are
generally borrowed in the form of the Sanskrit crude base. Thus, Skr.
crude base _malin_, nom. sing, _mali_; Pr. nom. _malio_ (_malio_); M.
_mali_ (_tadbhava_), a gardener; Skr. base _mati_-; nom. _matis_; M.
_mati_ (_tatsama_). Some _tatsamas_ are, however, borrowed in the
nominative form, as in Skr. _dhanin_, nom. _dhani_; M. _dhani_, a rich
man. In Prakrit the nominative singular of many masculine _tatsamas_
ended in _o_. In the Apabhramsa stage this _o_ was weakened to _u_,
and in modern Marathi, under the general rule, this final short _u_
was dropped, the noun thus reverting as stated above to the form of
the Sanskrit crude base. But in old Marathi, the short u was still
retained. Thus, the Sanskrit _isvaras_, lord, became, as a Prakrit
_tatsama_, _isvaro_, which in Apabhramsa took the form _isvaru_. The
old Marathi form was also _isvaru_, but in modern Marathi we have
_isvar_. _Tadbhavas_ derived from Sanskrit bases in _a_ are treated
very similarly, the termination being dropped in the modern language.
Thus, Skr. nom. masc. _karnas_, Pr. _kanno_, M. _kan_; Skr. nom. sing.
fem. _khatva_, Pr. _khatta_, M. _khat_, a bed; Skr. nom. sing. neut.
_grham_, Pr. _gharam_, M. _ghar_, a house. Sometimes the Skr. nom.
sing. fem. of these nouns ends in _i_, but this makes no difference,
as in Skr. and Pr. _culli_, M. _cul_, a fireplace. There is one
important set of exceptions to this rule. In the article PRAKRIT
attention is drawn to the frequent use of pleonastic suffixes,
especially of -(a)_ka_- (masc. and neut.), -(i)_ka_(fem.). This could
in Sanskrit be added to any noun, whatever the termination of the base
might be. In Prakrit the _k_ of this suffix, being medial, was elided,
so that we get forms like Skr. nom. sing. masc. _ghota-kas_, Pr.
ghoda-o, M. ghoda, a horse; Skr. nom. sing. fem. ghoti-ka, Pr.
_ghodi-a_, M. _ghodi_, a mare; Skr. _ghota-kam_, Pr. _ghoda-(y)am_, M.
_ghode_, a horse (without distinction of sex). Such modern forms made
with this pleonastic suffix, and ending in _a_, _i_ or _e_ are called
"strong forms," while all those made without it are called "weak
forms." As a rule the fact that a noun is in a weak or a strong form
does not affect its meaning, but sometimes the use of a masculine
strong form indicates clumsiness or hugeness. Thus _bhakar_ (weak
form) means "bread," while _bhak^ara_ (strong form) means "a huge loaf
of bread." The other pleonastic suffixes mentioned under PRAKRIT are
also employed in Marathi, but usually with specific senses. Thus the
suffix -_illa_- generally forms adjectives, while -_da-ka_- (in M.
-_da_, fem. -_di_, neut. -_de_) implies contempt.

The synthetic declension of Sanskrit and Prakrit has been preserved in
Marathi more completely than in any other Indo-Aryan language. While
Maharastri Prakrit, like all others, passed through the Apabhramsa
stage in the course of its development, the conservative character of
the language retained even in that stage some of the old pure
Maharastri forms. In the article PRAKRIT we have seen how there
gradually arose a laxity in distinguishing the cases. In Maharastri
the Sanskrit dative fell into almost entire disuse, the genitive being
used in its place, while in Apabhramsa the case terminations become
worn down to -_hu_, -_ho_, -_hi_, -_hi_ and -_ha_, of which -_hi_ and
-_hi_ were employed for several cases, both singular and plural. There
was also a marked tendency for these terminations to become confused,
so that in the earliest stages of most of the modern Indo-Aryan
vernaculars we find -_hi_ freely employed for any oblique case of the
singular, and -_hi_ for any oblique case of the plural. Another
feature of Prakrit was the simplification of the complicated
declensional system of Sanskrit by assimilating it in all cases to the
declension of _a_-bases, corresponding to the first and second
declensions in Latin.

In the formation of the plural the Prakrit declensions are very
closely followed by Marathi. We shall confine our remarks to
_a_-bases, which may be either weak or strong forms, and of which the
feminine ends sometimes in _a_, and sometimes in _i_. In Prakrit the
nom. plur. of these nouns ends masc. _a_, fem. _ao_, _io_, neut.
_aim_. We thus get the following:--

Several of the old synthetic cases have survived in Marathi,
especially in the antique form of the language preserved in poetry.
Most of them have fallen into disuse in the modern prose language. We
may note the following, some of which have preserved the Maharastri
forms, while others are directly derived from the Apabhramsa stage of
the language. We content ourselves with giving some of the synthetic
cases of one noun, a weak neuter a-base, ghar, a house.

As already stated, in Prakrit the genitive is employed instead of the
dative, and thus forms the basis of the Marathi dative singular. The
genitive plural is not used as a dative plural in Marathi, but it is
the basis of the plural general oblique case. The Marathi singular
general oblique case is really the same as the Marathi dative
singular, but in the standard form of speech when so used the final
_s_ is dropped, _gharas_, as a general oblique case, being only found
in dialects. This general oblique case is the result of the confusion
of the various oblique cases originally distinguished in Sanskrit and
in literary Prakrit. In Apabhramsa the genitive began to usurp the
function of all the other cases. It is obvious that if it were
regularly employed in so indeterminate a sense, it would give rise to
great confusion. Hence when it was intended to show clearly what
particular case was meant, it became usual to add, to this
indeterminate genitive, defining particles corresponding to the
English "of," "to," "from," "by," &c., which, as in all Indo-Aryan
languages they follow the main word, are called "postpositions."
Before dealing with these, it will be convenient to give the modern
Marathi synthetic declension of the commoner forms of nouns. The only
synthetic case which is now employed in prose is the dative, and this
can always be formed from the general oblique case by adding an s to
the end of the word. It is therefore not given in the following table.

The usual postpositions are:--

Instrumental: _ne_, plural _ni_, by. Dative: _la_, plural also _na_,
to or for. Ablative: _hun_, _un_, from. Genitive: _tsa_, of. Locative:
_~t_, in. We thus get the following complete modern declension of
_ghar_, a house (neut.):--

Sing. Plur.

Nom. ghar ghare
Acc. ghar ghare
Instr. gharane gharani
Dat. gharas, gharala gharas, gharala, gharana
Abl. gharahun, gharun gharahun
Gen. gharatsa gharatsa
Loc. gharat gharat

The accusative is usually the same as the nominative, but when
definiteness is required the dative is employed instead. The
termination _ne_, with its plural _ni_, is, as explained in the
article GUJARATI, really the oblique form, by origin a locative, of
the _na_ or _no_, employed in Gujarati to form the genitive. The
suffix _na_ of the dative plural is derived from the same word. Here
it is probably a corruption of the Apabhramsa _nau_ or _naho_. The
postposition la is probably a corruption of the Sanskrit _labhe_,
Apabhramsa _lahi_, for the benefit (of). As regards the ablative, we
have in old Marathi poetry a form corresponding to _gharahu-niya_,
which explains the derivation. _Gharahu_ is a by-form of the Prakrit
synthetic ablative _gharau_, to which _niya_, another oblique form of
_na_, is added to define the meaning. The locative termination _~t_ is
a contraction of the Pr. _anto_, Skr. antar, within.

The genitive _gharatsa_ is really an adjective meaning "belonging to
the house," and agrees in gender, number and case with the noun which
is possessed. Thus:

_malyatsa ghoda_, the gardener's horse. _malyace ghode_, the
gardener's horses.

_malyaci ghodi_, the gardener's mare. _malyacya ghodya_, the
gardener's mares.

_malyace ghode_, the gardener's horse (neut.). _malyaci ghodi_, the
gardener's horses (neut.).

The suffix _tsa_, _ci_, _ce_, is derived from the Sanskrit suffix
_tyakas_, Pr. _cao_, which is used in much the same sense. In Sanskrit
it may be added either to the locative or to the unmodified base of
the word to which it is attached, thus, _ghotake-tyakas_ or
_ghotaka-tyakas_. Similarly in Marathi, while it is usually added to
the general oblique base, it may also be added to the unmodified noun,
in which case it has a more distinctly adjectival force. The use of
_tsa_ has been influenced by the fact that the Sanskrit word _krtyas_,
Pr. _kiccao_, also takes the same form in Marathi. As explained in the
article HINDOSTANI, synonyms of this word are used in other Indo-Aryan
languages to form suffixes of the genitive.[7]

Strong adjectives, including genitives, can be declined like
substantives, and agree with the qualified noun in gender, number and
case. When the substantive is in an oblique case, the adjective is put
into the general oblique form without any defining postposition, which
is added to the substantive alone. Weak adjectives are not inflected
in modern prose, but are inflected in poetry. As in other Indo-Aryan
languages, comparison is effected by putting the noun with which
comparison is made in the ablative case.

The pronouns closely follow the Prakrit originals. The origin of all
these is discussed in the article HINDOSTANI, and the account need not
be repeated here. As usual in these languages, there is no pronoun of
the third person, its place being supplied by the demonstratives. The
following are the principal pronominal forms:--

_mi_, I, instr. _mi_, _mya_, dat. _mala_, obl. _madz_; _amhi_, we,
instr. _amhi_, obl. _amha_; _madzha_, my, of me; _amtsa_, our, of us.

_tu_, thou, instr. _tu_, _twa_, dat. _tula_, obl. _tudz_; _tumhi_,
you, instr. _tumhi_, obl. _tumha_; _tudzha_, thy, of thee; _tumtsa_,
your, of you.

_apan_, self, obl. _ap^ana_, gen. _ap^ala_. This is also employed as
an honorific pronoun of the second person, and, in addition, to mean
"we including you."

_ha_, this, fem., _hi_, neut. _he_; _to_, he, that, fem. _ti_, neut.
_te_; _dzo_, who, fem., _ji_, neut. _je_.

_kon_, who? _kay_, what? obl. _kasa_; _koni_, any one; _kahi_,
anything.

In all these the plural is employed honorifically instead of the
singular.

_Conjugation._--In Prakrit (q.v.) the complicated system of Sanskrit
conjugation had already disappeared, and all verbs fell into two
classes, the first, or _a_-, conjugation, and the second, or _e_-,
conjugation, in which the _e_ represents the _aya_ of the Sanskrit
tenth conjugation and of causal and denominative verbs. Marathi
follows Prakrit in this respect and has two conjugations. The first,
corresponding to the Prakrit _a_-class, as a rule consists of
intransitive verbs, and the second, corresponding to the _e_- or
causal class, of transitive verbs, but there are numerous exceptions.
Verbs whose roots end in vowels or in _h_ belong partly to one and
partly to the other conjugation. These conjugations differ only in the
present and past participles and in the tenses formed from them. Here,
in the first conjugation an _a_, and in the second conjugation an _i_,
is inserted between the base and the termination.

The only original Prakrit tenses which have survived in Marathi are
the present and the imperative. The present has lost its original
meaning and is now a habitual past. It is also the base of the Marathi
future. These three tenses, the habitual past, the imperative and the
future, are conjugated as follows. They should be compared with the
corresponding forms in the article PRAKRIT. The verb selected is the
root _uth_, rise, of the first conjugation.

As in Rajasthani, Bihari and the Indo-Aryan language of Nepal (see
PAHARI), the future is formed by adding _l_, or in the first person
singular _n_, to the old present. In the second person singular the
_l_ has been added to a form derived from the Pr. _utthasi_, which is
also the origin of the old present _uthes_. Some scholars, however,
see in _uthasi_ a derivation of the Prakrit future _utthihisi_, thou
shalt arise, and a confusion of the Prakrit present and future is
quite possible.

The remaining tenses are modern forms derived from the participles.
The verbal nouns, participles and infinitives are as follows:--

The only form that requires notice is that of the conjunctive
participle. It is derived from the Apabhrarmsa form _utthiu_, to which
the dative suffix _n_ (old Marathi _ni_, _niya_) has been added.

Various tenses are formed by adding personal suffixes to the present,
past or future passive participle. When the subject of the verb is in
the nominative the tense so formed agrees with it in gender, number
and person. We may note four such tenses: a present, _uth^ato_, I
rise; a past, _uth^alo_, I rose; past conditional, _uth^ato_, had I
risen; and a subjunctive, _uthawa_, I should rise. In the present, the
terminations are relics of the verb substantive, and in the other
tenses of the personal pronouns. In these latter, as there is no
pronoun of the third person, the third persons have no termination,
but are simply the unmodified participle. We thus get the present and
the past conjugated as follows, with a masculine subject:--

The feminine and neuter forms differ from the above: thus, _uth^ates_,
thou (fem.) risest; _uth^alis_, thou (fem.) didst rise; and so on for
the other persons and for the neuter.

It will be observed that, in the case of transitive verbs, while the
present participle is active, the past and future passive participles
are passive in meaning. The same is the case with the future passive
participle of the intransitive verb. In tenses, therefore, formed from
these participles the sentence must be construed passively. The
subject must be put into the instrumental case, and the participle
inflected to agree with the object. If the object is not expressed,
or, as is sometimes the case, is expressed in the guise of a kind of
ethic dative, the participle is construed impersonally, and is
employed in the neuter form. Thus (present tense) _mul^aga_ (nom.
masc.) _pothi vacito_, the boy reads a book, but (past tense)
_mul^agyane_ (instrumental _pothi_ (nom. fem.) _vacili_ (fem.) the boy
read a book, literally, by-the-boy a-book was-read; or _mul^agyane
pothila_ (dative) _vacile_ (neuter), the boy read the book, literally,
by-the-boy, with-reference-to-the-book, it-(impersonal)-was-read.
Similarly in the subjunctive formed from the future passive
participle, _mul^agyane pothi vacawi_, the boy should read a book
(by-the-boy a-book is-to-be-read) or _mul^agyane pothila vacawe_, the
boy should read the book [by-the-boy with-reference-to-the-book, it
(impersonal)-is-to-be-read]. As an example of the subjunctive of an
intransitive verb, we have _twa uthawe_, by-thee it-is-to-be-risen,
thou shouldst rise. As in intransitive verbs the passive sense is not
so strong, in their case the tense may also be used actively, as in
_tu uthawas_, thou shouldst rise, _lit._, thou (art) to-be-risen. It
will be noted that when a participle is used passively it takes no
personal suffix.

We have seen that the present tense is formed by compounding the
present participle with the verb substantive. Further tenses are
similarly made by suffixing, without compounding, various tenses of
the verb substantive to the various participles. Thus _mi uthat ahe_,
I am rising; _mi uthat hoto_, I was rising; _mya uthave hote_
(impersonal construction), I should have risen. In the case of tenses
formed from the past participle, the auxiliary is appended, not to the
participle, but to the past tense, as in _mi uth^alo ahe_, I have
risen; _mya marila ahe_ (personal passive construction) or _mya
marile_ ahe (impersonal passive construction), I have killed.
Similarly _mi uth^alo hoto_ (active construction), I had risen. The
usual forms of the present and past of the verb substantive are:--

+---+---------------------+---------------------+
| | Present, I am. | Past, I was (masc). |
| +-----------+---------+-----------+---------+
| | Singular. | Plural. | Singular. | Plural. |
| +-----------+---------+-----------+---------+
| 1 | ahe | ahe | hoto | hoto |
| 2 | ahes | aha | hotas | hota |
| 3 | ahe | ahet | hota | hote |
+---+-----------+---------+-----------+---------+

The past changes for gender, but the present is immutable in this
respect. _Ahe_ is usually considered to be a descendant of the
Sanskrit _asmi_, I am,[8] while _hoto_ is derived from the Pr.
_homtao_, the present participle of what corresponds to the Skr. root
_bhu_, become.

A potential passive and a causal are formed by adding _av_ to the root
of a simple verb. The former follows the first, or intransitive, and
the latter the second or transitive conjugation. The potential passive
of a neuter verb is necessarily construed impersonally. The causal
verb denotes indirect agency; thus, _kar^ane_, to do, _karav^ane_, to
cause a person to do; _tyacya-kadun mya te karavile_, I caused him to
do that, literally, by-means-of-him by-me that was-caused-to-be-done.
The potential, being passive, has the subject in the dative (cf. Latin
_mihi est ludendum_) or in the instrumental of the genitive, as in
_mala_ (dative), or _majhyane_ (instr. of _madzha_, of me),
_uth^avate_, I can rise, literally, for-me, or by-my-(action),
rising-can-be-done. So, _Ramala_, or _Ramacyane_, _pothi vac^avali_,
Ram could read a book (by R. a book could be read).

Several verbs are irregular. These must be learnt from the grammars.
Here we may mention _hone_, to become, past participle _dzhala_;
_yene_, to come, past participle _ala_; and _dzane_, to go, past
participle _gela_. There are also numerous compound verbs. One of
these, making a passive, is formed by conjugating the verb _dzane_, to
go, with the past participle of the principal verb. Thus, _marila
dzato_, he is being killed, literally, he goes killed.

_Literature._--As elsewhere in India, the modern vernacular literature
of the Maratha country arose under the influence of the religious
reformation inaugurated by Ramanuja early in the 12th century. He and
his followers taught devotion to a personal deity instead of the
pantheism hitherto prevalent. The earliest writer of whom we have any
record is Namdev (13th century), whose hymns in honour of Vithoba, a
personal form of Vishnu, have travelled far beyond the home of their
writer, and are even found in the Sikh _Àdi Granth_. Dnyanoba, a
younger contemporary, wrote a paraphrase of the Sanskrit _Bhagavad
Gita_, which is still much admired. Passing over several intermediate
writers we come to the period of the warrior Sivaji, the opponent of
Aurangzeb. He was a disciple of Ramdas (1608-1681), who exercised
great influence over him, and whose _Dasbodh_, a work on religious
duty, is a classic. Contemporary with Ramdas and Sivaji was Tukaram
(1608-1649), a Sudra by caste, and yet the greatest writer in the
language. He began life as a petty shopkeeper, and being unsuccessful
both in his business and in his family relations, he abandoned the
world and became a wandering ascetic. His _Abhangs_ or "unbroken"
hymns, probably so called from their indefinite length and loose,
flowing metre, are famous in the country of his birth. They are
fervent, but though abounding in excellent morality, do not rise to
any great height as poetry. Other Marathi poets who may be mentioned
are Sridhar (1678-1728), the most copious of all, who translated the
_Bhagavata Purana_, and the learned Mayura or Moropant (1729-1794),
whose works smell too much of the lamp to satisfy European standards
of criticism. Mahipati (1715-1790) was an imitator of Tukaram, but his
chief importance rests on the fact that he collected the popular
traditions about national saints, and was thus the author of the _Acta
sanctorum_ of the Marathas. Lavanis, or erotic lyrics, by various
writers, are popular, but are often more passionate than decent.
Another branch of Marathi literature is composed of _Pawadas_ or
war-ballads, mostly by nameless poets, which are sung everywhere
throughout the country. There is a small prose literature, consisting
of narratives of historical events (the so-called _Bakhars_), moral
maxims and popular tales.

In the 19th century the facilities of the printing press are
responsible for a great mass of published matter. Most of the best
works have been written in English by learned natives, upon whom the
methods of European scholarship have exercised more influence than
elsewhere in India, and have given rise to a happy combination of
western science with Oriental lore. No vernacular authors of
outstanding merit have appeared during the last century.

Konkani once had a literature of its own, which is said to have been
destroyed by the Inquisition at Goa. Temples and manuscripts were
burnt wholesale. Under Roman Catholic auspices a new literature arose,
the earliest writer being an Englishman, Thomas Stephens (Thomaz
Estevão), who came to Goa in 1579, wrote the first Konkani grammar,
and died there in 1619. Amongst other works, he was the author of a
Konkani paraphrase of the New Testament in metrical form, which has
been several times reprinted and is still a favourite work with the
native Christians. Since his time there has grown up a considerable
body of Christian literature from the pens of Portuguese missionaries
and native converts.

AUTHORITIES.--Marathi is fortunate in possessing the best dictionary
of any modern Indian language, J. T. Molesworth's (2nd ed., Bombay,
1857). Navalkar's (3rd ed., Bombay, 1894) is the best grammar. The
earliest students of Marathi were the Portuguese, who were familiar
only with the language as spoken on the coast, i.e. with the standard
dialect of the northern Konkan and with Konkani. They have since
devoted themselves to these two forms of speech. For the former,
reference may be made to the _Grammatica da lingua Concani no dialecto
do norte_, by J. F. da Cunha Rivara (Goa, 1858). For Konkani proper,
see A. F. X. Maffei's _Grammar_ (Mangalore, 1882) and _Dictionaries_
(ibid., 1883). These are in English. Monsenhor S. R. Dalgado is the
author of a _Konkan-Portuguese Dictionary_ (Bombay, 1893).

For further information regarding Marathi in general, see the list of
authorities under INDO-ARYAN LANGUAGES. For accounts of Marathi
literature, see the preface to Molesworth's _Dictionary_; also J.
Murray Mitchell's "The Chief Marathi Poets" in _Transactions of the
Congress of Orientalists, London, 1892_, i. 282 sqq., and ch. viii. of
M. G. Ranade's _Rise of the Maratha Power_ (Bombay, 1900). For Konkani
literature, see J. Gerson da Cunha's "Materials for the History of
Oriental Studies among the Portuguese," in the _Proceedings of the
Fourth International Congress of Orientalists_, ii. 179 sqq.
(Florence, 1881). A full account of Marathi, given in great detail,
will be found in vol. vii. of the _Linguistic Survey of India_
(Calcutta, 1905). (G. A. Gr.)

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The name is sometimes spelt _Mahrathi_, with an _h_ before the
_r_, but, according to a phonetic law of the Aryan languages of
western India, this is incorrect. The original _h_ in "Maharastri,"
from which the word is derived, is liable to elision on coming
between two vowels.

[2] Shastri Vrajlal Kalidas, quoted by Beames in _Comparative
Grammar_, i. 102.

[3] See B. A. Gupte in _Indian Antiquary_ (1905), xxxiv. 27.

[4] For details see Dr Sten Konow's article on Maharastri and Marathi
in _Indian Antiquary_ (1903), xxxii. 180 seq.

[5] For the explanation of these terms see INDO-ARYAN LANGUAGES.

[6] Abbreviations: Skr. = Sanskrit. Pr. = Maharastri Prakrit. M. =
Marathi.

[7] Fuller information regarding all the above postpositions will be
found in G. A. Grierson's article "On Certain Suffixes in the Modern
Indo-Aryan Vernaculars," on pp. 473 seq. of the _Zeitschrift für
vergleichende Sprachforschung_ for 1903.

[8] See, however, Hoernle, _Comparative Grammar_, p. 364.

MARATHON,, a plain on the N.E. coast of Attica, divided from the plain of Athens by the range of Pentelicus; it contained four villages--Marathon, Probalinthos, Tricorythos and Oenoe--which originally formed an independent _tetrapolis_ and in historical times still upheld peculiar rites and legendary associations, chiefly connected with Heracles and Theseus. In the 6th century B.C. it served as a base for Peisistratus (q.v.), who owned much property in that district, for securing the rest of Attica. The plain derives its fame mainly from the battle in which the Athenians and Plataeans defeated the Persians (490 B.C.). The Persian force had been sent by King Darius to punish the Athenians for previous interferences in Asia and to restore their tyrant Hippias. It was probably by advice of the latter that the generals Datis and Artaphernes landed their troops, numbering perhaps 50,000, at Marathon. The Athenians, on the recommendation of their strategus Miltiades, resolved to meet this force in the open field, and sent out their full levy of 9000 heavy infantry under the polemarch Callimachus. They were joined on the way by 1000 Plataeans, but were disappointed of the assistance which they expected from Sparta. From their station at the head of the Vrana valley, which slopes down to Marathon plain, the Athenians for some days observed the Persian army, which gave no sign of proceeding to attack. After some waiting, Miltiades, who seems throughout to have played a more prominent part than his superior Callimachus, drew up the Athenian army for battle and charged down upon the enemy, whose line was formed on the level about a mile distant. The Athenian wings, whose formation had been made specially deep, broke the opposing divisions by their impact; the centre was at first overborne by the superior weight of the native Persians, but ultimately was relieved by the victorious wings, which closed in upon the Persian centre. The Persians were thereupon driven back into the sea all along the line, and, although the majority regained their ships, no less than 6400 were left dead, as against 192 Athenians. The Persian fleet, of which perhaps a detachment had been sent on before the battle, now sailed round Cape Sunium in order to effect a landing at Phalerum, close by Athens, and with the help of traitors within the walls to take the city by surprise. But Miltiades, who had suspected some plot all along, and had lately been warned by a signal on Mt Pentelicus which he interpreted as a message to the Persians, marched back the victorious army in time to defend Athens. The enemy, upon noticing his presence, did not venture a second disembarcation and retired straightway out of Greek waters. The details of the battle, and the Persian plan of campaign, are not made clear by our ancient sources, but reconstructions have been attempted by numerous modern authorities. (M. O. B. C.)

The tumulus or "Soros" was excavated by M. Stais in 1891 and 1892. A slight previous excavation had brought to light some prehistoric implements, and it was supposed that the mound had no connexion with the battle; but it has now been discovered that the presence of those prehistoric objects was accidental. Underlying the mound was found a stratum about 85 ft. long by 20 broad, consisting of a layer of sand, above which lay the ashes and bones of many corpses; together with these were the remains of many lecythi and other vases, some of them contemporary with the Persian wars, some of them of much earlier style, and probably taken in the emergency from neighbouring cemeteries. It is conjectured with some probability that a large vase containing ashes may have been used as the burial urn of one of the Athenian generals who fell. There was also, in the middle of the stratum, a trench for funeral offerings about 30 ft. by 3; it contained bones of beasts, with ashes and fragments of vases. There can therefore be no doubt that the tumulus was piled up to commemorate the Athenians who fell in the battle, and that it marks the place where the carnage was thickest. A selection from the contents of the tumulus has been placed in the National Museum at Athens. (E. Gr.)

See Herodotus vi. 102-117; W. M. Leake, _The Topography of Athens_
(London, 1841), ii. 203-227; R. W. Macan, _Herodotus_, iv.-vi.
(London, 1895), ii. 149-248; G. B. Grundy, _The Great Persian War_
(London, 1901), pp. 145-194; J. A. Munro in _Journal of Hellenic
Studies_, 1899, pp. 186-197. For the tumulus, [Greek: Harchaiologikon
Aeltion] 1891, pp. 67 sqq. See also MILTIADES.

MARAZION, a small seaport in the St Ives parliamentary division of Cornwall, England, on the shore of Mount's Bay, 2 m. E. of Penzance, served by the Great Western railway. Pop. (1901), 1251. A causeway of boulders and pebbles, thrown up by the sea and passable at low tide, unites Marazion with the insular St Michael's Mount (q.v.). The church of St Hilary, destroyed by fire in 1853, had a very fine spire, which has been faithfully reproduced in the restored building. Unusual archaeological interest attaches to the churchyard. Its inscribed stones date from the 4th century, one being in honour of Constantine the Great. Another has Cornish lettering, which can no longer be deciphered; and there are British and Roman crosses. Market gardening and fishing are the main industries.

The charter attributed to Robert count of Mortain, granting lands and liberties to St Michael's Mount, opposite Marazion, included a market on Thursdays. This appears to have been held from the first on the mainland. From it is probably derived the Marghasbigan (_Parvum Forum_) of the earlier and the Marghasyewe or Marketjew (_Forum Jovis_) of the later charters. It may be added that a Jewish origin has been ascribed to the place from the name Marketjew. It is certain that Richard king of the Romans provided that the three fairs, on the two feasts of St Michael and at Mid-Lent, and the three markets which had hitherto been held by the priors of St Michael's Mount on land not their own at Marghasbighan, should in future be held on their own land at Marchadyou. He transferred in fact the fairs and markets from the demesne lands of the Bloyous in Marazion to those of the prior. To remedy the loss incurred by this measure Ralph Bloyou in 1331 procured for himself and his heirs a market on Mondays and a fair on the vigil, feast and morrow of St Andrew at Marghasyon. In Leland's time the market was held at Marhasdeythyow (_Forum Jovis_), and both Norden (1582) and Carew (1602) tell us that Marcajewe signifies the Thursday's market, which, whether etymologically sound or not, shows that the prior's market had prevailed over its rival. In 1595 Queen Elizabeth granted to Marazion a charter of incorporation. This ratified the grant of St Andrew's fair, provided for another on the Feast of St Barnabas and established a market on Saturdays. The corporation was to consist of a mayor, 8 aldermen and 12 capital burgesses. This corporation continued to administer the affairs of the borough until it was dissolved under the Municipal Corporations Act in 1835, when the property belonging to it was vested in charity commissioners. The chairman of the commissioners retains possession of the regalia. Of the fairs only the Michaelmas fair has survived and all the markets have gone. It is frequently stated that Marazion had formerly the right of returning two members to parliament, but that owing to its inability to pay the members' expenses the right was lost. Under the Commonwealth an attempt was made to secure or recover the right, and two members are said to have been returned, but they were not allowed to take their seats. Remains of an ancient bronze furnace, discovered near the town, tend to prove that tin-smelting was practised here at an early period. Marazion was once a flourishing town, and owed its prosperity to the throng of pilgrims who came to visit St Michael's Mount. During the first half of the 16th century it was twice plundered; first by the French, and later by the Cornish rebels. The rise and progress of the neighbouring borough of Penzance in the 17th century was the undoing of Marazion.

MARBLE (from Lat. _marmar_, Gr. [Greek: marmaros], shining stone), a term applied to any limestone or dolomite which is sufficiently close in texture to admit of being polished. Many other ornamental stones--such as serpentine, alabaster and even granite--are sometimes loosely designated marble, but by accurate writers the term is invariably restricted to those crystalline and compact varieties of carbonate of lime (occasionally with carbonate of magnesia) which, when polished, are applicable to purposes of decoration. The crystalline structure is typically shown in statuary marble. A fractured surface of this stone displays a multitude of sparkling facets, which are the rhombohedral cleavage-planes of the component grains. The beautiful lustre of polished statuary marble is due to the light penetrating for a short distance into the rock and then suffering reflection at the surfaces of the deeper-lying crystals. The durability of marble in a dry atmosphere or when protected from rain renders it a valuable building stone (q.v.); on the other hand, when exposed to the weather or the acid atmosphere of large cities, its surface readily crumbles.

_Statuary and Economic Marbles._--Among statuary marbles the first place may be assigned to the famous Pentelic marble, the material in which Pheidias, Praxiteles, and other Greek sculptors executed their principal works. The characteristics of this stone are well seen in the Elgin marbles, which were removed from the Parthenon at Athens, and are now at the British Museum. The marble was derived from the quarries of Mount Pentelicus in Attica. Several large buildings have recently been constructed with this marble in London. The neighbouring mountain of Hymettus likewise yielded marbles, but these were neither so pure in colour nor so fine in texture as those of Pentelicus. Parian marble, another stone much used by Greek sculptors and architects, was quarried in the isle of Paros, chiefly at Mount Marpessa. It is called by ancient writers _lychnites_ (from the Gr. [Greek: lychnos], a lamp) in allusion to the fact that the quarries were worked by the light of lamps. The Venus de' Medici is a notable example of work in this material. Carrara marble is better known than any of the Greek marbles, inasmuch as it constitutes the stone invariably employed by the best sculptors of the present day. This marble occurs abundantly in the Apuan Alps, an offshoot of the Apennines, and is largely worked in the neighbourhood of Carrara, Massa and Serravezza. Stone from this district was employed in Rome for architectural purposes in the time of Augustus, but the finer varieties, adapted to the needs of the sculptor, were not discovered until some time later. It is in Carrara marble that the finest works of Michelangelo and of Canova are executed. The purest varieties of this stone are of snow-white colour and of fine saccharoidal texture. Silica is disseminated through some of the marble, becoming a source of annoyance to the workman; while occasionally it separates as beautifully pellucid crystals of quartz known as "Carrara diamonds." The geological age of the marbles of the Apuan Alps has been a subject of much dispute, some geologists regarding them as metamorphosed Triassic, Liassic or Rhaetic rocks. Much of the common marble is of a bluish colour, and therefore unfit for statuary purposes; when streaked with blue and grey veins the stone is known as _bardiglio_. Curiously enough, the common white marble of Tuscany comes to England as Sicilian marble--a name probably due to its having been formerly re-shipped from some port in Sicily.

Although crystalline marbles fit for statuary work are not found to any extent in Great Britain, the limestones of the Palaeozoic formations yield a great variety of marbles well suited for architectural purposes. The Devonian rocks of south Devon are rich in handsome marbles, presenting great diversity of tint and pattern. Plymouth, Torquay, Ipplepen, Babbacombe and Chudleigh may be named as the principal localities. Many of these limestones owe their beauty to the fossil corals which they contain, and are hence known as "madrepore marbles."

Of far greater importance than the marbles of the Devonian system are those of Carboniferous age. It is from the Carboniferous or Mountain Limestone that British marbles are mainly derived. Marbles of this age are worked in Derbyshire and Yorkshire, in the neighbourhood of Bristol, in North Wales, in the Isle of Man, and in various parts of Ireland. One of the most beautiful of these stones is the "encrinital marble," a material which owes its peculiarities to the presence of numerous encrinites, or stone-lilies. These fossils, when cut in various directions, give a characteristic pattern to the stone. The joints of the stems and arms are known from their shape as "wheel-stones," and the rock itself has been called "entrochal marble." The most beautiful varieties are those in which the calcareous fossils appear as white markings on a ground of grey limestone. In Belgium a black marble with small sections of crinoid stems is known as _petit granit_, while in Derbyshire a similar rock, crowded with fragments of minute encrinites, is termed "bird's-eye marble."

Perhaps the most generally useful marbles yielded by the Carboniferous system are the black varieties, which are largely employed for chimney-pieces, vases, and other ornamental objects. The colour of most black limestone is due to the presence of bituminous matter. Such limestone commonly emits a fetid odour when struck; and the colour, being of organic origin, is discharged on calcination. Black marbles, more or less dense in colour, are quarried in various parts of Ireland, especially at Kilkenny and near Galway, but the finest kind is obtained from near Ashford in Derbyshire. From Ashford is also derived a very beautiful stone known as "rosewood marble." This is a dense brown laminated limestone, displaying when polished a handsome pattern somewhat resembling the grain of rosewood; it occurs in very limited quantity, and is used chiefly for inlaid work. The black marble of Frosterley, Yorkshire, is another Carboniferous example which owes its "figure" or pattern to the presence of large corals.

With the rosewood marble may be compared the well-known "landscape marble" or Cotham stone, an argillaceous limestone with peculiar dendritic markings, due probably to the infiltration of water containing oxide of manganese. This limestone occurs in irregular masses near the base of the White Lias, or uppermost division of the Rhaetic series. It is found principally in the neighbourhood of Bristol. The arborescent forms depicted in bluish-grey upon this landscape marble form a marked contrast to the angular markings of warm brown colour which are seen on slabs of "ruin marble" from Florence--a stone occasionally known also as landscape stone, or _pietra paesina_.

British limestones of Secondary and Tertiary age are not generally compact enough to be used as marbles, but some of the shelly beds are employed to a limited extent for decorative purposes. "Ammonite marble" is a dark brown limestone from the Lower Lias of Somersetshire, crowded with ammonites, principally _A. planicostata_. Under the name of Forest marble, geologists recognize a local division of the Lower Oolitic series, so named by W. Smith from Wychwood Forest in Oxfordshire, where shelly limestones occur; and these, though of little economic value, are capable of being used as rough marbles. But the most important marbles of the Secondary series are the shelly limestones of the Purbeck formation. Purbeck marble was a favourite material with medieval architects, who used it freely for slender clustered columns and for sepulchral monuments. It consists of a mass of the shells of a fresh-water snail, _Paludina carinifera_, embedded in a blue, grey or greenish limestone, and is found in the Upper Purbeck beds of Swanage in Dorsetshire. Excellent examples of its use may be seen in Westminster Abbey and in the Temple Church, as well as in the cathedrals of Salisbury, Winchester, Worcester and Lincoln. Sussex marble is a very similar stone, occurring in thin beds in the Weald clay, and consisting largely of the shells of _Paludina_, principally _P. sussexiensis_ and _P. fluviorum_. The altar stones and the episcopal chair in Canterbury Cathedral are of this material.

Certain calcareous metamorphic rocks frequently form stones which are sufficiently beautiful to be used for ornamental purposes, and are generally classed as marbles. Such serpentinous limestones are included by petrologists under the term "ophicalcite." The famous _verde antico_ is a rock of this character. Mona marble is an ophicalcite from the metamorphic series of the Isle of Anglesey, while the "Irish green" of architects is a similar rock from Connemara in western Galway. It is notable that some of the "white marble" of Connemara has been found by W. King and T. H. Rowney to consist almost wholly of malacolite, a silicate of calcium and magnesium.

A beautiful marble has been worked to a limited extent in the island of Tiree, one of the Hebrides, but the quarry appears to be now exhausted. This Tiree marble is a limestone having a delicate carnelian colour diffused through it in irregular patches, and containing rounded crystals of sahlite, a green augitic mineral resembling malacolite in composition.

Many marbles which are prized for the variegated patterns they display owe these patterns to their formation in concentric zones--such marbles being in fact stalagmitic deposits of carbonate of lime, sometimes consisting of aragonite. One of the most beautiful stalagmitic rocks is the so-called onyx marble of Algeria. This stone was largely used in the buildings of Carthage and Rome, but the quarries which yielded it were not known to modern sculptors until 1849, when it was rediscovered near Oued-Abdallah. The stone is a beautifully translucent material, delicately clouded with yellow and brown, and is greatly prized by French workmen. Large deposits of a very fine onyx-like marble, similar to the Algerian stone, have been worked at Técali, about 35 miles from the city of Mexico. Among other stalagmitic marbles, mention may be made of the well-known Gibraltar stone, which is often worked into models of cannon and other ornamental objects. This stalagmite is much deeper in colour and less translucent than the onyx marbles of Algeria and Mexico. A richly tinted stalagmitic stone worked in California is known as Californian marble. It is worth noting that the "alabaster" of the ancients was stalagmitic carbonate of lime, and that this stone is therefore called by mineralogists "Oriental alabaster" in order to distinguish it from our modern "alabaster," which is a sulphate, and not a carbonate, of lime. Gypsum capable of taking a polish is found at Fauld in Staffordshire and in Italy and Spain.

The brown and yellow colours which stalagmitic marbles usually present are due to the presence of oxide of iron. This colouring matter gives special characters to certain stones, such as the _giallo antico_, or antique yellow marble of the Italian antiquaries. Siena marble is a reddish mottled stone obtained from the neighbourhood of Siena in Tuscany; and a somewhat similar stone is found in King's County, Ireland. True red marble is by no means common, but it does occur, of bright and uniform colour, though in very small quantity, in the Carboniferous limestone of Derbyshire and north-east Staffordshire. The red marble called _rosso antico_ is often confounded with the _porfiro rosso antico_, which is really a mica-hornblende porphyrite owing its red colour to the mineral withamite.

Fire marble is the name given to a brown shelly limestone containing ammonites and other fossil shells, which present a brilliant display of iridescent colours, like those of precious opal. It occurs in rocks of Liassic age at the lead-mines of Bleiberg in Carinthia, and is worked into snuff-boxes and other small objects. By mineralogists it is often termed _lumachella_, an Italian name which may, however, be appropriately applied to any marble which contains small shells.

The quarries of France, Belgium, Italy and Spain, not to mention less important localities, yield a great diversity of marbles, and almost each stone bears a distinctive name, often of trivial meaning; but in this article it is impossible to enumerate the local names used by marble-workers in different countries to distinguish the various stones which pass under their hands.

Previous Next

Comments

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "Map" to "Mars"Chapter VII: Part 7

0%35 min left in chapter