Appendix:Hindi verbal derivation

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Hindi has a productive verbal derivation process that is applied to both inherited and borrowed verbs. It is characterised by the use of certain suffixes as well as vowel gradation (ablaut).

Intransitive

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Intransitive verbal derivations usually treat the subject as the lexical-semantic Patient or Theme of the verb, i.e. they are passive forms of the verb they are derived from; the subject is the one upon whom the verb acts.

These generally take the guṇa grade of their internal vowel. In case where the stem ends in a vowel, a -l- is inserted between the stem and ending for the passivized form.

Examples
Vowel change Original New
ā→a जागना (jāgnā, to awaken) जगना (jagnā, to wake up) (less agentive)
ī→i चीरना (cīrnā, to split, rend) चिरना (cirnā, to be split)
ū→u चूसना (cūsnā, to suck) चुसना (cusnā, to be sucked)
e→i छेड़ना (cheṛnā, to tease, annoy) छिड़ना (chiṛnā, to be teased, annoyed)
ai→i
o→u घोलना (gholnā, to melt, cause to melt) घुलना (ghulnā, to be melted, to melt by itself)
धोना (dhonā, to wash) धुलना (dhulnā, to be washed)
au→u

Transitive

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These take either the vṛddhī grade or the suffix -आना (-ānā).

Causative

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These take either the suffix -आना (-ānā) or -वाना (-vānā) on the intransitive form.

Second causative

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These take the suffix -वाना (-vānā) on the intransitive form. Not every verb has one. Their meaning is of the form "to cause x to make y do something (to z)". The y is an animate, agentive instrument.

Deverbal

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These take the root of the verb (i.e. without -ना (-nā)) to form a masculine or feminine noun.