UPMSP High School Kannada key terms

When the last sound of one word and the first sound of the next merge into a single changed sound, as ಮಳೆ + ಕಾಲ becomes ಮಳೆಗಾಲ. Exercises ask you either to join two words (ಸಂಧಿ ಮಾಡಿ) or to split a joined word (ಸಂಧಿ ಬಿಡಿಸಿ) and name the type.

A compound in which two or more words fuse into one noun and only the final member keeps its case ending, such as ಮರದ + ಹೂ = ಮರದಹೂ. You must split the compound and identify its class: ತತ್ಪುರುಷ, ಕರ್ಮಧಾರಯ, ದ್ವಂದ್ವ, ಬಹುವ್ರೀಹಿ or ದ್ವಿಗು.

A case ending attached to a noun to show its link with the verb, from ಪ್ರಥಮಾ (subject) through ದ್ವಿತೀಯಾ, ತೃತೀಯಾ, ಚತುರ್ಥೀ, ಪಂಚಮೀ, ಷಷ್ಠೀ, ಸಪ್ತಮೀ up to ಸಂಬೋಧನಾ (address). Questions ask you to name the vibhakti and state its meaning.

The grammatical role a noun plays in a sentence because of its relation to the verb: ಕರ್ತೃ (doer), ಕರ್ಮ (object), ಕರಣ (instrument), ಸಂಪ್ರದಾನ (recipient), ಅಪಾದಾನ (source), ಸಂಬಂಧ (possession), ಅಧಿಕರಣ (place) and ಸಂಬೋಧನ (addressee).

The number of a noun, pronoun or verb: ಏಕವಚನ (singular) for one, ಬಹುವಚನ (plural) for more than one. Tasks ask you to move a word or whole sentence from one number to the other without breaking subject-verb agreement.

Grammatical gender. School grammar recognises ಪುಲ್ಲಿಂಗ (masculine), ಸ್ತ್ರೀಲಿಂಗ (feminine) and ನಪುಂಸಕಲಿಂಗ (neuter). You may be asked to identify a noun's gender or convert a masculine form to its feminine pair, as ರಾಜ to ರಾಣಿ.

Tense, the time an action takes place: ಭೂತಕಾಲ (past), ವರ್ತಮಾನಕಾಲ (present) and ಭವಿಷ್ಯತ್ಕಾಲ (future). Transformation questions supply a sentence in one tense and ask for the same sentence rewritten in another.

The verb of a sentence, carrying the action and agreeing with the subject in person, number and gender, as in ಬಂದನು, ಬಂದಳು, ಬಂದರು. Locating the finite verb is the first step in most sentence-transformation questions.

A naming word for a person, place, thing or abstract idea, such as ರಾಮ, ಮೈಸೂರು, ಪುಸ್ತಕ, ಪ್ರೀತಿ. Nouns take vibhakti endings and are described by gender and number.

A pronoun standing in place of a noun that is already known, such as ಅವನು, ಅದು, ನಾನು, ಯಾರು. Exercises ask you to replace an underlined noun with a suitable pronoun or to state a pronoun's person, number and gender.

An indeclinable word that never changes form: no vibhakti, gender or number. Conjunctions, adverbs and interjections like ಮತ್ತು, ಆದರೆ, ಇಲ್ಲಿ, ಅಯ್ಯೋ belong here, and recognising them helps in sandhi and samasa exercises.

A suffix added to a root or word to build a new one. ಕೃತ್ ಪ್ರತ್ಯಯ follows a verb (ಬರೆ → ಬರಹ, ಬರಹಗಾರ); ತದ್ಧಿತ ಪ್ರತ್ಯಯ follows a noun (ಮಗ, ಆಳು). Questions ask you to add a suffix or strip it off.

The passive construction, where the object becomes the subject and the verb takes passive shape: ರಾಮನು ಪತ್ರ ಬರೆದನು becomes ರಾಮನಿಂದ ಪತ್ರ ಬರೆಯಲ್ಪಟ್ಟಿತು. Questions give active voice and ask for passive, or the reverse (ಕರ್ತರಿ ವಾಚ್ಯ).

The metrical system of Kannada poetry: fixed patterns of ಗಣ (syllable groups), matras and lines. Naming the metre of a prescribed poem, or counting its lines and matras, is a standard Padya question.

The aesthetic pleasure a reader derives from a poem or play when a lasting emotion (ಭಾವ) is fully developed. Nine rasas are recognised, among them ಶೃಂಗಾರ, ವೀರ, ಕರುಣ, ಹಾಸ್ಯ, ಭಯಾನಕ and ಭಕ್ತಿ.

A deliberate figure of speech that beautifies poetic language. The paper asks you to spot the figure in a quoted line and justify it, usually among ಉಪಮೆ, ರೂಪಕ, ಅನುಪ್ರಾಸ, ಶ್ಲೇಷ and ಉತ್ಪ್ರೇಕ್ಷೆ.

Simile: one thing is compared to a different thing using words such as ಹಾಗೆ, ಅಂತೆ or ನಂತೆ, as in ಮುಖ ಚಂದ್ರನಂತೆ. The two things compared must be different, and the shared quality must be stated.

Metaphor: the two things are identified with each other rather than kept separate, so the words ಹಾಗೆ or ನಂತೆ disappear, as in ಮುಖ ಚಂದ್ರ. The absence of a comparison word is how you distinguish it from ಉಪಮಾಲಂಕಾರ.

A Kannada stanza metre of six lines, each normally of equal matra count. Its two chief varieties are ಭಾಮಿನಿ ಷಟ್ಪದಿ and ವಾರ್ಧಕ ಷಟ್ಪದಿ, used in long narratives such as Kumaravyasa's Karnataka Bharata Kathamanjari.

A short three-line metre with lines of unequal length, used by Sarvajna for ethical sayings and by many later poets. Its brevity suits proverbs and moral verse, and it is a common question in the poetry and literary-history sections.

A four-line Kannada metre with a fixed matra scheme, popular in narrative and devotional writing from the medieval period; Ratnakaravarni used it for his Bharatesha Vaibhava. The name suggests verse meant to be sung in a joined rhythm.

A person or being created in a prose lesson whose words and actions carry the story's meaning. Questions ask you to describe a character's qualities with evidence from the text, or to compare two characters and their choices.

The plot of a prose lesson: the chain of events from opening situation through conflict to resolution. Retelling the ಕಥಾವಸ್ತು briefly in your own words, in four or five sentences, is a frequent short-answer task.

A structured composition on a single theme, with an introduction, developed body paragraphs and a conclusion. Marks reward a clear central idea, relevant examples, orderly paragraphs and correct language far more than sheer length.

Letter writing. ಔಪಚಾರಿಕ ಪತ್ರ goes to officials with sender's address, date, receiver's designation, salutation, subject line and signature; ಅನೌಪಚಾರಿಕ ಪತ್ರ is personal, written to relatives and friends in an informal tone.

A short eulogy or appreciation of a person, institution or book, praising achievements and qualities in dignified, restrained language. The task usually supplies a few facts about someone and asks for a paragraph of appreciation in formal style.

A factual account of an event covering date, place, chief guests, programme and outcome, written in the third person and past tense. Newspaper-style reports need a heading, a lead sentence summarising the event and short factual paragraphs.

An unseen prose passage followed by comprehension questions. Read it twice before answering, reply in your own words rather than copying whole sentences, and expect vocabulary questions on the meaning of words as used in that passage.

A word with the same or nearly the same meaning as another, as ರಾಜ and ಅರಸ, or ಸಂತೋಷ and ಹರ್ಷ. The paper asks you to pick the matching word from a passage or to supply one for a word given separately.

A word of opposite meaning, such as ಒಳ್ಳೆಯ and ಕೆಟ್ಟ, ದೊಡ್ಡ and ಚಿಕ್ಕ, ಬೆಳಗು and ಸಂಜೆ. Antonym items appear both in the vocabulary section and in the questions set on the unseen passage.

Rendering a passage from one language into another while preserving meaning, tone and register rather than word order. The paper sets both directions, Kannada to Hindi or English and back, usually with a short connected passage.

Twelfth-century Sharana literature of short, rhythmic free-verse sayings in Kannada, led by Basavanna, Allama Prabhu and Akkamahadevi. Its themes are devotion to Shiva, social equality and rejection of ritual and caste hierarchy.

Devotional song literature of the Haridasas from the fifteenth century onward, composed in simple Kannada for ordinary listeners. Purandara Dasa, Kanaka Dasa and Vijayadasa are central names, and the songs themselves are called ದೇವರನಾಮ.

The 'new dawn' movement in Kannada literature from about the 1920s, joining patriotic feeling with personal lyricism and modern prose forms. B. M. Srikantaiah, Kuvempu, D. R. Bendre and Masti Venkatesha Iyengar are its leading figures.

Pampa, honoured as ಆದಿಕವಿ (the first poet), wrote ಆದಿಪುರಾಣ and ವಿಕ್ರಮಾರ್ಜುನವಿಜಯ in the tenth century, both in ಚಂಪೂ style mixing prose and verse. With Ranna and Ponna he forms the ಕವಿತ್ರಯ of early Kannada literature.

A conjunct consonant formed by attaching a secondary consonant shape to a base consonant, as ಕ್ + ರ gives ಕ್ರ in ಕ್ರಮ. The second consonant appears in a reduced, often subscript form, and misreading it changes the word entirely.

A consonant carrying a vowel sign (ಮಾತ್ರೆ), such as ಕಾ, ಕಿ, ಕು. Script questions test whether you can read these combinations, write them correctly and separate the vowel sign from its consonant.

The nasal dot (ಂ) written after a vowel or syllable to give a nasal sound, as in ರಂಗ and ಸಂಗೀತ. It is different from ಅನುನಾಸಿಕ, which uses the nasal letters ಙ, ಞ, ಣ, ನ, ಮ.