UPMSP Intermediate Gujarati flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Navarasa

The nine rasas of classical poetics: shringara, hasya, karuna, raudra, veera, bhayanaka, bibhatsa, adbhuta and shanta. Rasa is the aesthetic emotion evoked in the reader, determined by the dominant sthayibhava of the work.

Upama vs rupaka

Upama is simile, marked by comparative words such as jevu, samu or para. Rupaka is metaphor, where the comparison is implied without a comparative word, identifying one thing directly with another.

Anuprasa

Alliteration: repetition of the same consonant sound in nearby words for musical effect. It is a shabdalankara, an ornament of sound rather than of meaning, and is common in medieval Gujarati pada and garbi.

Atishayokti

Hyperbole: deliberate exaggeration used to intensify an idea or emotion. It is an arthalankara, an ornament of meaning, and examiners expect the exaggerated phrase to be quoted as evidence.

Veera rasa

The heroic rasa, arising from courage, resolve and confrontation. Patriotic and martial Gujarati poems typically evoke veera, often supported by words of challenge, battle or sacrifice.

Narsinh Mehta

Central medieval Gujarati Krishna-bhakti poet, associated with pada, bhajan and garbi forms. His devotional songs express longing and surrender to Krishna and remain foundational to Gujarati bhakti literature.

Garbi form

A devotional Gujarati song form sung during the garba circle dance, usually addressed to a deity. It belongs to the bhakti-era repertoire and is distinguished from the narrative akhyan.

Akhyan

A narrative devotional poem in medieval Gujarati literature, recounting episodes from Krishna or Ram legend. It differs from the short lyric pada by its extended storytelling structure and length.

Gandhi-yug

The Gandhi era of Gujarati literature, roughly 1915 to 1947, when writing served nationalism, social reform and simplicity of language. Themes include rural life, moral duty and non-violence.

Navodhay period

The 19th-century Gujarati renaissance linked to printing, journalism and social reform. It produced new prose genres such as the essay, novel and short story, and addressed caste and education reform.

Ergative -e marker

In Gujarati perfective tenses, a transitive verb's subject takes the postposition -e and the verb agrees with the object, not the subject. This ergative pattern is a frequent grammar question.

Genitive -no -ni -nu

Gujarati genitive postpositions that agree in gender, number and case with the possessed noun, not the possessor. Thus chhokra-no ghar, chhokri-ni kitab, chhokra-nu ghar.

Vibhakti postpositions

Gujarati marks case relations with separate postpositions: -e for agent, -ne for object or dative, -thi for instrumental or ablative, and -no/-ni/-nu for genitive. They follow the noun.

Samasa types

Compound types in Gujarati: dvandva joins both members, tatpurusha has one member governing the other, bahuvrihi denotes an external referent, and dvigu is a numeral-based compound.

Continuous tense formation

Gujarati continuous aspect uses the auxiliary chh- with the verb stem, as in hu chhu (I am). Perfect uses the past participle with the auxiliary, and future adds the -sh- infix to the stem.

Rasaprachar

Idiomatic expressions in Gujarati whose meaning cannot be derived from the literal words. Exam answers must give the idiomatic meaning plus a full illustrative sentence, not a single-word gloss.

Nibandh structure

An essay opens with a definition of the topic, develops two or three body paragraphs each carrying one idea with an example, and closes with a conclusion stating a clear position.

Aupcharik patra format

Formal Gujarati letter order: sender's address, date, receiver's designation and address, subject line, salutation, body, closing, and signature. The subject line is mandatory in formal letters.

Precis length rule

A precis should be about one-third of the original, written in the third person, with examples and repetition removed and no personal comment. It must preserve the central argument.

Report writing elements

A report contains a heading, place and date, an opening statement of what happened, a factual chronological account, and a closing attribution. First-person opinion is excluded.

Word economy

Composition rule: replace multi-word phrases with single words and avoid repeating the same noun in consecutive sentences. This raises marks for language quality without adding content.

Mukhya vishay

The central theme of a prose piece, stated as a general proposition rather than an incident. Theme questions require this general statement, while prasang questions require the specific episode.

Rekhachitra

A portrait sketch in Gujarati prose focused on one personality. Answers should emphasize characteristic detail and the author's attitude of admiration or irony rather than plot summary.

Varta genre

The Gujarati short story, plot-driven with conflict, complication and resolution. Identifying a prose piece as varta signals that questions will concern event sequence and character motivation.

Nibandh prose

Reflective or argumentative Gujarati essay prose. Unlike varta, it develops a position through reasoning and illustration, so answers should track the argument rather than the events.

Vocabulary in context

Unseen-passage word meaning is decided by the surrounding clause, not by the first dictionary entry. Substitute the candidate meaning back into the sentence and reject it if the logic breaks.

Inference question

A comprehension item asking what the author implies rather than states. The answer must be a conclusion drawn from the text, supported by a quoted phrase, not a literal repetition.

Title selection

Choosing the best title for an unseen passage requires a phrase covering the whole passage's subject, not merely its opening or closing paragraph. Partial titles are distractors.

Tone and purpose

Comprehension items answered with adjectives such as informative, persuasive, critical or humorous, each justified by an evaluative word or structural cue in the passage.

Register matching

Translation rule: formal English sources such as notices and official letters require formal Gujarati (aupcharik), while conversational sources take everyday spoken Gujarati. Mismatch loses marks.

Idiom translation

Idioms cannot be rendered word for word. The translator finds a Gujarati idiom with the same function or states the meaning plainly; literal rendering is treated as an error.

Post-translation proofreading

Check subject-verb agreement, correct -no/-ni/-nu agreement with the possessed noun's gender, verb-final word order, and consistent honorifics. Gujarati agreement often differs from the English source.