WBBSE Madhyamik Odia (First Language) flashcards

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

Mukhya bhaba

The central idea or theme of a prose passage, expressed in one sentence. Answering theme questions requires stating it first, then testing each option against it.

Tatsama and tadbhava

Tatsama words are Sanskrit borrowings retained unchanged in Odia; tadbhava words derive from Sanskrit but have changed phonetically, such as ratri becoming rati in Odia.

Lekhaka versus bakta

Lekhaka is the author who wrote the text; bakta is the narrator who speaks within it. Their views may differ, so narrator statements are not automatically the author's position.

Direct and indirect speech

Direct speech quotes a speaker's words inside inverted commas; indirect speech reports them without quotation marks, shifting pronouns and tense to match the reporting sentence in Odia.

Character evidence rule

A character sketch must rest on what the character says, what the character does, and what others say about the character. Adjectives without textual evidence earn no marks.

Sara of a prose extract

The gist of a prose passage, kept to about one-third of the original length, retaining only the main argument and one supporting point in the summariser's own words.

Nine rasas

Karuna, hasya, adbhuta, bibhatsa, bhayanaka, raudra, vira, srngara and shanta. A poem's dominant rasa is decided by its sthayi bhava, the persistent emotional state.

Upama versus rupaka

Upama is a simile, marked by comparison words such as pari or niti. Rupaka is a metaphor, where the object and the image are identified without any comparison word.

Anuprasa and yamaka

Anuprasa is repetition of the same consonant sound across nearby words. Yamaka is repetition of an identical word or syllable group carrying a different sense each time.

Utpreksha and atisayokti

Utpreksha is an imagined supposition, often signalled by yena or mane. Atisayokti is deliberate hyperbole used to heighten an effect beyond literal truth.

Matra and akshara

Matra (mora) is a syllabic weight unit used in matra-brtta metres; akshara is a syllable used in akshara-brtta metres. Mismatched counts reveal a faulty reading.

Dhruva-pada

The refrain or repeated line in an Odia poem, especially in kirtana and bhajana forms. It usually carries the central emotion and is the safest quotation for theme questions.

Strayi bhava

The persistent dominant emotion that underlies a poem and matures into its rasa. Identifying it correctly settles questions that ask which rasa predominates in a stanza.

Story answer structure

A supplementary-reader answer should name setting, main incident, turning point and resolution explicitly. This four-point frame replaces a loose retelling of the plot.

Title justification

A namakarana answer shows how the title points to the central character, the central event, or the central idea, and explicitly rules out the two rejected alternatives.

Kene question chain

Questions asking why need a causal chain: the immediate cause first, the deeper cause second, and the consequence third. Each link must be supported by the text.

Compare and contrast answer

For two stories, state one similarity and one difference, each anchored in a specific incident or line from the reader rather than a general observation about the stories.

Svara and vyanjana sandhi

Svara sandhi joins vowels, as in vidya plus alaya becoming vidyalaya. Vyanjana sandhi joins a consonant with a vowel or consonant; visarga sandhi involves a final visarga.

Guna and vrddhi sandhi

Guna: a plus i or e gives e, a plus u or o gives o, a plus r gives ar. Vrddhi: a plus e gives ai, a plus o gives au. Odia often writes these separately.

Dirgha sandhi

When two identical short vowels meet, the result is the corresponding long vowel: a plus a gives a, i plus i gives i, u plus u gives u. This is the simplest sandhi rule to apply.

Bahubrihi samasa

A compound in which the whole word denotes something other than its members, such as dashanana meaning the ten-headed one, that is Ravana. The compound functions as an adjective.

Dvandva samasa

A compound joining two or more members in an 'and' relation, such as mata-pita for mother and father. Both members keep equal grammatical weight in the compound.

Karaka versus vibhakti

Karaka is a noun's relation to the verb, such as karta or karma. Vibhakti is the case ending that marks it. Karaka is identified by questioning the verb, not by the ending alone.

Karana and apadana

Karana is the instrument of an action, marked by -re or -dvare. Apadana is the source or origin, marked by -ru or -tharu, as in ghararu asila, came from home.

Active to passive in Odia

The object becomes the subject, the verb takes a past participle plus the ja- auxiliary, and the original agent is marked with -dvare or -dvara, meaning by means of.

Essay three-part frame

An Odia essay has bhumika introduction, mukhya anga body of two or three paragraphs, and upasamhara conclusion. The introduction should stay under one-fifth of the total length.

Abanitika patra elements

A formal Odia letter contains sender's address, date, receiver's designation, subject line, salutation, body and signature. Informal letters drop the subject line and designation.

Pratibedana format

A report opens with a headline and a place-date line, then answers what, when, where, who, why and how in past tense and third person, without invented facts.

Dialogue writing rule

Dialogue uses direct speech with a dash or quotation marks, keeps each turn short, and must advance the given situation. Drifting away from the prompt loses marks.

Summary length rule

An unseen-passage summary should be about one-third of the original, written in the third person and in your own words, with no added opinions, examples or outside facts.

Topic sentence skeleton

Marking the topic sentence of each paragraph in an unseen passage yields a sequence that forms the skeleton of the summary and locates answers in passage order.

Exact word-form fill

Fill-in-the-blank items drawn from a passage require the exact word form used in the text, including its suffix and case ending, not a synonym or a base form.