A Comparative Grammar of the Modern Aryan Languages of India v3.c18.49

v3.c18.49

§ 75. On the basis of the infinitive in *nâ* is formed the agent. This, in Hindi, is made by adding to the oblique of the infinitive the words वाला, हारा; as करनेवाला “a doer,” देखनेहारा “a seer.” Of these the former is apparently Skr. पालक “protector, keeper.” Thus Skr. गोपालक “cowherd,” becomes H. ग्वाला; as to the latter there is some difference of opinion, some would derive it from Skr. धारक “holder,” others from कारक “doer.” I myself incline to the latter view; the क would be elided when it ceased to be initial, and its place supplied by ह, which is often used to fill an hiatus. This is Trumpp’s opinion (Grammar, p. 75), who shows that in S. this form of the agent exists as *hâro* or *hâru* = respectively *kâraka* and *kâra*, as in—