Dogri to Ganda: that can refer back to the town already discussed
A distant Dogri form does not dictate every Ganda that
Sawhney’s Dogri description distinguishes proximal and distal third-person forms, with different oblique forms for singular and plural. Ganda demonstratives also encode reference, but the FSI pretraining course gives an additional useful interpretation for its .o series: something near the listener, already known to the listener, or mentioned earlier. That series is not simply a label for something far away from both participants.
In an original Dogri route conversation, the speakers may refer again to a town named in the preceding sentence. A Ganda expression using the documented that-series can maintain this discourse link without claiming that the town is physically visible at a distance. Determine whether the source points in the environment or recalls a topic already established in the conversation.
Class and number change the target demonstrative
The course contrasts ekibuga ekyo, referring to the aforementioned town, with ebibuga ebyo for the corresponding plural. The demonstrative must fit the noun class and number. A Dogri distal pronoun or modifier cannot therefore be replaced with one unchanging Ganda word for that in every noun phrase.
For a Dogri itinerary mentioning one town and then several towns, preserve the change in the places being discussed. A plural noun combined with an unrelated singular demonstrative can obscure that relationship in the target. Conversely, changing a target demonstrative’s class form does not automatically mean that the speaker has shifted from a town to a different location: it may be the required agreement with the selected noun.
A repeated demonstrative can carry the earlier reference forward
The FSI material uses the series in a question about where the previously mentioned town lies. This is directly relevant to Dogri exchanges in which a location is introduced, then referred to by a short expression. The translation should preserve which town the follow-up question concerns rather than ask about towns in general.
Imagine an original conversation in which one speaker recommends a town and the other asks how to reach that town. The second speaker is not necessarily pointing at a map or selecting a town beside the listener. Earlier mention can establish the reference. A Ganda demonstrative needs to preserve that link through its appropriate series and agreement, instead of forcing an unsupported far-away interpretation from a simple dictionary gloss.
Do not confuse noun class with Dogri grammatical gender
Dogri’s masculine and feminine agreement categories do not provide a two-way conversion into Ganda noun classes. The course explicitly relates demonstrative choices to the noun’s concordial class. Select the target noun and its agreement pattern rather than treating a Dogri feminine form as the permanent source of one Ganda demonstrative. The practical goal is a clear reference to the same town, route or building with the same number and discourse status. Physical proximity, previous mention and noun-class agreement each need their own interpretation.
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