Hindustani etymology
Hindustani, also known as Hindi-Urdu, is the vernacular form of two standardized registers used as official languages in India and Pakistan, namely Hindi and Urdu. It comprises several closely related dialects in the northern, central and northwestern parts of the Indian subcontinent but is mainly based on Khariboli of the Delhi region. As an Indo-Aryan language, Hindustani has a core base that traces back to Sanskrit but as a widely-spoken lingua franca, it has a large lexicon of loanwords, acquired through centuries of foreign rule and ethnic diversity.
Standard Hindi derives much of its formal and technical vocabulary from Sanskrit while standard Urdu derives much of its formal and technical vocabulary from Persian and Arabic. Standard Hindi and Urdu are used primarily in public addresses and radio or TV news, while the everyday spoken language is one of the several varieties of Hindustani, whose vocabulary contains words drawn from Persian, Arabic, and Sanskrit. In addition, spoken Hindustani includes words from English and the Dravidian languages, as well as several others.
Hindustani developed over several centuries throughout much of the northern subcontinent including the areas that comprise modern-day India, Pakistan, and Nepal. In the same way that the core vocabulary of English evolved from Old English but assimilated many words borrowed from French and other languages, what may be called Hindustani can be said to have evolved from Sanskrit while borrowing many Persian and Arabic words over the years, and changing the pronunciations of these words to make them easier for Hindustani speakers to pronounce. Many Persian words entered the Hindustani lexicon due to the influence of the Turco-Mongol Mughal rulers of north India, who followed a very Persianised culture and also spoke Persian. Many Arabic words entered Hindustani via Persian, which had previously been assimilated into the Persian language due to the influence of Arabs in the area. The dialect of Persian spoken by the Mughal ruling elite was known as 'Dari', which is the dialect of Persian spoken in modern-day Afghanistan. Therefore, Hindustani is the naturally developed common language of north India. This article will deal with the separate categories of Hindustani words and some of the common words found in the Hindustani language.
Categorization
Hindustani words, apart from loans, basically derive from two linguistic categories:- Indo-Aryan : Sauraseni Prakrit and its apabhraṃśa, or "corrupted", vernaculars
- Non-Indo-Aryan : Austroasiatic languages, as well as Dravidian and Tibeto-Burman languages
The most common words in Hindustani are tadbhavas.
Examples of derivations
Second person pronouns
In Hindustani, the pronoun āp "self", originally used as a third person honorific plural, denotes respect or formality and originates from Prakrit ????? appā, which derived from Sanskrit ātman, which refers to the higher self or level of consciousness.The pronoun tū and its grammatically plural form tum denote informality, familiarity or intimacy and originate respectively from tuhuṃ and tumma from Prakrit ??? tuṃ and its variant ???? tumaṃ, which derived from Sanskrit tvam, nominative singular of युष्मद् yuṣmad. In modern usage, tū is widely used to display a range of attitudes depending on the context, from extreme informality to extreme intimacy to outright disrespect and even extreme reverence. Usage of tū in most contexts is considered highly offensive in formal Urdu except when addressing God as a display of spiritual intimacy. This is very similar to the usage of "thou" in archaic English and many other Indo-European languages showing T-V distinction.
Present "be" verb
One of the most common words in Hindustani, the copula hai and its plural form haiṉ − present forms of honā − rather originate from the following developments:- Sanskrit asti evolves into Prakrit ????? atthi, which further develops into ahi
- Ahi evolves into Old Hindi ahai
Perfective "go" verb
The verb jānā, which originates from Prakrit ???? jādi derived from Sanskrit yāti, however has its perfective form originating from another Prakrit word ?? gaya derived from Sanskrit gata, past participle of gacchati, for example, in gayā.Some other words
The word ājā has also been used in Northern India and Pakistan for "grandfather".It is indeed derived from arya meaning "sir" in this case.
Jains nuns are addressed either as Aryika or Ajji.
The word dādā also has a similar meaning which varies by region. It is used in some regions for "father", in other regions for "older brother", or even for "grandfather" in other regions. This word is an amalgam of two sources:
- Sanskrit tāta used to address intimate persons which means either "sir" or "dear".
- Tau meaning "father's older brother" is also derived from tāta.
Examples from native lexicon
The following are some words native to the Indian subcontinent and not originating from Indo-Aryan culture: loṭā "lota ", kapās "cotton", kauṛī "cowrie ", ṭhes "wound, injury", jhaṉḍā "flag", mukkā "fist, punch", lakṛī "wood", ṭharrā "tharra ", čūhā "mouse, rat", čūlhā "stove, oven", pagṛī "turban", jhāṛū "broom", luṉgī "lungi ", ghoṭālā "scam", dāṉḍī "salt", jholā "bag, satchel", ṭakkar "crash, collision, confrontation", kākā "paternal uncle", uṭpaṭāṉg/ūṭpaṭāṉg "ludicrous", ḍabbā/ḍibbā "box, container" and jhuggī "hut"Onomatopoeic words
Nouns: gaṛbaṛ "disorder, disturbance", dhaṛām "thud", bakbak "chatter/chitter-chatter", khusur pusar "whisper", jhilmil "shimmer", ṭhakṭhak "knock knock", khaṭpaṭ "quarrel, disagreement"Verbs: khaṭkhaṭānā "to knock", gaḍgaḍānā "to rumble, to fuss", jagmagānā "to shine/glitter", hinhinānā "to neigh", phusphusānā "to whisper"
Adjectives and Adverbs: čaṭpaṭ "in a jiffy", tharthar "with jerky motion ", čaṭpaṭā "dextrous, spicy", čipčipā "sticky, slimy", čiṛčiṛā "irritable", gaṛbaṛiyā "chaotic, messy"
Loanwords
Due to the language's status as a lingua franca, Hindustani's vocabulary has a large inventory of loanwords, mainly from Classical Sanskrit, Classical Persian, Arabic, Chagatai Turkic, Portuguese and English, as well as Mandarin Chinese and French to a lesser extent.Classical Sanskrit
Phonetic alterations
Many Classical Sanskrit words which were not learned borrowings underwent phonetic alterations. In the vernacular form, these include the merger of Sanskrit श and ष, ण and न as well as ऋ and रि. Other common alterations were s͟h becoming s , v/w becoming b and y becoming j . Short vowels were also sometimes introduced to break up consonant clusters. Such words in Hindi are called ardhatatsam.Classical Persian
Persian words which were not later artificially added were loaned from Classical Persian, the historical variety of the tenth, eleventh and twelfth centuries, which continued to be used as literary language and lingua franca under the Persianate dynasties of the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Era and is not the same as Modern Persian.Borrowings
Persian loanwords in Hindustani are mainly borrowed nouns and adjectives as well as adverbs and conjunctions and some other parts of speech.| Hindustani | Meaning | Persian | Corresponding Sanskrit loan |
| sāyā | shadow/shade | سایه | čhāyā |
| pares͟hān | anxious | پرِیشان | čintit |
| hames͟hā | always/forever | همِیشه | sadaiv, sadā |
| k͟hus͟hī | happiness | خوشی | ānand, sukh |
| sabzī | vegetable | سبزی | sāg, s͟hāk |
| mehrbān | kind | مهربان | dayālu |
| agar | if | اگر | yadi |
| dīvār | wall | دیوار | bhīt |
| darvāzā | door/gate | دروازه | dwār |
| andar | inside/in | اندر | bhītar |
| tāzā | fresh | تازه | nirjar |
| roz | day | رُوز | din |
| s͟hahr | city | شهر | nagar |
| hind | India | هند | bhārat |
| ki | that | که | - |
| vāh | wow | واه | - |
From stems:
Present:
| Hindustani | Meaning | Persian verb | Non-Persian alternative |
| par | wing | پریدن | paṉkh |
| pasand | liked, liking | پسندیدن | čahit, čāhat |
| k͟hwāb/k͟hāb | dream | خوابیدن | sapnā, swapna |
Past:
| Hindustani | Meaning | Persian verb | Non-Persian alternative |
| āmad | arrival | آمدن | āgaman |
| s͟hikast | defeat, defeated | شکستن | parājay, parājit, hār |
| giraft | grip, gripped | گرفتن | pakaṛ, jabt |
From participles:
Present:
| Hindustani | Meaning | Persian verb | Non-Persian alternative |
| āyindā/āʾindā | future | آمدن | bhaviṣya |
| parindā | bird | پریدن | pančhī, pakṣī |
| zindā | living, alive | زیستن | jīvit |
Past:
| Hindustani | Meaning | Persian verb | Non-Persian alternative |
| bastā | bag, sack | بستن | thailā |
| pasandīdā | favorite | پسندیدن | priya |
| murdā | dead | مردن | mr̥t |
By adding noun suffix ـِش :
| Hindustani | Meaning | Persian verb | Non-Persian alternative |
| parvaris͟h | upbringing, rearing | پروردن | pālanpoṣaṇ |
| kos͟his͟h | effort, attempt | کوشیدن | prayās |
| varzis͟h | exercise | ورزیدن | vyāyām |
| āzmāʾis͟h | trial, test | آزمودن | vičāraṇ, parīkṣaṇ |
By forming composite words with Arabic:
| Hindustani | Meaning | Persian affix | Arabic element | Non-Persian alternative |
| k͟hūbsūrat | beautiful | خوب | صورت | sundar |
| darasal | actually | در | اصل | vastutah |
| fīsad | percent | صد | فی | pratis͟hat |
| rahmdil | compassionate | دل | رحم | kr̥pālū, saday |
Loaned Verbs
While Hindustani verbs are generally of non-loan category, there are a number of loaned verbs, that is, verbs formed directly out of Persian stems.| Hindustani verb | Verb meaning | Persian stem | Stem meaning | Non-Persian alternative |
| k͟harīdnā | to buy | خرید | buying | kray karnā, mol lenā |
| guzārnā | to pass, to spend | گذار | letting, allowing | bitānā |
| navāznā | to bestow, to patronize, to favor | نواز | playing, caressing | pradān karnā, arpit karnā, kr̥pā karnā, sahāyatā denā |
| guzarnā | to pass, to occur | گذر | passing | bītnā |
| farmānā | to dictate, to say | فرما | ordering, saying | āgyā karnā, ādes͟h karnā |
| laraznā | to tremble | لرز | shivering | kāṉpnā |
Arabic
Some of the most commonly used words from Arabic, all entering the language through Persian, include vaqt "time", qalam "pen", kitāb "book", qarīb "near", sahīh/sahī "correct, right", g͟harīb "poor", amīr "rich", duniyā "world", hisāb "calculation", qudrat "nature", nasīb "fate, luck, fortune", ajīb "strange, unusual", qānūn "law", filhāl "currently", sirf "only, mere", taqrīban "close to, about", k͟habar "news", ak͟hbār "newspaper", qilā "fort", kursī "chair, seat", s͟harbat "drink, beverage", muāf/māf "forgiven, pardoned", qamīs/qamīz "shirt / shift, tunic", zarūrī "necessary", etc.Chagatai Turkic
There are a very small number of Turkic words in Hindustani, numbering as little as 24 according to some sources, all entering the language through Persian.Other words attributed to Turkish, the most widely spoken Turkic language, are actually words which are common to Hindustani and Turkish but are of non-Turkic origins, mostly Perso-Arabic. Both languages also share mutual loans from English.
Most notably, some honorifics and surnames common in Hindustani are Turkic due to the influence of the ethnically Turkic Mughals - these include k͟hānam, bājī "sister", and begam. Common surnames include k͟hān, čug͟htāʾī, pās͟hā, and arsalān. Common Turkic words used in everyday Hindustani are qaiṉčī/qainčī "scissors", annā "governess", tamg͟hā "stamp, medal", and čaqmaq "flint".
Mandarin Chinese
Surprisingly, there are not many Chinese words that were loaned into Hindustani in spite of geographical proximity.| Hindustani | Meaning | Chinese/Sinitic | Note |
| čāy/čāʾe | tea | 茶 | Derived through Persian چای |
| čīn | China | 秦 | Derived through Sanskrit चीन |
| līčī | lychee | 茘枝 |
European languages
Portuguese
A significant number of Hindustani words were derived from Portuguese due to interaction with colonists and missionaries. These include the following:| Hindustani | Meaning | Portuguese |
| nāw/nāv | boat | nau |
| anannās/anānās | pineapple | ananás |
| pādrī | priest | padre |
| bālṭī | bucket | balde |
| čābī | key | chave |
| girjā | church | igreja |
| almārī | cupboard | armário |
| botal | bottle | botelha |
| aspatāl | hospital | espital |
French
A few French loans exist in Hindustani resulting from French colonial settlements in India. Other French words such as s͟hemīz "chemise" and kūpan "coupon" have entered the language through English.| Hindustani | Meaning | French |
| kārtūs | cartridge | cartouche |
| restorāṉ | restaurant | restaurant |
| olandez/valandez | Dutch | hollandaise |
English
Loanwords from English were borrowed through interaction with the British East India Company and later British rule. English-language education for the native administrative and richer classes during British rule accelerated the adoption of English vocabulary in Hindustani. Many technical and modern terms were and still are borrowed from English, such as ḍākṭar/ḍôkṭar "doctor", ṭaiksī "taxi", and kilomīṭar "kilometer".Photo-semantic matching
Some loanwords from English undergo a significant phonetic transformation. This can either be done intentionally, in order to nativize words or to make them sound more or less "English-sounding", or happen naturally. Words often undergo a phonetic change in order to make them easier for native speakers to pronounce while others change due to corruption, which may also result from lack of English education or incomplete knowledge of English phonetics, where an alternate pronunciation becomes an accepted norm and overtakes the original as the most used pronunciation.| Hindustani | English |
| darjan | dozen |
| tijorī | treasury |
| satalta | subtlety |
| māčis | match |
| godām | godown |
| bigul | bugle |
| raṉgrūṭ | recruit |
| ṭamāṭar | tomato |
| kābīnā | cabinet |
| ketlī | kettle |
| darāz | drawer |
| bam | bomb |
| lālṭen | lantern |
| būčaṛ | butcher |
| ṭaṉkī | tank |
| baksā | box |
| janvarī | January |