Hindustani vocabulary

Last updated March 05, 2024

Hindustani, also known as Hindi-Urdu, like all Indo-Aryan languages, has a core base of Sanskrit-derived vocabulary, which it gained through Prakrit.^[1] As such the standardized registers of the Hindustani language (Hindi-Urdu) share a common vocabulary, especially on the colloquial level.^[2] However, in formal speech, Hindi tends to draw on Sanskrit, while Urdu turns to Persian and sometimes Arabic.^[3] This difference lies in the history of Hindustani, in which the lingua franca started to gain more Persian words in urban areas (such as Delhi, Lucknow and Hyderabad), under the Delhi Sultanate; this dialect came to be termed Urdu.^[4]^[5]

The original Hindi dialects continued to develop alongside Urdu and according to Professor Afroz Taj, "the distinction between Hindi and Urdu was chiefly a question of style. A poet could draw upon Urdu's lexical richness to create an aura of elegant sophistication, or could use the simple rustic vocabulary of dialect Hindi to evoke the folk life of the village. Somewhere in the middle lay the day to day language spoken by the great majority of people. This day to day language was often referred to by the all-encompassing term Hindustani."^[5] In Colonial India, Hindi-Urdu acquired vocabulary introduced by Christian missionaries from the Germanic and Romanic languages, e.g. pādrī (Devanagari: पादरी, Nastaleeq: پادری) from padre , meaning pastor.^[6]

When describing the state of Hindi-Urdu under the British Raj, Professor Śekhara Bandyopādhyāẏa stated that "Truly speaking, Hindi and Urdu, spoken by a great majority of people in north India, were the same language written in two scripts; Hindi was written in Devanagari script and therefore had a greater sprinkling of Sanskrit words, while Urdu was written in Persian script and thus had more Persian and Arabic words in it. At the more colloquial level, however, the two languages were mutually intelligible."^[7] After the partition of India, political forces within India tried to further Sanskritize Hindi,^[8] while political forces in Pakistan campaigned to remove Prakit/Sanskrit derived words from Urdu and supplant them with Persian and Arabic words.^[9] Despite these government efforts, the film industry, Bollywood continues to release its films in the original Hindustani (Hindi-Urdu) language, easily understood and enjoyed by speakers of both registers;^[10] in addition, many of the same television channels are viewed across the border.^[11]

Linguistic classification

Hindi (हिन्दी Hindi) is one of the Indo-Aryan languages of the Indo-European language family. The core of Hindi vocabulary is thus etymologically Indo-European. However, centuries of borrowing has led to the adoption of a wide range of words with foreign origins.

Examples of borrowed words

Due to centuries of contact with Europeans, Turkic peoples, Arabs, Persians, and East Asians, Hindi-Urdu has absorbed countless words from foreign languages, often totally integrating these borrowings into the core vocabulary. The most common borrowings from foreign languages come from three different kinds of contact. Close contact with neighboring peoples facilitated the borrowing of words from other Indian languages, Chinese, Burmese, and several indigenous Austroasiatic languages of North India. After centuries of invasions from Persia and the Middle East, particularly under the Mughal Empire, numerous Turkish, Arabic, and Persian words were absorbed and fully integrated into the lexicon. Later, European colonialism brought words from Portuguese, French, Dutch, and most significantly English. Some very common borrowings are shown below.

Borrowings from neighboring languages

Austroasiatic languages (देशज دیشج Deshaj)

Word	Meaning
आलू آلو ālū	potato
खोज کھوج khoj	discovery
चावल چاول cāwal	rice grains
चूल्हा چولہا cūlhā	oven, stove
झोल جھول jhol	gravy
टांग ٹانگ ṭaṅg	leg
ढोल ڈھول ḍhol	dhol, drum
पेट پیٹ peṭ	belly

Chinese (चीनी چینی Chīnī)

Word	Meaning	Original form
चाय چائے cāy	tea	茶 chá
चीनी چینی cīnī	sugar
लीची لیچی līcī	lychee	茘枝 lìzhī

Borrowings from the Persianate era

Arabic (अरबी عربی Arabī)

Word	Meaning	Original form
अक़्ल عقل aqal	wisdom	عقل ‘aql
इलाक़ा علاقہ ilāqā	area	علاقة `alāqa "relationship, connection"
वज़न وزن vazan	weight	وزن wazn "scale"
क़बर قبر qabr	grave	قبر qubr
ख़बर خبر k͟habar	news	خبر khabar
ख़ाली خالی k͟hālī	empty	خالي khālī
ख़्याल خیال k͟hayāl	consideration	خيال khayal " imagination"
ग़रीब غریب ġarīb	poor	غريب gharīb "strange"
जवाब جواب javāb	answer	جواب jawāb
सवाल سوال sovāl	question	سؤال so'āl
जमा جمع jamā	collect	جمع jam‘
तारीख़ تاریخ tārīk͟h	date	تاريخ tārīkh "history, date"
दुनिया دنیا duniyā	world	دنيا dunya
नक़ल نقل naqal	fake	نقل naql
फ़क़ीर فقیر faqīr	poor person	فقير faqīr
बदल بدل badal	exchange	بدل badl
बाक़ी باقی bāqī	remaining	بقي baqīy
साहब صاحب sāhab	sir	صاحب ṣāḥib "friend"
हिसाब حساب hisāb	calculation	حساب ḥisāb
मालिक مالک mālik	owner	مالك mālik "owner, proprietor, holder"
लज़ीज़ لذیذ lazeez	delicious	لذيذ latheeth "tasty"
किताब کتاب "kitāb"	book	كتاب kitab "book"
एहतियात احتیاط "ehtiyāt"	precaution	احتياط aihtiat "precaution,reserve"
शख़्स شخص "shakhs"	person	شخص shakhs "person"
शहीद شہید "shaheed"	martyr	شهيد shahid "martyr"
हद حد "had"	limit	حد hada "limit"
सेहत صحت "sehat"	health	صحة siha "health"

Persian (फ़ारसी فارسی)

Caption text
Word	Meaning	Original Form
ख़ुश خوش khush	happy	خوشحال khushal
दर्द درد dard	pain	درد dərd
बदन بدن badan	body	بدن bədən
शायद شاید shayad	maybe	شاید shayad
हमेशा ہمیشہ hamesha	always	همیشه həmesha
साल سال saal	year	سال sāl
गरम گرم garam	warm	گرم gərm
आसमान آسمان aasman	sky	آسمان aasman
ज़मीं زمین zameen	land	زمین zəmeen "the earth"
रोज़ा روزہ roza	fasting	روزه roza "a fast"

Turkish (तुर्की ترکی Turkī)

Word	Meaning	Original form
उर्दू اردو Urdu	Urdu	ordu "army"
क़ैंची قینچی qãincī	scissors
क़ोरमा قورمہ qormā	korma	kavurma in Turkish
बावर्ची باورچی bāwarchī	cook, chef	Ashchi (soupmaker) in modern Turkish
बेगम بیگم begam	lady	begüm
लाश لاش lāś	corpse	(Turkish pron. = lesh)
क़ुली قلی qulī	laborer, porter	porter, servant
घूर گھور ghūr	a stare, staring	göz (eye) in Turkish

Borrowings from the Colonial Era

Portuguese (पुर्तगाली پرتگالی Purtugālī)

Portuguese borrowings mostly describe household items, fruits, and religious concepts dealing with Catholicism:

Household

Word	Meaning	Original form
अलमारी الماری almāri	closet, cupboard	armário
इस्तरी استریistrī	to iron	estirar (means to lengthen a cable)
इस्पात ایسپات ispāt	steel	espada "sword"
गमला گملا gamlā	basket	gamela "wooden trough"
चाबी چابی cābī	key	chave
जंगला جنگلا jaṅglā	window-railing	janela
तम्बाकू تمباکو tambākū	tobacco	tobacco
तौलिया تولیہ tauliyā	towel	toalha
फ़ीता فیتا fītā	lace, ribbon	fita
बराम्दा برآمدہ baramdā	verandah	varanda
बाल्टी بالٹی bāltī	pail	balde
साबुन صابن sābun	soap	sabão

Food

Word	Meaning	Original form
अनानास انناس anānās	pineapple	ananás
काजू کاجو kāju	cashew	caju
गोभी گوبھیgobhī	cabbage, cauliflower	couve
पाउ रोटी پاو روٹی pāu roṭī	sliced bread	pão "bread" (generic name for bread)
पपीता پپیتا papītā	papaya	papaia
साबूदाना سابودانا sābūdānā	sago	sagu
सलाद سلاد salād	salad	salada

Religion

Word	Meaning	Original form
क्रूस کروس krūs	cross	cruz
गिरजा گرجا girjā	church	igreja
पादरी پادری padrī	Christian priest/minister	padre

Other

Word	Meaning	Original form
अंग्रेज़ انگریز aṅgrez	English	inglês

French (फ़्रान्सीसी فرانسیسی Fransisi)

Only a handful of French borrowings are still used in Hindi today.

Word	Meaning	Original form
कारतूस کارتوس kārtūs	cartridge	cartouche
रेस्तराँ ریستوراں restarā̃	restaurant	restaurant

English (अंग्रेज़ी انگریزی Aṅgrezī)

Most borrowed words of European origin in Hindi-Urdu were imported through English and involve civic and household concepts:

Civic Life

Word	Original form
अफ़सर افسر afsar	officer
जेल جیل jel	jail
डॉक्टर ڈاکٹر ḍôktar	doctor
पुलिस پولیس pulis	police
बैंक بینک baiṅk	bank
वोट ووٹ voṭ	vote
स्कूल اسکول skūl/iskūl	school

Household

Word	Original form
कप کپ kap	cup
गिलास گلاس gilās	glass
टेबल ٹیبل ṭebal	table
बॉक्स بکس bôks	box
लालटेन لالٹین lālṭen	lantern
कनस्तर کنستر kanastar	canister

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References

↑ Sebeok, Thomas Albert (1971). Current Trends in Linguistics. Walter de Gruyter. p. 688. Retrieved 21 November 2014. This Proto-Prakrit differs from Sanskrit partly in the phonology and the vocabulary which are common to all modern Indo-Aryan vernaculars.
↑ Bhatia, Tej K.; Koul, Ashok (2000). Colloquial Urdu. Psychology Press. p. 11. ISBN 9780415135405 . Retrieved 21 November 2014. The languages share a virtually identical grammar and also possess a very large body of common vocabulary which consists mainly of words used in everyday, normal conversation.
↑ Bhatia, Tej K.; Koul, Ashok (2000). Colloquial Urdu. Psychology Press. p. 12. ISBN 9780415135405 . Retrieved 21 November 2014. In additional, although Urdu and Hindi share a large number of colloquial words, formal and literary Hindi and Urdu can differ markedly in terms of vocabulary. For higher registers, Urdu still continues to draw on Perso-Arabic resources, but Hindi turns to Sanskrit.
↑ Simpson, Andrew (30 August 2007). Language and National Identity in Asia. Oxford University Press. pp. 62–63. ISBN 9780191533082 . Retrieved 21 November 2014. Considered from a historical point of view, the Hindustani-Hindi-Urdu complex developed out of a common broadly-spoken lingua franca that came to be used through much of north and central India from the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries during the dynasties of Muslim rulers that pre-dated the Mughal rule. During this time, Persian was in force as the official language of administration and writing but was supplemented by a mixture of the speech of the Delhi area ('Khari Boli', which had Sanskrit as its ultimate ancestor) together with many Persian loanwords as very general means of oral communication among different parts of the Muslim-controlled territories. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, this form of speech was patronized by the rulers of various southern kingdoms and resulted in the growth of an early literature in a language known as Dakhini or southern Hindi-Urdu.
1 2 Taj, Afroz (1997). "About Hindi-Urdu". The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill . Retrieved 21 November 2014. Then, about seven centuries ago, the dialects of Hindi spoken in the region of Delhi began to undergo a linguistic change. In the villages, these dialects continued to be spoken much as they had been for centuries. But around Delhi and other urban areas, under the influence of the Persian-speaking Sultans and their military administration, a new dialect began to emerge which would be called Urdu. While Urdu retained the fundamental grammar and basic vocabulary of its Hindi parent dialects, it adopted the Persian writing system, "Nastaliq" and many additional Persian vocabulary words. Indeed, the great poet Amir Khusro (1253-1325) contributed to the early development of Urdu by writing poems with alternating lines of Persian and Hindi dialect written in Persian script. What began humbly as a hodge-podge language spoken by the Indian recruits in the camps of the Sultan's army, by the Eighteenth Century had developed into a sophisticated, poetic language. It is important to note that over the centuries, Urdu continued to develop side by side with the original Hindi dialects, and many poets have written comfortably in both. Thus the distinction between Hindi and Urdu was chiefly a question of style. A poet could draw upon Urdu's lexical richness to create an aura of elegant sophistication, or could use the simple rustic vocabulary of dialect Hindi to evoke the folk life of the village. Somewhere in the middle lay the day to day language spoken by the great majority of people. This day to day language was often referred to by the all-encompassing term "Hindustani."
↑ Shackle, C. (1 January 1990). Hindi and Urdu Since 1800. Heritage Publishers. p. 6. ISBN 9788170261629 . Retrieved 21 November 2014.
↑ Bandyopādhyāẏa, Śekhara (1 January 2004). From Plassey to Partition: A History of Modern India. Orient Blackswan. p. 243. ISBN 9788125025962 . Retrieved 21 November 2014.
↑ George, Rosemary Marangoly (21 November 2013). Indian English and the Fiction of National Literature. Cambridge University Press. p. 213. ISBN 9781107729551 . Retrieved 21 November 2014. =Elsewhere Gandhi advocated for both Hindi and Hindustani (an amalgam of Hindi and Persianized Urdu that was in use in the north and could be written in either Nagri or Urdu/Persian script). In 1945, Gandhi resigned from the Hindi Sahitya when it advocated that Hindi was to be written exclusively in the Devanagri script. Over time, as both Hindi and Urdu became increasingly linked with Hindu and Muslim identity respectively, Hindustani had few advocates in India with voices powerful enough to drown out the opposition to it, especially after the trauma of partition. Hindi was deliberately Sanskritized to underline its Hindu roots and to create a purer etymology for the language.
↑ Everaert, Christine (2010). Tracing the Boundaries Between Hindi and Urdu. Brill. p. 268. ISBN 9789004177314 . Retrieved 21 November 2014. According to some, Pakistani Urdu has been following the path of religious fanatics in the last twenty-five to thirty years, removing Hindi words from Urdu and replacing them by Persian and Arabic words. The Arab states of the Persian Gulf, where Pakistanis go in huge numbers to work during several years of their lives and who sponsor the conservative madaris, are taking the blame for this evolution. The foreign labourers returning to Pakistan after several years in Saudi Arabic and neighbouring countries are said to have been indoctrinated by their Arab hosts.
↑ Simpson, Andrew (30 August 2007). Language and National Identity in Asia. Oxford University Press. p. 62. ISBN 9780191533082 . Retrieved 21 November 2014. In their formal spoken and written forms, Hindi and Urdu share a common grammar and much basic vocabulary. When Hindi and Urdu are spoken informally by most of the population, the differences present and clearly discernible in formal language tend to disappear to a very significant extent, and the two varieties become both mutually intelligible and often difficult to tell apart. This frequently used, colloquial form of Hindi and Urdu used in everyday conversation by the majority of speakers has in the past regularly been referred to with the term 'Hindustani'. It is also the form of language standardly used in Bollywood films, which are widely enjoyed by speakers of both Hindi and Urdu.
↑ Patel, Aakar. "Kids have it right: boundaries of Urdu and Hindi are blurred". Firstpost . Network 18 . Retrieved 21 November 2014. Cartoon Network, Pogo and the rest were available in English also, of course. However, according to a cable operator from Allama Iqbal Town also quoted in the story, Pakistani children preferred their cartoons in Hindi. This is true of India also, where children including those studying in English schools, watch their cartoons only in Hindi.