Abhishek Avtans अभिषेक अवतंस 🌐
@avtansa
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Lecturer (Indic language/s), Leiden University (Netherlands), KHS (Agra), JNU (Delhi), Hindi, Urdu, Linguistics, Lit, भाषा, भाषाविज्ञान, साहित्य 🇮🇳 🇳🇱 ✍️🚲
Leiden, the Netherlands
Joined April 2015
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These index pages are from the book शब्दों के साथ साथ (Penguin India, 2023) writen by Dr. Suresh Pant. The entries which are marked in red are plagiarized from my Twitter/x threads without my permission (depite my objection). I was never shown draft of this book, nor sent a copy.
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Didn't know that Rye was actually a weed growing near wheat & barley, and it went through the process of Vavilovian mimicry to become a secondary crop over the time. Vavilovian mimicry is an evolutionary process by which weeds evolve to resemble domesticated crop plants...1/4
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In this 1982 documentary the longest living Indian indentured labourer of Suriname, Ramlali Awadhbihari (104 years old), talks in Awadhi about how she was kidnapped by an arkāṭī (a recruiting agent for indentured labourers in Surinam, Mauritius, Fiji etc.) from her village in UP
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A 🧵on Wren & Martin
Learners of English in post-Independence India, would have certainly come across the legendry book ''High School Grammar and Composition'' by P.C. Wren and H. Martin. First Published in 1936, this book was a path breaker in many ways, & that is why it ..1/n
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Did you know that in India until 1985, people had to obtain a license from Post and Telegraphs Department to own an ordinary domestic radio set. And people who operated illegal radio sets were called hawāchor हवाचोर (literally air-thief). Here's a news from 1940s on air-thieves.
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My heart breaks when I see data and analysis from my dissertation copied by my own supervisor without any citation. It happens only in India.
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During colonial times, before the advent of electricity operated street lamps on Indian roads, there was a system of 'gas lights' to illuminate the roads. This "gas light" was lit using Kerosene oil, which metamorphosized to become ghāsleṭ घासलेट meaning Kerosene oil.1/2
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कहीं की ईंट कहीं का रोड़ा, भानुमती ने कुनबा जोड़ा।
📌 खाना शब्द संस्कृत की खाद् (= खाना) धातु से जुड़ा है।
📌 आहार शब्द संस्कृत की आहृ (= लाना) धातु से जुड़ा है।
📌 भोजन शब्द संस्कृत की भुज् (= भोगना) धातु से जुड़ा है।
🏮शब्द हिन्दू, मुसलमान या ईसाई नहीं होते।
खाना', 'भोजन' और 'आहार' में अंतर
इस्लामिक शब्द 'खान' से खाना बना है।
दोहा: 'खाना' खाते खल सभी, संत करें 'आहार'! सज्जन 'भोजन' को करें, भाषा क्रिया प्रकार!
अर्थात: खाना 'दुष्ट' लोग खाते हैं, भोजन 'सज्जन' लोग करते हैं। और आहार 'संत' लोग करते हैं!
1. 'खाना' खाया जाता है, 'भोजन'
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Based on a short story यही सच है Yehi Sach Hai by Mannu Bhandari, Basu Chatterjee made this memorable film Rajnigandha in 1974. This song was penned by Yogesh where he used the expression मन की सीमारेखा man kī sīmārēkhā (limits of the mind), what a delightful expression ❤️!
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Didn't know that in Rajasthan, कँवर kanvar (i.e.कुँवर kunvar ≤ Sanskrit कुमार) means eldest son, भँवर bhanvar means 2nd eldest son and तँवर tanvar means the youngest son. In some places, the same is used for son, grandson, and great-grandson.
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TIL
Jonga जोंगा, the Nissan designed heavy duty off-road vehicle formerly used by Indian army, is named after its Indian manufacturer "Jabalpur Ordinance And Gun Carriage Assembly". Jonga is its acronym.
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A language saved lives🧵
As we are hearing the inspiring story of human resilience from Colombia where four children aged 13, 9, 4 years and 11 months) survived their 40 days ordeal in Amazon jungle, a much ignored topic is how their indigenous language helped them survive. 1/n
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The top 5 Lingua Francas whose speakers outnumber the mother tongue users of the language. In brackets percentage of people who speak the language not as a mother tongue but as a Lingua franca:
1. Swahili (98%)
2. Malay (73%)
3. English (71%)
4. Persian (67%)
5. Urdu (60%)
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Didn't know that -
The capital city of Uzbekistan 🇺🇿 "Bukhara" and Indian 🇮🇳 state of "Bihar", both owe their origin to the same word "vihāra विहार" (= Buddhist monastery). Pre-8th century Bukhara was an important seat of Buddhism ☸️.
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Even in 1951, people in India were not a great fan of tea drinking. As a a result, Central Tea Board had to advertise the benefits of tea drinking through newspapers and magazines. In this Hindi ad, tea is being promoted as refreshing drink, advising people to drink it at 7 Am.
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History of mosquito 🦟 nets in India
One of the earliest non-violent methods used by humans to prevent biting insects and thereby vector borne diseases, is the use of mosquito screens, nettings and curtains.
1/n
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Frequency of some common place name suffixes in India :
Map courtesy : evening_raga
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The interesting histories of English Camel, Hindi / Urdu ūnṭa (ऊँट,), Turkish Deve and Chinese Luotuo
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This longish Gulab Jamun has a special name in Bengali. It's called Ledikeni. It is named after Lady Canning, the wife of Charles Canning, the Governor General of India during 1856–62.
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Chapri छपरी...a 🧵
I have been deliberating since last month on the Indian language term chapri छपरी which is used for "street side loafers" who follow deviant style of fashion, language and culture.
1/n
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Engineering (BE/BTech) has become such a basic and forced degree in India. I wonder how India would have been if some of these talented students had been allowed to pursue fine arts, music, film making, linguistics, law, archaeology, creative writing, history, philosophy etc.
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Pleased to announce that, yours truly has signed a book contract with
@AlephBookCo
for a "Dictionary of Indian Words & Phrases" to be published soon from Delhi (India). 136 years ago, Yule & Burnell published their Hobson-Jobson, and this book will add to that glorious tradition.
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Interesting to note how the word टट्टी ṭaṭṭī (excrement💩) went through the process of semantic degradation in the history. ṭaṭṭī actually meant a woven bamboo framework which was used as a outer wall of temporary lavatories. Later टट्टी ṭaṭṭī itself became lavatory 1/2
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Some mathematical trivia
Arabic numerals are from India, and thus the actual numerals used in Arabic are called the Hindi numerals by Arabs, while rest of the world calls them Arabic. 1/3
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Etymology of Rawalpindi پنجاب
Since someone asked me to write an etymology of Punjabi word pind ਪਿੰਡ (village). I thought why not write an etymology of the fourth most populous city of Pakistan - Rawalpindi. So here it is -
Rawalpindi is made up of two words rāwal + piṇdī 1/n
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An interesting sociolinguistic phenomenon I observed in North Indian cities - the unique names of
#Muslim
owned businesses in cities where they have a sizable population. I found that a majority of these shop names were coined using secular words or are of patriotic nature.1/8
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“Naukar-cākar” नौकर-चाकर in Hindi / Urdu means servants. Naukar comes from the Mongolian word “nökür” for friend / comrade. Cākar is a Sogdian (an extinct Middle Iranian language) word for personal soldiers of nobles & kings. Both words entered H/U through Persian.
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ठंडी सड़क ṭhanḍī saṛak
From Lahore to Bhatinda to Bhopal to Lansdowne in Himalayas, the road named "ṭhanḍī saṛak" i.e. cool road is ubiquitous. The reason lies in a bit of colonial history of these cities where British built 🌴 tree lined roads to their establishments. 1/4
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Compare this Sanskrit-Persian-Hindi comparative glossary 🤓 Loving it !
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''Long thread' on Eating with Hands (bear with me, & enjoy reading 🙏)
A few years ago while watching the famous film ‘Chungking Express’ (1994), a particular scene stayed longer in my mind than required.This film is based on Hong Kong’s life and is directed by Wong-kar-wai. 1/n
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Learned today that -
Paserī पसेरी = a measure of five seers
Ser सेर = a seer i.e. one fortieth of a man ( or 0.93310 kg)
man मन = a maund (= 37.324 kg)
chaṭāṁk छटाँक = a sixteenth of a ser (or approx. two ounces)
tolā तोला = measurement of twelve māśās (or 11.664 g)
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Secret Script of Sindhi Merchants
Among the Sindhi language speaking merchants of colonial India a secret script named Hat vāṇikī हट वाणिकी was used to keep accounts & business correspondence. The word "Hat vāṇikī" literally translates as "language of market traders".
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These are the content pages of भाषा के बहाने (Navarun publications, 2023). The one marked by red is the content copied from my threads without my consent (despite my objection). They are all taken from the similar named blog which has meticulously translated all my threads.
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कोठा koṭhā
How a innocuous word in Hindi /Urdu came to be used in the sense of a 'brothel'. The word कोठा koṭhā originally meant a big room or flat (especially in the upper storey of a building); an extensive chamber; a warehouse. It is derived from the Sanskrit word koṣṭhaka
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Have been wondering about etymology of ghevar घेवर (disc shaped Indian sweet). The word ghevar is connected with the Sanskrit ghr̥tapūra घृतपूर (घृत ghr̥ta = घी ghī, पूर pūra = cake, pie ≥ पूरी pūrī). 16th cent. saint poet Mirā Bāi, offers Ghevar to Krishna in one of her poems.
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आलपिन ālpin 🧷
Didn't know that the word for Safety-pin in many Indian languages is actually derived from Portuguese word "alfinete" which ultimately is from Andalusian Arabic "al-ḵilāl" (pin, peg). Pin in ālpin is probably based on English pin.
Thanks to Walter Hunt for 🧷
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One of favorite Nepali-Hindi bilingual songs, is musu musu hasi deu na lai lai मुसु मुसु हासी देउ ना लाइ लाइ from the film Pyar mein kabhi kabhi (1999). H/U version uses ma lai lai. The original was sung by British Gorkha soldier Norden Tenzing Bhutia from Darjeeling(1950-2019).
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In 1958 when govt of India launched metric system of weights & measures, it encouraged people to use it by providing them a conversion table.
1 chaṭānk छटाँक = 5 tole तोले = approx. 58 grams
1 ser सेर = 80 tole तोले = approx. 930 grams
1 man मन = 40 ser सेर = 37 kgs. किलोग्राम
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Here is a thread, I am starting to help learn
#Gurumukhi
script of Panjabi for those who read Devanāgarī.
#Day
1
ਲ = ल
ਾ = ा
ਲਾਲ = लाल
ਲਾਲਾ = लाला
ਲਾ = ला
~~~~~
ਖ = ख
ਅ = अ
ਿ = ि
ੇ = े
ਖੇਲ = खेल
ਲਿਖ = लिख
ਲਾਖ = खाल
ਖਿਲ = खिल
ਲੇਖ = लेख
ਅਲਖ = अलख
ਖਿਲਿਆ = खिलिआ
ਆਲਾ = आला
ਲਿਆ = लिआ
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सऊदी अरब में कपिल देव
जगह: इंदिरा गाँधी अंतरराष्ट्रीय हवाई अड्डा, नई दिल्ली
ठिकाना: वेटिंग हॉल, टर्मिनल – 3
मेरी बगल वाली सीटों पर दो सज्जन बैठे हैं।
मैं: भाई साहब आप कहाँ जा रहे हैं?
पहला मुसाफ़िर: हम लोग सऊदी जा रहे हैं? देर रात में फ़्लाइट है। 1/n
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Manduadih मंडुआडीह, a beautiful & vintage name lost to the cacophony of name changing. manḍuāḍīh मंडुआडीह name is formed of मंडुआ manḍuā (finger millet, Ragi)+ -डीह ḍīh (= upland, a village) i.e. place where finger millet is in abundance. मंडुआ manḍuā = kvādū / kōdō in hills
The Uttar Pradesh government had sent a request for renaming the railway station in Varanasi district.
#Manduadih
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How to introduce yourself in 15 Indian languages? I am .....
Here's the answer if you read Devanagari ~
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It was a morning in December 2005, I went straight to Boa Chachi's house at Strait Island to help her in the kitchen. I cleaned dishes, cut vegetables, and sweeped the floor. I was learning words in her Aka-Bo language of which she was the last speaker.
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Disheartening to see how linguistic stereotyping works in India. Native assimilated pronunciation of borrowed and local words have been looked down upon and termed "lower class". WTH 😒
Socio-economic classification simplified.
Lower class - Biskut
Middle class - Biskit
Upper class - Cookies
Lower class - Roomal
Middle class - Hankie
Upper class - Kerchief
Lower class - Tamaatar
Middle class - Ta'may'to
Upper class - Toh'mah'toh
Lower class - Sauce
Middle
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In Ruka'at-i-Alamgiri (Letters of Aurangzeb), there's a mention of a prince named Md. Azam Shah Bahadur who sent a letter to Mughal emperor Aurangzeb asking him to give appropriate names to two unknown mangoes species he discovered in the hinterlands. 1/2
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In Marathi & Hindi, there's an idiom बादरायण संबंध bādarāyaṇ saṁbandh which is used in the sense of an imaginary or made-up relationship. The story goes on like this - There was once a man travelling to another far way village on his ox-cart. 1/n
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In early 17th century, a poet named Shankar composed one of the earliest multilingual verse in eight languages of India. In this long poem titled aṣṭabhāṣā अष्टभाषा (=eight language), Shankar made women from each of the 8 languages communties recite a stanza of this poem. 1/n
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Did not know that - sarāy सराय as in Sarai Kale Khan (सराय काले ख़ाँ) in Delhi (India 🇮🇳) and ''Sarajevo'' (the capital & largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina 🇧🇦) are both related to Persian word sarây (house, inn, palace).
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Marathi word for bucket 🪣 बादली bādli is a very interesting case, where Marathi borrowed a Portuguese word 'balde' (bucket) as bāldi as in Konkani bāldi बाल्दि / बाल्दी and Kannada Bāldi ಬಾಲ್ದಿ but then Marathi metathesized it into बादली bādli. Hindi changed d to ṭ > बाल्टी 🪣
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Semantic change from Arabic to Hindi/Urdu
📌ख़सम khasam in Arabic is an enemy or adversary but in H/U it is husband.
📌खै़रात khairāt in Arabic is good works, but in H/U it is alms, donation.
📌तकरार takarār in Arabic is repetition, but in H/U it is dispute, quarrel. 1/n
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A very good example of linguistics extremism in this text - Urdu and Hindi
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बोहनी bohnī
In northern part of Indian subcontinent, there is social practice called bohnī which is the first sale of the day for a shop or business usually in the morning. A good bohnī is always regarded as auspicious as the subsequent sales are dependent on it. 1/4
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दाल महिमा
कहा जाता है कि रावण की भोजनशाला में दाल नहीं बनती थी। लंका में केवल विभीषण की पाकशाला में ही दाल बनती थी। परन्तु विभीषण को यह दाल पचती नहीं थी, तो सुषेण वैद्य की सलाह पर दाल में हींग डालकर पकने लगी। दाल-भात या रोटी दाल यही हमारा असली भोजन है, सच मानिए तो जो चीज़ 1/2
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Indian origin Romani people are often referred by their exonym “Gypsies“, which is a corruption of the word “Egyptian” reflecting the erroneous old belief that they came from Egypt (Middle East).
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Babu English was a highly ornamental style of Indian English marked with indirect expressions, over-politeness and verbosity. It has roots in the English spoken by clerks in colonial Bengal. Here are two samples -
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In my experience, no one can match Maharashtrians, Gujaratis, Bengalis, Odias, Arunachalis, Kashmiris and Punjabis for being so fluent in Hindi /Urdu as a second or other language. They are truly multilingual people 🙏
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What makes a linguist most happy is receiving the full set of Linguistic Survey of India for their personal collection. 😊
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The secret language of Palanquin bearers (long thread, 🙏)
A Palanquin is a covered wheel-less carriage (litter) carried on two horizontal poles by men.The word "Palanquin" is from Portuguese palanquin, from Malay or Javanese pelangki, of Indo-Aryan origin; ...
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चखना chakhnā (bar relish)
I was asked the etymology of this noun in Hindi /Urdu. Chakhnā is a word used for food (from peanuts to elaborate curries) which are eaten while drinking alcohol. The word comes from Sanskrit cakṣaṇam चक्षणम् (eating a relish to promote appetite). 1/3
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In Pre-1990s era when Indian market had severe import restrictions, enterprising Sindhi businessmen made use of Indian appetite for foreign goods by selling shirts, pants, pens, bags, shoes etc. cleverly labeled 'Made in USA', only USA stood for Ulhasnagar Sindhi Association.
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Shakeel Badayuni wrote this Bhajan in Braj Bhasha in 1952. Mohammad Rafi sang it, and Naushad Ali composed the music for this Bhajan. Film - Baiju Bawra (1952). मन तरपत हरी दर्शन को आज 🎵🎶
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ṭhullā ठुल्ला
The derogatory epithet ṭhullā for police commonly used in Delhi and adjoining areas has its origins in a late 19th century argot spoken by Punjabi Gamblers who used it for a police inspector. The word is related to Sanskrit स्थूल sthūla (large, stout). 1/2
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Did you know about Knock-Knock jokes & Emoji styled description of laughter 🙂😃😁😂🤣 in Sanskrit literature?
Very pleased to share with you my story on humor in Sanskrit literature, published today in all editions of Hindustan Times. Link for the 2 page spread in next tweet!
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Made Walnut and Coriander chutney at home. Learned the recipe 15 years ago (but never tried) from my Kashmiri linguistics teacher late Dr. Omkar Nath Kaul.
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Did you know that Christ ✝️ shares the same root and meaning with 🇮🇳 Sanskrit घृत ghṛta (sprinkled, anointed) from verb root घृ ghṛ (to sprinkle, to wet, to shine) whence घृतम् ghṛtam (Ghee, clarified butter), thus घी ghī, ঘি ghi etc. Christ comes from translation of Messiah.1
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The water in Agra's Hindi/Urdu is khārī खारी (saline) whereas in Delhi's H/U the water is khārā खारा. In 1739, when Nadirshah announced Qatl-e-Aam in Delhi, Agra wālās, begging for their lives, told the invaders a way to identify Delhites from Agraites - pānī khārā hai yā khārī ?
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I think I'll have to delete my Twitter aka X account. It will be a sad decision, but I have no option left in order to protect the hard labour I have put. Somebody whom I know here for a long time is just copying my threads verbatim and making it part of their blog/books etc.
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Ostrich In H/U is शुतुरमुर्ग shuturmurg.
शुतुर shutur in Persian is camel. It is a doublet of Hindi ऊँट ūm̐ṭ =camel. So a bird with camel like feet is called shuturmurg. शुतुरदिल shuturdil is a camel hearted person (= timid). शुतुरकीना shuturkīnā is one who keeps grudges.
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Didn't know that
If you are having जशन jaśana /जश्न jaśna 🎊🎑 (= a celebration, festivities), then you are actually doing a यज्ञ yajñá 🔥 .The reason is Persian जश्न jaśna is a derived from Avestan word Yasna (act of worship, oblation). And Yasna is a cognate of Sanskrit यज्ञ
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Dāl Bhāt दाल भात eating people give weird looks when they hear Dāl Chāwal दाल-चावल. Hey we don't eat the rice uncooked!
Now did you know that word भक्त bhakta (devotee) and bhāt भात (cooked rice) 🍚are connected etymologically?
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Some people who commented/liked on my threads like bees attracted to honey have suddenly disappeared like gadhe ke sar se sīng गधे के सर से सींग. Where are you when I need you to stand with truth?
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In Delhi, on Tuesdays, one of my favorite treats was eating chanā murgī चना मुर्गी sold near a Hanuman temple. The name itself was very confusing as there was no sign of chanā (peas) or murgī (chicken). Realized later that the proper Bengali name is ছানার মুড়কি chānār muṛki
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TIL
Persian (> Urdu) word for idol बुत but is in fact etymologically derived from the Sanskrit word ' Buddha" बुद्ध. 😱
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A Hindi print advertisement from 1963, telling people not to compare their chldren with other kids.
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My childhood memories of Diwali, wouldn't be complete without the mention of चीनी (शक्कर) के खिलौने cīnī (shakkar) ke khilaune. These are miniature edible sugar toys crafted into shapes of animals, fish, flowers etc. Do you remember them?
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In 1975, prof. Harprasad Ray wrote this fabulous primer for learning Chinese (Mandarin) through Hindi medium. Prof. Ray taught Chinese language at my alma mater (JNU, India) for many years. Might come in handy in case of an all out war between India & China.
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Isabgol ईसबगोल and Horses 🐴🐎
Isabgol (Psyllium Husk) is a plant based dietary fiber derived from the Plantago Ovata. It is borrowed in Indian languages from Persian aspag̠ẖol/ ispag̠ẖol. It is formed of Persian aspa (horse) + g̠ẖol (an obsolete pronunciation of gôš = ear)1/2
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Delhi Lingo... a 🧵
When you start living in Delhi, you have to soon learn that:
🗨️'on the other side' is not उस तरफ़ us taraf but परली तरफ़ parlī taraf,
🗨️'how many people' isn't कितने लोग kitnē lōg but कितने बंदे kitnē bandē, bandā बंदा (man) / bandī बंदी (girl).....1/5
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Vishnu Chinchalkar (1917-2000) was a legendry artist from Indore (MP, India). He was a collegemate of M.F. Hussain. In 1980s, he came up with an ingenious idea to create drawings which can be used for teaching Devanagari देवनागरी script in an innovative & fun way to Children.1/3
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हिंदी में 'हिमाचल', 'विन्ध्याचल', 'मलयाचल', 'उदयाचल' आदि के साथ पर्वत जोड़कर बोलने/लिखने की परंपरा है जबकि संस्कृत में ये शब्द पर्वत-विशेषों के वाचक हैं, जिनमें 'पर्वत' का वाचक 'अचल' शब्द पहले से ही जुड़ा है, इसका मतलब है 'हिमाचल' का अर्थ है-'हिम नाम का पर्वत', १/३
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In 1988, DD, national Broadcaster of India began the telecast of this TV-series named Bharat Ek Khoj. The amazing title track was the Hindi translation of Nāsadīya Sukta नासदीय सूक्त from Rigveda (10:129) by Vasant Dev, & music by Vanraj Bhatia सृष्टि से पहले सत नहीं था. Listen!
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संस्कृत कुलवधू भाषा है और हिन्दी अभिसारिका भाषा। व्याकरण के ताले लटकते रह जाते हैं और भाषा की अभिसारिका खिड़की से निकलकर चौराहे पर चली आती है। संस्कृत मर्यादा की पुरुषी है, जबकि हिन्दी प्रयोगों की प्रेमिका है। इसलिए संस्कृत सीता है और हिन्दी राधा है।
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Harmonium हारमोनियम (a French word in Indian languages)
Rabindranath Tagore disliked the Harmonium so much that he got it banned from All India Radio in 1940. He was an advocate of Sārangī. 1/4
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How many of you have eaten this Dāl known as कुलथी kulathī / Kurthi in many areas. Its botanical name is Macrotyloma uniflorum, also known as Horsegram. Often referred as poor man's pulse, kulathī is considered to be the most drought tolerant and least risky of the pulse crops.
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बंटा banṭā
Delhi's popular summer drink banṭā (lime soda) is named after the glass marble in the Codd-Neck Bottle. The word banṭā in Punjabi & Hindi is related to Sanskrit vaṭaka वटक (ball). In 1872, British engineer Hiram Codd designed this unique bottle with a marble.1/2
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Next time you eat your Samosa, thank the
#Mongols
!
Interesting to note that Indian 'Samosa', Tibetan 'Momo', Italian 'Ravioli', Chinese & Mogolian 'Mantou', all are related to the same central Asian ancient dish, and the Mongolian empire made it popular.
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मृगतृष्णा mṛgatṛṣṇā (mirage) is a Hindi word of Sanskrit origin. It is formed of mṛga मृग (deer) & tṛṣṇā तृष्णा (thirst, desire), hence deer-thirst implying the metaphor of a deer chasing a mirage. मृग-मरीचिका mr̥ga marīcikā and मृगजल mr̥gajal are its synonyms.
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दूध-भात
In Calcutta Hindi /Urdu dūdh-bhāt (milk-rice) is the term used for 'simiplfied or relaxed rules' for small children when they are playing with older ones. E.g. when older ones are playing cricket, if a younger child is playing along, he/she will have a dūdh-bhāt. 1/2
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In my childhood, I had eaten the Chutney of this red flower known as अमाड़ी / खट्टी भिण्डी / कुदरुम (Hibiscus sabdariffa). This sour vegetable is rare and blooms only in two-three months span of winter in red-soil belt in India. I have not seen it in last 20 years! Have you?
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Mārwārī bāsā मारवाड़ी बासा
In many Indian cities, you are likely to find a Mārwārī bāsā where you can opt for a vegetarian meal and in some places one can even stay over! The history of these lodgings cum eateries is quite fascinating.1/n
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So after many years of listening bār bār dekho🎶(China Town 1962), I realized today that it is not''tālī ho'' but ''Tally-ho'' (= a traditional English cry made by the huntsman to tell others the animal has been sighted, and is probably derived from the French taïaut).
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Hindi primer published by Christian Literature Society, Allahabad (India), 1909
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A secret language of Boatmen of Prayag (Allahabad, India)
Interesting to learn about this argot of boatmen of Prayag, which they use to communicate among themselves for the purpose of excluding their clients.
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If there is one sweet which can give competition to sugar levels of Indian sweets, it is Baklava. Insanely sweet even for me. Baklava is a Mongolian origin word.
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There's an interesting idiom in Hindi -
मीन-मेख निकालना mīn-mēkh nikālanā = to fiddle-faddle, to find faults, to pick holes in. It literally means to make an (unwarranted) distinction between the last of Pisces (mīn मीन = fish) & the first of Aries (mēkh मेख < मेष mēṣa = ram).
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Etymology of Ludhiana ਲੁਧਿਆਣਾ
Ludhiana is the most populous city in Punjab (India), and it is often referred as Manchester of India. The name Ludhiana is falsely attributed to the Lodi dynasty which ruled these areas in the 15th century. How so? a thread 1/n
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Biodiversity in the eyes of Indian Postal stamps - a visual thread 🧵1/n
कबूतर और गौरेया kabūtar aur gaureyā (pigeon and sparrow)
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