Hindustani vocabulary


Indian Language, also known as Hindi-Urdu vocabulary, like all Indo-Aryan languages, has a core base of Sanskrit, which it gained through Prakrit. As such the standardized registers of the Hindustani language share a common vocabulary, especially on the colloquial level. However, in formal speech, Hindi tends to draw on Sanskrit, while Urdu turns to Persian and sometimes Arabic. This difference lies in the history of Hindustani, in which the lingua franca started to gain more Persian words in urban areas, under the Delhi Sultanate; this dialect came to be termed Urdu.
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." In Colonial India, Hindi-Urdu acquired vocabulary introduced by Christian missionaries from the Germanic and Romanic languages, e.g. pādrī from , meaning pastor.
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." After the partition of India, political forces within India tried to further Sanskritize Hindi, while political forces in Pakistan campaigned to remove Prakit/Sanskrit derived words from Urdu and supplant them with Persian and Arabic words. Despite these government efforts, the film industry, Bollywood continues to release its films in the original Hindustani language, easily understood and enjoyed by speakers of both registers; in addition, many of the same television channels are viewed across the border.

Linguistic classification

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 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'')

Chinese ( चीनी چینی ''Chīnī'')

Borrowings from the Mughal era

Arabic (अरबी عربی ''Arbi'')

Persian">Persian language">Persian (फ़ारसी فارسی ''Farsi'')

Turkish (तुर्की ترکی ''Turki'')

Borrowings from the Colonial Era

Portuguese (पुर्तगाली پرتگالی ''Purtgali'')

Portuguese borrowings mostly describe household items, fruits, and religious concepts dealing with Catholicism:
Household
WordMeaningOriginal form
अलमारी الماری almaricloset, cupboardarmário
इस्तरी استریistrito ironestirar
इस्पात ایسپات ispatsteelespada "sword"
क़मीज़ قمیض qamizshirtcamisa
गमला گملا gamlabasketgamela "wooden trough"
चाबी چابی chabikeychave
जंगला جنگلا janglawindow-railingjanela
तम्बाकू تمباکو tambakutobaccotobacco
तौलिया تولیہ tauliatoweltoalha
फ़ीता فیتا fitalace, ribbonfita
बराम्दा برآمدہ 'baramdaverandahvaranda
बाल्टी بالٹی baltipailbalde
बटन بٹن batanbuttonbotão
मेज़ میز meztablemesa
साबुन صابن sabunsoapsabão

Food
WordMeaningOriginal form
अनानास انناس ananaspineappleananás
काजू کاجو kajucashewcaju
गोभी گوبھیgobhicabbage, cauliflowercouve
पाउ रोटी پاو روٹی pau rotisliced breadpão "bread"
पपीता پپیتا papitapapayapapaia
साबूदाना سابودانا 'sabudanasagosagu
सलाद سلاد saladsaladsalada

Religion
WordMeaningOriginal form
क्रूस کروس krooscrosscruz
गिरजा گرجا girjachurchigreja
पादरी پادری padriChristian priest/ministerpadre

Other
WordMeaningOriginal form
अँगरेज़ انگریز angrezEnglishinglês

French (फ़्रान्सीसी ''Fransisi'')

Only a handful of French borrowings are still used in Hindi today.
WordMeaningOriginal form
कारतूस کارتوسkartooscartridgecartouche
रेस्तराँ ریستوراںrestorãrestaurantrestaurant
क़मीज़ قمیض qhemizchemisechemise "shirt"
अस्पताल اسپتال aspatalhospitalhopital

English (अंग्रेज़ी انگریزو ''Angrezi'')

Most borrowed words of European origin in Hindi-Urdu were imported through English and involve civic and household concepts:
Civic Life
WordOriginal form
अफ़सर افسر afsarofficer
जेल جیل jeljail
डॉक्टर ڈاکٹر ḍaktardoctor
पुलिस پولیس pulispolice
बैंक بینک bainkbank
वोट ووٹ voṭvote
स्कूल اسکول skul/iskulschool

Household
WordOriginal form
कप کپ kapcup
गिलास گلاس gilasglass
टेबल ٹیبل ṭebaltable
बक्स بکس baksbox
लालटेन لالٹین laalṭenlantern
कनस्तर کنستر kanastarcanister