Hindi Phrases
Basics
Forms of
Address
Interrogatives
Numbers
Cultural Notes
Greetings: There are no time elemental greetings in Hindi such as good morning, good afternoon, etc. And each religion has its own greetings. It is considered very gracious to address a person by their respective greetings, but not necessary. Namaste is the most ubiquitous greeting, and though of Hindu origin is now mostly secular. It is said with hands folded and a small gesture of bowing - but don't go overboard Japanese style! Namaste literally means "I bow to you." Namaste can be described as the "aloha" of India, as it is used both for Hello and Goodbye. The original religious significance was of bowing to the soul (atma) within another. It is custom to touch the feet of someone older than you when saying Namaste. Namaskar has the same meaning, but is used less often in Hindi, though it is common in other Indian languages such as Gujarati and Bengali. Namaskar is thought of as more formal, and as such is used more often when addressing a group or a person of importance. The Sikhs also fold their hands and bow, but have their own greetings. Sat sri akal is the most common, which comes from the Punjabi meaning "God alone is Truth." Though Sikhism is mostly centered in the Punjab region of India, Punjabi greetings are used by Sikhs all over the world, as Punjabi is the language of the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh Scripture. A longer, more formal greeting used exclusively between Sikhs is the greeting proscribed by Sri Guru Gobind Singh (the 10th and final Guru of Sikhism): vaheguru ji ka khalsa, vaheguru ji fateh from the Punjabi, meaning "(The) Khalsa (a 'baptized' Sikh) belongs to God and to God alone belongs Victory." After meeting someone for the first time apse milkar bahut khusi hui. may be said, meaning "after meeting you much happiness has happened (to me)."
Civilities: In Western cultures saying phrases like please, thank you, you're welcome, excuse me, sorry, etc. are so ingrained into us from a young age that we say them without a second thought. Not so for Indians. Saying such phrases in an inappropriate circumstance might even embarrass the person, or cheapen the gravity of the phrase itself. These phrases are only said in a sincere sense. Sometimes English words themselves are used; due to the British colonial influence, especially in urban areas and among the upper class. In this case use them as you would in English. Just remember that like Germans, and the French, they sometimes have trouble with English th sounds. When someone is in your way, instead of saying excuse me, or zara suniye, just let out an aspirated ts sound with your tongue behind your teeth to attract their attention. This might seem rude, but is no more rude than children saying "pssst" to get a friend's attention during class! In conclusion, though Hindi has corresponding words to ours, this does not meant that the context in which they are used also correspond likewise. Don't let all of this lead you to believe Indians are cold though - nothing could be further from the truth! These sentiments are merely communicated through body language rather than verbally. To show your thanks, a simple smile will do the trick. Other common gestures include the infamous "head bobble"; and a hand gesture made by swiftly swinging the wrist so your palm is facing the sky and your forefingers slightly elongated. Before travellling to India, rent some Bollywood films so that if a spontaneous Bhangra breaks out in the streets, you'll be ready to join in! All kidding aside, they can demonstrate body language and customs far better than any book is able to, all while acclimatizing you to the language as well.
Prefixes & Suffixes: With the words for "yes" and "no" ji may be added before to give it a more polite tone. Sometimes speakers will simply reply with ji, as an affirmation of something someone says. Ji is added to a person's name as a sign of respect. For example; in India Mahatma Gandhi is known simply as Gandhiji. Another suffix which is indispensable is vala, often rendered in English as "-wallah". Many books devote whole chapters to vala. With nouns it gives the meaning "the one or thing that does" and with verbs, it indicates something is about to happen. Examples:
- noun - shop (dukan) + vala =
shopkeeper (dukanvala)
- verb - to come ( ana) + vala = (the).. is coming ( ..
anavala hay)
English Loan Words: The British Empire's influence spread into the language itself, and this continues today with American culture being exported throughout the world. So, an English word or phrase may almost always be inserted into any Hindi sentence. You will often hear Indians, whom while talking in Hindi, pepper their sentences with English words. Sometimes they'll even alternate sentences, going from Hindi to English, and back to Hindi! Upon meeting an Indian, many times you may not even get to practice your Hindi, because they want to practice their English on you! English loan words are particularly used for modern inventions/technologies, so words like TV, computer and microwave are the same as in English apart from the slight change of accent. However; this is mostly in the cities, and learning some Hindi will have been all the more rewarding when in rural or non-tourist areas, as well as allowing you to communicate with a wider variety of people in the cities.
Gender & The 2nd Person Pronoun: Certain words have different endings depending on your gender. If you are a man say these with an -a suffix, and if you're a woman, -i. However; when addressing the person respectively with ap, the masculine ending takes the plural form. This is not all that different from the behavior of other Indo-European languages, c.f. German Sie, which like ap is also both the respectful 2nd person pronoun and plural form of address. The other two forms are the familiar tum and intimate tu. These change the forms of certain words. Tum is for friends and peers, tu for small children (within the family); between 'significant others' in private; traditionally to lower castes; in the past, slaves; and, paradoxically, when supplicating to the gods/God (c.f. Greek mythology). As a general rule, stick with ap, until you become more familiar with the language and culture. Forget about tu altogether, at the best using it would be a faux pas and at the worst, very offensive. For those reasons as well as practical ones, this section will only use the ap form.
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