Words from Hindi
6 words in Curio passed through Hindi on their way into English.
About Hindi
Indo-Aryan language, a Sanskritised register of Hindustani · spoken today
Where
Northern India → a lingua franca across much of northern, central, eastern, western and northeastern India
When
Dates unknown
Speakers
341M
as of 2019
Native speakers, Wikidata figure for 2019
Family path
- Hindustani
- Hindi
- Punjabi
- English
Where it came from
Modern Standard Hindi is an Indo-Aryan language written in the Devanagari script. It shares a common base with standard Urdu, known as Hindi-Urdu or Hindustani, and Hindi is considered the more Sanskritised register of the two. Apart from the script and formal vocabulary, the two are mutually intelligible.
Source: Wikipedia
Family
Hindi grew out of Hindustani.
The words, A to Z
- bandana
The cloth you knot around your neck carries the idea of knotting itself, right in its name.
- cot
The small bed you'd fold up and carry with you once traveled all the way from a word for a wooden bedstead.
- guru
The word for a spiritual teacher started out simply meaning "heavy."
- maharaja
A title fit for the grandest of thrones, borrowed straight from the source.
- pundit
The word for a confident TV commentator once meant a genuinely learned scholar.
- tattoo
This word actually hides three unrelated stories under one skin.