# Hindi/Urdu: to deserve something



## lcfatima

As in "I deserve a reward," "You don't deserve that."

Platt's tells me in Urdu that it would be something with la'iqat (noun) or qaabil, I am not sure how one would construct it.

What about in Hindi? Shuddh word and also colloquial way to express 'deserve'?


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## Alfaaz

میں انعام کا / کی مستحق ہوں


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## marrish

_تم اس کے لائق نہیں۔_


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## lcfatima

X ka laa'iq, X ka mustahaq, would you say both would be widely understood? Thanks.


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## Alfaaz

> X ka laa'iq, X ka mustahaq, would you say both would be widely understood? Thanks.


I personally would say yes; they are both used all the time on TV. However, there might be some people who might not understand these...


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## marrish

Understood, yes they would be but the correct pronunciation is _X ke laa'iq, X kaa/kii mustaHiq_, I think. Please note *ke* with laa'iq.


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## lcfatima

Okay thanks. I wasn't sure about the ke because of the tum.


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## UrduMedium

_haqdaar _is another word for it --- _maiN is in3aam ka haqdaar huuN_


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## greatbear

laayak/qaabil/haqdaar/shobhaa/yogy in Hindi (the last one in Shuddh variant)

Examples of the last two:
"Yeh tumheN shobhaa nahiN detii" (usually "you are not fit for this", but sometimes also "you don't deserve this")
"Yeh tumhaare yogy nahiN hai"


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## Faylasoof

Just to add to what has already been stated, all of the following are commonly used in Urdu to mean _deserve / deserving _(and not necessarily in the order below):

قابل  *qaabil *has other meanings too but in *ke qaabil honaa *= _to deserve / merit, to be deserving (of),  _

لائق *laa'iq* = _worthy, deserving_

حقدار *haqdaar* literally means _having a just claim_, _or right or title (to something)_ but used also to mean _deserving_ something ; apart from giving other meanings, such as _ownership_ etc.

مستحق *mustaḥaqq* = _entitled (to), deserving_ 

_maiN is i3zaaz *ke laa'iq *huuN_
_maiN is i3zaaz *ka / kii haqdaar *huuN_
_maiN is i3zaaz *ke qaabil *huuN_
_maiN is i3zaaz *kaa / kii mustahaq(q)* *huuN_

** *_The 'qaf' has a shaddah though in spoken language you don't really hear it.  _


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## panjabigator

greatbear said:


> laayak/qaabil/haqdaar/shobhaa/yogy in Hindi (the last one in Shuddh variant)
> 
> Examples of the last two:
> "Yeh tumheN shobhaa nahiN detii" (usually "you are not fit for this", but sometimes also "you don't deserve this")
> "Yeh tumhaare yogy nahiN hai"



Ah, thank you for this. "Shobhaa" is also a woman's name, correct?


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## lcfatima

Hindi speakers, would laayak be the term one would most likely encounter in colloquial speech?


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## greatbear

panjabigator said:


> Ah, thank you for this. "Shobhaa" is also a woman's name, correct?



Yes, it is. It means kind of "decoration" there: the woman being supposed to enhance the beauty of the home (why not man would be feminist discourse).



			
				lcfatima said:
			
		

> Hindi speakers, would laayak be the term one would most likely encounter in colloquial speech?



In colloquial as well as written Hindi. Same as Urdu usage.


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## lcfatima

Great, thanks.


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## Qureshpor

^ Wehr gives it as "mustaHiqq" for this meaning.


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## Qureshpor

greatbear said:


> In colloquial as well as written Hindi. Same as Urdu usage.



In Hindi, Urdu words of the type "shaa3ir" and "laa'iq" are normally transcribed as "shaayar" (as in maiN shaayar to nahiiN...) and "laayak". This pronunciation does not exist in Urdu.


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## marrish

Qureshpor SaaHib, I believe you are aware of the Nagari spelling conventions. I somehow can't believe that the pronunciation might be laayak and shaayar. Otherwise, an analogy of English vs. Indian English comes to mind.


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## Qureshpor

marrish said:


> Qureshpor SaaHib, I believe you are aware of the Nagari spelling conventions. I somehow can't believe that the pronunciation might be laayak and shaayar. Otherwise, an analogy of English vs. Indian English comes to mind.



I do believe Mr. Shailendra Singh does sing, "maiN shaayar to nahiiN". May be it is just him.


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## marrish

QURESHPOR said:


> I do believe Mr. Shailendra Singh does sing, "maiN shaayar to nahiiN". May be it is just him.


Excuse me but I'm not acquainted with this gentleman. But it seems he's right because I'd expect ''shaayars'' to be attent to their language.


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## lcfatima

Interesting that in Arabic it is mustahiqq. I noticed someone say mustahiqq in Urdu in this video and wondered about mustahaqq vs. mustahiqq. No youtube links but it is in the YT video: "Hina Khwaja interviews those who left India for Pakistan during" at 8:31. "Kyonke kaha jata hai keh har qaum ko vohee hukumraan milte haiN jiskee (or did she say jiske?) voh mustahiqq hoti hai..." 

Also, Aamir Khan says in Hindi 'laayak' several times in the first episode of the new and highly acclaimed program Satyamev Jayate, if anyone has happened to catch that show recently. (He pronounces /gh/ as in Urdu but switches between /kh/ and /x/ in Hindi words of Persio-Arabic origin during the show. (I know I am not the only forum member who finds things like that interesting so I thought I'd mention it.)

Edit: Out of curiosity, I found the episode of Satyamev Jayate on Youtube also and his first use of laayak at around 5:40 is actually articulated as laayik and not laayak. Just in case anyone cares.


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## lcfatima

QP saaheb will throw his chappal at me now, but I believe some Punjabiphone Urdu speakers may be prone to say laayak and not laa'iq in daily speech.


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## UrduMedium

lcfatima said:


> Interesting that in Arabic it is mustahiqq. I noticed someone say mustahiqq in Urdu in this video and wondered about mustahaqq vs. mustahiqq.



Rhyming with _mustaqil_, it is _mustahiq_. Unlike _mustahab _(preferred) or _mustanad _(authenic). Meaning one seeking his/her _haq_. I suspect if _mustahaq _is a word used in Arabic it would mean the object of _istihqaq _(the infinitive), or what was delivered to the _mustahiq _as his/her _haq_.


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## greatbear

lcfatima said:


> Also, Aamir Khan says in Hindi 'laayak' several times in the first episode of the new and highly acclaimed program Satyamev Jayate, if anyone has happened to catch that show recently. (He pronounces /gh/ as in Urdu but switches between /kh/ and /x/ in Hindi words of Persio-Arabic origin during the show. (I know I am not the only forum member who finds things like that interesting so I thought I'd mention it.)
> 
> Edit: Out of curiosity, I found the episode of Satyamev Jayate on Youtube also and his first use of laayak at around 5:40 is actually articulated as laayik and not laayak. Just in case anyone cares.



Interesting show for the gamut of Hindi that one could hear: I hadn't seen the show but now saw part of it on YouTube, and at the very beginning is a Gujarati woman speaking in Hindi. Aamir himself comes across to me as having quite a Punjabi flavour in his Hindi. By the way, I still hear at 5:40 "laayak" - the "y" is short since his emphasis is not on that word in a long sentence (and that's the usual way), maybe that's what giving you the impression of "laayik", lcfatima.


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## souminwé

I believe the reason it's written as "laayak" in Hindi is to represent a pronunciation that is something like "laayk". Which isn't all that different from laa'ik; the pause has been taken out. That is also probably why Icfatima is hearing "laayik".

Also, greatbear, what is Punjabi-esque about Aamir's speech? To me it sounded like _the_ Hindi (him and the two journalists). But I am of Punjabi origin so it may be my bias.


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## greatbear

souminwé said:


> I believe the reason it's written as "laayak" in Hindi is to represent a pronunciation that is something like "laayk". Which isn't all that different from laa'ik; the pause has been taken out. That is also probably why Icfatima is hearing "laayik".



Yes, I agree. However, there are also people who do say "laayak" with full pause, even without reasons of emphasis, etc. However, the majority of North Indian pronounciation is indeed more "laayk" or "laa'ik" rather than "laayak" with pause.



souminwé said:


> Also, greatbear, what is Punjabi-esque about Aamir's speech? To me it sounded like _the_ Hindi (him and the two journalists). But I am of Punjabi origin so it may be my bias.



I am not a linguist and it is difficult for me to explain. I don't even know where Aamir is from, but if I would listen to him, I would say he's a Punjabi or has been influenced by Punjabi pron. (as quite a few people living in Delhi are even if not Punjabi). The long vowels are a bit shorter, for one. "nai uuNchaiiaaN", "hindustanii" and "aankheN milaata hoon" - even "seedha lenaa denaa" - are some examples (somewhere between 1:10 and 1:25 at the video on http://ibnlive.in.com/news/satyamev-jayate-why-the-cynics-are-wrong/255567-44.html ) - his vowels are shorter than one would expect from a "proper" Hindi speaker, or in your words, a "the-Hindi" speaker.. By the way, I mainly was focussing on the monologue part where he's sitting on the sea shore at the very beginning of the episode. 
There is no _the _Hindi, anyway, for me: it is spoken by a wide spectrum of people, in different ways, laa'iq to laayak, and more. I don't know if some official standard exists: even if it did, that wouldn't become the standard just because some language academy thinks it ought to be or it is already.


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## souminwé

You're right - I'm being a snob. I suppose it has more to do with where I get my idea of "Hindi" from than of what it actually is. 

Thank you for the insight on the vowels, I was not aware of this difference between the two.


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## Qureshpor

lcfatima said:


> QP saaheb will throw his chappal at me now, but I believe some Punjabiphone Urdu speakers may be prone to say laayak and not laa'iq in daily speech.



Icfatima SaaHibah, QP is too much of a gentleman to throw anything at a lady, let alone a "chappal"! I would say that Punjabiphone Urdu speakers (and when they are speaking Punjabi) are most likely to say "laayk" as opposed to "laayak". And if they are not affected by Urdu or are speaking Punjabi in a free and unfettered manner, they would say "laik"!


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## Qureshpor

lcfatima said:


> Interesting that in Arabic it is mustahiqq. I noticed someone say mustahiqq in Urdu in this video and wondered about mustahaqq vs. mustahiqq. No youtube links but it is in the YT video: "Hina Khwaja interviews those who left India for Pakistan during" at 8:31. "Kyonke kaha jata hai keh har qaum ko vohee hukumraan milte haiN jiskee (or did she say jiske?) voh mustahiqq hoti hai..."
> 
> Also, Aamir Khan says in Hindi 'laayak' several times in the first episode of the new and highly acclaimed program Satyamev Jayate, if anyone has happened to catch that show recently. (He pronounces /gh/ as in Urdu but switches between /kh/ and /x/ in Hindi words of Persio-Arabic origin during the show. (I know I am not the only forum member who finds things like that interesting so I thought I'd mention it.)
> 
> Edit: Out of curiosity, I found the episode of Satyamev Jayate on Youtube also and his first use of laayak at around 5:40 is actually articulated as laayik and not laayak. Just in case anyone cares.



No doubt Faylasoof SaaHib will come in on this issue but I have always thought the word was "mustaHiqq" and this is how I have been pronouncing it. It is true that Platts and Steingass have it as "mustaHaqq" but Farhang-i-Asifiyyah, Kitaanistaan and Wehr have it as mustaHiqq. I don't know the reason for this disparity.

I have listened to the Youtube video at the relevant point. He seems to say "laayk" as far as I can tell. I am not overwhelmingly impressed by the new generation of Khans regarding good Urdu pronunciation and Amir Khan was certainly messing up the x/Gh/q sounds as well as pronouncing au as o but I suppose it depends on the audience. If he was presenting a programme about some Urdu related issue, he might have switched to a different register. I don't know. He did n't come across as a Punjabi to my ears.


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## BP.

The first word that comes to mind is _kisii chiiz kaa sazaa waar hoonaa_ - کسی چیز کا سزاوار ہونا. _sazaa waar_ii-سزاواری- being the quality of deserving, and _sazaa_-سزاواری- merit.

Appropriate alternatives like مستحق have been covered by the others.


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## JaiHind

lcfatima said:


> As in "I deserve a reward," "You don't deserve that."
> 
> Platt's tells me in Urdu that it would be something with la'iqat (noun) or qaabil, I am not sure how one would construct it.
> 
> What about in Hindi? Shuddh word and also colloquial way to express 'deserve'?



I hope the below will explain it for you: 

"I deserve a reward" => मै पुरस्कार का अधिकारी हूँ. / मै पुरस्कार के योग्य हूँ. / मै पुरस्कार का हकदार हूँ. / मै एक पुरस्कार  के लायक हूँ.

My choice is the first one, "ka adhikaari hona". "To deserve" in English is "adhikaari hona" in Hindi.


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## marrish

JaiHind said:


> I hope the below will explain it for you:
> 
> "I deserve a reward" => मै पुरस्कार का अधिकारी हूँ. / मै पुरस्कार के योग्य हूँ. / मै पुरस्कार का हकदार हूँ. / मै एक पुरस्कार  के लायक हूँ.
> 
> My choice is the first one, "ka adhikaari hona". "To deserve" in English is "adhikaari hona" in Hindi.



मैं प्रतिफल का पात्र हूँ


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## greatbear

I don't think "adhikaari honaa" is a good choice: it is more than "deserving", it rather carries the sense of rightful claimant to something. While the two meanings certainly do overlap, "adhikaari honaa" is much stronger than plain, old "deserving".


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## tonyspeed

greatbear said:


> I still hear at 5:40 "laayak"



I agree. By the way, Aamir Khan is from Mumbai. His ancestors are from Afghanistan.


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## greatbear

tonyspeed said:


> I agree. By the way, Aamir Khan is from Mumbai. His ancestors are from Afghanistan.



Well, it's not Mumbaiyya Hindi definitely that he speaks, apart from when needed ("e kya boltii tuu?"). I don't know if Afghan-origin speakers have that Punjabi touch or not.


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