# Hindi: death, die



## amiramir

Hello all,

There's a thread here for Urdu euphemisms for death: Urdu: Terms and euphemisms for death/dead/to die. Sorry, I don't know how to hyperlink. 

I'm not looking for all the euphemisms for death, but in Hindi if I just want to say matter of fact-ly in a non-dramatic way-- but not abrupt either -- that my daadi has died, for instance, how would I say this. 

In English, I'm more likely to say-- my daadi has died, so i have to go to India. Meri daadiji mar gayeeN, however sounds horrible.

Is-- meri daadi ka dehaaNt hua hai; is liye main India jaa rahaa huN-- ok? or meri daadi guzar gayeeN haiN: is liye main India ja rahaa huN? 

(Also, do these two sentences sound better to you with or without hai/haiN at the end of dehaant and guzar gayeeN?)

I want something respectful, but not overly melodramatic or overly goodytwoshoes-ish. 

Many thanks.


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## iskander e azam

amiramir SaaHib,

In Hindi, I would prefere meri daadi amar hogi hai. The literal translation in English being: My Paternal grandmother has become immortal (immortal = amar). This makes most sense if you are a Hindu as it nods to Hindu theology. In Urdu, your suggestion; meri daadi guzar gayeeN haiN, worked well.

I am sure more learned posters will respond with help. 

BTW your hyperlink worked.

Yours sincerely, 

Alex


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## amiramir

Thanks, Alex. I've never heard amar hona as a euphemism for death before. Glad to have learned something new. Let's see what others have to say, particularly regarding whether guzarna is marked as Urdu and less likely to be used by the average urban Hindi speaker.


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## Englishmypassion

I am not a learned poster, just an ordinary one. However, I will try my best.
"Meri daadi guzar gayi hain" is one of the two most common expressions spoken by Hindi speakers, I think. "Amar ho gyi hain" has a very positive ring to it, but isn't really used in everyday speech. It's a kind of expression used usually while praising/speaking about the person dead and his her achievements publically.  
"Meri daadi ki death ho gyi hai" is the other very common expression in spoken Hindi, said even by people who know only a few and very common English words like death, postmortem, birthday, registration, call, etc. I can't say which of these two is more common.
"Meri daadi nhi rahi" is another expression. And then, of course, "Meri daadi ka nidhan/swargwaas/dehaant ho gya hai" purer Hindi, yet spoken, though not so commonly. "Nidhan" is a little more common than "swargwaas", I think.  "Swargwaas" is a euphemism, literally meaning "abode in heaven". One more I can think of is " Meri daadi ki mrityu ho gayi hai". It's not so common, in my opinion.


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## amiramir

Empji, thanks-- that's super helpful.


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## Englishmypassion

You're welcome. 
"Death ho gyi hai" is more common in urban India than rural India, as you can easily guess.


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## amiramir

Sorry, and I should know the answer to this already, but is it always ho gaya hai instead of hua hai when it comes to dehaant, death, mrityu, etc (making the obvious changes for gender and number)?


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## Englishmypassion

You are right about that.


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## tonyspeed

Of course death can be replaced by _maut_ as well. As far as Urdu goes for guzarna, I think Urdu/Hindi is usually determined by nouns in the minds of those that care, almost never by verbs....


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## Englishmypassion

"Maut" is not usually used by native Hindi speakers in that context. It is usually used to talk about death in an accident, especially when your relatives or dear ones are not concerned, I think.
Yes, "khatam (distorted but more common pronunciation of "khatma") ho gayi hain" is also very, very common.


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## Khaanabadosh

Meri daadi ka swargavaas/dehaant/nidhan ho gaya hai, isliye mujhe india jaana hai.
Meri daadi guzar gayi hain, isliye mujhe india jaana hai.
Meri daadi ki mrityu ho gayi hai, isliye mujhe india jaana hai.

or if you are going specifically for the last rites then use,
Mujhe apni daadi ka antim sanskaar karne india jaana hai/ Mujhe apni daadi ke antim sanskaar meiN jaana hai (specific for Hindu/Sikh/Jain/Buddhist funeral rites, use 'janaazah' for muslim burials)


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## littlepond

iskander e azam said:


> In Hindi, I would prefere meri daadi amar hogi hai.



No, that is not used, and it would be strange.


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## littlepond

Besides some of the suggestions, one could also say:

"meri daadii ...

parlok/svarglok sidhaar gayii haiN"
uupar chalii gayii haiN"

Also, "dehaant ho gayaa hai" would be normal, not "dehaant huaa hai".


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## amiramir

Thank you everyone. Also to LPji for the ho gayaa vs huaa hai distinction.


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## iskander e azam

littlepond said:


> No, that is not used, and it would be strange.



امر ہو جانا shows it is used to describe death though how appropriate it would be in the OP's circumstances seems to be disputable.


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## littlepond

iskander e azam said:


> امر ہو جانا shows it is used to describe death though how appropriate it would be in the OP's circumstances seems to be disputable.



I cannot read what you've written, but if you are saying "amar jo jaanaa" would be valid in OP's context, then that's not possible. Also, your earlier, theological argument was itself unsound, as many Hindus believe in a cycle of reincarnation, not in instant immortality. So when one dies, for many Hindus, one _does not_ become immortal.


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## iskander e azam

littlepond said:


> I cannot read what you've written, but if you are saying "amar jo jaanaa" would be valid in OP's context, then that's not possible. Also, your earlier, theological argument was itself unsound, as many Hindus believe in a cycle of reincarnation, not in instant immortality. So when one dies, for many Hindus, one _does not_ become immortal.



I too said it now is disputable whether it applies in OP's context. I did not present a theological argument I said it nodded to Hindu theology. A live well lived would lead to moksha at death and a break from the cycle of birth and rebirth and thus immortality. One would have to know the details of the life in question to know if the phrase could be used of someone's death.


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## littlepond

^ I don't think that from the OP's context, esp. given the background of euphemisms, one would need to know the details of the life in question. Also, "amar ho jaanaa" is disputable not just in OP's context, but even outside of it, if you are claiming that it can mean in a normal euphemistic way that "he/she died". If you could give something in romanized script, we could discuss further.
(I am also assuming that you meant many Hindus' theology, since not all Hindus believe in moksha, or even aatmaan.)

By the way, a very often-used euphemism is "bhagwaan ko pyaaraa/pyaarii ho jaanaa". (I have not checked to see if someone has already suggested this.)


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## iskander e azam

littlepond said:


> ^ I don't think that from the OP's context, esp. given the background of euphemisms, one would need to know the details of the life in question. Also, "amar ho jaanaa" is disputable not just in OP's context, but even outside of it, if you are claiming that it can mean in a normal euphemistic way that "he/she died". If you could give something in romanized script, we could discuss further.
> (I am also assuming that you meant many Hindus' theology, since not all Hindus believe in moksha, or even aatmaan.)
> 
> By the way, a very often-used euphemism is "bhagwaan ko pyaaraa/pyaarii ho jaanaa". (I have not checked to see if someone has already suggested this.)



I posted a link to the phrase in Urdu but I do not write Hindi. Shabdkosh has many entries for die but does not have amar ho jaanaa nor does it have bhagwaan ko pyaaraa/pyaarii ho jaanaa either. So that proves little. I found only two entries via Google (typing in "amar ho jana - there are only 3 pages of results") giving it to mean death, one of which was a tweet. Very poor results. I can only conclude it is rarer in Hindi than Urdu (which strikes me as odd but page after page is shown via the Urdu link) and online Romanized Urdu/Hindi users have little or no use for it.

Of all the terms, I think the best was saved till last: bhagwaan ko pyaaraa/pyaarii ho jaanaa. It is informal without being impolite. Euphemistic without being saccharine sweet.

I hope the OP is still reading and goes to shabdkosh. His options are multifold.


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## littlepond

Thanks for your explanations. Shabdkosh is not a very reliable resource, anyway. Further to your searches, I did now on my own in Devanagari script itself: the result is that most entries are using "amar ho jaanaa" to mean "being immortal" in the literal sense, rather than dying. Many use "mar ke bhii amar ho jaanaa": in spite of dying, becoming immortal. Clear indication that "amar ho jaanaa", at least in Hindi, doesn't normally mean "dying". In Urdu, of course, the situation may differ.


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## marrish

littlepond said:


> Thanks for your explanations. Shabdkosh is not a very reliable resource, anyway. Further to your searches, I did now on my own in Devanagari script itself: the result is that most entries are using "amar ho jaanaa" to mean "being immortal" in the literal sense, rather than dying. Many use "mar ke bhii amar ho jaanaa": in spite of dying, becoming immortal. Clear indication that "amar ho jaanaa", at least in Hindi, doesn't normally mean "dying". In Urdu, of course, the situation may differ.


I agree and I can confirm that it is not true that "amar ho jaanaa" means "dying". No wonder that it is the same in Hindi. To confirm it I will quote Farhang-e-Asafiyyah (Dehli 1918):

اَمَر ہونا ۔ہ۔فِعلِ‌لازِم۔ غَیر فانی ہونا ۔ ہمیشہ زِنْدہ رہنا ۔ اَبَدُالْآباد رہنا٭
_amar honaa: h. fi3l-e-laazim. Ghair-faanii honaa, hameshah zindah rahnaa, abadu-l-aabaad rahnaa._

_amar_ means this in Urdu:

اَمَرْ ۔ہ۔صِفَت۔ اَن مِٹ ۔ اَمِٹ ۔ لا زوال ۔ اَبناشی٭
_amar: h. sifat. an-miT, amiT, laa-zawaal, abinaashii_.

Perhaps you can pass your meaning if the entries above are applicable for Hindi. I'm sure you will have little problems understanding them.

So there is nothing about dying itself, on the opposite!


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## littlepond

^ Indeed, the Hindi sense would be the same as detailed by you, marrish jii, for Urdu. Thanks a lot for clarifying the Urdu position on the phrase.


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