# Hindi/Urdu: Life



## Kahaani

Hi,

I was wondering which is the preferred word  in Pakistan and India. I'd logically say it would be _zindagii_ or _jaan_ in Pakistan and _jiivan_ in India, but I know _zindagii _and _jaan _are common in India as well, so is there some kind of rule or special situation where you would prefer one over the other? Like in poetry, in official documents, in daily speech, when speaking romantically, when speaking friendly, and when being rude.

Thank you,
Nigel


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## lcfatima

Urdu is spoken widely in India, too. Best not to make the division between the two languages along national boundaries.

In Urdu, in addition to zindagii, there is also Hayaat, which is from Arabic.


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## Kahaani

I'm aware of that, but to be able to regard the said context in i.e. official documents, isn't it needed to view both countries separately? I'm aware that Urdu is spoken in India and Hindi is spoken in Pakistan as well. However, in my query I obviously intended to view both countries, in their respective forms, regarding this word in their official languages. I don't see why I shouldn't make this division. That's like saying, you shouldn't make a difference between England and India since both countries have English speakers even though they could both have their own terminology for certain things. 

_Hayaat _is a great addition to this thread then, thank you.


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## greatbear

Hi Kahaani; both _jeevan _and _zindagii_ are very common words used for "life" in Hindi; _jaan_ is also used a lot, especially in idiomatic constructions like _jaan pyaarii honaa_. A typical Hindi speaker uses all these three. A lot depends on the kind of register one is using. In the song "Zindagi ke safar meN", one wouldn't use "jeevan ke safar meN" - that is fine, but would/could look a bit odd, since "zindagi" goes along better with "safar" owing to Perso-Arabic origins of both of them. On the other hand, in the song "Jeevan ek sangharsh hai", it is "jeevan" that is the word that seems more suitable. Of course, we also mix Perso-Arabic register with Sanskrit-Prakrit register, especially speakers like me; there's no rule really.

In Indian official documents, however, _jeevan_ might be the preferred word, since the Government of India seems to discourage words of Perso-Arabic origins as far as possible as part of policy. No other differences with respect to rude/polite, romantic/unromantic, prose/poetry - all the words could be used in all contexts. _Jaan_ though is a word that is also romantic in nature when meaning _beloved_ (e.g., "merii jaan" - also "jaaN") - a derivation is the purely romantic _jaanuu_ (again meaning "beloved"), as in the song "Tuu meraa januu hai".


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## greatbear

^ Note that _aayuu_, which means "age" literally, also means "life" in many contexts (e.g., "un kii aayuu nahiN rahii ab"). Again, a widely used word.


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## Alfaaz

Kahaani said:
			
		

> Hi,
> 
> I was wondering which is the preferred word in Pakistan and India. I'd logically say it would be _zindagii_ or _jaan_ in Pakistan and _jiivan_ in India, but I know _zindagii _and _jaan _are common in India as well, so is there some kind of rule or special situation where you would prefer one over the other? Like in poetry, in official documents, in daily speech, when speaking romantically, when speaking friendly, and when being rude.
> 
> Thank you,
> Nigel


زندگی _zindagi_, جان _jaan_, حیات _Hayaat_, عمر _uعmr_, زیست _zeest _, ہستی _hasti_, and even جیون _jeevan_ are all used in Urdu literature (in both Pakistan and India). However, their useage will probably depend on context. 

_Hayaat_ and _3umr_ are from Arabic, while _zeest, hasti, jaan,_ _and zindagi_ are from Persian. This means that all of the aforementioned words can be used in _izaafats_, such as _shareek-e-Hayaat , tarz-e-zindagi, jaan-e-jaanan, etc._

_Zindagi_ will probably be the most common word for _life_ in speech, in addition to_ jaan,_ _3umr, _and_ Hayaat_. The others might be considered a bit more formal and/or poetic. Apart from the usage with the meaning of _life_, _Hayaat_ seems to be used very commonly in place of _zindah_, such as when asking whether a relative is alive or not - _"aap ke/ki __________ Hayaat haiN?"_. _Zeest_ is probably less common than _zindagi, jaan, 3umr, and Hayaat_, but it is also used as a female name. Even though _jeevan_ has been used a lot in Urdu poetry and popular (Pakistani) Urdu film and television songs, it probably won't be heard as much as the others in speech/dialogue. In the example below, the first two _jaan's_ are used as a term of endearment, while the third _jaan_ in the line is used with the meaning of _life_. _hasti_ could mean _life_ or _existence_ in the examples below, depending on one's interpretation. Various examples from poetry and lyrics: 




_*zindagi* meN to sabhi pyaar kiyaa karte haiN
maiN to mar kar bhi meri *jaan* tujhe chaahoN gaa
tu milaa hai to yeh iHsaas huaa hai mujhko
yeh meri *3umr* maHabbat ke liye thoRi hai_

*زندگی* میں تو سبھی پیار کیا کرتے ہیں 
میں تو مر کر بھی میری *جان *تجھے چاہوں گا 
تو ملا ہے تو یہ احساس ہوا ہے مجھکو
یہ میری *عمر* محبّت کے لئے تھوڑی ہے ​_maut aati naheeN kaheeN Ghaalib
kab tak afsos *zeest* kaa kijiye
dard ho dil meiN to dawaa kijiye
dil hi jab dard ho to kyaa kijiye?_

موت آتی نہیں کہیں غالب 
کب تک افسوس *زیست* کا کیجیئے 
درد دو دل میں تو دوا کیجیئے 
دل ہی جب درد ہو تو کیا کیجیئے ؟​_aarzuu hai keh tu yahaaN aa'e
aur phir *3umr*-bhar nah jaa'e kaheeN
niyat-e-shauq bhar nah jaa'e kaheeN_

آرزو ہے کہ تو یہاں آئے 
اور پھر *عمر* بھر نہ جائے کہیں
نیّت شوق بھر نہ جائے کہیں ​_*jeevan*-bhar saath nibhaaeN ge hum dono
honTon peh geet sajaaeN ge hum dono
wa3dah kareN, ab nah kabhi, bichReN ge hum dono_

*جیون* بھر ساتھ نبھا ئینگے ہم دونو 
ہونٹوں پہ گیت سجائیں گے ہم دونو 
وعدہ کریں ، اب نہ کبھی ، بچھڑیں گے ہم دونو ​_*jaan jaan* kehte hu'e *jaan* jaa'e gi 
teri dewaani hooN , dunyaa dewaani pehchaan jaa'e gi_

_*جان جان*_ کہتے ہوئے *جان* جائے گی 
تیری دیوانی ہوں ، دنیا دیوانی پہچان جائے گی ​_haar ga'ii dunyaa ki rasmeN , aaj maHabbat jeet ga'ii
are o mere *jeevan*-saathi_

ہار گئی دنیا کی رسمیں ، آج محبّت جیت گئی 
ارے او میرے *جیون* ساتھی ​_i3tibaar-e-*Hayaat* kyaa kijiye
jab aTal hai mamaat, kyaa kijiye_

اعتبار *حیات* کیا کیجئے 
جب اٹل ہے ممات ، کیا کیجئے ​_*hasti* apni Habaab ki si hai
yeh numaa'ish saraab ki si hai_

*ہستی* اپنی حباب كی سی ہے
یہ نمائش سراب كی سی ہے​_*hasti *hi apni kyaa hai zamaane ke saamne
ik xaab haiN jahaaN meN bikhar jaa'eN hum to kyaa
zindah raheN to kyaa hai, mar jaa'eN hum to kyaa
dunyaa se xaamoshi se guzar jaa'eN hum to kyaa_
*ہستی* ہی اپنی کیا ہے زمانے کے سامنے
اک خواب ہیں جہاں میں بکھر جائیں ہم تو کیا
زندہ رہیں تو کیا ہے جو مر جائیں ہم تو کیا 
دنیا سے خاموشی سے گزر جائیں ہم تو کیا​

​


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## Chhaatr

In day to day conversation I've used and heard '_jiivan_' very infrequently as compared to_ jaan, zindagii, umr._


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## Faylasoof

Chhaatr said:


> In day to day conversation I've used and heard '_jiivan_' very infrequently as compared to_ jaan, zindagii, umr._


 This is my experience too! 

BTW, _3umr _عمر has more than one usage, as I'm sure you know:

_yeh kaam maiN ne *3umr* *bhar* / *zindagii bhar* kiyaa hai_ = I've done this work* all *_my_* life*

_aap kii *3umr* kyaa hai_ = What is your* age*?


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## iskander e azam

I would just like to add for the sake of completeness that the variant زندگانی is also in use.


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## Chhaatr

^ I think *zindagaanii, *as you mentioned above is used more in poetry and songs but not in day to day chit chat among friends/acquaintances.

_zindagaanii ke safar meN tuu akelaa hii nahiiN hai, hum bhi tere humsafar haiN._


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## gagun

jaan and zindagi are mostly used depending upon the situation.


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## Kahaani

Thank you very much everyone for all your answers (especially to Alfaaz saahib for the poetic examples)!

It is very interesting to see how the Perso-Arabic words are seen as more colloquial than their Sanskrit equivalents.


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## Qureshpor

There is not very much left to be said in this thread except perhaps that zindagii and jaan are not synonymous. zindagii is the process of being zindah (alive/living) and therefore is contained within a period of time whereas "jaan" is life itself. We can not say about someone who has just died..us kii zindagii nikal ga'ii hai..but we can say "us kii jaan nikal ga'ii hai".

Here is "jiivan" being used by an Urdu poet.


jab haath kii rekhaa’eN chup thiiN 
aur sur saNgiit meN so’e the 
tab ham ne jiivan khetii meN 
kuchh xvaab anokhe bo’e the 

Ahmed Faraz

It is no doubt true that "zindagii" is the most common word for "life" in Urdu.


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## actively

[Moderator note: Thread merged with the previous one about the same topic. Please don't forget to search the forum before opening a thread, as per forum rule #1. Thanks. Cherine]


Hello,

Just to confirm, are the Hindi words for "life" zindagi/jeevan? Which one is used most frequently? Also, why do I see so many Hindi speakers using the word "life" instead when there it is a common word that already exists in Hindi?


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## rituparnahoymoy

actively said:


> Hello,
> 
> Just to confirm, are the Hindi words for "life" zindagi/jeevan? Which one is used most frequently? Also, why do I see so many Hindi speakers using the word "life" instead when there it is a common word that already exists in Hindi?



Answer to your first question is yes.

Both are used at the same rate. 
Most  bilingual speakers speaks sentences which have words of two different languages.


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## desi4life

actively said:


> Hello,
> 
> Just to confirm, are the Hindi words for "life" zindagi/jeevan? Which one is used most frequently? Also, why do I see so many Hindi speakers using the word "life" instead when there it is a common word that already exists in Hindi?



Many urban speakers use English words such as "life" in day-to-day conversations, even if the Hindi alternatives (zindagii, jiivan, jaan, etc.) are common. Over time, the English words may start being considered Hindi words too.


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