# Urdu, Hindi: Interesting use of kyaa



## tonyspeed

The following is a spech by a woman in a serial to a would-be politician. My question is:
how is "kyaa" being used in the last line? And how would you translate this into English?
I seem to be coming into contact with this colloquial usage of kyaa more and more these days.

sharm aanii chaahii'e aap ko Sir
ek taraf apne aap ko jantaa kaa sevak kah rahe haiN
aur duusrii taraf apraadh ko baRHaavaa de kar
aap hameN chup rahne kii nasiiyat de rahe haiN ?
Aap apni samaaj apni shahar kii sevaa kaise kareNge?
kaise kareN ham aap par bharosa?
kaise saump deN apne samaaj kii bagDoreN aise addmii ke haath meN
jo aurat kii izzat, un  kii surakshaa nahiN kar sakte?
balki auratoN kii izzat ke saath apraadhiyoN ke lie saudaabaazi kar rahaa hai?
*vo hamarii samaaj kii rakshaa kyaa karegaa?*


apraadh - crime
raksha -  protection
sevak - servant
seva - service
surakshaa - security
jantaa - public


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## tonyspeed

To clarify, if someone said: "kyaa vo hamarii samaaj kii rakshaa  karegaa?" or "vo hamarii samaaj kii rakshaa  karegaa kyaa?"
I would translate this is as "will he protect our society?". But the context in which "*vo hamarii samaaj kii rakshaa kyaa karegaa?"
*is used seems to imply a different connotation. Kind of like, "what in the hell will he be able to do for sociry"? But in that case,  I am 
expecting to see something like "vo hamarii samaaj  kii rakshaa* ke lie* kyaa karegaa?" Please explain the idiom I am seeing, if it is
really is some idiom I am unfamilar with.

Along the same lines as thread http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=2781993 , could this be a usage of kyaa meaning "*kaise*"?


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## Qureshpor

samaaj is masculine, I believe.

Here "kyaa" implies "kaise" and this use of kyaa is quite normal.


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## Dib

Yes, it is a common idiom. I take this kind of "kyaa" to mean a rhetorical "what sort of?"


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## marrish

Yes, it is quite common but peculiar because it is not a simple ''kaise'' or ''what sort of'', it expresses an affectionate meaning which I can illustrate with another Urdu expression ''_wuh hamaare samaaj kaa taHaffuz xaak kare gaa_?" It is the same in meaning. It implies that it is absolutely not thinkable for him to be ever able to comply with his duty.


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## littlepond

"kyaa" here means "what sort of", as Dib jii has indicated, and it is a very normal use of "kyaa". It is a sort of "kaise", but non-interchangeable with "kaise" here in terms of sense (though grammatically interchangeable); Quresh jii has already mentioned the "kaise" point. As for "khaak", I do make a difference between "voh hamarii raksha kyaa karegaa?" and "voh hamaari rakshaa kyaa khaak karegaa?" The latter is stronger, and more opinionated.


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## Dib

One interesting informal substitute for "xaak" in this context is "ghanTaa". It is just as much opinionated, but at the same time street lingo-ie. I can also think of a vulgar substitute, but I am not sure about the forum's censorship policies. So, not putting it here.


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## littlepond

^ Indeed, though "ghantaa" is also considered vulgar. It's used in the trailer of the upcoming Hindi movie "Gulab Gang".


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## Dib

Huh. Is it? So, would you say, I should not use this "ghanTaa" when talking to my friend's parents for example? I thought it was just slang, but not vulgar.


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## littlepond

^ Of course not to your friend's parents!


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## Dib

Ahah. In a PM, littlepond has just explained to me why my aternative is vulgar. And, now, I am embarrassed.


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## tonyspeed

Dib said:


> Ahah. In a PM, littlepond has just explained to me why my aternative is vulgar. And, now, I am embarrassed.




I would consider ghanTaa to be vulgar along the lines of "this sucks" or "you dillweed" in English. I could be wrong. Not a curse word, but not polite speech.


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## marrish

littlepond said:


> As for "khaak", I do make a difference between "voh hamarii raksha kyaa karegaa?" and "voh hamaari rakshaa kyaa khaak karegaa?" The latter is stronger, and more opinionated.


I quite agree, there *is* a difference between ..._xaak kare gaa_ and ..._kyaa kare gaa_. The difference is in the intensity of meaning and I introduced this alternate sentence with _xaak_ just to illustrate the sense in which _kyaa_ is used. It is the same sentiment but expressed yet more strongly. Thanks for giving a signal, I should have perhaps noted it then.
I wouldn't say ''_rakshaa kyaa xaak karegaa_." I would only say "_rakshaa xaak karegaa_"


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## littlepond

We use both, marrish jii: "[rakshaa] khaak karegaa?" and "[rakshaa] kyaa khaak karegaa?" The latter is slightly more intense in terms of being cynic.


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## Qureshpor

^ But in your example the kyaa is simply a question marker...what do you think?


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## littlepond

^ I do not think so, Quresh jii; after all, no one is talking about "what, which khaak". "kyaa khaak karegaa" can have the "khaak" elided, and thus we have "kyaa karegaa" - back to from where we started. Of course, in my post 14, I should maybe use exclamation marks at the end of both sentences, rather than a question mark.


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## Chhaatr

Dib said:


> Ahah. In a PM, littlepond has just explained to me why my aternative is vulgar. And, now, I am embarrassed.



Dibjii your "_kyaa ghaNTaa karegaa_" made me homesick!  This is something which you say while speaking to friends.  I can't imagine uttering this in front of my friend's (or even enemy's) parents, unless I wanted to get back at him for something equally appalling he did to me... perhaps not even then! .  Good to know UP has no monopoly over _ghaNTaa_!


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## Dib

In this predicament of mine, you see what happens when you pick up a language in the wild, but only have access to a part of the wilderness (here, the college campus). Thankfully I have never been needed to use my Hindi skills in formal situations*. Who knows what other pitfalls are waiting out there for me. 

* Thinking of Chatur's speech in Three Idiots.


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## Qureshpor

Is this thread about the use of kyaa or the vulgar use of ghaNTaa?


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## Qureshpor

Here is an example of this kind of "kyaa" from a poem entitled "ek aarzuu" by Iqbal (1877-1938).

dunyaa kii maHfiloN se uktaa gayaa huuN yaa rab
*kyaa* lutf anjuman meN jab dil hii bujh gayaa ho?


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