# Urdu/Hindi: load shedding



## UrduMedium

Not only load shedding is a fact of life in Pakistan, but the term is also a permanent fixture in Urdu media and press, including today's Jang's main headline (Pakistan's largest daily). I wonder if a an Urdu/Hindi translation/substitute with a lighter footprint can be coined that's easier on the ears and fits better in Urdu/Hindi flow.

Any suggestions? My initial input is:

baar baaNT: noun
baar baaNTnaa: verb
baar baaNTii: adjective

baar = load; baaNT = distribution (proxy for shedding)


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## greatbear

I think you mean "bhaar", not "baar" (which means "number of times").

Note that load shedding is _not _load distribution; load shedding means preplanned outage of electrical power because the (electrical) load is too high. Also, I have always heard of "baNTwaaraa" as the noun, never "baaNT", at least in Hindi.

The term for load shedding already exists in Hindi and _is _used; it is the same as you will find on the Marathi Wiki page for "load shedding": "bhaar niyaman". The Hindi term would thus be "vidyut bhaar niyaman" (literally, electrical load regularization).


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## UrduMedium

Thanks for the comment and suggestions, gb. I know where you are coming from on baar/bhaar. However, _baar _is commonly used word for load/burden (Persian origin, I guess). In words like _baar bardaari_ (freight transit) and _garaaN baarii_ (heaviness). 

Also at least in Urdu, _baaNT _is also used as a noun. Just confirmed it at an online Urdu dictionary. You may have heard of the expression _bandar baaNT_ (a self-serving distribution)

_niyaman _sounds good but is foreign to Urdu.


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## Alfaaz

> I think you mean "bhaar", not "baar" (which means "number of times").


Urdu has two baars: 
From Sanskrit: number of times/turn; 
From Farsi: weight/wazn; 



> Not only load shedding is a fact of life in Pakistan, but the term is also a permanent fixture in Urdu media and press, including today's Jang's main headline (Pakistan's largest daily). I wonder if a an Urdu/Hindi translation/substitute with a lighter footprint can be coined that's easier on the ears and fits better in Urdu/Hindi flow.
> Any suggestions?


Interesting question that requires some thinking....


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## greatbear

UrduMedium said:


> Thanks for the comment and suggestions, gb. I know where you are coming from on baar/bhaar. However, _baar _is commonly used word for load/burden (Persian origin, I guess). In words like _baar bardaari_ (freight transit) and _garaaN baarii_ (heaviness).
> 
> Also at least in Urdu, _baaNT _is also used as a noun. Just confirmed it at an online Urdu dictionary. You may have heard of the expression _bandar baaNT_ (a self-serving distribution)
> 
> _niyaman _sounds good but is foreign to Urdu.



I didn't know that "baar" exists for "bhaar" in Urdu, neither of "baaNT" as noun (no, never heard of "bandar baaNT").

By the way, my answer was limited to Hindi. Since you wanted a Hindi term to be also coined, I simply wanted to point out that there is no need to coin one: the term already exists and is also used by people. Of course, "load shedding" is more common in speech.


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## UrduMedium

greatbear said:


> I didn't know that "baar" exists for "bhaar" in Urdu, neither of "baaNT" as noun (no, never heard of "bandar baaNT").
> 
> By the way, my answer was limited to Hindi. Since you wanted a Hindi term to be also coined, I simply wanted to point out that there is no need to coin one: the term already exists and is also used by people. Of course, "load shedding" is more common in speech.



Sorry I did not explicitly acknowledge it. But yes, I agree, it seems a fine term is already in place in Hindi, as you said. 

As Alfaaz said, _baar _is used in both meanings in Urdu. _bhaarii _is commonly used but I have not heard _bhaar _used in Urdu.

Also just checked on _bandar baaNT _in Chaturvedi dictionary. Here's the listing ...

बंदरbāndar (_nm) a monkey; harbour; —घुड़की/भभकी a hollow threat; mere brow-beating/bluffing; —का घाव an evergreen wound; an ever present affliction; -बाँट a distribution weighted in favour of oneself; —की बला तबेले के सिरmistaken usage—the actual proverb is तबेले की बला बंदर के सिर— transference of the affliction to another head; —क्या जाने अदरक का स्वाद Caviar to the General._


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## greatbear

Thanks for the info; had never heard before of the "bandar baaNT". Though I now recall that "baaNT" is used as noun these days in Hindi for one meaning: weights (the ones that are put in one pan of the scales).

What is the noun in Urdu for lightening a load, work, etc., for "b(h)aar halkaa karnaa"? I believe that is where you should look.


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## UrduMedium

greatbear said:


> Thanks for the info; had never heard before of the "bandar baaNT". Though I now recall that "baaNT" is used as noun these days in Hindi for one meaning: weights (the ones that are put in one pan of the scales).
> 
> What is the noun in Urdu for lightening a load, work, etc., for "b(h)aar halkaa karnaa"? I believe that is where you should look.



GB, that same name for steel weights is used in Urdu too, but that is _baaT_, not _baaNT_. I think _baaT _is related to other nouns like _baTTaa _(as in _sil baTTaa_), rather than _baaNT_.


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## Alfaaz

> Interesting question that requires some thinking....


Here are some ideas! (given below)


> What is the noun in Urdu for lightening a load, work, etc., for "b(h)aar halkaa karnaa"? I believe that is where you should look.


A great idea by greatbear!
For "load shedding": in Urdu we could use تخفیف _takhfeef_, which means exactly that (at least that is one of its meanings does: kami, bojh halkaa karna, kam karnaa)

Now to be specific (for electricity) we could probably say: _takhfeef-e-barq;_

Here there seems to be a problem with both "load shedding" (and takhfeef-e-barq)...it has become commonly understood to mean: The act or process of disconnecting the electric current on certain lines when the demand becomes greater than the supply, but could be used for any kind of load shedding...(at least the Urdu term).

So we could probably also use: تخفیف برقی قوت takhfiif-e-barqi quwwat or بندش برق.......یا........برقی بندش bandish-e-barq.........or..............barqi bandish.........?


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## UrduMedium

Thanks, Alfaaz. I like _taxfiif_. But what happened to "_load_"? Did you _shed _it completely from the term too?


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## Alfaaz

> Thanks, Alfaaz. I like _taxfiif_. But what happened to "_load_"? Did you _shed _it completely from the term too?



; OK, I was thinking, but couldn't come up with an appropriate word for "load" in this context........the dictionary definition says "bojh halkaa karnaa" (_Please correct this understanding if it is wrong!_)........so _if this is true_, why use two words when one can do the trick? (Again, not sure if my understanding of the word is correct, which is why I suggested others as well...)


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## Qureshpor

Alfaaz said:


> Urdu has two baars:
> From Sanskrit: number of times/turn;
> From Farsi: weight/wazn;
> 
> Interesting question that requires some thinking....



Not quite. Sanskrit might also use the same word but in Urdu, it is certainly from Persian.

digar-baar

baar-haa

do-baar-ah

Edit: wazn is Arabic! (plural auzaan)


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## Alfaaz

> Not quite. Sanskrit _might also use the same word _but in Urdu, it is certainly from persian.


Thanks for the information and correction! (another _possible_ mistake in this dictionary )


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## greatbear

UrduMedium said:


> GB, that same name for steel weights is used in Urdu too, but that is _baaT_, not _baaNT_. I think _baaT _is related to other nouns like _baTTaa _(as in _sil baTTaa_), rather than _baaNT_.



Ah yes, you're right, that's baaT! And of course there's the derivation baTTaa.


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## BP.

greatbear said:


> I didn't know that "baar" exists for "bhaar" in Urdu...


You could see _baar _synonymous to _boojh_.

bhaar is a word? Is it the noun derived from _bhaarii_?


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## Qureshpor

Using gb's "bhaar", (bijlii)-bhaar-jhaaR

Also (bijlii) baar-rezii


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## UrduMedium

QURESHPOR said:


> Using gb's "bhaar", (bijlii)-bhaar-jhaaR
> 
> Also (bijlii) baar-rezii



I like _baar rezii, _QP saahib_. _Short and sweet, only three syllables long. Also I would prefer to see _bijli baar rezii_ too, but most likely a _kii _after _bijli _will be inserted by most people, thus making is a fragment rather than a term. 

I have not figured out when a noun is allowed to be used as adjective (as is) in Urdu, and when not. For example: 

we say _chiRyaa _ghar not _chiRyaa'ii_ ghar
but say _havaa'ii_ jahaaz not _havaa _jahaaz

Somehow I feel _bijlii _here will turn into _bijlii kii_. _barqii baar rezii_, on the other hand is immune from this problem.

Also once the term becomes well-known it does not need the bijlii/barqii qualification, just like load shedding does not.


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## Qureshpor

This is one way of defining "load-shedding".

*"load-shedding* - cutting off the electric current on certain lines when the demand becomes greater than the supply"

bijlii-bandii


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## marrish

Alfaaz said:


> Thanks for the information and correction! (another _possible_ mistake in this dictionary )


It is true that Persian uses the same word _''baar''_ denoting ''number of times'', (for ''turn'' it would be _''baarii''_) and surely it is used in Urdu, as per examples provided by Qureshpor SaaHib. That online word listing is definitely mistaken about the provenience of this word (just have a look at the foot of the article, _''a suffix forming Persian nouns of multitude''_ (sic! from _khaRii bolii!_). However the main usages of this word are according to my knowledge, employing a Prakrit-origin word ''_baar_'' which is derived from Sanskrit ''_vaara_'' of the same meaning.


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## Alfaaz

> It is true that Persian uses the same word _''baar''_ denoting ''number of times'', (for ''turn'' it would be _''baarii''_) and surely it is used in Urdu, as per examples provided by Qureshpor SaaHib. That online word listing is definitely mistaken about the provenience of this word (just have a look at the foot of the article, _''a suffix forming Persian nouns of multitude''_ (sic! from _khaRii bolii!_). However the main usages of this word are according to my knowledge, employing a Prakrit-origin word ''_baar_'' which is derived from Sanskrit ''_vaara_'' of the same meaning.


Thanks for the detailed clarification! 


> Thanks, Alfaaz. I like _taxfiif_. But what happened to "_load_"? Did you _shed _it completely from the term too?
> 
> 
> 
> ; OK, I was thinking, but couldn't come up with an appropriate word for "load" in this context........the dictionary definition says "bojh halkaa karnaa" (_Please correct this understanding if it is wrong!_)........so _if this is true_, why use two words when one can do the trick? (Again, not sure if my understanding of the word is correct, which is why I suggested others as well...)
Click to expand...

Don't mean to go off-topic, but could someone also shed light on "takhfiif"? Could it be used to mean "load shedding" --without having to use another word for "load"?
I guess the question is: Would load-shedding be only "takhfeef" or something like "takhfeef-e-wazn".....?


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## Faylasoof

Alfaaz said:


> Thanks for the detailed clarification!
> 
> Don't mean to go off-topic, _*but could someone also shed light on "takhfiif"? Could it be used to mean "load shedding" --without having to use another word for "load"*_?
> I guess the question is: _*Would load-shedding be only "takhfeef" or something like "takhfeef-e-wazn"*_.....?


 _*In a word, no!*_ _*Yes! It has to be a compound of taxfiif + something else, to mean "load shedding"!*_

تخفیف _taxfiif _is from the Arabic verb خفف _xaffafa_ = to reduce, lighten, decrease the weight / burden / load; to relieve, soften etc. 

 تخفیف قوت _taxfiif-e-quwwat_ = (lit.) lightening / shedding / reducing the power. = power shedding.
 تخفیف بار _taxfiif-e-baar_ = (lit.)  lightening / shedding / reducing the load / weight = load shedding

Somehow I don't like the first! In fact, we do use _baar _(i.e. load) for electricity and electric cables: 

_bijlii ke taaroN par baar be Hadd baRh gayaa hai
 The load on the electric cables has increased very much

_So I would go for*تخفیف بار taxfiif-e-baar*_... _or something similar. For example,تقسیم بار _taqsiim-e-baar _(= _dividing_, implying _spreading_) _the load_ . This has also been suggested. In either case the context will tell you what _*baar*_ here is being reduced.


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## Alfaaz

> *In a word, no!* _*Yes! It has to be a compound of taxfiif + something else, to mean "load shedding"!
> ...
> *_So I would go for*تخفیف بار taxfiif-e-baar*_... _or something similar.


Thanks for the detailed answer!


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