# Urdu: ganimat



## panjabigator

Can someone explain to me how to use this word?


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## spakh

'ganimat' is booty, right?

Then, there is a useful usage of ganimat. That is from Qoran. I think 'ganimat' is mostly used in religious contexts. Also it is 'ganimet' in Turkish for it. 

And know that whatever of war-booty that you may gain, verily one-fifth (1/5th) of it is assigned to Allâh, and to the Messenger, and to the near relatives [of the Messenger (Muhammad SAW)], (and also) the orphans, Al-Masâkin (the poor) and the wayfarer, if you have believed in Allâh and in that which We sent down to Our slave (Muhammad SAW) on the Day of criterion (between right and wrong), the Day when the two forces met (the battle of Badr) - And Allâh is Able to do all things.


Unfortunately I don't know any Urdu usage. I hope that helps.


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## cherine

spakh said:


> 'ganimat' is booty, right?
> 
> Then, there is a useful usage of ganimat. That is from Qoran. I think 'ganimat' is mostly used in religious contexts.


I don't know any Urdu either, but the word ghanima غنيمة in Arabic means spoils or war. And it's not restricted to religious context. The plural is ghaná2im غنائم .


But of course I can't tell if we're speaking about the same word.


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## linguist786

The word is often used in the phrase غنيمت كا مال (ganiimat kaa maal) which means "spoils of war/booty"


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## Spectre scolaire

spakh said:
			
		

> I think 'ganimat' is mostly used in religious contexts.



Turk. ganimet is widely used in several non-religious contexts, often in idiomatic expressions, f.ex.:

_Spectre_, bu fırsatı ganimet bildi, “_Spectre_ seized this opportunity” ...
 ​


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## Alijsh

Spectre scolaire said:


> Turk. ganimet is widely used in several non-religious contexts, often in idiomatic expressions, f.ex.:
> 
> _Spectre_, bu fırsatı ganimet bildi, “_Spectre_ seized this opportunity” ...


 
we have also such an idiom: *qanimat dânestan/šemordan*. I think its Turkish will be *qanimat bilmak* (sorry if it's wrong. I don't know Turkish but I suppose "bilmak" means "to know"). In Persian, it means: to make the most of, to avail oneself of. However, it's a literary expression. 

bu fırsatı ganimet bildi - in forsat râ qanimat bedân (make the most of this opportunity). Is it right translation for Turkish one?


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## Spectre scolaire

I never thought of ganimet bilmek, “to seize [especially an opportunity]” (but also - and here I give credit to _spakh_! - “to look upon as something sent from god”) as a _calque_ from Persian, but this is most probably the case. It is not the only one!

There is no letter *q* in Turkish, and I don’t understand why it is transcribed with *q* in Persian. Does *q* reflect *غ* in this case?​Short *a* in Arabic and Persian regularly becomes *e* in Turkish.​bilmek, “to know” needed some vowel harmony. The verb is often given as _bil=_, a practical procedure because the infinitive mark _-mEk_ (with twofold vowel harmony) is of no importance for the conjugation – only for the verbal noun _bilme_.​Is there something “fishy” about this root in Arabic? I have this idea that it could possibly be a loanword in Arabic. I'll elaborate on it if I get my suspicion confirmed - from _cherine_, perhaps?
 ​​


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## MOST-WANTED

roz e ashar would be also used in Farsi, maybe in Urdu.


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## spakh

Spectre scolaire said:


> Turk. ganimet is widely used in several non-religious contexts, often in idiomatic expressions, f.ex.:
> 
> _Spectre_, bu fırsatı ganimet bildi, “_Spectre_ seized this opportunity” ...
> 
> ​


 

Surely, it is not surprising for a language like Turkish to gain some other usages, as well.


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## Illuminatus

This is a very old thread, but I found the topic interesting, so I am reviving it.

The word _ganimat _is used in a very different sense in Hindi.

Examples:
_Aaj main apna baTua (Wallet) rakhna bhool gaya. Woh to *ganimat *thi ki mere jeb (pocket) mein 10 rupay pade they.

_So, it sort of means *Luckily* in that sense.


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## panjabigator

Thanks for reviving this thread.  I never got the response I sought, but your post has resolved my confusion.  

I believe that your definition is also applicable to Urdu too.

As a side note, I like that you used <baTuaa> and not "purse" for wallet.  In Lucknow, when I referred to my wallet as a <baTuaa>, most people responded using the word purse, which caused me to wonder if <baTuaa> is different than the Indian concept of a purse, or if the word is in fact Panjabi.


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## Illuminatus

It is a word I used purely for academic purposes!

You are right, though. Many people (even youngsters) do not know the difference between a wallet and a purse (rather, they don't know the word _wallet_), and use _purse_ as a generic term for both. People know the word _baTuaa, _but it is rarely used.


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## lcfatima

In the UAE and Oman Ghanimah is a fairly common name for women. A friend of mine of that name says that the name is more common among Afro-Arabs here in the region. The name sounds odd or old-fashioned in other parts of the Arab world, though.


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## Faylasoof

cherine said:


> I don't know any Urdu either, but the word ghanima غنيمة in Arabic means spoils or war. And it's not restricted to religious context. The plural is ghaná2im غنائم .
> 
> 
> But of course I can't tell if we're speaking about the same word.


 
Yes, Cherine we are talking about the same word. Yet another word we 'Urduphones' have stolen from Arabic!! As you correctly say, it is not restricted to a religious context. In Urdu it has both the meaning of war booty as well as much else. As I shall explain below.

Thank you Illuminatus for reviving this thread. I see it started way before I joined.


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## Faylasoof

panjabigator said:


> I believe that your definition is also applicable to Urdu too.


 
It _is originally_ of Urdu usage and is used in more than one way, _including the way Illuminatus has demonstrated it for current Hindi_. 

Briefly, when used in Urdu as: 

_maal-e-ghaneemat_ = war booty in general - this is used mostly with reference to past historical events. 

_ghaneemat maal_ = better quality items / "stuff' - very commonly used today and implies a comparative. 

_ghaneemat _when used with nouns for inanimate / animate objects or rational / irrational beings / abstracts - again a comparative


… punjabigator, we still use the word ‘butwaa’ to mean both a wallet or a purse. I’m not surprised that in present-day Luckhnow nobody understood you when you used it. Luckhnow now is not what it used to be, especially when it comes to the standard of Urdu. The old, high standard _Luckhnavi Urdu_, as you well know, is a thing of the past.

Also, once real, _bona fide_ _Luckhnavi Butwaa_s were famous!! I guess few now would know what they even vaguely look like. Something like these here.


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## BP.

I've seen this contraption as a kid!


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## Faylasoof

To go on with the 'ghanimat / ghaneemat' story, when used as follows it gives the comparative:  woh  kitaab / shakhs / cheez or shay / daam or qeemat isse ghaneemat hai = that  book / person / thing / price is better than this one.    woh  kitaab / shakhs / cheez or shay / daam or qeemat isse phir ghaneemat hai = that  book / person / thing / price is still better than this one.   Similarly for this:woh  kitaab / shakhs / cheez / shay isse phir bhee ghaneemat hai


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## Cilquiestsuens

I think that I have noticed a difference between PK Urdu and Hindi usage with this word. In PK, I've never heard the typical Hindi sentence : *g(h)aniimat samjho...*
People would rather say : *ghaniimat jaano.*

Can any one confirm ?


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## Faylasoof

Clico, using 'ghanimat samjho / janoo' is NOT Hindi! Both of these are used in STANDARD URDU!! You might not like their use, but they are part of the language – perhaps not ‘panjabized’ Urdu. My family may be from Luckhnow but, as I have mentioned in one of the threads before, I’ve also lived in Pakistan (Karachi) where these expressions were / are used. Same is also true for my friends in Lahore. They use them too. Here is Ghalib  اس نغمہاے غم كو بھی اَے دل غنیمت جانیے ** بے صدا ہو جایگا یہ سازِ ھستی ایك دن  … All along I’ve been thinking that Ghalib was an Urdu poet, but according to your definition he composed in Hindi!! I never knew!


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## Illuminatus

Fayla loves his bit of sarcasm 

I think what Cilco meant was that while Hindi speakers say Ganimat samjho, Urdu speakers tend to use Ganmat Jaano


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## Faylasoof

Sorry if I sounded that way! I'm no longer sure what my dear friend Clico is trying to say or prove.  I'm really at a loss. Both in this thread and others he seems to be trying to prove that Urdu in PK is the real thing, which implies I speak some kind of Hindi. Illumin, in standard Urdu we use BOTH: 'ghanimat samjho or jaano'... and we also use the verb 'ghanimat hona'.  Now at the moment I do not have the time to give you more example, please my dear, dear friends believe me I speak Urdu. My knowledge of real Hindi is thus far regrettably quite limited. I’m off now.    Will be back for more stimulating exchanges.


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## Illuminatus

_Ganimat hona_ is the most commonly used form in Hindi.

_Yeh to ganimat hai ki...
Woh to ganimat thi ki...
_


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## panjabigator

I'm a bit confused still on how to use <Ganiimat jaano/samjho>?  Could I get a sentence, _baare mehrbaanii_?


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## BP.

Example for ghanimat jaanna/samajhna: _is giraani keh zamaanay maiN kar X rupay kilo bhi saib mil jaaiN to ghaneemat jaaniyay_! for lack of a more creative example.


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## Illuminatus

_Bhaai saahab, ganiimat samjhiye ki jaise hi ghar mein chor ghusa, hamare padausi ne dekh liya aur turant pulis ko phone kar diya. Warna, kal laKhon ka nuksaan ho jaata.

_भाई साहब, गनीमत समझिये कि जैसे ही घर में चोर घुसा, हमारे पडौसी ने देख लिया और तुंरत पुलिस को फ़ोन कर दिया. वरना, कल लाखों का नु्कसान हो जाता.


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## Faylasoof

PG Sahibjee!  The uses of ‘ghaneemat’ (غنیمت ) are varied. The above examples of Illumin and BP and also that of Ghalib’s verse in my post no.19 are of the same usage of this word. But ‘ghaneemat’ (غنیمت ) can also be used as I explain in posts 15 and 17. So let us take some examples that I, for brevity’s sake, didn’t illustrate better then. 

  [yeh kitaab us kitaab se ghaneemat hai =  یہ كتاب اُس كتاب سے غنیمت ہے = this book is better than that one]

  [yeh maine ghaneemat samjha keh is kaam ko aaj hi puraa kar looN =  یہ میں نے غنیمت سمجھا كہ اِس كام كو آج ہی پورا كر لوں
   = I thought it prudent / sensible to finish this work today]

  [woh ek ghaneemat insaan hai = وہ ایك غنیمت انسان  ہے   = he / she is a decent / sensible person.]

  [is aam ke tokray ki qeemat us aam ke tokray ki qeemat se ghaneemat hai =  اِس آم كے ٹوكرے كی قیمت اُس آم كے ٹوكرے كی قیمت سے غنیمت ہے  = the price of this basket of mangoes is better (more sensible) than the price of that basket of mangoes.] 

  If you wish to say ‘still better / far better / very much better’ in the above sentences, then just replace  غنیمت with پھر غنیمت  (= still better) or   ذیادہ غنیمت  /  كہیں غنیمت (=  far better) or  كہیں ذیادہ غنیمت  (= very much better ).

  I’m confident that as a fellow South Asian you’ll find the last example particularly pleasing!


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## panjabigator

Very helpful indeed.  I've never encountered <ghaniimat> used these ways and I'll certainly remember the mango example.  Tell me, would a Hindi speaker understand these different usages?


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## Faylasoof

Bhai Saahib,

ek zamaane mein sab hee luckhnavi chaahe hindi-go chaahe urdu-go in jumlooN ko achchhee taraH pahchaante the. aajkal ki mujhe khabar kam hai, lehaazaa iska jawaab shaayad Illumin Bhai Saahib behtar jaaneiN. mere khaandaan ko hindustaan chhoRe aur maghrib ki hijrat kiye ik muddat guzar gai hai, HaalaaNkeh mera wahaaN aanaa jaanaa baraabar rehtaa hai magar raftah raftah zabaan badalti ja rahi hai aur janaab hindustaan ka kyaa kehnaa, ab to pakistan mein bhi log urdu bhoole ja rahe hein! yeh to wahaaN ki qaumi zabaan qaraar dee gai hai!

gokeh meri awadhee zabaan se kuchh kuchh waaqfiyat zuroor hai lekin meiN apne ko is sawaal ke jawaab ka qaabil nahiN samajhtaa hooN. agar lafz-e-g(h)neemat ka iste’maal is boli meiN yaa shumaal-e-hind ke aur ‘ilaaqooN ki boliyooN mein bhi isi taraH milataa hai to shaayad kaafi imkaan hai keh aajkal ke hindi bolne waale yeh jumle samajh sakte hein. 

omeed hai keh yeh mufassal jawaab aap ke qaabil-e-qubool ho ga.

faqat ,

mukhlis


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