# Hindi/Urdu: cowshed



## seitt

Hi,


What do you call a cowshed, please?


I'd be particularly interested in any word you might have that is derived from Sanskrit गोशालं (gośālaṃ). Please give the word in Urdu script / devanāgarī script if possible.


Best,


Simon


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## greatbear

I call it as a "tabelaa" (तबेला). "Gaushaalaa" (गौशाला) of course exists, too.


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## marrish

As far as my limited but still knowledge of Urdu literature can reach, there is no word in Urdu vocabulary that can be associated with the Sanskrit word.


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## seitt

Much obliged to you both - I imagine that the first word greatbear mentions will be the standard Urdu one (طویلہ) as the second is highly Sanskritic.


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## hindiurdu

This is probably tangential to your question but please also note that there seems to be a diversity of colloquial pronunciation of gaushaalaa → goshaalaa and gushaalaa (eg http://wikimapia.org/16150926/Biratnagar-Gushala, Nepali or http://justdial.com/Kanpur/R-S-Plywood-<near>-Kanpur-H-O/0512P512STD33033_BZDET, Gushala chauraha in UP). Kind of like doshaalaa → dushaalaa.


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## UrduMedium

seitt said:


> Hi,
> 
> 
> What do you call a cowshed, please?
> 
> 
> I'd be particularly interested in any word you might have that is derived from Sanskrit गोशालं (gośālaṃ). Please give the word in Urdu script / devanāgarī script if possible.
> 
> 
> Best,
> 
> 
> Simon


I'm not familiar wit the term, but fyi- Oxford's English-Urdu dictionary by Shan-ul-Haq Haqqee lists two terms for cowshed: _gawaal ghar_ and _gaa'e khaana_


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## Faylasoof

UrduMedium said:


> I'm not familiar wit the term, but fyi- Oxford's English-Urdu dictionary by Shan-ul-Haq Haqqee lists two terms for cowshed: _gawaal ghar_ and _gaa'e khaana_


 UM Saahib, for us it has always been this: _gaa'e khaana / xaanah__!_


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## hindiurdu

In thinking about this more, do we really even say any of these words? I mean, I am no farmer, but I feel like people just say things like "gaay/bhaiNs/majjh ko khoonte/kille se baandh do". No one really talks about a separate cowshed, do they? People do say astabal, but that applies specifically to horses or maybe also donkeys, I feel. Is there any word that is *actually* in common everyday usage? Maybe this is cultural, in that people in the subcontinent tend to have animal housing in a section attached to their (rural) homes as opposed to being something distinct located across a field.


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## greatbear

Well, not everyone has a cowshed, so a "khooNTaa" might be even in a corner of the house! "tabelaa" is certainly used a lot (including by me); as for "gaushaalaa", I imagine it to be used in places where people do have cowsheds and where the language is less influenced by Urdu.


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## marrish

marrish said:


> As far as my limited but still knowledge of Urdu literature can reach, there is no word in Urdu vocabulary that can be associated with the Sanskrit word.



I remember that there is a quarter in the Pakistani city of Hyderabad (Haidar-aabaad) called *گئوشالہ ga'uu-shaalah*. Please note that it is pronounced with a definite diphthong a-u.


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## UrduMedium

greatbear said:


> Well, not everyone has a cowshed, so a "khooNTaa" might be even in a corner of the house! "tabelaa" is certainly used a lot (including by me); as for "gaushaalaa", I imagine it to be used in places where people do have cowsheds and where the language is less influenced by Urdu.



I ran a search on tabelaa (using Urdu script) and found several instances. Seems like the word is used in Urdu as well.

*اب کیا دیکھتے ہو، پنڈال میں میلا لگا ہوا
بکروں کا ہجوم، گائے بیل کا تبیلا لگا ہوا*


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## marrish

hindiurdu said:


> In thinking about this more, do we really even say any of these words? I mean, I am no farmer, but I feel like people just say things like "gaay/bhaiNs/majjh ko khoonte/kille se baandh do". No one really talks about a separate cowshed, do they? People do say astabal, but that applies specifically to horses or maybe also donkeys, I feel. *Is there any word that is *actually* in common everyday usage?* Maybe this is cultural, in that people in the subcontinent tend to have animal housing in a section attached to their (rural) homes as opposed to being something distinct located across a field.



Actually the most everyday usage would be the humble _باڑہ/باڑا baaRaa_. The online lexicon provides the following reference from _jaNgal meN maNgal_ (1901)(discussed already on the pages of the forum):

جانوروں کے رکھے جانے کا مکان یا گھیرا۔"گایوں کو دیکھنے بھالنے کے لیے باڑے کی طرف جا رہا ہے۔"  _gaayoN ko dekhne bhaalne ke liye baaRe kii taraf jaa rahaa hai."

Edit: I forgot to romanize the definition itself: *baaRaa: jaanvaroN ke rakkhe jaane kaa makaan yaa gheraa. This is the third submeaning of the first out of six definitions.*_


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## marrish

UrduMedium said:


> I ran a search on tabelaa (using Urdu script) and found several instances. Seems like the word is used in Urdu as well.
> 
> *اب کیا دیکھتے ہو، پنڈال میں میلا لگا ہوا
> بکروں کا ہجوم، گائے بیل کا تبیلا لگا ہوا*


I'd say it is not a neutral word in Urdu. UM SaaHib, can you disclose who is the poet?


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## greatbear

marrish said:


> Actually the most everyday usage would be the humble _باڑہ/باڑا baaRaa_.


  A "baaRaa" to me is however simply a shed, not specifically a cowshed: as much where things could be stored as cows could be kept.


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## marrish

greatbear said:


> A "baaRaa" to me is however simply a shed, not specifically a cowshed: as much where things could be stored as cows could be kept.


Yes, you are right! But it is frequently associated with cows, which is exemplified by the quotation above.


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## UrduMedium

marrish said:


> I'd say it is not a neutral word in Urdu. UM SaaHib, can you disclose who is the poet?



ِI don't know who wrote it. I found it in a few forum-type posts like this one


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## marrish

UrduMedium said:


> ِI don't know who wrote it. I found it in a few forum-type posts like this one


Thanks a lot, interesting.


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## Faylasoof

hindiurdu said:


> In thinking about this more, do we really even say any of these words? I mean, I am no farmer, but I feel like people just say things like "gaay/bhaiNs/majjh ko khoonte/kille se baandh do". No one really talks about a separate cowshed, do they? People do say astabal, but that applies specifically to horses or maybe also donkeys, I feel. Is there any word that is *actually* in common everyday usage? Maybe this is cultural, in that people in the subcontinent tend to have animal housing in a section attached to their (rural) homes as opposed to being something distinct located across a field.


 I don't think any of us has to be a farmer to know certain common vocabulary. For us _gaa'e khaana / xaanah = cowshed_ is common, everyday Urdu usage! I mean in our Urdu!

I wouldn't use _gaa'e kaa astabal_, unless I wanted to humour others!

Incidentally, we don’t use gaushaalaa गौशाला . Perhaps because it is too close to گو ساله _go-saalah_ = بچهڙا बछड़ा _bachh__R__aa_ = calf! We use both!


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## nineth

goshaala, gaushaala is the more formal one, typically what would be found in textbooks. Tabela is the commonly used one, but it's a little generic and not just a cowshed; could be a shed for cows, buffalos, and even other animals. I won't be surprised to hear tabela instead of astabal for horses.


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## UrduMedium

^ Wonder if tabela and astabal (stable) are related?


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## marrish

^I believe they are, by the Latin stabulum.


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## UrduMedium

Related thread http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=2468378

taviilah sounds too close to tabelaa!


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## Qureshpor

UrduMedium said:


> Related thread http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=2468378
> 
> taviilah sounds too close to tabelaa!



That is because it is. Platts gives "tavelah" or "tabelah" as a corrupted form of "taviilah" (with a to'e).


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## Qureshpor

hindiurdu said:


> In thinking about this more, do we really even say any of these words? I mean, I am no farmer, but I feel like people just say things like "gaay/bhaiNs/majjh ko khoonte/kille se baandh do". No one really talks about a separate cowshed, do they? People do say astabal, but that applies specifically to horses or maybe also donkeys, I feel. Is there any word that is *actually* in common everyday usage? Maybe this is cultural, in that people in the subcontinent tend to have animal housing in a section attached to their (rural) homes as opposed to being something distinct located across a field.



I am not a farmer (and would like to be one) but I have lived within farming communities. Indeed the farmers tie their livestock (including goats) to a khuuNTaa but even the poor animals need shelter from both extreme heat and cold.

In the Punajb, one finds buildings with two walls, a pillar and a "chhat". Within it, there is a "khurlii" (manger?). This is quite airy sort of building. In winter, a proper building with four walls, a large door and a roof with manger/s is used for cattle (cows and buffaloes), where they are kept warm. The word in Punjabi, if my memory serves me right, is "basaar".


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## marrish

Good you refreshed the word _khurlii_ for me.


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## JaiHind

seitt said:


> Hi,
> 
> 
> What do you call a cowshed, please?
> 
> 
> I'd be particularly interested in any word you might have that is derived from Sanskrit गोशालं (gośālaṃ). Please give the word in Urdu script / devanāgarī script if possible.
> 
> 
> Best,
> 
> 
> Simon



Cowshed = Goshala गौशाला in Hindi and many other sister languages which came out from Sanskrit. One can speak "Goshala" anywhere in India and be understood.


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## JaiHind

"Tabela" is used for keeping buffaloes also. If one says "tabela" one can't be sure that cows are there and there may be buffaloes there. But if one says "Goshala", cows are there for sure and in addition to them there may be buffaloes or may not be... Also, "tabela" won't be understood by many... Goshala is the standard word in Hindi...


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## greatbear

JaiHind said:


> "Tabela" is used for keeping buffaloes also. If one says "tabela" one can't be sure that cows are there and there may be buffaloes there. But if one says "Goshala", cows are there for sure and in addition to them there may be buffaloes or may not be... Also, "tabela" won't be understood by many... Goshala is the standard word in Hindi...



Agreed about tabelaa - the point was already made by nineth about how generic it is (though I don't agree about a horses' tabelaa) - but I've seen many gaushaalaas in my life wherein there were no cows but only buffaloes. The word may have been derived from "gau" (cow), but that doesn't mean that words start dictating life's realities. A "buffalo shed" doesn't get started being always called a "bhaiNs-shaalaa".


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## greatbear

JaiHind said:


> One can speak "Goshala" anywhere in India and be understood.



Everywhere, from Andamans to Mizoram? A tall claim, perhaps?


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