# Persian, Urdu: headphones/earphones



## Alfaaz

*Background:*

This Persian article currently suggest دوگوشی apart from the transliteration هدفون.

This Urdu dictionary entry currently suggest اُذنک, apart from the transliterations ایئر فون and ہیڈ فون. 

Edit: The previous link was not working properly. The entry can be accessed by going to this page and searching for "earphone". It has also been quoted below:



> earphone
> 
> Noun
> ایئر فون؛ کان ٹوٹی؛ *اُذنک*؛ ایک آلہ جو کان کے ساتھ یا اندر برقی قوت کے ذریعے آواز سننے کے لیے لگایا جاتا ہے؛ ٹیلی فون یا وائرلیس کا آلہ جسے کان پر لگا کر سنتے ہیں۔


*Questions:*

Are there any words for _headphones/earphones_ in the two languages other than the English terms?
What does دوگوشی mean? 
Would it be _relating to two ears_, _two-eared_, or something else...?

Would اذنک be a possible/appropriate option?
It appears to have the same pattern (Arabic word + Farsi diminutive suffix ک) as عینک, which is used for _glasses_.


----------



## kalilah wa dimnah

The first link says:

دوگوشی از دو بلندگوی کوچک (در بعضی موارد یک بلندگو) که بر روی گوش کاربر قرار می‌گیرد تشکیل شده است

What does dar ba'zi-e mavaared mean?

By the way, the second link leads nowhere.


----------



## Alfaaz

kalilah wa dimnah said:
			
		

> What does dar ba'zi-e mavaared mean?
> 
> By the way, the second link leads nowhere.


_In certain instances/cases_. Persian speakers will hopefully confirm this and provide corrections!

Thanks! The post was edited to include another link and a quote of the actual entry.


----------



## truce

Alfaaz said:


> What does دوگوشی mean?


I have never heard the word "دو گوشي" in Persian before. Perhaps this word has been recently created to be a Pesian equivalent for the word "هدفون".


----------



## Sheikh_14

Thank you truce for your update but what do you think would be the reasoning behind opting for do-goshii? Do you suppose it means hearing from two ends or to have two ears? I would suppose the former which implies the latter's existence.


----------



## eskandar

truce said:


> I have never heard the word "دو گوشي" in Persian before. Perhaps this word has been recently created to be a Pesian equivalent for the word "هدفون".


I agree, I've never heard دوگوشی and don't think it would be understood without context. هدفون is the only word for "headphones" I've heard in Persian.


----------



## truce

Sheikh_14 said:


> Thank you truce for your update but what do you think would be the reasoning behind opting for do-goshii? Do you suppose it means hearing from two ends or to have two ears? I would suppose the former which implies the latter's existence.


In Persian the word "گوشی" has the following meaings:
moile phone - earpiece - telephone handset


----------



## PersoLatin

eskandar said:


> I've never heard دوگوشی and don't think it would be understood without context.


According to the link Alfaaz posted, دو گوشي is suggested by فرهنگستان زبان و ادب فارسی, although a search on their site for دو گوشي or هدفون brought back nothing.


----------



## hbs1993

I am a native Urdu speaker and have live in Karachi all my life, yet I have never heard of this so-called Urdu word uzunak (uzunuk?). Similarly, there may be words for television and radio in Urdu but they are never used, not even by Urdu authors or governmental bodies


----------



## Alfaaz

Thanks for all of the valuable contributions!


			
				hbs1993 said:
			
		

> ... uzunak (uzunuk?) ...


اُذن - _uzn_ or _uzun_: گوش، کان, _ear _→ اُذنک - _uznak_ or _uzunak_

عین : چشم، آنکھ ← عینک یعنی چشمہ


			
				hbs1993 said:
			
		

> I am a native Urdu speaker and have live in Karachi all my life, yet I have never heard of this so-called Urdu word uzunak (uzunuk?). Similarly, there may be words for television and radio in Urdu but they are never used, not even by Urdu authors or governmental bodies


 For the purpose of clarification: It should be mentioned that this thread did not intend to suggest that certain words should be coined and/or used and others shouldn't. Just like other threads in the forum discussing possible alternatives for _television, radio, microwave, etc._, this thread was also meant to be a _fun/creative/academic exercise_.  In addition to this, the inclusion of اُذنک (which might be a recently coined word?!) in the _qaumii urdu-angrezii lughat_ developed curiosity about the possible usages of this word...especially considering the common use of similarly formed _3ainak_.


----------



## PersoLatin

Alfaaz said:


> عینک


This may be a diversion, I think in Persain, as عینک - a littel eye, suggests a singular lense, it must have been a name given to a 'monocle' (similar to سمعک), and later misused for 'spectacles'.


----------



## marrish

Isn't گوشی used for it? I think I remember someone saying 'gushi bede". (Persian).


----------



## truce

marrish said:


> Isn't گوشی used for it? I think I remember someone saying 'gushi bede". (Persian).


There are times that some people use the word "گوشی" to refer to "headphones" but it is not that common.


----------



## PersoLatin

In fact, guši - گوشى can refer to a mobile phone too, and this comes from the earpiece of the old early phones, as opposed to the mouthpiece part.


----------



## Sheikh_14

PersoLatin said:


> This may be a diversion, I think in Persain, as عینک - a littel eye, suggests a singular lense, it must have been a name given to a 'monocle' (similar to سمعک), and later misused for 'spectacles'.



Yes that is the case, that what was initially a term used for monocle later morphed into a standard term for spectacles. Though I wouldn't regard it as a misuse as such as monocles are to a large extent outdated and have been replaced by spectacles. Its merely a case of keeping with the times. There is in fact a thread which details this very matter and has been well explained by QP saaHib. I for one though am not sure how in modern day Urdu you would refer to a monocle, in that vein. Coming back to the original question truce and yourself have suggested that goshii is a term used for an ear piece. If we were to translate the reasoning behind that (from a literal sense) being the case would the gist merely be "of the ear?"

Whilst I guess you have the old Motorola and ericksen phones in mind when you say that the term has taken shape due to the prominence of the ear piece. Since back then some phones came with a flap on the mouth-piece. Nevertheless, origins and inspiration aside goshii (گوشی) is a term used for the entire mobile phone rather than a constituent part.


----------



## Sheikh_14

If do-goshii were to be used in Urdu would it be deemed a feminine or masculine noun?


----------



## Sheikh_14

Coming back to this topic I do quite like both uzunak and do-goshii. If one were to use them they would both be feminine nouns correct? In which case what would their plural forms be? UzunakeiN, Uzunakaat, do-goshiiyaaN, do-goshiiyaat. Given that 'ainak too is an Arabic word amalgamated with a Persian dimunitive suffix would the plural aat be correct in its case too I.e. 'ainakaat? Not that it's used much, but it does appear to be veracious.


----------

