# Urdu: speed



## lafz_puchnevala

Hi,

The context is 'I walked back home quickly.' Would the following be correct?

1. maiN rawaanii se ghar vaapas chalaa.
2. maiN raftaar se ghar vaapas chalaa.

Also, I have come across 'zuud' to mean 'quick/fast/hurried'. How can it, if at all, be applied in this context?

Do, note that I have avoided the use of 'jaldi' and 'tezii' as their use here is more obvious.

_Finally, from henceforth, I shall avoid adding 'Hindi' to the title as some members eventually change the title and almost always my queries exist in Urdu but not in Hindi. If Hindi speakers would like to dispute the titling, you are welcome to go ahead and seek the moderators' help in changing the title again. Having said that, I would still enormously appreciate it if all the contributions are romanised as well._ 

Thanks!


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## panjabigator

I think "tezī se" or even "phurtī se" would work well for your sentences. I know that "zūd" means "tez" in Persian, but I don't know if it works adverbially here. I also don't know how common it is in Urdu.

Would this sentence work: وہ (بڑا) زود کام انکام دیتا ہے
(Edit: वह बड़ा ज़ूद काम अंजाम देता है)

I use "rawānī" to mean "fluency," so your first sentence doesn't look correct to me. "woh rawānī se koi zabān bol letā hai," but I don't know if it is applicable to travel in this form. I imagine that "rawānī" comes from the Persian "raftan," which is equivalent to the Urdu "jānā."


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## greatbear

"raftaar" and "rawaanii" are both commonly used words in Hindi, especially the former [...].

Meanwhile, I second panjabigator's suggestions.


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## hungariansikh

Raftaar means speed (from Persian raftan verbs ).

Speedly, quickly= jaldi, jhat pat, tez se, bari chheti se.

Ravaanee is  completely  from Persian روان (ravaan).


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## marrish

lafz_puchnevala said:


> Hi,
> 
> The context is 'I walked back home quickly.' Would the following be correct?
> 
> 1. maiN rawaanii se ghar vaapas chalaa.
> 2. maiN raftaar se ghar vaapas chalaa.
> 
> Also, I have come across 'zuud' to mean 'quick/fast/hurried'. How can it, if at all, be applied in this context?
> 
> Do, note that I have avoided the use of 'jaldi' and 'tezii' as their use here is more obvious.
> Thanks!



Hello,

The word from the title of the thread is ''*speed*''. It means _رفتار *raftaar*_ in Urdu. This is a feminine noun. All the discussed nouns in the thread belong to the vocabulary of Urdu and with the exception of one, take their origins from the Persian language. This has been already pointed to.

The sentence under discussion is ''I walked back home *quickly*''. If you don't wish to use jaldii and you wish to include the title word, you should say _maiN *tez raftaar* se ghar vaapas chalaa_. ._میں تیز  رفتار سے گھر واپس چلا۔. _Saying ''maiN raftaar se ghar vaapas chalaa'' is equivalent to saying the obvious that there was some pace of walking, but we don't know if it were low or high speed.


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## marrish

hungariansikh said:


> Raftaar means speed ( from Persian raftan verb )  ,
> 
> speedly, quickly= jaldi, jhat pat, tez se, bari chheti se,



Hello hungariansikh,

I agree with your suggestions, they are good but it seems there is a typo in _tez*ii* se?_


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## panjabigator

hungariansikh said:


> Raftaar means speed( fro m persian raftan verbs ) ,
> 
> speedly, quickly= jaldi, jhat pat, tez se, bari chheti se,


I had never known "chheti" to be used in Hindi/Urdu!


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## Qureshpor

panjabigator said:


> I think "tezī se" or even "phurtī se" would work well for your sentences. I know that "zūd" means "tez" in Persian, but I don't know if it works adverbially here. I also don't know how common it is in Urdu.
> 
> Would this sentence work: وہ (بڑا) زود کام انکام دیتا ہے
> (Edit: वह बड़ा ज़ूद काम अंजाम देता है)
> 
> I use "rawānī" to mean "fluency," so your first sentence doesn't look correct to me. "woh rawānī se koi zabān bol letā hai," but I don't know if it is applicable to travel in this form. I imagine that "rawānī" comes from the Persian "raftan," which is equivalent to the Urdu "jānā."



PG SaaHib, putting "tezii se" and "phurtii se" to one side because the OP does not require their usage included in the replies, let's look at "ravaanii", "zuud" and "raftaar".

You are of course right about "ravaanii" meaning "fluency". It also means "flow" and with either meaning it would not be suitable for the sentence in question, which I think needs a little tweaking. I would go for..

maiN x se vaapas ghar chalaa gayaa 

maiN x se vaapas ghar chal paRaa

Coming to "zuud", it does mean "quick(ly)" and it is indeed used in Urdu. It is not always synonymous with "tez(ii)".

dalyaa bahut zuud-hazm Ghizaa hai.

Porridge is an easily digestible/quick to digest food.

kuchh log bahut zuud-ranj hote haiN.

Some people get annoyed quickly/are easily annoyed

Some people are very touchy.

"zuud" also implies "soon".

I am not sure whether your sentence..

"vuh (baRaa) zuud kaam anjaam detaa hai" is quite correct. Let's see what others say..

Perhaps..

vuh baRii zuudii se apnaa kaam anjaam detaa hai.

By the way, your Devanagri is correct but you have misspelt "anjaam" in Urdu.

"raftaar" is a common word for "speed" in Urdu but it also imples "conduct".

As marrish SaaHib has indicated "raftaar" on its own means "speed" and it needs to be qualified with words such as "tez" or "sust".

xargosh kii tez-raftaarii aur kachhu'e kii sust-raftaarii mash_huur hai.

A hare's switness and a tortoise's tardiness is well known.

If one does not wish to use "tezii se", one can say

maiN baRii *sur3at* se ghar chalaa gayaa.

I went home at great *speed*.


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## Alfaaz

Some more possibilities: عجلت سے u'jlat se , شتابی سے shitaabi se


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## lafz_puchnevala

marrish said:


> Hello,
> 
> The word from the title of the thread is ''*speed*''. It means _رفتار *raftaar*_ in Urdu. This is a feminine noun. All the discussed nouns in the thread belong to the vocabulary of Urdu and with the exception of one, take their origins from the Persian language. This has been already pointed to.
> 
> The sentence under discussion is ''I walked back home *quickly*''. If you don't wish to use jaldii and you wish to include the title word, you should say _maiN *tez raftaar* se ghar vaapas chalaa_. ._میں تیز  رفتار سے گھر واپس چلا۔. _Saying ''maiN raftaar se ghar vaapas chalaa'' is equivalent to saying the obvious that there was some pace of walking, but we don't know if it were low or high speed.



So, where length is concerned 'tezii se' would be a word shorter!


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## lafz_puchnevala

QURESHPOR said:


> PG SaaHib, putting "tezii se" and "phurtii se" to one side because the OP does not require their usage included in the replies, let's look at "ravaanii", "zuud" and "raftaar".
> 
> You are of course right about "ravaanii" meaning "fluency". It also means "flow" and with either meaning it would not be suitable for the sentence in question, which I think needs a little tweaking. I would go for..
> 
> maiN x se vaapas ghar chalaa gayaa
> 
> maiN x se vaapas ghar chal paRaa
> 
> Coming to "zuud", it does mean "quick(ly)" and it is indeed used in Urdu. It is not always synonymous with "tez(ii)".
> 
> dalyaa bahut zuud-hazm Ghizaa hai.
> 
> Porridge is an easily digestible/quick to digest food.
> 
> kuchh log bahut zuud-ranj hote haiN.
> 
> Some people get annoyed quickly/are easily annoyed
> 
> Some people are very touchy.
> 
> "zuud" also implies "soon".
> 
> I am not sure whether your sentence..
> 
> "vuh (baRaa) zuud kaam anjaam detaa hai" is quite correct. Let's see what others say..
> 
> Perhaps..
> 
> vuh baRii zuudii se apnaa kaam anjaam detaa hai.
> 
> By the way, your Devanagri is correct but you have misspelt "anjaam" in Urdu.
> 
> "raftaar" is a common word for "speed" in Urdu but it also imples "conduct".
> 
> As marrish SaaHib has indicated "raftaar" on its own means "speed" and it needs to be qualified with words such as "tez" or "sust".
> 
> xargosh kii tez-raftaarii aur kachhu'e kii sust-raftaarii mash_huur hai.
> 
> A hare's switness and a tortoise's tardiness is well known.
> 
> If one does not wish to use "tezii se", one can say
> 
> maiN baRii *sur3at* se ghar chalaa gayaa.
> 
> I went home at great *speed*.



Can I use 'zuud se' in my title post instead?

Also, for the meaning of 'soon' for 'zuud' is it correct to say 'maiN zuud ghar waapas aauuNNgii'?

Finally, is it 'suurat' rather than 'suraat' as I can't seem to locate the latter.

Thanks!


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## Alfaaz

lafz_puchnevala said:
			
		

> I can't seem to locate the latter


Platts: sur'at


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## Qureshpor

lafz_puchnevala said:


> Can I use 'zuud se' in my title post instead?
> 
> Also, for the meaning of 'soon' for 'zuud' is it correct to say 'maiN zuud ghar waapas aauuNNgii'?
> 
> Finally, is it 'suurat' rather than 'suraat' as I can't seem to locate the latter.
> 
> Thanks!



"se" goes with a noun. "zuud" is an adjective/adverb whereas "zuudii" is a noun. But, although "zuudii se" would be correct, I don't believe it is as common as "jaldii se", "tezii se", "shitaabii se". All these combinations essentially mean "quickly". If you mean to say, "I went home at speed", then, as marrish Saaib has indicated "tez-raftaar(ii) se" would be appropriate.

A few examples from the net:

Karachi: tez-raftaar truck ulaTne se driver zaxmii. (Driver wounded through high-speed truck turning over)

tez-raftaar jurmaanah (On the spot fine!/Prompt fine)

Moscow: tez-raftaarii se machhlii ke anDe khaane kaa munfarid muqaabalah.

(A unique competition for eating fish eggs at speed)

Re: sur3at, Alfaaz SaaHib has already answered your question. the 3 (or the apostrophe in Platts' case) is the Urdu consonant 3ain. This does not exist in Hindi but it is very common in Urdu words. The following few words might be of interest to Hindi readers.

3aam log (ordinary people), 3aamir Khan (the actor), Muhammad Rafii3 (the singer), 3ainak glasses), burii 3aadat (bad habit), 3aashiq (lover), 3ajiib (strange), 3ajaa'ib-ghar (museum), 3ajab (strange/wonder), 3uj(u)lat (haste), 3adaalat (court), 3arabii (an Arab), 3arsah (period)., 3irfaan Pathan (cricketer), 3izzat (pride), 3aziiz (dear), 3itr (scent), 3aql (intelligence), 3ilaaj (cure) and many more. You can see I have given mainly those words where 3 is in the beginning of the word. It occurs in between words and in final position too.


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## marrish

QURESHPOR said:


> A few examples from the net:
> 
> 
> tez-raftaar jurmaanah (On the spot fine!/Prompt fine)
> 
> Moscow: tez-raftaarii se machhlii ke anDe khaane kaa munfarid muqaabalah.
> 
> (A unique competition for eating fish eggs at speed)


I have two uncertainities here: would tez-raftaar jurmaanah not be meant to mean Overspeeding fine? Wouldn't ''macchlii ke anDe'' be devised to denote 'caviar'?


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## Qureshpor

marrish said:


> I have two uncertainities here: would tez-raftaar jurmaanah not be meant to mean Overspeeding fine? Wouldn't ''macchlii ke anDe'' be devised to denote 'caviar'?



You are correct on both counts! I do apologise. (But don't you think my translation of the former is more interesting?!)


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## marrish

QURESHPOR said:


> You are correct on both counts! I do apologise. (But don't you think my translation of the former is more interesting?!)


Thank you, I was just wondering. Your translation is surely more interesting and that's why it caught my attention!


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## hindiurdu

Isn't it also okay to (at least colloquially) say "main raftaar se pohoncha" - it feels kind of like saying "I went with speed", which usually means something like "I hurried there". Of course, it's more prevalent to say "main jaldi phoncha" or the more extreme "main fauran pohoncha". I also think (for me at least) it is normal to say something like "gaaRi ko raftaar do" = "gaaRi zaraa tez dauRaao" = "accelerate the car".


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## lafz_puchnevala

Alfaaz said:


> Some more possibilities: عجلت سے u'jlat se , شتابی سے shitaabi se



Platts claims 'shitaab se' for that though


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## MonsieurGonzalito

Can raftaar be used to complain about the unsatisfactory "pace", "progress ratio" of something? As in:

_is *raftaar *se, aap apnii maNzil tak nahiiN pahuNch paaeNge_


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## Alfaaz

MonsieurGonzalito said:
			
		

> Can raftaar be used to complain about the unsatisfactory "pace", "progress ratio" of something?​


_ _(اگر) اس رفتار سے چلتے رہے، تو آپ منزلِ مقصود پر نہیں پہنچ پائیں گے  ​_If you keep going at this pace, then you will not be able to reach your desired destination._


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## Dinraat

Alfaaz said:


> _ _(اگر) اس رفتار سے چلتے رہے، تو آپ منزلِ مقصود پر نہیں پہنچ پائیں گے  ​_If you keep going at this pace, then you will not be able to reach your desired destination._


👍
Apnii manzil is fine too.


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## aevynn

marrish said:


> Saying ''maiN raftaar se ghar vaapas chalaa'' is equivalent to saying the obvious that there was some pace of walking, but we don't know if it were low or high speed.





Qureshpor said:


> As marrish SaaHib has indicated "raftaar" on its own means "speed" and it needs to be qualified with words such as "tez" or "sust".





hindiurdu said:


> Isn't it also okay to (at least colloquially) say "main raftaar se pohoncha" - it feels kind of like saying "I went with speed", which usually means something like "I hurried there"


I too have heard and seen just a _raftaar se_ (without _tez_ or similar modifier) to mean something like "with speed" (ie, "speedily," "quickly," etc). Here are some examples. First, a she3r by Sheen Kaaf Nizam:
​man *raftaar se* bhaagtaa jaataa hai kis or​palak jhapakte shaam hai palak jhapakte bhor​
An excerpt from a story by Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi:
​gulaabii aur nawaaz meN baRii muddat se yaaraanaa/h chal rahaa thaa. maiN to *raftaar se* pahchaan letaa huuN ki(h) kaleje meN kitnaa gahraa ghaa'o hai. log yaqiin nahiin karte the...​
A sentence from a story by Adnan Mirza:

fon ko jeb meN rakh_kar saa'ikal *raftaar se* guptaa jii ke ghar kii taraf baRhaa dii.​
A she3r by Zeeshan Athar:
​raushnii meN tirii *raftaar se* kartaa huuN safar​zindagii mujh_se kahiiN tez na(h) chalne lag jaa'e​
(To be fair, I suppose in this one, at least two readings are grammatically possible depending on whether _tirii_ modifies _raushnii_ or _raftaar_ (ie, "In your light, I travel with speed" or "In the light, I travel at your speed"). The former reading makes a little more sense to me, but the second one definitely isn't impossible.) And finally, a (frivolous) Bollywood song with lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya:
​duur khaRii phuljhaRii​tuu kyuuN naache "lonely"​mujh_ko apne paas bulaa le​teraa "one and only"​aa'uuN maiN *raftaar se*​dekhuuN magar pyaar se​dum hilaa_ke jaise Tukur Tukur...​


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## Qureshpor

aevynn said:


> I too have heard and seen just a _raftaar se_ (without _tez_ or similar modifier) to mean something like "with speed" (ie, "speedily," "quickly," etc). Here are some examples. First, a she3r by Shiin Kaaz Nizam:
> ​man *raftaar se* bhaagtaa jaataa hai kis or​palak jhapakte shaam hai palak jhapakte bhor​
> An excerpt from a story by Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi:
> ​gulaabii aur nawaaz meN baRii muddat se yaaraanaa/h chal rahaa thaa. maiN to *raftaar se* pahchaan letaa huuN ki(h) kaleje meN kitnaa gahraa ghaa'o hai. log yaqiin nahiin karte the...​
> A sentence from a story by Adnan Mirza:
> 
> fon ko jeb meN rakh_kar saa'ikal *raftaar se* guptaa jii ke ghar kii taraf baRhaa dii.​
> A she3r by Zeeshan Athar:
> ​raushnii meN tirii *raftaar se* kartaa huuN safar​zindagii mujh_se kahiiN tez na(h) chalne lag jaa'e​
> (To be fair, I suppose in this one, at least two readings are grammatically possible depending on whether _tirii_ modifies _raushnii_ or _raftaar_ (ie, "In your light, I travel with speed" or "In the light, I travel at your speed"). The former reading makes a little more sense to me, but the second one definitely isn't impossible.) And finally, a (frivolous) Bollywood song with lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya:
> ​duur khaRii phuljhaRii​tuu kyuuN naache "lonely"​mujh_ko apne paas bulaa le​teraa "one and only"​aa'uuN maiN *raftaar se*​dekhuuN magar pyaar se​dum hilaa_ke jaise Tukur Tukur...​


As the thread language is Urdu...

1) شین کاف نظام

"or" is hardly Urdu, even if it is to be found in the older language more frequently. In all my years, I have never read Urdu poetry or prose with the word "or" nor have I personally used this word or heard it from another Urdu speaker.

2) As we all know, احمد ندیم قاسمی was an Urdu poet and prose writer. Therefore he would not write "یارانا". I read his use of the word "رفتار" to imply "چال" (gait/conduct) as opposed to "speed".

3) عدنان مرزا

In the very first sentence he uses the word "بدلاو" and then a bit later on "سِر". Although his language is closer to Urdu than shuddh Hindi, still it is not a good example of Urdu idiom and usage.

4) ذیشان اطہر

Once again, "raftaar" here is "chaal"

5) No comment

On a more serious note, even though I find "رفتار سے" usage to be odd, from a grammatical perspective it is not incorrect.


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## Alfaaz

Qureshpor said:
			
		

> "or" is hardly Urdu, even if it is to be found in the older language more frequently. In all my years, I have never read Urdu poetry or prose with the word "or" nor have I personally used this word or heard it from another Urdu speaker.


Relevant thread: Hindi (Urdu): kii or

_or_ is certainly rare/not as common as _taraf, jaanib, etc._, but it isn't completely non-existent either as discussed in the other thread. 



			
				Alfaaz said:
			
		

> This probably won't count as Urdu Literature, but reminded of a song from Yeh Amn by Habib Jalib:
> 
> _suraj ki kirnoN ka rastah rokne walo sun lo, sau dewaareN chunlo_
> _jab tak is nagrii meiN, chaaroN or andhere haiN, apni jang rahe gii
> yaa peer dastgiir madad kar...
> 
> Edit: Correction: the song is from Yeh Amn not Zarqa._





			
				Qureshpor said:
			
		

> Well, I don't see why not. Habib Jalib was a very well known revolutionary Urdu poet.





			
				Alfaaz said:
			
		

> Yes he was/his poetry still is. I said so because some people don't consider film songs to be "real poetry" (as they might sometimes go against convention, for other reasons, or simply because they were in a "movie").


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## aevynn

aevynn said:


> A she3r by Zeeshan Athar:
> 
> raushnii *meN* tirii *raftaar se* kartaa huuN safar​zindagii mujh_se kahiiN tez na(h) chalne lag jaa'e​


I realize now that this couplet might make more sense if it was read as _raushnii *maiN* tirii raftaar se_... (where _raushnii_ is vocative, ie, "O Light, I travel at your speed // So that life does not outpace me"). With this reading, of course, this she3r would not belong in my list in post #22.



aevynn said:


> An excerpt from a story by Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi:
> 
> gulaabii aur nawaaz meN baRii muddat se yaaraanaa/h chal rahaa thaa. maiN to *raftaar se* pahchaan letaa huuN ki(h) kaleje meN kitnaa gahraa ghaa'o hai. log yaqiin nahiin karte the...​





Qureshpor said:


> I read his use of the word "رفتار" to imply "چال" (gait/conduct) as opposed to "speed".


That reading is certainly also possible.


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## Alfaaz

aevynn said:
			
		

> yaaraanaa/h





			
				Qureshpor said:
			
		

> As we all know, احمد ندیم قاسمی was an Urdu poet and prose writer. Therefore he would not write "یارانا".


I would agree that it doesn't make sense to transliterate Urdu words ending in _terminal h_ with _aa_ instead of _ah_, especially when Urdu poetry is being quoted and transliterated. Similarly, two-syllable words shouldn't be changed to/transliterated as three-syllable words (_dunyaa, daryaa, hoshyaar, etc._ as _duniyaa, dariyaa, hoshiyaar, etc._).


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