# Hindi/Urdu and Punjabi: nihārnā



## panjabigator

Greetings everyone:

I was wondering if anyone could tell me how common this verb is.  I've heard it in my family and in some music.

Bhai Maya Singh says the following: 





> ਨਿਹਾਰਨਾ v. a. To look for, to expect, to wait for, to watch, to spy.



Platts, in addition to suggesting a "thread like insect"(!), suggests 





> v.t. To look at, to behold closely or attentively, to gaze at, to regard; to look after, to watch; to spy.


Is this verb synonymous with گھورنا (Punjabi: گھرنا)?


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## akak

panjabigator said:


> Greetings everyone:
> 
> I was wondering if anyone could tell me how common this verb is. I've heard it in my family and in some music.
> 
> Bhai Maya Singh says the following:
> 
> Platts, in addition to suggesting a "thread like insect"(!), suggests
> Is this verb synonymous with گھورنا (Punjabi: گھرنا)?


 
It's very common in among Urdu-speaking Delhiites, as far as I can tell. We use it all the time, often sarcastically, as in what are you staring at, or why are you admiring yourself.


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## Faylasoof

نہارنا  _nihaarnaa_ is used in Punjabi and some modern Urdu lexicons do mention it. I don't remember hearing it very often nor did I find it in the couple of older Urdu lexicons I searched. 

_ghuurnaa _       گھورنا can mean both <to stare> and <to frown>. So they do share the meaning.


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## BP.

akak said:


> It's very common in among Urdu-speaking Delhiites...


And once again, it is a novelty for this Urduphone.


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## Faylasoof

This Urduphone too is in the same boat! I've had a look at some more Urdu lexicons and the word is not listed!

Come to think of it, I heard it only from my Punjabi friends.


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## bakshink

निहारना       स० [सं० निभालन=देखना] १. अच्छी तरह और ध्यानपूर्वक अथवा टक लगाकर देखना। २. ताकना।
http://pustak.org/bs/home.php?mean=65921

1. achchhee tarah se aur dhyaanpuurvak athva Tak lagaakar dekhanaa, 2. taakanaa

From above it appears the origin may be from Sanskrit ( Nibhaalan)

This word is commonly used by Hindiphones. Even though Punjabees may know it still I do not think it's used commonly by Punjabi speaking people.


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## Faylasoof

Bakshink, you guessed it right! It has Sanskrit etymology and came via Prakrit, like so many other words we use. Here is Platts:

H  نہارنا निहारना _nihārnā_ [Ap. Prk. णिहाल(इ); Prk. निहाले(इ) or निहाल(इ)=*S*. निभालय(ति), rt. नि+भल्], v.t. To look at, to behold closely or attentively, to gaze at, to regard; to look after, to watch; to spy.
[S = Sanskrit]

BTW, when I said I heard it from my Punjabi friends I was merely suggesting it was only from them I heard this word, rare though it is for even them.  

I too would imagine that Hindiphones (or those Urduphones influenced by Hindi) would use it more.


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## akak

BelligerentPacifist said:


> And once again, it is a novelty for this Urduphone.


It must be a north Indian thing. I heard it a lot in school, girls would tease each other, "kya nihaar rahi ho"?


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## Birdcall

I've never heard it, but taaknaa is very common. (I've also heard it pronounced as taknaa)


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## Koozagar

I don't recall 'niharna' being used commonly in Urdu or in Punjabi in Lahore at least, where I grew up. the word most often used is 'ghoorna' in Urdu and is rendered into Punjabi as 'koorna'.


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## panjabigator

Faylasoof said:


> This Urduphone too is in the same boat! I've had a look at some more Urdu lexicons and the word is not listed!
> 
> Come to think of it, I heard it only from my Punjabi friends.


Curious, did you have to ask what the word meant or did you figure it out by context?


bakshink said:


> This word is commonly used by Hindiphones. Even though Punjabees may know it still I do not think it's used commonly by Punjabi speaking people.



Good to know.  Chatted with a Lahori a couple of hours ago who confirmed it.  My mother is the one who used the word in Hindi, so I'll ask if she uses it Punjabi too.



akak said:


> It must be a north Indian thing. I heard it a lot in school, girls would tease each other, "kya nihaar rahi ho"?



I just heard it चन्ने के खेत में: "हारी मैं हारी पुकार के, यहाँ वहाँ देखे निहार के".


Birdcall said:


> I've never heard it, but taaknaa is very common. (I've also heard it pronounced as taknaa)



Right we have a thread somewhere on this word.  I've heard both pronunciations, by the way, but I think the standard one is with the long A.  Should anyone be interested, we can continue with takna in another thread or in one of these:

Urdu: taaq par baiThna
Hindi: <takālīnā>

Perhaps other threads exist, but this is what I find after a quick search.

It seems نھارنا isn't a very well known verb: do you think Bombay wale would understand it?  



Koozagar said:


> I don't recall 'niharna' being used commonly in Urdu or in Punjabi in Lahore at least, where I grew up. the word most often used is 'ghoorna' in Urdu and is rendered into Punjabi as 'koorna'.



Thanks.  I don't know if we can think of gradations of impertinence with staring, but for me, گھورنا sounds worse.  What do you think?


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## bakshink

Nihaaranaa means "to look at lovingly".


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## Faylasoof

panjabigator said:


> Curious, did you have to ask what the word meant or did you figure it out by context?


 From the context it was fairly clear but I confirmed it, just to be sure.



panjabigator said:


> Thanks.  I don't know if we can think of gradations of impertinence with staring, but for me, گھورنا sounds worse.  What do you think?


  Let's wait for Koozagar's opinion (and of others) but I agree that گھورنا can give a sense of either impertinence or annoyance. But we can use it also when we see someone trying to figure something out. This has more to do with the facial expression than attitude and feelings of either impertinence or annoyance. 

For all the reasons mentioned above, نہارنا would be a useful addition to the modern Urdu lexicon.


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## Koozagar

Hi All,
Excellent discussion. I am not familiar with the usage of Nihaarna, but from what I read in this thread, and from the usage in a song that goes: "Yahan wahan dekhay Nihaar kay", it does appear the 'Nihaarna' can probably be used for stares and gazes of various types and also for spying, curious and examining looks. its scope of usage is much wider than 'Ghoorna'. I agree with FLS that Ghoorna can also be used for 'looking at someone with pure curiosity' and that it refers more to the facial expression or expression in your eyes. 
if you 'Ghoor' a person it is more often impertinent than not, in case of an object, it can be out of curiosity ( although you can look at a person with pure curiosity, it will still be considered impolite).
Also, 'Ghoori karana' which is less formal than 'Ghoorna' is also more strongly impertinent than 'Ghoorna'. A ghoori can be out a perverted stare, angry stare but It cannot be a curious stare. So if you say 'ghoori karana' it eliminates that ambiguity of meaning.

I like Nihaarna, especially when Madhuri says it. Since I haven't heard it in use very much, I don't exactly know where it falls in terms of gradation of impertinence.


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## Birdcall

I have never heard bhaarnaa. And with ghuurnaa I also get the sense of looking with disapproval, like "tevar dikhaate hue taaknaa"

With taaknaa I think of gazing at something with interest, affection, or maybe anticipation.


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## panjabigator

Thank you all for your contribution.  





> For all the reasons mentioned above, نہارنا would be a useful addition to the modern Urdu lexicon.



Seems like its already there, but not that well known.


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## Faylasoof

panjabigator said:


> Seems like its already there, but not that well known.


 This is what I mean! Though some modern Urdu lexicons do have it (none of the older ones, btw), hardly any Urduphones I know actually uses it. Also, its present-day use seems a little different from Platts definition (above). What appears to be a modern usage would be the one that will enrich the language. I mean this: 


bakshink said:


> Nihaaranaa means "to look at lovingly".


 Otherwise we’d using just an alternative to گھورنا _ghuurnaa_.


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## panjabigator

Qureshpor Sahib, any thoughts on this word? Have you heard it in Pakistani Panjabi?


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## greatbear

Nihaarnaa is a quite commonly used word in Hindi, and it means "to  gaze," quite different from "ghoornaa," which means "to stare."  "Taaqnaa" is rather different, as it conveys a sense of being agape,  while nihaarnaa conveys the sense of an appreciative or contemplative  gaze.


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## Qureshpor

panjabigator said:


> Qureshpor Sahib, any thoughts on this word? Have you heard it in Pakistani Panjabi?



PG SaaHib, I have not come across this verb in Punjabi or Urdu...neither in speech nor in writing.


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## Qureshpor

greatbear said:


> Nihaarnaa is a quite commonly used word in Hindi, and it means "to  gaze," quite different from "ghoornaa," which means "to stare."  "Taaqnaa" is rather different, as it conveys a sense of being agape,  while nihaarnaa conveys the sense of an appreciative or contemplative  gaze.



Greatbear SaaHib. Firstly, a slight correction. The word is "taaknaa".

Getting back to "nihaarnaa", in another thread you stated...

  "Similarly, there's a thread on the word "nihaarnaa" (to gaze) going on right now; while it is a word very common in Hindi, many of the Urdu speakers, it appears, have no idea what the word means. There are often words which will have Sanskrit roots and won't be that familiar to Urdu speakers, like this "nihaarnaa."

".... a word like "nihaarnaa" has always existed in Hindi. It is not the case that we are using it only for the sake of sounding "purer" or more Sanskritized."

It is indeed true that "nihaarnaa" has Sanskrit origins and it has come into Hindi via Prakrit and KhaRii-Bolii. The fact that Urdu speakers of modern times are unaware of this verb should not be as surprising as it appears. Within the Punjabi on my father's side, the verb used for cutting crops, e.g wheat (kaNRak) is "kapNRaa" whereas the verb for the samething on my mother's side is "vaDNRaa". Two totally different verbs within one (Punjabi) speech community seperated only by a distance of 20+miles. In Hindi "dikhnaa" is common whereas Urdu speakers use "dikhaa'ii denaa". My point is that the Urdu speakers' unfamiliarity has nothing to do with Sanskrit. If you were to search for all the verbs in Platts dictionary, you will find scores and scores which are no longer used in Urdu or Hindi. They have simply died as a result of natural evolution and their concepts have been replaced by substantive verbs. This is a great pity that we have lost all these perfectly good verbs (and no doubt a lot of nouns, adjectives, adverbs etc too).

"By the way, some of the people here on the forum claim that Sanskrit-origin words are a deliberate reengineering of Hindi; that is not the case except with certain persons.."

http://www.urdustudies.com/pdf/11/19somenotes.pdf [Some Notes on Hindi and Urdu-Ralph Russell]


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## greatbear

QP sir, my language is Hindi, and I do not differentiate between "k" and "q": Koran and Quran are variant spellings for me. I know how to pronounce it, that's enough for me. How to best transliterate it in English was never the discussion in this thread.

As for the long discussion on Hindi/Urdu distinctions, if you're saying that it's a case of natural evolution, the coming and going of words, then you are merely reinforcing what I've been always saying. No shady reengineerings are leading to speaking of words; people in general speak what they've been used to hearing.

Regarding history, I did not live during the Rani Ketki times, so I've no idea what people "spoke" in. Whether literary works existed before it or not was immaterial; Daniel Defoe is considered the father of English prose, but it isn't that people were not speaking English before that! Poets and authors do not represent a language; a language is warm and embracing, and people from the so-called lowest common denominators are as much a part of the language as those elitist and intellectual circles, which more often than not, in fact, "rebel" against the language.


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## Qureshpor

greatbear said:


> QP sir, my language is Hindi, and I do not differentiate between "k" and "q": Koran and Quran are variant spellings for me. I know how to pronounce it, that's enough for me. How to best transliterate it in English was never the discussion in this thread.
> 
> Greatbear  Jii/SaaHib, there is no need for the "Sir", please. It just causes embarrassment.
> 
> I mentioned this because the word "taaknaa" is Indic and there is NO "q" in Indic words! But if you wish to write it as "taaqnaa", so be it.
> 
> As for the long discussion on Hindi/Urdu distinctions, if you're saying that it's a case of natural evolution, the coming and going of words, then you are merely reinforcing what I've been always saying. No shady reengineerings are leading to speaking of words; people in general speak what they've been used to hearing.
> 
> Regarding history, I did not live during the Rani Ketki times, so I've no idea what people "spoke" in. Whether literary works existed before it or not was immaterial; Daniel Defoe is considered the father of English prose, but it isn't that people were not speaking English before that! Poets and authors do not represent a language; a language is warm and embracing, and people from the so-called lowest common denominators are as much a part of the language as those elitist and intellectual circles, which more often than not, in fact, "rebel" against the language.
> 
> At least the above is indicative of the fact that you might have taken the trouble to read the late Ralph Russell's short essay. Beyond that, it is of no real consequence for me.


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## greatbear

Just because you referred to it as an argument; otherwise, the essay in itself was not particularly enlightening to me.


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## Qureshpor

greatbear said:


> Just because you referred to it as an argument; otherwise, the essay in itself was not particularly enlightening to me.



Well Greatbear Jii, we all know that one needs more than a "Bodhi" tree to achieve enlightment!


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## rahulbemba

Faylasoof said:


> This Urduphone too is in the same boat! I've had a look at some more Urdu lexicons and the word is not listed!
> 
> Come to think of it, I heard it only from my Punjabi friends.



In my opinion, "nihaarna" is not an Urdu word. It is common Hindi.


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## rahulbemba

To the original question:

I think "nihaarna" is a common Hindi word. I am from India, born and brought-up in Hindi speaking environment (with all its variations), with friends coming from all parts of India. The word "nihaarna" means closest in English to "to watch" or "to stare at". 

Examples can be from the situations where one finds a very beautiful person (may be a girl/lady, in literature) and one becomes lost in the beauty, while looking at the person in detail. 

One can do what is "niharna" without spending some time. E.g., it is not cursory glance, but giving a full time and attention. 

Hindi words with Sanskrit roots, have much commonality with other Indian languages. It won't be a surprise if you find Punjabis/Gujaratis and many others using this word in their own language.


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## rahulbemba

Koozagar said:


> I don't recall 'niharna' being used commonly in Urdu or in Punjabi in Lahore at least, where I grew up. the word most often used is 'ghoorna' in Urdu and is rendered into Punjabi as 'koorna'.



You are right. As such "ghoorna" is different from "nihaarna". If I simplify it, "ghoorna" would be used meaning giving a "threatening glance", or "looking at someone with some negative intentions". While "nihaarna" would be to look at someone with love or likeness, often after getting lost in one's beauty or some quality or the other. 

It is typical to ask someone, "tum use ghoor kar kyon dekh rahe ho?" (why are you staring (in a threatening sense; though I would love to prefer more closer English word here) at him/her?" after being provoked. 

Also, some times while girlfriend/boyfriend would like to "tease" her/his mate, one would use "ghoor" in place of "nihaar". It is a smart replacement of the word, with the intention to make the other person self-conscious and taken aback.


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