# Hindi: Words of Arabic Origin



## vikramkr

Does anybody know any?


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## albondiga

You may or may not already realize this, but asking for Hindi words of Arabic origin is almost like asking for English words of Latin origin... A native speaker with a strong understanding of the etymology of Hindi could probably give you a list of hundreds of words that came from ArabicPersianHindi (as well as a much smaller number that even came from HebrewArabicPersianHindi)...

I don't know very much Hindi (I have a better understanding of the Semitic languages; my Hindi transliterations below may be off, so a native speaker can correct if necessary), but just off the top of my head some of the obvious ones are _shukriyaa _(one way of saying "thank you"; originated in Arabic), and _adamii _(one way of saying "man"; definitely came through Arabic but I believe this is one that originated in Hebrew)... even with very limited Hindi exposure (and not exactly an advanced level of Arabic either  ) I have already encountered many others that I recognized as originating in Arabic...

The other thing is that many things in Hindi have synonyms where one word is of Arabic origin and another of Sanskrit origin (in English we have similar with words of Germanic, Latin, and even Greek origins having similar meanings)... so some speakers are more likely to use one word, while others would be more likely to use the other word...  As I understand it, there's a very loose dialectic continuum involved; as one moves towards Pakistan, more and more Arabic words start being used, and at some point (i.e., when crossing the border and starting to use the modified Arabic script rather than Devanagari) it becomes what we call Urdu rather than Hindi...  The other factor that I have heard of course is that native speakers might use a word of Arabic origin in casual speech and a Sanskrit-derived synonym in formal writings...

All of this stuff varies by speaker, but in any event there are LOTS of words of Arabic origin in the Hindi language...  Some native speakers will give you many more examples, I am sure!


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## albondiga

Just to follow up on my last post (again, I presume you are likely familiar with most of that already, and probably have much bigger vocabulary than mine but less ability to recognize Semitic origins) I decided to go to a short list of Hindi vocab to pick a couple more that were immediately recognizable to me as having Semitic roots:

किताब
ज़माना

Again, that's already four coming from someone who can barely make even the simplest sentence in Hindi and essentially can't even really do that in Arabic at this point... the comparison to English and Latin was a slight exaggeration, but there clearly are lots of examples...


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## linguist786

Oh dear.. I don't even know where to start! 
It would help if you be more specific


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## panjabigator

I agree 110%!  There are toooooooooo many, and have so well influenced the language that most cannot say what is NOT Hindi. (I, however can;...and I'm sure Linguist can too!)



linguist786 said:


> Oh dear.. I don't even know where to start!
> It would help if you be more specific


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## vikramkr

albondiga said:


> Just to follow up on my last post (again, I presume you are likely familiar with most of that already, and probably have much bigger vocabulary than mine but less ability to recognize Semitic origins) I decided to go to a short list of Hindi vocab to pick a couple more that were immediately recognizable to me as having Semitic roots:
> 
> ?????
> ??????
> 
> Again, that's already four coming from someone who can barely make even the simplest sentence in Hindi and essentially can't even really do that in Arabic at this point... the comparison to English and Latin was a slight exaggeration, but there clearly are lots of examples...



Can you give me a transliteration of those two words?


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## vikramkr

Sorry for my overly general question. I didn't realize there were many in the first place.


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## Qcumber

RAI, Shriniwas (1987)
The common heritage
Singapore: Malayan Law Journal

This book is a list of terms common to Hindi and Malay, and, of course, these terms are Arabic. So it has most of what you are looking for.


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## albondiga

vikramkr said:


> Can you give me a transliteration of those two words?



I'll stay away from giving transliterations (for reasons that are well-justified by my posts about Hindi on other threads  ), and let the experts handle that.  But they're quite basic words from an introductory-level Hindi vocab list, and as you've realized by now, the consensus on this thread is that...



Qcumber said:


> This book is a list of terms common to Hindi and Malay, and, of course, these terms are Arabic. So it has most of what you are looking for.



...books could be written on the topic  !

Anyway, since I saw in your profile that you're studying Spanish as well, you should know how intertwined all of these languages are... even Spanish has a bunch of cognates with Hindi, from a bunch of different directions: (a) Through common Indo-European roots (e.g., some numbers)... (b) Through Portuguese influence on Hindi (e.g., mesa, camisa)... and (c) Probably also through Arabic, which has had an influence on both Spanish and Hindi (I can't give any specific examples of this, but my forum name is a good example of a Spanish word with Arabic roots  )...

(Note: I'm conscious of not getting this thread too off-topic; I'm going to open my own separate thread about Portuguese influence on Hindi, and you may wish to open a separate one as well about Arabic influence on Spanish if that interests you...)


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## panjabigator

I can say a bit about the portuguese one.

The words were /kitaab/ and /zamaanaa/


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## vikramkr

Qcumber said:


> RAI, Shriniwas (1987)
> The common heritage
> Singapore: Malayan Law Journal
> 
> This book is a list of terms common to Hindi and Malay, and, of course, these terms are Arabic. So it has most of what you are looking for.


 
Sorry, I'm confused. Are you saying that all of Malay vocabulary comes from Arabic?


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## Qcumber

vikramkr said:


> Sorry, I'm confused. Are you saying that all of Malay vocabulary comes from Arabic?


 
I never said that. 
1) Hindi borrowed terms from Arabic.
2) Malay borrowed terms from Arabic.
Many of these Arabic loanwords are common to both Hindi and Malay.


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## vikramkr

Qcumber said:


> I never said that.
> 1) Hindi borrowed terms from Arabic.
> 2) Malay borrowed terms from Arabic.
> Many of these Arabic loanwords are common to both Hindi and Malay.


 
Oh, I see. Thanks for the book name, I'll check it out


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## Qcumber

You are welcome.


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## panjabigator

A lot of Islamic religious vocab is directly from Arabic.  That's the most obvious point I can make.  The rest is varied.


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## Qcumber

Opening RAI's book, I can see the Arabic loanwords listed belong to many  fields. Unfortunately RAI doesn't provide any etymoly. His is only a comparative list of Malay and Hindi terms. Some are Sanskrit and others are Arabic, but he never says which is which. (He probably doesn't know, otherwise he would have supplied the etymons).

As a sample, here is my short list of Arabic loanwords in Hindi drawn from chapter A.

adab = good manners
adat = custom
aina = spectacles
ajib = strange
aql = intellect
akhbar = newspaper
akhir = the end
alam = universe
alim = learned
asal = origin
asali = original
ashiq = lover
ajab = strange occurrence
azam = great
azmat = greatness
aziz = dear


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## Anatoli

I don't know Hindi but someone mentioned *v*alid/*v*alida (father/mother) used in muslem communites, which are of Arabic origin, only pronounced as
*w*aalid (والِد), *w*aalida (والِدة).


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## MarcB

See this thread.


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## panjabigator

Shokran=Shukria (Urdu)
a3slii
ya3nii


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## Lugubert

R.S.McGregor's Hindi-English dictionary has almost 12 pages (out of 1083) of two columns for Hindi words beginning with _mu_. A clear majority of them are of Arabic origin. In one random column (out of those 24) I find 13 words borrowed from Arabic, 2 from Persian and 5 indigenous words.


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## panjabigator

Platts is an excellent etymological source as well.  Google the online version of the dictionary...it's a godsend!


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## Lugubert

panjabigator said:


> Platts is an excellent etymological source as well. Google the online version of the dictionary...it's a godsend!


I like it and use it frequently in a printed version, but has the online version been updated since 1884? McGregor was first published in 1993.


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## panjabigator

No it hasn't been.  But despite this, its still a good source.  But someone really needs to update it...

**points finger**


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## joshuelin

well i think the word shukria=thank you 
is a word that you use in Hindi to say thank you and i thnks is an Arab word



i know that in spanish sice there were Arabs living in spain and they build up one of the most beautiful cities of apain named andalucia,in spanish you can find that all the words that atart with AL are from arabic words
they teach us that in spanish words like 

algebra
ala=wing
alcoba= bedroom 
...............(also camara or recamara)and ithink there is a Hindi 
................word camera that means room
alcancia=piggy bank
almuada=pillow
almuerzo=luch
almorzar=to have lunch
alba=early morning
alimentos=food
alegre=happy
alegrai=happines
albañil= ....hmmm  it construct something a forgot what 
alamar
alambre=wire
alambrar =to windup wires
albondigas=meatball
alarife
alcaí
alcapurria
alcohol
alma=soul
alga
almendra
almidon
albelgar
alojar
almud
aludir
aluminio
alla 
allí
alianza
alfabeto
and more


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## Lugubert

The list will bew much shorter when words of Latin origin are purged. I hav no time to look at them all right now, so
shukria, algebra, alcohol OK, Arabic
Hindi kamra 'room' from Portuguese, like camera etc. in turn from Latin
alimentos and English words like haughty, enhance, adult, aliment from a Proto-Indo-European (PIE) root *al- 'to grow, nourish'
alma same root, Lat. almus 'nurturing, nourishing'
I'd guess alba is linked to Latin albus 'white'
alianza from PIE *leig- 'to bind', prefixed by Latin ad- 'to'
alfabeto from Latin, using the names of the two first Greek letters.
alegr*ia* Italian allegro 'lively, happy' makes me think Latin origin
aluminium "The ancient Greeks and Romans used _alumen_ (alum) ..." I find no reference indicating that the name was borrowed from Arabic. If so, there should have been an Arabic word 'minium' or something like that. I don't think there is for any Aluminium related stuff).


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## ruchashelat

i hv not been through a detailed research .....but here is a list of some common words in hindi and arabic that i hv known
subah - morning
yakeen - faith
shak - doubt
maut - death
al wakat, waqt - time
zaman, zamana
duniya - world (not geographically)
kasam - promise
sabr, sabar - patience
jannat - heaven
musafir - traveller
mushkil, museebat - problem
amir - rich
shaheed, qurbaani - sacrifice
insaan - man
qabt, kabar - death tomb
fida


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## omlick

After you learn the spellings of words in Urdu script, you can tell that certain words come from Arabic. For example words with the letters  ط ظ   (त, ज़ in Hindi script ) ص ض (स, ज़  in Hindi script) are dead give aways.  Am I right to assume this?


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## BP.

^I remember encountering some Sanskrit-derived Urdu words that contained the letters you mention. Of course their pronunciation changes too. I can't remember any right now except the name of the city of _QaSoor_, derived from the person's name _Kesh_, which we discussed a few weeks ago.


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## panjabigator

Well, some words are found on both ends.  <vādā> for example is a strange word in both Urdu and Hindi.


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## Cilquiestsuens

omlick said:


> After you learn the spellings of words in Urdu script, you can tell that certain words come from Arabic. For example words with the letters ط ظ (त, ज़ in Hindi script ) ص ض (स, ज़ in Hindi script) are dead give aways. Am I right to assume this?


 

yes you're 98% right. However, don't forget that a few Persian / Hindi words are written with Arabic letters (while they shouldn't) such as

tota 

(parrot) 

'atai' 
(having learnt without a proper master / teacher)

So the above words should have not been written with Arabic letters ta and 3ayn, but they are mostly written as above.

There are other words like this, but not many..


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## panjabigator

Yes, <totā> always stumped me.  Anyone know why it's spelled this way?


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## Faylasoof

I would agree with this! 





albondiga said:


> You may or may not already realize this, but asking for Hindi words of Arabic origin is almost like asking for English words of Latin origin...


 So I wouldn't bother even thinking about coming up with a list - it'll be long!!

Why it is طوطا and طوطی? According to Platts they are from Persian! One would think it might be Arabic given that it has a ط - _almost_ always a sign of Arabic origin. But in Arabic a parrot is a  ببغاء _babghaa'_. 

   طوطی _T_ū_T_ī = parrot; but also Loxia rosea or Carpodacus erythrinus -small singing birds. 
BTW,there is also the expression <kisii kii _T_ū_T_ī bolnā / bulwānā = to become / cause to become famous / acquire fame>.


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## gori

ruchashelat said:


> i hv not been through a detailed research .....but here is a list of some common words in hindi and arabic that i hv known
> subah - morning
> yakeen - faith
> shak - doubt
> maut - death
> al wakat, waqt - time
> zaman, zamana
> duniya - world (not geographically)
> kasam - promise
> sabr, sabar - patience
> jannat - heaven
> musafir - traveller
> mushkil, museebat - problem
> amir - rich
> shaheed, qurbaani - sacrifice
> insaan - man
> qabt, kabar - death tomb
> fida



You are right as an arabic speaker I can say that all these words are from arab origin I can add this list with the arabic meaning it's often the same meaning in hindi, It's some of the words that I understand when I watch hindi movies :

adab : good manners
adat : tools
aina : eye
ajib : strange
aql : intellect
akhbar : newspaper
jism : body 
khayal : kind of dream  
ma3fi : forgiven
toufane : flood
hawa : air
alam : universe
alim  scientist
sourate : picture 
gham : not exactly but kind of sadness  
wakil : kind of lawyer
ziada : to add  
baas : that's all
asal : origin
asali : original
zarourat : necessary
ashiq : lover
ajab : strange 
ajnabi : stranger 
ihssas : feeling
intizar : to wait  
akhir : the last
azam : great
katil : killer
kaffi : sufficient 
madad : help 
azmat : greatness
aziz : dear
mohabat : love in a general meaning 
ishq : love between two people 
mahbouba : my lover
lakin : but
yakeen : for sure  
ghalat : wrong   
kadam : a step 
sheitan : devil
sahih : true 
sawal : question 
jawab : answer
dimagh : brain
matlab : it comes from talab ask for something
kitab : book
moujrim : criminal 
isharaa : a sign 
faidat : not exactly but kind of favours 
kourssi : chair 
rabah : it comes from rab god
doukane : store
khabar : a news 
kanoun : law
hakikat : the truth
malik : the owner
moukam : the level  
insan : a human 
ya3ni : meaning
salam : peace 
choukria : it comes from choukran


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