# Hindi,Urdu: muskii



## MonsieurGonzalito

Friends:

What is _muskii_?
It is supposed to mean "medicine, cure" or something similar.

It is said by Johnny Walker (the comedic actor from the 1950's) when he is peddling oil head massages on the street:

_tel meraa hai *muskii* / gaNj rahe na xuskii
jis ke sar par haath phiraa / duuN chamke kismat uskii_

Pray tell me how to write it on any language.


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## Alfaaz

The correct pronunciations are مشکی و خشکی. 

(If you remember, we discussed similar examples in a thread as well as via PM. Some speakers - often depicted as نیم خواندہ یا ناخواندہ in _books, films, TV dramas, etc._- change the ش to س.)


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## MonsieurGonzalito

Oh, I see the pattern now.
(But I dont have the competence to detect it when it happens, not yet at least).
Thanks, @Alfaaz


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## MonsieurGonzalito

Apparently, _mushkii_ can mean both "fragrant" (musky) and "dark" (=aNdheraa ).
It so happens that, when I looked for "dark oil" on the internet, most results come as a type of a "black (seed) oil" credited to come from India and be therapeutic for the hair and scalp specifically.

Would all that have been common knowledge for an Indian of the time, or the singer is just saying that his oil is aromatic?


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## Alfaaz

I'm not sure, but it most probably is _aromatic_. Let's see if other forum members can suggest something if they remember the exact context in which the lyrics appear in the film. 

Extra information: Black seeds (_Nigella sativa_) have been used throughout history, in various cuisines, and the oil has also been popularly used. Black seeds are mentioned in Hadith (حَبّة السَّوداء), which makes them well known/significant among Muslims/Islam as well. In Persian (and Urdu), they are known as سیاہ دانہ and in Urdu as well as other languages of the subcontinent they are referred to as کلونجی, _etc. _As mentioned in the Wikipedia article, black seeds have been found in ancient sites, so it doesn't seem unlikely that people would have known about them in the 1950s.


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## littlepond

There is no more context in the film than the song itself: a massage person advertising his massaging miracles. I think it is only meant to mean "aromatic", nothing more: but maybe viewers of that era would draw more meaning? Need someone more learned.

Most probably refers to oil with trumpet flower (which is supposed to be heady) ingredient. I am not an expert on oils or plants, so I may be wrong.


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## MonsieurGonzalito

Thanks, @Alfaaz, @littlepond!


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## bakshink

Apparently, _mushkii_ can mean both "fragrant" (musky) and "dark" (=aNdheraa ). No it doesn't mean dark. It only means fragrant.

"late Middle English: from late Latin _muscus_, from Persian _mušk_, perhaps from Sanskrit _muṣka_ ‘scrotum’ (because of the similarity in shape of the sac on the abdomen of a male musk deer in which musk is produced)."
Google link of the origin of the word


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## MonsieurGonzalito

Just out of curiosity: I asked an Urdu professor about this song, and he told me "this is in Hindi, I had to look at the subtitles".
Why it is "in Hindi"?
(I ask out of ignorance)
What makes this song "so Hindi" that he might have had trouble understanding it?


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## Frau Moore

'Of the colour of musk'; dark bay; very dark, approaching to black (a horse, &c.) that´s what Platt´s dictionary says about mushkii, that fits nicely with Bakshinks´s quote. When the musk of the musk deer gets dried its colour changes to dark or blackish.

And of course musk has a very strong pleasing fragrance which explains the second meaning of mushkii as fragrant. 

Monsieur Gonzalito, some Indian hair oils may indeed contain black seeds oil but I guess "black (or dark) hair oil" is called so cause it is said to prevent the black Indian hair from getting white. Some of these oils even contain dye and blacken greyish hair.


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## MonsieurGonzalito

Ah, OK, so I guess "musky" captures more or less all those meanings.
Thanks, @bakshink, @Frau Moore!


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## Alfaaz

MonsieurGonzalito said:
			
		

> Ah, OK, so I guess "musky" captures more or less all those meanings.


 Please excuse any confusion my previous post might have caused. Black seeds are not related to this context or word and that was only extra information, since you had mentioned them and suggested that people of the time might not have known about their benefits, etc.

Going back to _mushk_: 



> مُشک
> ۱۔ ہرن کے نافے کی خشک شدہ رطوبت جس کے دانے سیاہ سرخی مائل اور خوشبو نہایت تیز ہوتی ہے ، (ہرن زیادہ تر تبت ، نیپال ، روس اور چین کے کوہستانی علاقوں میں پایا جاتاہے) ، کستوری ، مسک ۔
> ۲۔ مشک سے بنایا جانے والا عطر ۔
> ۳۔ زلف کی سیاہی ، نہایت سیاہ کالی زلف (شاعر لوگ معشوق کی زلف کی سیاہی کو اس سے تشبیہ دیتے ہیں) ۔


​As can be seen from the entries in Platts and Urdu Lughat, _mushk _can refer to: 

_the substance obtained from deer _​
_fragrance made from that substance _​
_darkness/blackness of hair, extremely dark/black hair (poets use it as a metaphor for the darkness of a lover's hair)_​
Edit: A friend reminded me of the following relevant lyrics from Pakistani Urdu film Azra (1962) and that _xutan _should be mentioned as well:

شمعِ فروزاں آنکھیں تری
ہر اک نظر میں جادوگری
زلفیں تری *مشکِ ختن*
اے جانِ من
جانِ بہاراں، رشکِ چمن

نغمہ نگار: تنویر نقوی​


> خُتَن
> تاتار (چین) کا ایک علاقہ جہاں کے ہرن مشہور ہیں جن کے نافوں سے اعلیٰ قسم کا مُشک نکلتا ہے.​


​


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## Alfaaz

MonsieurGonzalito said:
			
		

> Just out of curiosity: I asked an Urdu professor about this song, and he told me "this is in Hindi, I had to look at the subtitles".
> Why it is "in Hindi"?
> (I ask out of ignorance)
> What makes this song "so Hindi" that he might have had trouble understanding it?


 The professor and you (by asking him) could provide the best explanation! 

He might be referring to the incorrect pronunciations:

pronouncing س as ش
pronouncing خ as کھ
pronouncing ز as ج in آزمائے
the word سینک, while listed in dictionaries, is not commonly used 
If you get a chance to contact the professor, you could probably also ask him whether it is _ke _or _keh _in the lyrics discussed in your other thread...?!


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## littlepond

I was thinking it refers to the flower "mokhaa", also called "mushk", and which has a heady fragrance, rather than musk (which is "kasturii" in Hindi).


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## desi4life

littlepond said:


> I was thinking it refers to the flower "mokhaa", also called "mushk", and which has a heady fragrance, rather than musk (which is "kasturii" in Hindi).


In Hindi, मुश्क _mushk_ is another word for कस्तूरी _kastuurii_ while मुष्क _muSHk _can mean the मोखा _mokhaa_ flower.


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## MonsieurGonzalito

Alfaaz said:


> The professor and you (by asking him) could provide the best explanation!


He says it's in Hindi because I haven't payed attention and I sent him the Devanagari version.
Sorry, @Alfaaz



Alfaaz said:


> you could probably also ask him whether it is _ke _or _keh _in the lyrics discussed in your other thread...?!


He thinks it is کہ
I will add a note in the other thread.


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## littlepond

desi4life said:


> In Hindi, मुश्क _mushk_ is another word for कस्तूरी _kastuurii_ while मुष्क _muSHk _can mean the मोखा _mokhaa_ flower.



And how does one know which word Walker's character meant while singing? मुश्क or मुष्क?


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