# Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi: contagion



## marrish

Hello, 

Contagion is the word used in English to denote the spreading of germs by direct or indirect contact. The simple way of conveying it which comes to my mind is ''_biimaarii phailnaa_'' but it doesn't seem satisfactory because it is not specific enough.

Could we have the sample sentence ''The risk of contagion is higher in schools and public places'' please?


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## Qureshpor

skuuloN aur 3avaamii jaghoN meN *chhuut kii biimaariyoN* kaa xadshah/xatrah ziyaadah hai.


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## UrduMedium

Urdu: ... meN wabaa'ii amraaz phelne ka xatrah ...


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## Alfaaz

marrish said:
			
		

> Could we have the sample sentence ''The risk of contagion is higher in schools and public places'' please?


خطر العدوی مدارس اور عوامی مقامات/جگہوں میں اکبر/زیادہ ہے. 
تعدیہ ، متعدی مرض
xatar-al-a'dwaa madaaris aur a'waami maqamaat/jaghoN meiN akbar/ziyaadah hai
ta'diyah, muta-a'ddi marz


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## Faylasoof

For us too  وبا _wabaa_ = contagion, as the commonest term.

_skuuloN meN wabaa kaa xaTrah / andeshah / xadshah/ dar ziyaadah hai.
_


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## marrish

I'm very much obliged for all the answers so far, which provide a good variety of possible expressions.

Can we have an attempt at Hindi and Punjabi?


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## greatbear

Hindi: saNkramaNR


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## Qureshpor

A question to everyone. Has the usage "chhuut kii biimaariyaaN" become obsolete?


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## Faylasoof

QURESHPOR said:


> A question to everyone. Has the usage "chhuut kii biimaariyaaN" become obsolete?


Not sure if it is obsolete but I hear _wabaa_ a lot, esp. from Urduphones.


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## marrish

greatbear said:


> Hindi: saNkramaNR


Thank you very much indeed.


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## marrish

QURESHPOR said:


> A question to everyone. Has the usage "chhuut kii biimaariyaaN" become obsolete?


This contribution is very much appreciated as it is simple and unpretentious, and it is not obsolete at all! Very much used, but the problem is that it doesn't cover 'indirect contagion', like contagion through air...


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## greatbear

QURESHPOR said:


> A question to everyone. Has the usage "chhuut kii biimaariyaaN" become obsolete?



Not obsolete; there is also "chhuua-chhuut kii biimaariyaaN". As marrish said, it refers specifically to diseases caused through human contact, not other forms of contagion.


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## Faylasoof

marrish said:


> This contribution is very much appreciated as it is simple and unpretentious, and it is not obsolete at all! Very much used, but the problem is that it doesn't cover 'indirect contagion', like contagion through air...


 marrish SaaHib, perhaps a small point but contagion through air as such doesn't happen! Through aerosol, contaminated water etc., yes. If via aerosol, then that is again person-to-person contact and if via water or by touch as well (e.g. SARS infection not that long ago) that is of course indirect contagion but it is still contagion. I know _wabaa_ covers everything, both direct and indirect contagion, so are you saying that _chhuut_ wouldn't be a proper term to use if we are talking of, say, a cholera (هيضه _haiDhah_) epidemic, which is not spread by direct contact. I know we can use _wabaa_ for this.


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## tonyspeed

QURESHPOR said:


> A question to everyone. Has the usage "chhuut kii biimaariyaaN" become obsolete?



No, this is still the expression for contagious diseases in Hindi.

But I don't see why it has to be limited to touching even though the root is obviously Chhuu. I think this may be being somewhat pedantic. 
I'm sure it was invented far before people even thought about aerosol contagions, but I don't see why it has to be limited to the past...


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## greatbear

Well, tonyspeed, the expression for contagious diseases in Hindi is "saNkramak rog"; for "chhuut kii biimaariyaaN", touch is essential - nothing pedantic about it.


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## marrish

Faylasoof said:


> marrish SaaHib, perhaps a small point but contagion through air as such doesn't happen! Through aerosol, contaminated water etc., yes. If via aerosol, then that is again person-to-person contact and if via water or by touch as well (e.g. SARS infection not that long ago) that is of course indirect contagion but it is still contagion. I know _wabaa_ covers everything, both direct and indirect contagion, so are you saying that _chhuut_ wouldn't be a proper term to use if we are talking of, say, a cholera (هيضه _haiDhah_) epidemic, which is not spread by direct contact. I know we can use _wabaa_ for this.


Thank you for the correction of my unfortunate expression - what I meant to say was that air is the carrier in case of aerosol.
Is wabaa not a too heavy a term for eg. flu?


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## Qureshpor

To the best of my understanding, the word for "contagion" in Punjabi is "chhuut".


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## marrish

QURESHPOR said:


> To the best of my understanding, the word for "contagion" in Punjabi is "chhuut".


Just perfect with me.


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## tonyspeed

greatbear said:


> Well, tonyspeed, the expression for contagious diseases in Hindi is "saNkramak rog"; for "chhuut kii biimaariyaaN", touch is essential - nothing pedantic about it.




This is an interesting thought, and it might be for some. But both in dictionaries AND in practice by speakers I have heard Chuut kii bimaari used for a contageous infection with no idea of touch involved.

I doubt that saNkramak rog is a layman's term. So I think maybe this is where the dividing line lies.


In harmony with QP, one dictionary even says CHuut lag jaanaa - to get a contagious infection - CHuut kaa rog / CHuut kii biimaarii - contagious disease


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## greatbear

Well, on further thought, I think you and QP are right. "saNkramak rog" is "infectious disease", whereas "chhuut kii bimaarii" is "contagious disease".


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## marrish

I'm curious about a word I came across when incidentally reading a short Hindi piece: महामारी /mahaamaarii/. Have you ever come across it (@littlepond jii?) and secondly, how can it be interpreted?


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## littlepond

Yes, @marrish jii, "mahaamaarii" is a commonly used word in Hindi to indicate usually a disease which affects the population on a large scale, an epidemic.


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## Qureshpor

littlepond said:


> Yes, @marrish jii, "mahaamaarii" is a commonly used word in Hindi to indicate usually a disease which affects the population on a large scale, an epidemic.


 Can it be broken into mahaa + maarii, ie maarii on a great scale? If yes, maarii does not quite sound right. Perhaps mahaa + mrityu?


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## littlepond

Qureshpor said:


> Can it be broken into mahaa + maarii, ie maarii on a great scale? If yes, maarii does not quite sound right. Perhaps mahaa + mrityu?



Yes, it is indeed a composition of "mahaa" and "maarii", but not everyone dies. "maar" (here become "maarii") is a word with wider scope than "mrityu".


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## marrish

Thanks littlepond SaaHib, and Q SaaHib for further questioning, too. I think I get it now: _maarii_ is as if a "name" given to a general epidemic 'affecting all'=pandemic? and killing people, "the great-killer-disease", like a "death-wave".

[Edit: Now that I see in Platts, there are three _maarii_s all neatly described as ever, with 2:1 for the invisible killer]

ماری मारि māri (p. 981) *S ماري मारि *_*māri*_, s.f. Killing, slaying; ruin; — any deadly disease, pestilence, &c. (see next).

ماری  मारी mārī (p. 981) H ماری मारी _mārī _[*Prk. मारिआ; S. मारिका]*, s.f. Deadly disease, plague, pestilence, epidemic; murrain; — mortality; — arduous toil, hard labour.

[ ماری मारी mārī (p. 981) H ماری मारी _mārī_ [_mār_, q.v.+Prk. इआ = S. इका], s.f. Beating; blow, &c. (see _mār_ and _mārā_): — _mārī paṛnā_ (-_par_), To be cozened, or swindled, or done: — _mārī-ke_, adv. (dialec.) In profusion; very much.]

And there's _marii_ which I'd known as similar to وبا ْwabaa, but haven't connected it to _maarii_.

مری  मरी marī (p. 1027) H مری मरी _marī_, or मर्री _marrī_ [S. मारिका; cf. _marak_], s.f. A plague, pestilence, an epidemic; cholera morbus; murrain: — _marī paṛnā_, v.n. A plague or pestilence to occur: — _marī-liyā_ (fem. _marī-lī_), adj. Plague-stricken; — fit for death (peculiar to the language of women).


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## Qureshpor

Thank you marrish SaaHib for taking the time to look up the words maarii and marii and providing the complete definitions.


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