# Urdu: rob jamana



## lcfatima

Someone recently said to me: "Voh tumhaare upar rob jamaa rahaa hai"

Rob rhymes with the English word "robe."

I took it to mean trying to pressure me. Can anyone give me an exact translation?


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## Cilquiestsuens

rob jamana (or biThaana) is something like to bully

here is the spelling; it is of Arabic origin:





It's used in other ways to : mujh par us ka rob khatm ho gya = he is not impressing me anymore, I'm not impressed by him any more.... (or something like that)


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## linguist786

Someone who has "rob" is someone with a commanding personality or who is domineering. 

"rob jamaanaa" - can either be translated in the sense "to inspire with awe" or "to overawe", but the other sense would be "to frighten/scare/bully", depending on the context.

I don't know if there is an exact English equivalent. It's a difficult one.


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## BP.

it doesn't rhyme exactly with robe, though people do talk like that. Like Cilki said, its rau'ub jamaana - command respect, doesn't imply bullying.


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## lcfatima

Yes rhyme is the is the wrong word, more like sounds similar to the English word "robe" but with a trilled /r/ ...my mother in law informs me that the Punjabis say ru-aab. My MIL and husband's pronunciation (Urdu speaking Pakistani Lakhnavi/UP origin) is "robe" like the English word.


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## BP.

First, the o in the English 'robe' is a diphthong. Not in ru'ub it isn't.

I'm not sure of all panjaabi speakers, but I remember faintly having heard 'ro-ab' from a Potohari speaker. Urdu speakers do pronounce it somewhat like 'robe', but I have a differing opinion. The 'ain' in the middle of the word isn't meant for nothing. Nor is it silent in this particular word.

We're underutilizing our alphabet. Are ain, suad and they redundant? Replacing them with easier-to-pronounce approximations doesn't befit ahliaan-e-zabaan. Are we content to let our language degrade?


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## Qureshpor

lcfatima said:


> Yes rhyme is the is the wrong word, more like sounds similar to the English word "robe" but with a trilled /r/ ...my mother in law informs me that the Punjabis say ru-aab. My MIL and husband's pronunciation (Urdu speaking Pakistani Lakhnavi/UP origin) is "robe" like the English word.


As BP SaaHib has indicated, it is n't quite the same as "robe" even taking into account the "r" sound difference. I think in the context of your opening post the meaning that can be deduced is:

He is trying to impress you...or..He is trying to show off.

I believe the way the Punjabis pronounce رعب is idential to the Urdu speakers. At least I have n't noticed any difference. It certainly is n't pronounced "ru-aab".

Just answering BP SaaHib. There is no dipthong in ru3b.


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## littlepond

lcfatima said:


> Rob rhymes with the English word "robe."



Mostly with rather the English word "rob", but yes, some speakers say it in the fashion of rhyming with "robe".


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## tonyspeed

littlepond said:


> Mostly with rather the English word "rob", but yes, some speakers say it in the fashion of rhyming with "robe".



Do you know the Hindi spelling for this word?


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## tonyspeed

A رعب _rǒʻb_, _raʻb_ (inf. n. of رعب 'to frighten,' 'to fear'), s.m. Terrifying; trembling with fear; fright,  fear, terror, dread, awe; commanding or awe-inspiring presence, dignity:—_rǒʻb biṭhānā_ or _jamānā_ (-_meṅ_), To inspire with awe, to awe:—_rǒʻb-dār_, adj. Awe-inspiring, of commanding presence:—_rǒʻb-meṅ ānā_ (_kisī-ke_), To be terrified (by), to be overawed (by).

Note ǒ does not exist in the normal Indic vowel sounds. It would have to be learnt.


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## Wolverine9

For it to be somewhat similar to English "rob", the spelling would be _raab _राब.  However, it is actually _rob _रोब.


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## littlepond

Wolverine9 said:


> For it to be somewhat similar to English "rob", the spelling would be _raab _राब.



I did not understand this part, Wolverine9 jii: how would "राब" equate to the English "rob"?

In my experience, words like "rob"/"raub", "saubat"/"sobat", etc. have a varying "o" depending on the speaker: some have it closed, like in the word "khol", whereas others have it open, like in the word "khaultaa (huaa paanii)".


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## Wolverine9

English "rob" should be transliterated as रॉब (ignoring the different pronunciation of _r_); however, this "o" sound is foreign to Indic languages, so the crescent symbol is not always used and the resulting transliteration then is राब (as is the case on shabdkosh.com and other dictionaries). Some also pronounce the "o" as an "aa", so "rob" would sound like _raab _राब.  

The Arabic derived رعب _rǒʻb _is spelled and pronounced as रोब in Hindi.


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## littlepond

Wolverine9 said:


> English "rob" should be transliterated as रॉब (ignoring the different pronunciation of _r_) ...



This I agree with, Wolverine9 jii, but I do not know how can रॉब equate to राब; I don't think I can remember any such eliding of the "o" sound. I also don't know if it is foreign to Indic languages, this "o" being everywhere in modern Hindi at least, from "paunaa" to "maulaanaa", etc. I think this "o" is also very strong in Bengali, if my ears haven't been mistaken, which is also an Indic language.

As for the pron. in Hindi, I still maintain that the word is pronounced as both रोब and रॉब. In fact, for me the latter is far more frequent!


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## Wolverine9

रॉब doesn't equate to राब.  राब is just an approximation for those who can't pronounce रॉब. To clarify, this "aa" for "o" substitution is present in the speech of some Indian immigrants to the U.S.

The "o" in "rob" रॉब is not the same as "au" in _maulaanaa _मौलाना. Otherwise, the Indian pronunciation of "rob" is far different from the American pronunciation.  If you mean the Arabic derived word is pronounced as both _rob _रोब and _raub _रौब then that might be true.


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## littlepond

Wolverine9 said:


> The "o" in "rob" रॉब is not the same as "au" in _maulaanaa _मौलाना. Otherwise, the Indian pronunciation of "rob" is far different from the American pronunciation.



It does seem so, because the Indian English pron. of "rob" would be the same as मौलाना.



Wolverine9 said:


> If you mean the Arabic derived word is pronounced as both _rob _रोब and _raub _रौब then that might be true.



For me, there is no difference, pronunciation-wise, between रॉब and रौब, so I do not understand how you seem to differentiate between the two.


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## marrish

Wolverine9 and littlepond, perhaps this can be helpful as a reference: both British and American pronunciations are there and they seem to be fundamentally different.

http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/rob


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## Wolverine9

Thank you.  The different pronunciation of the word in BrE and AmE appropriately explains the matter.


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## marrish

Yes, I think so too. In Urdu, the best pronunciation is here: http://www.forvo.com/word/رعب_و_وحشت/#fa
(please take account that it is actually pronounced by a Persian speaker and the second word of the compound is not relevant).

रॉब represents the AmE "rob" but not - in my perception the Hindi pronunciation of رُعب.


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## Wolverine9

^ I agree on both points.  I think BP Romanized the Urdu pronunciation correctly as _rau'ub_.


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## marrish

Wolverine9 said:


> ^ I agree on both points.  I think BP Romanized the Urdu pronunciation correctly as _rau'ub_.


Super! However I get the gist of BP SaaHib's romanisation and I am sure he intended to convey the same what QP and I meant: r (OK) au (not OK!) as you know, the diphthong which is mostly pronounced as a monophthong is a long one! and here it is not. It is  a short "o" - in my perception. BP SaaHib can confirm or deny if he wishes. Then we go onto the realisation of "3ayn" - I agree it can carry the value of the preceding consonant, this being "u", but in Urdu as spoken popularly, it will be a mere stop (hamzah).


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## Wolverine9

Yes, you're right.  There is indeed no diphthong.


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## marrish

I'm wondering about Hindi pronunciation though. In writing it is रोब but I didn't read any instances of it, perhaps it comes unto the umbrella "Colloquial Hindi" but is it pronounced so? With a long "o:"? Might be and why not but I don't know.


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## Dib

The Hindi pronunciation I am familiar with is "rob" (I believe with long o).
The Bengali pronunciation is "roab" - used in similar meaning, but different idiom/collocation than Hindi/Urdu.


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## Sheikh_14

Would Jamana in such circumstances suggest establishing something, to have take root etc?


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## Qureshpor

In Urdu, as per the thread title, the word is رُعب . If it was روب then indeed it would rhyme with the English word "robe".


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## marrish

Sheikh_14 said:


> Would Jamana in such circumstances suggest establishing something, to have take root etc?


Something of this kind, but not establishing. This is of relevance: _to cause (one's words) to impress (a person), to bring (one's words) home (to another,—e g. bāt jamānā: jamānā being here syn. with ẕihn-nishīn karnā); -_ but this only for the "jamaanaa" part.


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