Alankar (Figure of Speech) Posted by Nitin Kumar on Mar 27, 2011 in Hindi Language
Today, I would like to talk about an interesting topic in Hindi grammar.
अलंकार (Alankaar) is a figure of speech which means ornaments or adornments. Just like the women use ornaments to enhance her beauty, Alankar in Hindi language are used essentially to enhance the beauty of a poem.
Alankar are broadly classified into two groups, these are:
1. शब्दालंकार (Shabdalankar, it came from two word Shabdh (Word) + Alankar (Ornaments)) – Certain specific words that create an ornamental effect in a verse/poem.
2. अर्थालंकार (Arthalankar it came from two word Artha (Meaning) + Alankar (Ornaments)) – The meaning of words that creates the required enhancement.
Most common शब्दालंकार (Shabdalankar) that you might find in the Hindi poetry are:
1. अनुप्रास (Anupras) (Alliteration) – When a consonant word repeats serially more than once.
Example: घेर घेर घोर गगन।. Here, “घ ” is repeated three times.
2. यमक (Yamak) (Homonym) – when same word repeats more than once but each time its meaning is different.
Example: सजना है मुझे सजना के लिए। Here, “सजना” means to make up/lover.
3. श्लेष (Shlesh) (Pun) – when a word is used once but it gives more than one meaning.
Example: मधुबन की छाती को देखो, सूखी इसकी कितनी कलियाँ। Here, “कलियाँ” means the flower that is not fully blossomed/Young children. Poet wants to describe a scene where a “मधुबन” (garden) is lacking, both in blossoming flowers and young children.
Most common अर्थालंकार (Arthalankar) that you might find in the Hindi poetry are:
1. उपमा (Upma) (Simile) – when a person or thing is compared in words with a similar but famous/well known person or thing.
Example: ताज महल सा घर। House like the Taj Mahal. Here, “घर” (house) is compared with a building which is famous for its beauty.
2. रूपक (Rupak) (Metaphor) – when a word is used for something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance.
Example: पायो जी मैंने राम-रतन धन पायो। Here, “राम” (Ram, Hindu god) is suggested metaphorically as “रतन” (precious stones) and “धन” (money) .
3. अतिश्योक्ति (Atishyokti) (Hyperbole) – when a word is used of exaggerate something or someone, to evoke a strong feelings or to create a strong impression.
Example: दिल बादल बने, आँखें बहेने लगी। Here, “दिल” (heart) is exaggerated to “बादल” (cloud). The dramatic effect of this exaggeration would be, आँखें (eyes) that can tear as rain because the heart has turned into clouds (in pain).
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About the Author: Nitin Kumar
Nitin Kumar is a native Hindi speaker from New Delhi, India. His education qualification include Masters in Robotics and Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering. Currently, he is working in the Research and Development in Robotics in Germany. He is avid language learner with varied level of proficiency in English, German, Spanish, and Japanese. He wish to learn French one day. His passion for languages motivated him to share his mother tongue, Hindi, and culture and traditions associated with its speakers. He has been working with Transparent Language since 2010 and has written over 430 blogs on various topics on Hindi language and India, its culture and traditions. He is also the Administrator for Hindi Facebook page which has a community of over 330,000 members.
Comments:
Desna:
Thank you soo much fr this blog!
Its soo helpful!
Simple…! n easy…!
Shyam Vithalani:
It helped a lot
Thank you soooo much
But I wud like to give a suggestion dat if u r explaining wat is alankar den u shudder also provide some additional examples or exercises related to it
It will give u more publicity and u can earn well…..
drishti:
thanks guyyssss
it helped me a lot………….
god bless u ……………..<3
Ajay menghani:
Good .
I really liked it.
Knowledgeable .
Thanks.
Sparsh:
nyc ….
preetpurewal:
I really liked it.
Knowledgeable .
Thanks.
praveen:
Thanks very much on studying this I passed 12 th standard thank u very very very very much…BUT utpreksha alankar is missing…:-(
Jack:
Great resource. Thanks.
VICKY LALLER:
Thanxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. lot of helpfull it is……..
Archana singh:
It is very useful n easy to understand also.thanx
Tanvi:
I really liked it. Tomorrow is my hindi exam and alankar will come. it is not proper in my book. Thnxxx for this. Its really nyc and helpful…. thnxx a lot
Asmita:
Very easy and simple way to explain. Nice one….so that i can teach Figure of speech in English and Alankar in Hindi to my students.
AMRIT:
THNX.
GRET 1
kratika:
thank u
Kushal Chakrabarti:
Very superb blog, but though it would be nice to see more examples.
sushant:
its a vary good porter for hindi readers
anshu:
very nyc
thank u
vrati:
thanx for ur blog its really helpul for me to now deal with hindi
Pari:
Hello,
This is very helpful.
Just to give you advice that you should also give some examples of alankar, as Shyam Vitalani said.
From Pari Devkashi.
deowrat:
sahi me bahut acha tha……thanku
Abhimanyu:
Exactly what I wanted…. Thanks
Anshuman:
Atisyokti alankar hanuman ki puch me lagan n pai aag lanka sari jal gai gai nisachar bhag
Jhilloooo:
Helped a lot, Thankyou so much (:
Sumit:
Atishyokti alankaar– Anushuman ko maar maar ke bandar bana diya..
Shashi:
Thanks Helped A lot
harshit:
thanks
Anu Singh:
thnx a lot, it really helped me a lot but i suggest you to give more examples and should also include other alankars
Arpan:
But among arthalankars, manviyakaran and utpreksha alankar seem to be missing. Great blog anyways.
Samuel:
Thanks guys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . they after tomorrow is my hindi exam
Saif:
Thank you Very much . you helped me in my class xth examinations. I liked the way you have compared Alankar with English literary poetic devices.
palash:
thanx
Bhumika:
thnx… compairing hindi with english poetic device and explaining is a nice thought. it really helped me. but u could aad few more examples… 🙂
mitali:
thanxx
mahalakshmi:
thanks for helping me
Chandrani:
where is the utprekxa alankar..?
it is missing
Ragini:
Thank you so much for such answer which is easy to learn a hard topic
sonali:
What is utprecha alankar
Sidharth:
It Is Very Helpful
But can’t the example from Rupak alankar also be Anupras Alankar?
Satyam:
this is very interested website…. Actually I want download this in my phone as a app but there’s no sort of thing there….
Alvira:
Helped me a lot but manvikaran and utpreksha is missing
Jatin:
Well explained,,
awesome stuff..
but if some more examples would b given..then 5 out of 5 star.
🙂
akshay:
this Nitin, good to have this for quick reference keep up the good work. rgds, Akshay
Tarun:
Its Awesome….Thanks it helped me!
Vinod:
Very Nice !n thanku !
Abhyuday Tripathi:
these are the nice definations explain the people who visit on this site sab chis ki acche se paribhasha de whoee hai to jo iss site ko visit kare unn ke liye aasan hai
pallavi:
Ty soo much ! I was soo confused about this … and my teacher didn’t explain it properly…. had this website not been there, i would have failed
Abhishek:
Thankyou so much sir for the information
anamika:
it really helped me !! thanks a lot bt examples should be more … ithink 🙂
Sarvagya Verma:
Thanks!!!!! Mr. Nitin Kumar..
It was really helpful to me….
Moumita:
Thanksss….helpful explanation….. 😀