Archive for 'Uncategorized'
The Meaning of the Monsoon Posted by Rachael on Jul 31, 2017
In North India, monsoon season lasts roughly from July to August and is colloquially known as “saawan” (सावन, masc. noun, which is also the name of the 5th month of the Indian calendar). In the semi-desert state of Rajasthan, where I used to live, this season is understandably greeted with anticipation and joy. Mangoes are…
Hindi: India’s National Language? Posted by Rachael on Jul 31, 2017
हिंदी: इंडिया की राष्ट्रभाषा? You can be sure that if a particular topic (विषय/vishay, masc. noun) has aroused enough controversy (विवाद/vivaad, masc. noun) to be the subject of numerous books and articles, it is by no means a foregone conclusion. The question of Hindi as India’s national language is just such a topic. Those who…
Navigating Gender in Hindi (Part 2) Posted by Rachael on Jul 25, 2017
In part 1 of this blog series on gender in Hindi, I discussed gender as it relates to each word’s source language, with the language of focus being Sanskrit. In this post, I’ll talk about a few more source languages and how they dictate gender: Persian, Arabic and English! Persian and Arabic Nouns Persian and…
Navigating Gender in Hindi (Part 1) Posted by Rachael on Jul 17, 2017
Many languages have a system of gender, which is basically just an organizational tool for separating words into masculine, feminine and sometimes, neuter, categories. In essence, it is an attempt to further “anthropomorphize” language, which is already such an intimate human creation. If you have studied a Romance language before, for example, you’ll know that…
Portuguese in Hindi (Part 3): A Tale of Trade, Travel and Cultural Tension Posted by Rachael on Jun 26, 2017
Welcome back/आपका स्वागत है (Aapka svaagat hai)/Bem vindo de volta! Parts 1 and 2 of this blog series were devoted to the history of Portuguese rule and presence in India; however, the end goal of this series was to discuss the Portuguese language’s influence on Hindi, which will be addressed in this entry. Although the…
Portuguese in Hindi (Part 2): A Tale of Trade, Travel and Cultural Tension Posted by Rachael on Jun 7, 2017
Hello again, everyone! फिर से नमस्ते सब लोग/phir se namaste sab log or, as my Portuguese-speaking friends would say it, Olá de novo gente! That’s right, this week’s blog will be a continuation of where we left off last time: a discussion of the history and legacy of the Portuguese in India. If you missed…
Portuguese in Hindi (Part 1): A Tale of Trade, Travel and Cultural Tension Posted by Rachael on May 21, 2017
For almost eight months now, I have been learning Portuguese on my own. As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, Hindi has been influenced by many other languages, and these were oftentimes those of merchants who came to the subcontinent to trade in its rich natural resources. Portuguese is one such language that has influenced Hindi…