Tag Archives: Hindi Language
India’s Siddi Community Posted by Rachael on Jan 19, 2019
India is home to a vast array of ethnicities and cultural and religious groups (सांस्कृतिक और धार्मिक समूह), but among the least well known is the Siddi community (सिदी या शीदि समुदाय), who are of African descent (अफ़्रीकी मूल के) and live throughout India and Pakistan. In this blog, we’ll discuss a recent news article about this group…
Figures from Hindi Literary History: Shivrani Devi Premchand Posted by Rachael on Jan 12, 2019
Although many acquainted with the Hindi literary world (हिंदी साहित्यिक क्षेत्र/Hindi saahityik kshetra) are familiar with the name Munshi Premchand/मुंशी प्रेमचंद (his real name was Dhanpat Rai Shrivastav), a prolific author (लेखक/lekhak) who expressed his passion for social justice (सामाजिक न्याय/saamaajik nyaay) in his fiction, many people may not be familiar with his wife, Shivrani…
The Hindi Particle “Hi” Explained Posted by Rachael on Jan 1, 2019
In my previous blog, I explained the Hindi particle “bhi.” In this blog, I will explain a related concept – the particle “hi.” Like “bhi,” this particle needs to be placed with care directly behind the word or phrase it is modifying. While “bhi” can mean “also, too, even, as well as,” “hi” lends a…
The Hindi Particle “Bhi” Explained Posted by Rachael on Dec 30, 2018
As you progress in your Hindi studies, you will come upon a pesky little particle – “bhi” (भी) – that may threaten to send you into a tailspin of confusion. But, fear not, it is not as complex as it first appears. This blog is dedicated to an explanation of this particle – or minute…
Hindi Pronunciation Posted by Rachael on Dec 20, 2018
As you will have realized in your studies of Hindi thus far, there are certain sounds in the Hindi language that prove a challenge for English speakers and those more well-acquainted with Romance and/or other Germanic languages. In this blog, I’ll be going over a few of those sounds that usually prove challenging to non-native…
Parallel Vocabulary in Hindi Posted by Rachael on Dec 12, 2018
As you may know, Hindi is composed of a vast array of other languages. This multifaceted quality gives Hindi its richness and complexity. In this blog, we’ll explore the diversity of Hindi vocabulary through concrete examples from Hindi’s major source languages: Arabic, Persian and Sanskrit. Although Arabic and Persian are not related languages (Arabic is…
What’s Bollywood Without a Grand Wedding? Posted by Rachael on Dec 6, 2018
क्या है बॉलीवुड, बिना धूम धाम-वाली शादी के? And there it is – the million dollar question. With this blog, we’ll get a bit frivolous and discuss one of the most publicized weddings (शादी/shaadi, विवाह/vivaah) the Bollyworld has witnessed in recent memory (besides that of Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas, of course): that of Ranveer Singh…