Tag Archives: learning hindi
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…
Indirect Verb Constructions, Revisited Posted by Rachael on Nov 21, 2018
I thought I would take this opportunity to revisit indirect verb constructions in Hindi, which are particularly useful in this language as they are so plentiful. In fact, if you learn other South Asian languages as well, you will find that this type of verb construction is extremely prevalent. Now, what do I mean by…
At the Forefront of Rajasthani Folk Music – Mame Khan Posted by Rachael on Nov 14, 2018
As you may know from my previous post on the topic, I’m a big fan (प्रशंसक/prashansak) of Coke Studio. I especially enjoy folk music (लोक संगीत/lok sangeet) as it is performed on the show and recently came across a folk artist from Rajasthan, Mame Khan (ममे खान), who is remarkable for his talent, unabashed dedication to…
The Many Names of India Posted by Rachael on Nov 8, 2018
Most, if not all, countries (देश/desh, masc.) in the world have multiple names (विभिन्न नाम/vibhinn naam, masc.) depending on which language (भाषा/bhaashaa, fem. or ज़बान/zabaan, fem.) you are using: for example, Deutschland vs. Germany, España vs. Spain and Éireann vs. Ireland, etc. Similarly, the story of India’s many coexisting names is fascinating and complex in…