Hindi Textbook recommendations?

Victoria

yes Karuna, shame sometimes as good as wiki is, it cuts our conversations!

I however went to spend a year in Himachal in 1997 (my first India trip) and was surrounded by Pahari.
At the time, i'd never used the internet, and certainly didn't know of wiki (did it even exist?) but I was told by all of the villagers where I worked that it was 'the language of the hills' which I found very poetic!

Dilliwala

EDIT: (crossposted with Karuna)
Interesting subject - Pahari. Sometimes called Himachali, Garhwali, Kumaoni (altho the first is a misnomer), sometimes called (in a.m. order) Western Pahari, Central Pahari, Eastern Pahari.
Pahari has been made a catch-all word the way I see it - I don't think someone from Kullu cud easily understand someone from Pithoragarh, for instance, altho they certainly won't be 'lost'.

brishti, a tidbit for u - in Garhwali '2' (two) is 'dooi'.

karuna

Wow, a year in Himachal! Did you write about it? I'd be really interested to read it.

brishti

you mean i kinda speak garhwali as well???

must admit, i'malearningalot from thishere thread mountain-clamberer.

sikh = student - really???
so much to learn...



:brishti

Dilliwala

Yeah, KINDA, if u can call one common word out of a lakh that.
For this word though - the way I hear it, in Garhwali the vowel sounds more stretched out, so 'dooi' as compared to 'dui' in Bengali.

Did u know that some Garhwalis' ancestors came from, wait for it.........Virbhum loooong ago? (Have it in a book called "Garhwal ka Itihas"). Must have brought the word along.
Which reminds me, the Paharis are the only North Indians that do not call a grandson a 'pota', but.......'naati'.
Aren't u thrilled that your Garhwali (and probably Kumaoni too) just DOUBLED?
(And possibly there's a third word, difficult to show though in this script. But if u can write down what "kitna" is in your tongue, I can attempt based on that).


Yep, didn't know it myself till relatively recently, but makes sense when u think about it. And quite easily explained too, this one --
U know the following sounds - 's' and 'sh', right? And how easily they are interchangeable in writing and speaking across the land? (Let's not even START! )
So, Punjabis are also included in those who "can't" (no flames pleez, Capt and others) say 'sh'. So Sishya. And the other/second 'sh' (different letter, as in 'purush') is 'kh', in fact purush IS called purukh in Punjabi.
Therefore sishya - sikh, the last part is actually pronounced a bit - difficult to show here, but sikkh(a). And in plural I've often heard "sikkhaan".
Go figure?

See? U CAN learn some stuff up north too, heheh.

rushie82

Sikhna means to learn so I guess that makes sense that sikh = shishya in Punjabi.

BTW Opponex Jab we met is pure movie talk but yes you can hear ppl say something like " Meri life bahot difficult ho gayi he yar, puch mat".

I absolutely love threads about languages and food. Those are two absolute best topics here.

brishti

[ref: dd's post, above rushie's]

WOW - thats ALOT to digest... and then there is more
totally new field for me - naati? gosh!!!
kitnaa = kawto in bengali

to be honest - i am really, and i mean really baaad at languages and the subtle nuances.
just this afternoon - i said per [meaning tree] till someone pointed at their feet [tree has got a d and r sound which i just cannot get - them hidden sounds - uufff]

nepali was an easy language for me to follow though - dunno why

Virbhum - lol! hmm - so the northies do know a thing or two now



:brishti

Dilliwala

Ok, now hold that thought. Or that speak.

NOW, going with the above pronunciation - in Garhwali, it's "kawti"!

So how're u feeling now, mountain gal?
Or Eastern mountain gal, now u can call yourself Western mountain gal too, heheheh.

Nepali - aah yes, Hindi words, Bengali/Eastern pronunciation - easy!
(Ok, not trying to offend any Nepalis, but this is the simple way to explain it).

Huh?
Surely u can say 'bari', as in Kalibari, Naxalbari, Lilabari?
Same 'r' in per.

karuna

OK, so 2 words are English, but I understand that totally. I probably would if you replaced the English words too. But if I wanted, later, to say that, I wouldn't have a clue. Useless.

Is "puch mat" an indigenous Hindi phrase or borrowed from its English equivalent?

Dilliwala

It just means "don't ask".

As u can probably guess, it's a prelude to a long moan about exactly how the jeena has become mushkil.

brishti

i always thought it was the same 'r' as in bari
but i must've mispronounced it and i was thus corrected - or perhaps the 'd' is the marathi way???
i dont even ask - i promptly said gaach = tree in bengali
its all very confusing - i guess even hindi has its own regional intonations... [ long long way from home ]



:brishti
petrified of heights and i mean - petrified

to above post!!!

karuna

Pointless story: I learned the word "puch" from the song Samjho Ho Hi Gaya. "Mat puch, yeh puch" says Sanjay Dutt at one point.

There is a blog/podcast called learn Hindi from Bollywood songs I think, and very amusing it is too.

Dilliwala

Yeah, subtle differences in pronunciation between Hindi and Marathi for the same word. Next time just say vriksh.
Or better still, 'hit' them with Urdu - darakht. That'll shut em up for sure, heheheh.

Regional intonations? Let's not even START that topic! - there are 46 versions of Hindi!!

brishti

ok dd: correct me if i'm wrong:

tree in hindi = paid? with the 'd' kinda soft?
feet in hindi = pair? thats as close to the spelling as i can get in english.

kee?



:brishti

Victoria

karuna: yes i did keep a sort of diary, but i have to admit it doesn't sound much now! it's not online or anything but if i ever do get around to writing it i will certainly put it uphere!
it's actually full of inacurracies due to my naivity, i'd just passed my A levels and went to discovery the himalayas! and i pretty much start every entry by stating which type of parantha i had for breakfast or which coloured dal i had!