Hindi Help (pronunciation)

[LaRoza]

है

Is it pronounced more like "hi" or "hay" (english words)?

If it is variable (as it seems to be), what would be the most "proper" way to say it?

[adityakavoor]

No, Its definitely not Hi

Its more like 'hai'. Though most people pronounce it 'Hay'.

Add a nasal touch to it to pronounce it correctly.. as in 'Hain'.

[LaRoza]

No, Its definitely not Hi

Its more like 'hai'. Though most people pronounce it 'Hay'.

Add a nasal touch to it to pronounce it correctly.. as in 'Hain'.

What about the song in Lage Raho Munna Bhai? "kaise hogi hai" the hai is pronouned as "high".

The nasalisation is for plural, not the word I wrote, unless you are seeing ँ, which I don't see.

dhanyavad (I'd have to log out to change my keyboard layout, so you'll have to do with latin characters)

[kagashe]

What about the song in Lage Raho Munna Bhai? "kaise hogi hai" the hai is pronouned as "high".

The nasalisation is for plural, not the word I wrote, unless you are seeing ँ, which I don't see.

dhanyavad (I'd have to log out to change my keyboard layout, so you'll have to do with latin characters)In Munna Bhai song the word is "hi" and not "hay". The meaning of the line is "hai how she will be?"

kagashe

[LaRoza]

In Munna Bhai song the word is "hi" and not "hay". The meaning of the line is "hai how she will be?"

kagashe

That confused me. Could you write it in Devanagari?

[vishzilla]

है (is) is pronounced as hai and हैं (are: with a dot) is pronounced as hain.

translation in brackets FYI

EDIT: hain will also sound like high :)

[LaRoza]

है (is) is pronounced as hai and हैं (are: with a dot) is pronounced as hain.

translation in brackets FYI

EDIT: hain will also sound like high :)

I know it is transliterated as "hai", but exactly what is the "ai" sound?

"High", or "hay"?

(Note, I can now read and write Devanagari, with the exceptions of a few conjucts I haven't fully learned (I learn them in words I know). I am just not sure how the sound is spoken)

[kagashe]

That confused me. Could you write it in Devanagari?कैसी होगी हाय

kagashe

[LaRoza]

है (is) is pronounced as hai and हैं (are: with a dot) is pronounced as hain.

translation in brackets FYI

EDIT: hain will also sound like high :)

I know it is transliterated as "hai", but exactly what is the "ai" sound?

"eye", or "eh"?

(Note, I can now read and write Devanagari, with the exceptions of a few conjucts I haven't fully learned (I learn them in words I know). I am just not sure how the sound is spoken)

[LaRoza]

कैसी होगी हाय

kagashe

Ah. Thanks. I get it now :-)

(I still don't speak Hindi well enough to get the entire song)

[kagashe]

Ah. Thanks. I get it now :-)

(I still don't speak Hindi well enough to get the entire song)Like people wonder on this forum:
ला रोजा कैसी होगी हाय
if LaRoza is female.

kagashe

[LaRoza]

Like people wonder on this forum:
ला रोजा कैसी होगी हाय
if LaRoza is female.

kagashe

"LaRoza" is one word, and spelled with a "ज़ " (picky, I am)

What does " होगी हाय " mean?

[vishzilla]

What does " होगी हाय " mean?

will be

I admire your dedication to learn Hindi which makes me feel like learning a new language.

[LaRoza]

will be

I admire your dedication to learn Hindi which makes me feel like learning a new language.

Future tense. I didn't get that far yet :-)

Hindi is really fun. I just got Munna Bhai MBBS (and that song is really catchy).

For a new language, try Urdu. Probably very easy for you :-) http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=5821147&postcount=55

Devanagar was too easy. Urdu looked harder to write, so I have to learn it.

I can watch movies and not be lost. My vocabulary is not high yet, but I can understand it when people are talking to each other without being too excited (like when Munna and Jhanvi speak, or Munna talks to his parents)

[vishzilla]

Future tense. I didn't get that far yet :-)

Hindi is really fun. I just got Munna Bhai MBBS (and that song is really catchy).

For a new language, try Urdu. Probably very easy for you :-) http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=5821147&postcount=55

Devanagar was too easy. Urdu looked harder to write, so I have to learn it.

I can watch movies and not be lost. My vocabulary is not high yet, but I can understand it when people are talking to each other without being too excited (like when Munna and Jhanvi speak, or Munna talks to his parents)

The hindi which Munna spoke isn't exactly pure hindi. It had a mixture of Bombay slang in it too.

If you wish, I could give some interesting movie titles that are good to watch.

[LaRoza]

The hindi which Munna spoke isn't exactly pure hindi. It had a mixture of Bombay slang in it too.

If you wish, I could give some interesting movie titles that are good to watch.

Interestingly, I know. I find his use of Mumbai slang to be funny in the context. (The first time I watched Munna Bhai Lage Raho, I looked up the slang, so I can recognize it now).

Movie recommendations are good. I like comedy and action and dislike drama and romance. I realise asking for no romance in an Indian movie is futile, but try to keep it at a minimum :-)

So far, I am looking at Lagaan and Sarkar.

[adityakavoor]

hi maaaaamuuu ! :)

[lisati]

No, Its definitely not Hi

Its more like 'hai'. Though most people pronounce it 'Hay'.

Add a nasal touch to it to pronounce it correctly.. as in 'Hain'.
<off topic>
This reminds me of a couple of things. In Maori, the equivalent of the name "Peter" is "Pita" - some newsreaders don't seem to have cottoned on to this and pronounce it a bit like "pit-uh"
</off topic>

[ankursethi]

Learning Hindi by watching movies will teach you colloquial Hindi. That means you will be able to speak and understand most native speakers. You'll begin to run into problems once you start reading Hindi literature. It's like trying to read Shakespeare after learning English by watching Family Guy.

Hindi as it's spoken is never pure. The reason for this is the mind boggling number of languages and dialects that exist all over India. Hindi is supposed to be my mother tongue, and yet I can't understand the regional dialects of Hindi. Modern Hindi contains many words borrowed from Urdu, Farsi, Punjabi and South Indian languages like Kannada, Tamil and Telugu.

I'm not trying to discourage anybody. This was just a little reminder. You can hold a fluent conversation in Hindi with if you manage to understand Munnabhai. And I don't mean reasonably fluent or fluent enough to get the meaning across. I mean that you'll be able to converse like any native speaker, and understand all movies and television shows you ever get your hands on. It's only the literature that will pose a problem.

(Lagaan is very good, and so is Sarkar. Also watch Sarkar's sequel, Sarkar Raj and Munnabhai MBBS's sequel Lage Raho Munnabhai. My favorite, though, would be Aamir Khan's Taare Zamein Par.)

[Canis familiaris]

Interestingly, I know. I find his use of Mumbai slang to be funny in the context. (The first time I watched Munna Bhai Lage Raho, I looked up the slang, so I can recognize it now).

Movie recommendations are good. I like comedy and action and dislike drama and romance. I realise asking for no romance in an Indian movie is futile, but try to keep it at a minimum :-)

So far, I am looking at Lagaan and Sarkar.
Watch TZP (Taare Zameen Par). Story about a Dyslexic Kid. No Romance. (Thank God)

[bingoUV]

Modern Hindi contains many words borrowed from Urdu, Farsi, Punjabi and South Indian languages like Kannada, Tamil and Telugu.


Kannada, Tamil and Telugu? Interesting. Could you point out a word, or even a variant, that was borrowed by Hindi from one of these South Indian languages?

With Urdu, Hindi has a give and take relationship. Both languages borrow heavily from each other. It might sometimes get difficult to tell which one of these 2 languages is being spoken, especially for short sentences.

The overlap between Hindi and Punjabi is purely due to both being derived from Sanskrit. Ditto for Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali etc. Unless you consider, not too unreasonably, that the following is Hindi:

की होया?

[ukripper]

है

Is it pronounced more like "hi" or "hay" (english words)?

If it is variable (as it seems to be), what would be the most "proper" way to say it?

It is "haeh"

[bingoUV]

"LaRoza" is one word, and spelled with a "ज़ " (picky, I am)

What does " होगी हाय " mean?

होगी means "will be", when referring to a female. Though, "would be" is a closer translation in this context.

हाय is a strange word. You wouldn't be wrong if you say it doesn't mean anything. Some examples:
1. हाय हाय: Used twice. LaRoza हाय हाय means "down with LaRoza". Just a slogan against someone.

2. हाय! : Note the !. It is an exclamation. This is the usage in the song you refer to. Other examples: "हाय! I am doomed"; "हाय! he is so handsome". The second one is to be tried in a shy tone. It is used in many diverse situations.



dhanyavad (I'd have to log out to change my keyboard layout, so you'll have to do with latin characters)

Maybe you know this, but Google's transliterate service: http://www.google.com/transliterate/indic, is an immense help in such situations. Learning keyboard layout for Hindi is tough, and unnecessary with this service.

[artir]

Real masochists (like me) learn Mandarin Chinese!

你知不知道说中文？
我可以可是我见在，我在学

[ukripper]

Real masochists (like me) learn Mandarin Chinese!



And how on earth Hindi pronunciation or Munna Bhai MBBS in particular is related to Mandarin Chinese in this thread?

[artir]

Future tense. I didn't get that far yet :-)

Hindi is really fun. I just got Munna Bhai MBBS (and that song is really catchy).

For a new language, try Urdu. Probably very easy for you :-) http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=5821147&postcount=55

Devanagar was too easy. Urdu looked harder to write, so I have to learn it.

I can watch movies and not be lost. My vocabulary is not high yet, but I can understand it when people are talking to each other without being too excited (like when Munna and Jhanvi speak, or Munna talks to his parents)

From that it comes. He was recomendating Urdu as a language to learn. I recommended Mandarin Chinese as a starting language.
Altought I should've posted this some posts before..

[artir]

Edit: Double post. Nothing to see..

[Lord DarkPat]

If you want to learn some Punjabi as well, watch Singh Is Kinng (I didn't like it much). TZP is a must watch. And I agree, only masochists learn Mandarin Chinese. I'm fluent in Kannada, Telugu, Hindi and English, Arabic, a bit of Punjabi, a bit of Marathi and Urdu. I cn read and write Arabic (I can't understand the whole thing, though) to some extent, but can't really speak much. I'm now learning to write the Kannada script.
LaRoza, I must suffice to say, I share your urge to learn ;). I believe whatever one learns will always be useful sometime, so I experiment so I can learn. And, I LOVE LANGUAGES. I'm planning to start learning Spanish, can anyone recommend some good sources?

[LaRoza]

hi maaaaamuuu ! :)

:-)


Learning Hindi by watching movies will teach you colloquial Hindi. That means you will be able to speak and understand most native speakers. You'll begin to run into problems once you start reading Hindi literature. It's like trying to read Shakespeare after learning English by watching Family Guy.

Luckily, I am ahead of the game. I am learning Hindi from a book (a bunch of them) and the internet. I am learning Shuddh Hindi, Urdu, and "movie Hindi" (which seems more like Urdu than Hindi...).

I am getting the भगवद्गीता in Hindi, for literature, and I will, once I learn to read Urdu (I have a book on the way, and I am studying a bit from online), I will get a religious book from Islam in Urdu.

Hindi itself is very simple. Although I said I didn't get to future tense, I know it (grammatically), but haven't intensively studied it and its use (I am going chapter by chapter in the book, but I am reading things online).

My Hindi-English dictionary (only goes one way) is a big help, as it gives background of words.




Hindi as it's spoken is never pure.
Yes, I know. It pisses me off. I didn't get Munna Bhai to hear English!



(Lagaan is very good, and so is Sarkar. Also watch Sarkar's sequel, Sarkar Raj and Munnabhai MBBS's sequel Lage Raho Munnabhai. My favorite, though, would be Aamir Khan's Taare Zamein Par.)

I will look the sequel up, and Lage Raho I already have (first movie).


Watch TZP (Taare Zameen Par). Story about a Dyslexic Kid. No Romance. (Thank God)

Dyslexic in Devanagari?


Kannada, Tamil and Telugu? Interesting. Could you point out a word, or even a variant, that was borrowed by Hindi from one of these South Indian languages?

I think he meant in spoken Hindi in some places.



With Urdu, Hindi has a give and take relationship. Both languages borrow heavily from each other. It might sometimes get difficult to tell which one of these 2 languages is being spoken, especially for short sentences.

Yes, I know. That was part of the joke about suggesting the person before to learn Urdu.




हाय is a strange word. You wouldn't be wrong if you say it doesn't mean anything. Some examples:
1. हाय हाय: Used twice. LaRoza हाय हाय means "down with LaRoza". Just a slogan against someone.

2. हाय! : Note the !. It is an exclamation. This is the usage in the song you refer to. Other examples: "हाय! I am doomed"; "हाय! he is so handsome". The second one is to be tried in a shy tone. It is used in many diverse situations.

Thank you very much :-)

I had problems with that word in the movies.



Maybe you know this, but Google's transliterate service: http://www.google.com/transliterate/indic, is an immense help in such situations. Learning keyboard layout for Hindi is tough, and unnecessary with this service.
Too late. I already know it. I use this layout: http://www.indlinux.org/doc/bolnagri.html

(It is installed already, just go to keyboard layouts)


From that it comes. He was recomendating Urdu as a language to learn. I recommended Mandarin Chinese as a starting language.
Altought I should've posted this some posts before..

He? If you mean me, learning Urdu was a joke. As it is grammatically the same as Hindi, and the vocabulary is the same, just with a different emphasis (Hindi, more Sanskrit, Urdu more Arabic)

[LaRoza]

If you want to learn some Punjabi as well, watch Singh Is Kinng (I didn't like it much). TZP is a must watch. And I agree, only masochists learn Mandarin Chinese. I'm fluent in Kannada, Telugu, Hindi and English, Arabic, a bit of Punjabi, a bit of Marathi and Urdu. I cn read and write Arabic (I can't understand the whole thing, though) to some extent, but can't really speak much. I'm now learning to write the Kannada script.
LaRoza, I must suffice to say, I share your urge to learn ;). I believe whatever one learns will always be useful sometime, so I experiment so I can learn. And, I LOVE LANGUAGES. I'm planning to start learning Spanish, can anyone recommend some good sources?
I am interested in Panjabi, because of its script and it is widely spoken in Pakistan.

Mandarin is interesting. Speaking it is a totally different ballgame... No declensions, but tones...

When you say you know "Hindi fluently" but "a bit of Urdu", are you referring to reading and writing or speaking? If you know Arabic and Hindi, how would Urdu be not fluent (except for writing?).

I too am going to learn to read and write Urdu, mainly because Devanagari is too easy.

For Spanish, it is an easy language. The only problem (to me) is vowels.

From my language bookmarks:

http://www.studyspanish.com/tutorial.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_grammar
http://www.webworkbooks.com/spanish/grammar/index.php
http://spanish.about.com/od/tipsforlearningspanish/u/start.htm
http://www.webworkbooks.com/spanish/grammar/index.php

[Lord DarkPat]

I am interested in Panjabi, because of its script and it is widely spoken in Pakistan.

Mandarin is interesting. Speaking it is a totally different ballgame... No declensions, but tones...

When you say you know "Hindi fluently" but "a bit of Urdu", are you referring to reading and writing or speaking? If you know Arabic and Hindi, how would Urdu be not fluent (except for writing?).

I too am going to learn to read and write Urdu, mainly because Devanagari is too easy.

For Spanish, it is an easy language. The only problem (to me) is vowels.

From my language bookmarks:

http://www.studyspanish.com/tutorial.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_grammar
http://www.webworkbooks.com/spanish/grammar/index.php
http://spanish.about.com/od/tipsforlearningspanish/u/start.htm
http://www.webworkbooks.com/spanish/grammar/index.php
Sorry, "bit of Marathi" and Urdu were split. I can speak urdu, but just enough to get my point out, I'm not too fluent. I know the script (same as Arabic, I learn it in school). I like Punjabi because it "sounds good" :P. I agree, Devanagiri is way too easy. Trust me, the Arabic script is tough, I don't know much of Urdu grammar, but Arabic grammar is quite complicated. The absence of vowels in the language adds to the difficulty, and in Arabic, the subtle differences in the pronounciation, or if you forget to put a small dot somewhere, the whole meaning changes :|
Thanks for the sources :)

[LaRoza]

"A Bit of Urdu" as in I can speak, I know the script (same as Arabic, I learn it in school). I like Punjabi because it "sounds good" :P. I agree, Devanagiri is way too easy. Trust me, the Arabic script is tough, I don't know much of Urdu grammar, but Arabic grammar is quite complicted. The absence of vowels in the language adds to the difficulty, and in Arabic, the subtle differences in the pronounciation, or if you forget to put a small dot somewhere, the whole meaning changes :|


I am not going to learn an Arabic script, but a Persian script, Nastaʿlīq.

It is harder, three forms for each letter (although they mostly resemble each other), and a weird vowel usage (or lack thereof).

Speakings of dots, the missing dot earlier in this thread made my name "LaRoja", instead of "LaRoza". Instead of "LaRoza", I was the Spanish "Red Woman". (In Spanish, adjectives can be used as nouns, because the gender is there.)

[Lord DarkPat]

LaRoza means "Rose", right? I have never dealt with much of Nasta'liq, so I can't say

[LaRoza]

LaRoza means "Rose", right? I have never dealt with much of Nasta'liq, so I can't say

No, La Rosa is Spanish for "the rose" and is a common last name. LaRoza is entirely different. LaRoza is in euskara, a language not related to Latin (In fact, not Indo-European at at).

It has a meaning, but it has nothing to do with Roses.

What do you use to write Urdu?

[ukripper]

If you want to learn some Punjabi as well, watch Singh Is Kinng (I didn't like it much).

Come on man that movie ain't the real punjabi at all. Akshay kumar worked hard to improve his punjabi but ain't as effective as Om Puri!

[ukripper]

:-)


Luckily, I am ahead of the game. I am learning Hindi from a book (a bunch of them) and the internet. I am learning Shuddh Hindi, Urdu, and "movie Hindi" (which seems more like Urdu than Hindi...).



For shuddh hindi watch Chanakya on youtube(drama series based upon him as a minister in 4th century B.C) , he was known as the godfather of politics during the time of alexander was invading India and he was the one who stopped him for further invasions by the power of his words/speech only!
some links -
http://www.maxabout.com/politics/p_leaders/chanakaya.aspx
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6etyW6TSCk

[Lord DarkPat]

No, La Rosa is Spanish for "the rose" and is a common last name. LaRoza is entirely different. LaRoza is in euskara, a language not related to Latin (In fact, not Indo-European at at).

It has a meaning, but it has nothing to do with Roses.

What do you use to write Urdu?

Don't know the name of the script, but the modern Arabic script, I think. The rules aren't that strict, but it's still a bit difficult to write. It's quite hard to learn Arabic vocabulary, and in my opinion, Americans can never learn arabic, tthe pronounciations are such.

[LaRoza]

Don't know the name of the script, but the modern Arabic script, I think. The rules aren't that strict, but it's still a bit difficult to write. It's quite hard to learn Arabic vocabulary, and in my opinion, Americans can never learn arabic, tthe pronounciations are such.

I know Americans who know it. There are several hard to say sounds (I looked them up a while ago) and there isn't one I can't do.

It would be harder for an Indian to speak English, specifically, the "th" sound and English vowels. ;)

[tuxerman]

Well not exactly.. Since Indian languages have a lot of sounds there isnt any problem as far as 'knowing how a sound is produced' is concerned. I can speak English with a British accent quite well and a couple of my English friends have also said the accent is perfect. In other words, learning a language isn't that difficult if you can get the sounds right :)

All that said, I respect LaRoza's ventures at learning Hindi.. (My Hindi is crap anyway - I just know two South Indian languages besides English and can understand Hindi just like what LaRoza said - when people talk slowly :) )