9/15/07

अरबी शब्द Loanwords from Arabic to Hindi مفردات عربية في اللغة الهندية


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अरबी शब्द (Arabic Words) :
अमीर (Rich), अजीब (Strange), अक्ल (Intelligence),आदत (Habit), औरत (Woman), इज्ज़त (Reputation),ईमारत (Building), इजाज़ (Dear), इमान (Dignity), किस्मत (Destiny), किस्सा (Event), जलसा (Protest), जनाब (Mister), जवाहर (Gem), तारीख (Date), जहाज़ (Ship), दंगा (Riot), तरक्की (Progress), मतलब (Meaning), राय (Advice), अदाब (Manner), आख़िर (At last), असली (Original), आशिक़ (Lover), शुक्रीया (Thanks), अख़बार (Newspaper), सियासत (Politics), बस (Enough! / That’s all!), क़ानून (Rule), खबर (News), ख़बरदार (Careful),वक़ालत (Advocacy), वक़्त (Time), हर्जी (petition), जिला (District), तालुक (Relation), मुल्क (Country), वतन (Country), तमीज़ (Etiquette), कमीज़ (Shirt), उस्ताज (Mister), फिरंगी (Foreigner), शकर (Sugar), जुर्म (Crime),चाय (Tea), ख़्वाब (Dream), फरमाना (To tell), जुरमाना (Penalty), हकूमत (Governance), हुकुम (Rule/Command), सलामत (Safety) and काफ़ी (Enough/Plenty) etc.

waqt = وقت = time
admi = آدمي = human being
insaan = انسان = human being
takriban = تقريبا = approximately, almost
leken = لكن = but
shaitan = شيطان = devil, satan
mabhoom = مبهوم = hidden, unknown future event
shukriya = شكر = thank you, not an exact copy, "ya" is added
khabar = خبر = news item
akhbar = اخبار = plural of above
ajab = عجب = wonder, strange occurrence
ajib = عجيب = strange, derived from above root
ajaib = عجايب = plural of ajab, same root. Punjabi/Sikh name
aql = عقل = mind, intellect
dimag = دماغ = intellect in Hindi, though the Arabic word could mean "head", "skull", and "brain" as well
azam = عظم = great
azmat = عظمة = greatness, derived from above root
silsila = سلسلة = chain, Hindi = series of events
mushkil = مشكل = problem, unclear
hal = حال = condition, state
mahabat = محبة = love
kharab = خراب = destruction
bilkol = بالكل = "all of it", derives from كل
ya3ni = يعني = which means, meaning, also a "conversation filler"
intezar = انتظار = waiting for
mohtaram = محترم = respected
mukarram = مكرم = from كرم karam, generosity
sahib = صاحب = companion, friend, used as Mister in Hindi
adab = آداب = good manners
adat = عادات = customs
aynak = عين = from eye (ain), means spectacles in Hindi
akhir = آخر = the end
alam = عالم = universe
alim = عالم = scholar, scientist, learned person
asal = أصل = origin
asali = أصلي = original
ashiq = عاشق = lover
aziz = عزيز = dear
filhal = فى الحال = currently, at the moment
marhoom = مرحوم = is often used when referring to people who have passed on not unlike allah yarhamuh. Same usage as in rural Egypt
kalam = كلام = speech, especially the words of a poet
qalam = قلم = pen
kursi = كرسي = chair
ijazat = اجازة = permission
hayat = حياة = life
Ishq = عشق = deep love, extreme passion
saltanat = سلطنة = kingdom
qubul = قبول = agree
matlab = مطلب = concern, meaning
mashhoor = مشهور = famous, known
hirasat = حراسة = guarding
khass = خاص = special, distinct
takleef = تكليف = orders given, mission
dunya = دنيا = world


1.         Islmic (religious) terms
Allah, cadi, caliph, hadith, haflz, haji, hajj, halal, haram, imam, islam, jihad, kaaba, kafir, Kiblah, Koran, minbar, mihrab, mosque mufti etc.

2.         Cultural Terms
Arabian, amir, Bedouin, bint, coffle, copt, hakim, nikah, sahib, salaam, sheikh, sharif, sophy, souk, ummaetc

3.         Administrative Terms
Alcade, alguacil, dogana, emir, irade, majlis, mukhtar, munsif, nawab, shura, sultan, tehsi, tariff. walietc

4.         Food and Beverages
Bard, burgoo, candy, falafel (or filafll), fustic, halva or halwa, harissa, kebab, salep, sugar, tahini, tamarind etc

5.         Clothes and Cosmetics
Abaya, burka, jibba, kaffiyeh, Kameez, satin, sash, dishdasha, mohair etc

6.         Arts and Architecture
Lute, naker, oud, rebab, sansa, santoor (or santir), table, timbale etc

7.         Scientific Terms
Alchemy, aniline, benzoin, alkali, alkalist, algebra, algorithm, average, cipher, soda etc

8. Names of Birds, Animals and Insects
Albatross, baza, bulbul, houbara, marabou, popinjay, saker, ariel, bichir, civet, gazelle, genet, giraffe, jennet, jerboa, saluki etc

9. Names of Plants, Shrubs and Trees
Alfalfa, apricot, borag, cotton, cumin, doum, durra, gingili, henna, kharif, lablab, lemon, lime, loofah, sennaetc

10. Geographical Terms, nadir, monsoon, simoom, jebel, khamsin, self, shamal, haboob, wadietc

11. Navigation and Military Terms

Carrack, dahabeeyah, dhow, masla (or masoola), tartan, xebec, arsenal, assegai, magazine, razzia, zarebaetc



Extra reading J



Some of the Arabic loanwords entered directly into English while others were borrowed through other languages like Latin, Greek, French, Spanish, Turkish, Persian, Hindi-Urdu, or Hebrew. Among the Arabic loanwords in English, some are easily identifiable, especially words “related to Islam. It may be reasonable to claim that the majority of Islamic words borrowed from Arabic by English were taken directly from Arabic. They include words such as Allah, Arab, Caliph, haji, halal, haram, imam, Islam, jihad, Koran, muezzin, minaret, mufti, mujahedin, mullah, sunni, shia, sharia, hafiz, waqf, fatwa, hadith, Kaba’a, zakat. However, some other Arabic loanwords entered through other languages. For instance, words such as alcove, amber, bard, aniline, caliphate, cotton, fakir, jar, jasmine, lime, etc. entered through French. Words such as alkali, abutilon, alcohol, assassin, soda, realgar, usnic, etc. entered through Latin. Words such as adobe, alcazar, alfalfa, noria, entered through Spanish. It is, indeed, these words which reflect the range of influence that Arabic has on the English language. Arab traders and travelers took their mother tongue with them wherever they went and were influenced by other languages.

The influx of Arabic words to other languages, especially English did not stop when imperial European powers became strong; it increased during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and is continuing even now. Arabic words like intifada, hezbollah, fedayeen, hamas, alfatah, etc. are recent entrants to English.

In fact, the contribution of Arabic to English vocabulary is enormous and covers almost all fields of life. These Arabic words in English reflect the range of influence that Arabic has on the English language. Arab traders and travelers took their mother tongue with them wherever they went and were influenced by other languages.
The Impact of Arabic upon Hindi

On the same pattern, Arabic has impacted Hindi — Urdu language either directly or through Persian and Turkish. Historically, India has very old links with Arab world and with Persia. For hundreds of years starting in the 11th century, large parts of northern India were ruled by dynasties with roots in that part of the world; the language of the Mughal court was Persian, and so on. This is all well- known, as is the existence of many loanwords from Farsi, Arabic and Turkish in Hindi/Urdu, the lingua franca of much of northern India and Pakistan. As a matter of fact, the influence of Arabic on Indian languages is not restricted to Urdu for there are many Arabic words in Indian languages which are either found in their original form or in a slightly changed form. As an Arabic speaker, who lives in India for study, I come across hundreds of words of Arabic in Hindi that prevail in everyday language situations.

This phenomenon makes me think more and more about the origin of these Arabic look like Hindi words in all walks of life. For example, in the field of politics we come across words like ‘siyasat’ (.i.e. politics), `akhbar'(.i.e. newspaper; in Arabic, it means “news”), Jumuriyat (.i.e. “democracy” in Urdu; in Arabic , al Jumhriya is a republic and the Jumhur is citizenry or polis). I admit that my knowledge of Hindi is shaky but I am interested in sociolinguistics. Therefore, I decided to study these aspects of languages. It is sometimes difficult to differentiate between Hindi, Urdu, and Marathi. But with the help of my friends I tried to write this paper. Moreover, the only thing that makes me believe that these words are of Arabic origin is that some of them are in the Holy Quran like, Kitab (.i.e. book), kalam(.i.e. pen),salam (i.e. salute), etc. As far as Arabic words in Hindi are concerned we can mention following; muqaddar (i.e. fate), bas (i.e. enough), mahabbat (love), makaan (i.e. place),dukaan (.i.e. shop), insaan (i.e. human being, person, man), izzat (i.e. honor ), sukkar (i.e. sugar-), maalom( i.e. known), masjed (.i.e. mosque), kanoon ( i.e. law). As professor Brown —ments, “It is certain that no satisfactory knowledge of Persia, Turkey, Mohammedan India other Muslim land is possible without a considerable knowledge of Arabic …. and that appreciation and enjoyment of these literature grow in direct ratio to this knowledge.”JibriluGwandeu in his topic ” Arabhindi, where Arabic- Hindi converge, he observeswhen he reads about common Yorubo words of Arabic origin, he realizes that Hausa :.rage is dominated by many Arabic words. The influence of Arabic is also obvious in e:-ili. In his comparative Religious Studies, he found many Hebrew words have almostmeaning with Arabic. He recently realized that many words which form an integral – of Hindi language have Arabic origin. He could say that without fear of contradiction with some relevant justification that,” mastering Arabic language appears to be a key of many international languages.” In his eloquence, he explains numberidi words of Arabic origin such as, aulaad (.i.e. children), amir (.i.e. rich/leader), Baqiyremaining), filhal (.i.e. currently/ now), Garib(poor/ unknown), Galat (.i.e. wrong),(i.e. waiting), Inkar (.i.e. denying), Jaruruat / Darurat (.i.e. need, urgent), Khatam – _-n, over, ended), Kitab (i.e. book), Malik (.i.e., owner), Qalam (.i.e. pen), Qabul (i.e. :ojtance), Lekin (.i.e. but), Maujud(.i.e. available, present), Salam(.i.e. salute), Subhi.e. morning), Shukriyyah (.i.e. thanks), Waqt ( i.e. Time ), Ya’ani (.i.e. he means/ –_-ore), Ziyada (i.e. more, increase) …etc. A deep analysis of these words gives us a clear :_ice that the two languages; Arabic and Hindi came closer and enriched each other in :ific period of time. Though the resources about Arabic words in Hindi are rare, I have done my best to collect some of them from real life situations.


Thus Arabic as the language of Holy Quran has left an indelible impression on other languages English and Hindi. In English, scientific terms like chemistry, algebra, algorithm, cipher, arsenal and almanac are commonly in use upto the present time. In Hindi, Arabic words are prominently present and are heard in every day communication. They are heard in mosques, markets, shops, streets, and on the trains.

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