Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Hindi
Inspired by discussions in: The“I want to learn Kannada” community in Orkut
Edition – I
• neevu – tum
nim-gay – tum-ko (used as in tum-ko kya, kaisay..)
nim-ma – tumh-aara in Kannada, all references to the second person begin with
“ni-” or “nee-”.
• ellaa – sab.
ellaa-ru – sabi log.
• -akke – -liye.
toLi-akke – dhone-liye
vagi-akke – dhone-liye (vagi- is used when referring to anything related to clothes and a
wash).
guDis-akke – jhaaDu karne-liye
• ishTa – ichcha.
buhr-alla – aata nahin
aag-alla – hOga nahin
Exercise – 2
• What are the Kannada
equivalents for:
– dekhna-chaahiye
– chhoona-chaahiye
– sunna-chaahiye
– bolna-chaahiye
– khaana-chaahiye
– dekhnay-liye
– chhoonay-liye
– sunnay-liye
– bolnay-liye
– khaanay-liye
• When someone says
“avar-gay ishTa illa”, what
does it mean?
(Some Hindi words may not seem mainstream.
Kannada – brown, Hindi - blue
Image from kannadaviahindi.blogspot.com)
Answers to Exercise – 2
– dekhna-chaahiye is nOD-bay-ku. The opposite of bay-ku in Kannada is bay-Da, so nOD-
bay-Da is dekhna-math, in the singular. For plural, or to use it with respect, use noD-bay-Di (dekhiyE-math).
– chhoona-chaahiye is muTT-bay-ku. Used in temples all over Karnataka, when you‟re
requested to touch an offering made to a presiding diety or idol. muTT-bay-Di is its opposite.
– sunna-chaahiye is kEL-bay-ku. You can hear kELi used a trillion times on FM radio – it was
even the punchline of a mainstream Bengaluru FM channel – meaning, to hear or ask, based on the context.
– bolna-chaahiye is hEL-bay-ku.
– khaana-chaahiye is tin-bay-ku. “ooTa aaita?” is a question you get to hear very often. If
someone asks you this, and you haven‟t eaten yet, use this as an answer.
– dekhnay-liye is nOD-akke. Use this to enquire about places in Karnataka. noD-akke yEn-yEnu
ide? Is dekhnay-liye kya-kya hai?
– chhoonay-liye is muTT-akke.
– sunnay-liye is kEL-akke.
– bolnay-liye is hEL-akke.
– khaanay-liye is tin-akke.
• Recall that avaru is unhonay, and –ko translates to –gay (mere-ko is nan-gay). Unlike Hindi, which
cuts unhonay to unko, in Kannada we append the –gay to avaru. So avar-gay is unko. ishTa, you
may recall, is ichcha, and illa is nahin. So avar-gay ishTa illa is unko ichcha nahin.
(Some Hindi words may not seem mainstream.
3. sambaLa.. 1/6
• Ok, we know now what our new maid can do,
and what she cannot. We need to let her know
of the following:
– What time does she need to report for duty?
– Is she ok with split hours (if so needed?)
– Is she ok with alternate timings on weekends and holidays?
– What is she expecting? Do we find it too high? Will she
negotiate?
– Do we have a “probation time” in mind?
• Lets tackle each of the equivalent phrases in
some detail.
3. sambaLa.. 2/6
– neevu kelsa-kke dinaa/divsaa beLgay 8:30 buhr-bEku. =
[tum kaam-ko roz subah 8:30 aana-chaahiye] –akke and –gay are
equivalent words, with this difference: -akke is used for neutral gender: kaam is neutral; and –
gay for humans: us-ko = avan-gay, avaL-gay, un-ko = avar-gay. 8:30 (eight-thirty) is not
Kannada, but we‟ll do with English times for now and cover the Kannada shortcuts in a while.
• If you are not very particular about what time she‟ll need to come, you can
tell her that the timings are flexible, but she needs to be at „office‟ without fail.
(There‟s no work from her home )
• If she‟s not ok with this offer, she might say, “aag-alla ma/madam/aunty.” If
she‟s the silent types, she might just frown. If you want to confirm, Use –
– aag-alvaa? = [hOga nahin?] OR
– aag-atta? = [hOga (kyaa)?]
• If you‟re the impatient types, or have been waiting too long for an answer,
Use –
– bEga hELi. aag-attO, aag-alvO? = [jaldi bataa. hOga (ya) nahin?]
The
“-O” in aag-attO and aag-alvO instead of the “-aa”, used in a normal interrogation, is used
only when the hOgya-ya-nahin cases are involved, i.e you aren‟t sure. buhr-teerO, buhr-
alvO? hOg-teerO, hOg-alvO?
3. sambaLa.. 4/6
• You‟d want her to come in a little late on Saturdays, or Sundays.
– neevu shaniwaara-bhaanuwaara 9:30(nine-thirty) gay banni. =
[tum shaniwaar-raviwaar 9:30 ko aao]
• Again, If she‟s not ok with this offer, she might say, “aag-alla
ma/madam/aunty.” This time, she should give you a reason: she could have
her weekends pre-occupied, and so will not be able to defer her timing by an
hour.
– aag-alla (aunty), bEre yellO hOg-bEku=
[hOga nahin, aur kahin jaana-hai. ] Remember from the previous slide that “-O”
suffix indicates that you aren‟t sure. The yell-O (yelli = kahan) here is used here because your
maid isnt sure where she‟s going, or isnt sure if she should be sharing that with you.
• Once the timings are agreed on, we move on to the next important, or the
most important part of the deal – what is she expecting? Your agent or friend
might have given you an idea, There are three scenarios here:
– You propose a sum as salary.
– She agrees, OR
– She wants to bargain.
Lets look at these scenarios in the coming slides –
time for a some keywords, and an exercise!
Keywords – 3.1
• kelsa-kay is kaam-ko, maney-gay is ghar-ko. While Hindi uses a unfirom –ko
suffix, Kannada‟s varies between –kay and –gay. When do we use –gay, and
when do we use –kay?
Akaasha kay, ada kay, Ida kay, Habba kay,Santhosha kay -- (1)
and this
For words in english like pencil, pen, we add an 'i' and end it with -gay..
• [Out of Syllabus]
You‟ve planned a family picnic to Cubbon Park tomorrow. You would want to:
– Invite your maid to the outing
– Let her know what she need not attend work tomorrow.
OR
How do you convey these in Kannada?
Answers – 3.1
• “nee-vu mane-gay divsaa saayan-kaala 6-o-clock horT-hOgi” You can also use
“san-jay” in place of “saayan-kaala”.”horT-hOgi” Using “horT-hOgi” instead of “hOgi” implies that this is
an advice, failing which the consequences could be bad, just like in Hindi.
• “kuch-bhi” is “yEn-aadru”. Notice that the “kuch” in “kuch hai kya?” and “kuch-bhi do” both
translate to “yEn-aadru”. “kuch” is also sometimes used to mean “tODa”, as in “tODa hai to do”, in which
case you need to use “swalpa”. “kOyi-bhi” is “yaar-aadru”. “kaheen-bhi” is “yell-aadru”.
• S2 (sambaLa) koD-Odu? =
[kitna (salary) dena hai?] koD-Odu is from koD-, give. The –Odu prefix means the same
as the –bEku, which is “chaahiye”. However, the “-Odu” suffix to a verb, as in here, indicates that is
a question that is thought aloud by the asker, for which perhaps no one knows the answer. If all
this is confusing, think of the –Odu and -bEku suffixes as synonyms, instead.
• saavira = thousand
• nooru = hundred
• hattu = ten
• hadi-naidu = fifteen
• ippat-aidu = twenty-five
Exercise – 3.2
• How do you say in Kannada: “kal-say mat aana. Parson say aana,”
• How do you say in Kannada: “kahin aur kaam kar rahe ho kya?”
• [Out of Syllabus]
How do you tell your maid to:
– clean below the bed
– Use a different cloth to mop the floor
in Kannada?
Answers – 3.2
• Remember that “kal-say” is “naaLe-inda”, and “mat aana.” is “buhr-bEDa.”
And “Parson-say aana,” is “naaDid-inda banni”.
• Remember that “kahin aur” is “ellaadru”, “kaam” is “kelsa, and “kar rahe ho
kya?” is “maaDta iddeera?”
• “hadi-naidu taareekh inda ondu-taareekh vargu (kelsa-kke) buhr-akke aag-
alla..” translates to “pandra tareekh-say ek-taareekh tak (kaam-ko) aane-liye
hOga-nahin”
• “..aadre adu aadmEle buhr-teeni” translates to “..lEkin us-kay baad aa-
oonga”
• “..namma akka-gay accident aagi-hOitu” is “..hamaara didi-ko accident hO-
gaya”
• [Out of Syllabus]
neechay in Kannada is “keLage.” So, “table-kay neechay saaf karo”
“kuch aur” is “bEre”, “baTTe” is “kapDa”, “upayOg kar-ke” is “upayOgisi”,
“floor” is “nela” and “mop” is “varisi.” So, “bEre baTTe upayOgisi nela varisi”.