by Zabaan | Jun 1, 2015 | Hindi, Linguistics, Sanskrit
The vowels ए (ē) and ओ (ō) of Sanskrit, and therefore also of Hindi and other North Indian languages that have sprung from Sanskrit, are always long. They do not have corresponding short forms, such as इ (i) and उ (u) have the corresponding forms ई (ī) and ऊ (ū). This...
by Zabaan | Sep 25, 2013 | Hindi, Learning and Teaching
Many of us at different stages in our lives consider learning a new language. In fact, I’ve met many people for whom that is a hobby, and I have always been jealous of them. As a Brit, I grew up with the belief that I was innately not good at languages. Nobody...
by Zabaan | Sep 9, 2013 | Hindi, Learning and Teaching
“The limits of my language means the limits of my world.” (Ludwig Wittgenstein) It’s true that many Indians speak English and that its relatively easy getting around Delhi and India with English. The problem with speaking only English is that it limits your ability to...
by Zabaan | Aug 9, 2013 | Etymology, Hindi
One of the things that always surprises our students in the beginning of classes is the similarity between certain words in Hindi and English or other European languages. Before we start discussing Hindi perhaps we should look at the relationship between Hindi and...
