If you're from North India and you speak Hindi, the odds are that you have been unknowingly using a lot of Arabic words in your everyday communications. As a South Asian majoring in Middle Eastern Studies I personally find these linguistic connections fascinating and find, that on a meta scale, it speaks of the resilience of the cosmopolitan culture of South Asia that has its roots in the Indus Valley Civilization. Despite several attempts by Hindu fundamentalists at "sanskritizing" the language for political ends, our colloquial vocabulary as Hindi speakers continue to be closely tied to that of Urdu and therefore by extension, Arabic as well. Activist and writer Tarek Fatah in an address to an audience in Patiala, summarized these sentiments aptly when he said "You have bought into the notion that civilization doesn't matter. All that matters are borders; and borders don't really make civilizations. Civilizations occurred when borders didn't exist". And yes, our language, our cosmopolitan, multicultural, pluralistic language is a testament to the fact that civilization is more resilient than political boundaries because it has the malleability to embrace and adapt to change.
I have been studying Arabic for two semesters now and have found that some very common colloquial words that are rooted in Arabic. Here are a few of them:
1. Savaal (सवाल)
The word Savaal which means 'question' is derived from the Arabic word su'aal (سؤال) which also means question
2. Javaab (जवाब)
Javaab, which means 'answer' is also derived from the Arabic word jawaab (جواب)
3. Ghayab (गायब)
The word Ghayab which means 'to disappear' in Hindi comes from the Arabic verb ataghayyab (اتغيب) which means 'to be absent' or 'missing'
4. Tajurba (तजुरबा)
The Arabic word for experience is tajurba (تجربة) and it carries over into Hindi as well and means the same.
5. Sharaab (शराब)
In Hindi, Sharaab is the word used for alcohol. This is derived from the Arabic word Sharaab (شراب) which simply means a drink or a beverage. This word has its roots in the verb yashrab (يشرب) which means 'to drink'
6. Mashhoor (मशहूर)
This word which means 'famous' is derived from the Arabic word mashhoor (مشهور) of the same meaning
7. Kitaab (किताब), Kursi (कुरसी), Qalam (कलम)
These very ordinary Hindi words, which mean book, chair and pen respectively, are all originally Arabic words (كتاب, كرسي, قلم) of the same meaning.
8. Maut (मौत)
The word for 'death' - Maut - is derived from the Arabic word for death 'al-mawt' (الموت)
9.Haadsa (हादसा)
The word Haadsa which can roughly be translated to mean ' big accident' comes from the Arabic word 'hadith' (حادث) which means the same.
10. Haasil (हासिल)
The Hindi word Haasil which means "to achieve" has its roots in the Arabic verb "al-Husool" (للحصول)which means 'to obtain".
