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Author
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Topic: How India has influenced the English Language
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cecilia
Posts: 748
From: Tas., Australia
Registered: Oct 1999
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posted 27 July 2001 11:06 PM
  
For this thread you need to be dipping into a dictionary and concentrating well - at last, something to do while waiting your turn during "flood-control activated" delays!I want words that the dictionary says derive from India. Locate them then share them on this forum. Concentrate and copy accurately please. You will find the origin of the word at the end of the entry, usually. Familiarise yourself with your dictionary's abbreviation system first. PS Extension reading - http://www.indiaenglish.net/ PPS We can sit on a verandah and drink chai, wear pyjamas or sandals or dungarees (which may well be khaki), shampoo our hair, visit the jungle or worry about protecting our loot. CLUE: They're nearly all Indian words. [This message has been edited by cecilia (edited 04 October 2001).] IP: Logged |
MichelleCain
Posts: 28
From: Hobart,Tasmania,Ausrtalia
Registered: May 2001
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posted 15 October 2001 10:06 AM
I found the origin of Khaki on this web page: http://www.challo.com/pages/puranepapee/english_011701.htm It read:
The British Army used to wear bright maroon-colored jackets which would make them standout targets. "Why don't you wear khaki?" an Indian soldier suggested. The British tried the suggestion and discovered that the casualty rate did go down because khaki – meaning dust-colored in Indian – blended with the landscape, making them no longer as visible targets as the maroon color the British used to wear. The British adopted the suggestion for their worldwide forces, and the word khaki joined the English language in 1837. IP: Logged |
ansy
Posts: 7
From: Australia
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 15 October 2001 03:14 PM
When looking in the Pocket Oxford Dictionary, I found that the word shampoo originates from Hindi. Another well known word that originates from India is yoga. The life and times Asoka and Ancient India book describes India as, Sanskritfor 'yoke'or 'union'; excercises of mind or body to help the soul reach spiritual perfection. IP: Logged |
GaLaXy_DenniS
Posts: 15
From: Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 16 October 2001 09:18 AM
We went to our school library and looked in the Oxford Dictionary Of Etymology and found some of the meanings and origins of these words below.
sandals: Covering for the sole of the foot, Hindi.
verandah: Open portico along the side of a house, Hindi.
dungarees: Rough Indian calico, Indian.
jungle: Wasteland, overgrown with underwood, Indian.
shampoo: Massage, wash ans rub, Hindi.[This message has been edited by GaLaXy_DenniS (edited 16 October 2001).] IP: Logged |
MichelleCain
Posts: 28
From: Hobart,Tasmania,Ausrtalia
Registered: May 2001
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posted 16 October 2001 10:53 AM
I found the origin of the word bungalow:The word "bungalow" has its origin in British India, where it was used to describe one-storey houses with encircling porches. And i found it on : http://www.uwec.edu/Academic/Geography/Ivogeler/w367/styles/s9.htma I think it came form Bengal [This message has been edited by MichelleCain (edited 16 October 2001).] IP: Logged |
lapras
Posts: 8
From: hobart
Registered: May 2001
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posted 16 October 2001 11:03 AM
ThugMeaning: Any person who uses violence or brutality, especially a criminal. Origin: This word derives from an organized group of criminals that existed in India and whom the British euphemistically called Thugs. Thug originates from the Sanskrit word sthaga which means 'rogue or cheater' and dates back to at least 13th century. The Thugs waylaid innocent passers-by, stole their valuables and often killed them by strangling them. The group was well organized, spoke a secret language, and bribed the government officials for protection. The British eliminated the Thugs in India in the 1830s when they hanged 412 of them and sentenced another 2,844 to life imprisonment. But, the name of the group lives on after them. Thug is still used for criminals and assassins and thugee is sometimes heard for the crime of strangulation that the Thugs perfected.
http://www-ec.njit.edu/~nxd1915/engwords_b.html IP: Logged |
MichelleCain
Posts: 28
From: Hobart,Tasmania,Ausrtalia
Registered: May 2001
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posted 16 October 2001 11:05 AM
I found the origin of the word cashmere. It was named after the Indian State of Kashmir.
I found the word on this site :
http://www.takeourword.com/Issue025.html IP: Logged |
Jewel
Posts: 8
From:
Registered: Jun 2001
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posted 16 October 2001 11:06 AM
On this page I found lots English words with Indian origin.
http://www.theeastindiacompany.com/hobsonjobson.html IP: Logged |
cecilia
Posts: 748
From: Tas., Australia
Registered: Oct 1999
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posted 16 October 2001 11:34 AM
A message from Sweetpea
*********************************************
MichelleCain I found some more info on the word Cashmere
1 : fine wool from the undercoat of the cashmere goat; also : a yarn of this wool
2 : a soft twilled fabric made orig. from cashmere
I found this on http://www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm
Thanx
Sweet pea 
IP: Logged |
cecilia
Posts: 748
From: Tas., Australia
Registered: Oct 1999
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posted 06 December 2001 04:44 PM
Did You Know You Were Speaking Hindi?Here are some more words in English from the Hindi language: - bandanna
- swami
- curry
- dungarees
- cot
- pundit
- chutney
Check them in an English dictionary and see if the origin is given. Here are some more: The following English words have roots in various Subcontinental languages (with the majority derived from Sanskrit): anaconda, aryan, atoll, avatar, bandana, bangle, banyan, bazaar, brahmin, bungalow, calico, cashmere, catamaran, chai, cot, chintz, cheetah, cheroot, chutney, coolie, cummerbund, curry, cushy, dinghy, dungaree, fakir, ghat, ginger, grieve, guru, indigo, jodhpurs, juggernaut, jungle, jute, karma, khaki, loot, mandarin, mango, mantra, mogul, mongoose, mughal, mullah, musk, mulligatawny, mynah, nabob/nawab, nirvana, orange, pajamas, pariah, paisley, pepper, punch (the drink), pundit, seersucker, serendipity, shampoo, sugar, swami, swastika, teak, thug, verandah, -ware (the suffix), yoga. More on such words: http://www.allindia.com/general/eng.htm
[This message has been edited by cecilia (edited 15 April 2002).] IP: Logged |
cecilia
Posts: 748
From: Tas., Australia
Registered: Oct 1999
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posted 15 April 2002 11:43 PM
I just found out tonight that JUGGERNAUT is from an Indian word.The Sanskrit word, Jagganatha, means Lord of the world. Jaggat=world, Natha=lord Here's how it relates to its modern Engish meaning: In Orissa, a state of India, an idol of the Hindu god Vishnu is dragged in a procession on a huge car. Fanatic devotees are said to have thrown themselves under the wheels of the car. Thus, in English, the meaning takes on a figurative association, referring to a belief or institution to which one is ruthlessly sacrificed or by which one is ruthlessly destroyed. Ref: Cassell's English Dictionary, s.v. "Juggernaut" [This message has been edited by cecilia (edited 15 April 2002).] IP: Logged |
Fudge
Posts: 50
From: Tasmania
Registered: May 2002
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posted 27 September 2002 11:19 AM
I know that the words pyjamas, jungle and shampoo originated from Indian words but that is all I know.
FudgeIP: Logged |
Kerni
Posts: 35
From: Tasmania
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 02 October 2002 09:31 AM
You can find a list of words accepted in official scrabble competitions at http://members.tripod.com/~mchunkat/indwrd.htm they include
The site also includes definitions and more specific origins [This message has been edited by Kerni (edited 02 October 2002).] IP: Logged |
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