Hindu with circumflex?
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Hindu with circumflex?
While reading an old 1930s book I noticed Hindû used with a diacritical. Same with Hindûsthân. Nowadays I do not see that, is or was that legitimate then?
Maybe like nirvana, hindu is been Englished so often, the diacriticals are ignored??
Maybe like nirvana, hindu is been Englished so often, the diacriticals are ignored??
May all seek, find & follow the Path of Buddhas.
- Kim O'Hara
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Re: Hindu with circumflex?
I suspect you're right, Will, but the word's history is tangled enough that any spelling you can think of - and a few you can't - will have been used in the past.
https://www.etymonline.com/word/Hindu
http://www.hinduwebsite.com/hinduism/h_meaning.asp
(This is quoted on another page but its source is not given.)“Many scholars and historians have concluded that the word ‘Hindu’ was coined by the ancient invaders who could not accurately pronounce the name of the River Sindhu. According to Sir Monier Williams, the famous Sanskrit lexicographer, the words ‘Hindu’ and ‘India’ evidently do not possess any indigenous roots. Neither these words are found in any Buddhist or Jain texts, nor are they inscribed in any of the 23 official languages of India.
Some sources report that when Alexander-the Great first invaded India around 325 B.C., he renamed the River Sindhu as ‘Indu’. He dropped the first letter ‘S’ from the word, coining a much simpler word for the Greeks to pronounce. Eventually, the river came to be known as ‘Indus’. Alexander’s Macedonian forces thereafter called the land which was east to the river Indus as India, a name mainly recognized by the British. Before this, the land was mostly known as ‘Bharat Varsha’ in the Vedic era and many people still prefer to call the land by this name.
Personally, seeing it spelled "Hindoo" makes me happy because it takes me straight back to the Raj and some of my favourite childhood books.
Kim
Re: Hindu with circumflex?
Actually, the "h"/ "s" difference is from the difference between Indic and Iranian languages; hence the Vedic "asura" being of the same root as the "Ahura" in the Zoroastrian "Ahura Mazda".
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Re: Hindu with circumflex?
The word Hindū is actually Persian. The Sanskrit is síndhu,as mentioned above.Nicholas Weeks wrote: ↑Mon Apr 09, 2018 7:15 pm While reading an old 1930s book I noticed Hindû used with a diacritical. Same with Hindûsthân. Nowadays I do not see that, is or was that legitimate then?
Maybe like nirvana, hindu is been Englished so often, the diacriticals are ignored??
Then, the monks uttered this gāthā:
These bodies are like foam.
Them being frail, who can rejoice in them?
The Buddha attained the vajra-body.
Still, it becomes inconstant and ruined.
The many Buddhas are vajra-entities.
All are also subject to inconstancy.
Quickly ended, like melting snow --
how could things be different?
The Buddha passed into parinirvāṇa afterward.
(T1.27b10 Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra DĀ 2)
These bodies are like foam.
Them being frail, who can rejoice in them?
The Buddha attained the vajra-body.
Still, it becomes inconstant and ruined.
The many Buddhas are vajra-entities.
All are also subject to inconstancy.
Quickly ended, like melting snow --
how could things be different?
The Buddha passed into parinirvāṇa afterward.
(T1.27b10 Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra DĀ 2)
Re: Hindu with circumflex?
Hindu is from Avestan Persian AFAIK. In Farsi it's hendi (ہندی).Coëmgenu wrote: ↑Tue Apr 10, 2018 3:18 amThe word Hindū is actually Persian. The Sanskrit is síndhu,as mentioned above.Nicholas Weeks wrote: ↑Mon Apr 09, 2018 7:15 pm While reading an old 1930s book I noticed Hindû used with a diacritical. Same with Hindûsthân. Nowadays I do not see that, is or was that legitimate then?
Maybe like nirvana, hindu is been Englished so often, the diacriticals are ignored??
ہستی اپنی حباب کی سی ہے
یہ نمائش سراب کی سی ہے
hasti apni habaab ki si hai
yeh numaaish saraab ki si hai
Like a bubble is your existence
This display is like an illusion
- Mir Taqi Mir (1725-1810)
یہ نمائش سراب کی سی ہے
hasti apni habaab ki si hai
yeh numaaish saraab ki si hai
Like a bubble is your existence
This display is like an illusion
- Mir Taqi Mir (1725-1810)
- Caoimhghín
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Re: Hindu with circumflex?
We learn more every day.pothigai wrote: ↑Tue Apr 10, 2018 3:26 amHindu is from Avestan Persian AFAIK. In Farsi it's hendi (ہندی).Coëmgenu wrote: ↑Tue Apr 10, 2018 3:18 amThe word Hindū is actually Persian. The Sanskrit is síndhu,as mentioned above.Nicholas Weeks wrote: ↑Mon Apr 09, 2018 7:15 pm While reading an old 1930s book I noticed Hindû used with a diacritical. Same with Hindûsthân. Nowadays I do not see that, is or was that legitimate then?
Maybe like nirvana, hindu is been Englished so often, the diacriticals are ignored??
I had just assumed Farsi would be a descendent of Avestan.
Then, the monks uttered this gāthā:
These bodies are like foam.
Them being frail, who can rejoice in them?
The Buddha attained the vajra-body.
Still, it becomes inconstant and ruined.
The many Buddhas are vajra-entities.
All are also subject to inconstancy.
Quickly ended, like melting snow --
how could things be different?
The Buddha passed into parinirvāṇa afterward.
(T1.27b10 Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra DĀ 2)
These bodies are like foam.
Them being frail, who can rejoice in them?
The Buddha attained the vajra-body.
Still, it becomes inconstant and ruined.
The many Buddhas are vajra-entities.
All are also subject to inconstancy.
Quickly ended, like melting snow --
how could things be different?
The Buddha passed into parinirvāṇa afterward.
(T1.27b10 Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra DĀ 2)
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- Joined: Mon Apr 06, 2009 4:21 am
- Location: California
Re: Hindu with circumflex?
One dictionary says origin is Urdu, from Persian hindū, from Hind, India...
May all seek, find & follow the Path of Buddhas.
- Caoimhghín
- Posts: 3419
- Joined: Thu Jun 02, 2016 11:35 pm
- Location: Whitby, Ontario
Re: Hindu with circumflex?
Wiktionary to the rescue:Nicholas Weeks wrote: ↑Tue Apr 10, 2018 3:49 am One dictionary says origin is Urdu, from Persian hindū, from Hind, India...
Hindū: From Persian هندو (Hindū, “Indian, Hindu”), from Middle Persian hndwk' (Hindūg, “Indian”), from hnd (Hind, “India”), from Old Persian hindu-, “India”, from Sanskrit सिन्धु (síndhu, “river, stream; Indus”), from Proto-Indo-Aryan *síndʰuṣ, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *sindʰuš (“river”).
hndwk': From Old Persian hinduš, from Sanskrit सिन्धु (sindhu, “the Indus River”) or Proto-Iranian *sindʰu. Also see hnd (hind).
Then, the monks uttered this gāthā:
These bodies are like foam.
Them being frail, who can rejoice in them?
The Buddha attained the vajra-body.
Still, it becomes inconstant and ruined.
The many Buddhas are vajra-entities.
All are also subject to inconstancy.
Quickly ended, like melting snow --
how could things be different?
The Buddha passed into parinirvāṇa afterward.
(T1.27b10 Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra DĀ 2)
These bodies are like foam.
Them being frail, who can rejoice in them?
The Buddha attained the vajra-body.
Still, it becomes inconstant and ruined.
The many Buddhas are vajra-entities.
All are also subject to inconstancy.
Quickly ended, like melting snow --
how could things be different?
The Buddha passed into parinirvāṇa afterward.
(T1.27b10 Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra DĀ 2)
- Caoimhghín
- Posts: 3419
- Joined: Thu Jun 02, 2016 11:35 pm
- Location: Whitby, Ontario
Re: Hindu with circumflex?
Its hard to find wiktionary's citations but this comes fromCoëmgenu wrote: ↑Tue Apr 10, 2018 4:09 amWiktionary to the rescue:Nicholas Weeks wrote: ↑Tue Apr 10, 2018 3:49 am One dictionary says origin is Urdu, from Persian hindū, from Hind, India...
Hindū: From Persian هندو (Hindū, “Indian, Hindu”), from Middle Persian hndwk' (Hindūg, “Indian”), from hnd (Hind, “India”), from Old Persian hindu-, “India”, from Sanskrit सिन्धु (síndhu, “river, stream; Indus”), from Proto-Indo-Aryan *síndʰuṣ, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *sindʰuš (“river”).
hndwk': From Old Persian hinduš, from Sanskrit सिन्धु (sindhu, “the Indus River”) or Proto-Iranian *sindʰu. Also see hnd (hind).
MacKenzie, D. N. (1971) A concise Pahlavi dictionary, London, New York, Toronto: Oxford University Press
Then, the monks uttered this gāthā:
These bodies are like foam.
Them being frail, who can rejoice in them?
The Buddha attained the vajra-body.
Still, it becomes inconstant and ruined.
The many Buddhas are vajra-entities.
All are also subject to inconstancy.
Quickly ended, like melting snow --
how could things be different?
The Buddha passed into parinirvāṇa afterward.
(T1.27b10 Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra DĀ 2)
These bodies are like foam.
Them being frail, who can rejoice in them?
The Buddha attained the vajra-body.
Still, it becomes inconstant and ruined.
The many Buddhas are vajra-entities.
All are also subject to inconstancy.
Quickly ended, like melting snow --
how could things be different?
The Buddha passed into parinirvāṇa afterward.
(T1.27b10 Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra DĀ 2)
Re: Hindu with circumflex?
I asked some Farsi speakers, they said that 'hendu' refers to roughly the same thing as the English word 'Hindu', and 'hendi' refers to the same thing as the English word 'Indian'. The reason it's 'hendu' and not 'hindu' is because there was a phonological shift in Persian in which short 'i' became a short 'e'.
ہستی اپنی حباب کی سی ہے
یہ نمائش سراب کی سی ہے
hasti apni habaab ki si hai
yeh numaaish saraab ki si hai
Like a bubble is your existence
This display is like an illusion
- Mir Taqi Mir (1725-1810)
یہ نمائش سراب کی سی ہے
hasti apni habaab ki si hai
yeh numaaish saraab ki si hai
Like a bubble is your existence
This display is like an illusion
- Mir Taqi Mir (1725-1810)