See also: and में

Dogri edit

Etymology edit

From Khasa Prakrit [Term?] (compare Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀫𑀏 (mae)), from Sanskrit मया (mayā), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *máyaH (the instrumental singular of *aȷ́ʰám (I)), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁móy.

Pronoun edit

मैं (ma͠i)

  1. I

Hindi edit

Etymology edit

Inherited from Old Hindi मैं (maiṃ), from Sauraseni Apabhramsa मइं (maĩ), from Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀫𑀏 (mae), from Sanskrit मया (mayā), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *máyaH (the instrumental singular of *aȷ́ʰám (I)), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁móy.[1][2][3]

Cognate to Punjabi ਮੈਂ (maĩ), Nepali (ma), Assamese মই (moi), Odia ମୁଁ () , Sylheti ꠝꠥꠁ (mui), Bengali মুই (mui), Marathi मी (), all deriving from oblique forms of the first-person personal pronoun.

Pronunciation edit

  • (Delhi Hindi) IPA(key): /mɛ̃ː/
  • (dialectal) IPA(key): /məɪ/, [məɪ̯]
  • (file)

Pronoun edit

मैं (ma͠im or f (Urdu spelling مَیں)

  1. I (the first person personal singular pronoun)
    मैं एक आदमी हूँ
    ma͠i ek ādmī hū̃.
    I am a man.

Inflection edit

Synonyms edit

  • हम (ham) (dialectal, colloquial)

References edit

  1. ^ Vit Bubenik; Chitra Paranjape (April 1996), “Development of Pronominal Systems from Apabhraṃśa to New Indo-Aryan”, in Indo-Iranian Journal[1], volume 39, issue 2, Brill, pages 111–132
  2. ^ Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985), “ma”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Pischel, Richard; Jha, Subhadra (contributor) (1957) Comparative Grammar of the Prakrit Languages[2], Varanasi: Motilal Banarasidass.

Further reading edit

  • McGregor, Ronald Stuart (1993), “मैं”, in The Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary, London: Oxford University Press
  • Platts, John T. (1884), “मैं”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co.
  • Caturvedi, Mahendra; Bhola Nath Tiwari (1970), “मैं”, in A practical Hindi-English dictionary, Delhi: National Publishing House

Kumaoni edit

Etymology edit

From Khasa Prakrit [Term?] (compare Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀫𑀏 (mae)), from Sanskrit मया (mayā), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *máyaH (the instrumental singular of *aȷ́ʰám (I)), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁móy.

Pronoun edit

मैं (ma͠i)

  1. I

Old Hindi edit

Alternative forms edit

Etymology edit

Inherited from Sauraseni Apabhramsa मइं (maĩ), from Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀫𑀏 (mae), from Sanskrit मया (mayā), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *máyaH (the instrumental singular of *aȷ́ʰám (I)), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁móy.

Pronoun edit

मैं (maiṃ)

  1. I
    • c. 1500, Kabir, Assorted Poetry, pad 76, line 3:
      जग मैं देषूँ जग न देषि मोहि
      jaga maiṃ deṣūm̐ jaga na deṣi mohi
      I see the world, [but] the world does not see me.

Descendants edit

  • Hindustani:
    Hindi: मैं (ma͠i)
    Urdu: میں (ma͠i)