ঝি

Bengali

Etymology

Inherited from Magadhi Prakrit *𑀛𑀺𑀅 ~ 𑀥𑀺𑀅 (*jhia ~ dhia), from Old Indo-Aryan *jhitā ~ *dhitā (compare attested দুহিতা (dúhitā)), from Proto-Indo-Aryan *dúźʰHtā with syncope, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *dʰúj́ʰHtā, from an earlier *dʰúǵʰHtā, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰugh₂tḗr (“daughter”).

The Old Indo-Aryan word morphed unusually with metathesis of aspiration (compare বইন ~ বোন (boin ~ bōn), from Old Indo-Aryan *baghinī ~ bhaginī), deletion of the first vowel and lengthening of the second vowel in many Middle and New Indo-Aryan descendants, with additional palatalization (dh [dʰ] to jh [dźʰ]) in eastern (Magadhan), northwestern (Dardic), southwestern (Old Gujarati) and southern (Old Sinhalese) ones – indicating influence from a possibly pre-Vedic Indo-Aryan language (with loss of the first vowel and sporadic retention of the resulting cluster [dźʰ]; any way, causing the second vowel to be stressed and lengthened) or a non-Indo-European substrate.

Pronunciation

(standard, Rarh, Varendra) IPA^(key): /d͡ʒʱi/, [ˈd͡ʒʱiː], [ˈd͡ʒʱiˑ]
Audio: (file)
(Rarh) IPA^(key): /d͡ʒʱi/, [ˈd͡ʒʱiˑ]
Audio: (file)
(Dhaka) IPA^(key): /dʑʱi/, [ˈdʑʱiː], [ˈdʑʱiˑ]
(Vanga) IPA^(key): /zi/, [ˈziː], [ˈziˑ], [ˈzʱiˑ]

Noun

ঝি • (jhi)

daughter
Synonyms: পুত্রী (putri), মেয়ে (meẏe), কন্যা (konna)
maidservant

Declension

	Indefinite forms
Inflection of ঝি
nominative	ঝি jhi
objective	ঝিকে jhike
genitive	ঝির jhir
nominative	ঝি jhi
objective	ঝিকে jhike
genitive	ঝির jhir

	Definite forms
	singular	plural
nominative	ঝিটা, ঝিটি jhiṭa (colloquial), jhiṭi (formal)	ঝিরা jhira
objective	ঝিটাকে, ঝিটিকে jhiṭake (colloquial), jhiṭike (formal)	ঝিদের(কে) jhider(ke)
genitive	ঝিটার, ঝিটির jhiṭar (colloquial), jhiṭir (formal)	ঝিদের jhider

Objective Note: In some dialects -রে (-re) marks this case instead of -কে (-ke).

Derived terms

ঝিকে মেরে বউকে শেখানো (jhike mere bouke śekhanō)

References

Subhasha Bhattacarya, Sailendra Biswas, Sailendra Biswas, and Jnanendramohana Dasa (2022) “ঝি”, in Digital Dictionaries of South Asia [Combined Bengali Dictionaries]
Sen, Sukumar (1971) An Etymological Dictionary of Bengali: c. 1000-1800 A.D.‎^[1], volume 1, Calcutta: Eastern Publishers, page 345.