hartal

English

Etymology

Borrowed, via Hindi हड़ताल (haṛtāl), from Gujarati હડતાળ (haḍtāḷ), હડતાલ (haḍtāl), literally “locking of shops”.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈhɑː.tɑːl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

hartal (plural hartals)

1. (South Asia, Malaysia) the closure of shops and offices, typically as a strike. [early 20th C.]
   • 1974, Judith M. Brown, Gandhi's Rise to Power: Indian Politics 1915-1922, page 305:

     There were slight disturbances in Karachi and Bombay city, a hartal in Bombay city similar to the last one but probably helped by the news of Tilak's death, […]

   • 2004, Salahuddin Ahmed, Bangladesh: Past and Present, page 34:

     One of the special characteristics of Bangladesh politics is hartal politics, a legacy of tactics of political agitation, which was used, in pre-partition India […]

   • 2005, Acyuta Yājñika, Suchitra Sheth, The Shaping of Modern Gujarat: Plurality, Hindutva, and Beyond:

     The eight-month-long hadtal and the accompanying hijrat or exodus reflect the collective strength of the Mahajan and their capacity to mobilize and organize.

Alternative forms

• hadtal

Descendants

• → Malay: hartal
  • Indonesian: hartal

See also

• bandh

Indonesian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈhartal]
• Hyphenation: har‧tal

Etymology 1

From Malay hartal, from Classical Malay هرتل (hartal), from Sanskrit हरिताल (haritāla, “yellow orpiment”) likely through Hindi.

Noun

hartal (plural hartal-hartal, first-person possessive hartalku, second-person possessive hartalmu, third-person possessive hartalnya)

1. orpiment
2. (in extension) ochre: a somewhat dark yellowish orange colour.

   hartal:  

Etymology 2

From Malay hartal, from Hindi हड़ताल (haṛtāl), from Gujarati હડતાલ (haḍtāl), હડતાળ (haḍtāḷ), from Sanskrit हट्ट (haṭṭa) +‎ तालक (tālaka).

Noun

hartal (plural hartal-hartal, first-person possessive hartalku, second-person possessive hartalmu, third-person possessive hartalnya)

1. The closure of shops and offices, typically as a strike.

Further reading

• “hartal” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Malay

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈhartal]
• Hyphenation: har‧tal

Etymology 1

From Hindi हड़ताल (haṛtāl), from Gujarati હડતાલ (haḍtāl), હડતાળ (haḍtāḷ), from Sanskrit हट्ट (haṭṭa) +‎ तालक (tālaka).

Noun

hartal (Jawi spelling هرتل, plural hartal-hartal, informal 1st possessive hartalku, 2nd possessive hartalmu, 3rd possessive hartalnya)

1. The closure of shops and offices, typically as a strike.

Etymology 2

From Sanskrit हरिताल (haritāla, “yellow orpiment”) likely through Hindi.

Noun

hartal (plural hartal-hartal, informal 1st possessive hartalku, 2nd possessive hartalmu, 3rd possessive hartalnya)

1. orpiment, a kind of yellow arsenic
2. (in extension) A somewhat dark yellowish orange colour; ochre.

   hartal:  

3. a kind of fragrant face powder made from coconut oil and saffron yielding a similar colour for use in weddings

   Synonyms: boreh, boris

Alternative forms

• (orpiment) artal, retal

References

• Wilkinson, Richard James (1932) “hartal”, in A Malay-English dictionary (romanised), volume I, Mytilene, Greece: Salavopoulos & Kinderlis, page 399

Further reading

• “hartal” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.