Common phrases

A

Andre Simpson

Joined
Apr 19, 1999
Messages
122
Hey Guys,

I have noticed a few uses of Devanagari by Bill and others on the forum:

"Namaste"
and
"bistari, bistari" -- slowly, slowly

I find that the more I get involved with khukuris the more I tend to sprinkle this kind of stuff in my day-to-day conversations (giving the appearance of a sophistcated, man-of-the-world
wink.gif
)

I was wondering what other common phrases, thier pronunciation and meaning are used in Nepal.

The only offering I have is Indonesian "Japut japut" ----- Hurry up or Quickly quickly

So, any others?

Andre

------------------
"The thorn stands to protect the rose, yet it is peaceful and seeks no conflict."

 
I thought that Devangari was the alphabet, and Nepali (or Gorkhali) the language, for whatever that's worth... (Disclaimer: I am a rank amateur linguist and couldn't Urdu from Tamil from Limbu if my life depended on it).

At any rate, I am finding myself surrounded by South Asian culture lately - last weekend Ula was assisting in a performance of Indian religious dance, so it's been Krishna this Khukuri that for a while lately. I have been soaking up technical khukuri-related terms, though, and can name 5 kamis off the top of my head. I could have been a normal American boy and memorized baseball statistics. No, I had to be different... I will trade you a Ganga Ram kami card for a Lal Bahadur and a Sanu
wink.gif


Continuing to be silly, check out these (often inaccurate) phrases from http://www.zompist.com/phrases.html
If you go to the USA, you'll find that a dime is a lot of money.
Si vous allez aux Etats-Unis, vous trouverez que dix cents c'est beaucoup de fric.
Si usted va a los Estados Unidos, se dará cuenta de que diez centavos son mucho dinero.

There's a corpse on the bed. Please change the sheets.
Il y a un cadavre sur le lit. S'il vous plaît, faites changer les draps.
Hay un muerto en mi cama. Por favor, cambie las sábanas.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I have no Nepali phrases to contribute.

Namaste,
Jeff Paulsen

[This message has been edited by JeffPaulsen (edited 29 September 1999).]
 
One of the best Nepali phrases you can learn is one that I quoted here and Howard happened to remember it from his Nepal days. It is simply, "Nepal ho." It's Nepal. This is used whenever something goes wrong.

Jeff, you are correct. Devanagari is the alphabet. Nepali is the language.

Andre, rose is Nepali is gulag.

Sonam will be a big help here. He is expert in his Nepali. I know enough to get myself in trouble. You remember the "watch out for tigers" story.

------------------
Uncle Bill
Himalayan Imports Website
http://members.aol.com/himimp/index.html
 
... is Indonesian "Japut japut" ----- Hurry up or Quickly quickly
Click to expand...
Andre.
I guess it should spelled as "Cepat cepat" and it's pronunciation is cher+part repeated twice.
... rose in Nepali is gulag
Click to expand...
Pakcik Bill.
I think Nepali, Urdu, Hindi and Sanskrit are quite close one and another.
  • GUL is flower.
  • ISTAN is land/garden.
  • TEEN is three.
  • GULISTAN is Rose Garden.
  • TEEN GULAG is Three Roses - maybe a beautiful name for a Millenium Special!!!
Anyhow - I am not good at all on either Nepali, Urdu, Hindi and Sanskrit - just a guesswork; so please correct me if I'm wrong Pakcik Bill; NEPAL HO

I was adviced by one of our elder in Urdu (Pala might be capable of correcting the spelling & translating it to English!): Kartey kartey marna hey - Martey martey karna hey
 
Mohd,

You are probably right about the spelling, I was going on my memories of Indonesia from about 15 years ago and spelling it as I heard it pronounced.

 
I don`t speak the lingo,and I am not going to make a fool of myself.I believe the saying is;If you hunt tigers,expect to find one.I learned that somewhere in Asia.

[This message has been edited by ghostsix (edited 30 September 1999).]
 
Mohd, I think you are exactly correct. There are strong similarities between all those languages. When I was in India I would speak Nepali if English was not understood and the people could always understand enough of what I was trying to say to allow us to communicate.

Tin (pronounced teen) is three in Nepali.

Keta is boy
Keti is girl
Manche is man.

More vocabulary tomorrow.

Where is Sonam?

------------------
Uncle Bill
Himalayan Imports Website
http://members.aol.com/himimp/index.html
 
OK, here goes:

You got keta, keti, manche.
Aime (Ai-may) is woman

Some common greetings:
- Namaste - you know this!
- Kasto chha? - How are you? in a casual way
- Kasto hunnu hunchha? - same as above, more formal.
You answer to the above by saying Namaste back and usually add:
- Jatti ney - All right/Doing well
- Jatti ney chhu - I'm all right/I'm doing well.
After this you might also add:
- Ani tapai? - And how about you?
To which the first person might answer back: Jatti ney!

You can also initiate a greeting by asking:
- Jatti ney? - Are you doing all right?/Are you well?
- Jatti ney hunnu hunchha? - same as above, more formal.
To which the usual answer will be:
- Jatti ney chhu - I'm all right/I'm doing well.

Also, rose should be Gulab, not Gulag.
Gulabi is pink
Rato - red
Neelo - blue
Kalo - black
Sheto - white
Pahelo - yellow
Hariyo - green
Baigunay - purple (baigun is brinjal, which of course is purple in color!)

Gosh! I'm having fun here - any other Nepali related questions?

- Sonam

 
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