THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)

  • 19 Mar 2024, 03:54
  • Welcome, Guest
Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  
Pages: [1]   Go Down

Author Topic: Any native Hindi speakers here?  (Read 4116 times)

elcapitan

  • Pneumatic ratchet pants
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 364
Any native Hindi speakers here?
« on: 13 Feb 2009, 03:40 »

Hi guys,

I was hoping that someone here who speaks both fluent English and fluent Hindi can help me out (surely there's someone :)). I'm looking for translation of two English words into Hindi. My Hindi is really only at a beginning level, and although I've been able to get around India without making too much of a fool of myself, I'm anxious to avoid making a mistake here, since I'm planning on getting these two words engraved onto something fairly precious.

The words in question are "darkness" and "light", as in the standard English phrase "darkness and light". Both should be nouns; following are some phrases in English that will hopefully illuminate the exact sense I'm looking for:

"Nothing can travel faster than the speed of light."
"When I turn off the lamp, there will be darkness in the room."
"In the absence of light, there is darkness."

(In English, the phrase "darkness and light," as well as the literal meaning, can also be a reference to the balance of good and evil. Is this the same in Hindi?)

I think that the words I'm looking for are "prakash" and "andhera", or in Devanagari, प्रकाश and अंधेरा(maybe with the nasal anusvara underneath the dot on the beginning "a", but I can't find a unicode symbol to represent it), but I'm not sure. I've also had उजाला suggested as a translation for "light", supposedly a little more poetic, but I'm a bit leary since I haven't been able to find out much more about it and the sense it's used in.

Help would be much appreciated! :)
« Last Edit: 13 Feb 2009, 03:46 by elcapitan »
Logged

jmrz

  • Beyoncé
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 715
  • zomg pale
    • flickr
Re: Any native Hindi speakers here?
« Reply #1 on: 13 Feb 2009, 03:53 »

I have some friends on another forum who may be able to help you with this. I'll cross post it and let you know!
Logged
Quote from: Daniel on Gabbly
princy, this is the time to think with your vagina
Quote from: Iananan on Gabbly
nipples are deactivated at birth, to prevent misfires and accident

elcapitan

  • Pneumatic ratchet pants
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 364
Re: Any native Hindi speakers here?
« Reply #2 on: 14 Feb 2009, 21:44 »

Thanks jmrz, but I've solved it myself. The word I'm looking for was definitely उजाला, it's much more poetic, and translates more as "absence of darkness" rather than "light".

Unfortunately, it turns out that I didn't have enough money for the engraving (read: tattoo). But maybe when I get home and get a real job again...
Logged

Slick

  • Lovecraftian nightmare
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2,788
  • I am become biscuit
Re: Any native Hindi speakers here?
« Reply #3 on: 14 Feb 2009, 21:48 »

I really hope you were going to get 'darkness' and 'light' tattooed on your fists and take up a life as a masked vigilante.
Logged
It's a roasted cocoa bean, commonly found in vaginas.
Pages: [1]   Go Up