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Thread: How do you say...

  1. #1
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    How do you say...

    "Thank you" or its equivalent in several Indian languages... Sanskrit, Hindi, Gujarati, Tamil.

    Let me try first (gotta love the internet)...

    Sanskrit: Anugurihiitosumi
    Hindi: Dhanyawaad.
    Gujarati: Aabhar or Dhanyawaad.
    Tamil: Nandri, or Nangreeih, or Romba nanringa, or Rumba nandri.

    Stress accents are missing though.

    What's proper, when?
    śivasya hridayam viṣṇur viṣṇoscha hridayam śivaḥ

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    Re: How do you say...

    Quote Originally Posted by TouchedbytheLord View Post
    "Thank you" or its equivalent in several Indian languages... Sanskrit, Hindi, Gujarati, Tamil.

    Let me try first (gotta love the internet)...

    Sanskrit: Anugurihiitosumi
    Hindi: Dhanyawaad.
    Gujarati: Aabhar or Dhanyawaad.
    Tamil: Nandri, or Nangreeih, or Romba nanringa, or Rumba nandri.

    Stress accents are missing though.

    What's proper, when?
    Vannakkam: Mostly its just when in Rome .... I use 'nandri', but that's because my Hindu friends are mostly Tamil. Your list is not complete as you might suspect. I'm sure there is a site on line somewhere that shows Thank You in many languages.

    Aum Namasivaya

    Aum Namasivaya

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    Re: How do you say...

    Thanks EM. That was just a sample. I did find a site that has "thank you" in > 465 languages. You never know when you might have to thank an Aztec, "tlazohcamati". Or you can be uppity and thank them in Classical Nahuatl, "nictlazohcamati". http://users.elite.net/runner/jennifers/thankyou.htm I don't know any Tamils, but it's nice to know a few niceties in a lot of languages. Most of the Indians I know in this area are Gujarati.

    Btw, I worked with two Indian women who were from different parts of India and spoke completely different languages (iirc, north and south). They said it was easier to just speak English amongst the Indian diaspora than try to figure out who spoke what.
    śivasya hridayam viṣṇur viṣṇoscha hridayam śivaḥ

  4. #4

    Re: How do you say...

    I am a Tamilian. It depends on whom one is talking with. Mostly if it is my Tamil friends, I will say Nandri. If I am in rural Tamil Nadu, I use "Nandri" more often. "Thanks" is now understood by almost all Indians, so it is the safest word to use if one is not sure where the person you want to thank is from.

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    Re: How do you say...

    Quote Originally Posted by TouchedbytheLord View Post

    Btw, I worked with two Indian women who were from different parts of India and spoke completely different languages (iirc, north and south). They said it was easier to just speak English amongst the Indian diaspora than try to figure out who spoke what.
    Vannakkam: That's really common, especially in larger areas. In my city we have an umbrella group called the Council of Indian Societies. Its made up of representatives from all the various state or language groups. Those that I know of are Marathi, Kannada, Andhra, Tamil, Hindi, Bengali, Sindhi, Gujarati, and probably a few more. I love to play the guessing game with new people I meet. Most often I'm wrong, but most Indians just appreciate the fact some white guy knows the name of more than one state.

    Aum Namasivaya

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    Re: How do you say...

    Namaste EM,

    Quote Originally Posted by Eastern Mind View Post
    but most Indians just appreciate the fact some white guy knows the name of more than one state.

    Aum Namasivaya
    You touched on something very important. I've found that people of other cultures and ethnicities are delighted that someone, say, "us white guys", take an interest and learn about them.

    The Russians I work with almost die laughing from delight because as an Amerikanskiy, I have a Moscow accent when I speak the little Russian I know. I've never been to Russia. The Greeks I know say the same thing about my Greek accent and my attempts to learn, and ask them things. Only one older Greek guy got snitty about my tattoo (MOLON LABE, "come take them" in ancient Greek). I punked him by giving him the grammar and linguistics of it. Another of the guys doubled over laughing and said to me "give it to him!". That sort of resentment from the first guy was rare, though.

    The Indian man and his son who do work on my truck got a kick out of seeing my OM tattoo on my shoulder. He even said to me in his broken English "I can tell you are a man of God; I am going to treat you like family and make sure I take good care of your truck". When I go there he nearly trips over himself for me.

    Last year at Divali I wished one of the Indian ladies all the good fortune and blessings from Lord Vishnu and MahaLakshmi. The lady's eyes and mouth popped open and said "No one has ever said something so nice!". I guess she meant from a white guy.

    So, a little nicety and knowledge of other cultures goes a long ways.
    śivasya hridayam viṣṇur viṣṇoscha hridayam śivaḥ

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    Re: How do you say...

    So, a little nicety and knowledge of other cultures goes a long ways.


    Namaste,

    I think having and showing a genuine interest in other cultures can help, too. It really does. Even if you try speaking any language other than English when you're travelling abroad, you'll notice how much more receptive the people are in being willing to give you a hand to tell you what bus to take, where to go, etc.

    Take for example some work colleagues I know who are thinking of upping and leaving their homes and heading to the South of France for retirement. I asked them if they remembered any of their French from school, and they more or less waved away the idea. Can you imagine the idea of French people not knowing how to speak English in their own country?! The madness!

    Maybe people are just flattered when you give their culture and language the time of day and even attempt moving outside your own ethnocentric (read Western) culture.

    Om namah Shivaya
    "Watch your thoughts, they become words.
    Watch your words, they become actions.
    Watch your actions, they become habits.
    Watch your habits, they become your character.
    Watch your character, it becomes your destiny."

    ॐ गं गणपतये नमः
    Om Gam Ganapataye namah

    लोकाः समस्ताः सुखिनो भवन्तु ।
    Lokaah SamastaaH Sukhino Bhavantu

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    Re: How do you say...

    Quote Originally Posted by sunyata07 View Post

    Take for example some work colleagues I know who are thinking of upping and leaving their homes and heading to the South of France for retirement. I asked them if they remembered any of their French from school, and they more or less waved away the idea.
    They're better off starting anew with learning French. School French is Parisian standard; the south is way different.

    A high school teacher I had got into an embarrassing situation in a restaurant in Montreal when a dinner companion cut his hand at the table. My teacher called out to the waiter in French "We need a bandage". Unfortunately the phrase is not the same in Parisian French (which he spoke) and Canadian French. In Canadian French he was actually asking for a feminine absorbent product.

    Last edited by Jainarayan; 25 July 2011 at 03:10 PM. Reason: Slightly more delicate phrasing.
    śivasya hridayam viṣṇur viṣṇoscha hridayam śivaḥ

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    Re: How do you say...

    In Canadian French he was actually asking for a feminine absorbent product.
    Lol. Wow, kind of awkard. That reminds me of when people say "embarazada" en espanol to mean they're embarrassed, only to find out they mean something completely different. And by different, I mean pregnant.

    Om namah Shivaya
    "Watch your thoughts, they become words.
    Watch your words, they become actions.
    Watch your actions, they become habits.
    Watch your habits, they become your character.
    Watch your character, it becomes your destiny."

    ॐ गं गणपतये नमः
    Om Gam Ganapataye namah

    लोकाः समस्ताः सुखिनो भवन्तु ।
    Lokaah SamastaaH Sukhino Bhavantu

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    Re: How do you say...

    Quote Originally Posted by sunyata07 View Post

    Lol. Wow, kind of awkard. That reminds me of when people say "embarazada" en espanol to mean they're embarrassed, only to find out they mean something completely different. And by different, I mean pregnant.

    Om namah Shivaya
    I think it was Parker Pens years ago that launched an ad campaign in Latin America. They were praising their new brand of pen that would not leak in your shirt pocket leaving you "embarazado/a" (instead of avergonzado/a, not to mention that the masculine past. part. of embarazar is completely nonsensical). The slogan translated to something like "Our new pen will not leak and leave you pregnant". They changed it right quick.
    śivasya hridayam viṣṇur viṣṇoscha hridayam śivaḥ

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