Hindi - Usage of masculine inflections for women in Bollywood romantic songs

[RustyHindi]

I have noticed that many bollywood romantic songs use masculine inflections for women. Does anyone know the reason for this? At first I thought this was an attempt, for whatever reason, to emulate the eastern varieties of Hindi that do not have a grammatical gender. However, at least in some of the songs, the feminine inflections are still used for other feminine nouns, just not the women. Does this also happen in the Pakistani film and music industries?

An example from the song Thori Jagah -

Masculine form used for a woman

मिला जो तू यहाँ मुझे milaa jo tuu yahaan mujhe
दिलाऊँ मैं यक़ीन तुझे dilaauun main yakiin tujhe
रहूँ होके तेरा सदा rahuun hoke teraa sadaa
बस इतना चाहता हूँ मैं bas itnaa chaahataa hun main

But feminine form used for feminine nouns

थोड़ी जगह दे दे मुझे thorii jagaha de de mujhe
तेरे पास कहीं रह जाऊं मैं tere paas kahiiN raha laauuN maiN
खामोशियाँ तेरी सुनूँ khaamoshiyaaN terii sunuuN
ओर दूर कहीं ना जाऊं मैं aur duur kahiiN naa jauuN maiN

 

[Alfaaz]

Relevant threads:

• Urdu: Masculine reference to unambiguously feminine referent
• Urdu, Hindi: vo kitne maasuum the

This has been a common convention in Urdu poetry. As you would know, the majority of lyricists (Sahir Ludhianvi, Raja Mehdi Ali Khan to Javed Akhtar, Gulzar SaaHib, etc.) of Bollywood were either Urdu poets and/or considered their work as Urdu. Therefore, this and other characteristics can be seen in Bollywood songs.

Edit: Examples:

tum jo mil ga'e ho to yeh lagtaa hai keh jahaaN mil gayaa qismat se mil ga'e ho, mil ke judaa nah ho tum bhii the kho'e kho'e, maiN bhii bujhaa bujhaa thaa ajnabii zamaanah apnaa ko'ii nah thaa Kaifi Azami az Film Hanste Zakhm 1973	تم جو مل گئے ہو تو یہ لگتا ہے کہ جہاں مل گیا قسمت سے مل گئے ہو، مل کے جدا نہ ہو تم بھی تھے کھوئے کھوئے، میں بھی بجھا بجھا تھا اجنبی زمانہ اپنا کوئی نہ تھا کیفی اعظمی از فلم ہنستے زخم ۱۹۷۳​
kaun hai jo sapnoN men aayaa? kaun hai jo dil meN samaayaa? lo jhuk gayaa aasmaaN bhii, 3ishq meraa rang laayaa ...O Priya! Anand Bakshi az film Jhuk Gaya Aasman 1968	کون ہے جو سپنوں میں آیا؟ کون ہے جو دل میں سمایا؟ لو جھک گیا آسماں بھی، عشق میرا رنگ لایا ۔۔۔ او پریا آنند بکشی از فلم جھک گیا آسمان ۱۹۶۸​
ko'ii to muR ke dekh le gaa is tarH, ko'ii nazar to ho gii mere naam kii pukaartaa chalaa hooN maiN, galii galii bahaar kii Majrooh Sultanpuri az film Mere Sanam 1965	کوئی تو مڑ کے دیکھ لے گا اس طرح، کوئی نظر تو ہو گی میرے نام کی پکارتا چلا ہوں میں، گلی گلی بہار کی مجروح سلطان پوری از فلم میرے صنم ۱۹۶۵​

Does this also happen in the Pakistani film and music industries?

Examples:

• Note: In the third example, both feminine and masculine forms have been used.

tujhe bhool jaanaa naheeN mere bas meN, mujhe dard de kar chale jaane waale tere Ghamm se daaman maiN kaise chhuRaa looN, har ik baat par mujh ko yaad aane waale in aaNkhoN meN har dam jale gaa teraa Gham kabhii nah bujhe jo yeh woh raushanii hai tujhe apne dil se maiN kaise bhulaa dooN, terii yaad hii to merii zindagi hai Masroor Anwar az film Shehnai 1968	تجھے بھول جانا نہیں میرے بس میں مجھے درد دے کر چلے جانے والے ترے غمّ سے دامن میں کیسے چھڑا لوں ہر اک بات پر مجھ کو یاد آنے والے ان آنکھوں میں ہر دم جلے گا تیرا غم کبھی نہ بجھے جو یہ وہ روشنی ہے تجھے اپنے دل سے میں کیسے بھلا دوں، تیری یاد ہی تو میری زندگی ہے مسرور انور از فلم شہنائی ۱۹۶۸​
tu milaa hai to yeh iHsas hua hai mujh ko ... jab bhii to aa'e jagaataa huaa jaduu aa'e zindagi meN to sabhii pyaar kiyaa karte haiN Qateel Shifai az film Azmat 1971	تو ملا ہے تو یہ احساس ہوا ہے مجھ کو ۔۔۔ جب بھی تو آئے جگاتا ہوا جادو آئے زندگی میں تو سبھی پیار کیا کرتے ہیں قتیل شفائی از فلم عظمت ۱۹۷۱​
pahle mujhe woh dekh ke barham sii ho ga'ii, phir apne hii hasiin xayaaloN meN kho ga'ii be-chaaragii peh merii use raHm aa gayaa, shaayad mere taRapne kaa andaaz bhaa gayaa saaNsoN se bhii qariib mere aa gayaa ko'ii, yuuN zindagii kii raah meN takraa gayaa ko'ii Masroor Anwar az film Aag 1967	پہلے مجھے وہ دیکھ کے برہم سی ہو گئی، پھر اپنے ہی حسین خیالوں میں کھو گئی بے چارگی پہ میری اسے رحم آ گیا، شاید میرے تڑپنے کا انداز بھا گیا سانسوں سے بھی قریب میرے آ گیا گوئی، یوں زندگی کی راہ میں ٹکرا گیا کوئی مسرور انور از فلم آگ ۱۹۶۷​

 

[Sheikh_14]

The above is a very common practise in other gendered languages like Arabic as well. You will almost always hear Masculine nouns be used in lieu of feminine in songs and poetry. Habiibii vs Habibtii.

Coming back to Urdu Sanam is an interesting romantic one since although it's predominately used for women, the term itself is masculine. Thence why you will mostly hear meraa sanam even when referring to a beloved meHbuuba.

Platts has something very interesting to say on this but I'm not sure if it's an outdated comment, apparently "sanam aa'ii" was used for a children's game to mean my mistress has arrived. They would then follow this up with wearing what and so forth. That would suggest Sanam was once also feminine when referring to a female beloved. I can't say I've ever heard merii sanam or merii sanam aa'ii. I've only ever come across sanam in the masculine. I wonder if like dost, it were a dual-gendered term.

A صنم ṣanam, s.m. An idol, image (syn. but); — a mistress, lover, sweetheart; — name of a game among children (one says ṣanam āʼī, 'your sweetheart is come'; and asks 'whence?' 'in what dress?' 'what does she eat?' &c.; with whatever letter..

 

[Alfaaz]

Please excuse the inclusion of Urdu text in post #2 above. It came to attention that the thread title is only Hindi. However, the tags do include Urdu and usage in Pakistani film/music was asked about, so that is why Urdu text ended up being used.

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Another example:

apnaa hii saayah dekh ke tum, jaan-e-jahaaN sharmaa ga'e​

abhii to yeh pehlii manzil hai, tum to abhii se ghabraa ga'e​

...​

yuuN to akelaa bhii aksar gir ke sanbhal saktaa huuN maiN​

O mere dil ke chain​

​

Majrooh Sultanpuri - Indian Film: Mere Jeevan Sathi (1972)​

It certainly isn't necessary that only masculine reference be used. Examples:

mujh se pahlii sii maHabbat mirii maHbuub nah maang​

​

Faiz Ahmad Faiz​

​

dil use dekh ke kahtaa thaa keh dekhaa hai kaheeN​

saamne thii woh mere phir bhii nah aataa thaa yaqeeN​

apne iHsaas kaa jalwah nazar aatii thii mujhe​

woh kisii xaab kaa saayah nazar aatii thii mujhe​

kal achaanak jo sar-e-raah milii thii mujh ko​

​

Kaleem Usmani - Pakistani Film: Khalish (1972)​