Greetings,
I am currently studying Caribbean Hindustani (specifically the Sarnami variant, as it appears to be the only surviving dialect and there are materials published and resources available in it).
Given that this is a language based on an arcane Awadhi and Bhojpuri dialect base that is quite divergent from the variant spoken in India today, and the fact that it has also been heavily influenced by two language that are unfamiliar to me, i.e., Dutch and Sranan Tongo, it is full of words that are new to me. By that I mean, as a native speaker of a newer Awadhi and Urdu, there are a plethora of words that I have never heard before, and I am curious as to whether these are older Indian words or if they are indeed loanwords.
One of these words is "manai" which appears to mean human/man/person and population (in the same context as I would use "abaadi").
Some examples of its usage:
Anglicized transcription:
“Parmeshwar ke qanoon ham-log-ke dekhaawe hai kee ham-log paapi log baati. Jab koi qanoon par chaley hai, baaqi ek huqum nah maaney hai, tab oo manai qanoon bhar torr dehwe hai.”
Dutch-based Sarnami orthography:
"Ek rodj ham boek me parhlie hai kie India me manai se djaada gaai hai. Manai 700 millioen aur gaai 900 millioen."
Many thanks,
A
I am currently studying Caribbean Hindustani (specifically the Sarnami variant, as it appears to be the only surviving dialect and there are materials published and resources available in it).
Given that this is a language based on an arcane Awadhi and Bhojpuri dialect base that is quite divergent from the variant spoken in India today, and the fact that it has also been heavily influenced by two language that are unfamiliar to me, i.e., Dutch and Sranan Tongo, it is full of words that are new to me. By that I mean, as a native speaker of a newer Awadhi and Urdu, there are a plethora of words that I have never heard before, and I am curious as to whether these are older Indian words or if they are indeed loanwords.
One of these words is "manai" which appears to mean human/man/person and population (in the same context as I would use "abaadi").
Some examples of its usage:
Anglicized transcription:
“Parmeshwar ke qanoon ham-log-ke dekhaawe hai kee ham-log paapi log baati. Jab koi qanoon par chaley hai, baaqi ek huqum nah maaney hai, tab oo manai qanoon bhar torr dehwe hai.”
Dutch-based Sarnami orthography:
"Ek rodj ham boek me parhlie hai kie India me manai se djaada gaai hai. Manai 700 millioen aur gaai 900 millioen."
Many thanks,
A