Punjabi/Mipuri: Watermelon دوانہ

[99sobi]

The word that I hear in my Mirpuri household is "damaana". I might be hearing it wrong, but that is what I hear.

Kharbuuz / Tarbuuz is not used.

When I looked at the Punjabi Wikipedia article, it has دوانہ which is the closest I can find to what I hear. But I can't find any evidence of this from dictionaries.

Does anyone have any idea?

 

[Qureshpor]

Yes, I have a very good idea!

It is the "corrupted" form of the Persian word "hinduvaanah".

In my Punjabi it is "dvaahNRaaN" and in the Punjabi spoken in Mirpur and surrounding areas, it is pronounced "dmaahNRaaN".

Please note that the word "Punjab" for the state, is also from the Persian language. panj (five) + aab (water) [(land of) five waters/rivers].

 

[Alfaaz]

Relevant thread: All Indo-Iranian Languages: Melons

 

[nikmahesh]

Interesting! I speak Hindi and AFAIK we use “kharbooj” for cantaloupe, and occasionally “tarbooj” or “hindvana” for watermelon.

But I actually use the word “Mateera” when I’m speaking to my family in Hindi, and it’s possible that this is actually a Marwari word we inherited from older generations.