自学印地语1 问候语

正文：01 greetings

01  
नमस्तते  greetings
1 saying hello
2 who and how people are
3 this and that; he, she and It
4 more questions
Ra,lumeets hie nelghbour, Javed

नमस्ते namaste
In this unit you will learn
• how to Say who you are, greet
people and Say goodbye
• how to ask questions about
things and people
Language points
• the verb 'to be'
• basic sentence constnJction
• question fonnation

1 Saying hello
The universal greeting in Hindi is the word
नमस्ते  namaste,
which means both 'hello, good morning' etc. and also 'goodbye'. It comes from India's classical language of Sanskrit, where it means 'Salutation to you'. Though this literal meaning is now remote (like the 'God be with you' that underlies the English 'goodbye'), it is part of the elaborate code of respect that runs through the Hindi language.

To communicate well in Hindi, good clear pronunciation is as important as grammar, and the word नमस्ते  namaste gives an ideal chance to practise right from the start. Your tongue should touch your upper teeth as you say the n and the t; and in the last syllable, aim for the e of French 'ete' - the vowel is not the rounded 'ay' sound heard in English 'stay'.

In formal contexts the word नमस्ते  namaste is accompanied by a gesture in which the palms are put together (though many people are more likely to offer a handshake these days). It's considered polite to say नमस्ते namaste to an older or senior person first, before he or she says it to you. Sometimes you will hear नमस्ते  namaskar(in which the's' may be pronounced 'sh'); this means the same thing.नमस्ते  namaste - you're speaking Hindi already!

2 Who and how people are
Here we meet Raju and Geeta, a married couple from Agra; later we'll meet their children Manoj (boy, 16), Meena (girl, 10), and Ram (boy, 8), and their dog Moti (male, age unknown).
'I am' is   मैं हूँ   main hun, and 'I am not' is  मैं नहीं हूँ main nahin hun. Notice how the verb हूँ  hun 'am' comes at the end of the sentence.

मैं राजू हूँ
main Raju hun.  I am Raju.
मैं ठीक हूँ
main thik hun.    I am OK.
मैं बीमार नहीं हूँ
main bimar nahin hun. I am not ill.

मैं गीतन हूँ
main Gita hun. I am Geeta.
मैं हिन्दुस्तानी  हूँ .
mai hindustani hun. I am Indian.
मैं अग्रेज नहीं हूँ .
main agrez nahin hun. I am not English.

My and mine

The word मेरा means both 'my' and 'mine';है  hai means 'is'.
मेरा नाम राजू है  .
meri name Raju hai. My name is Raju.
मैं अध्यापि हूँ   .
main adhyipak hun.  I'm a teacher.
गीता डाक्टर है  .
Gita daktar hai. Geeta is a doctor.
सीता नर्स हैं .
sita nars hai. Sita is a nurse.