English and Kashmiri: A Comparison

English and Kashmiri: A Comparison
By Gayatri Dutt
A version of this article appeared in the Bhavan's Journal, May 31, 2013, Vol. 59, No. 20, pgs. 77-80

English and Kashmiri belong to the Indo-European family of languages. Regarding these two languages, as well as Persian and Hindustani, which are also Indo-European, the well-known Kashmiri linguist, historian and novelist, the late Prof. S.K. Toshakhani, made the observation that the sequence of words in Kashmiri is very much the same as in English: Kashmiri Bo gos tot follows the same order as English 'I went there', whereas the syntax of Persian agrees with that of Hindustani, following the sequence 'I there went': main vahan gaya, which in Persian is manj unja raftam.1
Along with this feature of word sequence, Kashmiri and English appear to share another characteristic, which is, the manner in which certain words are pronounced. In Kashmiri, the name of the town Avantipur is pronounced 'Avantipor', and the name of the goddess Tripura Sundari is pronounced 'Tripor Sondari', the 'u' sound being rendered as an 'au' sound (as in 'autumn'). We may compare this to the manner in which the British pronounce the town-names Kanpur and Jabalpur as 'Conpor' and 'Jobolpor', where not only the 'u' sound, but the 'a' sound too, is pronounced 'au', this being seen also in Kashmiri. Some other Indian languages such as Bengali, Konkani and Marathi too display this manner of pronouncing certain words.
Although English and Kashmiri have been evolving independently for thousands of years and also many thousand kilometres apart, these two

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languages appear to have developed and preserved words which not only bear the same or similar meanings, but are also pronounced with the same or similar accent described above.
One striking example of words with close meanings is Kashmiri ler 2a and English lair which derives from Old English leger.3 Both are pronounced similarly, and also bear roughly the same meaning: 'house' in Kashmiri 2a and 'resting place' in Old English.3 English lair came to have its modern meaning: 'animal's den', only from the early 15th. century.4 Another example is the semantically identical uchha and witch. The term 'Uchhatan' signifies 'to apply witchcraft'; 5 this was a ceremony used in extreme Tantricism which many in Kashmir looked down upon. 5
There are words in many languages which have been found to be of unknown origin. Sometimes, it may be possible to find out something about their history by examining similar words which occur in their sister languages. For example, Kashmiri and English share the word hama/hom and ham/home respectively. This word is today used in both languages as a suffix to signify 'village, home or place of stay'. This is seen in the Kashmiri place-names Bihama, and also in Kanihama = 'village of the wooden spool',6 and the English place-names Buckingham, and also Birmingham = 'Boering's home'.7 Old English home[/ham] means 'dwelling; village'.4 It is not clear where the English word ham/home and its Germanic ancestor came from.8 However, the origin of Kashmiri hama/hom can be traced. It is a reduced form of the Sanskrit word ashrama; note the sanskritised Kashmiri place-name Hayashrama which is locally called Hayahom.9 Sanskrit ashrama means 'hermitage',10 and by

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extension, could be taken to mean 'a place of retirement or shelter'. Kings would seek solace in ashrams from the stresses of government, and the abandoned Queen Sita, in the epic Ramayana, finds shelter in Sage Valmiki's ashram. Interestingly, it is thought by some researchers that the literal meaning of English ham is 'a place of shelter'.7
The origin of the English word tart is somewhat obscure.4 There is, in Kashmiri, a similar-sounding word: tyot, 2b meaning 'bitter',11 which appears to be linked to Sanskrit tikta = 'bitter or pungent',10 i.e., sharp to the taste. Kashmiri tyot may bear an affinity to English tart, which carries the second meaning: pungent or 'having a sharp taste'.4
Tracing the source of English boy too has been problematical 8 and it is listed as "of unknown origin". 3, 4 In English, 'Come here, boy' is used as an address to a young male, in much the same way as one says 'Yahan aao, bhai' in Hindi. Kashmiri too has the word boy.2c Kashmiri boy, pronounced with the 'au' accent and with the aspirate dropped, is linked to Hindi bhai, and both these words are related to Sanskrit bhraatra, which means 'brother'.10 English boy and Kashmiri boy appear to be unexpected phonological twins; both are similarly pronounced, though they bear different meanings, as can often happen to words over time: boy means 'male child; youth' in English,3 and 'brother' in Kashmiri 2c , as does bhai in Hindi.12
The range of Indo-European comparisons could be widened: while English is a Germanic language, Scottish belongs to a sister group called Celtic.The British/Scottish word bonny is also thought to be of unknown origin.4 It means 'attractive or beautiful',3 as in 'She's a bonny baby.' The early ancestors of the

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Indo-European peoples used to worship many goddesses. (This pre-Christian practice has been discontinued in the West, although European and American feminists are reviving goddess-worship.) Many of these goddesses would have been praised for their beauty. Kashmiris today continue to eulogise the goddess for her beauty. The refrain of the Aarati [the hymn sung during the 'circling of flame' before the goddess] is Gaurim-ambam amburuha-akshim ahameedey - I bow to my beautiful Mother whose eyes resemble a lotus.13
One of the names by which the goddess is worshipped in Kashmir is Bhavani, which in Kashmiri is pronounced 'Bhoni', 14 or 'Boni', very similar in sound to the Scottish word bonny. The tree for which Kashmir is most celebrated is the chinar or maple tree. It has a graceful, sheltering umbrella shape. As it ages, it develops a wide, hollow, protective trunk. The Kashmiris call the chinar also 'Boni' after the gracious, boon-bestowing goddess, Bhavani: note the grove of chinar trees in the Kashmiri village of Safapur which is called Royal Chinar or Badshah Boni.15
(We may also compare, in passing, the first sale of the day made by vegetable vendors in Maharashtra State, western India, which is termed bouni. The day's first trading; the first money earned, is regarded as auspicious and is perhaps dedicated to the goddess Bhavani, from whose name the word bouni may be derived. The goddess, known by the name 'Tulja Bhavani' (Bhavani of the town of Tuljapur), is greatly revered in Maharashtra also.16)
In north-central Europe lies Lithuania. The Lithuanian language belongs to the Baltic branch of Indo-European. The early ancestors of the Lithuanians

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worshipped the goddess Ragana,17 who was the deity of trees.18 The Celtic Irish people had a goddess named Morrigan,17 whose name means 'Great Queen'.19 We may compare the names Ragana and Morrigan to the name of another form of Goddess Bhavani who is worshipped in Kashmir: Maharagna, 5, 13 which also means 'Great Queen'. She is also called just Ragna; 20 compare 'Ragna' to English Regina = 'reigning queen'. 3 A hymn to Maharagna is sung with the following words "I make obeisance to that one Goddess, who … is the Queen in reality, whose form is made of light and is adorned by the lustre of twelve suns …" 20 Her shrine at the temple of Kheer Bhavani in the village of Tulamula is known for its profusion of chinar trees.13
Compare these deities in the following Table:
Name Consonantal sequence Meaning/Attribute
Maharagna/Ragna m-h-r-g-n/r-g-n Great Queen/Linked
to trees
Morrigan m-r-g-n Great Queen
Ragana r-g-n Linked to trees

To make a final observation: the word autumn was borrowed into English from the Latin autumnus, the ultimate origin of which is also a mystery.4, 8 The time of year when the goddess is most elaborately worshipped in India is in autumn (although special worship is also offered to her during spring time). The autumn season is called sharad in Sanskrit 10 and in some other Indian

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languages, which is why the goddess also bears the name Sharada. In her honour, Kashmir is called Sharada Desha, Sharada's Land, where she lives, as is evident in the words of the often-recited prayer Namaste Sharade Devi, Kashmirapura Vasini 21 (I bow to Goddess Sharada, Resident of the Region of Kashmir). The most important day in Kashmir for the worship of the goddess Maharagna is ashtami, the eighth day after the full moon in the month of Jyeshtha which, in this case however, falls, not in autumn, but sometime between May-June.13 It is intriguing to find that, while there is no direct association between the words which would explain the similarity, in Kashmiri, the word ashtami is reduced and, when pronounced with the special 'au' accent, becomes ottham,2d (also pronounced aettam 13), which closely resembles the English word autumn.
References
1 Toshakhani, S.K. Some Important Aspects Of Kashmiri As A Language.
Vitasta Annual Number. At http://koausa.org/vitasta/2001/1.1.htm
2 Raina, M.K & Trakru, N. Basic Reader for Kashmiri Language, Section
3 (online):
a Some Words of Daily Use: at http://koshur.org/Reader/3.1.html
b Miscellaneous Vocabulary: at http://koshur.org/Reader/3.10.html.
c Relations: at http://koshur.org/Reader/3.6.html
d Chapter 10. Practice in Reading - IV. Last sentence: at
http://koshur.org/Reader/2.10.html

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3 oxforddictionaries.com.
4 Douglas Harper: Online Etymology Dictionary.
5 Shastri, Dina Nath. Tantricism in Kashmir. At
http://ikashmir.net/glimpses/tantricism.html
6 Sozniarts. At www.sozniarts.net.kani-shawls.htm
7 At www.sacklunch.net/placenames/B/Birmingham.html
8 Ayto, John (2005). Word Origins: The Hidden History of English
Words from A to Z. A & C Black.
9 Bamzai, P.N.K. Sarada Temple In Kashmir. At
http://koausa.org/KoshSam/sharda1.html
10 Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon (online).
11 Grierson, George A. A Dictionary of the Kashmiri Language (online).
12 Hindi Dictionary - Shabdkosh - At
http://www.shabdkosh.com/hi/translate?e=brother&l=hi
13 Dhar, T.N. The Festivals of the Kashmiri Pandits. At
http://ikashmir.net/festivals/festivals.html
14 Koul, Ram Krishan (1982). Sociology of Names and Nicknames of
India (With Special Reference to Kashmir), p. 7. Utpal Publications.

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15 Manasbal Lake. At
http://www.kashmir-tourism.com/jammu-kashmir-lakes-mansaballake.htm
16 Devale, S.R. (1958). Jaya Bhavani (Bhavani of Tuljapur). (Written in
the Marathi language). Bombay: Vora and Co. Publishers.
17 Gimbutas, Marija (1991). Deities and Symbols of Old Europe and
Their Survival in the Indo-European Era: A Synopsis. In S.M. Lamb
and E.D. Mitchell (Eds.), Sprung from Some Common Source:
Investigations into the Prehistory of Languages, p. 119. Stanford:
Stanford University Press.
18 At http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Lithuanian_mythological_figures#Female_deities
19 Encylopedia Mythica. At http://www.pantheon.org/articles/m/morrigan.html
20 Sadhu, C.L. Some Marvels of Kashmir. At http://ikashmir.net/crown/marvels.html
21 See the Sanskrit prayer at Koshur: An Introduction to Spoken
Kashmiri. At http://koshur.org/
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