Enthusiast finds a connection between French & Rajasthani
Enthusiast finds a connection between French & Rajasthani
Ref - Enthusiast finds a connection between French & Rajasthani by Iram Tasleem, TNN | Jul 13, 2015
JAIPUR: What is common between French word savon and Rajasthani word sabun, or French word chapeau and Rajasthani word saafa? The two sets of words have the same meaning - soap and hat in English respectively.
Pooran Singh, a language enthusiast and retired colonel from Parbatsar tehsil of Nagaur district, has the unique credit of identifying more than 400 common words in both the languages with the same meaning.
A graduate from Rajasthan University, Singh was commissioned in Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, in 1980. His love for linguistics made him take a study leave in 1995 and pursue a two-year post-graduate diploma in French from the Rajasthan University.
The first French word which drew his attention in this direction was agneau, which is similar to urniyo word used in Jaisalmer. He found that this word meant young sheep' in both the languages.
Since then, he has never looked back. He is doing a research on Rajasthani and French literature. He claimed that nobody has done such a research before.
A few other words which share the same meaning include French word couloir and Rajasthani word galiyar both meaning colliders.
Banjo in French is similar to bajo in Rajasthani with both meaning musical instrument.
Aungli in Rajasthani means finger and ongle means nail in French.
For teeth, daant is used in Sanskrit and dent in French.
If head is called tete' in French, then Rajasthani word tant' has the similar meaning.
Singh said, "My research says that a few Rajasthani tribes migrated to France and influenced the French language. Even many French words trace their origin to Indian languages like Sanskrit and Malayalam."
Khees in Rajasthani is the first milk which cow gives after giving birth to a calf, while quiche in French is milk dish containing eggs and dry fruits.
Banderwal means festoons in Rajashani and in French, it is banderole which means banners tied to strings.
For donation in Rajasthani, daun word is used and it is don in French.
Commenting on the similarities, Asha Pande, who was awarded Legion of honour', a civilian award in France for spreading French language and culture, said, "A thorough research is required on this subject to establish a link between the two languages. If it comes true, then it will be a new revelation for us which will certainly bring the two cultures together."
This love for linguistics drives Singh to look out for such similarities in other vernacular languages also. Singh said, "Bengali word Kamon means how and in French comment' means how. In Malayalam, heat is known as chood and in French it is chaude, in Kannad language, matad means a word and in French, it is mot."