bEjAr (urdu) - word origin

[Guest guest]

Have analyzed the roots of the Urdu word bEjAr/bEzAr

heard in Hindi/Urdu films. This word is Dravidian

(DED 4544).

 

Often times, kaNNaRai = loss of eye, blind person;

mUkkaRai = loss of nose; kAtaRai = loss of ears, hence deaf

etc., are used in ancient Tamil literature.

 

Parallel to these, vEcaRai, literally meaning

'loss of strength, and hence, fatigued' is also used. Two examples -

one from Kampan's Ramayanam where the verb "vEcaRutal"

is used by Ravanan's wife at the sight of

Indrajit's body. The other one is from

AbhirAmi patikam (early 18th century).

 

agathiyar/message/16294

(or)

tamil-ulagam/message/9130

 

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Freely downloadable at TSCII Files section.)

 

Tamil vEcaRai, Kannada bEsaRa, TuLu bEjAru,

Telugu vEcaramu is what is found in Urdu.

 

Regards,

N. Ganesan

[Guest guest]

INDOLOGY, "lsrinivas" <lsrinivas> wrote:

>The word in Tamil has multiple senses. cf. MTL

 

>vEcaRu

>1. To be weary, fatigued

>2. To be vexed, distressed

 

>This word is attested in a Saivite bhakti text (tiruvAcakam, 6.50).

>Hence the timelines may not agree with a Urdu borrowing for this one.

 

Yes, this is not a borrowal in Tamil at all.

Not only tiruvAcakam, examples from Kampan

and ApirAmi PaTTar as well were given.

 

vicai/vecai = force, strength

So, a noun vEcaRai = loss of strength, means

fatigued, distressed etc., in tamil

(Cf. kaNNaRai = loss of eye, hence blind).

 

>However, a similar sounding word pEjAr (always pronounced bEjAr) has

>the foll MTL entry:

 

>pEjAr (< Urdu bEzAr) 1. Fatigue, weariness 2. Annoyance, disgust,

>displeasure.

>By a process of accretion, multiple meanings have got attached to

>this lexical item now. It is just my guess, the original Tamil

>lexical item (with the short 'a' and the initial v-) was not widely

>used in literature. But the second one (with the long 'a' and the

>initial voiced consonant, the latter a rarity/impossibility for

>native Tamil words) is widely used in colloquial speech by almost all

>sections in northern Tamilnadu esp Madras. This probably points to a

>loan from Urdu more than anything else.

 

 

Also, pl. consider the possibility of a Kannada loan into Tamil.

>From the Vijayanagar period, Kannadiga Nayaks also

ruled parts of Tamil Nadu. In fact, the TuLuva dynasty

king Krishnadevaraya's mother is from Northern Tamilnadu.

 

DED 4544 Ta. vEcaTai sorrow; vEcaram, vEcaRavu, vEcaRikkai

id., weariness, fatigue; vEcaRu (vEcaRuv- vEcaRR-) to be

weary, fatigued, be vexed, distressed; vEcATal mental

agitation; vEcARu (vEcARi-) to be weary, fatigued, be vexed,

distressed; be consoled, rest; n. weariness etc.,

vEcARai weariness, sorrow; becoming consoled or pacified, rest;

Ka. bEjAru weariness (from fatigue, pain, vexation), annoyance;

bEsaRu- (bEsatt-) to grow weary or fatigued, get tired of,

be disgusted, be vexed; n. weariness, fatigue, disgust, vexation,

dispiritedness; bEsaRa, bEsaRake, bEsaRike, weariness etc.,

bEsarisu to cause to be weary. Kod. bejara sorrow, Tu. bEjAru

weariness, fatigue, disgust, offence, vexation [...]

 

Clearly, the MTL entry, "pEjAr (< Urdu bEzAr)

1. Fatigue, weariness 2. Annoyance, disgust, displeasure. "

has relation to DED 4544 meanings rather than the Persian

word from which Urdu possibly gets it. Urdu bEzAr does

not have the primary meanings of vEcaRai of tamil (DED 4544).

 

The Persian word, bezaar, means "without desire, uniterested".

This is not the meaning with which bEjAr (tamil pEjAr) is used in

Dravidian languages (see Note 1).

 

Regards,

N. Ganesan

 

Two notes that were received in another list:

IndianCivilization, "radha_canada" <radha_canada>

wrote:

 

Yes. The word "bEjAr" appears to be of south Indian origin as it is

more common in Hyderabadi Urdu and south Indian languages than in

North Indian Urdu. This word has now made a r-entry from Hyderabadi

Urdu to south Indian languages; in the Malabar region of Kerala,

people use to say "bEjAr AkAtE" (don't get excited), when somebody is

engaged in a hot argument, or is otherwise worried.

--- End forwarded message ---

 

 

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IndianCivilization, "zilde" <zilde> wrote:

 

Must be a case of accidental similarity. The Persian 'bezaar'

(primary meaning 'without desire/wish' or 'not interested') follows

the usual pattern, with the prefix 'be-' = without, and 'zaar' =

desire. 'Fatigued/powerless' etc., is at best a derived usage.

 

For example,

 

ham hain mushtaaq, aur woh bezaar

yaa ilaahee, yeh maajra kya hai

(Ghalib)

 

makes much more sense with bezaar=uninterested, pitted opposite

mushtaq=interested, than with bezaar=fatigued.

 

I'm not saying that the second usage is wrong, but that could be

semantic syncretism of a foreign word with a similar sounding local

word.

 

Regards,

Anirban

--- End forwarded message ---