हम
Bhojpuri
Braj
Etymology
Sauraseni Apabhramsa अम्हे (amhe), from Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀅𑀫𑁆𑀳𑁂 (amhe), from Ashokan Prakrit [Term?], from Sanskrit अस्मे (asme).
Garhwali
Etymology
From Prakrit 𑀅𑀫𑁆𑀳𑁂 (amhe), from Sanskrit अस्मे (asme, “in us”). Cognates include Hindi हम (ham) and Assamese আমি (ami).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈhəm/
References
- Anoop Chandra Chandola (1966) A Synthatic Sketch of Garhwali, University of Chicago press (PhD thesis), page 28
Hindi
Pronunciation
- (Delhi Hindi) IPA(key): /ɦəm/, [ɦɐ̃m]
Etymology 1
Inherited from Old Hindi हम (hama), हंम (haṃma), from Sauraseni Apabhramsa अम्हे (amhe), from Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀅𑀫𑁆𑀳𑁂 (amhe), from Ashokan Prakrit [Term?], from Sanskrit अस्मे (asme) (locative of वयम् (vayam, “we”)), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *asmáy, from Proto-Indo-European *n̥smé. Compare Punjabi ਅਸੀਂ (asī̃), Assamese আমি (ami), Bengali আমি (ami), Marathi आम्ही (āmhī), Konkani आमि (āmi), Bhojpuri 𑂯𑂧 (ham).
Pronoun
हम • (ham) m or f (Urdu spelling ہم)
- we: first-person plural personal pronoun, plural of मैं (ma͠i)
- हम बहुत पहले से एक-दूसरे को जानते हैं।
- ham bahut pahle se ek-dūsre ko jānte ha͠i.
- We've known each other for a long time.
- (Varanasi, Awadh, colloquial in Standard Hindi) I: first-person personal singular personal pronoun
- Synonym: मैं (ma͠i)
Usage notes
Because हम (ham) can mean both "we" and "I", sometimes हम लोग (ham log, “we people”) is used to specifically denote the plural. Usually context makes it clear when हम (ham) is being used for "we" or for "I". It is inflected and used grammatically the same for both meanings.
Most Eastern Hindi dialects only use हम (ham) as "I", and a variant of हम लोग (ham log) for "we". See Bhojpuri 𑂯𑂧 (ham), Magahi 𑂯𑂧.
Declension
Derived terms
- हमाहमी (hamāhmī)
Etymology 2
Borrowed from Classical Persian هم (ham), from Middle Persian hm (ham), from Old Persian 𐏃𐎶 (hama), from Proto-Iranian *hamHáh, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *samHás, from Proto-Indo-European *somHós. Doublet of सम (sam), a Sanskrit borrowing. Cognate of English same.
References
- McGregor, Ronald Stuart (1993) “हम”, in The Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary, London: Oxford University Press
- Platts, John T. (1884) “हम”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co.
Maithili
Etymology
From Prakrit 𑀅𑀫𑁆𑀳𑁂 (amhe, “we”), from Sanskrit अस्मे (asme, “in us”). Cognates include Hindi हम (ham) and Assamese আমি (ami).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ɦəm]
Old Hindi
Alternative forms
- हंम (haṃma)
Etymology
From Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀅𑀫𑁆𑀳𑁂 (amhe), from Sanskrit अस्मे (asme).