The bi- and trilingual abilities of Indians are well-known and greatly admired or envied, especially by monolinguals. Another established fact is that those who are proficient in Hindi and English also tend to use (or understand) a large number of English loanwords even when speaking, writing, or listening to Hindi. (The rise of Hinglish, although obviously related, is a separate issue.)
Although these English loanwords in Hindi (my latest count is 3,000) are adapted to the phonology of Hindi and the Devanagari script, their English origin is still quite clear in a majority of cases. That in itself I find quite remarkable ̶ perhaps unique. (As instant proof, listen to any news bulletin in Hindi.) (For more examples, see here.
English is also the depository of loanwords from many languages, including, for almost 1,000 years, French, which has had a major influence in the development of the English lexicon. Bilingual speakers of Hindi and English will be well aware of many of these French borrowings but I wonder to what extent they transfer these French borrowings into their use of Hindi. Having tested the phonetic adaptability of many French loanwords into Hindi, I have found the results to be almost as satisfactory as the English loanwords. Therefore, where relevant, they could be inserted into bilingual English and Hindi dictionaries. (The same applies, of course, to the vast number of English loanwords in Hindi, but that is not relevant to my point here.)
The rest of this introductory article is an attempt to show how a romanised transliteration of French loanwords can help Hindi speakers to pronounce the words in the (more or less) French way that they are pronounced in contemporary English, whether they are using them in their English or in their Hindi.
Possible further articles may enlarge on these preliminary findings and underline the usefulness of transliterating more of the French borrowings in teaching materials for courses on English as a second Language for speakers of Hindi.
French loanwords are present in large numbers in English dictionaries, but they are particularly noticeable in those areas in which France has excelled, like diplomacy, politics and military affairs, the arts, sports, fashion and perfumes, gastronomy (and kweezeen – cuisine) and oenology. Some brief specific and other general lists follow.
This is merely a Daybyoo for this topic. début डेब्यू
bauNzhoor! [zh reflects more accurately the ‘s‘ sound of the English words vision and treasure] Bonjour बॉन्जूर
auNshauNTe! Enchanté! ऑनशॉन्टे
bauN vwaayaazh! [w is the ‘soft’ pronunciation variant of Hindi v.] Bon voyage! बॉन व्वायाज
bauN shaaNs! Bonne chance! बॉन शौंस
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Preliminary examples
Eating and drinking
kweezeeN, cuisine
noovail kweezeen, nouvelle cuisine [A bit passé, thank goodness!]
bauN aapayTee, Bon appétit.
kafé, café
raisTaurauN, restaurant
keesh, quiche
kaanaape, canapé
krooDiTe, crudité
paaTay duh fwaa gras, pâté de foie gras
pyooray, purée
raaTaaTooee, ratatouille
vaaN aurDeenair, vin ordinaire
pruhmyay Kroo, premier cru
krem duh mauNth, crème de menthe
Fashion (faishaN)
aa laa mauD, à la mode
Daykaulte, décolleté (and DaykaulTazh)
kaursaajh, corsage [very different from kaurTaizh – cortège]
laaNzhuhree, lingerie
o duh kaloN, eau de Cologne
oT kooTyoor, haute couture
preTaa paurte, prêt-à-porter (ready-to-wear)
Arts
baalay, ballet
paa duh dur, pas de deux
Diplomacy and politics
auNsyaaN rayzheem, ancien régime
aunTauNT kaurDeeyal, Entente Cordiale
Deereezheezma, dirigisme
DeereezheesT, dirigiste
faurs maazhur, force majeure
Military
aazhauN prauvaukaTur, agent provocateur
aide duh kauM, aide-de-camp
aispree duh kaur, esprit de corps
aur duh kaumbaa, hors de combat
kaurDauN saaneeTair, cordon sanitaire
koo daytaa, coup d’état
koo duh graas, coup de grâce
Administration
ayshalauN, échelon
Description
baiT nwaar, bête noire
boorzhwaa, bourgeois
boorzhwaazee, bourgeoisie
Doobla auNTaunDra, double-entendre
kauNfeeDauN (m), confidant
kaunfeedaunT (f), confidante
maynaazh aa Trwaa, ménage à trois
pyais duh rayzeestauNs, pièce de résistance
shay Durvra, chef-d’oeuvre
Attributes
aamoor praupra, amour-propre
ahplaum, aplomb
DeesTray, distrait
naaeevtay, naiveté
panaash, panache
saNg frwaa, sangfroid
zhwaa Duh veevra, joie de vivre
Sports
aypay, épée
kauNkoor daylegauNs, concours d’élégance
Miscellaneous
Dayzhaa vyoo, déjà vu
Duh Tro, de trop [superfluous]
kree Duh kur, cri de coeur
raizauN DaiTra, raison d’être
Occupations
auNTruhprunur, entrepreneur
Nouns in -é
aymeegray, émigré
feeauNsay, fiancé, m, and fiancée, f.
prauTayzhay, protégé
rayzyoomay, résumé
Adjectives in -é
blaazay, blasé
deesTaNgay, distingué
reeskay, risqué
ruhTroosay, retroussé (turned up – esp. nose)
Sayings
plyoo saa shaaNzh (plyoo se laa maiM shoz). Plus ça change, (plus c’est la même chose.) (Nothing really changes.)
aapre mwaa luh Daylyoozh. Après moi, le déluge. (Who cares what happens when I go?)
auNee swaa kee maal ee pauNs. Honi soit qui mal y pense. (Evil be to he who thinks evil of it. [The motto of the British Order of the Garter.]
veev laa DeefayrauNs! Vive la différence! [Long may the difference continue to exist!]
reeyaaN na vaa plyoo. Rien ne va plus. (No more bets!)
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o ruhvwaar.
aabyaaNTo?
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