In Hindi there are five sets of consonants, each of which has its own pancham varna. Here is a non-exhaustive list of some of these words showing the correct spellings, along with the incorrect forms in brackets: लताएँ (*लतायें), बहुएँ (*बहुयें). The plural of such words is always formed by adding एँ and never by adding *यें. In other words, these are outright spelling errors and should be corrected at all costs.

This is actually a corollary to Point 2 above, but I am listing it separately as the 'optional' ways of writing these words are actually unacceptable grammatical errors. Plural forms of feminine words like लता, बहु, माला, etc. So always be careful to use the ई and ए versions for words of this type. Technically both these forms are correct (except for *हुयी), but in standardized Hindi only the first form is acceptable. In other words, substituting the chandrabindu with the anuswar is not recommended.Ģ. It should be used at all places where it is grammatically necessary to use it. To avoid such pitfalls, use the chandrabindu (ँ) with great care. Often translators use the chandrabindu at one or two places or in the spellings of one or two words, but omit it in other places either due to ignorance of the use of the chandrabindu or due to carelessness, and end up sacrificing uniformity of spelling and internal consistency of their translated material. Also, if a translator decides to use it, then he/she must use the chandrabindu unfailingly at all the places where it should be used. The correct usage of the chandrabindu requires a very high level of knowledge of Hindi spelling, samas, sandhi and word formation, and it would be a serious mistake to use it where it should not be used or to omit it where it should be used. If we write the former with an anuswar, it can be confused with swan. The most famous example of this is हँस (to laugh) and हंस (swan).

This is not recommended as using anuswar in place of the chandrabindu can lead to confusion and error. However, in contemporary usage, the trend is to replace the chandrabindu (ँ) with the anuswar (ं). The chandrabindu is also used to indicate the plural forms of feminine words such as लताएँ, बहुएँ, मालाएँ, etc. This nasal sound also occurs in less obvious words like में, हैं, लें, etc., where due to the difficulty in writing it, as there is already another matra above the shirorekha, it is replaced by the anuswar (ं). Many words in Hindi have the nasal sound अनुनासिक (anunasik) indicated by the chandrabindu (ँ) such as in बाँस, हँस, आँख, साँस, etc. Translators can use it to quickly spell check their translations.Īll erroneous spellings cited in this article by way of example are preceded by an asterix, like this *चाहिये. This article is intended as a checklist of some of the common genres of spelling errors committed by those who work in Hindi. Further, native speakers have the added disadvantage of being familiar with one or the other of the dialects of Hindi which tend to influence their diction, spelling, grammar, style and choice of words. Unless one has formally studied the grammar and usage of Hindi, even a native speaker of Hindi is unlikely to be familiar with these developments. It has also undergone a careful and systematic standardization process in which its spelling rules, grammar and vocabulary have all been scrutinized, and dual forms, erroneous terms, dialectical forms and inappropriate forms have all been weeded out. The Hindi language has seen rapid development in the last few decades, and has added several thousand new words, idioms, usages and even grammatical features to its corpus. This is a dangerous fallacy for two reasons. Many translators take it for granted that as Hindi is their native language, correct spelling comes naturally to them. Professionisti selezionati (per settore)Īdvocating the use of correct spelling in a translation may seem a bit elementary, but having had the occasion to see many translations done in Hindi by other translators, I have good reasons to believe that what is outlined in the next few paragraphs would not be found to be too banal or useless by most Hindi translators.

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