Punjabi, Hindi: Meaning of Siapa, Syapa

What is the meaning of Punjabi word Siapa or Syapa which is also often used in Hindi? 

Actual dictionary meaning of the word "siapa" is "Beating of breasts as a sign of mourning." When someone died in western part of India or Punjab, it was a custom in some communities to conduct a siapa (mourning) ceremony; where women used to gather and weep, crying in grief. That was called "siapa".

Also refer to: 

http://dict.hinkhoj.com/words/meaning-of-%E0%A4%B8%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%BE-in-english.html

http://pustak.org/home.php?mean=92887

• पुं० [फा०स्याहपोश] १. किसी की मृत्यु पर शोक के कारण होनेवाला रोना-पीटना। २. पश्चिम भारत की कुछ विशिष्ट जातियों में मरे हुई मनुष्य के शोक में कुछ काल तक घर की तथा नाते-रिश्ते की स्त्रियों के प्रति दिन एकत्र होकर रोने और शोक मनाने की रीति। 
• मुहावरा-स्यापा पड़ना=(क) रोना चिल्लाना मचाना। (ख) स्थान का बिलकुल उजाड़ या सुनसान हो जाना

http://pustak.org/bs/home.php?mean=92923 

Word reference: siapa, syapa

Hindi: prayatn, yatn

Are these two words prayatn and yatn same in meaning? Chaturvedi provides the same primary definitions for both, which makes their use a bit redundant to me since they have the same base.

प्रयत्न prayatn (nm) effort, endeavour; attempt; (in Phonetics) manner of articulation; -लाघव economy of effort; ~वान्/शील assiduous, diligent, one who makes efforts; hence ~शीलता (nf); —करना to try, to make an effort; to attempt/endeavour.

यत्न yatn (nm) effort, endeavour; attempt; care; ~पूर्वक with effort/attempt; with care; ~वती feminine form of ~वान; ~वान/शील making effort, effortive.

Yes, both are synonymous.

Hindi word reference: prayatn, yatn

Hindi: might as well

What would be the most natural translation of this phrase "might as well"?

I think depending on the context, there may be more than one way to say it in Hindi. We can use, "bhi" or "hi" to mean the same or in some other ways too. For example:

"Since you have to wait, you might as well sit down and relax."

"Tumhe pratiksha karni hi hai, to tum  baith bhi sakte ho aaraam se." (तुम्हें प्रतीक्षा करनी ही है तो तुम तुम आराम से बैठ भी सकते हो.)

 OR

"Jab tumhe pratiksha karni hi hai to kyon na baith jao, thoda aaraam kar lo?" 

OR

"Chunki tumke pratiksha karni hai, achchha hoga yadi tum baith hi jaao"

Word reference: might as well, hindi

Hindi: bhaagiidaar भागीदार and bhaagiidaarii भागीदारी

I want to know the meaning of Hindi words bhaagiidaar भागीदार and bhaagiidaarii भागीदारी.

bhaagiidaar / भागीदार: Partner or participant
bhaagiidaarii /भागीदारी: Partnership or participation

Synonyms of भागीदारी are the following:

 भागिता
 साझा
 साझेदारी

All these three mean "partnership", while only भागिता can also means "participation"

Word reference: bhaagiidaar, भागीदार, bhaagiidaarii, भागीदारी, भागिता, साझा, साझेदारी

Hindi: kidhar-idhar-udhar VS kahaaN-yahaaN-vahaaN

Is the Hindi word "kidhar" same as "kahaaN"; "idhar" same as "yahaaN" and "udhar" same as "vahaaN"?

Yes, for all practical usage, both sets mean the same so are used interchangeably... 

Word reference: kidhar, idhar, udhar, kahaaN, yahaaN, vahaaN

Hindi: Scandal

How would you translate into Hindi, "She is always surrounded by scandals"?

"Wah hamesha apwaadon se ghiri rahti hai." वह हमेशा अपवादों से घिरी रहती है.

Or even "Uska jeevan kalankon se bhara hai" उसका जीवन कलंकों से भरा है.

word reference: scandal

Hindi: Breakthrough

What will be translation of "breakthrough" into Hindi?

Breakthrough can be called safaltaa (सफलता); Major breakthrough = Badi safalta (बड़ी सफलता) or also bhedan (भेदन) and mahatvapurn khoj (महत्वपूर्ण खोज)

word reference: breakthrough, सफलत, hindi

Hindi: Word for Alter Ego

What would be Hindi term for "alter ego"? 

I am getting these two meanings from online dictionaries and these look fitting: 

Antarang Mitr अन्तरंग मित्र (Link)

Apar swaroop अपर स्वरुप (Link)

word reference: hindi, alter ego

Hindi: Are you surprised?

Can you translate into Hindi: "Are you surprised?"

"Kya aap ashcharya chakit hain"?क्या आप आश्चर्य चकित हैं?

Hindi: moderator

What to call "moderator" in Hindi?

Pariniyaamak (परिनियामक) or Sanchalak (संचालक)

else there are many options available in dictionary [Link] and [Link2]

Hindi: rakh rakhao

What is "rakh rakhao" in Hindi?

Rakh-rakhav (रखरखाव) means "maintenance".

Hindi: To talk back

How do you say : "to talk back" (as in children arguing with you while they shouldn't). The reply I got was: aage se bolnaa. Ex: voh laRkaa har vaqt aage se boltaa hai. This one sounded a tad weird to me. Can you suggest?

"aage se bolnaa" is also used by people, but yes, it does not look likeable to me too personally. I would suggest, "baat kaatna" or "beech me bolna". 

e.g. Badon ki baat nahi kaatate (बड़ों की बात नहीं काटते!) (We should not cut an elder's speech)

Beech me mat bolo. (बीच में मत बोलो। ) (Don't talk in the middle of discussion/speech/talk)

word reference: बात काटना

Hindi : aatii dafa3

I heard somewhere: - "aatii dafa3 tum voh kaagaz yaad se lete aanaa". I was just wandering about the exact meaning of the "aatii dafa3" expression?

It can also be said as "aate samay" (आते समय) and it means "at the time of return". 

word reference: aatii dafa3, आती दफ़ा, आते समय

Hindi: Fill in the blanks

What would be Hindi Translation for "Fill in the blanks"?

You can say, "Rikt sthanon ki purti karen." रिक्त स्थानों की पूर्ति करें।

Hindi: क्रतु kratu

Platts' dictionary contains क्रतु "kratu" ("power", "intelligence") but the Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary doesn't. Does this mean this word is no longer used? Here's the link to Platts: http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/phi...platts.1123726

It is a Sanskrit word and is used in Sanskrit. Though in Hindi I think it does not find application. 

I could find following web pages mentioning it: 

"क्रतु" के लिए हिन्दी अर्थ | Meaning of "क्रतु" in Hindi

1. ब्रह्मा के मानस पुत्र एक प्रजापति।
2. संकल्प या निश्चय।
3. मनोरथ

क्रतु तारा

क्रतु, जिसका बायर नामांकन "अल्फ़ा अर्से मॅजोरिस" (α UMa या α Ursae Majoris) है, सप्तर्षि तारामंडल का तीसरा सबसे रोशन तारा और पृथ्वी से दिखने वाले सभी तारों में से ४०वाँ सब से रोशन तारा है। यह हमसे १२४ प्रकाश-वर्ष की दूरी पर स्थित है और पृथ्वी से इसका औसत सापेक्ष कांतिमान (यानि चमक का मैग्निट्यूड) १.७९ है।^[1] यह वास्तव में एक बहु तारा मंडल है।

क्रतु को अंग्रेज़ी में "डूबे" (Dubhe) भी कहा जाता है।

क्रतु के बहु तारा मंडल के यह तारे हैं:

• क्रतु ए (α UMa A) - क्रतु मंडल का मुख्य तारा K0 III श्रेणी का लाल दानव तारा है। इसका द्रव्यमान हमारे सूरज के द्रव्यमान का लगभग ४ गुना और व्यास हमारे सूरज के व्यास का ३० गुना है।
• क्रतु बी (α UMa B) - क्रतु ए का यह साथी तारा F0 V श्रेणी का मुख्य अनुक्रम तारा है। इसका द्रव्यमान हमारे सूरज के द्रव्यमान का लगभग १.७ गुना और व्यास हमारे सूरज के व्यास का १.३ गुना है। यह क्रतु ए से २४ खगोलीय इकाईयों की दूरी पर है।
• क्रतु सी (α UMa C) - यह एक द्वितारा है जिसका मुख्य तारा F8 श्रेणी का है। यह क्रतु ए से ८,००० खगोलीय इकाईयों की दूरी पर है।

Hindi: watch your back

How can one say this phrase "watch your back" in Hindi as in "That place is full of thieves, you should watch your back."

There may not be exact literal translation for the phrase but the same phrase is there in Hindi also to mean the same. 

One can say "bach kar rahna" बच कर रहना 

"वहाँ बहुत चोर हैं / वह स्थान चोरों से भरा है; बच कर रहना।"

Aage aate aate jaate jate

Hi, can you translate this in English? 

Aage aate aate jaate jate, khoye khoye jaage jaage
Thake thake haare haare, daure daure sare sare
Pecche pecche aagee aage, gire pade bhage bhage
bhaaag bhagam bhaaag

It is a song, so it may be difficult to find the rhyme. But here it is: 

While coming, while going; while losing and while finding

Even while getting tired, all of us are running...

While being behind, while being ahead; we all run even while stumbling...

Run, run, and run...

Hindi: Merry Christmas

How can one say "Merry Christmas" in Hindi?

One can say:

Christmas ki shubhkamnayen! क्रिसमस की शुभकामनायें!

Chrismas shubh ho! क्रिसमस शुभ हो!

Bada Din shubh ho! बड़ा दिन शुभ हो! 

Christmas is also called "Bada Din" in Hindi which literally means "big/long day".

siyaahii (ink)

The Urdu word is "siyaahii" and it comes from the Persian "siyaah" for black. What do the Hindi speakers use? Do they have a seperate Indic word?

Shabdkosh gives the below result:
http://www.shabdkosh.com/s?e=ink&f=0&t=0&l=hi

ink, n.

• मशी
• रोशनाई
• स्याही (f)

From my experience I can tell that स्याही is most often used and the second most common is रोशनाई which is also used by many.

स्याही Example:

आज़ादी का इतिहास कहीं
काली स्याही लिख पाती है?
इसको पाने को वीरों
खून की नदी बहाई जाती है

...

फिर उसी रक्त की स्याही में
वे अपना कलम डुबोते थे
आज़ादी के परवाने पर
हस्ताक्षर करते जाते थे

[poem link]

रोशनाई Examples:

सुन लो नभ क्या कहता है
धरती में पडा सन्नाटा है,
असंख्य तारों की बातें
कोई नहीं सुन पाता है

व्यथा है इनकी भी- सुध लो
आती रोशनाई को धर लो
हो सकता है धरती की कोई
व्यथा है कहती है-सुन लो

[Ref]

At times both words रोशनाई and स्याही are written by the same author, alternately. As can be seen below:

नीली रोशनाई आँख में चुभन देती थी सो कभी न भाई. वर्तमान लिखता तो काली स्याही की कलम से और अतीत की चुभन को .. [Link]

मशी is a Sanskrit word and from there it has come to Hindi. It is not much in daily-use, but can be found in Sanskrit texts.

मशी (mashii) = (f) ink
http://sanskritdocuments.org/dict/dictall_unic.html

मशी [mashi] {f} (also: स्याही, रोशनाई) [Link]

Pyramids of Egypt

What is the Hindi word for "Pyramid"?

The word in Hindu for Pyramid is "Pyramid". It comes as it is in Hindi. Or one can use शुंडाकार स्तंभ or शुंडाकार भवन.