Saturday, October 6, 2012

ki, kii, kai

Can anyone give me an idea of how people in various regions of India pronounce the conjunction कि (ki)? Do many people still pronounce this as कै in UP and Delhi?

When speaking Hindi, most of Indians speak "ki" only. But "kai" कै may be used in Haryanavi language, so one may hear such word (in their accent), being spoken around Delhi (as Delhi is neighboring the state of Haryana and many Haryanvis are settled in Delhi also).

I've noticed that in Mumbai a lot of people pronounce the word identically to kii when meaning "that" but more like ke when meaning "or" for example "tujhe garmii hai ke sardii?" (Are you feeling hot or cold?)

My Marathi colleague says that even in Marathi language, the words for "or" are "ki" कि and "kiwan" किवां. So people should be saying "..X.. aahe ki ..Y.."? "X आहे कि Y?" (aahe is Marathi for "is"/ hai").

There are so many regional dialects in India, that we can't say from where a particular pattern comes...

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