हम

Bhojpuri

Etymology

From Prakrit 𑀅𑀫𑁆𑀳𑁂 (amhe, “we”), from Sanskrit अस्मे (asme, “in us”). Cognates include Hindi हम (ham) and Assamese আমি (ami).

Pronoun

हम (ham) (genitive हमार, oblique हमरा)

1. I

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/

Pronoun

हम (ham)

1. we

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/,

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Hindi हम (hama), हंम (haṃma), from Sauraseni Apabhramsa अम्हे (amhe), from Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀅𑀫𑁆𑀳𑁂 (amhe), from Ashokan Prakrit , 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)

1. 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.

2. (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.

Adverb

हम • (ham) (Urdu spelling ہم)

1. (rare) also, as well, likewise

Conjunction

हम • (ham) (Urdu spelling ہم)

1. (rare) whether, either

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):

Pronoun

हम • (ham)

1. I

Declension

Old Hindi

Alternative forms

• हंम (haṃma)

Etymology

From Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀅𑀫𑁆𑀳𑁂 (amhe), from Sanskrit अस्मे (asme).

Pronoun

हम (hama)

1. we

Descendants

• Braj: हम (ham)
• Hindustani:

  Hindi: हम (ham)

  Urdu: ہم (ham)