Guest guest Posted November 3, 2006 Report Share Posted November 3, 2006 Being unable to post directly to Indology@ from where he is at present. Dr. Bahulkar has sent me the following response: >Dear Ashok, Thanks for more information about Raghuvir's dictionary. I consulted 'A Practical English-Hindi Dictionary' edited by Badri Nath Kapoor (Prabhat Prakashan, Delhi, 1999). The editor gives the word vyaaghra-pata:nga for 'dragonfly' (p. 350). Interestingly, in the 'Praamaa.nik Hindi Ko;s' edited by Acharya Ramachandra Varma and revised by Badri Nath Kapoor (Lokabharati Prakashan, Allahabad, 1997) does not include the word vyaaghra-pata:nga. It appears that both the words-- Vaadhapata:nga and Vyaaghra-pata:nga were coined by the editors of the respective dictionaries. There is no proper word for dragonfly in the recorded Sanskrit literature. There must be some words for dragonfly in Indian languages; for instance, 'Chatur' in Marathi (see the discussion at the website, www.tekdi.com/ TEP Eco Discussions > Nature > Dragonflies & Damselflies (Moderator: Vijaybarve) >Topic: Chatur, Response by Pinakin Karve).< Now, if Marathi "chatur/catur" is the right word for 'dragonfly,' it could originally have been Sanskrit "catura" (i.e., a tatsama word) that did not occur in the recorded Skt literature or it could have been a Sanskritized word. One needs, in particular, to check if Skt homonym dictionaries record "catura" in the sense of a 'flying insect.' ashok aklujkar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 3, 2006 Report Share Posted November 3, 2006 Ashok Aklujkar wrote: > One needs, in particular, to check if Skt homonym dictionaries record > "catura" in the sense of a 'flying insect.' Another possible, though indirect, source would be Tibetan or Chinese translation materials. I have found a Tibeten word for "dragonfly" which suggests that it might be a literal translation from Sanskrit -- "chu-srin rgyal-mo". The latter part of the compound is easy, meaning "queen", but the first is used to translate a number of words, including kumbhiira, makara and "si"sumaara. Best wishes, Stephen Hodge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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