In Hindi, Bigul (बिगुल) (IPA /bigul/) is a bugle-like instrument, if they are cognates can someone also tell me how they might have been formed.!
asked Sep 25, 2017 at 15:57
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1The English comes from Late Latin buculus "little bull"; the Hindi might be a loan from English at some point. I need to find a reliable etymological dictionary of Hindi to check though.– Draconis ♦Commented Sep 25, 2017 at 16:11
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1Can you give it in Hindi or Urdu script?– fdbCommented Sep 25, 2017 at 21:03
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1@WiccanKarnak I would agree, but strange things can happen to vowels.– Draconis ♦Commented Sep 26, 2017 at 14:21
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1@WiccanKarnak: In French, Latin ū became [y], which is like [i] but rounded. Loanwords from French into other languages may use /i/ as an approximation of French /y/. But I don't know if it's plausible that the word is a loanword from French. And in any case, the /u/ in the second syllable would be surprising to me in that case--I'd expect French bugle /bygl(ə)/ to be adopted in Hindi as something like "bigla", not "bigul"– brass tacksCommented Sep 26, 2017 at 14:29
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3@sumelic. European loan words in Hindi are from English (mainly) or from Portuguese (some early borrowings), not from French.– fdbCommented Sep 26, 2017 at 15:45
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2 Answers
Shyamsundara Dasa's Hindi Shabdasagar dictionary has an entry (link):
बिगुल संज्ञा पुं० [अं०] अँगरेजी ढंग की एक प्रकार की तुरही जो प्रायः सैनिकों को एकत्र करने अथवा इसी प्रकार का कोई और काम करने के लिये संकेत रूप में बजाई जाती है । मुहा०—बिगुल बजना = (१) किसी कार्य के लिये आदेश होना । (२) कूच होना ।
It says "an English style of horn usually used to call soldiers to one place, or in other cases [used] as a signal". The [अं०] part means it's a borrowing from English, so fdb is correct. Rajpal Hindi Dictionary also agrees.
"Bigul" is not in Turner's Comparative Dictionary, nor in Platts' Dictionary of Classical Urdu/Hindi. It is evidently a borrowing from English, with simplification of the /ju/ in the first syllable to /i/.
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Thanks fdb, though (being an Indian myself) I know, and I found in texts the mention of ancient buffalo horn made wind instrument being called bigul. Plus it was more of a tribal thing way back, I doubt that it would have made it's way to the Dictionaries anyways (if the word did exist) Commented Sep 27, 2017 at 13:05
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I found in texts the mention of ancient buffalo horn made wind instrument being called bigul . Plus it was more of a tribal thing way back, I doubt that it would have made it's way to the Dictionaries anyways (if the word did exist) and that it was a borrowing. Commented Oct 2, 2017 at 3:25
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@WiccanKarnak. Are you talking about old texts (pre-1800)? If so, could you give some references?– fdbCommented Oct 2, 2017 at 13:50
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I don't have proofs as they are generally conveyed as folklore by oral methods. (So in the days of kings, if there was an announcement, it would be preceded by bigul sounds) But, I could Google and find an 1857 reference (again not a proof), of bigul being played before the Indian mutiny. Commented Oct 3, 2017 at 10:38
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Thanks for the great answer I accepted @Aryaman 's answer because it had a reference. Plus have upvote both Commented Jan 4, 2018 at 1:41