अलाव

Hindi

Etymology

Inherited from Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀅𑀮𑀸𑀬 (alāya), from Sanskrit अलात (alāta). Cognate with Gujarati અલાવો (alāvo).

Pronunciation

• (Delhi) IPA^(key): /ə.lɑːʋ/, [ɐ.läːʋ]

Noun

अलाव • (alāv) m (Urdu spelling الاو)

1. fire lit in the open (as for warmth on winter nights)

   Synonym: कोड़ा (koṛā)

   • 1990, प्रेमचंद की हिन्दी-उर्दू कहानियाँ‎^[1]:

     झोपड़े के द्वार पर बाप और बेटा दोनों एक बुझे हुए अलाव के सामने चुपचाप बैठे हुए हैं और अन्दर बेटे की जवान बीबी बुधिया प्रसव-वेदना में पछाड़ खा रही थी।

     jhopṛe ke dvār par bāp aur beṭā donõ ek bujhe hue alāv ke sāmne cupcāp baiṭhe hue ha͠i aur andar beṭe kī javān bībī budhiyā prasav-vednā mẽ pachāṛ khā rahī thī.

     At the door of the hut father and son both sit silently by a burnt-out bonfire while inside, the son's young wife Budhiya was struggling with labor-pain in agony.

2. bonfire, campfire
3. fire kindled in a ditch around which Mohammedans dance and walk over during Muharram
   • 1987, Abdula Bismillāha, Zaharabāda:

     ... और मैं हाथ में नेजा लिए अलाव में नाच रहा हूँ।

     ... aur ma͠i hāth mẽ nejā lie alāv mẽ nāc rahā hū̃.

     ...and i am dancing in the bonfire with spear in my hand.

Declension

Declension of अलाव (masc cons-stem)

	singular	plural
direct	अलाव alāv	अलाव alāv
oblique	अलाव alāv	अलावों alāvõ
vocative	अलाव alāv	अलावो alāvo

References

• Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985) “alāta”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press
• McGregor, Ronald Stuart (1993) “अलाव”, in The Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary, London: Oxford University Press
• Platts, John T. (1884) “अलाव”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co.