मैं

See also: स, भ, म, में, and ম

Dogri

Etymology

From , from Sanskrit मया (mayā), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *máyaH the instrumental singular of *aȷ́ʰám (“I”), from Proto-Indo-European *éǵH-om.

Pronoun

मैं (ma͠i)

1. I

---

Hindi

Etymology

From Old Hindi मैं (maiṃ), from Sauraseni Apabhramsa मइं (maĩ), from , from Sanskrit मया (mayā), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *máyaH the instrumental singular of *aȷ́ʰám (“I”), from Proto-Indo-European *éǵH-om.

Cognate to Punjabi ਮੈਂ (maĩ), Nepali म (ma), Assamese মই (moi), Sylheti ꠝꠥꠁ (mui), Kamta মুই (mui), Marathi मी (mī), all deriving from oblique forms of the first-person personal pronoun.

Pronunciation

• (Delhi) IPA^(key): /mɛ̃ː/
• IPA^(key): /məɪ/, [məɪ̯]

Pronoun

मैं • (ma͠i) m or f (Urdu spelling میں)

1. I (the first person personal singular pronoun) (Plural: हम (ham) or हम लोग (ham log))

   मैं एक आदमी हूँ।

   Ma͠i ek ādmī hū̃.

   I am a man.

Inflection

Pronoun declension of मैं

direct	मैं ma͠i
indirect	मुझ mujh
ergative	मैंने ma͠ine
genitive	मेरा merā
dative	मुझे, मुझको mujhe, mujhko
instrumental/ablative	मुझसे mujhse
inessive	मुझमें mujhmẽ
adessive	मुझपे, मुझपर mujhpe, mujhpar
terminative	मुझतक mujhtak
semblative	मुझसा mujhsā

References

• McGregor, Ronald Stuart (1993) “मैं”, in The Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary, London: Oxford University Press
• Platts, John T. (1884) “मैं”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co.

Further reading

• Caturvedi, Mahendra, Bhola Nath Tiwari (1970) “मैं”, in A practical Hindi-English dictionary, Delhi: National Publishing House
• Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985) “ma”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press
• Pischel, Richard, Jha, Subhadra (contributor) (1957) Comparative Grammar of the Prakrit Languages‎^[1], Varanasi: Motilal Banarasidass.

---

Kumaoni

Etymology

From , from Sanskrit मया (mayā), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *máyaH the instrumental singular of *aȷ́ʰám (“I”), from Proto-Indo-European *éǵH-om.

Pronoun

मैं (ma͠i)

1. I

---

Old Hindi

Alternative forms

• मै (mai)

Etymology

From Sauraseni Apabrahmsa [Term?] (maĩ), [Term?] (maï), from , , from Sanskrit मया (mayā), instrumental singular of अहम् (aham).

Pronoun

मैं (maiṃ)

1. I
   • c. 1500, Kabir, Assorted Poetry, pad 76, line 3:

     जग मैं देषूँ जग न देषि मोहि

     jaga maiṃ deṣūm̐ jaga na deṣi mohi

     I see the world, [but] the world does not see me.