साला

See also: साल, साली, सूल, and सेल

Hindi

Picture dictionary

साला

नानी

नाना

दादी

दादा

मामी

मामा

मौसा

मौसी

माता

पिता

ताऊ

ताई

बुआ

फूफा

चाचा

चाची

भांजा

भांजी

जीजा

दीदी

बहनोई

बहन

भैया

भाभी

भाई

भौजाई

भतीजा

भतीजी

जेठानी

जेठ

नंदोई

ननद

देवरानी

देवर

साला

सलहज

साली

साढ़ू

साला

सलहज

पति

पत्नी

समधी

समधिन

बहू

बेटा

पोता

पोती

बेटी

दामाद

जमाई

नाती

नातिन

समधी

समधिन

Click on labels in the image.

Etymology

Inherited from Prakrit साल (sāla, “brother-in-law”) + Middle Indo-Aryan -𑀓- (-ka-), from Sanskrit स्याल (syāla). Cognate with Marathi साळा (sāḷā).

The mildly vulgar senses imply that the speaker is having sexual relations with the offended person's sister, although this connotation is now obscure and rarely implied.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Hindi) IPA^(key): /sɑː.lɑː/, [säː.läː]

Noun

साला • (sālā) m (female equivalent साली, Urdu spelling سالا)

1. saala/sala: brother-in-law, wife's brother

   मेरे साले ने अपनी बहन को लिखा।

   mere sāle ne apnī bahan ko likhā.

   My brother-in-law wrote to his sister.

2. (slang, mildly vulgar, derogatory) saala/sala: a term of abuse; bastard, bugger, scoundrel

   अबे, साले, इधर आ तू!

   abe, sāle, idhar ā tū!

   Oi, you scoundrel, get over here!

   अबे! उस साले ने मेरा बटुआ चुरा लिया!

   abe! us sāle ne merā baṭuā curā liyā!

   Oi! That bastard stole my purse!

   • 2021 January 15, Pradeep Chaturvedi, इश्क़-ए-नमः [iśq-e-namaḥ], BFC Publications, →ISBN, page 48:

     […] फोन से चारपाई पर चर्रर्रर्रर्रर्रर्र से उठने की आवाज़ आई और फिर उस साले की आवाज़ आई। “तुम्हारे जैसे लौंडों को घर से उठवा लूंगा अगर दोबारा मेरी बहन से बात की तो ... बद्तमीज़ कहीं के, मादर ........ फोन के बैलेन्स से ज़्यादा तो मेरा चूतिया कट गया था।

     […] phon se cārpāī par carrarrarrarrarrarr se uṭhne kī āvāz āī aur phir us sāle kī āvāz āī. “tumhāre jaise lauṇḍõ ko ghar se uṭhvā lūṅgā agar dobārā merī bahan se bāt kī to ... badtamīz kahī̃ ke, mādar ........ phon ke bailens se zyādā to merā cūtiyā kaṭ gayā thā.

     The sound of getting up on the cot came from the phone and then that bastard's voice came. “I will get guys like you kidnapped from the house if you talk to my sister again... You rascal, you mother ........ More than the deduction of my phone balance, I had been made a fool of.

3. (slang, mildly vulgar) saala/sala: a person, guy, bloke, bugger
   • 2019, “शैतान का साला [śaitān kā sālā, Shaitan Ka Saala]”, in Farhad Samji (lyrics), Sohail Sen (music), Housefull 4, performed by Sohail Sen and Vishal Dadlani:

     बाला, बाला, बाला
     लोग बोलें, “बाला,”
     “क्या चीज़ है साला”

     bālā, bālā, bālā
     log bolẽ, “bālā,”
     “kyā cīz hai sālā”

     Bala, Bala, Bala
     People say, "Bala,"
     "What a guy, that bloke"

Declension

Declension of साला (masc ā-stem)

	singular	plural
direct	साला sālā	साले sāle
oblique	साले sāle	सालों sālõ
vocative	साले sāle	सालो sālo

Adjective

साला • (sālā) (feminine साली, Urdu spelling سالا)

1. (slang, mildly vulgar, derogatory) bloody, damned (term of abuse)

   साले गधे की औलाद ― sāle gadhe kī aulād ― Damned son of an ass.

   साली ज़िंदगी ― sālī zindgī ― Bloody life.

2. (slang, mildly vulgar) bloody, damned (intensifier)

   वाह, भाई, साला टॉपर है तू!

   vāh, bhāī, sālā ṭŏpar hai tū!

   Wow, mate, you're a bloody topper!

Declension

Declension of साला (ā-stem)

	masculine		feminine
	singular	plural	singular	plural
direct	साला sālā	साले sāle	साली sālī	साली sālī
oblique	साले sāle	साले sāle	साली sālī	साली sālī
vocative	साले sāle	साले sāle	साली sālī	साली sālī

References

• Platts, John T. (1884), “साला”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co.
• Dāsa, Śyāmasundara (1965–1975), “साला”, in Hindī Śabdasāgara [lit. “Sea of Hindi words”] (in Hindi), Kashi [Varanasi]: Nagari Pracarini Sabha, page 5090
• Caturvedi, Mahendra; Bhola Nath Tiwari (1970), “साला”, in A practical Hindi-English dictionary, Delhi: National Publishing House, page 805
• McGregor, Ronald Stuart (1993), “साला”, in The Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary, London: Oxford University Press, page 1009
• Bahri, Hardev (1989), “साला”, in Siksarthi Hindi-Angrejhi Sabdakosa [Learners' Hindi-English Dictionary], Delhi: Rajpal & Sons, page 655.

Nepali

Etymology

From Sanskrit स्याल (syāla). Cognate with Marathi साडू (sāḍū).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [sälä]
• Phonetic Devanagari: साला

Noun

साला • (sālā) m

1. wife's younger brother; brother-in-law
2. (colloquial) a term of abuse, a swear word.; rascal

Declension

Declension of साला
	Singular	Plural
nominative	साला [sälä]	सालाहरू [sälä̤ːɾu]
accusative/dative	सालालाई [säläläi]	सालाहरूलाई [sälä̤ːɾuläi]
instrumental/ergative	सालाले [säläle]	सालाहरूले [sälä̤ːɾule]
ablative	सालाबाट [säläbäʈʌ]	सालाहरूबाट [sälä̤ːɾubäʈʌ]
genitive	सालाको [säläko]	सालाहरूको [sälä̤ːɾuko]
locative	सालामा [sälämä]	सालाहरूमा [sälä̤ːɾumä]
Notes: -को (-ko) becomes: -का (-kā) when followed by a plural noun. -की (-kī) when followed by a feminine noun.

Further reading

• “साला”, in नेपाली बृहत् शब्दकोश (nepālī br̥hat śabdakoś) [Comprehensive Nepali Dictionary]‎^[1], Kathmandu: Nepal Academy, 2018
• Schmidt, Ruth L. (1993), “सालो”, in A Practical Dictionary of Modern Nepali, Ratna Sagar

Pali

Alternative forms

Alternative scripts

• sālā (Latin script)
• 𑀲𑀸𑀮𑀸 (Brahmi script)
• সালা (Bengali script)
• සාලා (Sinhalese script)
• သာလာ or သႃလႃ (Burmese script)
• สาลา (Thai script)
• ᩈᩣᩃᩣ (Tai Tham script)
• ສາລາ (Lao script)
• សាលា (Khmer script)
• 𑄥𑄂𑄣𑄂 (Chakma script)

Noun

साला f

1. Devanagari script form of sālā (“hall”)

Declension

Declension table of "साला" (feminine)

Case / Number	Singular	Plural
Nominative (first)	साला (sālā)	सालायो (sālāyo) or साला (sālā)
Accusative (second)	सालं (sālaṃ)	सालायो (sālāyo) or साला (sālā)
Instrumental (third)	सालाय (sālāya)	सालाहि (sālāhi) or सालाभि (sālābhi)
Dative (fourth)	सालाय (sālāya)	सालानं (sālānaṃ)
Ablative (fifth)	सालाय (sālāya)	सालाहि (sālāhi) or सालाभि (sālābhi)
Genitive (sixth)	सालाय (sālāya)	सालानं (sālānaṃ)
Locative (seventh)	सालाय (sālāya) or सालायं (sālāyaṃ)	सालासु (sālāsu)
Vocative (calling)	साले (sāle)	सालायो (sālāyo) or साला (sālā)