है

See also: ह, हूँ, हृ, हे, and हैं

Hindi

Etymology

There are similar words in Old Hindi to mean "is", आहि (āhi), है (hai)—the source of this word—, and होइ (hoi)—the source of the modern subjunctive हो (ho), among others. होइ (hoi) is clearly from Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀪𑁄𑀤𑀺 (bhodi). The first two are possibly from Apabhramsa *अहहि (ahahi) or *अहै (ahai), a thematic variant of the Prakrit root 𑀅𑀲𑁆 (as), from अस् (as), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁es-, making it a cognate to English is and Spanish es. Though the s > h shift and the thematisation of Old Indo-Aryan roots was common in Middle Indo-Aryan, neither are noted by Prakrit grammarians for अस् (as), making this derivation dubious. They may otherwise be connected with Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀪𑁄𑀤𑀺 (bhodi) and Sanskrit भवति (bhavati), or at least influenced by this root.

Cognate with Magahi 𑂯𑂶, Marathi आहे (āhe), Bengali আছে (ache), Maithili अछि (achi), Gujarati છે (che).

Pronunciation

• (Delhi) IPA^(key): /ɦɛː/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

है • (hai) (Urdu spelling ہے)

1. third-person singular present indicative of होना (honā): (he, she, it) is

Statistics

• Most common spoken Hindi words — #1 • के

Magahi

Etymology

Cognate with Maithili अछि (achɨ), Bhojpuri होब (hōb), Hindi है (hai), Marathi आहे (āhe).

Verb

है (hai) (Kaithi 𑂯𑂶)

1. weak form of हकै (is)

   हमरा एगो भाए है।

   hamarā ego bhāe hai.

   I have a brother.