Spoken and Literary Awadhi

FoundationsSounds Like bōlacāla a'ura sāhitya kai avadhī

Lessons teach spoken Awadhi, and the old poems use older forms.

How It Works

The Awadhi in these lessons is everyday speech from the Lucknow, Ayodhya, Sultanpur and Rae Bareli area. It is what you would hear in a tea shop or a family kitchen.

Awadhi is also a famous literary language. Tulsidas wrote the Ramcharitmanas in it in the 1570s, and Jayasi wrote the Padmavat about 1540. Their language is older, and some words are different from today's:

PoemTodayMeaning
मोहिहमकाto me
महँमाin
कीन्हकिहिसdid
करहुकरौdo!

People still sing and recite these verses, so it is useful to recognize them. But use the modern column when you speak. Spoken Awadhi also varies from place to place, and the lessons name a regional form only when you are likely to hear it.

Examples (5)

  1. मोहि

    Me, in old poems; today हमका.

    This old pronoun appears in verses but not in daily talk.

  2. महँ

    In, in old poems; today मा.

    The old word for in.

  3. कीन्ह

    Did, in old poems; today किहिस.

    The old past form of करब.

  4. हम चाय पियत अही।

    I am having tea.

    This is the ordinary spoken Awadhi the lessons use.

  5. अम्मा हमका बोलावत अहैं।

    Mom is calling me.

    In speech, the object is marked with का.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Spoken and Literary AwadhiFoundations

Learn This First

Spotting old forms against modern speech depends on reading both in Devanagari.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.