मैं

See also: म and में

Dogri

Etymology

From Khasa Prakrit [Term?] (compare Prakrit 𑀫𑀏 (mae)), from Sanskrit मया (mayā), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *máyaH (the instrumental singular of *aȷ́ʰám (“I”)), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁móy.

Pronoun

मैं (ma͠i)

1. I

Hindi

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-Iranian *máyaH

Sanskrit मया (mayā)

Ashokan Prakrit 𑀫𑀬𑀸 (mayā)

Prakrit 𑀫𑀏 (mae)

Sauraseni Apabhramsa मइं (maïṃ)

Old Hindi मैं (maiṃ)

Hindi मैं (ma͠i)

Inherited from Old Hindi मैं (maiṃ), from Apabhramsa मइं (maĩ), from Prakrit 𑀫𑀏 (mae), from Sanskrit मया (mayā), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *máyaH (the instrumental singular of *aȷ́ʰám (“I”)), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁móy.

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

Pronunciation

• (Delhi) IPA^(key): /mɛ̃ː/
• (dialectal) (Delhi) IPA^(key): /mə.ĩː/, [mɐ.ĩː]

• Audio:

  (file)

Pronoun

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

1. I (the first person personal singular pronoun)

   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

Synonyms

• हम (ham) (dialectal, colloquial)

Further reading

• 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.
• Caturvedi, Mahendra, Bhola Nath Tiwari (1970) “मैं”, in A practical Hindi-English dictionary, Delhi: National Publishing House

Kumaoni

Etymology

From Khasa Prakrit [Term?] (compare Prakrit 𑀫𑀏 (mae)), from Sanskrit मया (mayā), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *máyaH (the instrumental singular of *aȷ́ʰám (“I”)), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁móy.

Pronoun

मैं (ma͠i)

1. I

Old Hindi

Alternative forms

• मै (mai)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-Iranian *máyaH

Sanskrit मया (mayā)

Ashokan Prakrit 𑀫𑀬𑀸 (mayā)

Prakrit 𑀫𑀏 (mae)

Sauraseni Apabhramsa मइं (maïṃ)

Old Hindi मैं (maiṃ)

Inherited from Apabhramsa मइं (maĩ), from Prakrit 𑀫𑀏 (mae), from Sanskrit मया (mayā), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *máyaH (the instrumental singular of *aȷ́ʰám (“I”)), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁móy.

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.

Descendants

• Hindustani:

  Hindi: मैं (ma͠i)

  Urdu: میں (ma͠i)