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Post by desi4life on Jun 4, 2014 5:45:27 GMT
A popular song from a couple of years ago contained the lyrics "Ishq shava mushk shava". The translation given on Bollywood related websites is "Love is a cure, fragrance is a cure." However, there is no such word as shava "cure" in Hindi or Urdu. So, any idea where this word comes from and what it really means?
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odadune
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Post by odadune on Jun 4, 2014 11:54:42 GMT
This post on bollymeaning.com has a commenter saying that the word is Farsi/Persian, and does in fact mean "cure": www.bollymeaning.com/2012/10/ishq-shava-meaning.htmlThere may be a bit of a pun on the similarity to a word meaning "become." Basically, Gulzar's vocabulary once again beats every other lyricist's.
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Post by desi4life on Jun 4, 2014 18:18:53 GMT
The Farsi word for "cure" is shafa not shava. I don't expect Gulzar to make that kind of mistake. I found this in a Persian dictionary (not listed in Urdu or Hindi dictionaries). shawā, Existing; deaf So "love is existing, fragrance is existing"?
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Post by dancelover on Jun 4, 2014 19:14:13 GMT
There is also "Say Shava Shava" from Kabi Kushi Kabi Gaum. With Poets involved, they may be saying "it is" or "this is." Perhaps "Loving is! good scent is!" I was going to say "sweetness" until it occurred to me that other scents are sometimes thought good. How about "Loving is! Masala is!" (or perhaps "Muskiness is!") What is the rest of the poem? Dancelover The Farsi word for "cure" is shafa not shava. I don't expect Gulzar to make that kind of mistake. I found this in a Persian dictionary (not listed in Urdu or Hindi dictionaries). shawā, Existing; deaf So "love is existing, fragrance is existing"?
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Post by desi4life on Jun 4, 2014 19:50:37 GMT
"Shaavaa shaavaa" is a Punjabi expression and is different from "shavaa". Note the difference in the initial vowel. You can listen to the "Ishq shava" song here. The translations provided on-screen are not literal, so I don't have much faith in them.
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odadune
Star of the item number
not around much due to stuff in my personal life.
Posts: 1,494
Favorite actor: Currently a certain Kumar, but I like most of them
Favorite actress: whoever's in films I'm interested in this week
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Post by odadune on Jun 5, 2014 21:57:54 GMT
The Farsi word for "cure" is shafa not shava. I don't expect Gulzar to make that kind of mistake. I found this in a Persian dictionary (not listed in Urdu or Hindi dictionaries). shawā, Existing; deaf So "love is existing, fragrance is existing"? I don't know if I expect him to make that kind of a mistake, but some of his explanations of his own word-play in English language interviews strike me as kind of strained, so blurring shava and shawa for his own purposes might not be out of the question. Or a foulup somewhere in Yash Raj's music department, in terms of understanding and transcribing the lyrics, that no one was willing to admit to.
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Post by James on Jun 5, 2014 23:06:14 GMT
If 'shawa' means 'existing', then isn't it easily translated as:
"love exists, fragrance exists, give them a happy welcome"
Which would make sense in response to that proverb, as well as in a movie where they were apparently resisting their true loves for whatever reasons/circumstances, right?
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Post by desi4life on Jun 6, 2014 5:16:22 GMT
If 'shawa' means 'existing', then isn't it easily translated as: "love exists, fragrance exists, give them a happy welcome" Which would make sense in response to that proverb, as well as in a movie where they were apparently resisting their true loves for whatever reasons/circumstances, right? Yes, that makes sense. However, I don't know Farsi, so I was hesitant to make the switch from "existing" to "exists" in the translation I provided.
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Post by James on Jun 9, 2014 6:42:27 GMT
I asked a friend who speaks Farsi as a mother tongue, and he said he'd never even heard the word 'shava'. I wonder if it's older Farsi? Or literary? Hmmm...
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Post by desi4life on Jun 11, 2014 20:03:46 GMT
"Shavaa" is probably from Classical Farsi or could be literary too. "Shavad" is apparently present in Modern Farsi and is either the same word or a related form. They're connected to the verb "shodan/shudan" meaning "to be, become". I would guess "shavaa" is a variant of the second example below.
شود (shavad) Verb He, she, it becomes or may become. It is (or may be) possible. [3d. pers. s. of the verb. شدن shodan in the subjunctive mood].
shav, shū (imp. of shudan), Be, exist; be thou; (in comp.) being, existing
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Post by James on Jun 11, 2014 22:30:33 GMT
Desi4life, are you aware of the Word Reference Forums? Someone might be able to help you there in the Indo-European languages section. If you do post there, let us know if you get an answer!
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Post by desi4life on Jun 20, 2014 23:51:33 GMT
Thanks, James. I posted a question, but there was doubt and uncertainty expressed about the meaning. "Shavaa" is not an Urdu word, so the question remains about its use in Farsi.
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