General Hindi, भाग अ: Words, Sentences, Idioms and Terminology

What the official syllabus says

Main Examination, Paper IV: General Hindi and General English

Unit I - सामान्य हिन्दी

सामान्य हिन्दीः कुल अंक 90, इस प्रश्न पत्र का उद्देश्य अभ्यर्थी की भाषा-विषयक क्षमता तथा उसके विचारों की सही, स्पष्ट एवं प्रभावपूर्ण अभिव्यक्ति की परख करना है।

भाग अ - (अंक 30)

• उपसर्ग एवं प्रत्यय - शब्दों में से उपसर्ग एवं प्रत्यय पृथक् करना
• समश्रुत भिन्नार्थक शब्द का वाक्यों में प्रयोग द्वारा अर्थ स्पष्ट करना
• शब्द शुद्धि
• वाक्य शुद्धि
• मुहावरे - मुहावरों का प्रयोग से अर्थ स्पष्ट
• कहावत/लोकोक्ति प्रयोग से अर्थ स्पष्ट
• पारिभाषिक शब्दावली - प्रशासन से संबंधित अंग्रेजी शब्दों के समानार्थ हिन्दी पारिभाषिक शब्द

In English: Part A (30 marks) covers separating prefixes and suffixes from words; bringing out the meaning of words that sound alike but differ in meaning by using them in sentences; correcting words; correcting sentences; idioms and proverbs, with their meaning made clear by use; and technical terms, that is, the Hindi technical equivalents of English words relating to administration.

Topics in detail

उपसर्ग एवं प्रत्यय (prefixes and suffixes)

• The task: separating the prefix and the suffix from given words (शब्दों में से उपसर्ग एवं प्रत्यय पृथक् करना)
• What a prefix (upsarg) is: a word-part placed before a word that changes or sharpens its meaning, and cannot stand alone
• Prefixes of Sanskrit origin, used with tatsam words (the traditional list of twenty-two)
• Prefixes of Hindi origin, used with tadbhav words
• Prefixes from Urdu (of Arabic and Persian origin) and from English, as used in Hindi
• Words with two prefixes, and words in which the prefix joins the root by sandhi so that the sounds change: separating them correctly needs the sandhi rules
• What a suffix (pratyay) is: a word-part added after a root or a word to make a new word
• Krit suffixes: added to verb roots, making nouns and adjectives
• Taddhit suffixes: added to nouns, pronouns and adjectives, making abstract nouns, adjectives, diminutives and words of relation
• Suffixes of Urdu (Arabic and Persian) origin used in Hindi
• Words with both a prefix and a suffix: finding the root word in the middle
• Common slips: taking part of the root for a prefix, or a sandhi change for a suffix

समश्रुत भिन्नार्थक शब्द (words alike in sound, different in meaning)

• Meaning: pairs of words that sound almost the same but differ in meaning
• The task: making the difference clear by using each word in a sentence (वाक्यों में प्रयोग द्वारा अर्थ स्पष्ट करना)
• Pairs that differ by a vowel or its length, such as anil (air) and anal (fire), or kul (family) and kool (bank of a river)
• Pairs that differ by a consonant, such as ansh (part) and ans (shoulder)
• Pairs that differ by a nasal mark: the anusvar and the chandrabindu (hans, swan, and hans, to laugh)
• Pairs that differ by a half letter or a conjunct
• Writing one short sentence for each word in which the meaning cannot be mistaken
• Building a list of such pairs from reading and revising them as pairs

शब्द शुद्धि (correcting words)

• Short and long vowel signs (i and ee, u and oo)
• The vowel ri written with its own sign, and the syllable ri written with the r-letter
• Anusvar and chandrabindu: where each is used
• The three sibilants (sh, the retroflex sh and s), and the conjuncts ksh, tr and gy
• The reph (r written above the next letter) and the r-sign written below a letter
• Half letters, conjunct consonants and doubled consonants
• Visarga in tatsam words
• Errors from sandhi and samas (compounds)
• Errors from suffixes, such as adding an abstract-noun suffix to a word that is already an abstract noun
• Standard spellings as set out by the Central Hindi Directorate in its rules for standard Devanagari and Hindi spelling

वाक्य शुद्धि (correcting sentences)

• Agreement of the verb with the subject in gender (ling), number (vachan) and person (purush)
• Agreement when the subject takes the marker ne: the verb then agrees with the object, or stays neutral
• Case-markers (karak vibhakti): ne, ko, se, ka/ke/ki, mein and par in their right places
• Gender of nouns that are often given the wrong gender
• Pronouns, and the plural used for respect
• Adjectives and adverbs: right form and right position
• Word order: subject, object, verb; where qualifiers and negatives go
• Redundancy (punarukti): two words of the same meaning used together
• Wrong choice of word: a word of near meaning used in the wrong context
• Tense kept consistent within a sentence
• Punctuation, including the purn viram (the vertical full stop)

मुहावरे (idioms) and कहावत/लोकोक्ति (proverbs)

• An idiom (muhavara) is a phrase whose sense differs from the literal meaning of its words; it is not a complete sentence and takes the form the sentence needs (gender, number, tense)
• A proverb (kahavat or lokokti) is a complete saying drawn from common experience, used as it is
• The task for both: making the meaning clear by use (प्रयोग से अर्थ स्पष्ट), that is, a sentence in which the idiom or proverb fits naturally and its sense is obvious
• Groups of idioms worth learning together: those built on parts of the body, on animals, on numbers, and on food and household things
• Proverbs about work and effort, greed, foolishness, unity, time and fate
• Avoiding sentences that use the literal meaning, or that merely define the idiom

पारिभाषिक शब्दावली (technical terms of administration)

• The task: writing the standard Hindi technical equivalents of English words relating to administration
• Standard terms: the English-Hindi glossaries of the Commission for Scientific and Technical Terminology, Government of India, as used in government offices
• Terms whose Hindi forms appear in this very syllabus: notification (अधिसूचना), circular (परिपत्र), office memorandum (कार्यालय ज्ञापन), office order (कार्यालय आदेश), demi-official letter (अर्द्धशासकीय पत्र), reminder (अनुस्मारक), report (प्रतिवेदन), tender notice (निविदा सूचना), press release (प्रेस विज्ञप्ति)
• Office procedure: file, noting, draft, fair copy, enclosure, endorsement, despatch, diary, reference
• Personnel: appointment, probation, confirmation, deputation, transfer, suspension, leave, allowance, pension, seniority, promotion
• Finance: budget, grant, sanction, audit, expenditure, estimate, advance, reimbursement, appropriation
• Law and legislature: act, rule, ordinance, bill, gazette, quorum, resolution, amendment
• Offices and posts: secretariat, directorate, commissioner, collector, tehsildar, under secretary
• Phrases used in administration: ad hoc, bona fide, ex officio, pro rata, sine die, suo motu
• Writing the Hindi term with correct spelling (see शब्द शुद्धि above)

Overlaps

The administrative terms are used again in भाग स: Official Letters and Drafting and in translation (भाग ब). The English side of the same skills is in General English, Part A.