ছেলে

See also: ছোলা

Bengali

Alternative forms

  • ছেইলা (cheila)dialectal

Etymology

Umlaut of Middle Bengali ছেলিয়া (cheliẏa, young person or animal), from Magadhi Prakrit 𑀙𑁂𑀮𑀺𑀅𑀓 (cheliaka​), from 𑀙𑁂𑀮𑀺𑀅 (chelia) + Middle Indo-Aryan -𑀓- (-ka-), from earlier Ashokan Prakrit *𑀙𑀬𑀮𑀺𑀅 (*chayalia), from Sanskrit छगलिक (chagalika, kid, young goat), from छगल (chagala, goat) +‎ -इक (-ika);[1] the semantic shift of a word for the young of a farm animal to mean the offspring of people is not uncommon (compare Bengali বাচ্চা (bacca) and বৎস (botśo), both of which were once solely used to refer to calves; compare also English kid). Cognate with Odia ଛେଳି (cheḷi).

Pronunciation

  • (Rarh) IPA(key): /t͡ʃʰele/, [ˈt͡ʃʰeleˑ]
    Audio:(file)
  • (Dhaka) IPA(key): /tɕʰele/, [ˈtɕʰeleˑ]
    Audio:(file)

Noun

ছেলে • (chele)

  1. boy
    Synonyms: বেটা (beṭa), ছাওয়াল (chaōẇal)
  2. son
    Synonyms: পুত্র (putro), পুত (put), বেটা (beṭa), ফুয়া (phuẏa)
  3. guy

Inflection

indefinite forms
nominative ছেলে (chele)
objective ছেলেকে (cheleke)
genitive ছেলের (cheler)
definite forms
singular plural
nominative ছেলেটা, ছেলেটি (cheleṭa (colloquial), cheleṭi (formal)) ছেলেরা (chelera)
objective ছেলেটাকে, ছেলেটিকে (cheleṭake (colloquial), cheleṭike (formal)) ছেলেদের(কে) (cheleder(ke))
genitive ছেলেটার, ছেলেটির (cheleṭar (colloquial), cheleṭir (formal)) ছেলেদের (cheleder)
Objective Note: In some dialects, -রে (-re) marks this case instead of -কে (-ke).

Antonyms

Derived terms

  • ছেলেমানুষ (chelemanuś)
  • ছেলেপেলে (chelepele)
  • ছেলেধরা (cheledhora)

References

  1. ^ Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985) “chele”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press, page 271