Can you believe it I actually met and interacted with Dr R. V. Dhongde, the editor of this wonderful dictionary.
If you are searching for Marathi equivalents for English words, this is an awesome dictionary. Searching for words is easy as we have it alphabetically arranged from A- Z (26 alphabets).
Reading this blog may be as difficult as finding words in a Marathi dictionary. But if you will read the entire blog...should take you maximum of 10-15 minutes. I hope it will help you and make your task of finding Marathi words in a dictionary easier.
In Marathi do you know what is the term for alphabetical order? Google Translate gives a recognized term:
अक्षर क्रमानुसार
I think this is easy to remember, for non-Marathi students like me.
वर्णक्रमानुसार
If you remember that the Marathi alphabets are called वर्णमाला, it makes sense. At least I do not find it easy to remember.
If you ask an assal Marathi native speaker, she may call alphabetical order as:
अकारविल्हे or अकारविल्हे अनुसार.
which is a corruption/improvement (er, remember I write this as a student and not as an expert) of
अक्षरविल्हे.
Marathi alphabets are also called मराठी मुळाक्षरे consisting of both vowels (स्वर) and consonants (व्यंजने).
Let us now get into the nitty-gritty of searching for Marathi words in a dictionary.
Easy Part
Most dictionaries tell you the order in which the words have been listed in the dictionary. Of course, the alphabetical order.
If words begin with the vowels, they are easy to find. The will be in this order:
अ आ इ ई उ ऊ ऋ ए ऐ ओ औ
अं अः
Dictionaries and other alphabetical lists will tell you that:
अ listing is followed by अं.
आ listing is followed by आं.
इ listing is followed by इं
ॲ ऑ
Hopefully, the dictionary will tell you where the ऋ ॲ ऑ occur.
Similarly, words beginning with consonants are easy to find:
क, ख, ग, घ, ङ,
च, छ, ज, झ, ञ,
ट, ठ, ड, द, ण,
त, थ, द, ध, न,
प, फ, ब, भ, म
य र ल व
श ष स ह ळ
Of course, in some cases there are no words beginning with some consonants, so those are not shown. I have marked them in red.
Barakhadi
क का कि की कु कू के को कौ कं कः
Dictionary Barakhadi
क कं का कां कि किं की कीं कु कुं कू कूं कृ कृं के कें को कों कौ कौं
(If your dictionary/list follows a different order...it will be mentioned in the foreword or at the beginning.)
Difficult Part
This is actually easy but difficult part. The barakhadi. Each consonant can begin with a vowel attached to it.
क का कि की कु कू के को कौ कं कः (notice two missing!)
Words beginning with these are easy to find.
What happens when you have a word beginning with half of the alphabet? The र has the rafar र or the half-moon र, used in सूर्य. प्रेम has a different र. पार्क has a different र. ट्राम / ट्रॅम / ट्रंक have a different र.
Tip: Half alphabets are at the end of the list of words for that alphabet.
If you go to the end of क, you will find words like:
क्रम, क्रांती, क्रिया, क्रीडा, क्रूर, क्रोध, क्रौर्य, क्रौंच, क्लांत, क्लिष्ट, क्लेश, क्वचित
Tip: Search for र all the variations of र follow one another.
You will find this word:
पर, परका, पर्जन्य, पर्ण, पर्यटक,
Where to find प्र. This is a jodakshar -- it is half प and र. To be precise
प् + र = प्र
So it will be at the end of प list of words because it is a jodakshar.
Tip: Jodakshar. Search for jodakshar where it is expected or search for it at the end of the particular consonant.
We also have:
त + र = त्र -- you will find at the end of त.
श + र = श्र
स + र = सृ
क + र = कृ
त + र = तृ
Tip: Search at the ending list of words for that consonant. You may find such words.
Let's Do It!
1. Words beginning with half-alphabets/Jodakshars are at the end of the list of words.
न्याय you will have to search at the end of न list of words.
You will find quite a few words beginning with the half न - न्.
न्याहारी, न्यहाळणे, न्हाणे / नहाणे, न्हावी.
2. Lets understand the r listing by seeing this list.
पर, परका, परंपरा, पराकाष्ठा, परामर्श, परार्थ (रा followed by र), परावर्तन, परावृत्त,
पौस्टिक, half प - प् begins
प्यादे, then comes the long list of words beginning with प्र
प्रकट, प्रकीर्ण, प्रकृत.....प्रेम...प्रेरक..प्रेरण...प्रेरणा..प्रौढ
Remember प्र is half half प - प् + र
So the remaining words with half प - प् continues with
प्लीहा, and ends with प्लेग.
Do Remember!
1. Make sure your spelling is correct.
2. Remember not to go by the sound, but by the alphabet. Do not look for ज in झ and झ in ज. You need to look for आजार in आजार and not आझार.
3. Many Marathi words (specially transliterations, imported words) have different spellings. ट्राम and ट्रॅम. न्हाणे and नहाणे.
4. Do not search for misspelled words, typos. Correct them and search in the correct place. Many times you will not find the word in the dictionary because the word was not spelled correctly in the text.
5. Words beginning with half-alphabets/Jodakshars are at the end of the list of words.
6. Read the Front Matter/Introduction to the dictionary or alphabetical listing, if required. It is a map of how to use the dictionary and will guide you to locate your word in a simpler and easier manner.
Congratulations. You have reached the end of this 101 on How to use a Marathi Dictionary.