Chhattisgarhi Vocabulary

Prerequisites

Chhattisgarhi Language and Grammar Basics: where the language comes from and the core word list this page expands
Hindi Language (Class X level): the tatsam, tadbhav, deshaj and videshi categories are the same ones you learn for Hindi
Chhattisgarhi Language (chapter overview): how the language is tested in Prelims and Mains

The Hook: Four Words on a Wall

Connect

Across Chhattisgarh, from Giraudpuri to the smallest Satnami village, the teaching of Guru Ghasidas (गुरु घासीदास) is quoted in four words: “मनखे-मनखे एक समान”, every human being is equal. Four words, and one of them, मनखे (person, Hindi मनुष्य / आदमी), is not Hindi at all.

Now imagine the Prelims Paper II booklet. The Chhattisgarhi questions are printed only in Chhattisgarhi, with no English or Hindi version beside them. If you cannot read मनखे, बिहनिया or अब्बड़ at a glance, you lose the question before you start it.

Which words do you need, and how can you guess the Chhattisgarhi form of a Hindi word you have never heard?

Why it matters for CGPSC: vocabulary is the base of every Chhattisgarhi question in Prelims Paper II. In Mains Paper I, the Chhattisgarhi part lists word correction (शब्द शुद्धि) with tatsam, tadbhav, deshaj and foreign words, and every translation answer is marked partly on choosing the natural Chhattisgarhi word over the Hindi one.

Regional variation

The words below are the central-plains forms used in most textbooks. Neighbouring regions may use a different word or spelling (मैं / मँय, म / मा, नइ / नई). In an MCQ, pick the widely used standard form; in Mains, any well-attested form is acceptable if you use it consistently.

Where Chhattisgarhi Words Come From

Chhattisgarhi words fall into the same four groups that Hindi grammar uses.

Type	Meaning	Example in Chhattisgarhi
Tatsam (तत्सम)	Sanskrit word used unchanged	Mostly in formal and religious use: धर्म, विद्या
Tadbhav (तद्भव)	Sanskrit word changed by sound rules	धरम (धर्म), देस (देश), बन (वन), सुरुज (सूर्य)
Deshaj (देशज)	Local word with no clear Sanskrit source	Everyday words of the region; grammar books differ on which words they list
Videshi (विदेशी)	Borrowed from Persian, Arabic, English and others, then reshaped	इसकूल (school), टेसन (station), कुरसी (कुर्सी), सहर (शहर)

Spoken Chhattisgarhi strongly prefers tadbhav forms. That is the key to word correction: given a tatsam word, you are asked for its Chhattisgarhi form, and the answer almost always follows one of the rules below.

Six sound rules (tatsam → Chhattisgarhi)

Rule	Tatsam / Hindi	Chhattisgarhi
1. श / ष → स	देश, दर्शन, वर्षा	देस, दरसन, बरसा
2. व → ब	वन, विश्वास	बन, बिसवास
3. य → ज (at the start of a word)	यमुना, यश, योग	जमुना, जस, जोग
4. Conjuncts split with a vowel (स्वरभक्ति)	धर्म, कर्म, प्राण	धरम, करम, परान
5. क्ष → छ	लक्ष्मी	लछमी
6. ण → न, ऋ → रि / इ	गुण, कृष्ण	गुन, किसन

Worked example: one word, three rules

विश्वास (trust) → ?

व → ब (rule 2), श → स (rule 1), and the conjunct श्व opens up (rule 4): बिसवास.

सूर्य (sun) → ? The conjunct र्य opens up and य becomes ज: सुरुज.

Foreign words follow the same instinct: a consonant cluster at the start gets a helping vowel (स्कूल → इसकूल, स्टेशन → टेसन), and Persian श becomes स (शहर → सहर).

Core Word Lists

Each table gives the Chhattisgarhi word, its Hindi equivalent and the English meaning. Learn them in this order: family and people first (they appear in every passage), then time and place (they appear in every question).

1. Family and people (परिवार और लोग)

Chhattisgarhi	Hindi	English
दाई	माँ	mother
ददा	पिता	father
बबा	दादा	grandfather
भइया	बड़ा भाई	elder brother
बहिनी	बहन	sister
बेटा / बेटी	बेटा / बेटी	son / daughter
कका / काकी	चाचा / चाची	father’s younger brother / his wife
मामा / मामी	मामा / मामी	mother’s brother / his wife
भाँचा / भाँची	भांजा / भांजी	sister’s son / daughter
बहुरिया	बहू	daughter-in-law
लइका	बच्चा	child
टूरा / टूरी	लड़का / लड़की	boy / girl
डोकरा / डोकरी	बूढ़ा / बूढ़ी	old man / old woman
मनखे	मनुष्य, आदमी	person, human being
संगी	साथी, मित्र	friend, companion

Why भाँचा matters

In Chhattisgarh a sister’s son (भाँचा) is treated with special respect; elders traditionally touch his feet. The custom is linked to the belief that Kaushalya, mother of Rama, was a daughter of Dakshin Kosala, which makes Rama the region’s भाँचा. It is a good cultural line for an essay or interview, and a reason the word appears in Chhattisgarhi passages.

2. Body (शरीर)

Chhattisgarhi	Hindi	English
मुड़	सिर	head
चुंदी	बाल	hair (of the head)
आँखी	आँख	eye
कान / नाक / मुँह	कान / नाक / मुँह	ear / nose / mouth
दाँत	दाँत	tooth
हाथ	हाथ	hand, arm
गोड़	पैर	leg, foot
पेट	पेट	stomach

3. Home and food (घर और भोजन)

Chhattisgarhi	Hindi	English
अँगना	आँगन	courtyard
भात	पका चावल	cooked rice
चाउँर	चावल (कच्चा)	rice grain (uncooked)
बासी	रात का भीगा भात	cooked rice kept overnight in water
पेज	माँड़ / चावल का घोल	rice gruel
दार	दाल	lentils
भाजी	पत्तेदार साग	leafy vegetable
नून	नमक	salt
आगी	आग	fire

Festival foods you will meet in passages: चीला, फरा, ठेठरी, खुरमी, अंगाकर रोटी (see Festivals, Fairs and Special Traditions).

4. Village and nature (गाँव और प्रकृति)

Chhattisgarhi	Hindi	English
तरिया	तालाब	village pond, tank
डबरी	छोटा तालाब	small pond
नदिया	नदी	river
डोंगरी	पहाड़ी	hill
खेत / बारी	खेत / बाड़ी	field / kitchen garden
धान	धान	paddy
माटी	मिट्टी	soil, earth
रुख	पेड़	tree
चिरई	चिड़िया	bird
कुकुर / बिलई	कुत्ता / बिल्ली	dog / cat
बइला / भइंसा	बैल / भैंस	bullock / buffalo
घाम	धूप	sunshine, heat of the sun
जाड़	ठंड, जाड़ा	cold, winter
बादर	बादल	cloud
बरसात	बरसात	rainy season
पानी गिरना	बारिश होना	to rain (literally “water falls”)

5. Time and place (समय और स्थान)

Chhattisgarhi	Hindi	English
बिहनिया	सुबह	morning
मंझनिया	दोपहर	midday, afternoon
संझा	शाम	evening
रतिहा	रात	night
आज	आज	today
काली	कल	yesterday or tomorrow (context decides)
इहाँ / उहाँ / कहाँ	यहाँ / वहाँ / कहाँ	here / there / where
ऊपर / तरी	ऊपर / नीचे	above / below
भीतर / बाहिर	अंदर / बाहर	inside / outside
आघू / पाछू	आगे / पीछे	in front / behind
तीर	पास, किनारे	near, beside, on the bank of

6. Describing words (विशेषण और क्रिया-विशेषण)

Chhattisgarhi	Hindi	English
बने	अच्छा, ठीक	good, well
सुग्घर	सुंदर	beautiful, fine
अब्बड़ / गजब	बहुत	very, a lot
जम्मो	सब, सारे	all
थोरकुन	थोड़ा	a little
बड़का	बड़ा	big
नान्हे	छोटा	small
नवा / जुन्ना	नया / पुराना	new / old (of things)
करिया	काला	black
हरियर	हरा	green

7. Action words (क्रिया)

Chhattisgarhi	Hindi	English
रेंगना	चलना	to walk
गोठियाना	बात करना	to talk, chat
बलाना	बुलाना	to call
रांधना	पकाना (खाना)	to cook
सुतना	सोना	to sleep
बइठना	बैठना	to sit
हाँसना / रोना	हँसना / रोना	to laugh / to cry
नहाना	नहाना	to bathe
धरना	पकड़ना	to hold, catch
बूता करना	काम करना	to work

Greetings and Everyday Phrases

Chhattisgarhi	Hindi	English
जय जोहार	नमस्ते, राम-राम	the common greeting
का हाल हे?	क्या हाल है?	how are things?
बने-बने	सब ठीक है	all well
तोर नाव का हे?	तुम्हारा नाम क्या है?	what is your name?
तैं कहाँ जावत हस?	तुम कहाँ जा रहे हो?	where are you going?
मोर घर चल।	मेरे घर चलो।	come to my house.
भात खा के जाबे।	खाना खाकर जाना।	eat before you go.
बइठ, पानी पी ले।	बैठो, पानी पी लो।	sit, have some water.
का होगे?	क्या हो गया?	what happened?

Building New Words

Device	How it works	Example
-मन (plural)	Added to nouns and pronouns	लइका → लइकामन; मनखे → मनखेमन; हम → हमन
-इया (belonging to)	Place name + -इया = a person of that place	छत्तीसगढ़ → छत्तीसगढ़िया
Reduplication (पुनरुक्ति)	Repeating a word for emphasis or “each”	बने-बने (all well); मनखे-मनखे (every person)
ले for comparison	“than / of all”, like Hindi से	सबले बढ़िया = सबसे बढ़िया (the best)

Worked example: a slogan decoded

छत्तीसगढ़िया सबले बढ़िया is the best-known Chhattisgarhi slogan.

छत्तीसगढ़िया = a person of Chhattisgarh (छत्तीसगढ़ + suffix -इया); सबले = सबसे (“of all”, ले as the comparison marker); बढ़िया = excellent. Meaning: “The people of Chhattisgarh are the best of all.”

Memory Tricks

Day clock: 'Bi-Man-San-Rat'

बिहनिया (morning) → मंझनिया (midday) → संझा (evening) → रतिहा (night). Chant “Bi-Man-San-Rat” and the order of the day stays fixed.

Sound rules: 'SH-VA-YA go soft'

श softens to स, व to ब, य to ज, and hard clusters break open. If a Hindi word looks “Sanskrit-heavy”, make it softer and you will usually land on the Chhattisgarhi form: देश → देस, वन → बन, यश → जस, धर्म → धरम.

Family: 'Dai-Dada-Baba'

दाई (mother), ददा (father), बबा (grandfather): the three words that open most Chhattisgarhi family passages. Add टूरा / टूरी / लइका and you can read almost any household scene.

Don’t Confuse

This	vs	That
काली = yesterday or tomorrow; the verb’s tense decides (काली गेंव = went yesterday; काली जाहूँ = will go tomorrow)		करिया = black
बने = good, well (an adjective or adverb)		बनना = to be made (Hindi verb)
ददा = father in Chhattisgarhi		दादा = paternal grandfather in Hindi; Chhattisgarhi uses बबा
भात = cooked rice		चाउँर = uncooked rice; धान = paddy in the field
तरिया = village pond		नदिया = river

Common Mistakes

Trap 1: Hindi 'dada' for father

In Chhattisgarhi ददा means father, not grandfather. Grandfather is बबा. An option that glosses ददा as “दादा” is a deliberate trap for Hindi speakers.

Trap 2: Fixing काली to one meaning

काली works like Hindi कल: it can mean yesterday or tomorrow. Read the verb. “हमन काली रइपुर जाबो” (future) means tomorrow.

Trap 3: Writing tatsam forms in translation

In a Hindi-to-Chhattisgarhi translation, “देश”, “वर्षा”, “विश्वास” left unchanged read as Hindi. Write देस, बरसा, बिसवास. Examiners notice.

Practice

These are original practice questions in CGPSC style. They are not previous-year questions.

Level 1: Foundation

Give the Chhattisgarhi word for “morning”.
Write the Chhattisgarhi (tadbhav) form of धर्म and वन.
What does मनखे mean?
Translate into Hindi: दाई भात रांधत हे।

Answers

बिहनिया
धरम, बन (conjunct splits; व → ब)
Person, human being (मनुष्य, आदमी)
माँ खाना (भात) पका रही है।

Level 2: Prelims MCQs

Q1. ‘अब्बड़’ शब्द के अर्थ का हे?

(a) थोड़ा (b) सुंदर (c) बहुत (d) अच्छा

Answer: (c) बहुत

अब्बड़ means “very, a lot” (Hindi बहुत), as in “अब्बड़ सुग्घर” (very beautiful). Option (a) is its opposite (थोरकुन), (b) is सुग्घर and (d) is बने. The question stem is in Chhattisgarhi on purpose: Prelims Paper II prints these questions without translation.

Q2. Consider the following statements about Chhattisgarhi word forms:

धरम is the tadbhav form of the tatsam word धर्म.
Chhattisgarhi usually changes श to स, as in देस from देश.
बन is the tatsam form, and वन is its Chhattisgarhi tadbhav form.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 and 2 only (b) 2 and 3 only (c) 1 and 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer: (a) 1 and 2 only

Statement 1 is correct: the conjunct र्म splits to give धरम. Statement 2 is correct: श → स is the most regular Chhattisgarhi sound change. Statement 3 reverses the relationship: वन is the Sanskrit (tatsam) word and बन is the tadbhav form produced by the व → ब rule.

Q3. Match List-I (Chhattisgarhi) with List-II (Hindi meaning):

List-I	List-II
A. ददा	1. धूप
B. गोड़	2. पैर
C. तरिया	3. पिता
D. घाम	4. तालाब

(a) A-1, B-2, C-4, D-3 (b) A-3, B-4, C-2, D-1 (c) A-3, B-1, C-4, D-2 (d) A-3, B-2, C-4, D-1

Answer: (d) A-3, B-2, C-4, D-1

ददा = पिता (father), गोड़ = पैर (leg, foot), तरिया = तालाब (village pond), घाम = धूप (sunshine). The trap is reading ददा as Hindi दादा; in Chhattisgarhi grandfather is बबा.

Q4. Which of the following gives the parts of the day in the correct order, from earliest to latest?

(a) संझा, बिहनिया, रतिहा, मंझनिया (b) बिहनिया, मंझनिया, संझा, रतिहा (c) मंझनिया, बिहनिया, संझा, रतिहा (d) बिहनिया, संझा, मंझनिया, रतिहा

Answer: (b)

बिहनिया (morning) → मंझनिया (midday) → संझा (evening) → रतिहा (night). Use the “Bi-Man-San-Rat” chant.

Q5. In the slogan “छत्तीसगढ़िया सबले बढ़िया”, the word सबले is best rendered in Hindi as:

(a) सबसे (b) सबके लिए (c) सबको (d) सबका

Answer: (a) सबसे

ले is the Chhattisgarhi equivalent of Hindi से, and here it marks comparison: सबले बढ़िया = सबसे बढ़िया, “the best of all”. Option (b) would be सब बर, (c) सब ला and (d) सब के.

Level 3: Speed Drill — Solve in 60 Seconds

Give the Hindi meaning of each word. Target: all eight in 60 seconds.

बहिनी 2. रुख 3. जम्मो 4. चिरई 5. रेंगना 6. गोठियाना 7. डोंगरी 8. नान्हे

Then give the Chhattisgarhi form of each tatsam word in 30 seconds: 9. वर्षा 10. कृष्ण 11. यमुना 12. लक्ष्मी

Answers with the rule used

बहन 2. पेड़ 3. सब 4. चिड़िया 5. चलना 6. बात करना 7. पहाड़ी 8. छोटा
बरसा (व → ब, ष → स, conjunct splits)
किसन (ऋ → इ, conjunct ष्ण → सन)
जमुना (य → ज)
लछमी (क्ष → छ)

Quick Revision Table

Item	Chhattisgarhi
Mother / father / grandfather	दाई / ददा / बबा
Boy / girl / child / person	टूरा / टूरी / लइका / मनखे
Sister’s son	भाँचा
Head / hair / eye / leg	मुड़ / चुंदी / आँखी / गोड़
Cooked rice / raw rice / gruel	भात / चाउँर / पेज
Pond / hill / tree / bird	तरिया / डोंगरी / रुख / चिरई
Sunshine / cold / cloud	घाम / जाड़ / बादर
Morning → night	बिहनिया, मंझनिया, संझा, रतिहा
Good / beautiful / very / all	बने / सुग्घर / अब्बड़ / जम्मो
Walk / talk / cook / work	रेंगना / गोठियाना / रांधना / बूता करना
Sound rules	श→स, व→ब, य→ज, क्ष→छ, ण→न, conjuncts split
Suffixes	-मन (plural), -इया (of a place)

Key Takeaways

Prelims Paper II asks Chhattisgarhi questions in Chhattisgarhi only, so instant word recognition is the whole game.
Chhattisgarhi prefers tadbhav forms: श→स, व→ब, य→ज, क्ष→छ, and conjuncts split (धर्म → धरम).
Learn family, time and place words first: दाई, ददा, बबा, बिहनिया, संझा, काली, इहाँ, तीर.
ददा is father, not grandfather; काली is yesterday or tomorrow by context.
-मन makes plurals; -इया marks belonging (छत्तीसगढ़िया); ले marks comparison (सबले).

What’s Next

Chhattisgarhi Grammar: put these words into sentences with the right case markers and verb endings
Translation (Hindi ↔ Chhattisgarhi): the method that uses this word list
Idioms and Proverbs (Muhavare and Hana): the same words in their most compact, exam-favourite form
Folk Music, Dance, Theatre and Crafts: the songs and performances where this vocabulary lives
Chhattisgarhi Language — Quick Revision