wallah
{{short description|Indian surname or suffix}}
{{hatnote|This article is about the use in Indo-Aryan languages. For the use in Arabic, see the Wiktionary entry {{linktext|wallah}}.}}
{{Lang|inc|Wallah}}, {{Lang|inc|-walla}}, {{Lang|inc|-wala}}, or {{Lang|inc|-vala}} (Hindi: {{Lang|hi|वाला}})({{Lang|inc|-wali}} fem. {{Lang|hi|वाली}}), is a suffix used in a number of Indo-Aryan languages, like Hindi/Urdu, Gujarati, Bengali or Marathi. Originating from Sanskrit पाल (pāla) + Middle Indo-Aryan -𑀓- (-ka-), it forms an adjectival compound from a noun or an agent noun from a verb.{{cite book |title=The Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary |editor=R. S. McGregor |editor-link=R. S. McGregor |year=1997 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-864339-5 |page=915}} For example; it may indicate a person involved in some kind of activity, where they come from, or what they wear ({{Lang|inc|topiwala}}), i.e., habitué.{{cite book|last=Clements|first=J. Clancy|title=The Genesis of a Language: The formation and development of Korlai Portuguese|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ScZBAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA139|year=1996|publisher=John Benjamins Publishing Company|isbn=978-90-272-7618-6|pages=139–}}{{cite book|last1=Barz|first1=Richard Keith|last2=Siegel|first2=Jeff|title=Language Transplanted: The Development of Overseas Hindi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lMns1oU3n14C&pg=PA165|year=1988|publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag|isbn=978-3-447-02872-1|pages=165–}}
Example uses
Examples of such uses include:
- Dabbawala, lunch box deliverer
- ''Dhobiwallah, laundry worker
- Chaiwala, a boy or young man who serves tea
- Dishwalla, satellite TV installer, from "dish" for parabolic antenna
- {{Lang|inc|Rickshawala}}, a rickshaw driver
- Punkawallah, the servant who keeps the punkah or fan going on hot nights
- {{Lang|inc|Lep wallah}}, a cotton carder
- {{Lang|inc|Kabadiwalla}}, a waste picker or scrap dealer{{Cite web|title=Indian firm's digital solution for urban waste pickers|url=https://www.itu.int:443/en/myitu/News/2021/07/29/16/51/Digital-solution-India-waste-pickers-Kabadiwalla-Connect|access-date=2021-11-20|website=www.itu.int|date=29 July 2021 |language=en}}{{Cite web|title=Kabadiwalla Connect {{!}} The Buckminster Fuller Institute|url=https://www.bfi.org/ideaindex/projects/2017/kabadiwalla-connect|access-date=2021-11-20|website=www.bfi.org}}
- Puncture {{Lang|inc|wala}} or puncher {{Lang|inc|wala}}, a tyre repairer
{{anchor|Base wallah}}In British military jargon of the first half of the 20th century, a "base wallah" is someone employed at a military base, or with a job far behind the front lines.Edward Fraser and John Gibbons (1925). Soldier and Sailor Words and Phrases. Routledge, London, p.18. There were a number of other words of this type, such as "camel wallah" and "machine-gun wallah", and more.Notes and Queries, 1922, [https://books.google.com/books?id=2Pib4JOGor0C&dq=%22base+wallah%22&pg=PA378 p. 378] "Base wallah" had a derogatory reference for a person who is seldom seen at the front lines during major attacks, pretending to be sick.Notes and Queries, 1922, [https://books.google.com/books?id=2Pib4JOGor0C&pg=PA343 p. 343]
{{anchor|robotwallah}}There is a short story "Sanjeev and Robotwallah", by Ian McDonald. There is a character named General Robotwallah in the 2010 novel For the Win by Cory Doctorow. "Robotwallah" refers to the pilot of a mecha.
Other uses
{{Lang|inc|Wala}} or {{Lang|inc|Vala}} was also used in Parsi and Dawodi Bohra surnames, suggesting the derivation from a profession or a place name. For example:
- Amroliwala
- Matthew Amroliwala
- Daruwalla, 'alcohol seller'
- Mithaiwala, sweetseller{{cite news |last=Anand |date=February 5, 2006 |title=Reflections of a language-wala |url=http://www.hindu.com/lr/2006/02/05/stories/2006020500330600.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070701212633/http://www.hindu.com:80/lr/2006/02/05/stories/2006020500330600.htm |archive-date=2007-07-01 |work=The Hindu |access-date=2014-05-17}}
- Dorabjee Naorojee Mithaiwala
- Furniturewala:
- Aalia Furniturewala
{{Lang|inc|Wala}} is also used to indicate a specific object or thing among several:
- {{Lang|inc|chota wala}}, 'the small one'
- {{Lang|inc|dusra wala}}, 'the second one'
- {{Lang|inc|agla wala}}, 'the next one'
These uses of {{Lang|inc|wala}} should not be confused with the {{langx|ar|وَٱللّٰه|wal-lāh|by God}}.{{wiktionary-inline|wallah}}