Hardev Bahri ( pa, ਹਰਦੇਵ ਬਾਹਰੀ, hi, हरदेव बाहरी, translit=Hardev Bāhrī, also Bahari; 1907—2000) was an Indian

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

, literary critic, and

lexicographer Lexicography is the study of lexicons, and is divided into two separate academic disciplines. It is the art of compiling dictionaries. * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries. * Theoretica ...

of the 20th century, notable for his work in

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

, Punjabi, and other related

Indo-Aryan languages The Indo-Aryan languages (or sometimes Indic languages) are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. As of the early 21st century, they have more than 800 million speakers, primarily ...

. He compiled numerous monolingual and bilingual dictionaries for both general and technical purposes in collaboration with the publisher Rajpal and Sons.

Life

Bahri was born on 1 January 1907 in

Talagang Talagang ( ur, ) is a city and the headquarters of the Talagang District located in Punjab, Pakistan. The former Talagang Tehsil Talagang Tehsil (تلا گنگ تحصیل), is a tehsil of Talagang District in the Punjab province of Pakista ...

, near

Attock Attock ( Punjabi and Urdu: ), formerly known as Campbellpur (), is a historical city located in the north of Pakistan's Punjab Province, not far from the country's capital Islamabad. It is the headquarters of the Attock District and is 61st lar ...

, Punjab, then part of the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was him ...

. He obtained his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

from

Panjab University Panjab University (PU) is a collegiate public state university located in Chandigarh, Punjab. Funded through both State and Union governments, it is considered a state university. It traces its origins to the University of the Punjab in Laho ...

. Likely due to the Partition of India, he migrated to Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh and became a professor in the Department of Hindi at the

University of Allahabad , mottoeng = "As Many Branches So Many Trees" , established = , type = Public , chancellor = Ashish Chauhan , vice_chancellor = Sangita Srivastava , head_label ...

, where in 1959 he also earned his

Doctor of Letters Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Docto ...

for his seminal work ''Hindi Semantics''. He occupied that post for over two decades, pursuing academic research in both

theoretical A theory is a rational type of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the results of such thinking. The process of contemplative and rational thinking is often associated with such processes as observational study or research. Theories may be ...

and

applied linguistics Applied linguistics is an interdisciplinary field which identifies, investigates, and offers solutions to language-related real-life problems. Some of the academic fields related to applied linguistics are education, psychology, communication rese ...

as well as literary criticism. He died on 31 March 2000.

Works

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bahri, Hardev 20th-century Indian linguists Indian lexicographers Indian literary critics Academic staff of the University of Allahabad University of Allahabad alumni Panjab University alumni 1907 births 2000 deaths Linguists of Hindi Linguists of Punjabi 20th-century lexicographers