রাখাল

Bengali

Alternative forms

• রাখোয়াল (rakhōẇal) — archaic, dialectal

Etymology

Inherited from Middle Bengali রাখোআল (rakhōal), from Prakrit 𑀭𑀓𑁆𑀔𑀯𑀸𑀮 (rakkhavāla), from Sanskrit रक्षपाल (rakṣapāla, “protective herdsman”), from रक्ष (rakṣa, “protection”, from रक्ष् (rakṣ) +‎ -अ (-a)) +‎ पाल (pāla, “herdsman”). Cognate with Odia ରଖୁଆଳ (rakhuāḷa), Maithili रख्वारी (rakhvārī), Bhojpuri रख्वार (rakhvār), Gujarati રખ્વાળ (rakhvāḷ), Hindi रखवाला (rakhvālā), Punjabi ਰਖ੍ਵਾਲ (rakhvāl), Nepali रख्वालो (rakhwālo).

Pronunciation

• (Rarh) IPA^(key): /rakʰal/, [ˈrakʰal]

• (Dhaka) IPA^(key): /ɹakʰal/, [ɹakʰal]

Noun

রাখাল • (rakhal)

1. herdsman; cowherd; goatherd; shepherd

Declension

Inflection of রাখাল
nominative	রাখাল rakhal
objective	রাখালকে rakhal (semantically general or indefinite) / rakhalke (semantically definite)
genitive	রাখালের rakhaler
	Indefinite forms
nominative	রাখাল rakhal
objective	রাখালকে rakhal (semantically general or indefinite) / rakhalke (semantically definite)
genitive	রাখালের rakhaler
	Definite forms
	singular		plural
nominative	রাখালটা, রাখালটি rakhalṭa (colloquial), rakhalṭi (formal)		রাখালেরা rakhalera
objective	রাখালটাকে, রাখালটিকে rakhalṭake (colloquial), rakhalṭike (formal)		রাখালদের(কে) rakhalder(ke)
genitive	রাখালটার, রাখালটির rakhalṭar (colloquial), rakhalṭir (formal)		রাখালদের rakhalder
Objective Note: In some dialects -রে (-re) marks this case instead of -কে (-ke).

References

• Subhasha Bhattacarya, Sailendra Biswas, Sailendra Biswas, and Jnanendramohana Dasa (2022) “রাখাল”, in Digital Dictionaries of South Asia
• Accessible Dictionary, Bengali-English, রাখাল, Government of Bangladesh