यूनिवर्सिटी ऑफ़ मिशिगन
Conceding a point with सही
In colloquial Hindi-Urdu the particle
सही is used after ही, न, and
तो to express two or three kinds of
concession and after तो with an
imperative in order to cajole or insist. These related uses are
examined and exemplified here. The problem of where सही comes from is also briefly discussed.
A: Concession along a scale of
desirability. Use of ही सही and /
or न सही creates an implicit scale on
which the speaker places the option he or she accepts below the option
that would have been preferred. In (1) the speaker concedes that his
wife's gifts to her sisters-in-law were not top of the line:
1. अपनी देह पर गहने के
नाम कच्चा धागा भी न था, देवरानियों के लिए
दो-दो चार-चार
गहने बनवा दिये।
सोने के न सही, चाँदी के तो हैं।
'There wasn't even a bit of string on her body that
you could call an ornament, yet she had three
or four pieces of jewelry made for her younger
sisters-in-law. Okay, (I'll grant you,) they're made
of silver, not gold.'
(from Chapter Three of प्रेमचन्द's गोदान. See context.)
In (2) the speaker concedes that he can no longer expect friendship from
the person he's addressing:
2. मैं अब तक आपको
मित्र समझता आया था; मगर अब आप
लड़ने ही पर तैयार हैं, तो
लड़ाई ही सही।
'Up till now I've considered you a friend; but now
you are bent on fighting with me. So
let there be a fight.'
(from Chapter Sixteen of गोदान.
See context.)
In (3) - whose proper interpretation requires some acquaintance with the
themes and conventions of the classic Urdu ghazal - the poet
expresses his willingness to accept rejection, if only to demonstrate
thereby the depth of his passion:
3. गर नहीं वसल तो हसरत
ही सही
'If I can't be united (with the one I love), okay,
I'll take on (the duty of) longing (for him / her).'
(from a ग़ज़ल
by ग़ालिब. See context.)
From these three examples, we can see that, first of
all, use of सही implies (or creates) a
scale of desirability between two options (gold and silver; friendship and
enmity, union and longing). Second, the phrase न सही follows the more desirable of these options,
while ही सही follows the less desirable.
And, third, the speaker accepts (wistfully, willingly, or defiantly)
the less desirable one.
It is possible to use both न सही and ही
सही simultaneously:
4. न सही इश्क़, मुसीबत ही सही
'Okay, if I can't have (the joy of) love, then
I'll take pain (if it is your pleasure to inflict pain on me).'
(from ग़ालिब. See
context.)
5. फिर भी मुझे रह-रहकर ग़ुस्सा आ रहा था कि मैं
गोरी न सही, बिलकुल काली
सही . . .
'Still, again and again I felt angry that I
was, okay, not light, but actually, completely dark...'
(Thanks to Terry Varma for this example from
कोलतार.)
The implicit scale of desirability created by
सही is the source of the humor in
ग़ालिब's cheeky sher:
6. मेरे होने
में है क्या रुसवाई ?
एै, वह मजलिस
नहीं, ख़िलवत ही सही
'Why should you be embarrassed by my presence?
All right, if not in public (I'll settle
for meeting) in private!' (See context.)
For discussion of another construction, whose use creates an implicit
scale of likelihood or plausibility, see notes on औरर
तो औरर .
B. Rhetorical concession. As
with other expressions of concession, सही
may be employed as a rhetorical device, as a tactic in arguing or
negotiating. In (7), for instance, speaker B uses सही in conceding that, indeed, her husband had
to put up with a lot of social and family opposition when he married her,
but then goes on to remind him that she, too, made a sacrifice:
7. " लड़ाई तेरे कारन हुई।
"
" अच्छा, मेरे ही कारन सही। मैंने
भी तो तुम्हारे लिए अपना घर-बार छोड़ दिया। "
A: "I had to struggle because of you."
B: "Yes, you did struggle because of me. But I
also had to give up my home and family for you."
(from Chapter Thirty-five of प्रेमचन्द's गोदान. See context.)
Concessive सही may
be used to conciliate or persuade an addressee:
8. औरर कुछ न सही,
तमाशा तो रहेगा।
'(C'mon,) if nothing else, it will be great fun (to
see what happens)!'
(from Chapter Six of प्रेमचन्द's गोदान. See context.)
As a colloquial rhetorical device, सही typically occurs in conversational exchanges.
However, even inside a single turn a speaker may introduce a clause
set off with सही as a foil in order to
strengthen a point. In (9), for example, the speaker could have
simply made an observation about the social difficulties occasioned by
letting a daughter go unmarried. Instead he dramatizes his point by
creating a contrast between that and its opposite, failing to marry a son.
This contrast is sharpened by use of the phrase न सही :
9. लड़के का ब्याह न हुआ,
न सही। लड़की का ब्याह न
हुआ, तो सारी बिरादरी
में हँसी होगी।
'Don't marry a son and it's okay. Don't marry a
daughter and the whole caste laughs at you.'
(from Chapter Four of प्रेमचन्द's गोदान. See context.)
C. Dismissive concession. If the
one who concedes a point is sufficiently defiant about it, सही may take on sarcastic force: 'Let it be!' (ie, 'I
don't care!', 'So what!'):
10. " तो उस कोठरी का
किराया होगा कोई पचास रुपए महीना ! "
" उसका किराया एक
पैसा सही। "
Dhaniyâ: '... So I suppose that house's rent is
50 rupees a month!'
Horî: 'Let it be one paisa
per month!' (ie, 'It doesn't matter one bit what the rent is!')
(from Chapter Twenty-four of प्रेमचन्द's गोदान. See context.)
This kind of aggressive concession may be taken as an attack on the
interlocutor's thought processes: 'Sure, I'll concede your point, since
it has nothing to do with the argument at hand!'
D. Hedges and reservations: Using
सही or तो
सही with the subjunctive may concede the logic of the
interlocutor's argument at the same time that it questions the validity of
its premise:
11. " अब ये रुपए चुक
जाएँगे तो . . . "
" तो भी कुछ न
कुछ हो ही जाएगा। अभी वह वक़्त आए तो सही।
A: 'And when this money runs out, then...?'
B: 'Then we'll manage one way or another. But
first let that time come!'
(Thanks to Terry Varma for this example.)
The speaker may use तो सही with
the subjunctive to concede that his own premise may not be valid.
The equivalent in English is 'provided that...' or 'just let...'
12. मैं उसकी ख़बर
लूँगा। वह यहाँ आए तो सही !
'I'll fix his wagon. Just let him come here!'
E. Cajoling: सही can be used with तो in imperatives to create a tone of
insistence or entreaty:
13. जाकर देखो तो
सही !
'Go and have a look, would you!'
(from शिक्षार्थी हिन्दी
अँगरेज़ी शब्दकोश by हरदेव बाहरी )
Terry Varma observes that with an imperative the same तो सही may function to reassure:
14. आओ तो सही !
'Come on! (There's nothing to be afraid of.)'
F. Sources of सही: Analysis of the semantic and discoursal
functions of सही is complicated by the
existence of another word with the same pronunciation and a similar
meaning:
15. मालूम नहीं कहाँ तक
सही है . . .
'I don't know how much truth there is in it.'
(from Chapter Thirty-one of
प्रेमचन्द's गोदान. See context.)
This सही, meaning 'true, correct;
healthy, sound; whole, entire' is from Arabic [and in Urdu has a spelling
different from the सही of exx (1-14)]:
16. सही भाव बताओ !
'Tell me the true price!' (line often used in
bargaining)
17. हम सही-सलामत पहुँच गए।
'We arrived safe and sound.'
Conjectured sources for the सही of exx
(1-14) include the Hindi-Urdu verb सह-
'bear, tolerate' ( मानक हिन्दी कोश ),
the Sanskrit participle सिद्ध
'ready; accomplished; perfect' ( मानक
हिन्दी कोश ), and a survival (of the subjunctive
form?) of the verb अस- 'be'
(Fallon's Urdu dictionary). In his dictionary of Hindi R.S. McGregor
seems to assume that all instances of सही
come from the Arabic सहीह. My own
theory is that the सही of exx (1-14) is
the combination of the demonstrative pronoun सो 'that (one)' and the particle
ही as in:
18. सो तो है ही !
=> ? है
तो सही !
'Well, I agree. That is the way it is!'
To exercise on सही.
To index of grammatical notes.
To index of मल्हार.
Drafted and keyed in 23-26 Nov 2001. Posted 26 Nov 2001. Augmented (with
examples sent by Terry Varma) 3-5 Dec 2001.