छह (Hindi)
Where does "छह" come from?
The Hindi word 'छह' (chah) traces its origins back to the ancient Proto-Indo-European root *swéḱs, meaning 'six.' Over millennia, it evolved through Proto-Indo-Iranian and the Sanskrit 'षष्' (ṣáṣ) before shifting through various Prakrit forms into Old Hindi. This enduring numerical term shares a common ancestry with many modern Indic languages, including Bengali, Punjabi, and Nepali.
Full etymology tree
- छह (cha) (Hindi), 'six'
- inherited षट (ṣaṭa) (Old Hindi)
- inherited 𑀙 (cha) (Sauraseni Prakrit)
- inherited 𑀙 (*cha) (Prakrit), 'six'
- inherited षष् (ṣáṣ) (Sanskrit), 'six'
- inherited *ṣwáṭṣ (Proto-Indo-Aryan)
- inherited *šwáćš (Proto-Indo-Iranian), 'six'
- inherited *swéḱs (Proto-Indo-European), 'six'
- inherited *šwáćš (Proto-Indo-Iranian), 'six'
- inherited *ṣwáṭṣ (Proto-Indo-Aryan)
- inherited षष् (ṣáṣ) (Sanskrit), 'six'
- inherited 𑀙 (*cha) (Prakrit), 'six'
- inherited 𑀙 (cha) (Sauraseni Prakrit)
- inherited षट (ṣaṭa) (Old Hindi)
Ancestors
- 𑀙 (Prakrit)
- षष् (Sanskrit)
- *šwáćš (Proto-Indo-Iranian)
- *swéḱs (Proto-Indo-European)
Cognates and doublets
- ছয় (Assamese)
- ছয় (Bengali)
- છ (Gujarati)
- सहा (Marathi)
- छ (Nepali)
- ਛੇ (Punjabi)
Updated July 2026
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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris