छि बा
chhi ba
tero bau is a Newari phrase used to say hello to someone.
The phrase tero bau can be used as a friendly greeting to say hello. However, it is also used to mean "your father."
How do you pronounce it?
chhi ba
Did you know?
- If you accidentally use tero bau in a formal setting, you might inadvertently signal that you are trying to be overly familiar or disrespectful to the listener's family.
- The word bau for 'father' is a linguistic relative of the word ba used in several other Tibeto-Burman languages across the Himalayas.
- The formal version छि बा uses a pronoun that implies a level of respect, whereas tero bau is much more casual.
Example conversation
Sujan and Sarita meet each other on the street.
- सुजन Sujanछि बा, सरिता!chhi ba, Sarita!Hello, Sarita!
- सरिता Saritaछि बा, सुजन!chhi ba, Sujan!Hello, Sujan!
- सुजन Sujanछिं बांला?chhiṃ bānlā?Are you doing well?
- सरिता Saritaज्यू, बांला।jyu, bānlā.Yes, I am well.
