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File:Zabaan-e-urdu-e-moalla.png

Urdu (اردو) is an Indo-European language which is generally believed to have developed in the vicinity of Delhi, from where it spread to the rest of the Indian subcontinent.

Urdu developed as local Prakrit dialects came under the influence of the court languages of the Muslim rulers of the Indian subcontinent. The language spoken in the court, and the language of literature, was primarily Template:Ll, while the language of religion was Template:Ll. The mingling of these languages led to a vernacular that sounded much like today's Template:Ll. Dialects of this vernacular are spoken in cities and villages throughout Pakistan and northern India. Cities with a strong tradition of the language include Hyderabad, Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, and Lucknow.

The full range of Urdu-Hindi dialects spoken in northern India and Pakistan is usually called Template:Ll. Hindustani is the second-most-populous language in the world, both by the number of its native speakers, and by the number who use it daily as a second language, if it is understood to include all idioms commonly referred to as "dialects" of Hindi. Urdu by itself is the twentieth most populous natively-spoken language in the world, and is the national language of Pakistan as well as one of the 22 national languages of India.

Speakers and geographic distribution

In Pakistan, Urdu is spoken as a mother tongue by a majority of urban dwellers in such cities as Karachi and Hyderabad in the southern province of Sindh. In spite of its status as the national language, however, only 8% of Pakistanis speak Urdu as their first language, compared to 48% who speak Punjabi as a mother tongue. Urdu is, however, the language of prestige, all signage, and education, and the number of native Urdu speakers is increasing quickly in urban centers.

In India, Urdu is spoken as a mother tongue by many in the northern and central states. While in India Muslims might ostensibly be seen as identifying more with Urdu, Hindus and Sikhs naturally speak Urdu regardless of religion, especially when they have grown up in such traditional Urdu strongholds as Lucknow and Hyderabad. Some would contend that the language spoken in Bollywood films is in fact closer to Urdu than Hindi, especially in filmi songs.

Urdu is also spoken in urban Afghanistan. Outside the Indian subcontinent, it is spoken by large numbers of workers in the major urban centres of the Persian Gulf countries and Saudi Arabia. Urdu is also spoken by large numbers of immigrants and their children in the major urban centres of the UK, the USA, Canada, and Australia.

Countries with large numbers of First Language Urdu speakers:

Official Status

Urdu is the national language of Pakistan. It shares official language status with English. Although English is an official language and is used in most elite circles, and Punjabi has a plurality of native speakers, Urdu is the lingua franca that is most commonly expected to prevail. Urdu is also one of the official languages of India, and while the government school system—especially in the northern states—emphasizes Hindi, many universities, especially in Lucknow, continue to promote Urdu as a language of prestige and learning. In the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir and Andhra Pradesh, Urdu has official language status.

Classification and related languages

Urdu is a member of the Indo Aryan family of languages, which is in turn a branch of the Indo European family.

Urdu is related to most of the languages of northern South Asia — they all have similar grammatical structures, and even a certain common vocabulary. The Punjabi language, for instance, is very similar to Urdu. Written Punjabi (in Shahmukhi script) can be understood by speakers of Urdu with a little difficulty, but spoken Punjabi has a very different phonology (pronunciation system) and cannot be easily understood by Urdu speakers. However, the language mostly closely linked to Urdu is Hindi.

Grammar

Urdu nouns fall into two grammatical genders: masculine and feminine. However, there is disagreement over the gender of some words, particularly words newly introduced from English which do not have genders.

In Urdu there is also a singular or a plural noun form.

Levels of formality in Urdu

Urdu, especially in its less formalized form, has been referred to as a raikhtha (ریختہ), a "rough mixture".

The more formal register of Urdu is sometimes referred to as Zaban-e-Urdu-e-Moalla (زبانﹺ اردوﹺ معلہ), the "Language of Camp and Court".

Politeness

A host of words are used to show respect and politeness. These words are generally used with people who are older in age or with whom you are not acquainted. For example the English pronoun 'you' can be translated into three words in Urdu: the singular forms 'tu' (informal, extremely intimate, or derogatory) and 'tum' (informal) and the plural forms 'aap' (formal and respectful).

Vocabulary

Urdu has a vocabulary rich in words with Indian and Middle Eastern origins. The borrowings are dominated by words from Arabic and Persian. There are also a number of borrowings from Sanskrit, Turkish, Portuguese and English. Many of the words of Arabic origin that have found a place in the Urdu language, often through the conduit of Persian, have different nuances of meaning and usage than they do in Arabic.

Writing System

Urdu Alphabets
This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between , / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

Urdu is written in a derivative of the Persian alphabet which is itself derivative of the Arabic alphabet. It is read from right to left. Urdu is similar in appearance and letters to Arabic, Persian, and Pashto. In their modern incarnation, Urdu differs in appearance from Arabic in that it typically uses the more complex and sinuous Nasta'liq style of script, whereas Arabic is more commonly written in the modernized Naskh style. Nasta'liq is notoriously difficult to typeset, so Urdu newspapers are made from hand-written masters. There are efforts underway to develop more practical Urdu support on computers.

Usually, bare transliterations of Urdu into Roman letters omit many phonemic elements which have no equivalent in English or other languages commonly written in the Roman alphabet. It should be noted that a reasonably comprehensive system has emerged with specific notations to signify non-English sounds, but it can only be properly read by someone already familiar with Urdu or Hindi. This script may be found on the internet, and it allows Indians who write Hindi and even Urdu in the Devanagari script to communicate with Pakistanis who are only familiar with Nasta'liq.

A list of the Urdu alphabet and pronunciation is given below. A more detailed list with phonetic information will be added at a later date.

Alphabet English Name Pronunciation
ا Alif /ə/
ب Bay /b/
پ Pay /p/
ت Tay /t̪/ (plosive dental)
ٹ Ttay /ʈ/
ث Say /s/
ج Jeem /ɟ/
چ Chay /c/
ح Hay /ɦ/
خ Khay /x/
د Daal /d̪/ (plosive dental)
ڈ Ddaal /ɖ/
ذ Zaal /z/
ر Ray /r/
ڑ Arrhay /ɽ/ (retroflex r sound used in many South Asian lanugages)
ز Zay /z/
ژ Dzhay /ʑ/
س Seen /s/
ش Sheen /ɕ/
ص Suad /s/
ض Zuad /z/
ط Toay /t/
ظ Zoay /z/
ع Aein /Ø~ʔ~ʕ/
غ Ghain /ɣ/
ف Fay /f/
ق Qaaf /q/
ک Kaaf /k/
گ Gaaf /g/
ل Laam /l/
م Meem /m/
ن Noon /n/
و Wow /ʋ/
ہ / ھ Hay /ɦ/
ء Hamzah Ø~ʔ
ی Choti Yay /j/
ے Bari Yay /eː/

Writing Forms, Hindi and English Transliteration Table

<td&gt;ﺀ

Final

Medial

Initial

Isolated

Devanagari

English

Urdu Name

Name

ﺎ ﺎ ا ا अ a, i, ʔ آلِف ālif
ﺐ ﺒ ﺑ ب ब b بے be
ﭗ ﭙ ﭘ پ प p پے pe
ﺖ ﺘ ﺗ ت त t تے te
ﭧ ﭩ ﭨ ٹ ट ṭ ٹے ṭe
ﺚ ﺜ ﺛ ث स ṡ ثے se
ﭻ ﭽ ﭼ چ च c چے ce
ﺢ ﺤ ﺣ ح ह h بَڑى حے badi he
ﺦ ﺨ ﺧ خ   kh خے khe
ﺪ ﺪ ﺩ ﺩ द d دال dāl
ﮉ ﮉ ﮈ ﮈ ड ḍ ڈال ḍāl
ﺬ ﺬ ﺬ ﺬ   ż ذال zāl
ﺮ ﺮ ﺭ ﺭ र r رے re
ﮍ ﮍ ﮌ ﮌ   ṛ ڑے ze
ﺰ ﺰ ﺯ ﺯ   z زے eṛ
ﮋ ﮋ ﮊ ﮊ   zh ژے zhe
ﺲ ﺴ ﺳ ﺱ स s سِين sīn
ﺶ ﺸ ﺷ ﺵ श ś شِين śīn
ﺺ ﺼ ﺻ ﺹ स s صُاد su'ād
ﺾ ﻀ ﺿ ﺽ   ẓ ضُاد zu'ād
ﻂ ﻄ ﻃ ﻁ त t طوے to'e
ﻆ ﻈ ﻇ ﻅ   z ظوے zo'e
ﻊ ﻌ ﻋ ﻉ अ ‘a, ʔ عَين ‘ain
ﻎ ﻐ ﻏ ﻍ   gh غَين ghain
ﻒ ﻔ ﻓ ﻑ   f فے fe
ﻖ ﻘ ﻗ ﻕ   q قَاف qāf
ﻚ،ﮏ ﻜ ﻛ ﻙ،ﮎ क k كَاف kāf
ﮓ ﮕ ﮔ ﮒ ग g گَاف gāf
ﻞ ﻠ ﻠ ﻝ ल l لاَل lāl
ﻢ ﻤ ﻣ ﻡ म m مِيم mīm
ﻦ ﻨ ﻧ ﻥ न n نوْن nūn
ﻮ ﻮ ﻭ ﻭ व v, o, ū وَاو vā'o
ﮧ ﮩ ﮨ ﮦ ह h چهوٹى ەے choṭī he
ﮫ ﮭ ﮬ ﮪ -   دو چَشمى ەے do chaśmī he
ﺀ ﺌ ﺋ   - ەَمزَه hamza
ﻰ ﻴ ﻳ ﻯ य, ई y, ī چهوٹى يے choṭī ye
ﮮ ﻴ ﻳ ﮯ य, ए y, e بَڑى يے badi ye

Examples

EnglishTransliterationIPANotes
HelloAs-Salam Alaykum (السلام علیکم)ˈaʔsaɭam ˈaɭikum Adaab would generally be used for Non-Muslims. Wa-Le-Kum-As Salam is the correct response. (و علیکم السلام)
HelloAdaab arz hai (اداب عرض ہے)aˈdaːb aɽˈzaiLiterally "Regards are expressed" (Regards to you), a very formal secular greeting.
Good Bye Khuda Hafiz (خدا حافظ)kudaː hafəzKhuda is the Persian word for God, and Hafiz comes from the Arabic root word hifz meaning "protection". So literally, "May God Almighty be your Guardian." Standard and commonly used for Muslims and Non-Muslims
yes haan (ہاں)haː̃casual
yes ji (جی)ʤi formal
no na (نا) nã casual
no nahi (نہیں)ˈna̤i formal
please Meherbani (مہربانی)mɛhɛrˈbani
thank you Shukriya (شکریہ) ʃʊˈkrija
Please come in Thashreef laa'iye(تشریف لائیے)aːpʰ ʈaˈʃrif ɭaˈiː lit. Bring your honor
Please have a seat Thashreef rak'hiye(تشریف رکھیئے) aːpʰ ʈaˈʃrif ɽaˈxi"lit." 'Place your honor'
I am happy to meet you Aap se mil kar khushi hui (اپ سے مل کر خوشی ہوی)aːpʰ sɛ miɭ kar kʊˈʃi hwi
Do you speak English? Kya aap angrezi boltay heyn? (کیا اپ انگریزی بولتے ہیں؟)kja aːpʰ ˈaŋgrɛzi boɭʈɛ hæ̃
I do not speak Urdu. Main Urdu naheen bolta. (میں اردو نہیں بولتا)mæ̃ urdʰu nahĩ boɭʈa
My name is ... Mera nam ... hai. (میرا نام ۔۔۔ ہے)mɛɾa naːm ... hai
Which way to Lahore Lahore kiss taraf heyh(لاھور کس طرف ہے؟)
Where is Mumbai? Mumbai kahaan hai? (ممبئی کہاں ہے؟)
Urdu is a good language. Urdu ek achchhee zubaan hai. (اردو ایک اچھی زبان ہے)

Literature

Urdu has only recently become a literary language, as Persian and Arabic were formerly the idioms of choice for "elevated" subjects. However, despite its late development, Urdu literature already boasts some world-recognized artists and a considerable corpus.

Prose

There are many Islam-related works in Urdu. These include translations of classical texts from Arabic and Persian, Urdu commentaries on these classical texts, and contemporary works in all fields of Islamic thought.

Secular prose comprises all categories of non-fiction, and three literary genres:

  • the daastaan, or tale, a traditional story which may have many characters and complex plotting; it has fallen into disuse.
  • the popular novel, in the tradition of the English novel.

Poetry

Urdu was originally the language of court and high society, and so of cultivated poetry. There are many genres of Urdu poetry.

Foreign forms such as the sonnet and haiku have also been used by some modern Urdu poets.

Probably the most widely read, recited, and memorized genre of contemporary Urdu poetry is naat—panegyric poetry written in praise of the Prophet Muhammad. Naat can be of any formal category, but is most commonly in the ghazal form. The language used in Urdu naat ranges from the intensely colloquial to a highly Persianized formal language. The great early twentieth century scholar Imam Ahmad Raza Khan, who wrote many of the most well known naats in Urdu, epitomized this range in a ghazal of nine stanzas (bayt) in which every stanza contains half a line each of Arabic, Persian, formal Urdu, and colloquial Hindi. The same poet composed a salam—a poem of greeting to the Prophet, derived from the universal Muslim practice of qiyam, or standing, during the mawlid, or celebration of the birth of the Prophet—Mustafa Jan-e Rahmat, which, due to being recited nearly every Friday in a majority of Urdu speaking mosques throughout the world, is probably the most frequently recited Urdu poem of the modern era.

Shi'a Urdu poets also wrote noha (نوحہ), poems commemorating the death of the Shi'a imam Hussain.

History

Main article: History of Urdu

The birthplace of the Urdu language is not known with certainty. Urdu literature has been found from the Delhi Sultanate. One hypothesis proposes that Urdu originated in or around Delhi over a period of several centuries, with the Muslim rulers of India, and that initially it was used and adopted by Muslims. The word urdu itself comes from the Template:Ll word ordu, "tent" or "army", from which we get the word "horde".

Differentiation from Hindi

Everyday Hindi and Urdu, as spoken by villagers and the lower classes in the region of Delhi, are indistinguishable. However, formal Hindi and Urdu have become increasingly differentiated, primarily through a divergence of vocabulary. When there is a choice between a Persian- or Arabic-derived word and a Sanskrit-derived one, formal Urdu chooses the Perso-Arabic word, while formal Hindi chooses the Sanskrit word. The divergence in vocabulary is underlined by a divergence in scripts. Urdu is written in the Nasta'liq style of a modified Arabic script while Hindi is written in the Devanagari script.

Hindustani is generally thought of as the language that encompasses both both of these standardized languages. Such a state of affairs is sometimes known as a diasystem.

Differentiation of the standardized languages has become so well developed that nationalists, both Hindu and Muslim, claim that Hindi and Urdu are separate languages, and often that they have always been separate languages. However, judging whether colloquial speech is Urdu or Hindi is often a highly subjective affair.

For example, it is said that Indian films (of the North and North-West regions, primarily of Bollywood) are made in Hindi, but the language used in many of these films is exactly the same as that of Urdu speakers in Pakistan. The dialogue is frequently developed in English and later adapted to an intentionally neutral Hindi/Urdu which can be easily understood by speakers of most North Indian languages. The songs, however, are typically pure Urdu, and many of the top Urdu poets make their livings writing for "Hindi" films. On the other hand, Pakistani TV dramas are said to be made in Urdu, yet the language used in many of these dramas is the same as that used by Hindi speakers in India.

However, as the language register becomes more formal, the difference between the two languages starts to become clearer. In more serious speech and writing, the Sanskritization or Arabo-Persianization becomes more pronounced. The language used in newscasts, encyclopaedia articles, and courtrooms is very heavily Sanskritized or Persianized and may be nearly unintelligible to speakers educated in the other standard.

Roman Urdu

Roman Urdu is Urdu written in the Roman script. Roman Urdu has been used since the days of the British Raj, partly as a result of the availability and low cost of Roman movable type for printing presses. The use of Roman Urdu was common in some contexts, such as product labels. It is gaining popularity among users of text-messaging and Internet services — especially the young — and is developing its own style and conventions. Habib R. Sulemani says in his article, "In fact, Urdu’s inherited script can produce and display its sounds properly. Urdu can be proud of having the richest variety of alphabet characters (44 compared to English’s 26) that can represent most of the sounds. Urdu’s own script is far more superior to the Roman script, yet the younger generation of Urdu speaking people around the world are using it on the Internet and it has become essential for them, because they use the Internet and English is its language. A person from Islamabad chats with another in Delhi on the Internet only in Roman Urdu. They both speak (almost) the same language but with different scripts, The Urdu message is alien for an Indian and similarly the Devanagari message is alien for a Pakistani. Moreover, the younger generation of those who are from the English medium schools or settled in the west, can speak Urdu but can’t write it in the traditional Arabic script and thus Roman Urdu is a blessing for such a population. It is the need of the time to recognise and properly shape the Roman Urdu officially. We can’t deny the ground realities of 21st century."

A suggestion for standardising Roman Urdu as following by Jawad Swati:

Consonants:

¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

b: billi (cat)

bh: bheegi (wet)

p: paNkha پنکہ (fan)

ph: phool گل (flower)

t: taraazu ترازو (balance)

th: thaali (plate)

T: Timaatar (tomato)

Th: Theek (correct)

j: jaNg جنگ (war)

jh: jhoola (swing)

c: caahat (love)

ch: chakka (a six eg in cricket)

Q: Qaas (special)

d: dunya دنیا (world)

dh: dhoka (fraud)

D: Dori (thread)

Dh: Dheela (loose)

r: raat (night)

R: baRaa (big, large)

z: zindagi زندگی (life)

Z: Zaala baari ژالہ باری (hail storm)

s: sardi (winter)

S: Sukrya (thanks)

G: Gam (grief)

f: faasla فاصلہ (distance)

q: qaafila قافلہ (caravan)

k: kaaravaaN کارواں (caravan)

kh: kheyl (game, play)

g: gali (street)

gh: ghoRa (horse)

l: laat (leg)

m: muhabbat محبت (love)

n: naokar نوکر (employee)

N: yahaaN یہاں (here)

v: varna ورنہ (otherwise)

y: yeh, yey یے (this)


Vowels:

¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

a: agar اگر (if), aks عکس (reflection)

aa: aag (fire)

ay: hay ہے (is), hayN ہیں (are)

ey: they وہ (were), gaey گہے (went)

i: dil دل (heart)

ee: jeevan (life)

u: sun (listen), chup (silent)

oo: dhool (dust)

ao aor (and, more)

e: jaan e man جانِ من (my life/love)

o: dil o nigaah دل و نگاہ (heart and vision)


Footnote

Template:FnAs in Ghalib's famous couplet where he compares himself to his great predecessor, the master poet Mir :

Raikhtha kai tum hee ustadh nahee ho Ghalib
Kehthay hain aglay zamaanay main ko'ee Mir bhee thhaa
You, alone, are not the master of 'Raikhta', Ghalib
They say that in days of yore, there was one (called) Mir

References

  1. Anwar Azim, 'Urdu a victim of cultural genocide.' Muslims in India. ed. Zafar Imam, 1975. p. 259).

See also

External links

Sites About Urdu

Online Use of Urdu

 Categories: