Urdu language

Classification and Related Languages

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

Related Topics:
Indo Aryan - Indo European

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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.

Related Topics:
Punjabi language - Shahmukhi - Phonology - Hindi

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Urdu - Hindi - Hindustani

Urdu, Hindi and the consequent Hindustani language have a very strange and complex relationship with each other. Urdu and Hindi have been called different languages on the one hand and dialects of the same language on the other. Hindustani is generally thought of as the language that encompasses both Urdu and Hindi and forms the mother language of these two languages. (Such a state of affairs is sometimes known as a diasystem.)

Related Topics:
Hindustani language - Diasystem

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The largest difference between Urdu and Hindi is that Urdu is written in the Nasta'liq form of the modified Arabic script while Hindi is written in the Devanagari script.

Related Topics:
Nasta'liq - Devanagari

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Urdu, Hindi and Hindustani are all segments on a long linguistic chain. At one end is a heavily Persianized language which is written in the Nasta'liq font and in a modified Arabic script. At the other end is a heavily Sanskritized language which is written in the Devanagari form. The progression from one to the other is continuous and slow. The basic grammars are the same. The words are replaced either by more Sanskritized or more Persianized forms. Urdu forms the segment of the chain more towards the Persian side and Hindi forms the segment of the chain more towards the Sanskrit side. The language generally spoken in the north of the Indian subcontinent is basically halfway between the two extremes and represents Hindustani.

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Despite this, the casual spoken languages are similar and in some cases not even distinguishable. For example, it is said that Indian movies (of the North and North-West regions, primarily of Bollywood) are made in Hindi, but the language used in many of these movies is exactly the same language used by Urdu speakers in Pakistan. The dialogue of these films 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 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 exactly the language used by Hindi speakers in India.

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

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Roman Urdu

Roman Urdu is Urdu written in the Roman script.

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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.

Related Topics:
British Raj - Movable type

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The use of Roman Urdu was common in some contexts, such as product labels.

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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." http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/sep2003-daily/08-09-2003/oped/o5.htm

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

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Consonants:

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b: billi (cat)

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bh: bheegi (wet)

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p: paNkha ???? (fan)

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ph: phool ?? (flower)

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t: taraazu ????? (balance)

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th: thaali (plate)

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T: Timaatar (tomato)

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Th: Theek (correct)

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j: jaNg ??? (war)

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jh: jhoola (swing)

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c: caahat (love)

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ch: chakka (a six eg in cricket)

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Q: Qaas (special)

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d: dunya ???? (world)

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dh: dhoka (fraud)

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D: Dori (thread)

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Dh: Dheela (loose)

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r: raat (night)

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R: baRaa (big, large)

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z: zindagi ????? (life)

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Z: Zaala baari ???? ???? (hail storm)

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s: sardi (winter)

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S: Sukrya (thanks)

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G: Gam (grief)

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f: faasla ????? (distance)

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q: qaafila ????? (caravan)

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k: kaaravaaN ?????? (caravan)

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kh: kheyl (game, play)

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g: gali (street)

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gh: ghoRa (horse)

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l: laat (leg)

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m: muhabbat ???? (love)

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n: naokar ???? (employee)

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N: yahaaN ???? (here)

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v: varna ???? (otherwise)

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y: yeh, yey ?? (this)

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Vowels:

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¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

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a: agar ??? (if), aks ??? (reflection)

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aa: aag (fire)

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ay: hay ?? (is), hayN ??? (are)

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ey: they ?? (were), gaey ??? (went)

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i: dil ?? (heart)

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ee: jeevan (life)

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u: sun (listen), chup (silent)

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oo: dhool (dust)

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ao aor (and, more)

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e: jaan e man ???? ?? (my life/love)

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o: dil o nigaah ?? ? ???? (heart and vision)

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