Urdu Language
Urdu is a significant language primarily spoken in Pakistan and parts of India, where it serves as an official language in both countries. It is also widely used by Muslim communities globally, including in the United States, Sweden, and Canada. Urdu developed from the Indo-Aryan languages and was influenced by Persian, Turkish, and Arabic, establishing a rich literary tradition, particularly noted for its poetry. The language shares many grammatical structures and vocabulary with Hindi, yet is distinguished by its Perso-Arabic script and right-to-left writing direction. Despite a decline in usage following the recognition of Hindi as an official language in India, Urdu has maintained its literary relevance, with numerous organizations promoting its literature. As of 2015, Pakistan emphasized Urdu as the national language, intending to unify its diverse population through a common medium of communication. Today, Urdu is spoken by approximately 100 million people and is recognized for its complex vocabulary influenced by both indigenous languages and English. This cultural and linguistic significance makes Urdu an important language for understanding the region's history and identity.
Urdu Language
The Urdu language is a major language in the Middle East. It is the official language of Pakistan and a few Indian states. Urdu is widely spoken by Muslim populations in India and Pakistan as well as in countries such as the United States, Sweden, and Canada. Because Urdu is related to other popular languages in the Middle East, including Hindi and Hindustani, scholars believe it is a valuable language to understand.
The language was influenced by several other languages throughout its history. Urdu also has been influenced by English, and Urdu influenced English, in part because of past British rule over parts of modern-day Pakistan and India. For example, Urdu adopted words for railroad, copy, file, and library from English, and English has adopted words such as cushy, cummerbund, and verandah from Urdu.
History and Classification
Urdu is in the Indo-European family of languages that began developing thousands of years ago. It is also part of the Indo-Aryan subfamily of languages, which developed mostly in the Middle East. Urdu most likely first developed in India, somewhere close to modern-day Delhi. Scholars believe that the language began developing between the tenth and twelfth centuries. The language developed out of a language spoken in the region around Delhi and was influenced by other Indo-Aryan languages in the region.
Because the area where Urdu developed was an important center of trade, it was influenced by many other languages and cultures. It was majorly influenced by Persian, Turkish, and Arabic. During its development from the tenth century to the nineteenth century, Urdu was known by a number of different names, including Hindwi, Hindustani, and Rekhta.
Urdu is known as the sister language of Hindi, which developed around the same time as Urdu. Both languages share some grammatical structures and vocabulary. However, Urdu is written from right to left, and Hindi is written from left to right. Also, Hindi vocabulary is more heavily influenced by Sanskrit, and Urdu vocabulary is more heavily influenced by Persian and Arabic. Because of the two languages' similar grammatical structures, some scholars even consider them the same language known as Hindi-Urdu.
In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, Urdu was most likely used to write poetry. The first known written book in Urdu was Sabras by Mullah Asadullah Wajhi, published in the 1600s in India. It was handwritten because the printing press had not yet reached India at that time. European missionaries wrote the first Urdu grammar books in the 1700s. In the twentieth century, Russian, European, and American scholars wrote more books about the language. Scholars began to study different dialects of Urdu and the different elements Urdu speakers used during the 1800s.
In the early 1900s, interest in Urdu in Pakistan and India increased, making the language more important on the Indian subcontinent. However, Urdu use declined a bit when India named Hindi one of its official languages, and some Urdu speakers began speaking Hindi instead.
Urdu first became a literary language in the fourteenth or fifteenth century, and it has remained an important literary language into the twenty-first century. Many pieces of Urdu poetry are well known, and Urdu poetry is well regarded in world literature. Urdu poets from the 1700s and 1800s are still published and read into the twenty-first century. Starting in the 1930s, the short story became an important medium in Urdu literature. As of 2015, several different literary organizations and publications exist to help promote and produce Urdu literature.
Urdu is written in a Perso-Arabic script. The language uses formal and informal verbs in different situations and employs either masculine or feminine nouns. The Urdu language has numerous irregular spellings for its words, so speakers often have to memorize the pronunciation of vocabulary, rather than relying only on the spelling of certain words. This makes Urdu similar to English. Urdu also has several dialects.
Geographical Distribution and Modern Usage
Urdu is spoken by approximately 100 million people around the world, mostly in the Middle East. Many Urdu speakers live in Pakistan, but Urdu also is spoken in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and other countries where Pakistanis have settled. Some schools in India teach in Urdu.
In 2015, the Pakistani government announced it was replacing English with Urdu as the country's national language. The country's constitution that was created in the 1970s indicated the country would switch its national language to Urdu within fifteen years. However, the directive was not followed until 2015. Even though the country's official language changed, English remained an important language in Pakistan and is still taught in schools. Urdu is just one of a number of languages spoken in Pakistan (roughly half the population speaks Punjabi), but the government wanted to give country one unifying language to help people better communicate.
Bibliography
Agrawal, Aditya. "Why Pakistan Is Replacing English with Urdu." Time. Time, Inc. 28 July 2015. Web. 3 Sept. 2015. http://time.com/3975587/pakistan-english-urdu/
Dua, H. "Urdu." Concise Encyclopedia of Languages of the World. New York: Elsevier Science, 2008. Print.
"A Guide to Urdu - 10 Facts about the Urdu Language." BBC. BBC. Web. 3 Sept. 2015. http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/other/urdu/guide/facts.shtml
Taj, Afroz. Urdu Through Hindi: Nastaliq with the Help of Devanagari. New Delhi: Rangmahal Press, 1997. Print.
"Urdu." International Encyclopedia of Linguistics, Volume 4. Ed. William Bright. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. Print.
"Urdu Language – History and Development." University College London. University College London. Web. 3 Sept. 2015. http://www.ucl.ac.uk/atlas/urdu/language.html