Urdu اُردو
Spoken in:	Pakistan, India
Region:	South Asia
Total speakers:	61 million native, 104 million total
Ranking:	19-21 (native speakers), in a near tie with Italian and Turkish
Language family:	Indo-European  Indo-Iranian   Indo-Aryan    Urdu
Writing system:	Persian alphabet
Official status
Official language of:	Pakistan; India (Andhra Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh).
Regulated by:	no official regulation
Language codes
ISO 639-1:	ur
ISO 639-2:	urd
ISO/DIS 639-3:	urd
This page contains Indic text. Without rendering support you may see irregular vowel positioning and a lack of conjuncts. More...

The phrase Zaban-e Urdu-e Mualla written in Urdu

Urdu (اُردو) is an Indo-European language of the Indo-Aryan family that developed under Persian, Turkish, Arabic, Hindi, and Sanskrit influence in South Asia during the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal Empire (1200-1800). The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a system of phonetic notation devised by linguists to accurately and uniquely represent each of the wide variety of sounds (phones or phonemes) used in spoken human language. ... South Asia is a southern geopolitical region of the Asian continent comprising territories on and in proximity to the Indian subcontinent. ... This is a list of languages ordered by number of native-language speakers, with some data for second-language use. ... Current distribution of Human Language Families Most languages are known to belong to language families. ... The Indo-European languages comprise a family of several hundred languages and dialects [1], including most of the major languages of Europe, as well as many in Southwest Asia, Central Asia and South Asia. ... The Indo-Iranian language group constitutes the easternmost extant branch of the Indo-European family of languages. ... The Indo-Aryan languages form a subgroup of the Indo-Iranian languages, thus belonging to the Indo-European family of languages. ... Writing Systems of the World today A Specimen of typeset fonts and languages, by William Caslon, letter founder; from the 1728 Cyclopaedia. ... It has been suggested that Persian language#Arabic Alphabet be merged into this article or section. ... Andhra Pradesh : (Telugu: ఆంధ్ర ప్రదేశ్, Urdu: آندھرا پردیش, Hindi: आंध्र प्रदेश; Ä€ndhra Prādesh), is a state in South India but is also debated as Central India as well. ... It has been suggested that Indian Administrated Kashmir be merged into this article or section. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Delhi. ... Uttar Pradesh (Hindi: उत्तर प्रदेश, Urdu: اتر پردیش), also popularly known by its abbreviation UP, is the most populous and fifth largest state in the Union of India. ... ISO 639-1 is the first part of the ISO 639 international-standard language-code family. ... ISO 639-2:1998 Codes for the representation of names of languages — Part 2: Alpha-3 code Twenty-two of the languages have two three-letter codes: a code for bibliographic use (ISO 639-2/B) a code for terminological use (ISO 639-2/T). ... ISO 639-3 is in process of development as an international standard for language codes. ... Image File history File links Created by me. ... The Brahmic family is a family of abugidas used in South Asia, Tibet and Southeast Asia. ... Image File history File links Zaban_urdu_mualla. ... Image File history File links Zaban_urdu_mualla. ... The Indo-European languages comprise a family of several hundred languages and dialects [1], including most of the major languages of Europe, as well as many in Southwest Asia, Central Asia and South Asia. ... The Indo-Aryan languages form a subgroup of the Indo-Iranian languages, thus belonging to the Indo-European family of languages. ... Persian is a language spoken in Iran, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Bahrain, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Southern Russia, neighboring countries, and elsewhere. ... The Arabic language (Arabic: ‎ transliterated: ), or simply Arabic (Arabic: ‎ transliterated: ), is the largest member of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family (classification: South Central Semitic) and is closely related to Hebrew and Aramaic. ... Hindi (हिन्दी) is a language spoken mainly in North and Central India. ... The Sanskrit language (Skt. ... South Asia is a southern geopolitical region of the Asian continent comprising territories on and in proximity to the Indian subcontinent. ... The Delhi Sultanate (دلی سلطنت), or Sulthanath-e-Hind(سلطنتِ ہند)/Sulthanath-e-Dilli(سلطنتِ دلی) refers to the various Afghan dynasties that ruled in India from 1210 to 1526. ... The Mughal Empire at its greatest extent. ...

Taken by itself, Urdu is approximately the twentieth most populous natively spoken language in the world, and is the national language of Pakistan as well as one of the 24 national languages of India. India has a diverse list of spoken languages among different groups of people. ...

Urdu also refers to a standardised register of Hindustani that was made one of the official languages of Pakistan and India. The grammatical description in this article concerns this standard Urdu. In linguistics, a register is a subset of a language used for a particular purpose or in a particular social setting. ... The word Hindustani is an adjective used to denote a connection to India, or, more precisely, the historical region that encompasses Northern India, Pakistan, and nearby areas. ...

Urdu is often contrasted with Hindi, another standardised form of Hindustani that is the official language of India. The primary differences between the two are that Standard Urdu is written in Nastaliq script and draws heavily on Persian and Arabic vocabulary, while standard Hindi is written in Devanāgarī and has supplemented some of its Persian and Arabic vocabulary with words from Sanskrit . The term "Urdu" also includes dialects of Hindustani other than the standardised languages. Other than these, linguists consider Urdu and Hindi to be the same language. Hindi (हिन्दी or हिंदी in DevanāgarÄ«), an Indo-European language spoken mainly in Northern and Central India is the official language of the central government of India. ... Nastaliq (نستعليق) is a specific style for writing in the Arabic alphabet. ... DevanāgarÄ« (Sanskrit: —, pronounced , in English pronounced ) is an abugida writing system used to write, either along with other scripts, or exclusively, several North Indian languages, including Sanskrit, Hindi, Marathi, Sindhi, Bihari, Bhili, Konkani, Bhojpuri, Nepali from Nepal and sometimes Kashmiri and Romani. ... Persian is a language spoken in Iran, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Bahrain, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Southern Russia, neighboring countries, and elsewhere. ... The Arabic language (Arabic: ‎ transliterated: ), or simply Arabic (Arabic: ‎ transliterated: ), is the largest member of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family (classification: South Central Semitic) and is closely related to Hebrew and Aramaic. ... Sanskrit ( संस्कृतम् ; pronunciation: ) is an Indo-European classical language of India and a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. ...

Speakers and geographic distribution

There are between 60 and 80 million native Urdu speakers. Overall, besides the more than 160 million who speak Urdu in Pakistan, there is a considerable Indian population who communicate in Urdu everyday.

In Pakistan, Urdu is spoken and understood by a majority of urban dwellers in such cities as Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi/Islamabad, Faisalabad, Hyderabad, Multan, Peshawar, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Sukkur and Sargodha. Urdu is used as the official language in all provinces of Pakistan. It is also taught as a compulsory language up to high school in both the English and Urdu medium school systems. This has produced millions of Urdu speakers whose mother tongue is one of the regional languages of Pakistan such as Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashto, Gujarati, Kashmiri, Balochi, Siraiki, and Brahui. Urdu is the lingua franca of Pakistan and is absorbing many words from regional languages of Pakistan. The regional languages are also being influenced by Urdu vocabulary. Most of the nearly five million Afghan refugees of different ethnic origins (such as Pakhtun, Tajik, Uzbek, Hazarvi, and Turkmen) who stayed in Pakistan for over twenty-five years have also become fluent in Urdu. Karachi (Urdu: كراچى, Sindhi: ڪراچي) is the capital of the province of Sindh, and the most populated city in Pakistan. ... Lahore (Urdu: لاہور) is a major city of Pakistan and is the capital of the province of Punjab. ... Faisalabad (Urdu: فیصل آباد ) is located in Punjab, Pakistan. ... Hyderabad may refer to: Hyderabad, India, the capital city of the state of Andhra Pradesh, India Hyderabad District, India Hyderabad state, the pre-1956 Indian state Hyderabad, Pakistan, the city in Sindh, Pakistan Hyderabad District, Pakistan External Links Hyderabad Portal This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated... Multan (ملتان) is a city in the Punjab Province of Pakistan, and capital of Multan District. ... Peshāwar (Urdu:پیشاور) is the provincial capital of Pakistans North-West Frontier Province. ... Gujranwala (Urdu: گجرانوالہ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan with a population of more than 3. ... Sialkot (Urdu: سیالکوٹ ) is a city in the north of Pakistan situated under the feet of the snow-covered peaks of Kashmir and near the Chenab river. ... Sukkur (Urdu: سکھر) (Sindhi:سکر) is the third largest city of Sindh province, situated on the west bank of Indus River (Pakistan) in Sukkur District. ... Sargodha (Urdu: سرگودھا) is located in Punjab, Pakistan. ... Punjabi (also Panjabi; in GurmukhÄ«, PanjābÄ« in ShāhmukhÄ«) is the language of the Punjab regions of India and Pakistan. ... Sindhi (سنڌي، सिन्धी sindhÄ«) is the language of the Sindh region of South Asia, which is now a province of Pakistan. ... Pashto (پښتو; also known as Afghan, Pushto, Pashto, Pashtoe, Pashtu, and Pukhto) is the language spoken by the ethnic Afghan otherwise known as the Pashtun people who inhabit Afghanistan and the Western provinces of Pakistan. ... Gujarati can mean two distinct things: The Gujarati language is a language spoken in India and Pakistan, mostly in and around the Gujarat state. ... For other uses, see Kashmiri (disambiguation) Kashmiri is a Dardic language spoken primarily in Kashmir, an Asian region now split between India, Pakistan and China. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Siraiki is an old language spoken in central Pakistan. ... The Brahui language is mainly spoken in Balochistan, Pakistan, although also in Afghanistan and Iran. ... Lingua franca, literally Frankish language in Italian, was originally a mixed language consisting largely of Italian plus a vocabulary drawn from Turkish, Persian, French, Greek and Arabic and used for communication throughout the Middle East. ... The Pashtuns (also Pushtun, Pakhtun, or ethnic Afghan; in referring to the period of the British Raj or earlier, sometimes Pathan) are an ethnic/religious group of people, living primarily in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India who follow Pashtunwali, their indigenous religion. ... Tajikmay refer to: Tajiks, an ethnic group living in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, and China The Tajik language, the official language of Tajikistan The Arabic-schooled, ethnically Persian administrative caste of the Turco-Persian society. ... The Hazara are an ethnic group who reside mainly in the central Afghanistan mountain region called Hazarajat or Hazaristan. ...

In India, Urdu is spoken in places where there are large Muslim majorities or cities which were bases for Muslim Empires in the past. These include parts of Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Bhopal, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Bangalore, and Mysore. Some Indian schools teach Urdu as a first language and have their own syllabus and exams, Indian madrasahs also teach Arabic as well as Urdu. India has more than 2900 daily Urdu newspapers. Newspapers such as Daily Salar, Daily Pasban, Siasat Daily, Munsif Daily and Inqilab are published and distributed in Bangalore, Mysore, Hyderabad, and Mumbai. Uttar Pradesh (Hindi: उत्तर प्रदेश, Urdu: اتر پردیش), also popularly known by its abbreviation UP, is the most populous and fifth largest state in the Union of India. ... It has been suggested that National Capital Territory of Delhi be merged into this article or section. ... Bhopāl (Hindi: भोपाल, Urdu: بھوپال) is a city in central India. ... Lucknow (Hindi: लखनऊ; Urdu: لکھنو Lakhnau) is the capital city of the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. ... Hyderabad or Haydarābād (Telugu: హైదరాబాదు Urdu: حیدر آباد ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. ... The Vidhana Soudha is the seat of Karnatakas Legislative assembly Bangalore (Kannada: ; (?) in Kannada and // in English) is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. ... Mysore (Kannada: ಮೈಸೂರು) is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. ... Madrassa in the Gambia The word madrassa in the Arabic language (and other languages of the Islamic nations such as Persian, Turkish, Indonesian etc. ... Arabic can mean: From or related to Arabia From or related to the Arabs The Arabic language; see also Arabic grammar The Arabic alphabet, used for expressing the languages of Arabic, Persian, Malay ( Jawi), Kurdish, Panjabi, Pashto, Sindhi and Urdu, among others. ... The Vidhana Soudha is the seat of Karnatakas Legislative assembly Bangalore (Kannada: ; (?) in Kannada and // in English) is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. ... Mysore (Kannada: ಮೈಸೂರು) is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. ... Hyderabad may refer to: Hyderabad, India, the capital city of the state of Andhra Pradesh, India Hyderabad District, India Hyderabad state, the pre-1956 Indian state Hyderabad, Pakistan, the city in Sindh, Pakistan Hyderabad District, Pakistan External Links Hyderabad Portal This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated... Mumbai (Marathi: मुंबई) (pronounced ), formerly known as Bombay, is the capital of the state of Maharashtra, and the most populous city of India, with an estimated population of about 13 million (as of 2006)[1]. Mumbai is located on Salsette Island, off the west coast of Maharashtra. ...

Urdu is also spoken in Kashmir and urban Afghanistan. Outside South Asia, it is spoken by large numbers of workers in the major urban centers of the Persian Gulf countries and Saudi Arabia. Urdu is also spoken by large numbers of immigrants and their children in the major urban centers of the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Norway and Australia. Shown in green is the Kashmiri region under Pakistani control. ... Map of the Persian Gulf. ...

Countries with large numbers of Urdu speakers:

Map of South Asia South Asia is a subregion of Asia comprising the modern states of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, . It covers about 4,480,000 km², or 10 percent of the continent, and is also known as the Indian subcontinent. ... A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم, Turkish: Müslüman, Persian: مسلمان) is an adherent of Islam. ...

Official status

Urdu is the national language of Pakistan. It shares official language status with English. Although English is used in most elite circles, and Punjabi has a plurality of native speakers, Urdu is the lingua franca and is expected to prevail. Urdu is also one of the official languages of India, and in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, and Uttar Pradesh, Urdu has official language status. While the government school system in most other states emphasises Standard Hindi, at universities in cities such as Lucknow, Aligarh and Hyderabad, Urdu is spoken and learned and is regarded as a language of prestige. An official language is a language that is given a privileged legal status in a state, or other legally-defined territory. ... Punjabi (also Panjabi; in Gurmukhī, Panjābī in Shāhmukhī) is the language of the Punjab regions of India and Pakistan. ... Lingua franca, literally Frankish language in Italian, was originally a mixed language consisting largely of Italian plus a vocabulary drawn from Turkish, Persian, French, Greek and Arabic and used for communication throughout the Middle East. ... Andhra Pradesh : (Telugu: ఆంధ్ర ప్రదేశ్, Urdu: آندھرا پردیش, Hindi: आंध्र प्रदेश; Āndhra Prādesh), is a state in South India but is also debated as Central India as well. ... It has been suggested that National Capital Territory of Delhi be merged into this article or section. ... It has been suggested that Indian Administrated Kashmir be merged into this article or section. ... Uttar Pradesh (Hindi: उत्तर प्रदेश, Urdu: اتر پردیش), also popularly known by its abbreviation UP, is the most populous and fifth largest state in the Union of India. ... Hindi (हिन्दी) is a language spoken mainly in North and Central India. ... Lucknow (Hindi: लखनऊ; Urdu: لکھنو Lakhnau) is the capital city of the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. ... Victoria gate, a part of Aligarh University campus Aligarh (Hindi: अलीगढ़) is a city in Uttar Pradesh state of India. ... Hyderabad may refer to: Hyderabad, India, the capital city of the state of Andhra Pradesh, India Hyderabad District, India Hyderabad state, the pre-1956 Indian state Hyderabad, Pakistan, the city in Sindh, Pakistan Hyderabad District, Pakistan External Links Hyderabad Portal This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated...

Classification and related languages

Urdu is a member of the Indo-Aryan family of languages (i.e., those languages descending from Sanskrit), which is in turn a branch of the Indo-Iranian branch (which comprises the Indo-Aryan and the Iranian branch), which itself is a branch of the Indo-European linguistic family. If Hindi and Urdu are considered to be same language (Hindustani (or Hindi-Urdu)), then Urdu can be considered to be a part of a dialect continuum which extends across eastern Iran, Afghanistan and modern Pakistan ^{[citation needed]}—right into north India. These idioms all have similar grammatical structures and share a large portion of their vocabulary. Punjabi, for instance, is very similar to Urdu: Punjabi written in the Shahmukhi script can be understood by speakers of Urdu with little difficulty, but spoken Punjabi has a very different phonology (pronunciation system) and can be harder to understand for Urdu speakers. The Indo-Aryan languages form a subgroup of the Indo-Iranian languages, thus belonging to the Indo-European family of languages. ... Sanskrit ( संस्कृतम् ; pronunciation: ) is an Indo-European classical language of India and a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. ... The Indo-Iranian language group constitutes the easternmost extant branch of the Indo-European family of languages. ... The Indo-European languages comprise a family of several hundred languages and dialects [1], including most of the major languages of Europe, as well as many in Southwest Asia, Central Asia and South Asia. ... Hindi (हिन्दी) is a language spoken mainly in North and Central India. ... See also: Hindustani classical music. ... A dialect continuum is a range of dialects spoken across a large geographical area, differing only slightly between areas that are geographically close, and gradually decreasing in mutual intelligibility as the distances become greater. ... Shahmukhi (شاہ Ù…Ú©Ú¾ÛŒ) is a script used to record the Punjabi language. ... The vowels of modern (Standard) Arabic and (Israeli) Hebrew from the phonological point of view. ...

Dialects

Urdu has four recognised dialects: Dakhini, Pinjari, Rekhta, and Modern Vernacular Urdu (based on the Khariboli dialect of the Delhi region). Sociolinguists also consider Urdu iself one of the four major variants of the Hindi-Urdu dialect continuum. [10] Dakkhini, also known as Deccani is a dialect of the Urdu language spoken in the Deccan region of southern India, centered on the city of Hyderabad, in the state of Andhra Pradesh. ... Khariboli (also Khadiboli or Khari dialect) is the variation of Urdu/Hindi language that is Indias national language, spoken in Western Uttar Pradesh. ... Hindi (हिन्दी or हिंदी in Devanāgarī), an Indo-European language spoken mainly in Northern and Central India is the official language of the central government of India. ...

Modern Vernacular Urdu is the form of the language that is least widespread and is spoken around Delhi, Lucknow, Karachi and Lahore, it becomes increasingly divergent from the original form of Urdu as it loses some of the complicated Persian and Arabic vocabulary used in everyday terms. It has been suggested that National Capital Territory of Delhi be merged into this article or section. ... Lucknow (Hindi: लखनऊ; Urdu: لکھنو Lakhnau) is the capital city of the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. ... Karachi (Urdu: كراچى, Sindhi: ڪراچي) is the capital of the province of Sindh, and the most populated city in Pakistan. ... Lahore (Urdu: لاہور) is a major city of Pakistan and is the capital of the province of Punjab. ...

Dakhini (also known as Dakani, Deccani, Desia, Mirgan) is spoken in Maharashtra state in India and around Hyderabad. It has fewer Persian and Arabic words than standard Urdu. Dakkhini, also known as Deccani is a dialect of the Urdu language spoken in the Deccan region of southern India, centered on the city of Hyderabad, in the state of Andhra Pradesh. ... Maharashtra (Devanagari: महाराष्ट्र, literally: Great Nation)( ) is Indias third largest state in terms of area and second largest in terms of population after Uttar Pradesh. ... Hyderabad or Haydarābād (Telugu: హైదరాబాదు Urdu: حیدر آباد ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. ...

In addition, Rekhta (or Rekhti), the language of Urdu poetry, is sometimes counted as a separate dialect.

Grammar

Despite Urdu and English both being Indo-European languages, Urdu grammar can be very complex and is different in many ways from what English speakers are used to. Most notably, Urdu is a subject-object-verb language, meaning that verbs usually fall at the end of the sentence rather than before the object (as in English). Urdu also shows mixed ergativity so that, in some cases, verbs agree with the object of a sentence rather than the subject. Unlike English, Urdu has no definite article (the). The numeral ek might be used as the indefinite singular article (a/an) if this needs to be stressed.

In addition, Urdu uses postpositions (so called because they are placed after nouns) where English uses prepositions. Other differences include gender, honourifics, interrogatives, use of cases, and different tenses. While being complicated, Urdu grammar is fairly regular, with irregularities being relatively limited. Despite differences in vocabulary and writing, Urdu grammar is nearly identical with Hindi. Urdu also has a unique punctuation system. Periods are sometimes used to end a sentence, though the traditional "full stop" (a vertical line "-") is more generally used. After a heading, a colon followed by a dash (-:) is used. Colons are used in almost the same way as in English. Semi-colon and ellipsis are not generally used in Urdu. However, we can see their use sometimes because Urdu is still evolving and is influenced by English. Urdu punctuation sometimes uses western conventions for commas, exclamation points, and question marks. An adposition is a term in grammar used for a wide variety of particles and affixes which are attached to a noun phrase to modify it or to show its relation to another concept or situation in the same clause. ...

Genders

In Urdu as well as Hindi, there are only two genders for nouns. All male human beings and male animals (or those animals and plants which are perceived to be "masculine") are masculine. All female human beings and female animals (or those animals and plants which are perceived to be "feminine") are feminine. Things, inanimate articles and abstract nouns are also either masculine or feminine according to convention, which must be memorised by non-Urdu speakers if they wish to learn correct Urdu. While this is similar to Hindi and most other Indo-European languages such as French, it is a very challenging learning requirement for native speakers of speakers of native languages who do not have such gender inflection. It is also a challenge for those who are used to only the English language, which although an Indo-European language, has nearly dropped all of its gender inflection. It has been suggested that natural gender be merged into this article or section. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

The ending of a word, if a vowel, usually helps in this gender classification. If a word of Hindi origin ends in long ā, it is normally masculine. If a word ends in ī, i, or iyā, it is normally feminine. Similarly, the gender is also tried to be preserved for words borrowed from Arabic, Persian, Sanskrit and other gender-based languages. The categorisation of Urdu words directly borrowed from English (which are numerous) is very arbitrary—but could be influenced by the ending. Adjectives ending in long [α:] must get inflected to agree with the gender of the noun. Hindi (हिन्दी or हिंदी in DevanāgarÄ«), an Indo-European language spoken mainly in Northern and Central India is the official language of the central government of India. ... Inflection or inflexion refers to a modification or marking of a word (or more precisely lexeme) so that it reflects grammatical (i. ...

Interrogatives

Besides the standard interrogative terms of who (کؤن kaun), what (کیا kyā), why (کیوں kyoⁿ), when (کب kab), where (کہاں kahāⁿ), how and what type (کیسا kaisā), how many (کِتنا kitnā), etc, the Urdu word (کیا kyā) can be used as a generic interrogative often placed at the beginning of a sentence to turn a statement into a Yes/No question. This makes it clear when a question is being asked. Questions can also be formed simply by modifying intonation, exactly as some questions are in English.

Pronouns

Urdu has pronouns in the first, second and third person, all for one gender only. Thus, unlike English, there is no difference between he or she. More strictly speaking, the third person of the pronoun is actually the same as the demonstrative pronoun (this / that). The verb, upon conjugation, usually indicates the difference in the gender. The pronouns have additional cases of accusative and genitive. There may also be multiple ways of inflecting the pronoun, which are given in parentheses. Note that for the second person of the pronoun you, Urdu has three levels of honourifics: The term accusative may be used in the following contexts: A form of morphosyntactic alignment, as found in nominative-accusative languages. ... The genitive case is a grammatical case that indicates a relationship, primarily one of possession, between the noun in the genitive case and another noun. ...

• آپ āp/[αːp]: Formal and respectable form for you. Has no difference between the singular and the plural. Used in all formal settings and speaking to persons who are senior in job or age. Plural could be stressed by saying you people (آپ لوگ āp log)) or you all (آپ سب āp sab).
• تُم tum/[tum]: Informal form of you. Has no difference between the singular and the plural. Used in all informal settings and speaking to persons who are junior in job or age. Plural could be stressed by saying you people (تُم لوگ tum log) or you all (تُم سب tum sab).
• تُو tū/[tuː]: Extremely informal form of you, as thou. Strictly singular, its plural form would be تُم tum. Except for children, very close friends, or poetic language (either with God or with lovers), its use could be perceived as offensive in Pakistan or India.

Imperatives (requests and commands) correspond in form to the level of honourific being used, and the verb inflects to show the level of respect and politeness desired. Because imperatives can already include politeness, the word مہربانی "meharbānī", which can be translated as "please", is much less common than in spoken English; it is generally only used in writing or announcements.

Word order

The standard word order in Urdu is, in general, Subject Object Verb, but where different emphasis or more complex structure is needed, this rule is very easily set aside (provided that the nouns/pronouns are always followed by their postpositions or case markers). More specifically, the standard order is 1. Subject 2. Adverbs (in their standard order) 3. Indirect object and any of its adjectives 4. Direct object and any of its adjectives 5. Negation term or interrogative, if any, and finally the 6. Verb and any auxiliary verbs. (Snell, p93) The standard order can be modified in various ways to impart emphasis on particular parts of the sentence. Negation is formed by adding the word نہیں nahīⁿ, meaning "no", in the appropriate place in the sentence, or by utilizing ن na or مت mat in some cases. Note that in Urdu, the adjectives precede the nouns they qualify. The auxiliaries always follow the main verb. Also, Urdu speakers or writers enjoy considerable freedom in placing words to achieve stylistic and other socio-psychological effects, though not as much freedom as in heavily inflected languages. In linguistic typology, Subject Object Verb (SOV) is the type of languages in which the subject, object, and verb of a sentence appear (usually) in that order. ...

Tense and aspect of Urdu verbs

Urdu verbal structure is focused on aspect with distinctions based on tense usually shown through use of the verb to be (ہونا honā) as an auxiliary. There are three aspects: habitual (imperfect), progressive (also known as continuous) and perfective. Verbs in each aspect are marked for tense in almost all cases with the proper inflected form of honā. Urdu has four simple tenses, present, past, future (presumptive), and subjunctive (referred to as a mood by many linguists). Verbs are conjugated not only to show the number and person (1st, 2nd, 3rd) of their subject, but also its gender. Additionally, Urdu has imperative and conditional moods. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... Grammatical tense is a way languages express the time at which an event described by a sentence occurs. ... // Introduction The subjunctive mood (sometimes referred to as the conjunctive mood) is a grammatical mood of the verb that expresses wishes, commands (in subordinate clauses), emotion, possibility, judgment, necessity and statements that are contrary to fact. ... In linguistics, many grammars have the concept of grammatical mood, which describes the relationship of a verb with reality and intent. ... The conditional mood (sometimes described as the conditional tense) is a verb form in many languages (not in English). ...

Case

Urdu is a weakly inflected language for case; the relationship of a noun in a sentence is usually shown by postpositions (i.e., prepositions that follow the noun). Urdu has three cases for nouns. The Direct case is used for nouns not followed by any postpositions, typically for the subject case. The Oblique case is used for any nouns that is followed by a postposition. Adjectives modifying nouns in the oblique case will inflect that same way. Some nouns have a separate Vocative case. Urdu has two numbers: singular and plural—but they may not be shown distinctly in all declinations. Inflection or inflexion refers to a modification or marking of a word (or more precisely lexeme) so that it reflects grammatical (i. ... An oblique case (Lat. ...

Also see Hindi Grammar Hindi grammar (Hindi: ) is the grammar of Hindi language. ...

Levels of formality in Urdu

The order of words in Urdu is not as rigidly fixed as it is thought to be by traditional grammarians. Although usually (but not invariably) an Urdu sentence begins with a subject and the ends with a verb. That is why Urdu is often called as SOV language (e.g. Subject-Object-Verb language). However, Urdu speakers or writers enjoy considerable freedom in placing words in an utterance to achieve stylistic effects, see Bhatia and Koul (2000, pp. 34-35).

Urdu in its less formalised register has been referred to as a rekhta (ریختہ, [reːxt̪aː]), meaning "rough mixture". The more formal register of Urdu is sometimes referred to as zabān-e-urdu-e-mo'alla (زبانِ اردوِ معلہ, [zəba:n e: ʊrd̪uː eː moəllaː]), the "Language of Camp and Court". In linguistics, a register is a subset of a language used for a particular purpose or in a particular social setting. ...

The etymology of the word used in the Urdu language for the most part decides how polite or refined your speech is. For example, Urdu speakers would distinguish between پانی pānī and آب āb, both meaning "water" for example, or between آدمی ādmi and مرد mard, meaning "man". The former in each set is used colloquially and has Hindi origins, while the latter is used formally and poetically, being of Persian origin. Etymology is the study of the origins of words. ... Hindi (हिन्दी or हिंदी in DevanāgarÄ«), an Indo-European language spoken mainly in Northern and Central India is the official language of the central government of India. ... Persian is a language spoken in Iran, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Bahrain, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Southern Russia, neighboring countries, and elsewhere. ...

If a word is of Persian or Arabic origin, the level of speech is considered to be more formal and grand. Similarly, if Persian or Arabic grammar constructs, such as the izafat, are used in Urdu, the level of speech is also considered more formal and grand. If a word is of Hindi or Sanskrit origin, the level of speech is considered more colloquial and personal. The grammar constucts based on Hindi are prevalent in the language used on a day to day basis. Persian is a language spoken in Iran, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Bahrain, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Southern Russia, neighboring countries, and elsewhere. ... Arabic can mean: From or related to Arabia From or related to the Arabs The Arabic language; see also Arabic grammar The Arabic alphabet, used for expressing the languages of Arabic, Persian, Malay ( Jawi), Kurdish, Panjabi, Pashto, Sindhi and Urdu, among others. ... Persian is a language spoken in Iran, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Bahrain, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Southern Russia, neighboring countries, and elsewhere. ... Arabic can mean: From or related to Arabia From or related to the Arabs The Arabic language; see also Arabic grammar The Arabic alphabet, used for expressing the languages of Arabic, Persian, Malay ( Jawi), Kurdish, Panjabi, Pashto, Sindhi and Urdu, among others. ... The Izafat (also Izafah) (Farsi: اضافہ) is a Farsi language grammatical construct which links two words together. ... Hindi (हिन्दी or हिंदी in DevanāgarÄ«), an Indo-European language spoken mainly in Northern and Central India is the official language of the central government of India. ... Sanskrit ( संस्कृतम् ; pronunciation: ) is an Indo-European classical language of India and a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. ...

Politeness

A host of words are used to show respect and politeness. This emphasis on politeness, which is reflected in the vocabulary, is known as takalluf in Urdu. These words are generally used when addressing elders, or people with whom one is 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 showing intimacy called "apna pun" in Urdu) and the plural form āp (formal and respectful). Similarly, verbs, for example, "come," can be translated with degrees of formality in three ways:

1. آ‏ئے āye/[aːje] or آ‏یں āeⁿ/[aːẽn] (nasalised n) ( formal and respectful)
2. آ‏و āo/[aːo] (informal and intimate with less degree)
3. آ ā/[aː] (extremely informal, intimate and often derogatory).

Vocabulary

Urdu has a vocabulary rich in words with Indian and Middle Eastern origins. The borrowings are dominated by words from Hindi, Persian, and Arabic. There are also a small number of borrowings from Sanskrit, Turkish, Portuguese and more recently English. Many of the words of Arabic origin have different nuances of meaning and usage than they do in Arabic. In fact, Urdu is the classical example of the Muslim empire's curiosity. A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... Hindi (हिन्दी) is a language spoken mainly in North and Central India. ... Persian is a language spoken in Iran, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Bahrain, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Southern Russia, neighboring countries, and elsewhere. ... The Arabic language (Arabic: ‎ transliterated: ), or simply Arabic (Arabic: ‎ transliterated: ), is the largest member of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family (classification: South Central Semitic) and is closely related to Hebrew and Aramaic. ... Sanskrit ( संस्कृतम् ; pronunciation: ) is an Indo-European classical language of India and a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

Writing System

The Urdu Nasta’liq alphabet, with names in the Devanagari and Latin alphabets

Urdu is written in a derivative of the Persian alphabet, which is itself derivative of the Arabic alphabet. Like Semitic Languages, Urdu script is written from right to left. Urdu is similar in appearance and letters to Arabic, Sindhi, 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 modernised Naskh style. Nasta’liq is notoriously difficult to typeset, so Urdu newspapers were made from hand-written masters (a.k.a katib or khush-navees) until the late 1980s. The daily Jang was the first Urdu newspaper composed in Nasta’liq on computer. There are efforts underway to develop more sophisticated and user-friendly Urdu support on computers and the Internet. Nowadays, nearly all Urdu newspapers, magazines, journals, and periodicals are composed on computers via various Urdu software programs. Urdu can also be written in the Devanagari script. This often occurs in India as many Indians speak Urdu but are not literate in it (i.e. Lucknow). Instead they use the more common Devanagari script. Urdu ghazals are also frequently written in the Devanagari script. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1000x775, 204 KB) Summary hand made urdu alphabets File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1000x775, 204 KB) Summary hand made urdu alphabets File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a system of phonetic notation devised by linguists to accurately and uniquely represent each of the wide variety of sounds (phones or phonemes) used in spoken human language. ... Phonetic (pho-NET-ic) is a nationwide voicemail-to-text messaging service available for most digital mobile phones in which a subscriber is provided a custom voice mailbox for the purpose of receiving all incoming voice messages as actual transcribed text for reading via short messaging (also known as SMS... Due to technical limitations, some web browsers may not display some special characters in this article. ... This is a concise version of the International Phonetic Alphabet for English sounds. ... It has been suggested that Persian language#Arabic Alphabet be merged into this article or section. ... The Arabic alphabet is the script used for writing in the Arabic language. ... 14th century BC diplomatic letter in Akkadian, found in Tell Amarna. ... The Arabic language (Arabic: ‎ transliterated: ), or simply Arabic (Arabic: ‎ transliterated: ), is the largest member of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family (classification: South Central Semitic) and is closely related to Hebrew and Aramaic. ... Sindhi (سنڌي، सिन्धी sindhÄ«) is the language of the Sindh region of South Asia, which is now a province of Pakistan. ... Persian is a language spoken in Iran, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Bahrain, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Southern Russia, neighboring countries, and elsewhere. ... Pashto (پښتو; also known as Afghan, Pushto, Pashto, Pashtoe, Pashtu, and Pukhto) is the language spoken by the ethnic Afghan otherwise known as the Pashtun people who inhabit Afghanistan and the Western provinces of Pakistan. ... The Arabic language (Arabic: ‎ transliterated: ), or simply Arabic (Arabic: ‎ transliterated: ), is the largest member of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family (classification: South Central Semitic) and is closely related to Hebrew and Aramaic. ... Nastaliq (نستعليق) is a specific style for writing in the Arabic alphabet. ... The Arabic language (Arabic: ‎ transliterated: ), or simply Arabic (Arabic: ‎ transliterated: ), is the largest member of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family (classification: South Central Semitic) and is closely related to Hebrew and Aramaic. ... Naskh - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ... The daily Jang () is the largest Urdu language newspaper of the world, simultaneously publishing from Pakistans main cities: Rawalpindi/Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Quetta and Multan; while it is being published from London (UK) as well and is circulated throughout Europe. ... Rigveda manuscript in Devanagari (early 19th century) DevanāgarÄ« (देवनागरी — in English pronounced ) (ISCII – IS13194:1991) [1] is an abugida alphabet used to write several Indian languages, including Sanskrit, Hindi, Marathi, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Bihari, Bhili, Konkani, Bhojpuri and Nepali from Nepal. ... Lucknow (Hindi: लखनऊ; Urdu: لکھنو Lakhnau) is the capital city of the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. ...

Usually, bare transliterations of Urdu into Roman letters omit many phonemic elements that have no equivalent in English or other languages commonly written in the Latin 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, Persian, or Arabic for letters such as:ژ خ غ ط ص or ق and Hindi for letters such as ڑ. This script may be found on the Internet, and it allows people who understand the language but without knowledge of their written forms to communicate with each other. In human language, a phoneme is a set of phones (speech sounds or sign elements) that are cognitively equivalent. ... The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world today. ... Hindi (हिन्दी or हिंदी in DevanāgarÄ«), an Indo-European language spoken mainly in Northern and Central India is the official language of the central government of India. ...

A list of the Urdu alphabet and pronunciation is given below. Urdu contains many historical spellings from Arabic and Persian, and therefore has many irregularities. The Arabic letters yaa and haa are split into two in Urdu: one of the yaa variants is used at the ends of words for the sound [i], and one of the haa variants is used to indicate the aspirated consonants. The retroflex consonants needed to be added as well; this was accomplished by placing a superscript ط (to'e) above the corresponding dental consonants. Several letters which represent distinct consonants in Arabic are conflated in Persian, and this has carried over to Urdu. See: Aspiration (phonetics) Aspiration (medicine) Aspiration (long-term hope) - see for example, Robert Goddards response to the ridicule by the New York Times, 1920: Every vision is a joke until the first man accomplishes it; once realized, it becomes commonplace. ... Sub-apical retroflex plosive In phonetics, retroflex consonants are consonant sounds used in some languages. ... Dentals are consonants such as t, d, n, and l articulated with either the lower or the upper teeth, or both, rather than with the gum ridge as in English. ...

Urdu is occasionally also 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 contexts such as product labels. Today it is regaining popularity among users of text-messaging and Internet services and is developing its own style and conventions. Habib R. Sulemani says, "The younger generation of Urdu-speaking people around the world are using [Romanised Urdu] 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. 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." Roman Urdu also holds significance among the Christians of North India. Urdu was the dominant native language among Christians of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan in the early part of 1900s and is still used by some people in these Indian states. Indian Christians often used the Roman script for writing Urdu. Thus Roman Urdu was a common way of writing among Indian Christians in these states up to the 1960s. The Bible Society of India publishes Roman Urdu Bibles which enjoyed sale late into the 1960s (though they are still published today). Church songbooks are also common in Roman Urdu. However, the usage of Roman Urdu is declining with the wider use of Hindi and English in these states. The major South Asian film industries, Bollywood and Lollywood, are also noteworthy for their use of Roman Urdu for their movie titles. The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a system of phonetic notation devised by linguists to accurately and uniquely represent each of the wide variety of sounds (phones or phonemes) used in spoken human language. ... Dentals are consonants such as t, d, n, and l articulated with either the lower or the upper teeth, or both, rather than with the gum ridge as in English. ... Sub-apical retroflex plosive In phonetics, retroflex consonants are consonant sounds used in some languages. ... Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli (the sockets) of the superior teeth. ... A nasal vowel is a vowel that is produced with a lowering of the velum so that air escapes both through the mouth and the nose. ... See: Aspiration (phonetics) Aspiration (medicine) Aspiration (long-term hope) - see for example, Robert Goddards response to the ridicule by the New York Times, 1920: Every vision is a joke until the first man accomplishes it; once realized, it becomes commonplace. ... Breathy voice or murmured voice is a phonation in which the vocal folds are vibrating as in normal voicing, but the glottal closure is incomplete, so that the voicing is somewhat inefficient and air continues to leak between the vocal folds throughout the vibration cycle with audible friction noise. ... Roman Urdu is the name used for Urdu written in Roman (English) script. ... The British Empire at its zenith in 1919. ... Movable Type is a proprietary weblog publishing system developed by California-based Six Apart. ... Habib R. Sulemani (born June 5, 1971, Gulmit, Gojal, Hunza) is a young poet, writer and journalist, living in Pakistan. ... A map showing North India North India is a geographic and linguistic-cultural region of India. ... Map of South Asia South Asia is a subregion of Asia comprising the modern states of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, . It covers about 4,480,000 km², or 10 percent of the continent, and is also known as the Indian subcontinent. ... Movie poster of one of the most popular films—Sholay (1975) Bollywood (Hindi: बॉलीवुड, Urdu: بالیوُڈ) is the informal name given to the popular Mumbai-based Hindi language film industry in India. ... Lollywood refers to the Pakistani film industry, based in the city of Lahore. ...

Also see Roman Urdu. Roman Urdu is the name used for Urdu written in Roman (English) script. ...

Examples