![]() ![]() If you’re used to the CEFR’s levels, this has been equated to both B2 and C1. They believe that it takes an average of 44 weeks of intensive study or 1,100 classroom hours to achieve working proficiency. How Difficult Is Urdu?Īccording to the US Foreign Services Institute (FSI), Urdu is “hard” (although not as hard as Arabic or Chinese, and no harder than Hindi). It is a language of both India and Pakistan and has continuing relevance to the millions of people who speak it in South Asia, the Middle East, and around the globe. You’ll see it written on the walls of the Harmandir Sahib, and it was spoken by Emperor Shah Jahan, the man behind the creation of the Taj Mahal. It’s been used by Sikh and Hindi writers as well as Muslim ones. Urdu can boast of a rich literary, linguistic and historical heritage across the region. Regardless of Urdu’s relationship with Hindi, one thing is clear: it’s not solely the language of Pakistan’s Muslim community. On the other hand, they are mutually intelligible and were often considered the same language just a couple of hundred years ago. On the one hand, Urdu is not just Hindi with an Arabic script: there are distinct linguistic differences, however slight they may be. It’s easy to under- or overstate the differences between Urdu and Hindi. So, how different are the two languages, really? The British-led Partition of India into two countries – Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan – only exacerbated this. The council argues that the distinction we have today owes a lot to the British colonization of India. Meanwhile, Hindi is written in Devanagari, a Sanskrit script.Īccording to the National Council For Promotion Of Urdu Language in India, the perceived differences between Hindi and Urdu are relatively modern. This is a right-to-left script written with cursive. ![]() Urdu uses an adapted Arabo-Persian script called Nastaliq. When it comes to reading and writing, however, the two languages are visibly different. There are some differences, especially in the prefixes and suffixes, yet these don’t generally hinder aural comprehension. Grammatically and phonetically, Urdu is so similar to Hindi that the two languages are often described as being one and the same. Its vocabulary, however, owes more to Sanskrit than to Middle Eastern languages. Its emergence has been tied with increasing Islamic and Middle Eastern influence in the region, with the 350-year-long Delhi Sultanate starting in 1206.īecause of this, Urdu has Arabic, Persian, and Turkish influences. Urdu first appeared in the 1100s and 1200s in and around Delhi. They have a striking amount in common, with many people considering them to be mutually intelligible in spoken conversation. Urdu and Hindi are sister languages, which means that they are descended from the same historical language. That honor belongs to Punjabi.Īnother area of misconception is Urdu’s relationship with Hindi. ![]() Meanwhile, there are 74 languages spoken in Pakistan, and Urdu isn’t even the most common. The region’s polyglotism may have led to this number being underestimated. You’ll overhear it being used in the US, the UAE, and the UK (it is England and Wales’ fourth most-spoken language), as well as in other diaspora communities, too.Īccording to Ethnologue, there are 171 million Urdu speakers in the world. While Urdu is the official language of Pakistan, it’s also spoken in parts of northern India – where it is one of the 22 official languages – as well as in Bangladesh, Nepal, and many other countries in the region. Urdu is often thought of as the language of Pakistan and Muslim South Asia. News, Music, and Other Resources for Learning UrduĪ Brief Introduction to the Urdu Language.Urdu Vocabulary Builders and Word Games.Online and App-Based-Urdu-Language-Courses.Online Urdu Classes and Language Exchanges.A Brief Introduction to the Urdu Language. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |