Urdu
Urdu (/ˈʊərduː/; اردو, [ʊɾˈduː] ⓘ; ALA-LC: Urdū) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia.[10][11] It is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan, where it is also an official language alongside English.[12] In India, Urdu is an Eighth Schedule language, the status and cultural heritage of which are recognised by the Constitution of India;[13][14] and it also has an official status in several Indian states.[note 1][12] In Nepal, Urdu is a registered regional dialect[15] and in South Africa it is a protected language in the constitution. It is also spoken as a minority language in Afghanistan and Bangladesh, with no official status.
Urdu
- Pakistan (widely used as lingua franca)[a]
- Hindi Belt and Deccan, India[1]
- Afghanistan[2]
- Terai, Nepal[3]
- Old Dhaka, Bangladesh
- Urdu alphabet
- Urdu Braille
- Roman Urdu (informal)
- Hebrew (Judeo-Urdu, historical)
- Bengali–Assamese script (in Bangladesh)
- Pakistan (national)
- India (scheduled language)
- Jammu and Kashmir (co-official)
- National Capital Territory of Delhi (additional)
- Bihar (additional)
- Uttar Pradesh (additional)
- Jharkhand (additional)
- Andhra Pradesh (additional)[5][6]
- Telangana (additional)[7][8]
- West Bengal (additional)
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Urdu has been described as a Persianised register of the Hindustani language;[16][17] Urdu and Hindi share a common Sanskrit- and Prakrit-derived vocabulary base, phonology, syntax, and grammar, making them mutually intelligible during colloquial communication.[18][19] While formal Urdu draws literary, political, and technical vocabulary from Persian,[20] formal Hindi draws these aspects from Sanskrit; consequently, the two languages' mutual intelligibility effectively decreases as the factor of formality increases.
In 1837, Urdu became an official language of the British East India Company, replacing Persian across northern India during Company rule; Persian had until this point served as the court language of various Indo-Islamic empires.[21] Religious, social, and political factors arose during the European colonial period that advocated a distinction between Urdu and Hindi, leading to the Hindi–Urdu controversy.[22]
According to 2022 estimates by Ethnologue and The World Factbook, produced by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Urdu is the 10th-most widely spoken language in the world, with 230 million total speakers, including those who speak it as a second language.[23][24]
Etymology
The name Urdu was first used by the poet Ghulam Hamadani Mushafi around 1780 for Hindustani language[25][26] even though he himself also used Hindavi term in his poetry to define the language.[27] Ordu means army in the Turkic languages. In late 18th century, it was known as Zaban-e-Urdu-e-Mualla زبانِ اُرْدُوئے مُعَلّٰی means language of the exalted camp.[28][29][30] Earlier it was known as Hindvi, Hindi and Hindustani.[26][31]
Official status
Pakistan
Urdu is the sole national, and one of the two official languages of Pakistan (along with English).[96] It is spoken and understood throughout the country, whereas the state-by-state languages (languages spoken throughout various regions) are the provincial languages, although only 7.57% of Pakistanis speak Urdu as their first language.[152] Its official status has meant that Urdu is understood and spoken widely throughout Pakistan as a second or third language. It is used in education, literature, office and court business,[153] although in practice, English is used instead of Urdu in the higher echelons of government.[154] Article 251(1) of the Pakistani Constitution mandates that Urdu be implemented as the sole language of government, though English continues to be the most widely used language at the higher echelons of Pakistani government.[155]