urdu
reading booklet
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iiiiii
URDU
Voices
English-Speaking Instructor . . . . . . . . . . . . Ray Brown
Urdu-Speaking Instructor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Awais Kazi
Female Urdu Speaker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Zamzam Syed
Male Urdu Speaker . . . . . . . . . . . . . Aurangzeb Haneef
c
ourse Writers
Dr. Jilani Warsi
◆
Masako D’Auria
r
eVieWer
Muhammad Khan
e
ditors
Berit S. Ahmad
◆
Elizabeth Horber
e
ditor & executiVe Producer
Beverly D. Heinle
P
roducer & director
Sarah H. McInnis
r
ecording engineers
Peter S. Turpin
◆
Kelly Saux
Simon & Schuster Studios, Concord, MA
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
iv
Reading Lessons
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
The Urdu Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
The Urdu Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
The Urdu Alphabet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Alphabet Chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Diacritics Chart. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
The Reading Lessons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Lesson One. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
Lesson Two . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
Lesson Three . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
Lesson Four . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
Lesson Five . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
Lesson Six . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
Lesson Seven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
Lesson Eight. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
Lesson Nine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
Lesson Ten . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
Lesson Eleven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
Lesson Twelve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
Lesson Thirteen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27
Lesson Fourteen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28
Lesson Fifteen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
Lesson Sixteen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31
Lesson Seventeen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32
Lesson Eighteen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34
Lesson Nineteen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36
Lesson Twenty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
URDU
Urdu is one of the official languages of North
India and Pakistan, and a national language of Fiji.
It belongs to the Hindustani group of the Indo-
Iranian branch of the Indo-European family.
Approximately two hundred million people
around the world speak Urdu as a first or second
language. Urdu-speaking descendants of Indian
and Pakistani Muslims live in all countries having
a sizable South Asian Diaspora, countries such as
Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Botswana,
Canada, Germany, Norway, Oman, Qatar, Saudi
Arabia, South Africa, United Arab Emirates,
Thailand, the UK, the U.S., and Zambia.
The Urdu Language
Urdu developed as the lingua franca in South
Asia during the 16
th
and 17
th
centuries in the regions
governed by the Persian-speaking Mughal Empire,
mainly in Eastern Pakistan and Northwestern India.
It is considered by some to be one of the world’s
most beautiful languages and it is well-known for
its beautiful poetry.
Introduction
2
URDU
Introduction (continued)
Urdu and Hindi are considered dialects of
Hindustani. Linguistically, both Urdu and Hindi are
virtually identical languages and they are mutually
intelligible. However, they differ in that Urdu has
been influenced by Arabic and Persian, whereas
Hindi draws more heavily upon Sanskrit. There
are four primary dialects of Urdu. This course
teaches the standard register of the Urdu dialect of
Hindustani.
Pakistan follows a three-language policy whereby
children learn both Urdu and English in school
and are then given the opportunity to learn a local
language such as Sindhi or Punjabi. Although Urdu
is the primary means of communication in Pakistan,
a large number of Pakistanis speak other languages,
such as Baluchi, an Iranian language, or Pashto, an
official language of Afghanistan.
Urdu was most formally defined as a dialect of
Hindustani when the country was divided into India
and Pakistan in 1947. Urdu is an evolving language
which has borrowed many loan words from Farsi,
Punjabi, Pashto, and most recently, English. The
connection between Urdu and Farsi is so strong
3
URDU
Introduction (continued)
that the Urdu alphabet is almost identical to that of
Farsi, and there are numerous cognates in the two
languages.
The Urdu Script
One of the major differences between Urdu and
Hindi is that Hindi is written using the Devanagri
script, while Urdu is written in a derivative of the
Persian alphabet, which is itself a derivative of the
Arabic alphabet. It is read from right to left (except
for numbers which are written from left to right).
Urdu differs in appearance from Arabic in that it
uses the more complex and sinuous Nastaliq script
whereas Arabic tends to the easier-to-read Naskh.
Nastaliq is notoriously difficult to typeset, so Urdu
newspapers are often made from hand-written
masters. Although the styles are different, people
who can read Urdu can also read Arabic, as Arabic
uses the same alphabet but with fewer letters.
4
URDU
Introduction (continued)
The Urdu Alphabet
Although there has been much debate on the
alphabet, and some linguists claim that there are as
many as 93 letters, it is generally accepted that there
are 38 letters in the Urdu Alphabet. Some letters
function as both vowels and consonants.
Some distinguishing characteristics of written
Urdu are:
• Urduletterscanhaveone,two,orthreedots.
These dots can be placed either above or below the
letter. The absence or presence of the dots, as well
as the number and placement, help to identify a
letter and determine how it will be pronounced.
• As in cursive English, most Urdu letters
connect to those that follow (in Urdu, they connect
to the left). However, nine letters, called “non-
connectors,” do not connect. They are:
5
URDU
Introduction (continued)
• Whenlettersconnect,theyoftenmodifytheir
shape and undergo a reduction, as in the example
below. (Remember to read the line right to left.)
• Many letters modify their shape according
to their position in a word – depending on whether
they appear in an initial, medial, or final position.
For example the following word begins and ends
with the Urdu letter “b.”
• A letter will also sometimes change shape
depending on the letters around it. For example,
notice how the kaaf in the words below changes
shape. (Read right to left.)
6
URDU
Introduction (continued)
• InwrittenUrdu,thereare“short”andlong”
vowels. The “short vowels” may be represented by
“diacritics” or marks above and below letters. Often
these diacritics are omitted.
• The appearance of some letters may vary
slightly, depending on the choice of font.
A complete listing of the Urdu alphabet and
diacritics follow. You should use this chart for
reference only, as all the information you need to do
the Readings is contained on the audio.
7
URDU
Final
unconnected
with alef
Final
connected
with laam
Medial
between laam
and alef
Initial with
alef
NameNameIndependent
Alphabet Chart
8
URDU
Final
unconnected
with alef
Final
connected
with laam
Medial
between laam
and alef
Initial with
alef
Independent Name Name
Alphabet Chart (continued)
9
URDU
Final
unconnected
with alef
Final
connected
with laam
Medial
between laam
and alef
Initial with
alef
Independent NameName
Alphabet Chart (continued)
10
URDU
Final
unconnected
with alef
Final
connected
with laam
Medial
between laam
and alef
Initial with
alef
Independent NameName
Alphabet Chart (continued)
11
URDU
Final
unconnected
with alef
Final
connected
with laam
Medial
between laam
and alef
Initial with
alef
NameNameIndependent
he
Urdu Alphabet Chart (continued)
12
URDU
Diacritics Chart
13
URDU
The Reading Lessons
There are twenty Urdu Reading Lessons. You
may choose to do the Readings along with the
units, starting with Unit Eleven, or all together
after completing the rest of the course. Feel free to
repeat the Reading Lessons as often as necessary
for practice with the Urdu alphabet and the sounds
it represents.
Some of the words and phrases you will read are
taught in this course, but most are not, and – especially
in the early lessons – some may simply be syllables
rather than actual words. Actual words are used
more and more as the number of letters introduced
increases. Diacritics will be included in Reading
Lessons One through Nineteen. Occasionally in
these lessons words will be shown without diacritics,
but only after you have already read the same words
with diacritics. In Lesson Twenty you will be asked
to read an exchange of short phrases consisting of
words you’ve learned in this course without the
diacritical marks.
15
URDU
Lesson One
16
URDU
Lesson Two
17
URDU
Lesson Three
18
URDU
Lesson Four
19
URDU
Lesson Five
20
URDU
Lesson Six
21
URDU
Lesson Seven
22
URDU
Lesson Eight
23
URDU
Lesson Nine
24
URDU
Lesson Ten
25
URDU
Lesson Eleven
26
URDU
Lesson Twelve
27
URDU
Lesson Thirteen
28
URDU
Lesson Fourteen
29
URDU
Lesson Fifteen
30
URDU
Lesson Fifteen (continued)
31
URDU
Lesson Sixteen
32
URDU
Lesson Seventeen
33
URDU
Lesson Seventeen (continued)
34
URDU
Lesson Eighteen
35
URDU
Lesson Eighteen (continued)
36
URDU
Lesson Nineteen
37
URDU
Lesson Nineteen (continued)
38
URDU
Lesson Twenty
39
URDU
Lesson Twenty (continued)
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