HINDI-URDU

Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language | 1998 | 700+ words | Copyright

HINDI-URDU. A composite name that emphasizes the common linguistic features of HINDI and URDU, languages that have the same general pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary, but differ in their script, Hindi being written in Devanagari, Urdu in Perso-Arabic. They differ largely because of politics and religion in the Indian subcontinent: Hindi generally favoured by Hindus, Urdu by Muslims. Hindi is the official language of India, Urdu the national language of Pakistan. Both have been extensively influenced by other languages, but whereas Hindi looks especially to SANSKRIT for its technical vocabulary and literary conventions, Urdu looks especially to Persian and ARABIC. Both have borrowed extensively from English.

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TOM McARTHUR. "HINDI-URDU." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

TOM McARTHUR. "HINDI-URDU." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-HINDIURDU.html

TOM McARTHUR. "HINDI-URDU." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-HINDIURDU.html

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