Urdu

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Urdu

Urdu , language belonging to the Indic group of the Indo-Iranian subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages. The official tongue of Pakistan, Urdu is also one of the 15 languages recognized in the 1950 Indian constitution. Urdu has been described as the written or literary variant of Hindustani that is used by Muslims. It is written in a modified form of the Arabic alphabet, and its basically Indic vocabulary has been enriched by borrowings from Arabic and Persian. Grammatically and phonetically, however, Urdu is an Indic language. About 100 million persons in Pakistan and India understand Urdu.

Bibliography: See M. C. Saihgal, Hindustani Grammar (Urdu edition, 1945); E. Bender, Urdu Grammar and Reader (1967); F. Southworth, Student's Hindi-Urdu Reference Manual (1971); W. Bright and S. A. Kahn, The Urdu Writing System (1976).

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"Urdu." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 5 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Urdu." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (December 5, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Urdu.html

"Urdu." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Retrieved December 05, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Urdu.html

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Urdu

World Encyclopedia | 2005 | Â© World Encyclopedia 2005, originally published by Oxford University Press 2005. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Urdu Language belonging to the Indic group of the Indo-Iranian sub-family of Indo-European languages. It is the official language of Pakistan but is used as a first language by less than 10% of the population. It is also spoken by most Muslims in India. Urdu has virtually the same grammar as Hindi, the chief difference being that Urdu is written in the Arabic script. Both derive from Sanskrit.

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"Urdu." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (December 5, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-Urdu.html

"Urdu." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved December 05, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-Urdu.html

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Urdu

The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable | 2006 | | Â© The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable 2006, originally published by Oxford University Press 2006. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Urdu an Indic language closely related to Hindi but written in the Persian script and having many loanwords from Persian and Arabic. It is the official language of Pakistan, and is also widely used in India and elsewhere, with about 50 million speakers worldwide.

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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Urdu." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Oxford University Press. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 5 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Urdu." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Oxford University Press. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (December 5, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-Urdu.html

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Urdu." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Oxford University Press. 2006. Retrieved December 05, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-Urdu.html

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