Language and Linguistics

The Columbia Encyclopedia,... Concise Oxford Companion to... World Encyclopedia The Oxford Dictionary of... Further reading

Urdu

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2013 | Copyright

Urdu (ōōr´dōō), 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.

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).

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

MLA
Chicago
APA

"Urdu." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2013. Encyclopedia.com. 19 May. 2013 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Urdu." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2013. Encyclopedia.com. (May 19, 2013). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Urdu.html

"Urdu." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2013. Retrieved May 19, 2013 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Urdu.html

Learn more about citation styles

URDU

Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language | 1998 | | Copyright

URDU. An Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent, associated with the Moghul Empire, in which Persian was the court language. It is used especially by Muslims and written in a variant of the Perso-Arabic script. Closely related to Hindi, Urdu has a similar pronunciation and grammar but a more heavily Persianized and Arabicized vocabulary. It is the national language of Pakistan and is its co-official language with English. In India, it is the state language of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, and associate state language of the state of Uttar Pradesh. It is spoken as a first language by c.30m and as a second language by c.100m people in India and Pakistan, and some thousands of people of Indo-Pakistani origin in Fiji, Guyana, South Africa, the UK, and the US. See BANGLADESH, HINDI, HINDI-URDU, INDIAN ENGLISH, PAKISTANI ENGLISH.

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

MLA
Chicago
APA

TOM McARTHUR. "URDU." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. 19 May. 2013 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

TOM McARTHUR. "URDU." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. (May 19, 2013). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-URDU.html

TOM McARTHUR. "URDU." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Retrieved May 19, 2013 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-URDU.html

Learn more about citation styles

Urdu

World Encyclopedia | 2005 | 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.

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

MLA
Chicago
APA

"Urdu." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 19 May. 2013 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Urdu." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (May 19, 2013). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-Urdu.html

"Urdu." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved May 19, 2013 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-Urdu.html

Learn more about citation styles

Urdu

The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable | 2006 | | 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.

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

MLA
Chicago
APA

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Urdu." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 19 May. 2013 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Urdu." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 19, 2013). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-Urdu.html

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Urdu." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved May 19, 2013 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-Urdu.html

Learn more about citation styles

Urdu

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English | 2009 | Copyright

Ur·du / ˈoŏrdoō; ˈər-/ • n. a form of Hindustani written in Persian script, with many loanwords from Persian and Arabic. It is an official language of Pakistan and is widely used in India and elsewhere.

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

MLA
Chicago
APA

"Urdu." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 19 May. 2013 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Urdu." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 19, 2013). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-urdu.html

"Urdu." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 19, 2013 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-urdu.html

Learn more about citation styles