Urdu 1

Urdu 1Reading Booklet

Urdu 1Travelers should always check withtheir nation's State Department forcurrent advisories on local conditionsbefore traveling abroad.Booklet Design: Maia Kennedy and ‰ Recorded Program 2010 Simon & Schuster, Inc. Reading Booklet 2010 Simon & Schuster, Inc.Pimsleur is an imprint of Simon & Schuster Audio,a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. Mfg. in USA.All rights reserved.ii

Urdu 1ACKNOWLEDGMENTSVoicesEnglish-Speaking Instructor . . . . . . . . . . . Ray BrownUrdu-Speaking Instructor . . . . . . . . . . . . . Awais KaziFemale Urdu Speaker . . . . . . . . . . . . . Zamzam SyedMale Urdu Speaker . . . . . . . . . . . Aurangzeb HaneefCourse WritersDr. Jilani Warsi Masako D’AuriaReviewerMuhammad KhanEditorsBerit S. Ahmad Elizabeth HorberEditor & Executive ProducerBeverly D. HeinleProducer & DirectorSarah H. McInnisRecording EngineersPeter S. Turpin Kelly SauxSimon & Schuster Studios, Concord, MAiii

Urdu 1Table of ContentsIntroduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1The Urdu Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1The Urdu Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3The Urdu Alphabet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Alphabet Chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Diacritics Chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10The Reading Lessons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1Lesson One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Two . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Three . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Four . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Five . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Six . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Seven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Eight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Nine. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Ten . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Eleven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Twelve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Thirteen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Fourteen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Fifteen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Sixteen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Seventeen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Eighteen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Nineteen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Twenty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .iv1213141516171819202122232425262829303234

Urdu 1IntroductionUrdu is one of the official languages of NorthIndia and Pakistan, and a national language of Fiji. Itbelongs to the Hindustani group of the Indo-Iranianbranch of the Indo-European family.Approximately two hundred million peoplearound the world speak Urdu as a first or secondlanguage. Urdu-speaking descendants of Indian andPakistani Muslims live in all countries having a sizableSouth 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 LanguageUrdu developed as the lingua franca in SouthAsia during the 16th and 17th centuries in the regionsgoverned by the Persian-speaking Mughal Empire,mainly in Eastern Pakistan and Northwestern India.It is considered by some to be one of the world’smost beautiful languages and it is well-known for itsbeautiful poetry.

Urdu 1Urdu and Hindi are considered dialects ofHindustani. Linguistically, both Urdu and Hindi arevirtually identical languages and they are mutuallyintelligible. However, they differ in that Urdu hasbeen influenced by Arabic and Persian, whereas Hindidraws more heavily upon Sanskrit. There are fourprimary dialects of Urdu. This course teaches thestandard register of the Urdu dialect of Hindustani.Pakistan follows a three-language policy wherebychildren learn both Urdu and English in school andare then given the opportunity to learn a locallanguage such as Sindhi or Punjabi. Although Urduis the primary means of communication in Pakistan,a large number of Pakistanis speak other languages,such as Baluchi, an Iranian language, or Pashto, anofficial language of Afghanistan.Urdu was most formally defined as a dialect ofHindustani when the country was divided into Indiaand Pakistan in 1947. Urdu is an evolving languagewhich has borrowed many loan words from Farsi,Punjabi, Pashto, and most recently, English. The connection between Urdu and Farsi is so strong that theUrdu alphabet is almost identical to that of Farsi, andthere are numerous cognates in the two languages.2

Urdu 1The Urdu ScriptOne of the major differences between Urdu andHindi is that Hindi is written using the Devanagriscript, while Urdu is written in a derivative of thePersian alphabet, which is itself a derivative of theArabic alphabet. It is read from right to left (exceptfor numbers which are written from left to right).Urdu differs in appearance from Arabic in that ituses the more complex and sinuous Nastaliq scriptwhereas Arabic tends to the easier-to-read Naskh.Nastaliq is notoriously difficult to typeset, so Urdunewspapers are often made from hand-writtenmasters. Although the styles are different, peoplewho can read Urdu can also read Arabic, as Arabicuses the same alphabet but with fewer letters.The Urdu AlphabetAlthough there has been much debate on thealphabet, and some linguists claim that there are asmany as 93 letters, it is generally accepted that thereare 38 letters in the Urdu Alphabet. Some lettersfunction as both vowels and consonants.3

Urdu 1Some distinguishing characteristics of writtenUrdu are: Urdu letters can have one, two, or three dots.These dots can be placed either above or belowthe letter. The absence or presence of the dots,as well as the number and placement, help toidentify a letter and determine how it will bepronounced. As in cursive English, most Urdu letters connectto those that follow (in Urdu, they connect tothe left). However, nine letters, called “nonconnectors,” do not connect. They are:zhe ژ dal د vao و Dal ڈ re ر zaal ز Re ڑ ze ذ alif ا When letters connect, they often modify theirshape and undergo a reduction, as in theexample below. Remember to read the linefrom right to left. س ا alif ا 4siin س

Urdu 1 Many letters modify their shape accordingto their position in a word – depending onwhether they appear in an initial, medial, orfinal position. For example the following wordbegins and ends with the Urdu letter “b.”baab ا ب ب A letter will also sometimes change shapedepending on the letters around it.Forexample, notice how the kaaf in the wordsbelow changes shape. ےک ے آ پ ک پ آ aapke baRi ye kaaf pe alif آ اک ا پ ک پ آ aapka alif kaaf pe alif In written Urdu, there are “short” and long”vowels. The “short vowels” may be representedby “diacritics” or marks above and belowletters. Often these diacritics are omitted. The appearance of some letters may varyslightly, depending on the choice of font.5

Urdu 1Alphabet ChartA complete listing of the Urdu alphabet and diacriticsfollow. Notice the different forms each letter can takedepending on where it appears in a word. Readingfrom right to left, you’ll see the transliterated lettername in the first column. The next shows the Initialform (the letter alif), and moving to the left, you’llsee the Medial or middle form, which is shownbetween laam and alif in the chart. At the end of asentence, or Final position, the letter can have eithera Connected form, shown in the next column withthe letter laam, or if it’s unconnected, for examplewith alif, it will take the Independent form shown atthe far left.Final(Unconnected orIndependent) ا ب پ ت ٹ Final(Connectedwith laam)Medial(betweenlaam & alif)Initial(with alif)Namealif ل ب ل پ ا ب be اپل اپ pe اتل ل ت ل ٹ ابل اٹل 6 ت ا ٹ ا teTe

Urdu 1Final(Unconnected orIndependent)Final(Connectedwith laam)Medial(betweenlaam & alif) اثل Initial(with alif)Name ث ل ث ٠٠ چ ٠ چل ل ا چ اچ che حل احل اح baRihe خ خل اخل اخ ke ڈ ل ڈ ٠ ج ح د ذ ر جل اجل دل دل ا ل ڈ ا ل ذ ا ل ذ رل رل ا ث ا اج د ا ڈ ا ذ ا ر ا ڑ ل ڑ ل ڑ ا ڑ ا ژ ل ژ ل ژ ا ژ ا ز ل ز ا ل ز 7 ز ا sejiimdaalDaalzaalreRezezhe

Urdu 1Final(Unconnected orIndependent) س Final(Connectedwith laam)Medial(betweenlaam & alif) سل اسل Initial(with alif)Name س ا siin ل ش ل ش ا ض ٠ ل ض ٠ ل ض ا ض ا ظ ٠ ظ ٠ ل ظ ا ٠ ل ظ ا ٠٠٠٠ ش ص ٠ ط ع ٠ غ ف ق ک گ ٠٠٠ صل اصل لط اطل عل اعل غل فل اغل افل قل کل گل اص ط ا اع اغ اف shiinsuadzuadto’ezo’eainghainfe اقل اق qaaf اکل اک kaaf اگل 8 ش ا اگ gaaf

Urdu 1Final(Unconnected orIndependent) ل م ن ٠ و Final(Connectedwith laam)Medial(betweenlaam & alif) لال لل مل امل نل انل ول ول ا ہ ہل اہل ھ لھ ي يل ے ےل Name ﻻ / ال laam ام ن ا و ا miimnoonvao اہ chotihe لھ ا اھ dochasmihe ايل اي chotiye ایل 9Initial(with alif) ای baRiye

Urdu 1Diacritics ChartNameDiacriticExampleٓ آ madَ َر zabarِ ِر zerُpeshtashdeed ُر ّر ّ10ExplanationOnly appears ontop of an initialalif.Appears above aletter and makes ashorter “a” sound.Shown here overthe letter re.Appears below aletter and makes ashorter “i” sound.Shown here belowthe letter re.Appears above aletter and makes ashorter “u” sound.Shown here overthe letter re.Appears above aletter and doublesthe consonant.Shown here overthe letter re.

Urdu 1The Reading LessonsThere are twenty Urdu Reading Lessons. You maychoose to do the Readings along with the lessons, orall together after completing the rest of the course.Feel free to repeat the Reading Lessons as often asnecessary for practice with the Urdu alphabet andthe sounds it represents.Some of the words and phrases you will readare taught in this course, but most are not, and –especially in the early lessons – some may simplybe syllables rather than actual words. Actualwords are used more and more as the number ofletters introduced increases. Diacritics will beincluded in Reading Lessons One through Nineteen.Occasionally in these lessons, words will be shownwithout diacritics, but only after you have alreadyread the same words with diacritics. In LessonTwenty you will be asked to read an exchange ofshort phrases consisting of words you’ve learned inthis course without the diacritical marks.11

Urdu 1Lesson One12

Urdu 1Lesson Two13

Urdu 1Lesson Three14

Urdu 1Lesson Four15

Urdu 1Lesson Five16

Urdu 1Lesson Six17

Urdu 1Lesson Seven18

Urdu 1Lesson Eight19

Urdu 1Lesson Nine20

Urdu 1Lesson Ten21

Urdu 1Lesson Eleven22

Urdu 1Lesson Twelve23

Urdu 1Lesson Thirteen24

Urdu 1Lesson Fourteen ؟ .25

Urdu 1Lesson Fifteen26

Urdu 1.27

Urdu 1Lesson Sixteen28

Urdu 1Lesson Seventeen29

Urdu 1Lesson Eighteen30

Urdu 131

Urdu 1Lesson Nineteen.32

Urdu 1.33

Urdu 1Lesson Twenty.34

Urdu 1.35

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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