Urdu

Urdu, also known as Lashkari, or the Lashkari language (لشکری ‍زبان) is the national language of Pakistan and a recognized regional dialect in India. Urdu is an Indo-Aryan language, which means that it came from Proto-Indo-Aryan, a language that was spoken northeast of the Caspian Sea in the third millennium.

Most people in Pakistan speak it as a 'lingua franca'. There are parts of India that speak it, such as Delhi, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh, for example. Despite a few differences, the words in Hindi are very similar to Urdu. The way it is written, is different from how Hindi is written. People who speak Hindi and Urdu may be able to talk, but they may not be able to understand or express the meaning of one of these two scripts.

History
In the 11th century AD, the Ghaznavid Empire ruled over Punjab, the region characterized by five rivers.

In the past, the Punjab was a land east of the Indus River.

The primary language spoken by Ghaznavids, who were of Turkic ethnicity, was Persian. The Ghaznavids met the people who spoke an Indo-Aryan dialect after acquiring Punjab or Hind, which had Lahore as its capital. The contemporary Punjabi language derives from this language indigenous to the region.

A distinctive dialect, dubbed 'Lashkari Zaban,' was created when Persian and Punjabi, originally spoken by the Punjabi people, were merged.

The Ghaznavids and inhabitants of the area adopted this new language. In the 12th century AD, the Ghaznavids moved to the east of India and brought this language to Delhi. The language was influenced by the Khariboli dialect that was spoken in the area.

From Delhi it spread to the northern regions, where it became a standard way of interacting. Khariboli's influence on the language spread to cities like Lucknow and Hyderabad. Over the course of time, the language has been referred to in numerous ways.

Native poets from these cities and the surrounding areas helped improve it by adding many Persian and Chagatai words to it. They added Arabic words to Urdu that already existed in Persian.

During the Delhi Sultanate, the Urdu language continued to change.

The 'Mughal Empire' was a distinct Muslim empire of Turkic origin, with primary language Chagatai and secondary language Persian. But they did not have any signs that they were from Iran or the Persian region. 

At that time, the royal camps' dialect was known as Zaban-i-Ordu.

It is said that the late eighteenth-century AD poet Ghulam Mashafi bestowed upon it the designation “Urdu”, which was shortened from “Zaban-i-Urdu.”

Urdu is a language of the Mughals, and is classified within the Eastern Turkic subfamily. It originated from Chagatai. Chagatai was related to the Turks because they were all part of the same Turkic family, unlike Uzbek and Uyghur languages.

In its own indigenous translation, Urdu was a Lashkari Zaban and Lashkari for short.

The language commonly referred to as Urdu was used as a court language in numerous South Asian cities, including Delhi and Amritsar.

During the time of the British Empire, it gained the designation of "Hindustani" due to is usage in India or Hindustan, a region situated near the Indus River. The court proceedings were continuing in Urdu.

It was adopted as a first language by many people in North India.

By the end of British rule and the independence of Pakistan, it was selected as the national language for the people of the country because they spoke different languages and dialects.

In India, it became the national language but went by the name Hindi and was written in the Devanagari script. It also used a lesser amount of Arabic, Persian, and Chagatai words and instead, Sanskrit words were adopted in their place.

Today, it is the most widely spoken language in Pakistan in terms of total speakers and a registered language in 22 Indian states.

Relations to Persian

Differences 
The letters in Urdu are derived from the Persian/Farsi alphabet, which is derived from the Arabic alphabet. The additional letters that are found in Urdu include ٹ ,ڈ ,ڑ (ṫ, ḋ, ṙ). To make the alphabet more enriched, two letters were created for the sounds ه (h) and ی (y). By adding these letters to the existing Persian letters, the Urdu alphabet became more suitable for the people of Pakistan and for some people of North India, who primarily use nastaliq script. Both are also Indo-Iranic languages descending from Proto-Indo-Iranic, but deriving from separate subbranches, Iranic and Indo-Aryan respectively.

Similarities 
Urdu is written right to left like Farsi (Persian) script. Urdu is also written in the Nasta’ liq style of Persian Calligraphy. Nastaliq style is a cursive script invented by Mīr ʿAlī of Tabrīz, a very famous calligrapher during the Timurid period (1402–1502). Both belong to the Indo-Iranic language subfamily.

Levels of formality

Informal 
Urdu in its less formalized register has been called a rekhta (ریختہ, ), meaning "rough mixture". The more formal register of Urdu is sometimes called zabān-e-Urdu-e-mo'alla (زبان اردو معلہ ), the "Language of Camp."

In local translation, it is called Lashkari Zabān ( []) meaning "language of battalions" or "battalion language." This can be shortened to Lashkari.

The etymology of the word used in the Urdu language, for the most part, decides how nice or well done your speech is. For example, Urdu speakers would distinguish between پانی pānī and آب āb, both meaning "water" for example, or between آدمی  ādmi and مرد mard, meaning "man." The first word is ad derivative from Adam (آدم) Arabic means from Adam, and it can be used for both man and woman in place of human being. The second word مرد mard  refers to a gender or can be used for manly hood as well.

If a word is of Persian or Arabic origin, the level of speech is thought to be more formal. If Persian or Arabic grammar constructs, such as the izafat, are used in Urdu, the level of speech is also thought more formal and correct. If a word is inherited from Chagatai, the level of speech is thought more colloquial and personal.

Formal 
Urdu is supposed to be a well-formed language; many of words are used in it to show respect and politeness. This emphasis on politeness, which comes from the vocabulary, is known as Aadab (Courteous) and to sometimes as takalluf (Formal) in Urdu. These words are mostly used when addressing elders, or people with whom one is not met yet. Just like French Vous and Tu. Upon studying French and other forms of Language, similar formal language constructs are present. The whole grammatical layout appears to be almost identical to French language structure. The rules for forming sentences and structuring them are identical

Poetics 

Two well-respected poets who are not only celebrated in the South Asian subcontinent, but are famous in many other communities worldwide are Mirza Ghalib and Sir Dr. Muhammed Iqbal.

Mirza Ghalib 

Ghalib (1797-1869) is well-known for his classic satire and sarcasm, as seen in the following verse;

(Latin/Roma alphabet):

Umer bhar hum yun hee ghalati kartey rahen Ghalib

Dhool ch-herey pei thee aur hum aaina saaf karte rahe

(translation):

O Ghalib (himself) all my life I kept making the same mistakes over and over,

I was busy cleaning the mirror while the dirt was on my face.

Sir Dr Muhammed Iqbal 

Iqbal (1877-1938) was a poet, and an active politician. He focused his poetry on bringing out the plight of the suffering Muslim community of British India. In his poetry, he very boldly highlighted the missing virtues and values in the morally corrupt Indian society. Despite much opposition in the beginning, he ended up leaving a considerable impact. He is also called the “Poet of the East” and the “Poet of Islam”. His work is displayed in the following verse;

(Latin/Roma Alphabet):     

Aapne bhe khafa mujh sei beganey bhe na khush

Mein zeher-e-halahal ku kabhi keh na saka qand

(translation):

I could not keep happy either my loved ones or the strangers,

as I could never call a piece of poison a piece of candy.  

Iqbal is considered by many an inspirational poet. He played a large role in the Pakistan Movement, with many claiming that he was the one to imagine and initiate it.

Common Words/Phrases in Urdu 
Formal Urdu:

Aap tashreef rakhein = Please have a seat

Main mu'azzarat chahta/chahti hun = Please excuse me/I apologize

Informal Urdu: Aap bethein (You sit) or Tum betho (Sit, more informal)

Main maafi chahta/chahti hun= I ask for forgiveness

*************

Aap kaisay hein? = How are you?

Main theek hun = I am fine

Assalam O Alaikum = Peace be upon you (It basically means hello, and it is a common greeting used in Islamic countries or among Muslims in general)

Urdu vs. Hindi--What's the difference? 
Although often misunderstood as two separate languages, Urdu and Hindi are two registers of the same Hindustani language, often called Hindi-Urdu. Urdu is the official language of Pakistan and spoken by 71 million people in India. Urdu's vocabulary borrows primarily from Chagatai, Sanskrit, Persian and Arabic.
Hindi, also historically known as Hindui (हिंदुई), is the most spoken language of India, which replaces much of Urdu's Farsi, Chagatai and Arabic terminology with Sanskrit derived vocabulary. They are grammatically the same. Everyday words are often shared between the two registers, while formal vocabulary can differ significantly. Urdu and Hindi speakers can understand each other with little to no difficulty, largely from using shared, or English vocabulary, rather than using highly Arabized or Sanskritized vocabulary. Hindi speakers are more likely to use words of Arabic/Persian origin (Kitaab, Dil, Mahobbat), than Urdu speakers are to use words of Sanskrit origin (Pustak, Man, Prem), as Urdu-speaking Pakistani's have less exposure to Hindi, than Hindi-speaking Indians do to Urdu. This can be seen in Bollywoods extensive use of the Urdu register, and India being a nation where both registers are natively spoken.

Example

English: I want to know how your mind is feeling.

Literary Urdu: Mujhe aap ke dimaagh ki jazbaat maatloob hai.

Literary Hindi: Mujhe aap ke mastishk ka bhaav vaanchit hai.

Casual Hindustani: Main tere man* ka haal* jaanna chaata hun.

*man is of Sanskrit origin, while haal is of Arabic origin

References

Further reading
ترتیب وڈیزائننگ ایم پی خاؿ اردولشکری زبان (sample texts)

Other websites

National symbols of Pakistan
 
Languages of India
Languages of Jammu and Kashmir