The average Hindutva will claim that Hindi is the continuation of the original Hindustani language while Undri or Urdu is a plagiarized form of Hindi, using Perseo-Arabic script and Persian, Arabic plus Turkic vocabulary. Many brainwashed Pakistanis buy into this idea.
Many would think that Hindi having more Sanskrit vocabulary would be closer to the original parent of these two languages, Sanskrit.
Actually, the reality of the matter is far from these beliefs. The original Hindustani language developed as a result of the Mughals trying to learn Sanskrit.
In doing so, many Persian and Turkic words entered the language since the Mughals were a Persian led empire with an army of Turko-Mongols.
It was later on that the Hindustani language was popularly nicknamed "Zaban-i-Ordu" or the language of the royal military camp since the Mughals were the military rulers and spoke Hindustani.
Later on, the nickname "Zaban-i-Ordu" was frequently called "Ordu" (Ordu means army in Turkic languages) for short. This name evolved into the local pronunciation "Urdu."
The reason for "Hindi" (another variant of Hindustani) not having Turkic, Arabic and Persian vocabulary and having more Sanskrit words is because deliberate efforts were made by Hindutva nationalists to remove vocabulary imported by the Muslim invaders.
The Sanskritization of Hindi started in the pre-independence era and continued on after independence of British rule. Not because Hindi is the 'original' variant of Hindustani.
The deliberate Sanskritization of is well documented in news articles, books and other academic publications.
So if the Turkic, Arabic, Persian vocab in Hindi has been removed as a deliberate act and not a result of natural linguistic evolution, can Hindutvas claim the modern Hindi language to be 'closer' to the original Hindustani language or even to Sanskrit?
Since modern Urdu or Undri retains most of the Turkic, Arabic and Persian vocabulary of Hindustani, it has a much higher ground over Hindustani than Hindi does.
An important fact to note is that the percentage of vocabulary from a parent language in the off-spring language is irrelevant in modern linguistics.
Urdu is said to have only about seven percent of it's vocabulary inherited from Sanskrit.
Modern Turkish has more than half of it's vocabulary inherited from Arabic and Persian, and to a lesser extent, Greek.
Despite all this, Turkish is still an Altaic language due to it's distinct structure unrelated to Arabic and Persian/Farsi.
Likewise, Urdu or Undri is an Indo-Aryan language because it's structural base originates from Sanskrit, regardless of it's vocabulary.
The Sanskritization of Hindi has been pushed to such an extreme that many Hindi-speaking Indians don't understand it anymore. That's how different it has become from the original Hindustani language.
This is probably the reason why Urdu/Undri has been selected for use in bollywood, to gain a larger audience, since many Hindi-speaking Indians cannot understand this heavily Sanskritized version of Hindi.
This usage of Urdu/Undri in bollywood has caused an outcry amongst Hindutvas, so the name Hindustani has been adopted to make it sound more neutral.
Another fact to note is that Hindustan and Hindustani do not have any religious meaning. The word "Hindu" used by most Indians today to refer to their 'religion' stems from the word "Hind" used by the Persians and later by the Arabs as well. This word evolves from the Sanskrit words "Sindh" and "Sindhu" meaning "land of the rivers" referring to the Indus Valley region and perhaps the Ganges plain.
It was from this word that the British coined 'Hinduism' to refer to the various pagan cults and religions in the subcontinent mostly unrelated to each other.
The Mughal usage of the words 'Hindustan' and 'Hindustani' has absolutely no religious basis, but geographical ones.
All these facts can easily be researched and based on them, it's fair to state that Urdu/Undri is not derived from modern Hindi, but instead Hindustani which in turn is derived from Sanskrit.
Though Urdu/Undri has evolved through centuries under different names from Hindwi to Hindustani to Urdu and Undri, it is an independent language of Hindi and always has been.
Many would think that Hindi having more Sanskrit vocabulary would be closer to the original parent of these two languages, Sanskrit.
Actually, the reality of the matter is far from these beliefs. The original Hindustani language developed as a result of the Mughals trying to learn Sanskrit.
In doing so, many Persian and Turkic words entered the language since the Mughals were a Persian led empire with an army of Turko-Mongols.
It was later on that the Hindustani language was popularly nicknamed "Zaban-i-Ordu" or the language of the royal military camp since the Mughals were the military rulers and spoke Hindustani.
Later on, the nickname "Zaban-i-Ordu" was frequently called "Ordu" (Ordu means army in Turkic languages) for short. This name evolved into the local pronunciation "Urdu."
The reason for "Hindi" (another variant of Hindustani) not having Turkic, Arabic and Persian vocabulary and having more Sanskrit words is because deliberate efforts were made by Hindutva nationalists to remove vocabulary imported by the Muslim invaders.
The Sanskritization of Hindi started in the pre-independence era and continued on after independence of British rule. Not because Hindi is the 'original' variant of Hindustani.
The deliberate Sanskritization of is well documented in news articles, books and other academic publications.
So if the Turkic, Arabic, Persian vocab in Hindi has been removed as a deliberate act and not a result of natural linguistic evolution, can Hindutvas claim the modern Hindi language to be 'closer' to the original Hindustani language or even to Sanskrit?
Since modern Urdu or Undri retains most of the Turkic, Arabic and Persian vocabulary of Hindustani, it has a much higher ground over Hindustani than Hindi does.
An important fact to note is that the percentage of vocabulary from a parent language in the off-spring language is irrelevant in modern linguistics.
Urdu is said to have only about seven percent of it's vocabulary inherited from Sanskrit.
Modern Turkish has more than half of it's vocabulary inherited from Arabic and Persian, and to a lesser extent, Greek.
Despite all this, Turkish is still an Altaic language due to it's distinct structure unrelated to Arabic and Persian/Farsi.
Likewise, Urdu or Undri is an Indo-Aryan language because it's structural base originates from Sanskrit, regardless of it's vocabulary.
The Sanskritization of Hindi has been pushed to such an extreme that many Hindi-speaking Indians don't understand it anymore. That's how different it has become from the original Hindustani language.
This is probably the reason why Urdu/Undri has been selected for use in bollywood, to gain a larger audience, since many Hindi-speaking Indians cannot understand this heavily Sanskritized version of Hindi.
This usage of Urdu/Undri in bollywood has caused an outcry amongst Hindutvas, so the name Hindustani has been adopted to make it sound more neutral.
Another fact to note is that Hindustan and Hindustani do not have any religious meaning. The word "Hindu" used by most Indians today to refer to their 'religion' stems from the word "Hind" used by the Persians and later by the Arabs as well. This word evolves from the Sanskrit words "Sindh" and "Sindhu" meaning "land of the rivers" referring to the Indus Valley region and perhaps the Ganges plain.
It was from this word that the British coined 'Hinduism' to refer to the various pagan cults and religions in the subcontinent mostly unrelated to each other.
The Mughal usage of the words 'Hindustan' and 'Hindustani' has absolutely no religious basis, but geographical ones.
All these facts can easily be researched and based on them, it's fair to state that Urdu/Undri is not derived from modern Hindi, but instead Hindustani which in turn is derived from Sanskrit.
Though Urdu/Undri has evolved through centuries under different names from Hindwi to Hindustani to Urdu and Undri, it is an independent language of Hindi and always has been.
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ReplyDeleteI read that the army in Turkish translation is urdo
ReplyDeleteRead this link: http://praveensarma.in/hindi-and-urdu-are-not-same-the-response-to-m
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