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Around the late 18th and early 19th century a breakthrough took place in Urdu encompassing the educational and scientific field. Apart from original and translated works on history and literature, John Gilchrist from Fort William College, wrote an Urdu grammar and compiled an Urdu English dictionary. The other institutions involved in this were Oriental Delhi College, Delhi, which originally started as Madarsah Ghaziuddin in 1792; Institute of Scientific Society established by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan in 1867 with the aim to introducing modern science to Urdu society, etc. John Gilcharist has been associated with Fort William College, Calcutta, since its inception in the 19th century, and has been rightly called the Father of Urdu Prose. Fort William College was founded in 1800 A.D. Gilchrist had been an author of many Hindustani works. Although Grierson provides a comphrehensive list of Gilchrist’s work in Linguistic Survey of India (Volume IX), Some given below are worth mentioning:-
(1) A Dictionary, English and Hindustani, in two parts, published in 1796 A.D., (2) Oriental linguist, an introduction to the language of Hindustani in 1798-A.D., (3) Hindustani Grammar, Calcutta, 1796, (4) Hindustani Philology,
Under the able and sympathetic guidance of Gilchrist, a band of Indian scholars were brought together in FWC who not only wrote text books for the use of the fresh officers but also created a standard prose for Urdu and Hindi. The chief authors at the College were Mir Amman, Afsos, Husseni, Lutf, Hyderi, Javan, Lallulal, Nihalchand, Ikram Ali wala, Syed Mahomed Munir, Syed Bashir Ali Afsos and Madarilal Gujrati.
Fort William College is credited to have established new style of writing that helped the new writers and also gave prominence to Indian languages and ushered them in modern age. The Fort William College occupies very important position in the history of Urdu prose. Its efforts brought Urdu language and literature chose to people, because it promoted the style which was indigeneous and rooted to the native soil. Instead of borrowing words from Arabic and Persian literature, it allowed the use of collocations and idioms of common place.
Delhi College had a very important position in the history of Urdu. It was founded in 1825, and Mr. Joseph Henry Taylor was its Principal. There were two sections – one eastern and the other western or English. With the advent of the nineteenth century a large number of books were translated from the Persian into Urdu. Urdu poetry flourished and the Court of the Mughal Emperor Zafar in the Fort became the center of literary activities, which presaged a important effect in northern India as the century advanced. With the establishment of the Delhi College there was a remarkable outburst of brilliant intellectual life.
The Urdu literary renaissance at Delhi gave a sudden illumination to the age, before it sunk back into dullness. There was also the great tradition of the past glory and lustre of the Mughal rule. The Delhi College produced many eminent pupils which were the finest products of the Delhi Renaissance and had far reaching and important influence on the destiny of Urdu. Nazir Ahmad, Ashob, Azad, Hali, Ziauddin and Zakaullah were contemporaries and the chief founders of modern Urdu literature. Professor Ramchander and Maulana Imam Bakhsh were teachers in the College. In 1842 a literary society was established as an adjunct of the old Delhi College. Professor Ramchander and Sahbai were the moving spirits. The Society was responsible for many compilations which were subsequently published in Delhi. They were intended to serve as text books for the use of the students. Mostly they were translations from English and some from Persian. Other critics followed the example of Delhi. Agra, Lucknow and Banares also have some publications to their credit. These translations and compilations gave a great stimulus to Urdu prose and made it simple, direct and business like. Another literary society was formed at Delhi in 1864 which had Rai Bahadur Master and Peary Lal in its forefront. Ashob was the able secretary. Under its aegies many lectures were delivered and the lamp of Urdu, though dim, was kept alive. It was Ashob who helped and partly inspired Azad and Hali to inaugurate the modern Urdu poetry. He supplied to Hali a number of translations from English, and also compiled many Urdu text books for the school. An English Class was opened in Delhi in 1827 A.D. Despite the prejudices against English the enrolment was encouraging, for there were as many as 300 students reading English as early as in 1831 A.D.
It was the avowed aim of Delhi College to teach through the medium of Urdu with English language and western style. It was characteristic of Delhi school to picture emotion in simple and fluent verse. Imagery and words were subordinated to feeling and thought.
The hub of literary activity and the center of interest shifted to Lucknow. The impoverishment of Delhi was the gain of Lucknow. The poets from Delhi kindled the light at Lucknow and created a wide spread taste for poetry. Before their arrival there were no poets of any fame in Lucknow. Lucknow poetry was devoted exclusively to words and figures of speech, which certainly had its consequences. Thought was sacrificed to diction. Only those words which were related to each other and which could match with the subject matter of the couplet were to be used. For instance, if the theme of the verse was a garden only those words were to be employed which had any connection with or bearing on garden. This overmastering attention to words smothered spontaneity and brought in artificiality. Words were ransacked and woven into the couplet without a reference to its aptness, resonance, and general effect. A relation to the themes was the only criterion for selection. Another consequence of this practice was that poetry became highly conventional. Freedom, pathos, genuine sentiment, eloquence and simplicity were all sacrificed at the altar of words. The school of Lucknow poetry gave rise to some difference in the language. Poets and people of Lucknow used a few words and idioms in a peculiar manner and contended that the words and idioms which they used were an improvement over those current in Delhi and popular with the Delhi poets. According to Lucknow school, their words and idioms were more elegant and more eloquent. The difference also extended itself to grammar. Certain words were considered masculine by people of Lucknow, while they were feminine in the use of people of Delhi and vice-versa. Lucknow was divided in its allegiance between Nasikh and Atish. These contests of skill spurred on these great masters to put forth their best efforts.
Scientific Society was established on 9th January 1864 with the multipurpose objective of working for the prosperity of language. The main aim of this society was translating works in Urdu. Scientific Society was the third important organization of Urdu. Scientific Society translated fifteen books from English to Urdu. The aim of this Society was to prepare those types of books which maintain the mind of Indian people, direct or indirect way.
Anjuman Taraqi-e Urdu (ATU) basically originated from Sir Syed’s Educational Conference. It is considered that the foundation of Anjuman Taraqi-e- Urdu was laid by Allama Shibli at the closing session of Educational Conference held on 4th January 1903. ATU, which started with avowed aim towards working for the prosperity of Urdu, did not leave any aspect of language study untouched. Its linguistic condtribution can be seen in terms of its encouragement and publication of books related to grammar and script, creation of glossaries of terminologies, compilation of mono- and bilingual dictionaries, translation of Urdu Classics, etc. It also worked towards reform of language and script and creating rules for coining terminologies. It was provided platform for discussion and comments.
Daryā-e Latāfat by Insha Dehelvi (1752-1817) has a special place in the history of Urdu grammar writing. Although written in Persian, its example are based on Urdu words and sentence structure. It was published by Anjuman Taraqi-e-Urdu’s Annazir Press, Lucknow in 1916 with a preface by Maulvi Abdul Haq. Pandit Braj Mohan Datta Tarya Kaifi Dehelvi translated it into Urdu and was published by Anjuman Taraqi-e-Urdu in 1935.
Qawaid-e Urdu (Urdu Grammar) written by Maulvi Abdul Haq was also published by Annazir Press, Lucknow and later distributed by Anjuman Taraqi-e- Urdu. Abdul Haq divided the Urdu Grammar in four parts, which were as follows:
(i) Spelling (ﺎﺠﮨ ) (ii) Syntax (ﻑﺭﺼ ) (iii) Derived and Compound words ( ﻅﺎﻔﻟﺍ ﺐﮐﺮﻣ ﻮ ﻖﭡﺸﻤ ) (iv) Morphology ( ﻭﺣﻧ )
The creation of terminology was for the first time. Carried out by ATU to pave way for translation. It started collecting terminologies in 1917, and for this project Nizam government sanctioned Rs. 3000/- year for three consecutive years.
English-Urdu glossary of technical terms of Chemistry was published by Anjuman Taraqi-e- Urdu in 1939. Here all efforts were made to avoid difficult words, hence the terminologies become easy and simple. Subsequently after partition Anjuman Taraqi-e-Urdu (Pakistan) published this Glossary of Chemistry in 1953.
ATU later published Glossary of Terminologies (Part-II & III) [Farhang-e- Istilāhat-e Ilmiyah] in 1940, which included terms from Sociology, History, Politics and Economics.
Some of the important publications of Anjuman Taraqi-e- Urdu are as follows:
(i) Terminologies for Geography (Istilāhāt –e- Jughrāfiyāh) (ii) Glossary for Terminologies of Astronomy (Farhang-e- Istilāhāt–e Ilmiyāh Həyyāt) (iii) The standard English-Urdu Dictionary.
Since the progress in language is tied to the progress in society, there is always dynamicity in the language to cope with such progress either through borrowing or by coining new terms. As far as the Urdu society is concerned, with the development of interest in various areas of knowledge and the consciousness of digesting them, the language was forced to coin terms accordingly. For this purpose, different committees were formed, expert panels were constituted, books were written principles were laid down on the trends and techniques of coining the terminology. Some significant books written on the subject are: Urdu mein Ilme-Istilāhāt ka Məslah (Problems of Scientific Terminology in Urdu), Farhang-e- Istilāhāt–e- ilmiāh (Glosssary of the Scientific Terminology) Istilāhāt-e- Ilme Jadidiyat (Terminology of Modern Sciences) Usūle- Vaza–e Istilāhāt (Principles of Coining the Terminology), Vaza-e –Istilāhāt (Techniques in Coining Terminology), etc.
The occurrence of vowels like /a/, / i/, /u/ before the final nasal consonants in a simple and compound words from Persian and Arabic raised the question concerning the nature of nasal consonants. It was found that the final nasal consonants either remained overt (élan nūn), as in the case of simple words like / jān/ ‘ life’ , / īmān/ ‘ faith’, / dīn/ ‘religion’ /qūn/ ‘blood’, / junūn/, ‘eccentricity’ ,etc, or remained ‘hidden’ or covert (nūn Ghuna) in the form of nasalization of the preceeding vowel in the last element of the compound.
VN………………. >V# [compound]
as in the case of compound words like / joše junũ/ [ ںﻮﻧﺟﺶﻮﺠ ] ‘ in the fit of eccentricity’, / dušməne īmā/ [ﻥﺍﻤﻴﺍ ﻦﻤﺸﺩ ] ‘enemy of faith’, etc.
Problems of compounding in Urdu, i.e. joining two words together in which first half belongs to Arabic, Persian or even Turkish languages, while the second half which is to be compounded is from some other language, were dealt with quite exhaustively. The general consensus prevailing at that time was that compounding of two Hindi words is correct but compounding of Hindi and Persian or Hindi and Arabic was considered incorrect.
Over the question of the techniques in coining terminology, there were two distinct schools of thought : one proposed that coining should be based on the pattern of Arabic while the others believed that one should take words from all those languages which have influenced Urdu, like Hindi, Persian, English etc. In this connection, the suggestions, methods and principles discussed by Wahiduddin Saleem in his book are of Vaza-e- Istilāhāt immense importance.
Script had always remained a problematic and crucial area in which a lot of work has been done for its simplification and standardization. Since Urdu script is an extension of Perso-Arabic script, it has undergone many changes by incorporating certain aspirated consonants of Indo Aryan in its graphemic inventory during the process of development. This has resulted in the presence of as many as four graphemes representing a single speech sound. The interest to reform the script had been in the minds of scholars for quite some time. Gilchrist, in order to overcome this problem, devised different symbols to represent different speech sounds. This facilitated the learners to differentiate between different symbols of the same sound.
Thus all such problems of orthography, script, status of loan words, coinage of new expressions, etc aiming at the standardization and modernization of Urdu were resolved and settled one way or another. In all such cases there had been language planning change ‘naturally’ carried out without conscious intervention. However some changes were conscious too, deliberately carried out but by individuals. This made language planning process planned and deliberate. Besides the individuals, governmental and semi- governmental machineries like Aligarh Muslim University, Jamia Millia Islamia, National Council of Educational Research and Training, Hamdard Institute, Darul- Musannifin, etc were also involved in the process of standardization and modernization of Urdu language.
Plural formation had always remained problematic and crucial area. There are a great number of irregular plurals in Urdu. There is no definite rule present in Urdu language for the formation of plurals. Pluralization is governed by the different rules in Urdu. For example, masculine nouns ending in /a/ (long) and /ə/ (short ) change to /e/ for plural, as in
/ ləṚka/ ‘ a boy’ / ləṚke/ ‘ boys’ / kəmra/ ‘ a room’ / kəmre/ ‘ rooms’
Masculine nouns ending in /ã/ are similarly treated, i.e. their /a/ form changes to /e/, the nasal being retained at the end, as in
/kūã/ ‘ a well / kūẽ/ ‘ wells’,
Feminine nouns ending in / ī/ and /ã/ whilst those ending otherwise, add /ã / for plural, as in
/ghoṚī/ ‘ a mare/ / ghoRiyã/ ‘ mares’
/mez/ ‘ a table’ / mezo/ ‘tables’.
There are a great number of irregular plurals in Urdu, which are constructed on the pattern of Arabic, e.g.
/ qism/ ‘ kind’ / əqsām/ ‘ kinds’ / kitab/ ‘ a book’ / kutub/ ‘ books’ / məsjid/ ‘ mosque’ / məsajid/ ‘ mosques’ / təklīf/ ‘ trouble’ / təkalīf/ ‘ troubles’ / yatim/ ‘orphan’ / yətimə/ ‘ orphans’ / əjīb/ ‘ strong’ /əjaib/ ‘strong things’ / hakim/ ‘ ruler’ / hukmərã/ ‘ rulers / əmīr/ ‘ nobleman’ / uməra/ ‘ nobleman’
In Urdu there is a problem with Hamza. as it is wrongly added to the words. Some of the problems of Hamza are being discussed below:
(1) There are various Arabic words in which hamza is used. For example /ibtida/ < ﺀﺍﺪﺗﺒﺍ >, /intiha/ < ﺀﺍﮨﺘﻨﺍ >, /ulmã /< ﺀﺍﻣﻟﻋ >,/šəura/ <ﺀﺍﺮﻌﺷ > ,etc. But in Urdu they are without hamza, e.g. /ibtida < ﺍﺪﭠﺒﺍ >,/intiha /< ﺍﮨﭠﻨﺍ >, /ulmã /< ﺀﺍﻣﻟﻋ >, /šəura/<ﺀﺍﺮﻌﺷ >
(2) There are a number of problems related to the choice between hamza < ﺀ >] and ye < ﻯ > i.e. instead of ye hamza is written. But the problem arises when both ye and hamza occur at one place, for example, /liye / < ﮯﻳﻠ > as <ﮱﻠ > or <ﮱﻳﻠ >
(3) Misuse of Hamza is done in genetive case (Izafat). The rule for writing izafat is that it is being put at the last letter of the first word in a compound. But problem arises in those words where the last letter is ye [ﻯ/ﮮ], because hamza is written over ﻯ (ye). Rule is that zer < ̷ > is taken with ye and not Hamza < ۶ >]. For example if we write /bəndəgi-e- xuda /<ﺍﺪﺨءﻰﮔءﺪﻧﺑ > as < ﺍﺪﺨءﻰﮔﺪﻧﺑ > it will be wrong because in Urdu no two letters can occur for one sound, hence ye and hamza can not occur at one not placed. If somebody writes <ﺍﺪﺨ ءﯥﮔﺪﻧﺑ > then he will have to read it either as <ﺍﺪﺨ ءﻰﮔﺪﻧﺑ > or as < ﺍﺪﺨء ﮒﺪﻧﺑ > and both these forms are not correct.
Hamza is not sound form of Alif and Lam Alif is a compound of two alphabets.
The problem is that there are few words where nūn (ﻥ) is wrongly inserted e.g. /ghās/, /ghəsyārā/, /kōpəl/ etc.
There is also a problem with sākin nūn < ن >. In Arabic and Persian words if sākin nūn is followed by be < ﺐ > then the sound of nūn will be changed to mīm < ﻢ >
gumbad < ﺪﺒﻨﮔ > əmbār <ﺭﺍﺑﻧﺍ > sumbul < ﻞﺒﻨﺴ >
In some words vao < و /و > (is written but not pronounced. This vao is called vav-e- madula < ﮧﻟﻮﺩﻌﻤ واو >
Xuš < ﺶﻮﺧ > ‘happy’ Xuab <ﺏﺍﻮﺧ > ‘dream’ Xuaja < ﮧﺠﻮﺨ > ‘masc name’ d∂rxuast < ﺕﺴﺍﻮﺨﺮﺩ > ‘request' xudkuši < ﻰﺸﻛﺩﻮﺨ > ‘socide' bərxurdar <ﺮﺍﺮﻭﺨﺭﺒ > ‘son’ tənxuah < ﻩﺍﻮﺨﻧﭡ > ‘salary’
The age of Akbar marks a brilliant epoch in the realm of thought and prolific output of belles- letters in different branches of learning. To make Persian easier for the Hindus and to adopt it to linguistic genius of India. Akbar thought of introducing some changes in the orthography. Badayuni writes that during Akbars time the letters which are peculiar to Arabic language viz ‘se’ <ﺙ > ‘ain’ < ﻉ >, ‘he’ < ﺡ > , ‘svad’ < ﺺ >, ‘zvad’ < ﺽ >, ‘to’ < ﻄ > and ‘zo’ < ﻇ >, were avoided.
There were attempts made to bring certain reforms in the script which has these Arabic letters and these attempts were made to bring Persian closer to the family of Indian languages.
Wali ( 1667- 1741), popularly known as ‘the Father of Rekhta’, gave serious thought and definite start to Urdu poetry, which later serves as a model for writers of Urdu verses in the North. A scholarly reaction in favour of Persian emerged which gave impetus to the movement initiated by Wali and supported by Hatim, etc. Hatim, along with other protagonist of this movement discarded the spelling like / təsbi/ <ﯽﺒﺛﺗ >, /beganə/< ﺎﻧﻪﮔﺑ >, /divanə/ < ﻧﻪﺍﻭﺪ >]. In case of pronunciation they asked people to refrain from using sakin as muttaharik, as it was considered incorrect. They also pleaded for the restoration of the original Persian spelling, which is exemplified by their insistence on using /Gharz/ as against /Ghərəz/, thus they insisted on /mərz/ for mərəz/. A similar reaction came in the substitution of / ūdhər/ for / ūdhər/, /kidhər/ for / kīdhər/, etc, as well as dropping of words like / nəen/ ‘eye’, / jəg/ ‘world’, /nit/ ‘ everyday’, etc. simply because they are of purely Hindi origin. Such strict emphasis on the reversion to Persian was held on the belief that correctness in Urdu would be determined not by the current usage, but by a strict conformity to the usage prevailing in Persian.
Hatim’s works against the vernacularised forms of loan words was reverted, some decades, later by Insha, who did not hesitate to regard as correct the forms of imported words in the pronunciation of native speakers of Urdu.
Mir Hasan (d. 1786), Mir (d. 1810), Mir Soz (1720-1798), Sauda (1713-1781), etc. further carried the movement of Persianization of Urdu language, introduced broad changes in the poetry by introducing new metres and new forms of poetic composition, and made certain improvement in the verse technique by making couplets more terse and compact with less of padding and redundant words.
Insha’ Allah Khan Insha (1766-1817) was notorious for his unbriddled wit which spared no one. His Darya-e- Latafat ‘Sea of Fineness’ is the grammatico- rhetorical treatise in Persian written in collaboration with Qatil. It is a pioneer work on linguistics, which shows the unusual range of his scholarship and his understanding of linguistic processes. It is the first grammatical analysis of Urdu by a native speaker of the language, which discusses the sounds of Urdu, its dialectal changes and peculiarities of pronunciation. Insha had the insight to proclaim that all languages have a genius of their own, and that loan words tend to assimilate themselves to the genius of the language into which they are imported, thereby losing their identity. The moment loans enter a language, they cease to be alien and hence subject to all the contingencies peculiar to that language. This insight and approach should be an eye- opener to the sticklers, who would have us go back to the original pronunciation and meanings of Persian and Arabic loan words in Urdu.
Jalal (1884-1909) wrote exhaustive dictionary of Urdu idioms called Sarmāyā–e Zabān-e Urdu, prepared Tāriq-ul-lughat-a lexicon of Urdu words, and systematized the principals and rules of the language. Dastūr-us–Shuarā is one of its kinds, which relates to the determination of gender. His Muntakhab-ul- Qawāid relates to grammar. His language is free of artificiality and is without any loopholes. He was also a good critic of Urdu poetry.
Sheikh Imam Bakhsh Nasikh (d. 1838), true to his pen name ‘Nasikh’, which means “one who abolishes”, brough forth his intention of surpassing every thing before his time and of giving Urdu the final polish. He was the inventor of Lucknow style of writing. He used the word Urdu instead of Rekhta. Obsolete and scurrilous words were weeded out, and the few Hindi words that were still used by poets were replaced by elegant Persian constructions. Where the gender of Urdu words were not yet fixed, he established the rules. He also brought about the changes in verbs, for example instead of āe hє, jae hє, he used ātā hε, jata hε.
Jamia Osmania was the first university in India where Indian language was being used as the medium of instruction. Darul Tarjumah was established simultaneously with Jamia Osmania for the purpose of making text books in Inidan languages, particularly Urdu, available for higher studies.
Taraqqi Urdu Board, late called Bureau for the Promotion of Urdu, and now rechristened as National Council for the Promotion of Urdu Language, was established in 1971 under the aegies of Ministry of Education with the simple objective of developing Urdu.
Besides the problem of scientific registers, several questions pertaining to the issues of nasalization, compounding, plural formation, hamza, etc were also raised in the area of standardization and modernization of the language.
Copyright CIIL-India Mysore