1. The inanity of having a hundred and one pronunciations for the same word. And the ‘more-educated-than-thou’ clans’ insistence that only their version of the pronunciation is accurate. ‘Root’ and ‘raoot’ for ‘route’ anyone?
2. The endless conflict between British and American spellings. During my internship at a newspaper, my effortless ease with American spellings drew the wrath of my boss who insisted on British spellings.
3. The way hordes of confused Star World-watching teenagers feel the need to fake their accent, sometimes slipping from fake-British to fake-American in the same sentence.
4. The need to widen your mouth to near offensive lengths for lucid pronunciation. One of my instructors at university stressed that Western languages require one to ‘open the mouth very widely’, for increased clarity. Really, I am not surprised that the Black Death spread so quickly in Europe.
5. The slang. ‘Gotta’, ‘lotta’, ‘sorta’, ‘kinda’. Chal bay!
6. The non-existence of differentiated pronouns. The honey-sweet warmth of ‘aap’ can never be captured by the brusqueness of ‘you’ — which can readily be used to address anyone from your two-year-old niece to your mother’s decrepit aunt.
7. How words can mean different things but sound the same. Imagine uttering sentences like: “The scheme was invalid for the invalid”, “The large number of injections made her jaw number”, “The dove dove in the pond”.
8. Love is a many splendoured thing…except in English. You can ‘love’ your beloved and at the same time ‘love’ fruit chat. Compare that with the enticing Urdu alternatives of ‘pyar’, ‘ishq’, ‘mohabbat’, ‘chahat’, ‘ulfat’, ‘dillagi’.
9. The insipidity of some kinds of English literature. Start with a finicky, orphan girl, thrown in a rich lord, an affected aunt or two, a poor love-struck bloke — and there you go. That’s a Jane Austen/Charlotte Bronte masterpiece for you.
10. Can somebody please tell me, that if the plural of foot is feet, then why is the plural of boot not ‘beet’? Similarly, if the plural of mouse is mice, why is the plural of house not ‘hice’?
Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, August 14th, 2011.
COMMENTS (43)
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just time pass and sense less article ,
@Tanzeela Afzal: Thanks Tanzeela, yes its a Turkish word...
@Waqeel Hindvi:
It is so refreshing to read a comment from someone who understands the roots of Urdu. How many know that present day Persian too derives from Avestan (which is related to Sanskrit) and Arabic.
Urdu is a metaphor for the Pakistani identity. Once we realize that, then and only then, will Pakistan as a nation & Pakistanis as a people will become sweet and civilized.
Nice and Unique Article.... :-)
Point no 11. why DO, TO and GO are being pronounced differently?
loved "aapka" article jinaab
@Shamama Firdous: True! True! True! It is because Urdu shares the more logical syntax of Hindvi, which derives from an even more rigid and strict rules driven structure of Sanskrit, that it has internalized Arabic and Persian words effortlessly. This has given it immense flexibility, in its combination of words creatively; while keeping the strong foundation of syntax. . Yet, if you contrast the Farsi script with that of Devnagari (Sanskrit > Hindi), it falls short in its logical structure, much in the same way, English lacks cogency in pronunciation and phonetics. Because, in Devnagari script, alphabets are arranged according to groups of five, based on their position of pronunciation within the mouth, starting from the back of the mouth (throat) to the middle (tongue) and finally to the front of the mouth (lips). This combined with the use of diacritical marks and the ability of consonants to be broken and mixed with each other, (again using very fixed rules, almost like mathematics or chemistry formulas); helps give even more consistency to the written word and pronunciation. In its near 100% symbiosis between the written word and pronunciation, Hindi / Sanskrit is unparalleled. . But, Urdu, is an amazing amalgamation. It has by accident or by design, taken the strongest of grammatical syntax and merged it with the beauty of words, from Arabic and Persian and English and Sanskrit. I was listening to a speech by the late Jagannath Azad (of whom, I read in context of the controversy about Pakistan's first national anthem) on YouTube. He said that Urdu is the one language that teaches you not just Adaab, but also Adab. Think of that! It teaches you not just the art of conversation, but grounds you in the basics of civilisation. That is what, all strong linguistic traditions, should seek to do. The day we give up our language, will be the day we will stop being ourselves. But try telling that to a generation, that has decided to speak English though the fake nasal twang acquired from the microwave rays beamed direct to home.
Oh sorry but Urdu cant really contain sci-fi sort of novels/language either. But anyway, amusing article.
Though the article is written lightly, some points are valid and others are just plain not true. There are many words for love in English and the English masterpieces have many more plots than those described. Also 'aap' may add a respectful warmth but it also creates a status based culture. Other linguistic complaints such as same words and rules for making plurals etc. are valid on their own but should not be compared to URDU which has exact same problems and more, (it does not even have vowels so no one can really read a word unless they have heard it before and make a timely and fortunate guess! ) Take example of "ye kal, kal laanaa" (bring this cog tomorrow) or " woh is baar apna baar nahii;n uThaa saktaa " ( This time he can't pull his weight) etc. etc. If the author was trying to be funny, she should have picked relevant points and NOT compared them to Urdu.
Urdu is such a beautiful language! I am an ex-student of Osmania Medical College Hyderabad India. Please google it dear readers. Initially medicine was taught in Urdu at this lovely college. But then English took over. But most of our professors [ even the Hindu ones] spoke beautiful Urdu. It was a dream life then.
o cmon guys...u r sooooo sick seriously..dont you have some sense of humor?? atleast at the end of a depressing day someone[like the author] brings us stuff to laugh at and you guys still tryna probe in for facts...so much sorry for depressed U's..!!
@ Shamma Urdu is a Turkish word.
Not at all amusing. The author seems to have a limited vocabulary and paralyzed observation of the English language.
Very interesting article. @ Shamama Firdous, Please anyone correct me if I am wrong. Urdu is a Turkish word not Persian.
Wow! Gave me quite a few laughs... 5,8 and 9 were the funniest =D
beautiful. loved the piece. at least someone has a subtle sense of humor, unlike others. "Depressed souls"
Just figuring out that learning English is a PIA?
yeah, i found it funny, but not worthy to be printed anywhere. sounds more like some kind of relaxing chat with a friend.
Chal Bay!!! an enjoyable article, thank you faiza :)
Hahahaha good observations! LOVEEE the 5th one! :P
The slang. ‘Gotta’, ‘lotta’, ‘sorta’, ‘kinda’. Chal bay! hahhahaha!
Concerning number 7:
1) Invalid as an adjective (i.e. something "not valid") rhymes with salad - in-VAH-lid" Invalid as a noun (describing a 'sick person') - is pronounced in-vuh-LID.
2) The bird "dove", rhymes with "love". The verb "dove", rhymes with "stove".
3) This one is open to debate. But, according to many dictionaries, "number" is not correct English. The favoured comparative for a state of increasing numbness is "more numb". Thus: "The large number of injections made her jaw more numb". Also : "numBer", in telephone "numBer" has a hard B. "Number" (if it exists, as a state of increasing numbness), would be pronounced "NUMMER" - without the B.
Living up to the stereotype mocked, I have to point out that matters of pronunciation mean these two sentences do not contain words which "sound the same"! An enjoyable article, all the same. :)
Its is true that English doesnt much words in godown of its vocabulary
You 'll find 1000 more reasons. Just try never allowing your hate to falter.
very amusing. excellent!
Thank you for pin pointing the fake accent pandemic.
No. 6&8, FTW! :)
Oh, wow. Sacrilege.
Sorry to "burst the bubble", but both the English and Urdu languages are an 'amalgamation' of other languages!!! We haven't a single word of our own in this beautiful 'evolutionary language' we call 'Urdu'. We are just lucky we borrowed from "better ones", like ARABIC, PERSIAN, SANSKIRIT to name a few... Even the name of the language 'URDU' is a Persian word meaning 'Lashkar'! :) Having said that, I really wish you to own a thesaurus for when you look up the word 'love', you would find thousands of words used for this one word as synonyms. Just because people around you have 'limited vocabulary', it isn't the language's fault. I understand that this article was an attempt at humor but it needs to be factual nevertheless...
Hahahahhahahaahaa... :D
One of the reasons for many students, going to Urdu Medium schools, dropping out is that they find English so tough and confusing. Agree with Faiza Rahman. Liked the article
Well in our society it is often very common to hear Urdu gives vivid explanation with terminology of reverence... And it would be author, if it came to a believe that languages should never be compared... Each and every language has it is own literature, its own taste.... In other words, each language has a different world...
Haha, I found this HIGHLY amusing. Number five toh bhai! CHAL BEY. lol.
English language is by the rules of grammar a stupid language..makes no sense at all!
Not funny at all. Not even informative. Surprised this has been published.
and you're letting it out in an English language newspaper blog - Oh the Irony :)
Interesting Stuff.Really good observation in points 7 & 9 .
Right :D
hahaha...=)) n continuning 10 .. wat of pronouncin 'but' n 'put'.... :)