We all know that Urdu is the national language of Pakistan, and Hindi is one of the official languages of India. Yet, India also has around 50 million Urdu native speakers, and you can find many Hindi speakers in Pakistan.
Despite their differences, Hindi and Urdu share a historical, cultural, and linguistic heritage, and there are several similarities between them. We can safely say that both these languages are closely related to each other. Let’s explore their differences and similarities and answer the question: Is Urdu related to Hindi?
Table Of Contents
Is Urdu Related To Hindi?: Similarities And Differences
Let’s look at the following aspects to answer the question: Is Urdu related to Hindi?
Historical Origins
At the very beginning, the Hindi and Urdu languages were the registers of a single spoken language – the Hindustani language. It was the lingua franca of northern India then, but despite being a very old language, it had no writing script. It only had a spoken form, which was derived from Khari Boli, the dialect of the Delhi region. Mughals initiated the formation of a writing system for the language, and as their court language was Persian, they chose the Persian script for the Hindustani language.
From there, Urdu began its formation as a separate language. However, Hindu natives refused to adopt the Persianized version of the language and proposed to follow any Indic writing style. Some nationalists voted for the old Indic Devanagari script. It was in 1900, after almost half a century, when Hindustani’s Devanagari writing system was accepted and received an equal status as the Persianized version of Hindustani.
But this wasn’t the end. There was a constant conflict between Muslim and Hindu nationalists regarding the adoption of the Persian script and Devanagari script, respectively. Both parties used to separate their versions of the language from the other. For instance, if the Hindustani language had two words with the same meaning, Hindi adopted the Sanskrit word and Urdu adopted the Persian word. In fact, some Sanskrit words were totally replaced by Persian loanwords, and vice versa. Let’s look at some examples:
If there were two words in Hindustani for the word “country,” as in desh (देश) in Sanskrit and mulk (ملک) in Persian, Hindi took the Sanskrit word desh (देश), and Urdu adopted the Persian word mulk (ملک). Similarly, for the word “destiny,” Hindi adopted the word bhagya (भाग्य) and Urdu took taqdeer (تقدیر).
On the other hand, the spoken word for “use” in Hindustani is istemal (Persian origin). So, Urdu kept this form, but Hindi replaced it with the Sanskrit word upyog (उपयोग). Likewise, the Hindustani word for “zero,” shunya (शून्य), has Sanskrit origins. Hindi restored the spoken word, but Urdu replaced it with the Persian word sifr (صفر), and the list goes on.
Despite all this inclusion and replacement of vocabulary, there are still a lot of words whose spoken form is the same in both Hindi Urdu.
The Formation Of Hindi And Urdu
The Urdu language was generally formed during Islamic invasions in the subcontinent. The soldiers belonged to different languages and regions, which resulted in the interaction of local Indian languages like Sanskrit with other languages such as Turkish, Arabic, and Persian. That is why Urdu is known as a lashkari (لشکری) language — the language of soldiers.
Spoken on the same Khari Boli dialect, these languages collectively gave rise to the Urdu language. Hindi has the same Khari Boli base for its spoken language, but their written forms make them appear as two different languages. The Devanagari writing system of Hindi is written from left to right, and Urdu’s Nastaliq, or Perso-Arabic Urdu script, is written from right to left.
It was in 1947 when the British left the Indian subcontinent, and it was divided into two independent nations: Pakistan and India. As Pakistan had a Muslim majority, the Urdu language was made the official language of the country. On the other hand, Hindi became one of the national languages of India. It was at this time when Urdu and Hindu officially got the status of two different languages of different states. For a more detailed overview, you can skim through the history of the Hindi language.
Linguistic Aspects
The following are two important features that make Hindi and Urdu mutually intelligible, which means that the speakers of both languages can easily understand each other:
Sentence Structure And Syntax
The sentence structure, which is Subject-Verb-Object, is the same in both languages. For instance:
- English: I am going home
- Urdu: Me ghar jaraha hun (میں گھر جارہا ہوں)
- Hindi: Main ghar jaa raha hoon (मैं घर जा रहा हूँ।)
Urdu grammar, like nouns, pronouns, and verbs being conjugated based on gender and number, is also the same as Hindi grammar.
Shared Vocabulary
Both languages share several words, specifically ones derived from Sanskrit, Persian, and Arabic. For example:
- Water in Urdu is pani (پانی), and in Hindi it’s pani ( पानी).
- Book in Urdu is kitab (کتاب), and in Hindi also, it is kitab (किताब). In Hindi, it is also called pustak.
Script
Urdu uses Perso-Arabic or Persian script, which is the Nastaliq script, written from right to left. Hindu uses the Devanagari script, which is written from left to right. This difference in writing systems separates the two languages. Let’s look at an example:
- Urdu: How are you? – Aap kese hain? (آپ کیسے ہیں؟)
- Hindi: How are you? – Aap kaise hain? (आप कैसे हैं?)
Cultural Context
There is a slight difference in cultural associations of the language, which are only cultural constructs and have nothing to do with linguistics.
Urdu is generally associated with the culture of Muslims, and Hindi is associated with Hindu culture. However, both Hindu and Muslim speakers can speak Urdu and Hindi as required in the place they live in.
Vocabulary: Words That Urdu And Hindi Share
Now that you know why these languages are so similar, here’s a table with some words they share. As you can see, they sound the same, but their writing form is different.
| English | Urdu | Hindi | Romanization |
|---|---|---|---|
| Book | کتاب | किताब | Kitaab |
| Water | پانی | पानी | Pani |
| House | گھر | घर | Ghar |
| Door | دروازہ | दरवाजा | Darwaaza |
| School | سکول | स्कूल | School |
| Friend | دوست | दोस्त | Dost |
| Flower | پھول | फूल | Phool |
| Light | روشنی | रोशनी | Roshni |
| Heart | دل | दिल | Dil |
| Garden | باغ | बाग | Baag |
| Life | زندگی | जिंदगी | Zindagi |
| Market | بازار | बाज़ार | Baazaar |
| Road | سڑک | सड़क | Sadak |
| Dream | خواب | ख्वाब | khwaab |
| Time | وقت | वक़्त | Waqt |
How Do You Say “Relate” In Urdu?
The Urdu word for “Relate” is taluq paida karna (تعلق پیدا کرنا). Other words used to refer to the word ‘relate’ are:
| English | Urdu | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| Similar to something / relatable | ملتا جلتا | Milta julta |
| To build a connection / relate | ربط قائم کرنا | Rabt qayaim karna |
| To establish connection / relate | رابطہ قائم کرنا | Raabta qayaim karna |
FAQs About Urdu And Hindi
1. Is Urdu Easy If You Know Hindi?
Yes, it’s easy to learn the Urdu language for Hindi speakers. That’s because they share several vocabulary words, grammar rules, and pronunciation. Specifically, the spoken language is significantly similar. However, there are some differences between the two languages, such as their scripts.
2. How Do You Know If A Word Is Urdu Or Hindi?
To identify if a word is Urdu or Hindi, look at its script, sound, and also origin. In short, Urdu uses Nastaliq script, and Hindi uses the Devanagari script. So, “How are you?” is written as (آپ کیسے ہیں؟) in Urdu and (आप कैसे हैं?) in Hindi.
In terms of sound, the only slight difference between the two is that Urdu sounds softer and poetic, while Hindi sounds more direct. As for their origin, Urdu words are generally derived from Persian, Arabic, and Turkish words, and Hindi mainly contains Sanskrit words.
3. Is Urdu More Similar To Hindi Or Persian?
The Urdu language is more similar to Hindi, as the spoken versions of both languages are almost the same. For example, “This is a book,” is yeh kitaab hai, in Urdu and Hindi, although it’s written in Urdu as (یہ کتاب ہے) and in Hindi as (यह किताब है).
Yet, Urdu borrows more vocabulary and script from Persian and Arabic. In fact, most Urdu poetry has Persian words, especially the poetry of Allama Iqbal. Mainly, the formal and literary terms of the Urdu language are taken from Persian, such as shukria (شکریہ), which is derived from the Persian word tashakur (تشکر).
So, Is Urdu Related To Hindi?
The answer to “Is Urdu related to Hindi?” is yes, considering they both share vocabulary, grammar, syntax and also pronunciation to an extent. Yet, this doesn’t mean there aren’t any differences between the two; they can’t be called the same language.
Based on this post, you can see that the major difference between Hindi and Urdu is their writing style. Otherwise, Hindi and Urdu speakers can easily understand each other when conversing verbally. So, if you’re learning one and know the other, things will be much easier!
