Urdu Grammar and Reader [Reprint 2016 ed.] 9781512800272

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URDU GRAMMAR AND READER

URDU Grammar and Reader by

ERNEST BENDER Oriental Studies Department and South Asia Regional Studies Department, University of Pennsylvania

Ш

Philadelphia UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA PRESS

©

1967 by the Trustees of the University o£ Pennsylvania

Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number: 66-20832

7522 Printed in the United States of America

TO MY STUDENTS —WHO ASKED FOR IT—

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am indebted to the following persons for help given in various ways: Professor W . Norman Brown, Dr. Anwar Hussain Syed, and Dr. Sajjad Ahmad Hashmi, and to Mrs. Regina Jaskowiak Long and Miss Gloria Gioia for their careful preparation of the typescript. I am happy to express my gratitude for their generous support of my work to Dr. Mortimer Graves and the American Council of Learned Societies, to the Rockefeller Foundation, and to the Carnegie Corporation of New York. I extend my thanks to the United States Office of Education, Department of Health, Education and Welfare, both for its support and for making the publication of this book possible.

Philadelphia, 1963

Ernest Bender

FOREWORD This volume is a companion volume to Professor Ernest Bender's H I N D I G R A M M A R and R E A D E R . T h e Urdu materials were first collected in 1948 at the same time that the Hindi materials were being collected, and they have been checked and revised since then in classroom exercises. Though there is a good deal of fundamental similarity between Hindi and Urdu on the spoken level, it is nevertheless essential to differentiate between them early in their study. Hence, separate teaching materials are necessary for the two. T h e materials here presented have been well tested and by now are well adapted for use in American institutions. They are now being made available here in printed form. Professor Bender's volume not only provides for instruction in the spoken language, but also introduces a student to the written language. This latter with its large amount of Persian and Arabic loanwords and idioms has so far lacked suitable teaching materials. That lack, it is hoped, will now be filled by this volume.

Philadelphia, 1964

W . Norman Brown

TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

6

FOREWORD

7

INTRODUCTION

17

LESSON 1 1.1-1.13: phonology; 1.15-1.17: conversational texts.

25

LESSON 2 31 2.1: present tense of verb, present participle, present tense of verb "to be," höni, personal pronouns; 2.2: masculine nouns in -ä; 2.3: feminine nouns in -ϊ; 2.4: numbers 1 to 10; 2.5-2.6: conversational texts. LESSON 3 37 3.1: infinitive construction with cähnä; 3.2: predicate-adjective construction, adjective in -5; 3.3: masculine nouns having same form for subject singular and plural; 3.4: feminine nouns ending in -e in subject plural; 3.5: numbers 11 to 20; 3.6-3.7: conversational texts. LESSON 4 43 4.2: feminine nouns in -iya; 4.3: adjectives in -a; 4.4: adverbs; 4.5: numerals as adjectives; 4.6: numbers 21 to 30; 4.7-4.8: conversational texts. LESSON 5 49 5.1: direct object of personal pronoun, postposition; 5.2-5.6: direct object of noun; 5.7: numbers 31 to 40; 5.8-5.9: conversational texts. LESSON 6 57 6.1: adjectives modifying nouns in object form; 6.2-6.3.3: demonstrative pronouns and adjectives; 6.4: numbers 41 to 60; 6.5-6.6: conversational texts.

10

URDU GRAMMAR AND READER

LESSON 7 66 7.1-7.1.1: imperative; 7.2: time expressions; 7.3: numbers 61, on; 7.3.2: dates; 7.4-7.5: conversational texts. LESSON 8 Review of lessons 1 to 7.

69

LESSON 9 9.1-9.4.4: postpositions ( - т ё , -ко, -par, -se); 9.5: conversational text.

78

L E S S O N 10 84 10.1-10.4.3: postpositional phrases (-кё piche, -кё nice, -кё sith, -кё sämne); 10.510.6: conversational texts. L E S S O N 11 89 11.1-11.3: postpositional phrases (-кё pis, -кё Иуё); 11.4: adjectives ending in consonants; 11.5-11.5.2: interrogative sentences; 11.6: conversational text. L E S S O N 12 97 12.1-12.1.2: interrogative adverbs; 12.2: construction with saknl; 12.3-12.6: negation; 12.7-12.8: conversational texts. L E S S O N 13 104 13.1: negation; 13.2-13.3: negative question; 13.4: negative of sakni construction; 13.5-13.5.3; pronominal possessive adjectives; 13.6: conversational text. L E S S O N 14 109 14.1—14.2.1: "genitive" construction; 14.3: first and second person pronouns in compound postpositional phrases; 14.4: subjunctive; 14.5: conversational text. L E S S O N 15 116 15.1-15.2.2: future; 15.3-15.3.2: pasand karni construction; 15.4: conversational text. L E S S O N 16 Review of lessons 9 to 15.

123

L E S S O N 17 134 17.1-17.2: constructions translating English "ought to, should, need, have to, must" (cähiye, hai, parti hai); 17.3-17.3.4: indefinite adjective and pronoun (koi); 17.417.4.1: kuch; 17.5: reading text. L E S S O N 18 144 18.1-18.1.4: conditional sentences; 18.2-18.4: interrogative adjectives and pronouns (kaun, kyä, kaun-sä, kitnä); 18.5: reading text.

CONTENTS

11

L E S S O N 19 154 19.1-19.1.2: "imperfect" or "past continuous"; 19.2-19.3: past of cähiye construction; 19.4: "contrary to fact" or "unreal subjunctive" construction; 19.5: ordinal numbers; 19.6: reading text. L E S S O N 20 163 20.1-20.1.4: formation of past participle and perfect tense of intransitive verb; 20.220.2.2: pasand hönä construction; 20.3-20.3.6: comparative and superlative constructions; 20.4: reading text. L E S S O N 21 21.1-21.2.4: perfect tense of transitive verb; 21.3: reading text.

172

LESSON 22 180 22.1-22.1.4: past participles of jänä, hönä, deni, lenä, karnä; 22.2: kaun-sä; 22.5— 22.5.5: constructions translating possession 22.6: reading text. LESSON 23 189 23.1-23.1.1; "present progressive" or "present continuative" and "past progressive" or "past continuative"; 23.2: negative of future; 23.2.1: negative of conditional sentences; 23.2.2-23.2.3: negative of cähiye and hai constructions; 23.2.4: negative of "contrary to fact" construction; 23.2.5-23.4.2: negative of past tenses; 23.6: reading text. LESSON 24 197 24.1-24.44: Review of lessons 17 to 23; 24.45-24.51: translations of reading texts of lessons 17 to 23. LESSON 25 25.1-25.2: relative constructions; 25.3: reading text.

217

LESSON 26 26.1-26.4.1: relative constructions; 26.5: reading text.

224

LESSON 27 27.1-27.5: relative constructions; 27.6: and ( a u r ) ; 27.7: reading text.

233

LESSON 28 240 28.1-28.7: verbal clusters (with denä, lenä, jänä, dälnä, parnä, uthnä, cuknä); 28.9: reading text. LESSON 29 248 29.1-29.2: "direct discourse"; 29.3: "indirect discourse"; 29.4: construction with h5nä; 29.5: reading text.

12

URDU GRAMMAR AND READER

L E S S O N 30

255

30.1: g e r u n d ("conjunctive participle" or " a b s o l u t i v e " ) ; 30.2-30.2.3: infinitive before postpositions or postpositional phrases (i.e., infinitive as n o u n ) ; 30.3: reading text. L E S S O N 31

262

31.1-31.1.2: participial adjectival constructions; 31.2: -välä formations;

31.3-31.4:

participial adverbial constructions; 31.5: reading text. L E S S O N 32

269

32.1-32.42: review of lessons 25 to 31; 32.43-32.49: translations of reading texts of lesson 25 to 31. L E S S O N 33

286

33-33.1: past participial adjectival construction; 33.2: - j a i s i ; 33.3-33.3.3: constructions; 33.4-33.4.1: m i l n ä ( =

temporal

" m e e t , find," etc.); 33.6: g e r u n d ; 33.7: reading

text. L E S S O N 34

292

34.1-34.1.2: constructions with l a g n i ; 34.2: participles in adverbial phrases; 34.3: present participle + ticiple ( = g e r u n d ) +

r a h n i ; 34.4-34.4.1: present participle +

j i n a ; 34.5: past par-

k a r n a ; 34.6: reading text.

L E S S O N 35 35.1: present participle as adverb; 35.2: b i n i +

301 past participle; 35.3: possession in-

dicating relationship; 35.4: addition, substruction, multiplication, division; 35.5-35.5.1: time expressions; 35.7: reading text. L E S S O N 36

308

36.1-36.1.4: verbal stem alternations ( f o r m a t i o n of causative s t e m s ) ; 36.2: repetition of words; 36.3: emphatic particle (-hi, -I, - h i ) ; 36.4: reading text. L E S S O N 37

316

37.1: " p a s s i v e " construction; 37.2-37.2.1: infinitive as noun and adjective; 37.2.2: infinitive in object f o r m without postposition; 37.2.3: infinitive with d e n l =

"let";

37.3: reading text. L E S S O N 38

321

38.1-38.1.1: construction with -sä; 38.2-38.2.1: constructions with j a i s i and vaisa; 38.2.2: k a i s a ; 38.3: jitna; 38.4: k a i i b ; 38.5: koi e k ; 38.6: reading text. L E S S O N 39 Rural Economic Survey Questionnaire.

327

CONTENTS

13

LESSON 40 334 40.1-40.30: review of lessons 33 to 38; 40.31-40.36: translations of reading texts of lessons 33 to 38. GLOSSARY

347

INDEX

483

URDU GRAMMAR AND READER

INTRODUCTION T h e area in which people speak Urdu as their mother tongue includes East and West Pakistan where, with Bengali, it functions as the official language of the land, and northern India. T h e language of this course is based on the Urdu dialect of the educated classes of Pakistan. T h e purpose of this course is to provide an American learner with the basic grammatical equipment and vocabulary necessary to conduct his affairs in areas of Pakistan (and India) in which Urdu is the language of communication. Developed over a period of fifteen years, it is designed to be administered to students, who have little or no linguistic training, by a team consisting of a Pakistani assistant, having Urdu for his (or her) mother tongue and an American linguist, with some experience in U r d u , who provides the grammatical exegesis. T h e linguist conducts the language drill in English, and the U r d u assistant, in U r d u . T h e organization of the course is basically simple in concept and approximates the techniques in use for progrmaming teaching machines. (In fact, with minor adjustments, it could be converted to a mechanical device.) It has a dual aim, pursued concurrently, —to provide the student with a firm comprehension of the basic grammar and indoctrinate him with the necessary linguistic habits, and to introduce him to and familiarize him with the "language in action," spoken as well as written. T h e first aim is represented by the grammatical sections and drill exercises of the lessons, and the second by the accompanying conversations and reading texts. In the initial stages—that is, the first sixteen lessons—the student is advised to memorize, verbatim, the simple conversations included in these lessons. T o avoid the pitfalls of confronting the learner with the burden of having to deal with a number of grammatical constructions and to learn vocabulary at one and the same time, attention should not be given to identifying the individual constituents of the utterances. As he acquires the necessary grammatical comprehension and linguistic habits, the student returns periodically to the conversations and practices, manipulating the constructions he has mastered up to that time—i.e., replacing the components of certain utterances with the proper forms and words to express new ideas. From Lesson 17 on, the conversations, which are fully annotated, are longer and more complex, graduating into reading texts. T h e book is arranged in five parts of eight lessons each, the last, or eighth, constituting a review. Appended are a glossary, containing all the words provided in the

17

18

URDU GRAMMAR AND READER

book, and an index. G r a m m a r is presented through the m e d i u m of "equivalent constructions," rather than by rules to be learned by rote. T h e sentences of sections dealing with g r a m m a t i c a l instruction are arranged in parallel columns—the sentences of the lefthand column exemplifying the U r d u construction to be learned, and the right-hand column providing the equivalent E n g l i s h translation. T h e accompanying

grammatical

discussion elucidates the constituents, formation, and u s a g e of the construction. T h e lessons start with the simplest sentence types, for example, N o u n - V e r b ( " [ T h e ] m a n w a l k s . " ) , Pronoun-Verb ( " H e w a l k s . " ) , Noun-Adjective ( " [ T h e ] boy is g o o d . " ) , N o u n - N o u n ( " [ T h e ] m a n is [a] f a r m e r " ) . T h e elements of the sentence are identified and explained, a n d there follows drill in construction with vocabulary replacement in the example sentences to f o r m new m e a n i n g f u l sentences; pronouns are replaced by other pronouns, nouns by nouns, a n d verbs by the different verbs learned u p to this point. ( T h e g r a m m a t i c a l explanation need not be presented through the m e d i u m of technical terminology. F o r the student not versed in the terms, " n o u n , verb, subject, predicate, etc.," explanation can be given in terms of the equivalent words in the accompanying English translation. In the U r d u sentence ä d m l caltä hai, the student is told that " a d m i " has the same functions as " m a n " in the E n g l i s h equivalent " [ T h e ] m a n w a l k s . " and " c a l t i h a i " that of " w a l k s . " ) E a c h new U r d u construction is based on constructions already mastered. T h e accompanying E n g l i s h translation functions as an identification device and

the

emphasis is directed to the comprehension and mastery of the U r d u construction. In the initial stages only one g r a m m a t i c a l element is introduced in each new exercise, and this practice is followed, wherever possible, in the succeeding lessons. T h u s , the student gradually learns to think in terms of U r d u and, upon completion of formal instruction, continues the refining process by relating any new construction he m a y encounter to those he already k n o w s . T h e initial phase of the course stresses the spoken language. E m p h a s i s is directed to the student's acquiring " a n ear for the l a n g u a g e , " that is, training h i m to distinguish the critical phonological features—for example, the differing qualities of vowels

(see

sections 1.1-1.1.1, 1.4-1.4.1, 1.8) and the characteristics which distinguish the aspirated (see section 1.9) f r o m the non-aspirated (see sections 1.2.1, 1.5) consonants—and to utter the U r d u sounds so that the native speaker can readily recognize them T h e lessons are graduated, proceeding ( L e s s o n

17) into reading exercises, which are provided in the

f o r m of r o m a n i z e d texts. Shortly after this the student is taught the native, or N a s t ä l i k , script. ( T h e companion volume to this will contain the N a s t ä l i k transcription of all the conversations and texts contained in this b o o k . ) T h e postponement of reading instruction in the native script is purposeful. Experience has demonstrated the need to minim i z e the handicaps under which a learner labors if he has to contend with the intricacies of a new g r a m m a r , phonology and a strange alphabet, concurrently. Students as well as instructors have f o u n d the results of this arrangement gratifying. W e now proceed to describe the operation of this course in detail. L e s s o n 1 discusses the U r d u sounds and the symbols employed to represent them. Several short conversations with elucidatory notes follow. T h e conversations are designed to provide the student with practice in hearing the l a n g u a g e as it is spoken, as well as for purposes of practice in pronunciation. T h e accompanying E n g l i s h translations are not literal renditions of the U r d u , but the English equivalents of the U r d u sentences.

19

INTRODUCTION

T h e student, at this time, should not try to isolate separate words to determine their English m e a n i n g , but should m e m o r i z e each U r d u sentence as a whole. G r a m m a t i c a l explanations are given in the lessons following. ( S e e section 1.14.) A s has been remarked before, the instructor will periodically return to the conversations and drill the student in the g r a m m a t i c a l construction he has mastered—that is, train h i m to replace recognized elements or phrases with the necessary f o r m s and words to produce new utterances. T h i s dual approach—namely, the indoctrination of the student in the necessary grammatical comprehension and linguistic habits by m e a n s of drill in the pertinent exercises, and the memorization of the conversations and their subsequent rephrasing—will be constantly maintained throughout this and the following lessons. Lesson 2 begins with the U r d u equivalent of the p a r a d i g m s of an English verb in the present tense with the appropriate pronominal subjects. In this and the other sections which give g r a m m a t i c a l examples the construction under examination will be included within a full utterance or sentence. ( H e r e , for example, in section 2.1, each verb with its pronominal subject comprises a complete sentence.) In section 2.1, as in other sections dealing with g r a m m a r , the U r d u sentences are listed in the left-hand column,

thus:

m a i d e k h t i hü, m a l dekhti hü, vo dekhtä hai, vo dekhti hai, h a m dekhte hal, h a m dekhti hai, etc., and the corresponding E n g l i s h sentences in the right-hand column read: " I ( m s c . ) see.," " I ( f m . ) see.," " H e sees.," " S h e sees.," ' W e ( m s c . ) see.," W e

(fm.)

see.," and so on. T h e procedure in the handling of sections of this kind is for the native speaker to pronounce the sentences to the students—first slowly, and then, at a normal rate—and to drill them in their pronunciation. After this the linguist explains the g r a m matical formation under consideration. Once the pronunciation

of the sentences

has

been mastered and committed to memory, the next step is drill in the replacement of the pertinent constituent elements of the sentences to fashion new m e a n i n g f u l sentences. T h i s drill is conducted, on the one hand, by the native speaker to exercise the students in aural recognition and, on the other, by the linguist to give them practice in translation from E n g l i s h into U r d u . N e w vocabulary is usually provided in sentences of the same type as the example sentences (see section 2.1.1). Since the constituent elements have been identified and their formation discussed in the grammatical section (in this case, of section 2.1), the focal point of attention is k n o w n — n a m e l y , the verb or, more precisely, the verbal stem. T h i s is extracted f r o m each sentence (see section 2.1.2), for the substitution exercises in which all the possible permutations are tried, using the vocabulary which is given—i.e., pronouns and verbs—to fashion m e a n i n g f u l sentences. T h i s is the procedure to be followed in the subsequent lessons. ( A s for the translation exercises of the type given in sections 2.1.3 and 2.1.4, the instructor m a y assign these for work to be done out of class or in class, as he sees fit. Other teaching aids comprise tape-recordings of the U r d u example sentences, as well as of the conversations. T h e s e are supplemental to the course, to be used for drill in comprehension a n d pronunciation, and are to be assigned for laboratory sessions.) T h e lessons which follow progressively replace a n d expand the constituents of the sentence type given in section 2.1. Sections 2.2 and 2.3 introduce nouns. H e r e the student encounters the simple substitution of the third person pronoun, singular and plural, (i.e., vo) with the noun f o r m s under study—masculine nouns, with the proper

participial

ending and auxiliary verb, a n d feminine nouns with their corresponding f o r m s . F o r

20

URDU G R A M M A R AND READER

example, section 2.2 deals with masculine nouns ending in - i in the subject form, singular, which replace the -a with -ё in the subject form, plural. Therefore, the formation of a simple sentence with a nominal subject from one with a pronominal subject is accomplished by a single substitution. ( T h e substituted elements are underlined.) For example, vo of vo calti hai " H e walks." is replaced by l a r k i to fashion l a r k i calti hai. " T h e boy walks." Similarly, vo of vo calte hai " T h e y walk." is replaced by larke to fashion larke calte hai " T h e boys w a l k . " Furthermore, in section 2.3, vo of то calti hai. "She walks." is replaced by larki to form larki calti hai. " T h e girl walks."; and vo of \ч> calti hai is replaced by larkiya, resulting in larkiya calti hai. " T h e girls w a l k . " T h e drill described above is then carried out with pronouns substituted by nouns to form as many meaningful sentences as possible. Several simple conversations follow. Lesson 3 expands the sentence type (henceforth, indicated by the symbols ( N V ) , with the infinitive. More precisely, it illustrates the use of the infinitive with the verb cahni "to want, wish." Since the verb cähnä functions like the verbs already mastered, the new element is the infinitive, which is the point of concentration for drill. Observe the progression from vo c i h t i hai " H e wants." to larkä cähtä hai " T h e boy wants." to l a r k i bolna c i h t i hai " T h e boy wants to speak." We then continue with the exercise on the infinitive: l a r k i bolna c i h t i hai " T h e boy wants to speak.," l a r k i daurna c i h t i hai " T h e boy wants to run.," larki khelna c i h t i hai " T h e boy wants to play.," and so on. Subsequent drill, both by the native speaker, as well as the linguist, is not confined to the infinitive alone, but includes all the members of each sentence—pronoun, noun and verb. F o r example, vo khelna c i h t i hai " H e wants to play.," l a r k i khelna c i h t i hai " T h e boy wants to play.," vo khelna cahte hai " T h e y want to play.," larke khelna cahte hai " T h e boys want to play.," vo khelna cihti hai " S h e wants to play.," larki khelna cihti hai " T h e girl wants to play.," vo khelna cihti hai " T h e y ( f m . ) want to play.," larkiya khelna cihti hai " T h e girls want to play.," kutta khelna c i h t i hai. " T h e dog wants to play.," kutta daurna c i h t i hai " T h e dog wants to run.," kutta khana c i h t i hai " T h e dog wants to eat.," kuttä k ü d n i c i h t i hai " T h e dog wants to j u m p . , " vo k ü d n i c i h t i hai " H e wants to j u m p . , " vo kudna cihti hai " S h e wants to j u m p . , " mai k ü d n i c i h t i hu " I want to j u m p . , " ham k ü d n i cahte hai " W e want to j u m p . , " tum k ü d n i cahte ho " Y o u want to j u m p . , " and so on, until all the possible permutations are accomplished or the time allotted exhausted. (This, of course, can not be carried out in only one or even a continuous succession of drills, but at recurring intervals, depending on how much time is allotted to the course and how it is scheduled.) T h e linguist, as usual, reverses this procedure, drilling from English to Urdu. Section 3.2 introduces a new sentence type (or, as will be demonstrated shortly, a variation of the sentence type, N V , already learned). T h e new element is the predicate adjective. Here is introduced the class of adjectives whose subject form, masculine, ends in -a for the singular and ё for the plural; and whose subject form, feminine, singular and plural, ends in -i. (It may be helpful to note that the adjective occupies the same position in the sentence and functions like the participial form of the verb in the previous sentences.) Compare l a r k i calti hai " T h e boy walks." and l a r k i accha hai " T h e boy is good.," 1агкё calte hai " T h e boys w a l k . " and 1агкё acche hai " T h e boys are good.," larki calti hai " T h e girl walks.," and larki acchi hai " T h e girl is good.," and larkiya calti

INTRODUCTION

21

hai "The girls walk." and larkiyä acchi hal "The girls are good.") Other noun types follow (sections 3.3, 3.4 and 4.2), drill in which follows the method discussed. In section 4.3 we expand the subject of the sentence type, N V , with the adjective described in section 3.2 (i.e., which changes its form for gender, number and case): acchä larkä caltä hai "The good boy walks.," acche larke calte hai "The good boys walk.," acchi larki calti hai "The good girl walks.," acchi larkiyi calti hai "The good girls walk." Section 4.4 introduces adverbs (i.e., expands the predicate), thereby increasing the scope of the drill sessions and thus furnishing the student with the means for fuller expression: ädmi jäte hai "The men go.," ädmi bähar jäte hai "The men go out.," ädmi andar jäte hai "The men go in.," ädmi vahä jäte hai "The men go there.," ädmi age jäte hai "The men go ahead.," ädmi nice jäte hai "The men go down.," ädmi nice jätä hai "The man goes down.," dublä ädmi nice jätä hai "The lean man goes down.," dublä ädmi nice jänä cähtä hai "The lean man wants to go down.," dubli larki andar jänä cähti hai "The lean girl wants to go in.," dubli larki jaldi-se jänä cähti hai "The lean girl wants to go quickly.," dubli larki jaldi-se khänä cähti hai "The lean girl wants to eat quickly.," and so on. . Lesson 5 takes up the Hindi equivalent of the English "direct object," pronoun and noun, respectively, i.e., another expansion of the predicate of the sentence: ädmi usko dekhti hai "The man sees him.," and ädmi 1агкё-к5 dekhti hai "The man sees the boy." Here, moreover, the student experiences for the first time the function of the postposition (i.e., - к о ) . Lesson 6 demonstrates adjectives (see section 3.2) modifying nouns in the object form: ädmi chöte larke-kö dekhti hai "The man sees the little boy.," and ädmi chöti larki-kö dekhtä hai "The man sees the little girl."; and the demonstrative adjectives and pronouns: ye larkä acchä hai "This boy is good.," vo larki acchi hai "That girl is good.," admi is larki-kö dekhtä hai "The man sees this girl.," and ädmi us larkekö dekhti hai "The man sees that boy." W i t h the mastering, in Lesson 7, of the imperative forms, the opportunities for variation in expression are further increased. Lesson 8 is, as is every subsequent eighth lesson, a review. The instructor may at this point direct the student's attention to the conversations committed to memory to further exploit the possibilities for fashioning new conversations. During the progress of the course the student should be encouraged to maintain a vocabulary list as well as a corpus of idiomatic expressions or stereotyped phrases to be memorized for use in conversation drill. W i t h the grammatical and lexical equipment provided up to this stage, along with the incidental information which will be treated more fully in succeeding lessons, the student can participate in simple conversations with the native speaker. (For example, the third response of the first conversation [1.3.1] is a question. T h e instructor will note at that point that Urdu questions are fashioned by affixing the particle kyä to the beginning of the sentence [11.5, ff.]. Response 8 contains a "polite" imperative and response 11 "direct discourse" [29.1, 29.2]. The fifth response of the third conversation [1.3.3] illustrates the use of nahi to express negation [cf. 23.2-23.4.2], etc.) A conversation exercise at the completion of the first four lessons may run something along these lines betweten the U r d u speaker and the student. (The remarks contained within square brackets identify the conversation and sentence in which the construction appears. W e bear in mind that by this time the student has had adequate

22

URDU GRAMMAR AND READER

drill—aural, as well as oral—in the substitution and expansion of the elements of an utterance.) Urdu Speaker: Student: Urdu Speaker: Student:

saläm. valekum saläm. äp-ki näm kyä hai? merä näm Grin hai.

äp-ki näm kyä hai? Urdu Speaker: merä näm Fazal hai. kyä mal äp-se kuch saväl püch saktä hü? püchiye. Student: Urdu Speaker: äp-кё päs vakt hai? Student: kahiye? Urdu Speaker: mujhe madad-kl zarürat hai. Student: mal äp-ki kyä madad kar saktä hü? Urdu Speaker: mal muskil-me hü. kyü? kyä huä? Student:

Hello. Hello. What is your name? [4.7, sentence 5.] My name is Green. [4.7, sentence 8 for merä.] What is your name? My name is Fazal. Can I ask you some questions? [4.7, sentence 3.] (Please) ask. [4.7, sentence 4.] Do you have time? [2.6, sentence 1.] Why? [2.6, sentence 2.] I need (your help.) [2.6, sentence 3.] How can I help you? [2.6, sentence 4.]

Student:

I'm in trouble. [2.6, sentence 11.] Why? What happened? [2.6, sentence 12.] A small matter. [1.17, sentence 11.] You have an automobile. [2.6, sentence 1.] Yes. Why? I need an automobile. [2.5, sentence 5.] Why? Why do you need an automobile?

Urdu Speaker: bahot bahot sukriyä.

I wish to go to the city quickly. [1.15, sentence 13.] Very well. Come with me. [3.7, sentence 1.] Thank you very much.

Urdu Speaker: mämüli bat hai. äp-кё päs mötar hai. ji hä. kyü? Student: Urdu Speaker: mujhe mötar cähiye. kyü? äp-kö mötar kyü cähiye? Urdu Speaker: mal sahar jaldi-se jänä cähtä hü. Student: bahot acchä. mere säth aiye.

The preceding conversation is an illustration of the kind of work which can be carried out with the materials of the first four lessons. We stress, as we have stressed before and will continue to stress, that proportionate attention must be given to grammatical (including vocabulary) drill; for if the student is not provided with the necessary linguistic reflexes, his progress in the colloquial—and later, the written—language will be hindered. Lessons 9, 10 and 11 continue with the expansion of the sentence type by postpo-

INTRODUCTION

23

sitional phrases. Sections 11.4 and 11.4.1 discuss a second type of adjective (i.e., one which has the same form for gender, number and case), and 11.5 to 11.5.1 the formation of interrogative sentences (see the remarks relating to this in the paragraph preceding the example conversation, above). A new element is introduced in 12.2, a verbal cluster, consisting of a verbal stem and a verb (see Lesson 28 for a fuller treatment). Here the verbal cluster translates the English verbal phrase comprising the verb can (to be able) and a second verb. For example, larka Urdu böl sakti hai "The boy can speak Urdu." and larki Angrezi samajh sakti hai "The girl can understand English." T o be exact, this is not a " n e w " element, but rather an expansion of the verb, for the verbal cluster functions as a unit, identical with the "simple" verbs previously encountered. In the same manner that the student has been conditioned to the utterance, idmi chote larkeko dekhti hai "The man sees the little boy.," so he assimilates the extension with saknä: ädmi chote larke-kö dekh sakti hai "The man can see the little boy." Subsequent sections lead the student through the formation of negative sentences, possessive adjectives, and in Lesson 14, the equivalent to the English genitive construction — the -ka postpositional phrase, which again, is a substitution and extension of the adjective (see 4.3, et passim). Compare: ch5ta bhii Urdu bölti hai. "The little brother speaks Urdu." and us-ki bhii Urdu böltä hai "His brother speaks Urdu." or larke-ka bhii Urdü bölti hai "The boy's brother speaks Urdu."; and mai chote bhäl-se savil püchti hü "I ask the little brother questions." and mai us-кё bhai-se savil püchti hü "I ask his brother questions.," or mai 1агкё-кё bhai-se saväl püchti hü "I ask the boy's brother questions." W i t h the introduction of the subjunctive (section 14.4) and the future (section 15.1), the formation of complex sentences can be considered (sections 18.1, ff.); and thus this procedure is maintained through the succeeding lessons, with the addition of new constructions and refresher drills. Continued experience will instill a feeling for nuances and style. This, in substance, is the way the learner—or, as a matter of fact any other American—has acquired and continually augments the dialect of English he uses. From Lesson 17 on, the texts, larger and fully annotated, are designed to acquaint the student with the flexibility and range of expression of the language—conversational, narrative, expository, etc. ( A t about this point the student is ready to undertake reading in the script, the instructional materials for which are contained in the companion volume, Introductory Urdu Readings.) English newspapers and magazine articles concerned with Indian topics have been found to be very useful in providing additional topics for exercises in advanced conversation and composition. Slides illustrating various aspects of the Indian scene may be employed for supplementary conversational materials. These may be utilized in several ways. T h e native speaker may use the contents of the slides (or pictures) for themes of addresses to the students, after which he questions the students about the content of his talks. Another approach is for the native speaker to record a number of discourses, which at the proper times, are played back to the students (with or without the showing of slides or pictures) for exercise in aural recognition; or the students may be asked to discourse upon the contents of the slides or pictures. The time requirement for the completion of of weekly hours allotted to it. A rough estimate, above, would be four semesters of sixteen weeks hours of classes per week, and the second with

this course is dependent on the number in terms of the course as it is described each, the first two semesters with seven four hours of classwork per week. For

24

URDU GRAMMAR AND READER

shorter courses, such as those offered during summer sessions, we recommend that the instructor reduce the number of example sentences to be memorized and concentrate on the student's acquiring the essentials of the grammar. In closing it may be of interest to note that the companion Hindi grammar parallels the arrangement of this book, making it possible for the student, who so desires or whose program of work requires training in both languages, to effect a facile transition from one to the other with a minimum of investment in time and effort. Furthermore, this book has a dual function. For the teacher it serves as a classroom text, while a researcher in Modern Indo-Aryan languages can employ it as a Reference Grammar. The Index and the Table of Contents offer ample guides and the examples accompanying the grammatical statements (including observations on "usage") provide the necessary clarification.

LESSON 1 1. T h e symbols and the Urdu sounds whch they represent. T h e student should read through the entire lesson carefully before returning to study the separate sections. 1.1 Vowels: я: has the value of the vowel in English father, balm, but without any trace of the diphthongization which occurs in English. a: has the value of the vowel in English cut, but, hut. ϊ: approximates the value of the vowel in English meet, beat, but without the final yglide of the English sound. i: while approximating the value of the vowel in English bit, hit, can be described as having the quality of the long ϊ described above, but shorter in length. Ü: has the value of the vowel in English boot, loot, shoot, but without the final w-glide of the English sound. u: while approximating the value of the vowel of English put, foot, can be described as being a little shorter in length than the ϋ described above. R E M A R K S : ( 1 ) Only ϊ and ö occur in final position—i.e., in a word. ( 2 ) a, a, i, ϊ are unrounded vowels. Care should be taken nor to round the lips in their pronunciation. 1.1.1' In the example words which follow the consonant sounds are the same as the English: 5g fire, gäjä bajl sound of musical instruments, gin singing, gly cow, jani to go, jab when, bas! enough! sab all, gaj elephant, ab now, bis twenty, bij seed, Imam belief, jugnl firefly, min fish, jinis commodity, binä without, bam bomb, biyä seed, bis poison, misl made of copper, ün wool, janüni insane, janüb south, sünä empty, mäyüs hopeless, ugini to raise, jani dear, muzib melted, muznib sinner. 1.2 Consonants: 1.2.1 Non-aspirate stops: t: This is not English t. It is a voiceless sound made with the tip of the tongue spread out against the upper teeth or slightly protruding past the teeth, as in pronouncing the English spirant, th of thick, thorn. Care must be taken not to aspirate it or to pronounce it as a fricative. d: This is not English d. It is executed like the t described above, but it is voiced, p: as in English pin, put, but without the puff of breath which follows the English sound.

25

26

URDU GRAMMAR AND READER

b: as in E n g l i s h bet, boat. , 1.2.2 N a s a l s : n: as in English neigh, m : as in English meet, moat. 1.2.3 r: is a voiced sound m a d e with the tip of the tongue tapping once or twice at the base of the upper teeth. 1.2.4 h: is a voiced sound; never voiceless as in English. 1.3 E x a m p l e s of the sounds described above are: das ten, h a m we, sät seven, I p you, is this, i t n i this m u c h , p a t i address, bis twenty, p i b a n d fettered, d a m less, d ä m price, t u m you, burä bad, ü n wool, ü p a r up, bahä

floated,

bas! e n o u g h ! bar time, b i r a twelve, sab all, d a b a n i to press down, tin three, tis thirty, rästä road, m a t not, i m i r a t building, a d m i m a n , m a d a d help. 1.4 V o w e l s : e: has the value of the vowel in E n g l i s h get, bet. [ N O T E : a, when followed by h, has the s a m e value. E x a m p l e s are rahna to stay, nahar canal, sahna to endure.] E: has the value of the vowel in E n g l i s h say, pay, but without the final y-glide of the English sound. R E M A R K S : e, e, are unrounded vowels. C a r e should be taken not to round the lips in their pronunciation. o: has the value of the vowel in E n g l i s h bought, caught. o: has the value of the vowel in E n g l i s h no, hoe, toe, but without the final w-glide of the E n g l i s h sound. 1.4.1 D i p h t h o n g s : ai: is m a d e by pronouncing a ( S e e 1.1, above.), followed immediately by i ( S e e 1.1, above.). [ N O T E : a variant pronunciation, e ( S e e 1.4.), is often encountered.] a u : is m a d e by pronouncing a, followed immediately by u ( S e e 1.1, above.). 1.5 Non-aspirate stops: k : as in E n g l i s h coat, kite, but without the puff of breath which follows the English k-sound. g : as in E n g l i s h get, goat. c: as in English church, chin, but without the puff of breath which follows the English sound. j: as in English joke, j a m . 1.5.1 y: as in E n g l i s h yes, yoke. W h e n in final position following a vowel or between vowels, it is a glide-sound like that of the second member of the E n g l i s h diphthong in say, pay. 1: is a voiced sound m a d e with the tip of the tongue spread out against the upper teeth, v: is a voiced sound a p p r o x i m a t i n g the w of English walk, wall. In a variant pronunciation the upper teeth brush lightly against the lower lip, a p p r o x i m a t i n g the ν of English very, vat. 1.6 E x a m p l e s of the sounds described in sections 1.4 to 1.5.1 are: behtar better, m e h m ä n guest, mehräb arch, mehnat toil, meharbänl kindness, e k one, lenä to take, kohrä f o g , o h d i rank, m o h a r seal, or direction, log people, sona to sleep, dö

LESSON

1

27

two, jö who, hai is, aisi such (this kind), kaisa what kind, p a i s ! money, tairnä to swim, nau nine, caubis twenty-four, kaun who, k a m work, kitna how much, h a l k i light, röknä to stop, sarkar government, carni to graze, calnä to walk, b a c l n i to save, sac true, gala throat, g a h r i deep, cugna to peck, degca small kettle, nag snake, j i n a to go, jütä shoe, blj seed, gaj elephant, seb apple, yäd memory, garmi summer, yasar left, gaya gone, liyä taken, gäy cow, girna to fall, valad son, bölnä to speak, mill root, vipas afterwards, hava wind, lövä fox, basma dying, väh! excellent! 1.7 Consonants (retroflex stops): t: is a voiceless, non-aspirate consonant made with the tip of the tongue touching the hard plate farther back than the contact-point for making English t. d is a voiced consonant made with the tip of the tongue touching the upper palate farther back than the contact-point for making English d. [ N O T E : d, when occurring between vowels, very often has the value of r following.).] r: is a voiced consonant made with the tip of the tongue turned back and forward, striking the palate once at the point of contact for making U r d u d.

(See flipped

1.7.1 Examples of the sounds described in section 1.7 are: tukrä piece, lautnä to return, tat shore, dagar path, dar fear, bad banyan tree, larki boy, larnä to fight, bara big, daurni to run, ciriya sparrow. 1.8 Nasalized vowels and diphthongs: T h e vowels and vow