Learn about the Urdu writing system
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| Urdu Teachers Answer Your Questions - Lesson #3 - What Writing System Does Urdu Use? |
Intro |
|---|
| Michael: What writing system does Urdu use? |
| Shazia: And has it changed over time? |
| Michael: At UrduPod101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following situation: Sasha Lee can speak Urdu, but she wants to learn more about the written form of the language. She asks her teacher, |
| "What is the Urdu script called?" |
| Sasha Lee: اردو رسم الخط کو کیا کہتے ہیں؟ (Urdu rasmul khat ko kia kehtay hain?) |
| Dialogue |
| Sasha Lee: اردو رسم الخط کو کیا کہتے ہیں؟ (Urdu rasmul khat ko kia kehtay hain?) |
| Aamina Ilyas : نستعلیق۔ (Nastaliq.) |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Sasha Lee: اردو رسم الخط کو کیا کہتے ہیں؟ (Urdu rasmul khat ko kia kehtay hain?) |
| Michael: "What is the Urdu script called?" |
| Aamina Ilyas : نستعلیق۔ (Nastaliq.) |
| Michael: "Nastaliq." |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: The script in which Urdu is written is called |
| Shazia: نستعلیق (Nastaliq). |
| Michael: Nastaliq was invented and developed by a famous calligrapher of the Timurid period named |
| Shazia: میر علی تبریزی (Mir Ali Tabrizi). |
| Michael: It is a cursive script that features elongated horizontal strokes and overemphasized rounded forms. It is traditionally considered as the most elegant Persian script and was often incorporated into paintings during the early Safavid period in the 16th century. |
| Michael: Nastaliq continued to develop as prominent calligraphers contributed to its richness as a script. The current version is based on the work of an Iranian calligrapher. |
| Shazia: مرزا محمد رضا کلہور (Mirza Mohammad Raza Kalhor). |
| Michael: It was he who modified Nastaliq so that it could be easily used with the printing machine and who devised teaching methods and specified proportional rules, so that everyone could follow it with ease. |
| Michael: Similarly to the Arabic alphabet, from which Nastaliq has descended, many letters in Nastaliq use more than three forms based on their position in a word. |
| Michael: As you may already know, Urdu is written from left to right. The Urdu alphabet, or |
| Shazia: اردو حروفِ تہجی (Urdu haroof-e-tahajji), |
| Michael: is made up of 37 distinct letters; however, the number of letters is often debated for there are some Urdu letters that are written in different ways, but, in fact, they tend to be the varied form of the same letter. |
| There isn't any distinction between the upper and lower case. |
| In this lesson, you learned the basic facts about the Urdu script. It may be hard at the beginning, and you may feel like giving up, but if you proceed gradually, you'll get used to it. You can start practicing reading easy texts, like the ones you can find in our Lesson Library, under the Extensive Reading in Urdu for Absolute Beginners series! |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We’re here to answer them! |
| Shazia: !الوداع (alwida!) |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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