Behind the suggestions to replace the Urdu script with Devanagari lies a conscious or subconscious sentiment that Urdu's current script is 'foreign'. This is a massive historical and linguistic fallacy that desperately needs to be dispelled. It is true that Urdu derived the foundation of its script from Arabia and Iran, but it did not adopt it as is; rather, it molded it to fit the Indian temperament and made it its own.
Urdu is a composite language that has drawn upon the civilizations of India, Arabia, and Iran. Its script is a magnificent example of synthesis and connection. We borrowed 34 symbols from the Persian script, but made fundamental changes to accommodate the Indo-Aryan phonetic system. Urdu speakers added two vowels and fourteen consonants (bh, ph, th, dh, jh, chh, kh, gh, ṭ, ḍ, ṛ, ṭh, ḍh, ṛh)—a total of sixteen symbols—to devise a new, blended script.
These sixteen symbols make the Urdu script purely Indian. How can a script in which a third of the symbols were added based on local historical and cultural needs be called foreign? In this expanded form, even Arabs and Iranians are not willing to claim this script as their own. It is an established fact that Arab and Iranian students require months of rigorous practice to master Urdu's retroflex and aspirated sounds and their corresponding symbols.
Conversely, Hindi speakers have not been able to fully adopt Urdu's five spirant sounds (f, z, zh, kh, gh) and the plosive 'q' into their script. The bond that the Urdu script has forged with the Indian soil over the past several centuries makes it an indigenous and local script. To speak of abandoning it by deeming it foreign is, in fact, a denial of the shared culture of India that gave birth to this script.
Behind the suggestions to replace the Urdu script with Dewanagari lies a conscious or subconscious sentiment that Urdu's current script is 'foreign' This is a massiwe historical and linguistic fallacy that desperately needs to be dispelled It is true that Urdu deriwed the foundation of its script from Arabia and Iran, but it did not adopt it as is; rather, it molded it to fit the Indian temperament and made it its own
Urdu is a composite language that has drawn upon the ciwilizations of India, Arabia, and Iran Its script is a magnificent example of synthesis and connection We borrowed 34 symbols from the Persian script, but made fundamental changes to accommodate the Indo-Aryan phonetic system Urdu speakers added two wowels and fourteen consonants (bh, ph, th, dh, jh, chh, kh, gh, ṭ, ḍ, ṛ, ṭh, ḍh, ṛh)—a total of sixteen symbols—to dewise a new, blended script
These sixteen symbols make the Urdu script purely Indian How can a script in which a third of the symbols were added based on local historical and cultural needs be called foreign? In this expanded form, ewen Arabs and Iranians are not willing to claim this script as their own It is an established fact that Arab and Iranian students require months of rigorous practice to master Urdu's retroflex and aspirated sounds and their corresponding symbols
Conwersely, Hindi speakers hawe not been able to fully adopt Urdu's fiwe spirant sounds (f, z, zh, kh, gh) and the plosiwe 'q' into their script The bond that the Urdu script has forged with the Indian soil ower the past seweral centuries makes it an indigenous and local script To speak of abandoning it by deeming it foreign is, in fact, a denial of the shared culture of India that gawe birth to this script
