About Urdu Language: Three Interesting Facts you didn’t know!

As we dived deeper into teaching Urdu Conversation, we became increasingly fascinated with the Urdu language. As we continued to read and explore more about it, suddenly, the roots of Urdu, its connections to other languages, and breadth of the Urdu-speaking community made our jaws drop! We realized that despite being an Urdu speaker, we don’t really know much about our native language.

Have you ever wondered what the word “Urdu” means? We didn’t either! Until an 8 yo kid in one of our Urdu 101 classes asked, “What is Urdu?”

At that time, Annie answered that Urdu is a language commonly spoken in Pakistan and India, and by the people of these countries around the world. However, deep down, we knew that the exact question hadn’t been answered.

Our curiosity kept us fixated on the topic. We found ourselves searching more and more about Urdu, even things that most native speakers don’t know about the language.

Today, we wanna share some of our interesting finds with you as well!

1. The word “Urdu” means Army

Is Urdu a Persian word or an Arabic word? Or is it a Turkish or a Hindi word? We posted this question on our Instagram stories some time back, and guess what the popular choice was? Well, it was Persian, and we thought, “why not?”.

Although the word is written in the Persian script, “Urdu” originates from the Turkish word “Ordu”, which means camp or army. Do you know what? Ordu (or Urdu) is a common word still used in Turkey to refer to the army. One of Annie’s friends mentioned hearing it from her relative in Turkey.

Knowing origins is another level of satisfaction, isn’t it? We can’t believe we spent 26 years of our lives without knowing this!

Now that you know this, you must also know that we don’t use this meaning (camp or army) of Urdu ~ in the Urdu language. In Urdu, an army is called “fouj” and a camp is called “khema“.

2. Urdu is the 10th most spoken language in the world! 

Among the top 200 languages spoken all around the world, the Urdu language is the 10th widely spoken language. How beautiful is that, isn’t it? Knowing this was an absolute delight.

According to Ethnologue 2021, over 230 million people worldwide speak Urdu, of which 69 million are the first language (L1) Urdu speakers. This means that 30% of all Urdu speakers around the world are first language (L1) speakers. In comparison, the other 70% are second-language speakers. 💚

Let us add something to this.

You may probably know or have heard how Urdu and Hindi are similar. Yes, you’ve heard that right. And guess what, Hindi is the 3rd most spoken language in the world. This means that if you’re an Urdu speaker, you’d probably be able to talk to anyone speaking Urdu or Hindi.

This reminds us of how we happen to overhear Urdu/Hindi in public so often, and it just makes us feel at home. We’ve heard it in the most random places in Canada; Montreal, QC, St. John’s, NF, and now in Toronto. It’s hard to describe the feeling, but it’s sweet, nostalgic, and comfortable.

3. Some English words have origins in Urdu

Just like Urdu borrows a lot of English words, English returns the sentiment.

There are many English words that are actually Urdu words. Pajama, Cheetah, Jungle, Chutney, Tandoori, Khaki, Loot, Veranda, and the list continues. Anoushay wrote an interesting blog on English words that originated from South Asia. Give it a read here to find more interesting things!

But that is not all, there are many English words that are variations originated from Urdu. Wanna see some examples?

• “Bandana” comes from the Urdu word “Baandhna”, which means to tie.
• “Typhoon” is from the Urdu word “Toofan”, which means a storm.
• “Bangalow” is a variation of Urdu word “Bangla”, which means a house.
• “Chit” is a shortened version of Urdu word “Chit’thi”, which means a letter.
• Even “Shampoo” originated from the an old Urdu word “Champoo”, which means to rub.

See these languages have a lot of love to share. They are both constantly evolving and helping each other evolve as well.