Bengali Romani Urdu
THE FLAMES OF PRIDE WE ARE ALONE, BUT WE ARE ALONE TOGETHER THE POISE OF A ROYAL, THE DIGNITY OF THE COMMON MAN
Bengali, or Bangla, evolved from eastern Middle Indo-aryan dialects circa 1000AD. During the Middle Bengali period (1400–1800), the language incorporated many elements of classical Sanskrit. From 1800, the modern Bengali era witnessed a marked change in grammar, vocabulary and syntax, including the shortening of verbs and pronouns. Modern Bangla assimilated many French, English, Arabic, Persian, Turkic and Dutch words as the region came into contact with foreign powers. For example, the word ador resembles j’adore (meaning ‘I adore’ in French) and similarly connotes affection. The 1800s also witnessed the Bengali renaissance led by the Bengali intellectuals of Kolkata, India.
The language now boasts a total of 250 million speakers, including those in India, Nepal, the United Arab Emirates and other nations. The Romani language has been spoken exclusively in Europe since the Middle Ages, but it has Indian origins, with 65 percent of its vocabulary today derived from Sanskrit. An Indo-aryan tongue, Romani has become the most widely spoken language of the Indian diaspora since the Roma arrived in Europe in the 1300s from Central India. In Europe, the Roma travelled together until the 14th century. This can be seen from the common influences across Roma dialects today from languages such as Persian, Armenian, Byzantine Greek, Old Slavic and Romanian. Since its conception, the Urdu language has been the language of the masses, used to express the troubles, grievances and hopes of the everyman. However, it is also the patois of grace, sophistication and dignity. Ādāb, a multi-tiered system of politeness, illustrates this through the different manifestations of words in scenarios of varying degrees of formality. Derived from its use in Islam, the system is a means of building mutual trust and respect. The word ādāb is also a Muslim greeting in South Asia. Urdu brings together Arabic, Persian, Pashto, Turkish and various local dialects of India.
The name ‘Urdu’ is derived from the Turkish word ordu for ‘army camp’, commonly believed to be a reference to its humble beginnings in the army camps of the Mughals. It is thought that during the Persian and Turkic invasions of the Indian subcontinent in the 11th century, the language came into contact with Farsi and Arabic. Due to the diversity of nationalities in the camps, Urdu was developed as a medium of communication amongst the soldiers.
Today, modern Urdu has been the national language of Pakistan since independence in 1947 and is also spoken by more than 300 million people, around 200 million in Pakistan and over 100 million in India.