Hyderabadi Urdu

Hyderabadi Urdu
	حیدرآبادی اردو‬
Native to	Telangana, Marathwada region of Maharashtra and Hyderabad-Karnataka region of Karnataka
Region	Deccan
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Central Zone Western Hindi Hindustani Urdu Dakhini Hyderabadi Urdu; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Writing system	Urdu alphabet
Official status
Official language in	Erstwhile former Hyderabad Nation
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Glottolog	dakh1244

Hyderabadi (Urdu: حیدرآبادی اردو‎ ) is a dialect of Urdu and one of the Dakhini dialects spoken in areas of the former Hyderabad State, corresponding to the Indian state of Telangana, and the Marathwada region of Maharashtra and Hyderabad-Karnataka region of Karnataka.

It is the native language of the Hyderabadi Muslims and their diaspora.^[1] It contains loan words from Indian languages like Marathi, Telugu, Kannada and foreign languages like Arabic, Turkish and Persian.^[2] Hyderabadi is considered to be the northern dialect of the Dakhini language.

History

The Hyderabadi dialect derives from Dakhini, that took root in the Deccan when Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb invaded and occupied the region and his armies introduced the "Camp" or "Lashkari" language to the area. Lashkari was the lingua franca born in Delhi and northern India as a necessity for the armies of a succession of Muslim invaders from Muslim lands in Central Asia to communicate with the native population. The language acquired more and more Persian and Arabic words in the Mughal court of Bahadur Shah Zafar, and was used by the intelligentsia of Delhi and Lucknow. In the Deccan, however, it retained its original form, referred to now as Dakhani (of, or pertaining to, Dakhan (South), Anglicized as Deccan).

Distinctive features

Hyderabadi is mutually intelligible with most Hindi/Urdu speakers but has distinctive features from interaction with local Indian Languages such as Marathi, Telugu, Kannada.

Phonology

The letter ق (qāf) is pronounced as an unvoiced velar fricative /x/ with the same pronunciation as خ (khe) whereas in Standard Hindustani dialects the ق is pronounced as a velar plosive /k/ with the same pronunciation as ک (kāf). For example, the word 'qabar' (grave) is pronounced as 'khabar' (news).

Lexical features

Distinct vocabulary unique to Hyderabadis:^[3]

Āra'en آرئیں - (is) coming; "Ā rahe hain" "آرہے ہیں" in standard Urdu
Čindiyān kardiya چِندیاں کر دیا - Nailed it
Čupke to be / čupkaič چُپکے تو بے / چُپکَیچ - No reason
Hona ہونا - to want, instead of "čāhna" چاہنا in Orthodox Urdu (instead of "mujhē woh čāhi'ē" "مجھے وہ چاہیے" in Orthodox Urdu, Hyderabadi Urdu would use "mērēku woh hona." "میرے کو وہ ہونا")
Hāo ہاؤ - for yes, instead of "Hān" "ہاں".
Hallu ہالو - Slow
Haula ہَولا - foolish, crazy person
Hota ki nai ki ہوتا کی نئیں کی - May or may not happen
Jāndo جاںدو - let it go
Jāra'un جارؤں - I am leaving
Jāra'en جارئیں - (is) going; جارہے ہیں "jā rahe hain" in standard Urdu
Kačča(i) (ی)کچا- wet; in standard Urdu, wet would be گیلا "gīla". کچا "kacha" in standard Urdu means "raw".
Kāikū کاہے کو - why; کیوں "kyūn" or کس لئے "kis li'ē" in standard Urdu.
Kāikū ki کاہے کوکی- wonder why, who knows why
Katey - it is often used when a person mentions something told by someone else. It could be translated as "it seems". Usage: "Kal unay bahar jaara katey" means "It seems he is going outside tomorrow".
Kxayāli pulāo خیالی پُلاؤ - Wishful thinking
Kunjī کنجی - keys; in standard Urdu, keys would be chābī چابی.
Kya toh bhi hora کیا تو بھی ہو را - what the hell is happening
Lāiṭ liyo لائٹ لیّو - take it easy
Mērēku میرےکو - my, instead of "mujhe" مجھے or "mujhko" مجھکو in standard Urdu
Miyān میاں - fellow (i.e. "Chalo miyan "چلو میاں" means "Let's go, man.")
Nakko نکو - an alternate (and informal) negative, generally indicating "no", "no thanks" or "don't". It can be (and is often) used in place of نہیں "nahīn", نہ "nā" and مت "mat" (from traditional Urdu) are used where نکو "nakko" is inappropriate for the context or in polite situations.
Parsaun پرسَوں - literally it means the day before yesterday or the day after tomorrow but it is widely used for any time in recent past.
Phugat پُھگٹ - for free
Poṭṭī پوٹی - derogatory term for girl
Poṭṭā پوٹا - derogatory term for boy
Paintābē پَینتابے - socks; in standard Urdu it would be مَوزے "mauzē".
Tumārēku تمارےکو - you, instead of tumhen تمہیں or tumko تمکو in standard Urdu
Tērēku تیرےکو (informal slang) - you, instead of tujhe or tujhko in standard Urdu
Uney اُنہے - he/she, instead of woh in standard Urdu.
Zyāda nakko kar زیادہ نکو کر - don't act over smart

The word اِچ "ič" is often added after a noun or verb to express the confidence of the action. In standard Urdu, ہی "hī" would be used. For example: "Biryāni'ič lāraun mēn" "بریانی اِچ لا رَؤں میں". In standard Urdu this would be "Biryāni hī lā rahā hūn main" "بریانی ہی لا رہا ہوں میں".

The Urdu word ہے "hai" (be) is often dropped. For example, Urdu "Mujhē mālūm hai" "مجھے معلوم ہے" (I know it) would be "Mērēku mālūm" "میرےکو معلوم".

Peculiar features

The suffix "ān" is often used to mark plurality. The letter 'n' is an almost silent nasal stop. For example, Log لوگ (people) would become Logān لوگاں, Bāt بات (talk) would become Bātān باتاں, Ādmi آدمی (men) pronounced as 'Admi' ادمی would become Admiyān ادمیاں, etc. in the Hyderabadi dialect.

While talking, many long a's (as in "father") are pronounced "uh" as in "hut." For example, instead of "ādmi" آدمی (man) or "rāsta" راستہ (path) in Orthodox Urdu, Hyderabadi would use "admi" ادمی and "rasta" رستہ. Similarly "bhūl" بھول (to forget), "ṭūṭ" ٹوٹ (to break) and "čūṛi'ān" چوڑیاں (bangles) is "bhul" بُھل, "ṭuṭ" ٹُٹ and "čuṛiyān" چُڑیاں in Hyderabadi.

Popularity and usage

Osmania University had adopted Dakhani as the medium of instruction as early as 1923 which was discontinued after the fall of Hyderabad in 1948, during Indian independence. In the early sixties, film star Mehmood popularized the another dialect, the Dakhni slang in Indian films, which originates from former Mysore State. Both Dakhani and Dakhni are different dialects, but they are born from a single language called Dakhini, where Dakani is used in Andhra/Telangana, and Dakhni is used in Karnataka.

A very famous Guinness record holder drama /stage comedy written in Dakhani is Adrak Ke Punjey. Many Urdu poets also write in the Hyderabadi dialect of Dakhani, including Pagal Adilabadi, Khamakha Hyderabadi and Nukko Hyderabadi (of Chicago, Illinois).

Hyderabadi gained sudden prominence and recognition in 2006 after the success of the comedy film The Angrez that adopted the dialect. The film's success sparked several other Hyderabadi dialect films including: Kal ka Nawaab, Hyderabad Nawaabs, Aadab Hyderabad, Gullu Dada, Gullu Dada returns, Berozgaar, Hungama In Dubai, Daawat-e-Ishq.

References

^ "Common Expressions: Hyderabadi Urdu". 2011. Archived from the original on 18 January 2012. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
^ Kulkarni, M A Naeem and de Souza (1996). Mediaeval Deccan History. Popular Prakashan, Bombay. p. 63. ISBN 9788171545797.
^ Varma, Vinay (10 September 2015). "My Hyderabad, how I Miss You". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 19 May 2018.

[websters-dictionary-1] "Common Expressions: Hyderabadi Urdu". 2011. Archived from the original on 18 January 2012. Retrieved 26 September 2011.

[Mediaeval_Deccan_history-2] Kulkarni, M A Naeem and de Souza (1996). Mediaeval Deccan History. Popular Prakashan, Bombay. p. 63. ISBN 9788171545797.

[3] Varma, Vinay (10 September 2015). "My Hyderabad, how I Miss You". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 19 May 2018.

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