Case of Shared Vocabulary of Turkish and Urdu Languages (by Ammar Younas)

A lot of researchers have tried to create links between Turkish and Urdu languages. Some researchers have argued that Urdu is directly influenced by Turkish Language. It might be because word “Urdu” is derived from Turkic word “Oordou” meaning “Camps” or “Armies”. Many linguists think that Urdu has less contact with Turkish as compared with Arabic and Persian Languages. On the other hand, the Grammatical Structure of Urdu Language is much more similar to the Hindi Language. No Doubt, Turkish and Urdu share a lot of words but it is Grammatical and syntactical structure that determine family of a language not vocabulary. Almost every language has loan words and with the passage of time, every language adopts new words from other languages. For example, scientific terms in almost every language are in Latin.

This article is a short description of Turkish Influence on Urdu Language. I have tried to explain the similarities and differences between Turkish and Urdu Languages and cases which govern these similarities and differences.

Urdu Language

Urdu is an Indo-European language of the Indo- Aryan family, widely spoken in south Asia. It is the national language of Pakistan and one of the official languages of India. It is written in a modified Perso-Arabic script (Nastalique) from right to left. As regards vocabulary, it shows a strong influence of Arabic and Persian along with some borrowing from English. The Turkish language arrived in the subcontinent by Invadion . Mehmud of Ghazni was in fact of Turkish origin. Amir Khusrau Dehlvi, too, was of Turkish origin. The Mogul Emperor Babur wrote ` Babur Nama -` — his chronicles or memoirs, in Turkish and it contains a large number of Urdu words. Hafiz Mehmud Sherani has given, in the second volume of his ` Maqalaat `, the details of Urdu words used in the Babur Nama . Babur and his sons Kamran and Humayun composed poetry in Turkish.The Notable point is this that Turkish in Indian Sub-Continent was the language of invaders, not of traders and preachers.

Turkish Language

Turkish is considered as member of Altaic Language Family. It is spoken in Turkey, Cyprus, Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, Macedonia, some parts of Eastern Europe, Iran and Central Asia. Language has many dialects. The Ottoman script was used for Turkish during the period of Ottoman Empire but it was replaced by Ataturk in early years of Republic of Turkey by a modified Latin Script. The Arabic script was common to all Turkic languages till as late as 1920 when the Latin script was adopted for the languages of the republics of the Soviet Union. After 1940, the Latin script was completely replaced with an adapted form of Cyrillic script in the Soviet Union. Turkey officially adopted a modified structure of the Latin script in 1928. At present the Arabic alphabet is used only by Turkic peoples living in China, Iran, and Arabia. Turkish shares vocabulary with Arabic, Persian and English like Urdu Language.

Major Similarities and Differences between Urdu and Turkish Grammars

As far as similarities are concerned, Turkish and Urdu have some shared words only. There is no similarity between Grammatical and Syntactical Structures of the two languages. As Turkish has Vowel Harmony and Agglutination but Urdu has nothing of this kind.The basic sentence structure is the same. (Subject-Object-Verb) but all six combinations of SOV are possible in Turkish Language. Both Languages have no grammatical gender but in Turkish,the speaker or reader depends upon context for understanding gender but in Urdu usually the ending of a sentence can be an indication of masculine or feminine gender. Both Languages use second-person pronouns that distinguish between various levels of politeness, social distance, age, courtesy or familiarity towards an addressee. While comparing two languages, Linguists look towards basic core vocabulary (relations, animals, colors, numbers, things of daily usage and household, Pronouns etc). A vivid difference can be seen in core vocabularies of Turkish and Urdu Languages. Urdu is a bidirectional language due to its Arabic Script.Urdu words are written from right to left but numbers are written from left to right. Turkish is written from left to right.

Case of Shared Vocabulary

Urdu has this property that it readily accepts words from other languages.Also Urdu is a younger language than Turkish. There is no doubt that Urdu shares words with Turkish language and these words were present in Turkish before. Urdu took these words from Turkish. But the following 3 points are important.

1: Both languages may have taken these words from a third language.

2: Common Words in Urdu and Turkish are often not Purely Turkish Words.

3: If Turkish and Urdu Share words with a third language then the link between Turkish and Urdu must be established.

Geoffrey Lewis wrote in his book “The Turkish Language Reform”, “By the beginning of the eleventh century, most of the ancestors of the present Turks of Turkey had become Muslim. It is evident that their introduction to Islam was due to peoples of Iranian speech, because the basic religious terms in Turkish come not from Arabic but from Persian or other Iranian languages: namaz 'prayer', oruç 'fasting', peygamber 'prophet'. The apparent exceptions, the Arabic hac or ziyaret for 'pilgrimage', are no exception, because those are the words used in Persian too. Once settled within the civilization of Islam, the Turks took into their language as much Persian and Arabic vocabulary as they needed, and more. As the perception that they were Turks was supplanted by an awareness that they were members of the Ümmet-i Muhammed, the Community of Believers, so the tide of Arabic and Persian flowed. It was not just a matter of borrowing foreign words for foreign concepts.” And he also wrote, “Huge though the influx of Persian words was, a bigger invasion came from Arabic, and not only because as the language of the Koran it naturally became the language of religion and theology and because the Persian vocabulary was itself replete with Arabic borrowings, but also because when an Arabic word was borrowed it brought its whole family with it. This calls for a brief explanation, which Arabists may skip.”

Lewis explained that Turkish is more influenced by Persian than Arabic. Also the grammatical Structure of Turkish and Persian can be considered similar because Persian also has a small element of agglutination. Secondly, before Islam, Turks were closer to the Persian people which is clear from the ancient Turkish literary writings which show abundant similarities between Turkish and Persian. Secondly, Turks attained religious knowledge not only through Arabic also through Persian because it was language of Sufi saints and scholars. Persian literature more influenced at Turkish Language than Arabic Language.

Now coming to the Urdu language, it has been argued that Urdu is created during war and it is mixture of Persian, Arabic and Turkish Languages because Urdu shares many words with these languages. But as we said before, language formation is a lengthy process which consumes time. The arguments that Urdu was formed by invading Muslim armies by mixing words of Persian, Arabic and Turkish is incomprehensible, historically incorrect and linguistically misleading.

Let’s anilyze some historical facts which are taken from an article written by Dr Syed Mohammad Anwer,

“Turks started converting to Islam in 920AD with the invasion of Arabs. But Arabs entered in Sub-Continent in 711AD when Muhammad Bin Qasim Invaded Sindh. But Arabs were in touch with Indian Sub-Continent centuries before Islam. On the other hand, Interaction between Persian and Indian people goes back to before Christ (BC). Ottoman Turk Empire was established in 1299 and Lahore was under the rule Mahmud Gaznavi in 1254AD.”

Arabic, Persian and Turkish were brought to India by traders, invaders and preachers. Turkish was the only language which was restricted to invaders whereas Arabic was introduced by traders and Persia India’s neighbor so Persian vocabulary also diffused in Indian Languages.

All the invaders, traders and preachers who entered in Indian Sub- Continent mostly adopted the Persian Route. And the language they used was Persian, not Arabic or Turkish. If someone argues that the invaders of the Sub Continent were of Turkish origin then in my personal opinion, people readily adopt the language of traders and preachers than that of invaders. Only a specific group of people have to learn language of kings and emperors because they remain in touch with them but majority of people have to deal with traders. If Turkish was the language of invaders then Persian was the language of Traders and Preachers. A specific group of Turkish speaking people cannot influence a language. It was the populace that was in permanent contact with Persian speaking traders and Preachers who introduced a lot of new words in Urdu which are misleadingly called as of Turkish origin.

Hence, the words in Urdu language which seem similar to Turkish words are originally Persian words or rarely Arabic.

Mr Purdil Khattak wrote a book “ Urdu aur Turki kay Mushtarik Alfaz” (Similar words of Urdu and Turkish) published by Muqtedarah Qaumi Zuban (1987), lslamabad. He has listed 2608 words which are spoken by Turkish and Urdu speakers. According to Dr Syed Mohammad Anwer, from these 2608 words only 24 words are purely Turkish Words. The remaining ones are Arabic or Persian. So the claim is false that Turkish contributed to the formation of Urdu language.

I found a list of Hindi words common with Turkish. One can estimate that approximately all of these words are also present in Urdu language. By looking this list one can think that Urdu is more influenced by Hindi language than Turkish.

Turkish

Hindi English

.

acaip

acab / ajab

Weird

.

adalet

adaalat

Justice

.

adam

aadam

Man

.

aheste aheste

ahısta ahısta

Slowly

.

akıl

akl / akal

Mind

.

akis

aks

Echo

.

ananas

ananas

Pineapple

.

asıl

asli / asal

real, fact

.

aşık

aşik / aashik

fallen-in-love

.

avare

avara

wandering idly

.

avaz

aavaz

cry, shout

.

avrat (rare use)

aurat

Wife

.

ayna

aaina

Mirror

.

azad

aazad

Free

.

badem

badem

Almond

.

barut

barood

Gunpowder

.

canım

canam / janaam

Darling

.

cevap

javab

Answer

.

çakı

çaku / chaku

hindi: knife turkish:pocketknife

.

çatı

çat / chatt

Roof

.

çay

çay / chai

Tea

.

dert

dard

pain, trouble

.

dost

dost

Friend

.

duvar

diwar

Wall

.

dükkan

dukan

Shop

.

dünya

duniya

World

.

dürbün

durbin

Binoculars

.

düşman

duşman / dushman

Enemy

.

ecnebi

acnabi / ajanabi

Foreigner

.

edep

adab

good manners

.

eer

agar

If

.

elbette

albatta

of course

.

fakir

fakir

Poor

.

gam

gum

sorrow, grief

.

gurur

gurur

Pride

.

günah

gunah

Sin

.

hava

hava

Air

.

hafta

hafta

Week

.

hazır

hazier

Ready

.

helva

halwa

Name of Sweet

.

hesap

hesap

Calculation

.

incir

ancir / anjeer

Fig

.

insan

insan

Human

.

karpuz

harbuz / kharboze

Watermelon

.

kalem

kalam

pencil, pen

.

katil

kaatil

Murderer

.

ki

ki

the one that is (in) ... (suffix)

.

kitap

kitab

Book

.

kıyma

khima

minced meat

.

köfte

kofta

meat balls

.

manzara

manzara

View

.

masum

masum

Innocent

.

misafir

musafir

Guest

.

meydan

maidan

Square

.

muhabbet

mohabbat

Love

.

mum

mum

Candle

.

musibet

musibat

calamity, disaster

.

nar

anar

Pomegranate

.

nefret

nafrat

Hate

.

pazu

bazu

Biceps

.

pehlivan

pehelvan

Wrestler

.

peynir

paynir

(white) cheese

.

pilav

pulaw

cooked rice

.

ruh

roh / rooh

Soul

.

sabun

sabun

Soap

.

sade

sade

plain, simple

.

saf

saaf

pure, clean

.

sahil

sahil

Coast

.

sebze

sabzi

Vegetable

.

sırf

sırf

Only

.

şarap

şarab / sharab

alcoholic drink

.

şeker

şakar / shakkar

Sugar

.

şeytan

şaytan / shaytaan

Devil

.

şikayet

şikayet / shikayet

Complaint

.

şiş kebap

şiş kebap

.

şişe

şişa / shisha

Bottle

.

tabanca

tamancha

Pistol

.

tava

tava

Pan

.

taze

taze / taaza

Fresh

.

top

top

Cannon

.

ordu

urdu

Army

.

vatan

vatan

homeland, country

.

yani

yani

that is to say, i.e.

.

yar

yar

loved one

.

zalim

zalim

Cruel

.

zincir

zancir / zanjeer

Chain

Fact about this list is that these words are also present in Arabic, Persian and other languages of Central Asia or It can be said that some of these words are adopted by Hindi from these languages. Just by looking at similar words in two languages, one couldn’t say the relativity of those languages.

While talking with native speakers of Tajiki, Dari, Punjabi and Hindi, I have estimated that there are lot of words which are found in all of these languages. To understand this fact, one must not be a linguistics student, It is a logical thing, If a word of Urdu is common with Turkish and the same word is also present in Punjabi, Pashtu, Deri, Tajki, Hindi or any other language of sub-continent or its neighborhood then why linguists feel this need to say that Urdu is directly influenced by a distant language Turkish?”

What has Urdu got to do with Turkish?

I have mentioned that Urdu gets its name from the Turkish word "Ordu" which means “army”.

In Amir khusro’s famous book “Ghurratul Kamal”, he talked about Masood Saad Salman who said to be first Urdu poet. He is believed to have composed three poetic anthologies in Turkish, Persian and Hindvi. It can thus be concluded that the origin of Urdu language can be easily traced to Turkish. Urdu and Hindi are the two dominant languages of India and Pakistan. They share common grammar and syntax. But Urdu is more influenced by Arabic, Persian and Turkish than Hindi.

In fact, when it comes to lexical linkages, Urdu and Turkish commonly share two types of words:

a) Words of Arabic and Persian common to both Urdu and Turkish.

b) Words directly borrowed from Turkish.

Let’s discuss both of these points one by one.

Words of Arabic and Persian common to both Urdu and Turkish.

Due to cultural and religious similarities majority of words are borrowed from Arabic and Persian languages. Ottoman Turkish was somehow a mixture of Persian and Arabic languages.

Contemporary Turkish includes Ottoman Turkish loanwords—mostly of Arabic and French, but also Persian, Greek, and Italian origin—which were replaced with their Turkish counterparts suggested by the Turkish Language Association (Turkish: Türk Dil Kurumu, TDK) as a part of the cultural reforms - in the broader framework of Atatürk's Reforms - following the foundation of Republic of Turkey.

The TDK, established by Atatürk in 1932 in order to conduct research on the Turkish language, also undertook the initiative to replace Arabic and Persian loanwords with their Turkish counterparts. The Association succeeded in removing several hundred Arabic words from the language. While most of the words introduced into the language in this process were newly derived from existing Turkish verbal roots, TDK also suggested using old Turkish words which had not been used in the language for centuries.

Urdu language, at its start was a clear copy of Persian language. Rulers of Sub Continent were speakers of Persian and public started speaking Persian to praise their kings. Secondly, the very first poets and writers of Urdu language were originally poets of Persian language so they imported a large number of Persian words in Urdu language.

Loanwords of Arabic Origin Common in Turkish and Urdu

Ottoman Turkish word and its transliteration

Modern spelling of the Ottoman Turkish word

Modern Turkish equivalent

Meaning in English

ا جيليacele *

Acele

ivedi **

urgent(ly)

عضله ʻaḍale

Adele

kas

Muscle

عيلة ʻaile *

Aile

ocak **

Family

عقد ʻaqd *, مقاوله mukâvele

akit, mukavele

sözleşme, anlaşma,bağıt

Contract

عقل ʻaql *

Akıl

us **

Wisdom

عامل ʻâmil

amil

etken

Factor

عملية ʻamaliyyah

ameliye

işlem

operation, process

asakir *

asker

sü **

Soldier

asr *

asır

yüzyıl

Century

bazı *

bazı

kimi

some (pronoun)

أبيض abyâz *

beyaz

ak

White

جمعة camiʻah *

camîa

topluluk

Community

cebren

cebren

zorla

Forcefully

جلسة calsah *

celse

oturum

(law) hearing, session

جنوب cenûb

cenup

güney

South

جواب cevâb *

cevap

yanıt

answer.

جمله cümle *

cümle

tümce **

sentence.

دفعه defʻa *, کره kere *

defa, kere

kez

times (repetition)

dâ'ir *

dair

ilişkin

pertinent (to)

define *

define

gömü

Treasure

delil *

delil

kanıt

Evidence

دور devr *

devir

çağ

Era

دوره devre *

devre

dönem

Semester

ابدى ebedî *

ebedî

sonsuz

Forever

اجداد ecdâd

ecdat

ata

Ancestry

اجل ecel *

ecel

ölüm

(predestined time of) death

اجنبى acnebi*

ecnebi

el, yad

stranger, foreigner

edebiyyat *

edebiyat

yazın

Literature

ehemmiyyet

ehemmiyet

önem

Importance

elbise *

elbise

giysi

Cloth

أمر emr *

emir

buyruk **

order, command

امنيه amniyyah *

emniyet

güvenlik

Security

اثر eser *

eser

yapıt

production (music, film)

اسير esîr *

esir

tutsak

Hostage

etraf *

etraf

ortalık

surroundings, surrounding area

اوراق evrâk *

evrak

belge

paper document

اول evvel *

evvel

önce

Before

فعال faʻâl *

faal

etkin

Active

faiz *

faiz

ürem **, getiri

interest (monetary)

fakir, fukara *

fakir

yoksul

Poor

فايدة fâydah *

fayda

yarar

benefit, utility

فن fenn *, علم ʻilm *

fen, ilim

bilim

Science

feyezan

feyezan

taşkın

flood, overflow

فكر fikr *

fikir

görüş

Opinion

فعل fiʻl *

fiil

eylem

Verb

غرب garb

garp

batı

West

غير gayr

gayri

olmayan, başka, dışı

non-, other

gıda *

gıda

besin

Food

hadise *

hadise

olay

event, happening, fact, occurrence

حافظه hâfıza *

hafıza

bellek

Memory

خفيف hafif *

hafif

yeğni **

light (in weight)

حفريات hafriyyât

hafriyat

kazı

Excavation

حق haqq *

hak

pay

Portion

حقيقت haqîqat *

hakikat

gerçek

Reality

حاكم hâkim *

hâkim

yargıç

Judge

حال hâl *, وضعيت vazʻiyet *

hâl, vaziyet

durum

Situation

haʻmile *

hamile

gebe

Pregnant

خراب harâb *

harap

yıkık

Ruin

حرارت harâret *

hararet

ısı ¹, sıcaklık ²

heat¹, temperature²

harekkat *

hareket

devinim **

movement, motion

حرف harf *

harf

ses, imce **

Letter

hasret *

hasret

özlem

Longing

hassas *

hassas

duyarlı

Sensitive

حشره haşere *

haşere

böcek

Insect

خطا hatâ *, قصور kusûr *

hata, kusur

yanlış

Mistake

حيات hayât *, عمر ömr *

hayat, ömür

yaşam, dirim**

Life

حيثيت haysiyyet *

haysiyet

saygınlık

Respectability

hazm *

hazım

sindirim

Digestion

هديه hediyye *

hediye

armağan

Gift

حدت hiddet *

hiddet

kızgınlık, öfke

Anger

حكاية hikâye *

hikâye

öykü

Story

خلاف hilâf

hilaf

karşıt

Opposite

حس his *

his

duygu

Feeling

خواجه hôca *

hoca

öğretmen

Teacher

حقوق hukuk *

hukuk

tüze **

(judiciary) law

خصوص husûs *

husus

konu

Subject

حضور huzûr *

huzur

dirlik **

Comfort

hucre *

hücre

göze **

Cell

هجوم hücûm *

hücum

saldırı

Attack

حرمت hürmet *

hürmet

saygı

Respect

ısrar *

ısrar

üsteleme

Insisting

ابتدائی ibtidâ'î

iptidai

ilkel

primary; primitive

içtima

içtima

toplantı

meeting, gathering

افتخار iftihâr *

iftihar

övünme

Pride

إحتياج ihtiyâc *

ihtiyaç

gereksinme or gereksinim

Need

احتياط ihtiyât

ihtiyat

yedek

backup, spare

iktibas

iktibas

alıntı

copying (in literature; referencing)

ilave *

ilave

ek

Addition

الهام ilhâm *

ilham

esin

Inspiration

عمار ʻimâr *

imar

bayındırlık

construction, development

امكان imkân *

imkân

olanak

opportunity, possibility

imlâ *

imla

yazım

Orthography

imtihân

imtihan

sınav, yazılı

Examination

inhisâr

inhisar

tekel

Monopoly

insân *

insan

kul **

Human

irtifâʻ *

irtifa

yükseklik

Altitude

ارثی irsî *

ırsi

kalıtsal, kalıtımsal

Hereditary

اسم ism *

isim

ad

Name

إستحصال istiḥṣāl

istihsal

üretim

Production

إستقلال istiqlal *

istiklal

bağımsızlık

independence, freedom

istirâhat *

istirahat

dinlenme

Rest

إستثقال istisḳāl

istiskal

aşağılama

Abasement

استثناء istisnâ' *

istisna

aykırı

Exception

اشتغال iştigâl

iştigal

uğraş / uğraşı

Occupation

iştirâk *

iştirak

ortaklık

Association

izâh *

izah

açıklama

Clarification

izdivâc

izdivaç

evlilik

Marriage

kâbiliyet *

kabiliyet

yetenek / yeti

talent, ability

kader *

kader

yazgı

Fate

كافي kâfi *

kâfi

yeter

Enough

كائنات kâ'inât *

kâinat

evren

Universe

قلب kalb *

kalp

yürek

Heart

kânûn *

kanun

yasa

Law

kâfiye *

kafiye

uyak

Rhyme

كلمه kelime *

kelime

sözcük

Word

قسم kısm *

kısım

bölüm

Part

كتاب ketab *

kitap

betik **

Book

قوة kuvvet *

kuvvet

güç or erk

power, force

küre *

küre

yuvar **

Sphere

لطيفه lâtîfe

latife

şaka

Joke

لسان lisân *

lisan

dil

Language

لغات lûġat

lügat

sözlük

Dictionary

لزوملو lüzûmlu *

lüzumlu

gerekli

Necessary

معاش maʻâş *

maaş

aylık

Salary

معباد maʻbed *

mabet

tapınak

Temple

maddî *

maddî

özdeksel **

material, materialistic

mağdûr *

mağdur

kıygın **

wronged, injured

maʻlubiyyat *

mağlubiyet

yenilgi

Defeat

mahfuz

mahfuz

saklı

Hidden

mahlûk *

mahluk

yaratık

Creature

mahsûl *

mahsul

ürün

Product

mahsûs *

mahsus

özgü

Peculiar

maksad *, gaye *, hedef *

maksat, gaye, hedef

amaç or erek

Goal

maʻkûl *

makul

uygun, elverişli

Reasonable

معنة maʻnah *

mâna

anlam

Meaning

مصرف masraf *

masraf

gider, harcama

Cost

mavi *

mavi

gökçe **

Blue

mecaz *, istiare

mecaz

iğretileme, eğretileme

Metaphor

مجبور mecbûr *

mecbur

zorunlu

obligation, obligatory

مجهول mechûl *

meçhul

bilinmeyen

Unknown

madanni *

medeni

uygar

Civil

madanniyyat *

medeniyet

uygarlık

Civilization

مفهوم mefhûm *

mefhum

kavram

Concept

مکروه mekrûh *

mekruh

iğrenç

Disgusting

مملکت memleket *

memleket

ülke

Country

مراسم merâsim *

merasim

tören

Ceremony

مرثيه mersiye

mersiye

ağıt

Elegy

mesafe *

mesafe

uzaklık

Distance

mesame

mesame

gözenek

Pore

مثانة mesane *

mesane

sidik kesesi

urinary bladder

meselâ *

mesela

örneğin

for example

mesele *

mesele

sorun

Problem

مسعود mesʻûd *

mesut

mutlu, sevinçli

Happy

maʻsûliyyat *

mesuliyet

sorumluluk

Responsibility

مشهور meşhûr *

meşhur

ünlü

Famous

مشروبات meşrûbât *

meşrubat

içecek

Beverage

موقع mevkiʻ مكان mekân *

mevki, mekân

yer, konum

Location

ميدان meydân *, ساحه sâha

meydan, saha

alan **

open area, plaza

ميل meyl *

meyil

eğim, eğilim

Inclination

mezar *

mezar

gömüt **

Cemetery

mısra *

mısra

dize

Verse

mirâs *

miras

kalıt **

Inheritance

مسافر misâfir *

misafir

konuk

Guest

مثال misâl *

misal

örnek

Example

مسکين miskîn *

miskin

uyuşuk, mıymıntı

Lazy

معامله muʻâmele *

muamele

davranış

treatment, behavior

معما muʻammâ

muamma

bilmece

puzzle, trivia

معاصر muʻâsır

muasır

çağdaş, güncel

Contemporary

معاون muʻâvin *

muavin

yardımcı

Helper

معجزه muʻcize *

mucize

tansık **

Miracle

mugaddii

mugaddi

besleyici

nourisher

mugalata

mugalata

yanıltmaca

deceptive statement

muganni, muganniye

muganni,muganniye

şarkıcı

singer

mugber

muğber

küskün, gücenmiş, dargın

the state of one not talking to another

muglak *

muğlak

çapraşık

ambiguous

muhabere

muhabere

iletişim, iletişme

communication

muhaceret

muhaceret

göç

emigration

muhacir

muhacir

göçmen

immigrant

muhaddep

muhaddep...