Whenever I write about Dakhni on social media, there is a barrage of purists asserting that it is just a dialect. Last I checked, people who speak a language are the ones who get a say.
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If you’ve been a part of that culture, you know that Urdu snobbery isn’t limited to Deccani, but also extends to Hindi, which – with all the other dialects – is lumped together in Urdu parlance as dehati zaban or rustic/vulgar speech.
Ironically, if we look at the lexicon, it is Hindi’s rich vocabulary that is well-equipped to talk about the modern world and any discipline that defines it. Urdu doesn’t even have a word for ‘science’ (you just write it as سائنس and (mis)pronounce it as sains).
There is the word علم ‘ilm but it’s used for all sorts of unscientific and irrational things:
علم الفلکیات ‘ilm alfalkiyat / astrology
علم الکیمیاء ‘ilm alkimiya / alchemy
علم الطبیعیات ‘ilm altabiyat / natural philosophy
علم الطب ‘ilm altibb / ‘medicine’ (but this is humoural medicine and prophetic medicine, not evidence-based medicine)
علم النفسیات ‘ilm alnafsiyat / ‘psychology’ (but this is Islamic psychology, an entirely different beast from the science whose name it usurps)
And of course the word علم ‘ilm is also used for the religious ‘sciences’ of the Qur’anic exegesis (تفسیر tafsir), the hadith, and so on.
So overall – not a synonym for science as we understand it.
For those who’ve been into that culture, Urdu snobbey is barely limited to Deccani or other dialects, even Hindi is lumped with all the other dialects and branded dehati zaban, a vulgar speech not worthy of literature or serious work.
Ironically, if you look at the lexicon, it is Hindi which has the vocabulary for every modern academic discipline and also for the subtleties of human emotions and behavior for literary work. Urdu doesn’t even have a word for ‘science’ – it’s just the English word spelt سائنس and often poorly pronounced as sains.
(There is the word علم ‘ilm in Urdu but it’s not science, instead being used for all sorts of unscientific/irrational beliefs – علم الفلکیات astrology, علم الطبیعیات natural philosophy، علم الکیمیاء alchemy, علم الطب ‘medicine’ but this refers to the unscientific humoural medicine or نبوی prophetic medicine, علم النفسیات ‘psychology’ but really Islamic psychology which is quite a different beast…)
If you’ve been a part of that culture, you know that Urdu snobbery isn’t limited to Deccani, but also extends to Hindi, which – with all the other dialects – is lumped together in Urdu parlance as dehati zaban or rustic/vulgar speech.
Ironically, if we look at the lexicon, it is Hindi’s rich vocabulary that is well-equipped to talk about the modern world and any discipline that defines it. Urdu doesn’t even have a word for ‘science’ (you just write it as سائنس and (mis)pronounce it as sains).
There is the word علم ‘ilm but it’s used for all sorts of unscientific and irrational things:
علم الفلکیات ‘ilm alfalkiyat / astrology
علم الکیمیاء ‘ilm alkimiya / alchemy
علم الطبیعیات ‘ilm altabiyat / natural philosophy
علم الطب ‘ilm altibb / ‘medicine’ (but this is humoural medicine and prophetic medicine, not evidence-based medicine)
علم النفسیات ‘ilm alnafsiyat / ‘psychology’ (but this is Islamic psychology, an entirely different beast from the science whose name it usurps)
And of course the word علم ‘ilm is also used for the religious ‘sciences’ of the Qur’anic exegesis (تفسیر tafsir), the hadith, and so on.
So overall – not a synonym for science as we understand it.
For those who’ve been into that culture, Urdu snobbey is barely limited to Deccani or other dialects, even Hindi is lumped with all the other dialects and branded dehati zaban, a vulgar speech not worthy of literature or serious work.
Ironically, if you look at the lexicon, it is Hindi which has the vocabulary for every modern academic discipline and also for the subtleties of human emotions and behavior for literary work. Urdu doesn’t even have a word for ‘science’ – it’s just the English word spelt سائنس and often poorly pronounced as sains.
(There is the word علم ‘ilm in Urdu but it’s not science, instead being used for all sorts of unscientific/irrational beliefs – علم الفلکیات astrology, علم الطبیعیات natural philosophy، علم الکیمیاء alchemy, علم الطب ‘medicine’ but this refers to the unscientific humoural medicine or نبوی prophetic medicine, علم النفسیات ‘psychology’ but really Islamic psychology which is quite a different beast…)
Good & Informative article.
To quote Shashi Tharoor “Urdu is all hat and no cattle”.