Yankee-stani
ELITE MEMBER
- Joined
- Aug 22, 2018
- Messages
- 8,100
- Reaction score
- 1
- Country
- Location
The rape of Urdu language ~
How transliteration and "Roman Urdu" have destroyed this language
When languages are not properly protected and taught, the result is this. Behold the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority's "translation" of Islamabad International Airport (see photo).
- International = بین اقوامی (Bainul Aqwami)
- Airport =ہوائی اڈے (Hawai Adda)
Yes, this is actually a real photo. The CAA actually approved this translation. It makes me wonder what the average IQ is of the people running this government department. And this nonsense is not an isolated incident. In 2018, The Citizens Archive of Pakistan inaugurated the "National History Museum" as the "نیشنل ہستورے میوزیم".
- Museum =عجائب گھر (Ajaib Ghar)
- National = قومی (Quami)
- History = تاریخ (Tareekh)
And this is not just about Urdu...all our languages in Pakistan are under threat due to ignorance like this. The lack of ownership of our languages and lack of language laws results in this type of circus, where Anglicisation is allowed to run rampant.
Clearly the planning and constructing of the exhibits at this "National History Museum" were done first in English, and then "translated" into Urdu – and I use the term "translated" very loosely, as you can see in the photos that I've uploaded and highlighted.
If the planners of this museum do not know how to translate “National History Museum” into Urdu, then what else can you entrust them with? Throughout the museum you see absolutely mind numbing Urdu translations. It almost seems as if someone took the exhibit descriptions and used “Google Translator” to automatically translate them from English to Urdu. In some cases, the Urdu translations were actually LITERALLY transliterated from English.
Furthermore, the people of Punjab funded this museum, so where is Punjabi (Shahmukhi) language for your exhibit descriptions? Are regional languages inferior and not relevant? Also, you refer to yourselves as a “national” museum, so shouldn’t our other regional languages also be present? Where is Sindhi? Pashto? Baluchi etc.?
Even our urban neighbourhoods haven't been spared. Traditionally they have always been named to reflect our culture or history - places like Gulberg, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Nazimabad, Anarkali, Lyari, Faizabad etc. All these places have culture, history and soul about them. Nowadays however, places like "Paragon City", "Eden Avenue", "Ideal Garden Housing Scheme", "DHA City", "Bahria Town", "Arian City", "Top City" seem to be the norm. Does this not seem problematic? "Bahria Town" is not actually a town, it's a private company named "Bahria Town Private Limited". Why are company names replacing the names of villages and localities which have stood for over 500 years?
For many of you, this might not be a big deal, but for me and anyone who loves history, this is a tragedy in the making and it needs to stop. When LDA was formed, an emphasis was made to keep these names alive. It is for this reason why Lahore has so much character to it...for example, places like:
- Anarkali
- Badami Bagh
- Gawalmandi
- Daroghawala
- Shahdara
- Mughulpura
- Ichra
- Mazang
- Baghbanpura
- Thokar Niaz Baig
- Kot Lakhpat
- Babu Sabu
- etc....
When Lahore expanded east of Canal Road and towards Thokar in the 1970s, new housing subdivisions were constructed and given names by the LDA to reflect the local culture, such as:
- Gulberg
- Samanabad
- Gulshan-e-Ravi
- Gulshan-e-Iqbal
- Ghaziabad
- Nabipura
- Batapur
- Sabzazar
- etc...
The most interesting is Batapur. When the Bata Shoe Factory opened in east Lahore, the company also constructed a new housing estate adjacent to the factory. Instead of giving it a soulless name like "Bata Employees Cooperative Housing Society" or "Bata City" or "Bata Town", they named it Batapur...a name that is still used today. This was not only a smart marketing move, but it also respected the local culture and language.
Then the 1980s arrived...and it was during this period that Lahore began changing its naming philosophy. Instead of respecting the local culture, Anglo names were given to new housing developments, such as:
- Faisal Town
- Garden Town
- Muslim Town
- Model Town
- Johar Town
- Firdous Colony
- Islamia Park
- New Garden Town
These names have no soul to them whatsoever. Despite the fact Urdu and Punjabi words already exist, the Anglo terms were adopted. For example, the word for TOWN in Urdu and Punjabi would be any of the following:
- Abad (آباد)
- Abadi (آبادی)
- Pur (پور)
- Pura (پورہ)
- Mahalla (محله)
In Urdu, there is no word for colony as this was adopted from English. However, Urdu (as is the case for all other Pakistani languages) has traditionally always borrowed from Persian, and it should have applied in this case. The term for "colony" or "town" in Persian is Shahrak (شهرک). For example, Tehran's "Qarb Town" is referred to as "Shahrak-e Gharb". Similar names could have easily applied to places like:
- Faisal Town as Shahrak-e-Faisal (شهرک فیصل)
- Garden Town as Shahrak-e-Bagh (شهرک باغ)
- Johar Town as Shahrak-e-Johar (شهرک جوہر)
- Firdous Colony as Shahrak-e-Firdous (شهرک فردوس)
Then words like "Park" and "New" were introduced, despite the fact these terms already had an Urdu and Punjabi equivalent.
- Park is Bagh (باغ)
- New is Naya (نیا) or Nei (نئی)
Why "town", "colony", "park" and "new" were introduced by LDA is unknown. But this is the LDA we're talking about...they're not the smartest bunch of people.
And this practice of English transliteration into Urdu even more apparent when you start reading road signs.
- Road = سڑک (Sarak)
- Highway = شاہراہ (Shahrah)
- Street or Boulevard = خیابان (Khayban)
- Expressway = بزرگراه (Bazargarah)
- Motorway = موٹروے (Since no Urdu word exists, acceptable to adopt English variant).
Or start reading signs for common places or appliances.
School = مدرسہ (Madrassa)
Nursery = پودا گھر (Poda Ghar)
Fridge = سرد خانہ (Sahrd Khana)
Freezer = برف خانہ (Barf Khana)
Oven = تندور (Tandoor)
Microwave = مائکروویو (No translation...acceptable to adopt from inventive language of origin)
Vacuum cleaner = برقی جھاڑو (Barki Jahroo)
SIM = This is an acronym. The sound "SYM" is adopted by every language. سیم (Urdu & Persian), Shimu (Japanese), Simka (Chinese)
What are we telling the world when we disrespect our own languages? It tells the world we are a dead nation. When university is pronounced as "you nee vastee", you are essentially defining yourselves as an ignorant nation.
University = جامعہ not یونیورسٹی
What needs to be done:
1. Enforce strict language laws - government of Pakistan should ensure that Urdu translations are proper and is written in Nastaliq script.
2. Promote regional languages - provincial governments should enforce regional languages and ensure they are taught in schools.
3. Promote Pakistan as a trilingual nation. Every Pakistani student should be taught mother tongue + Urdu + English.
4. Issue severe fines against companies, media houses and publications which do not promote trilingualism or use Roman Urdu.
Source-Ancient Pakistan
How transliteration and "Roman Urdu" have destroyed this language
When languages are not properly protected and taught, the result is this. Behold the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority's "translation" of Islamabad International Airport (see photo).
- International = بین اقوامی (Bainul Aqwami)
- Airport =ہوائی اڈے (Hawai Adda)
Yes, this is actually a real photo. The CAA actually approved this translation. It makes me wonder what the average IQ is of the people running this government department. And this nonsense is not an isolated incident. In 2018, The Citizens Archive of Pakistan inaugurated the "National History Museum" as the "نیشنل ہستورے میوزیم".
- Museum =عجائب گھر (Ajaib Ghar)
- National = قومی (Quami)
- History = تاریخ (Tareekh)
And this is not just about Urdu...all our languages in Pakistan are under threat due to ignorance like this. The lack of ownership of our languages and lack of language laws results in this type of circus, where Anglicisation is allowed to run rampant.
Clearly the planning and constructing of the exhibits at this "National History Museum" were done first in English, and then "translated" into Urdu – and I use the term "translated" very loosely, as you can see in the photos that I've uploaded and highlighted.
If the planners of this museum do not know how to translate “National History Museum” into Urdu, then what else can you entrust them with? Throughout the museum you see absolutely mind numbing Urdu translations. It almost seems as if someone took the exhibit descriptions and used “Google Translator” to automatically translate them from English to Urdu. In some cases, the Urdu translations were actually LITERALLY transliterated from English.
Furthermore, the people of Punjab funded this museum, so where is Punjabi (Shahmukhi) language for your exhibit descriptions? Are regional languages inferior and not relevant? Also, you refer to yourselves as a “national” museum, so shouldn’t our other regional languages also be present? Where is Sindhi? Pashto? Baluchi etc.?
Even our urban neighbourhoods haven't been spared. Traditionally they have always been named to reflect our culture or history - places like Gulberg, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Nazimabad, Anarkali, Lyari, Faizabad etc. All these places have culture, history and soul about them. Nowadays however, places like "Paragon City", "Eden Avenue", "Ideal Garden Housing Scheme", "DHA City", "Bahria Town", "Arian City", "Top City" seem to be the norm. Does this not seem problematic? "Bahria Town" is not actually a town, it's a private company named "Bahria Town Private Limited". Why are company names replacing the names of villages and localities which have stood for over 500 years?
For many of you, this might not be a big deal, but for me and anyone who loves history, this is a tragedy in the making and it needs to stop. When LDA was formed, an emphasis was made to keep these names alive. It is for this reason why Lahore has so much character to it...for example, places like:
- Anarkali
- Badami Bagh
- Gawalmandi
- Daroghawala
- Shahdara
- Mughulpura
- Ichra
- Mazang
- Baghbanpura
- Thokar Niaz Baig
- Kot Lakhpat
- Babu Sabu
- etc....
When Lahore expanded east of Canal Road and towards Thokar in the 1970s, new housing subdivisions were constructed and given names by the LDA to reflect the local culture, such as:
- Gulberg
- Samanabad
- Gulshan-e-Ravi
- Gulshan-e-Iqbal
- Ghaziabad
- Nabipura
- Batapur
- Sabzazar
- etc...
The most interesting is Batapur. When the Bata Shoe Factory opened in east Lahore, the company also constructed a new housing estate adjacent to the factory. Instead of giving it a soulless name like "Bata Employees Cooperative Housing Society" or "Bata City" or "Bata Town", they named it Batapur...a name that is still used today. This was not only a smart marketing move, but it also respected the local culture and language.
Then the 1980s arrived...and it was during this period that Lahore began changing its naming philosophy. Instead of respecting the local culture, Anglo names were given to new housing developments, such as:
- Faisal Town
- Garden Town
- Muslim Town
- Model Town
- Johar Town
- Firdous Colony
- Islamia Park
- New Garden Town
These names have no soul to them whatsoever. Despite the fact Urdu and Punjabi words already exist, the Anglo terms were adopted. For example, the word for TOWN in Urdu and Punjabi would be any of the following:
- Abad (آباد)
- Abadi (آبادی)
- Pur (پور)
- Pura (پورہ)
- Mahalla (محله)
In Urdu, there is no word for colony as this was adopted from English. However, Urdu (as is the case for all other Pakistani languages) has traditionally always borrowed from Persian, and it should have applied in this case. The term for "colony" or "town" in Persian is Shahrak (شهرک). For example, Tehran's "Qarb Town" is referred to as "Shahrak-e Gharb". Similar names could have easily applied to places like:
- Faisal Town as Shahrak-e-Faisal (شهرک فیصل)
- Garden Town as Shahrak-e-Bagh (شهرک باغ)
- Johar Town as Shahrak-e-Johar (شهرک جوہر)
- Firdous Colony as Shahrak-e-Firdous (شهرک فردوس)
Then words like "Park" and "New" were introduced, despite the fact these terms already had an Urdu and Punjabi equivalent.
- Park is Bagh (باغ)
- New is Naya (نیا) or Nei (نئی)
Why "town", "colony", "park" and "new" were introduced by LDA is unknown. But this is the LDA we're talking about...they're not the smartest bunch of people.
And this practice of English transliteration into Urdu even more apparent when you start reading road signs.
- Road = سڑک (Sarak)
- Highway = شاہراہ (Shahrah)
- Street or Boulevard = خیابان (Khayban)
- Expressway = بزرگراه (Bazargarah)
- Motorway = موٹروے (Since no Urdu word exists, acceptable to adopt English variant).
Or start reading signs for common places or appliances.
School = مدرسہ (Madrassa)
Nursery = پودا گھر (Poda Ghar)
Fridge = سرد خانہ (Sahrd Khana)
Freezer = برف خانہ (Barf Khana)
Oven = تندور (Tandoor)
Microwave = مائکروویو (No translation...acceptable to adopt from inventive language of origin)
Vacuum cleaner = برقی جھاڑو (Barki Jahroo)
SIM = This is an acronym. The sound "SYM" is adopted by every language. سیم (Urdu & Persian), Shimu (Japanese), Simka (Chinese)
What are we telling the world when we disrespect our own languages? It tells the world we are a dead nation. When university is pronounced as "you nee vastee", you are essentially defining yourselves as an ignorant nation.
University = جامعہ not یونیورسٹی
What needs to be done:
1. Enforce strict language laws - government of Pakistan should ensure that Urdu translations are proper and is written in Nastaliq script.
2. Promote regional languages - provincial governments should enforce regional languages and ensure they are taught in schools.
3. Promote Pakistan as a trilingual nation. Every Pakistani student should be taught mother tongue + Urdu + English.
4. Issue severe fines against companies, media houses and publications which do not promote trilingualism or use Roman Urdu.
Source-Ancient Pakistan
