Town, Region and Country
Village, city, country - and the discovery that most of these words are not originally Urdu at all, which turns out to be worth knowing.
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Most of these words are not Urdu 🌍
Urdu has spent centuries borrowing, mostly from **Persian** and **Arabic**, and the words for places are among the most borrowed of all. That is not a piece of history: it is a **discount**. If you ever study Persian, or already know some Arabic, a large part of this list is already yours. And it works in reverse: these words will turn up in other languages and you will recognise them.
Where you live 🗂️
Six words for the places this topic is about:
Match each word to its meaning
- شہر (shahr)
- گاؤں (gaon)
- ملک (mulk)
- علاقہ (ilaqa)
- city
- village
- country
- area or region
The words Urdu shares 🤝
Four of the six words you have just learned came into Urdu from somewhere else. **From Persian**: **شہر (shahr)**, city, and **باغ (bagh)**, garden. A Persian learner meets exactly these words, spelled the same way. **From Arabic**: **ملک (mulk)**, country, and **علاقہ (ilaqa)**, area. **And one is not borrowed at all: سڑک (sarak), road.** It is South Asian in origin, and no amount of Persian or Arabic will hand it to you. That word is in this list on purpose. **So the strategy is real but partial.** When an Urdu word looks familiar from another language, that is usually not a coincidence and is worth acting on. When it does not, there is nothing to work out and you simply learn it.
Which one is not borrowed? ❓
Four of these words came into Urdu from Persian or Arabic. Which one did not?
- سڑک (sarak), road
- شہر (shahr), city
- ملک (mulk), country
- باغ (bagh), garden
The pattern 📝
Urdu has borrowed heavily from _____ and Arabic, and place words are among the most borrowed. شہر, city, is the same word in _____. ملک, country, came from _____. But _____, road, is South Asian and was not borrowed at all - which is the reminder that this is a useful strategy rather than a _____.
Find the one that is only Urdu ✍️
An interactive activity.
Order them by size 🪜
An interactive activity.
Which are true? ✅
Select the TWO correct statements about Urdu vocabulary.
- Many everyday Urdu words came from Persian and Arabic
- Recognising a borrowed word helps, but some Urdu words are not borrowed at all
- Every Urdu word comes from Persian or Arabic
- A borrowed word always means precisely the same thing in both languages
Use it 🧭
An interactive activity.
Two kinds of word ↔️
Both are equally Urdu today. The difference is only in where they came from, and whether another language can help you with them.
The summary 🖊️
A city is _____ and a village is _____. A country is _____ and an area is _____. Many of these came into Urdu from Persian and Arabic, which is a real help if you study either - but _____ did not, and that is the reminder that the strategy has limits.
Your turn ✍️
An interactive activity.