Urduspeaking

Urduspeaking refers to the ability to speak Urdu, an Indo-Aryan language that developed in the northwestern zones of the Indian subcontinent during the late medieval period. It serves as the national language of Pakistan and is one of the 22 official languages of India; it is widely spoken in major cities across both countries and by diaspora communities worldwide, including the Middle East, Europe, North America, and Africa.

Urdu is written in the Perso-Arabic script, typically in the Nastaliq style. It is part of the Hindustani language continuum and shares its core syntax with Hindi, but distinguishes itself through a prestige register dominated by Persian and Arabic loanwords. The standard variety is used in formal education, government, media, and literature, while everyday speech varies by region and community.

Regional dialects and varieties include Dakhni, spoken in the Deccan, and urban and border varieties around Pakistan and northern India. Literary Urdu, or Rekhta, emphasizes classical vocabulary and poetry. Diglossia with Hindi is a notable sociolinguistic feature, shaping language choice, script use, and mutual intelligibility in informal settings.

Urduspeaking communities have a rich cultural footprint in poetry (ghazals and nazms), journalism, theatre, cinema, and music. In Pakistan, Urdu serves as a lingua franca across linguistic borders; in India it coexists with other languages and is often associated with education and media. Global Urdu-speaking networks have grown through migration and digital communication.

Overall, Urduspeaking encompasses linguistic competence, literacy in the Urdu script, and a set of cultural practices linked to Urdu-language media, literature, and identity. Like other diglossic languages, it exists alongside regional languages and adapts to changing social contexts through code-switching and borrowing.