Hindustani etymology
etymology of the Hindi and Urdu languages
Hindustani, also known as Hindi-Urdu, is the vernacular form of two standardized registers used as official languages in India and Pakistan, namely Hindi and Urdu. It comprises several closely related dialects in the northern, central and northwestern parts of the Indian subcontinent but is mainly based on Khariboli of the Delhi region. As an Indo-Aryan language, Hindustani has a core base that traces back to Sanskrit but as a widely-spoken lingua franca, it has a large lexicon of loanwords, acquired through centuries of foreign rule and ethnic diversity.
Standard Hindi derives much of its formal and technical vocabulary from Sanskrit while standard Urdu derives much of its formal and technical vocabulary from Persian and Arabic (and even from the Turkic languages to some extent). Standard Hindi and Urdu are used primarily in public addresses and radio or TV news, while the everyday spoken language is one of the several varieties of Hindustani, whose vocabulary contains words drawn from Persian, Arabic, and Sanskrit. In addition, spoken Hindustani includes words from English, the Dravidian languages, and the Sino-Tibetan languages; as well as several others.
Hindustani developed over several centuries throughout much of the northern subcontinent including the areas that comprise modern-day India, Pakistan, and Nepal. In the same way that the core vocabulary of English evolved from Old English (Anglo-Saxon) but assimilated many words borrowed from French and other languages (whose pronunciations often changed naturally so as to become easier for speakers of English to pronounce), what may be called Hindustani can be said to have evolved from Sanskrit while borrowing many Persian and Arabic words over the years, and changing the pronunciations (and often even the meanings) of these words to make them easier for Hindustani speakers to pronounce. Many Persian words entered the Hindustani lexicon due to the influence of the Mughal rulers of north India, who followed a very Persianised culture and also spoke Persian. Many Arabic words entered Hindustani via Persian, which had previously been assimilated into the Persian language due to the influence of Arabs in the area.
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