Hyderabadi Urdu


Hyderabadi is a dialect of Urdu and one of the Dakhini dialects spoken in areas of the former Hyderabad State, corresponding to the Indian state of Telangana, and the Marathwada region of Maharashtra and Hyderabad-Karnataka region of Karnataka.
It is the native language of the Hyderabadi Muslims and their diaspora. It contains loan words from Indian languages like Marathi, Telugu, Kannada and foreign languages like Arabic, Turkish and Persian. Hyderabadi is considered to be the northern dialect of the Dakhini language.

History

The Hyderabadi dialect derives from Dakhini, that took root in the Deccan when Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb invaded and occupied the region and his armies introduced the "Camp" or "Lashkari" language to the area. Lashkari was the lingua franca born in Delhi and northern India as a necessity for the armies of a succession of Muslim invaders from Muslim lands in Central Asia to communicate with the native population. The language acquired more and more Persian and Arabic words in the Mughal court of Bahadur Shah Zafar, and was used by the intelligentsia of Delhi and Lucknow. In the Deccan, however, it retained its original form, referred to now as Dakhani.

Distinctive features

Hyderabadi is mutually intelligible with most Hindi/Urdu speakers but has distinctive features from interaction with local Indian Languages such as Marathi, Telugu, Kannada.

Phonology

The letter ق is pronounced as an unvoiced velar fricative /x/ with the same pronunciation as خ whereas in Standard Hindustani dialects the ق is pronounced as a velar plosive /k/ with the same pronunciation as ک. For example, the word 'qabar' is pronounced as 'khabar'.

Lexical features

Distinct vocabulary unique to Hyderabadis:
The word اِچ "ich" is often added after a noun or verb to express the confidence of the action. In standard Urdu, ہی "hi" would be used. For example: "Biryanich laaraun myn." In standard Urdu this would be "Biryani hi laa raha hoon main".
The Urdu word ہے "hai" is often dropped. For example, Urdu "Mujhe maaloom hai" would be "Mereyku maaloom"

Peculiar features

The suffix "an" is often used to mark plurality. The letter 'n' is an almost silent nasal stop. For example, Log would become Logaan, Baat would become Baataan, Aadmi pronounced as 'Adhmi' would become Admiyaan, etc. in the Hyderabadi dialect.
While talking, many long a's are pronounced "uh" as in "hut." For example, instead of "aadmi" or "raasta" in Orthodox Urdu, Hyderabadi would use "admi" and "rasta." Similarly "bhool", "toot" and "chooriyan" is "bhul", "tut" and "churyan" in Hyderabadi.

Popularity and usage

had adopted Dakhani as the medium of instruction as early as 1923 which was discontinued after the fall of Hyderabad in 1948, during Indian independence. In the early sixties, film star Mehmood popularized the another dialect, the Dakhni slang in Indian films, which originates from former Mysore State. Both Dakhani and Dakhni are different dialects, but they are born from a single language called Dakhini, where Dakani is used in Andhra/Telangana, and Dakhni is used in Karnataka.
A very famous Guinness record holder drama /stage comedy written in Dakhani is Adrak Ke Punjey.
Many Urdu poets also write in the Hyderabadi dialect of Dakhani, including Pagal Adilabadi, Khamakha Hyderabadi and Nukko Hyderabadi.
Hyderabadi gained sudden prominence and recognition in 2006 after the success of the comedy film The Angrez that adopted the dialect. The film's success sparked several other Hyderabadi dialect films including: Kal ka nawaab, Hyderabad Nawaabs, Aadab Hyderabad, Gullu Dada, Gullu Dada returns, Berozgaar, Hungama In Dubai, Daawat-e-Ishq