Islamabad, Pakistan - OFF TOPIC

[Overin2911 0]

History

Urdu developed as a vernacular based on Sanskrit-derived Prakrits, Persian, the language of the court and literature, and Arabic, the language of the Quran. The mingling of these languages with the local dialects led to the development of what are Urdu and Hindi today. Urdu is an interesting amalgam in that it shares almost half of its vocabulary with Persian and Arabic.

Urdu was the premiere language of poetry in South Asia for two centuries and has a large and rich collection of poetry in a variety of forms.

Interestingly, the word urdu itself means "army" or "horde" in Turkish.

Status

According to Ethnologue, Urdu is spoken by 104,000,000 people, primarily in India and Pakistan. It is the national language of Pakistan and one of the official languages of India. It is widely spoken by the South Asian diaspora is some 20 other countries.

Urdu and Hindi are parts of a linguistic continuum. At one end is heavily Persianized Urdu written in a modified Arabic script. At the other end is heavily Sanskritized Hindi written in the Devanagari script. The basic grammar is the same. Urdu forms the segment of the chain more towards the Persian side, and Hindi forms the segment of the chain more towards the Sanskrit side. The language halfway between the two extremes is referred to as Hindustani.

The two languages are mutually intelligible, in fact, almost indistinguishable at the informal level. In more formal speech and writing, Sanskritization or Arabo-Persianization is more pronounced. The Hindi and Urdu used in the media, literature, and official proceedings are not easily understood by speakers of the other language.

Hindi/ Urdu together represent the third most spoken language in the world.

Chinese 1,075,000,000

English 514,000,000

Hindi/Urdu 496,000,000

Source: http://www.nvtc.gov/lotw/index.html

This is great info, thank you for sharing.

[us1415 0]

You are welcome!!

so whats new everyone???

[Ban Hammer 13,133]

mmmm peace

you two must be bored.

[Overin2911 0]

You are welcome!!

so whats new everyone???

Hey, I got an off topic kinda post.

The hubby bought is first car last weekend. He's downright giddy Its a big ol gas eaten Jeep Cherokee, but he loves it. The bus was really starting to wear thin on him - can you blame him!?

At first they financed us together - a few days later they said we had to come back in and resign. It was odd, but we did. Turns out none of the creditors would touch him. They had to remove him and re-contract with just me. Something about they could not verify him, or his credit or his soc or some cr*p.

So we ran out an applied for a Macy's card! Hopefully that will give his credit a jump start.

*****

Hey - on the whole learning Urdu thing, I really got to get in gear. I try to chat with the hubbys mom and sisters when they call, but its usually just a lot of laughs and "whats?" (they are all so sweet, they are all taking english classes for me)- I need to find an actual class room here in Denver that teaches Urdu! I am terrible at teaching myself via tapes and the internet - and the hubby has no teaching skills (love you, if your reading this ) - L

[MaryandMian 1]

Laney,

Congrats on the new car for hubby. We had the same thing happen to us. We went and bought a car and they took both of our info then called us back to sign the paperwork. They said hubby could not have his social security number verified and that they had already financed it in my name. So in a few months we are going to apply for his own credit since he will have been here for a few months by then.

As far as the Urdu lessons I am trying to learn and he is being very patient. Weekly when we talk to the family they get so excited and start going so fast they are like she is learning some slowly teach her more. LOL We are trying and hopefully I will pick it up easier and faster in time. My southern tounge does not help and the family is always getting a kick out of my accent.

Everyone Else good luck and wishing you reunited with your loved ones soon. I am still checking in on everyone's progress.

Mary

[babybunny 2]

Thank you. your appoligy is accepted.

~~~~~ update ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

could be fact or fiction..

but, DOS said that the check they are running on us takes 90 days or less.

this check has a due date of october. that leaves us with 44 days more to go.

I tought I would share this with you in hopes we are finally being through with this dubage.

I pray is gonna be finally over.

[Ban Hammer 13,133]

welcome back shon!

[babybunny 2]

welcome back shon!

Thank you..

[PSoft 0]

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Pathar Bana Dia Mujahy Rone Nahi Diya

Damaan Bhi Tere Gham Ne Bighone Nahi Dia

Tanhaiyan Tumhara Pata Poochti Rahain

Shaab Bhar Tumhari yaad Ne Sone Nahi Dia

Ankhon Mein Akar Beth Gai Annsoon Ki Lehar

Palkon PeKoi Khoawab Perone Nahi Dia

Dil Ko Tumhare Naam Ke Ansoo Aziz Thay

duniya Ka Dard Dil Mein Samone Nahi Diya

Nasir Yoon Uski Yaad Chali Haath Thaam Ke

Mele Mein Is Jahan Ke khone Nahi diya

Another good ghazal of Nasir Kazmi.

[Overin2911 0]

Laney,

Congrats on the new car for hubby. We had the same thing happen to us. We went and bought a car and they took both of our info then called us back to sign the paperwork. They said hubby could not have his social security number verified and that they had already financed it in my name. So in a few months we are going to apply for his own credit since he will have been here for a few months by then.

As far as the Urdu lessons I am trying to learn and he is being very patient. Weekly when we talk to the family they get so excited and start going so fast they are like she is learning some slowly teach her more. LOL We are trying and hopefully I will pick it up easier and faster in time. My southern tounge does not help and the family is always getting a kick out of my accent.

Everyone Else good luck and wishing you reunited with your loved ones soon. I am still checking in on everyone's progress.

Mary

Hey Mary,,,

What did Ishteaq think of the whole car buying process here ( not sure how different it is in Pak)? By the end of the day he was soo annoyed. He would ask me, "why dont they let us alone for 10 minutes?" - We ended up buying the jeep from a woman that could read Nas pretty well. She got us keys, prices and went away.

So how do they buy or finance cars in Pakistan? Naseer said you had to pre-order and you could only have up to a year to make payments. (or pay out right cash)

He was really set back by the truth in lending statement. I'll never have the heart to show him my mortgage truth in lending!

[MaryandMian 1]

Hey Mary,,,

What did Ishteaq think of the whole car buying process here ( not sure how different it is in Pak)? By the end of the day he was soo annoyed. He would ask me, "why dont they let us alone for 10 minutes?" - We ended up buying the jeep from a woman that could read Nas pretty well. She got us keys, prices and went away.

So how do they buy or finance cars in Pakistan? Naseer said you had to pre-order and you could only have up to a year to make payments. (or pay out right cash)

He was really set back by the truth in lending statement. I'll never have the heart to show him my mortgage truth in lending!

Laney,

He was amazed we got the car the same day. He kept saying we cannot drive it off we have to pre order it too. I was like if they finance us we can have the car the same day. He was amazed how easy it was and that they did not do much but ask for the basics. He did get upset when they took his info and said they keyed is SS number wrong for us to go and get lunch and call back. We did and it was still not correct we drove all the way home and saw their number on ID unit. Called them and they said come back the car was ours.

When we got back to the dealership they said oh we only financed the car in your wife's name. So we got the car since we needed two cars with the kids, school and his job.

He told me in Pakistan you preorder the car, then have to pay half or more down and then get the car at a later time. That was a shock for me.

Tell Nas congrats on his car and enjoy it.

[babybunny 2]

we will be using CARMAX to purchase Javeds car.

I wont use anything else. I bought my car from them it was no hassles no drama. I picked the car I wanted and the price was same as stated online. I called CARMAX the fellow put my car aside. went there knew my car in an instance and drove home in my car.. I was able to pick the kind of payments I wanted. I want javed to have a reliable car with a warrentee.

[hafiz 1]

well folks 4 more months for my vacation.

[babybunny 2]

Thats cool. I have vacation in DEC too.

[Omid 0]

Update:

Had our nikkah - doing the civil ceremony this Saturday, to be married by my father ... Mr. Deputy Marriage Commissioner for the Day!

Applied for an ID, SS Card (thanks for the email Nizzy) - both to arrive in a couple of weeks... marriage license in hand, my SO started english classes this week.. next - DMV and the driver's license!

Congrats on the new cars Laney and Mary!

Good luck to everyone else