Urdu
Learn Urdu at UT Austin
Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan as well as one of the languages spoken in western India. Spoken by 60 – 70 million people, Urdu descends from the Indo-Iranian branch of Indo-European languages. Urdu was originally known as Hindustani and is mutually intelligible with Standard Hindi; it differs from Hindi in its extensive Persian and Arabic borrowings and the fact that it is written in the Perso-Arabic script rather than Sanskrit lettering. The two languages share a basic structure and grammar, and if considered the same language, the number of Hindi-Urdu speakers constitutes the fourth largest of the languages of the world, after Mandarin Chinese, English, and Spanish.
Learn More About Lower and Upper Division Urdu Classes Below
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Lower-Division Courses
URD 506, First-Year Urdu I
Not open to native speakers of Urdu. Five class hours a week for one semester.
URD 507, First-Year Urdu II
Not open to native speakers of Urdu. Five class hours a week for one semester. Prerequisite: Urdu 506 with a grade of at least C.
URD 312K, Second-Year Urdu I
Not open to native speakers of Urdu. Introduction to the Urdu script, followed by Urdu reading, composition, and conversation. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Prerequisite: Urdu 507 with a grade of at least C.
URD 312L, Second-Year Urdu II
Not open to native speakers of Urdu. Continuation of Urdu 312K. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Prerequisite: Urdu 312K with a grade of at least C.
URD 118K, Practice in Spoken Urdu I
Not open to native speakers of Urdu. Instruction and practice in conversation for intermediate-level students. Two lecture hours a week for one semester. Prerequisite: Urdu 507 with a grade of at least C.
URD 118L, Practice in Spoken Urdu II
Not open to native speakers of Urdu. Two lecture hours a week for one semester. Prerequisite: Urdu 118K with a grade of at least C.
Upper-Division Courses
URD 330, Topics in Urdu Language and Literature
Study of specific subjects related to Urdu culture as reflected in literary productions and other modes of expression. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. May be repeated for credit when the topics vary. Prerequisite: Urdu 312L with a grade of at least C.
Topic 1: Female Voices in Urdu Literature. Survey of prose and poetry written in Urdu by women during the last three centuries. Only one of the following may be counted: Religious Studies 341 (Topic: Female Voices in Urdu Literature), Urdu 330 (Topic 1), 384 (Topic 4: Female Voices in Urdu Literature).
Topic 2: Love and Devotion in Urdu Literature. Examination of various literary genres that are shaped by discourses on the love of God and devotion to the prophet Muhammad. Urdu 330 (Topic 2) and 384 (Topic 5: Love and Devotion in Urdu Literature) may not both be counted.
Topic 3: Philosophy and Poetry of Iqbal. Explores the prose and poetry written by the most influential twentieth-century Muslim reformer in South Asia, Muhammad Iqbal. Urdu 330 (Topic 3) and 384 (Topic 6: Philosophy and Poetry of Iqbal) may not both be counted.
Topic 4: Urdu Aesthetics. Intensive overview of the most popular lyrical genre of Urdu poetry, the ghazal, and the standards used to judge a good ghazal. Urdu 330 (Topic 4) and 384 (Topic 7: Urdu Aesthetics) may not both be counted.
