koi gal nahi punjabi haghi hay na 
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by KhanAbadosh: *
Urdu will live as long as it is enforced by Mullahs.
[/QUOTE]
I doubt that the mullahs are much in favour of urdu poetry, plays, songs etc. Urdu will live as long as urdu speakers use it and grow it. I would not know a word of urdu had my mother not made sure that we learnt urdu.
This enforcement business is BS, who is enforcing urdu newspapers in UK, Canada and USA? supply is there to meet demand.
Maybe it has something to do with literacy rates among urdu speakers, but not sure.
I'll probably take a load of flak here for saying it, but Pakistan should have gone for arabic instead of urdu anyway. It's the one topic on which I think Jinnah erred.
But anyway, as Fraudia said, Urdu will be around for as long as people want to speak it. I don't think that anything should be done to the current situation in Pakistan regarding languages. The use of English certainly should not be cut down, or we will end up in a position where, like Bangladesh, we end up with graduates who are not proficient in writing in a global language and thus limit the economic opportunities available for exploitation to merely being those present in the home country.
For example, Bangladesh's IT industry lags a lot further behind Pakistan, let alone India, because those bangladeshis with IT skills could not communicate well enough to develop business.
Maddie
I disagree, Urdu is a locally developed language, going for arabic would not only be tough, but in my view almost impossible.
Urdu is a great language on its own merits (heck arabs in dubai speak urdu now :) )
I agree that urdu is a great language with many merits (no disrespects to Majestic, but I prefer the sound of even complicated urdu that i don't understand to arabic {which i also don't understand}).
But what proportion of Pakistan's population in August 1947 had a good knowledge of urdu? It was mainly a language of the educated. Arabic, on the other hand, was very widely taught for religious reasons. It was also a much more widely spoken language in the world, and would have helped immensely to tie Pakistan to its west rather than to its east.
knowing english is necessary to compete in a global economy
I agree with the scientist(oops mad)! Yes Arabic should have been adapted in the first place. The benefits of Arabic would have been enormous:
* Closeness with the Arab world
* Closeness to Quran and Hadith even more
* Arabic is liked by Allah and it is the language of Jannah.
......
I also think that Quaid made a mistake here.In case of Arabic I think no Muslim would have objected and maybe East Pakistan wouldn't have gone. Well jo Allah ko manzoor!
Well now either we should completely switch over to English or stick to one!
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Fraudz: *
Maddie
I disagree, Urdu is a locally developed language, going for arabic would not only be tough, but in my view almost impossible.
Urdu is a great language on its own merits (heck arabs in dubai speak urdu now :) )
[/QUOTE]
in Dubai, dude its almost hte offical lang in Bahrain now :D
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by mAd_ScIeNtIsT: *
I agree that urdu is a great language with many merits (no disrespects to Majestic, but I prefer the sound of even complicated urdu that i don't understand to arabic {which i also don't understand}).
But what proportion of Pakistan's population in August 1947 had a good knowledge of urdu? It was mainly a language of the educated. Arabic, on the other hand, was very widely taught for religious reasons. It was also a much more widely spoken language in the world, and would have helped immensely to tie Pakistan to its west rather than to its east.
[/QUOTE]
I agree with you MS and don't worry its all good :)
Too much Pakistani influence has made my arabic suffer :D I mean I know words in Urdu which I don't know in arabic.
The urdu lang itself is a mixture of Arabic and Farsi with some Turkish and the turkish words themself are Arabic. I see urdu as a more flowing Arabic, where as Arabic is tight, just like the writing.
Re: The slow death of Urdu
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Islamabad: *
- Urdu is the third largest language spoken in the world.
[/QUOTE]
I find this so hard to believe. Who would speak Urdu outside Pakistan?
Re: Re: The slow death of Urdu
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by wake_up_dead: *
I find this so hard to believe. Who would speak Urdu outside Pakistan?
[/QUOTE]
Actually its the huge size of Urdu speaking population in the Sub-Continent itself!
And Yes I do speak Urdu outside PAkistan. Whats wring with it? I can never forget my language and never stop conversing in it with those who know Urdu! Its my language and I am proud of it. I even speak Arabic with Arabs. Every language has its own beauty.
Thing is, Urdu is a language of literature. It is a language one must master in order to speak it well otherwise it just becomes any language. The tone, the formation of a sentence, who is speaking and spoken to are all to be taken into consideration when speaking Urdu. In our fast times, who has the time to be articulate, so Urdu becomes a language inundated with words from other languages. Our Urdu scholars are partly to blame too. The Urdu Academy itself is using 'Academy', what does that say? The scholars need to formulate words for everyday use like they do in India.
Unlike the English language which has one dictionary which has just a single volume, the Urdu dictionary, Farhang-E-Asfia, consists of three. I was saddened that I hardly knew 25% of the words in it. In reality, Urdu has a word for every occasion, sentiment, emotion and feeling that is conceivable to man. The language of the kings, it is an art to master and a joy to speak. Which language in the world can praise a second while the third party finds it insulting to the one being praised? Confusing? Not if you know Urdu. In my opinion, there are even Urdu facial expressions. Even different Urdu smiles. This sure ain't one of 'em ====> :)
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Islamabad: *
I agree with the scientist(oops mad)! Yes Arabic should have been adapted in the first place. The benefits of Arabic would have been enormous:
* Closeness with the Arab world
* Closeness to Quran and Hadith even more
* Arabic is liked by Allah and it is the language of Jannah.
......
I also think that Quaid made a mistake here.In case of Arabic I think no Muslim would have objected and maybe East Pakistan wouldn't have gone. Well jo Allah ko manzoor!
Well now either we should completely switch over to English or stick to one!
[/QUOTE]
WRONG! Arabic is a human language. It is true that Allah(swt) has chosen it for his final messsage and the prophet (saw) used it in his sunnah, but that's as far as it goes. Arabic is a langage of human beings. Allah (swt) made us speak different languages. "And of his signs are the creation of the heavens and the earth and the diversity of your tongues and your complexions. In all that there are signs for those who are endowed with knowledge." (30;22) Its to our advantage to understand arabic. you have an inferiority complex, if you want to be an arab so bad go live in the middle east.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by punjab da sher: *
knowing english is necessary to compete in a global economy
[/QUOTE]
Wrong...Case in point: Japan, Germany, France e.t.c...
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by punjab da sher: *
WRONG! Arabic is a human language. It is true that Allah(swt) has chosen it for his final messsage and the prophet (saw) used it in his sunnah, but that's as far as it goes. Arabic is a langage of human beings. Allah (swt) made us speak different languages. "And of his signs are the creation of the heavens and the earth and the diversity of your tongues and your complexions. In all that there are signs for those who are endowed with knowledge." (30;22) Its to our advantage to understand arabic. you have an inferiority complex, if you want to be an arab so bad go live in the middle east.
[/QUOTE]
for your information not every nation in the Middle East speaks Arabic, Turkey and Iran do not!!!!!!
Re: Re: Re: The slow death of Urdu
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Islamabad: *
Actually its the huge size of Urdu speaking population in the Sub-Continent itself!
And Yes I do speak Urdu outside PAkistan. Whats wring with it? I can never forget my language and never stop conversing in it with those who know Urdu! Its my language and I am proud of it. I even speak Arabic with Arabs. Every language has its own beauty.
[/QUOTE]
Nothing wrong with it. Indeed it is something to be proud of , the language as well as the fact that its the third largest laguage i.e. if its true.
How much big is the subcontinent's population a part of the world pop? Not a large part I would say, and in India its Hindi that may be confused with Urdu. and that I find confusing as to the fact that how only the people of say one and a half country make up such a vast population speaking one language.
Wow! thanks for stating the obvious there 
Lajawab: yes I am aware of those countries, BUT English is the most widely used language in the areas of finance, trade, technology, diplomacy, and entertainment, and is the living library of the last 100 years of scientific and technological advance..therefore for native Pakistanis, like it or not it is important to know it
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by punjab da sher: *
WRONG! Arabic is a human language. It is true that Allah(swt) has chosen it for his final messsage and the prophet (saw) used it in his sunnah, but that's as far as it goes. Arabic is a langage of human beings. Allah (swt) made us speak different languages. "And of his signs are the creation of the heavens and the earth and the diversity of your tongues and your complexions. In all that there are signs for those who are endowed with knowledge." (30;22) Its to our advantage to understand arabic. you have an inferiority complex, if you want to be an arab so bad go live in the middle east.
[/QUOTE]
Punjab dey sher tu sher hi rian na fer!
Main kadon kia si keh Arbi inhman language ey. Awain ilzam la ditta hai.
Yes Allah has endowed us with different languages but Arabic is truly superior in all respects, that is why it was chosen. Isn't it enough that the Quran is in it. Our beloved Prophet (saw) spoke Arabic, so out of his love wouldn't you like to speak in Arabic. Trust me, our knowledge of religion would increse manifolds if we learn Arabic. What are we doing in this world. The Holy Quran says:
"We have not created mankind and Jinn but to worship me"
Ofcourse you can be a good Muslim in every language but you do end up praying (salat) in Arabic. There is a Hadith that :
Your prayer is only that which you have understood
So lets make an effort to understand prayer since we have to do it 5 times. What are we reading. Well how would a jungle ka sher know? It is our duty to learn and understand Arabic.
No inferiority complex at all! All languages are good and a way to express but Arabic is the best! Study it and you will find out the beauty and depth of Arabic not found in any language of the world. I know the language in which you have a superiority complex. Punjabi is a sweet language but not comparable to Arabic!
What is required of every muslim is to be able to read the surah "al-fatihah" and some other passages of the Qur'an in Arabic to enable him to offer his prayers. Anyway argue all you want whats done is done so its not gonna happen fobio..