Languages of South Asia at SOAS: Urdu
Urdu is the national language of Pakistan and one of the official languages of India. It is one of the most widely-spoken languages of South Asia, and has acquired a wider distribution in other parts of the world, notably the UK, where it is regarded as their major cultural language by most Muslims from Pakistan and northern India.
In its everyday spoken form it is fundamentally similar to Hindi, though distinguished from it in script and in higher vocabulary.
Besides its important role as the chief vehicle of Islam in South Asia, Urdu has a rich secular literature, whose poetry is closely based on Persian models.
We offer courses in Urdu language and literature at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, both as part of degree programmes within the Department, and as minor or open options on a wide variety of SOAS degrees. A selection of those programmes, as well as a list of Urdu courses, are listed below.
Contacts:
Dr Amina Yaqin (ay@soas.ac.uk); Mr Naresh Sharma (ns19@soas.ac.uk); or the Language Centre (languages@soas.ac.uk).
Degree Programmes
- BA South Asian Studies (4 years)
- BA South Asian Studies and... (4 years)
- Urdu Pathway
- BA South Asian Studies (3 years)
- BA South Asian Studies and... (3 years)
- Certificate in South Asian Studies
- MA Comparative Literature (Africa/Asia)
- MA Languages and Cultures of South Asia
- MA Postcolonial Studies
- MA South Asian Area Studies
- Degree Programmes with Language Options
Degree Course Options
- Urdu Language 1A
- Urdu Language 1B
- Urdu Language 2
- Urdu Literacy
- Directed Readings in a South Asian Literature or Culture (Urdu)
- Urdu Language 1 (Postgraduate)
- Urdu Language 2 (Postgraduate)
- Urdu Literacy (Postgraduate)
- Directed Readings in the Literature of a Modern South Asian Language
Language Centre
Other Resources
Suggested reading
- M.A.R. Barker, Spoken Urdu (3 vols), Ithaca NY 1975.
- D. Matthews, Teach yourself Urdu, London 1999.
- C.Shackle and R.Snell, Hindi and Urdu since 1800, London 1990.
- D.J.Matthews, C.Shackle and S.Husain, Urdu literature, London 1985.
- Pritchett, Frances W., Nets of awareness: Urdu poetry and its critics, Berkeley 1994.
Please Note: Not all courses and programmes are available every year