Regarding The Diction In Humsafars

Originally posted by: Soaps1

But assalam o alikum is a muslim religon thing not a regional thing that you would pick up locally. i do understand however that it may be difficult for people of other religns to say it correctly

Originally posted by: -vandy-

just read a few posts with regards to the diction in the show...

hence thought of shedding some light😆

as far as the diction is concerned...i would just like to point out to a thing or two

in india...we have regional muslim families...by regional muslim families i mean maybe few generations back they belonged to some other religion and converted to islam.

so you find ppl who r punjabi muslims, malyali muslims, bengali muslims, gujrati muslims etc

these ppl use the local language i.e bengali, gujrati and punjabi etc in day to day talks

thats y u never see them using pure urdu or farsi generated words...they use simple words generated from the local language in their daily talks...pure urdu pronunciation is almost missing...u rarely find ppl using it...its rather some old generation ppl using a word or two...or mostly those families who have made that serious effort to preserve urdu as their language

isiliye most of them do say "salaam walekum" rather than assalam walekum ...

Lovely post Vandy Di... 🤗

My two cents... opps!!!...two imartis ... Naa... guess cents are better...

For I need the imartis 😆... on with the views before Di glares...

Language and diction are two intricately woven things, where diction, which means the correct choice of words, betters the language. Many a times the diction helps to portray the emotions and themes in an appropriate manner. Diction is a way to be sure that you do not use an inappropriate word that may in turn hurt someone. Diction has created rifts many a times when misinterpreted. But then again it depends on the interpretation of the speaker or writer and his listener or reader and the understanding that run between them.

My knowledge about Urdu and its diction is limited to what movies or what my friends well versed in Urdu offer me... And I am not much aware of the kind of Urdu that is spoken in different places.. So I may sometimes overlook the subtle nuance of the Urdu words that Humsafars has to offer. But then again this story is set in India... where the age old adage goes...

"Kos kos pe badale pani,

char kos pe vani"

...The translation of the same being...

(The taste of water changes every 3 kms,

and the language changes every 12 km.)

So I guess the diction too would morph itself slightly as Vandy suggests... But then if it completely changes the meaning and turns out to be hurtful as Saba has explained... then I guess it needs to be taken into consideration. Maybe the limited knowledge of Urdu doesn't allow me to judge the diction usage... so I take a detour and try to write on parallel lines.

I respect the ones who take an effort to be true to the diction for they try to preserve the beauty of a language... but at the same time I also like the conversations where may be appropriate words weren't used or no words were used at all but yet the message was conveyed...there was a connect. I know I am off track right now... I'm talking more about a different genre of conversation, where diction isn't even considered...but these thoughts are what came up when I read this post... and I needed to share the same.

All I have to offer is a few verses with my limited vocabulary in Urdu... And yes, these lines are certainly not a suitable example for diction... so kaan pakding in advance if something goes wrong... Grab a few imlis before starting to read... just in case 😆

"Zabaan ki khubsurti ko tahreer se nawaza karte hain

Un baton ko kya kahen jo nighahon ka takaaza karte hain?

Heere ki asli parakh, johari hi kar pata hai

Tahreer ki munfarid kami ko, fankaar hi bhar pata hai

Zabaan ke gulshan mein, jab hum jaise,

Tahreer ke beej bote hain;

Kuch khushnaseeb un palon mein

Jazbaton ke motiyon ko khamoshiyon se pirote hai."

Translation :

The beauty of language is given by diction,

What can we name those talks that demand the eyes?

The true test of a diamond, can be done only by a jeweler,

The unique dearth of diction, is only be filled by an artist.

In the garden of language, when people like us,

Sow the seeds of diction;

Some lucky ones in those moments,

Thread the pearls of feeling with silence.

(As always the translation sucks big time...)

Glossary:

Zabaan = language ; Khubsurti = beauty ; Tahreer = diction ; Nawaza karte = to give

Nighahon = eyes ; Takaaza karte hain= demand

Heere = diamonds ; Parakh = test ; Johari= jeweller

Munfarid = unique ; Kami = dearth ; Fankaar= artist

Gulshan = garden ;

Beej = seed ; Bote hain = sow

Khushnaseeb = lucky ; Palon = moments

Jazbaton = feelings ; Motiyon = pearls ; Khamoshiyon = silence ; Pirote hain=sow.

A request:

Would love if someone who knows the subtle nuances of Urdu would let me know if they find some mistakes in the verses up there... I'm totally in for learning.

🤗