An Urdu Manual

AN U R D U M A NUA L BY THE PHO N ETIC IN D U C TIVE M ETHO D M M IN G S . C R E V THO F . U . S FIT FABR ICA ND O FABER PU BL ISHED AT THE D IR ECTION OF THE U NITED PR ESBYTERIAN M ISSION R GUJ ANWAL A IND IA 1 9 0 9 . m OR I EN AL . D R U GUL T w , m sxc, TO MY FEL L OW M IS S IONAR IES WHOSE HELP AN D ENCOU R AGEM ENT HAVE M ADE THE PU BL ICATION OF THIS M ANU AL THU S EAR L Y A POSSIBIL ITY THIS VOLU ME IS G R ATEFULLY D ED ICATED 2234892 PR F E ACE . “ ” The publication of another help to U rdu is justified by the success of this method during the eight years that it has of - an d been under trial . By the aid type writer mimeograph , the lessons have so proved their utility that the Mission ordered us e all new missionaries to this method , and that the Manual should be published . of so The author regrets the necessity publishing, while far from India, and without having brought the book up to his ideal of what it ought to be . That the principles of the Manual are final is beyond question . That the application is so , is too much to hope for . n f : I . o The principles are A scientific applicatio phonetics, n of through diagrams and practical examples, to the solutio ff of n n . 2 . n of the di iculties pro unciatio The sentence, the u it . of n speech 3 The ear, the medium instructio and the gover f . o . nor the tongue 4 A limited vocabulary, a prime necessity o of 5 . Thor ughness, a repetition idioms until they are absolutely 6 n fixed in the memory . Grammar teachi g, not by paradigms, but by concrete examples . 7 . Oral composition, within a small of . vocabulary, to lead up to the mastery all ordinary expression 8 . n Ready, flue t , accurate speech and hearing to be attained , wit/tin narrow limits b asislof . , as the the ability to use Urdu well n for Tha ks are due to Prof. A . Graham Bell permission of o of to use his cuts , illustrative the position f the organs . n for speech and to Miss M . R Marti valuable assistance in reading the MS . on It is my hope that I may soon be able to work out, n c on these same principles in E glish , such a basic manual , as, n of of fi ed to the limits the vocabulary St . John plus that of ff everyday a airs , shall give a good working vocabulary an d f n for f of n lay a firm oundatio the future ull mastery the Pu jabi, n n n or whatever other to gue it may be tra smuted i to . The past success of the Method may be due to the in sistence that every lesso n should be thoroughly in han d be f ou t own ore another was doled . The pupil will have to be his mentor to this e n d . for With a request criticism and suggestion , but with also , n a war ing that these lessons are not automatic, and that a or n o of mere reading, cursory study will give mastery the n n to gue, the Ma ual is sent forth, to lighten, I trust, the task of n n U lear i g rdu . Pa . U . N e w W i l m i n g t o n , , . S A n 1 0 . Ju e , 9 9 H D THE TR UE MET O OF L ANGUAGE S TUDY. 1 . of In beginning language study, the question method e is of th first importance . Of all the various books for the of is diffi learning Urdu , there none that appears to meet the c ulties . The ordinary method would seem to be something f l like turning a man loose in the orest, and tel ing him to find a f fo s f . I r his way out , others have done be ore him he asks or - of r a path, a guide, he is given the hobby horse the p imer, a and told to sally forth . Those who have thus become pr c a s o of tic l linguists, have done in spite , and not by any help n that this method is supposed to afford them . How ma y have old of found the way, a method blunders , by a blunderer, and “ for is blunders, and that Blundering into power a slow , dis c oura in sa g g , and costly, not to y impossible way to attain ” of success . What discouragements have laid hold the fol lowers of this method ! If by any chance they have succeeded t one in get ing tongue, it has not materially lightened the task of U learning another , so that having learned rdu , it may i of of be, they pass all their lives in the m dst the people another or tongue Hindi, Punjabi , other dialect but never learn to use t it . This reader grammar me hod has many advocates and more followers , because the beginner, though he be firmly of o for persuaded its defects , is imp tent to block out a path f himsel . It would be very easy to write pages in condemnation of this scholastic method , but unless our criticism is constructive rather than destructive merely, we cannot hope to help toward the solution of the problem . out In working this method , anything that would help me of has been freely used . No claim originality is made, but it is believed that the combination of principles and their prac tical application in this phonetic inductive method is unique and ’ f ’ of an d V help ul . Sweet s Primer Phonetics , Bell s isible Speech ’ for phonetics, and Prendergast s Mastery Method have been particularly helpful . 2 . A good method is imperative, and it should be scienti fic and practical . Power is lost by failure to be methodical . a When one first comes to India, and with enthusiasm t kes up of of the study the language, the success the first months is h i vital to the success of is whole l fe . If he is now started in i on to e the right way, his da ly progress will lead him great r his f his attainments ; but if success is indi ferent, he may pass f f i ff ro whole li e here, and never get away rom the ndi erent p . nun ciation and false idiom that too often characterise the foreigner. al of Just as Capt. Eads put jetties into the sh lows the ni its Mississippi , and by confi ng waters to a narrow channel, succeeded in making a way for the most heavily laden steamers out ou r ff be to pass in and , so we must confine e orts in the ginning to proper channels and limit them so straitly that not ff they must accomplish something . If thus limited, e ort so will be dissipated, sometimes hither sometimes thither, that, “ ” ‘ of for thou hts in instead wearing channels new g our brains , i our we shall find it a quagm re, and, when we try to talk, of x selves becoming, rather, mired in some marsh e pression, unable to find a way out . Necessarily these channels must at a w of first be sh llo , able to carry only the simplest barques t on e hought, but as time goes , they shall wear deeper and deep r, till soon the most heavily laden may float easily along a well deepened outlet . t f 3 The true , scientific me hod will proceed rom the known n . to the unknown, in a gradual and practical ma ner It must e r u cultivate the ear for h a ing, the tong e for speaking, and the for memory guiding both. It should confine the pupil at first th e six to commonest idioms, and in the course of months or to a year fit him converse on simple subjects . 4 . Let us note the principles that lie at the basis of u . language , which must be followed in learning any tong e A language is a method of expressing ideas by articulate speech . The English language is that method which is used by the English people for expressing their ideas . Ideas are the foundation , and words the material for the superstructure . It is very fortunate that our ide as are largely the same as t hose of the Indians . Consequently we have simply to get new t f d as or ol . clo hes dolls When we run across new ideas, we n ow l in frequently do, in words and continual y idioms, we have a good deal more difficulty in mastering them . of so f The child method teaching, that is followed o ten , is for for faulty this , if no other reason, that the child has to his i learn ideas along with words , wh le the adult has a world of for ideas crying expression . Consequently, the confinement of the adult learner to the ordinary, simple sentences, suited i o l n . to a ch ld, is an outrage the adult intel ect The simple is much easier evolved from the complex, than the complex f .

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