Learning Journal 2

[Pravaas Gurung]

Compared to many cultures, Urdu speaking people are quite expressive with hand motions and body language while speaking. Though there are no hand gestures/body language used while speaking that are known to be "trademark" for the language, there are many that one can recognize as distinctly from the sub-continent. Some examples of these would be a sort of head "wobble" or "sway" (not shaking), which means "alright" or "okay" (not as positive as a "yes" nod in English.) A hand gesture that is quite often seen during conversation is a dismissive sort of waving of the hand with a flick of the wrist.
Another interesting linguistic aspect of Urdu is that even though many words have been borrowed from Persian and Arabic, in informal settings the proper pronunciation of Persian and Arabic words is not heavily emphasized. Further, because there are some sounds that come from these languages that are not generally used in Urdu, Pakistanis will often only make a weak effort at pronouncing the sound (halfway between a familiar and similar Hindi/Urdu sound and the "foreign" sound.)