Describing Language: Form and Function - The Collected Works of Ruqaiya Hasan Vol 5 - Ruqaiya Hasan†
Chapter 11: The Verb 'Be' in Urdu [1970]
Describing Language: Form and Function - The Collected Works of Ruqaiya Hasan Vol 5 - Ruqaiya Hasan†
Ruqaiya Hasan† [+]
Macquarie University
Ruqaiya Hasan, who died in 2015, was a professor of linguistics who taught and held visiting positions at various universities in England. Her last appointment was at Macquarie University, Australia, from where she retired as Emeritus Professor in 1994. Throughout her career she researched and published widely in the areas of verbal art, culture, context and text, text and texture, lexicogrammar and semantic variation.
Read her obituary here
Description
The aim of this paper is to provide a description of the semantics of the Urdu verb honaa (to be). Although the examples are taken from the educated variety of Lakhnavi Urdu, the conclusions should be applicable to all the social varieties of the language as spoken by the native speakers of the language in Uttar Pradesh (India).