How to Say "Native Language" in Urdu

مادری زبان

mādrī zubān

The English phrase "native language" is translated into Urdu as مادری زبان (mādrī zubān).

مادری زبان refers to the first language that a person learns to speak from birth.

What does it mean word for word?

The phrase is composed of mādrī, meaning maternal or motherly and zubān, meaning language.

In some regions, especially rural areas, the term مقامی زبان is used to indicate one's native language.

To make the phrase plural, the noun zubān changes to zubānein, forming مادری زبانیں.

The romanization is mādrī zubān.

In Urdu, the word zubān is used in idioms about promises, such as 'giving one's word', because the tongue represents one's honor.
The root of zubān traces back to Proto-Indo-Iranian, making it a distant relative of the English word 'tongue' through a shared prehistoric ancestor.
In Urdu, referring to someone's zubān can also refer to their tone of voice or the manner in which they speak, regardless of the language used.

آپ کی مادری زبان کیا ہے؟
What is your native language?
میری مادری زبان اردو ہے۔
My native language is Urdu.
جی ہاں، میری مقامی زبان سرائیکی ہے۔
Yes, my native language is Saraiki.
اردو میری مادری زبان ہے۔
Urdu meri madri zaban hai.
Urdu is my native language.
کیا پنجابی آپ کی مادری زبان ہے؟
Kya Punjabi aap ki madri zaban hai?
Is Punjabi your native language?
اسے اپنی مادری زبان میں بات کرنی چاہیے۔
Usay apni madri zaban mein baat karni chahiye.
He should speak in his native language.

Hamza and Fatima are discussing their linguistic backgrounds at a university.

فاطمہ Fatima

حمزہ، کیا اردو آپ کی مادری زبان ہے؟
Hamza, kya Urdu aap ki madri zaban hai?
Hamza, is Urdu your native language?
حمزہ Hamza

جی ہاں، یہ میری مادری زبان ہے۔
Ji haan, yeh meri madri zaban hai.
Yes, it is my native language.
فاطمہ Fatima

میری مادری زبان عربی ہے۔
Meri madri zaban Arabi hai.
My native language is Arabic.
حمزہ Hamza

یہ بہت خوبصورت زبان ہے۔
Yeh bohat khubsurat zaban hai.
That is a very beautiful language.

Sources

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