Oxford English-Urdu Dictionary launched

KARACHI— The Oxford University Press launched its landmark — The Oxford English-Urdu Dictionary - the fruit of almost fifteen years of painstaking research and development. The dictionary is the bilingual edition of The Concise Oxford Dictionary, which is considered the world’s most authoritative dictionary, and the culmination of the country’s foremost lexicographer, Shanul Haq Haqqee’s outstanding scholarship. He spearheaded the task of rendering this monumental work into Urdu that has captured the idiomatic, colloquial, spoken, and written character of the Urdu language, thus presenting the fullest picture of Urdu today. The Oxford English-Urdu Dictionary offers Urdu equivalents of almost 125,000 English words and expressions. All the words and their definitions have been included after careful research and scrutiny. A distinctive feature of this dictionary is the profuse use of illustrative sentences to convey the exact meaning and correct usage of words.Ambiguities about pronunciation of English words have been addressed by providing the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) for guidance on pronunciation. This bilingual dictionary will be an indispensable reference tool for students, teachers, and others who need to be proficient in both the languages.

Shanul Haq Haqqee is not only well-versed in the esoteric intricacies of Urdu, he is widely acknowledged as an authority on the language. He was involved in the compilation of an Urdu-Urdu dictionary for Muktadira Qaumi Zubaan and also made an immense contribution to a dictionary published by the Urdu Dictionary Board. He has published many works of prose and poetry, which includes translations in verse of the Bhagwat Gita and Shakespeare’s play, Anthony and Cleopatra. Shanul Haq Haqqee was decorated with the Tamgha-e-Quaid-e-Azam (1968) and the Sitara-e-Imtiaz (1986) by the Government of Pakistan.
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A ghazal by Bashir Badr: from an ALUP post

vo thakaa huaa merii baaho.n me.n zaraa so gayaa thaa to kyaa huaa
abhii mai.n ne dekhaa hai chaa.Nd bhii kisii shaaKh-e-gul pe jhukaa huaa

jise le ga_ii hai abhii havaa vo varaq thaa dil kii kitaab kaa
kahii.n aa.Nsuo.n se miTaa huaa kahii.n aa.Nsuo.n se likhaa huaa

[varaq = page]

ka_ii miil ret ko kaaT kar ko_ii mauj phuul khilaa ga_ii
ko_ii pe.D pyaas se mar rahaa hai nadii ke paas kha.Daa huaa

[mauj = wave]

vahii Khat ke jis pe jagah jagah do mahakate ho.nTho.n ke chaa.Nd the
kisii bhuule-bisare se taaq par tah-e-gard hogaa dabaa huaa

[taaq = shelf; tah-e-gard = under the dust]

vahiii shahar hai vahii raaste vahii ghar hai aur vahii laan bhii
magar us dariiche se puuchhanaa vo daraKht anaar kaa kyaa huaa

[dariichaa = window; daraKht = tree]

mere saath juganuu hai ham_safar magar is sharar kii bisaat kyaa
ye charaaG ko_ii charaaG hai na jalaa huaa na bujhaa huaa

[sharar = spark/ember; bisaat = capacity/worthiness]