Editing Urdu (section)

== Formality ==
[[File:Lashkari Zaban calligraphy.png|thumb|''Lashkari Zabān'' title in Naskh script]]
Urdu in its less formalised [[Register (sociolinguistics)|register]] is known as ''[[rekhta]]'' ({{langx|ur|{{Nastaliq|ریختہ}}|rek̤h̤tah|rough mixture|label=none}}, {{IPA|ur|reːxtaː}}); the more formal register is sometimes referred to as {{langx|ur|{{Nastaliq|زبانِ اُردُوئے معلّٰى}}|zabān-i Urdū-yi muʿallá|language of the exalted camp|label=none}} ({{IPA|ur|zəbaːn eː ʊrdu eː moəllaː}}) or {{langx|ur|label=none|{{Nastaliq|لشکری زبان}}|lashkari zabān|military language}} ({{IPA|ur|ləʃkəɾi: zəbɑ:n}}), referring to the Imperial army<ref>Colin P. Masica, The Indo-Aryan languages. Cambridge Language Surveys (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993). 466,</ref> or simply ''Lashkari''.<ref name="Ahmad2009">{{cite book|author=Aijazuddin Ahmad|title=Geography of the South Asian Subcontinent: A Critical Approach|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I2QmPHeIowoC&pg=PA120|year=2009|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|isbn=978-81-8069-568-1|pages=120–|quote=The very word Urdu came into being as the original '''Lashkari''' dialect, in other words, the language of the army.}}</ref> The [[etymology]] of the word used in Urdu, for the most part, decides how polite or refined one's speech is. For example, Urdu speakers distinguish between {{langx|ur|label=none|{{Nastaliq|پانی}}|pānī}} and {{langx|ur|label=none|{{Nastaliq|آب}}|āb}}, both meaning ''water''. The former is used colloquially and has older [[Sanskrit]] origins; the latter is used formally and poetically, being of [[Persian language|Persian]] origin.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}

If a word is of Persian or Arabic origin, the level of speech is considered to be more formal and grander. Similarly, if Persian or Arabic grammar constructs, such as the [[izafat]], are used in Urdu, the level of speech is also considered more formal. If a word is inherited from [[Sanskrit]], the level of speech is considered more colloquial and personal.<ref name="University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill2">{{cite web|url=http://www.unc.edu/|title=About Urdu|publisher=Afroz Taj (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090815023328/http://sasw.chass.ncsu.edu/fl/faculty/taj/hindi/abturdu.htm|archive-date=15 August 2009|access-date=26 February 2008}}</ref>