Semantic Changes of Persian Loan Words in Urdu and Hindi

In this article, the writer examines certain words that are common among Persian, Hindi and Urdu. The purpose of the writer is to show the historical and cultural interaction of Iran with the sub-continent. The paper is based on the views of the eminent historical linguist Anthony Arlotto on semantic changes at word level. The writer discusses the semantic changes of certain Persian words in the subcontinent languages compared with their current meanings as evidenced by dictionaries. The words selected for this purpose are discussed under four headings: emergence of meaning, semantic extension, semantic reduction, and change of signified.