Urdu Language Style & Guidelines #3

Subject: Urdu Language Style & Guidelines #3
From: Jennifer Janin <jenjano@VOANews.COM>
Date: Mon, 02 Mar 2009
To: VOA Urdu Service <urdu-service@voa.gov>, Urdu Stringers <urdustringers@voanews.com>, Urdu TV Team <urdutvteam@VOANews.COM>, Urdu Web Team <urduwebteam@VOANews.COM>
CC: Spozhmai Maiwandi <smaiwand@VOANews.COM>, Maja Drucker <mdrucker@VOANews.COM>

To the Urdu Service – here and overseas:

Please read & adopt the following style & editorial policies. Questions welcomed.

Talking about how we talk about / to Muslims:

The editors & I have come up with the following guidelines on usage of words & phrases related to terrorism & violence:

Islamic terrorists: DO NOT USE. Instead use simply: terrorist
Reason: A terrorist is a terrorist---he/she may belong to any particular religion, but if one adds Islamic/Christian/Hindu/ Jewish----it creates the perception of a bias. If one has to mention the identity, one could say ---terrorists involving a group of Muslims or so on. Sometimes even the names of the accused themselves point to the identity, and there is no need to specify. Besides, if one talks about some terrorist activity, for example in the NWFP or FATA areas of Pakistan, it is understood that they are Muslims.

Terrorism/ terrorist: AVOID OVERUSE.
Reason: Listeners get tired of this use and overused expression. Militant, militancy, violent etc can be used descriptively as appropriate.

Islamic Fundamentalism/ Muslim Fundamentalists: AVOID.
Reason: Every religion is based on some "fundamentals", be it Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism or Islam. The use of such expressions, more exclusively in case of Muslims, adds to existing misgivings in the Islamic world of an anti-Muslim sentiment in the Western media. If you are talking about a sect of Islam or Christianity or another faith – better to use "conservative branch of", or rather, talk about their agenda / beliefs.

Islamist: NOT NECESSARY
Reason: The expression "Islamist" is currently being used to distinguish between /Islamic (/ relating to Islam in general,) and /Islamist (/ relating to extremism that misuses Islam and Islamic teachings). For our audience – the distinction is lost.. Muslims perceives that it has been "intentionally" rhymed with "Fascist", "Communist" or "Anarchist" – again adding to the perception of bias. We just don't need this short cut in our reporting. You can make the distinction in more concrete ways.

Muslim Extremists: NOT NECESSARY. Extremist serves well.
Reason: The expression "Muslim extremists" falls into the same category as many of the above examples. Extremist is an extremist---there is no Muslim Christian or Hindu extremist etc., and one need not qualify it.

Pronunciation/transliteration of a few very common "newsy" names:

Richard Holbrooke: A good chunk of Urdu media has been pronouncing/transliterating the name of the US envoy as ہال بروک or ہالبروک. But the correct pronunciation and Urdu spellings are ہول بروک, which should be adopted from now on.

Hugo Chavez: Correct pronunciation of the name of Venezuela's president, Hugo Chavez is اوُگو چاویس.

Here are some more names that are commonly mispronounced:

Manouchehr Mottaki (Iran minister for foreign affairs):چہر متکی منو not متقی.

Angela Merkel (German Chancellor): آنگلا میرکل

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer (NATO SG): یاپ دا ہوپ سکیفر

CORRECT SPELLING of the Urdu word karrawai (operation, process, proceeding, execution)

The style committee has settle on: two R's کارروائی (RR) instead of single Rکاروائی (R).

Even though you often see Rکاروائی in the newspapers, most, if not all, dictionaries use the RR and there is no entry for the single R. And when you search the web the RR spelling is almost 5 times more common that the single R.

Thanks & cheers,

Jennifer

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