BSEB Inter Urdu key terms

Urdu prose, the branch of literature that includes essays, short stories, biographies and sketches, as opposed to nazm and ghazal. In this exam it covers the prescribed prose pieces and their authors.

A poem written in continuous rhymed or unrhymed lines on a single theme, with a unified subject running through the whole piece rather than independent couplets.

A poem of usually five to fifteen couplets in a single metre, each couplet making its own point, with the rhyme and refrain repeated in both lines of the opening couplet and in the second line of every later one.

A couplet, the basic unit of Urdu poetry, made of two lines called misra. In a ghazal each sher normally stands as a complete thought on its own.

A single line of verse. A sher consists of two misras, and the opening line of a ghazal couplet is called misra-e-oola while the second is misra-e-sani.

The opening couplet of a ghazal, in which both lines carry the qafiya and radif. It sets the rhyme pattern that later couplets follow in their second line only.

The closing couplet of a ghazal, often containing the poet's pen name (takhallus). It rounds off the poem and may address the beloved or the poet himself.

A word or short phrase repeated immediately after the qafiya at the end of the rhyming lines of a ghazal. It must be identical in form and meaning each time it recurs.

The rhyming element that comes directly before the radif in a ghazal. All rhyming lines share the same qafiya sound, though the preceding words may differ.

The pen name a poet inserts into the maqta of a ghazal, usually in the third person or as a self-address. It identifies authorship and is a convention of the form.

The metre of a verse line, determined by the pattern of short and long syllables. A ghazal keeps one behr throughout, and a mismatch is a serious technical fault.

A metrical foot, the repeated building block of an Urdu behr. Each behr is described by the name and number of its arkan, and poets compose by fitting words to these patterns.

Detailed explanation or critical commentary on a verse or prose passage, covering meaning, imagery, diction and emotional effect. Exam answers often ask for tashreeh of a prescribed ghazal couplet.

Simile, a figure in which one thing is explicitly compared to another using words such as 'like' or 'as'. It differs from istiara, where the comparison is implied rather than stated.

Metaphor, a figure in which a word is used for something other than its literal sense because of a resemblance between them, without any explicit word of comparison.

Figurative or transferred use of a word, where the literal meaning is set aside for an associated one. It is the broader category under which metaphor and metonymy fall.

Allusion or indirect expression, where the intended meaning is suggested through an associated idea rather than stated directly, and the literal sense remains possible.

Morphology, the branch of Arabic and Urdu grammar dealing with word formation, root letters, and the patterns by which nouns and verbs change form.

Syntax, the branch of grammar concerned with how words combine into sentences and with the grammatical roles words play in a phrase or clause.

A noun or name, a word that denotes a person, place, thing or idea and does not carry tense. It is one of the three main word classes in Urdu grammar.

A verb, a word that expresses an action or state together with its time. Urdu verbs inflect for person, number, gender and tense.

A particle, a word that has no independent meaning of its own but links or modifies other words, such as prepositions and conjunctions. It neither names nor describes an action.

The subject of a nominal sentence, the thing being spoken about. It normally stands first and is followed by the khabar, which says something about it.

The predicate of a nominal sentence, the part that tells us something about the subject. Together with the mubtada it completes a simple statement.

An idiom, a fixed phrase whose meaning cannot be worked out from its individual words. Correct use in composition is tested, and literal translation of idioms is a common error.

A proverb, a short traditional saying that expresses a general truth or piece of folk wisdom. It differs from a muhawara in standing alone as a complete sentence.

Composition, the writing section of the paper covering letters, essays and applied writing. It tests organisation, register and grammatical accuracy rather than recall of texts.

An essay, a piece of continuous prose on a chosen topic with an introduction, developed body paragraphs and a conclusion. Exam mazmoon topics are usually social or reflective.

A letter, a piece of correspondence written in a set format with salutation, body and closing. Formal and informal letters follow different conventions of address and tone.

An application, a formal written request addressed to an authority asking for a favour, permission or redress. It follows a fixed layout and a polite, impersonal register.

Prose style, the characteristic manner in which a writer builds sentences, chooses vocabulary and shapes paragraphs. Critics describe it as simple, ornamental or discursive.

A character sketch, a short prose portrait that captures a real person's appearance, habits and speech through selected detail and light humour.

A school or movement in literature, a group of writers sharing a period, place or stylistic outlook. The term is also used for the Delhi and Lucknow schools of poetry.

A biographical dictionary of poets, listing writers with sample verses and brief comments. Tazkiras are a major source for the literary history of earlier periods.

An elegy, a long poem mourning a death, most famously written on the events of Karbala. It has a fixed structure of opening, main narrative and closing lament.

An ode, a formal poem of considerable length in a single metre and rhyme, usually praising a patron. It opens with a lyrical prelude before the main panegyric.

A quatrain, a four-line poem with a single rhyme scheme in which the first, second and fourth lines rhyme. It usually carries a single pointed thought or reflection.

Translation, rendering a passage from one language into another while preserving sense and tone. The exam tests unseen translation between Urdu and English or a classical language.

Detailed explanation or elaboration of a passage, often in comprehension answers where a brief sentence is not enough. It overlaps with tashreeh but applies to prose as well as verse.