Kerala Plus Two Urdu (DHSE) key terms

Urdu prose, one of the two main branches of adab. In this exam it covers the prescribed prose lessons in the textbook, including short stories, essays and biographical sketches written by modern Urdu writers.

Urdu poetry written in continuous lines with a single running theme, rather than in couplets. It may be rhymed or free verse. The prescribed nazms in the textbook are studied for theme, imagery and message.

A poem of usually five to fifteen independent couplets sharing one metre and a rhyme pattern. Each couplet, called a sher, carries its own thought, though the whole glows with a single mood of love, loss or longing.

A single couplet of two lines, the basic unit of a ghazal. Both lines must carry the same metre and together form one complete thought, so that the couplet can stand alone outside the poem.

Literally a house or dwelling; in prosody it means one couplet, that is two lines of verse joined by a single metre. The term is used more broadly than sher and applies to couplets in any form of poetry.

A single line of verse, either the first line or the second line of a couplet. A sher is made of two misras, and in a ghazal the second line of every couplet must follow the rhyme scheme.

The opening couplet of a ghazal, in which both lines carry the qafiya and radeef. It sets the rhyme and rhythm for the whole poem and announces the mood that the following couplets will develop.

The closing couplet of a ghazal, in which the poet usually weaves in his or her own pen name, called the takhallus. It often sums up the poem's feeling or turns it toward a personal address.

The rhyming word or words that appear immediately before the radeef in a ghazal couplet. All couplets must share the same qafiya sound, for example the words in a rhyme family such as dil, manzil, mahfil.

The repeated word or phrase that follows the qafiya at the end of both lines of the opening couplet and of the second line of every later couplet. It must be exactly the same in each place.

The pen name a poet adopts and inserts into the maqta or closing couplet of a ghazal. It identifies the author, for example Ghalib or Faiz, and is part of the literary convention of the form.

The metre of a poem, fixed by the pattern of short and long syllables in each line. All couplets of a ghazal share one behr, and a wrong syllable breaks the rhythm, which is why recitation practice matters.

The exercise of scanning a line of verse to identify its metre, marking short and long syllables. It is used in exams to check whether a given couplet follows a stated behr or to name the metre of a ghazal.

Detailed explanation of a poem or prose passage, covering meaning of difficult words, paraphrase of each line, literary devices, tone and central idea. It is a standard long-answer task in the poetry section.

Free verse in Urdu, which keeps a rhythmic pattern but abandons strict rhyme and fixed line length. It became the main vehicle of progressive poetry in the twentieth century and allows a narrative or reflective tone.

A long prose narrative of adventure, magic, romance and wonder, often told in ornate language with digressions. It is the ancestor of the modern Urdu novel and short story and is part of literary history.

The modern Urdu short story, usually built around a single incident and a small cast of characters, with a compact plot and a suggestive ending. It differs from the dastaan in length, realism and economy of style.

An essay, either literary or expository, written in connected paragraphs around one subject. In the writing paper it names the composition task in which a candidate develops a topic with introduction, body and conclusion.

The art of composing original prose in Urdu, covering essays, letters, reports and summaries. The term also names the composition section of the question paper, where marks are given for content, organisation and language.

Writing or composition, used in the exam for the section that tests a candidate's ability to produce connected, correct and well-organised Urdu prose on a given topic or situation.

A letter. The exam expects both personal letters to relatives and formal letters to officials or editors, each with correct salutation, body, closing and address, in an appropriate register.

A formal application, usually written to a headmaster, principal or officer to request leave, a certificate, admission or some other facility. It follows a fixed format with subject, request and polite closing.

The rules of Urdu grammar, including parts of speech, gender, number, case, tense, sentence structure and word formation. The exam tests these through identification, correction and transformation exercises.

A noun or name word, covering the names of persons, places, things and abstract ideas. In Urdu grammar it is classified by gender, number and type, such as proper, common, collective and abstract.

A verb, the word that shows an action or a state. Urdu verbs are studied for tense, person, number and gender agreement, and for transitive and intransitive use in sentence construction.

A particle, that is a word that has meaning only in relation to other words, such as postpositions and conjunctions. It links nouns and clauses and cannot stand alone as a subject or predicate.

A pronoun, a word used in place of a noun, such as main, tum, woh, hum and aap. Urdu pronouns are described by person, number, gender and level of politeness, which affects verb agreement.

An adjective, a word that describes a noun or pronoun, such as achha, bara or khoobsurat. In Urdu it normally precedes the noun and may agree with it in gender and number in predicative position.

An idiom, a fixed expression whose meaning cannot be worked out from its individual words, such as aankh ka tara. The exam asks for the meaning and for correct use of prescribed muhawaras in sentences.

A proverb, a short traditional saying that carries folk wisdom, such as naach na jane aangan thedha. Candidates are asked to explain the proverb and to use it appropriately in a sentence.

Comprehension: reading an unseen Urdu passage and answering questions on its main idea, details, vocabulary and inference. Answers should be in the candidate's own words and in complete sentences.

Translation, usually from Urdu into English or Malayalam, or occasionally from English into Urdu. The exam values accuracy of meaning, natural target language and correct handling of idioms rather than word-for-word rendering.

The Progressive Writers' Movement, launched in the 1930s, which urged writers to address social injustice, poverty and colonialism. It reshaped Urdu fiction and poetry and is a recurring topic in literary history questions.

A literary circle founded in Lahore in the 1930s that opposed the progressives and championed art for art's sake, experiment and symbolism. It is studied as a counter-current in modern Urdu literary history.

An elegy, a poem mourning a death, especially the elegies on the martyrdom of Imam Husain associated with Mir Anis and Mir Dabeer. It is part of the classical poetry background in literary history.

A long classical ode in a single metre and rhyme, often panegyric, praising a patron or ruler. It is studied for its structure and for its place in the history of Urdu poetry before the ghazal dominated.

A lesson, the unit of the prescribed prose textbook. Questions on sabaq ask for the author, the central idea, character analysis and the moral or social message of the piece.