مشنری اور ہندوستان کی زبانیں Missionaries and the Hindustani Languages Section Urdu Literature

Abstract

European missionaries, when came to the sub-continent, found it very difficult to communicate with local population without knowing the languages of each other. To resolve the problem they worked over local languages. First they started to read and write these languages in roman letters, but afterwards they paid a lot of attention towards their grammar and diction. Many of them wrote dictionaries of these languages in Latin and English. Their main objective was preaching Christianity so they translated and printed Bible in local languages. They also set up printing press for this purpose. The first local language newspaper was also introduced in sub-continent by these missionaries. Although their efforts were for religious purposes but those were also become a great support for upgrading local languages and literature.