Teaching and Research Interest

My same interest has been shaped on the one hand by my own inclinations and on the other by needs of the Department since I have joined the College. My basic training in Urdu literature began early during my graduation. As one of the papers of Urdu (Hons) course, History of Urdu language, required me to read some basic book of Urdu literature and thus motivated an urge to study Urdu Literature. I was thus fascinated by the ways in which languages share their lexicons crossing the geographical boundaries. The very fact that the different root-words travel all the way from Persian, Arabic, English, Hindi, Latin, Greek, Sanskrit, Baltic, Slavic and finally through Germanic route come to survive in Urdu encourage me to look beyond to pursue my career in Urdu Languages.  I got the proper environment and academic atmosphere to spur and nurture my intellectual appetite in University of Delhi where I did my MA, M.Phil, PhD and two post doctoral research The courses and new ways of dealing with the course-content and evaluation system all thrilled me into becoming an academician. Various papers in MA, M.Phil, Ph. D, and post doctoral research in University of Delhi,  that shaped my interest in Urdu language were ‘Research and Critical Study’, ‘North  India as a linguistic Area’, Field-Methods and ‘Grammatical theories and models’. I have been interested in the structure of words and sentences from the early days of my training in Urdu. I worked on several small projects and term-papers during my Masters and M.Phil in University of Delhi. The main focus of my term-papers has always been to examine the complex relationships of words to other words and to sentences at large. The issue of relativity and its relationship with the other grammatical alteration in the sentence, dative subject constructions and its effect on the role of verbal inflection were some of the issues which I tried to solve in Urdu (my mother tongue). While research scholar at University of Delhi, I was selected through an interview to teach history of Urdu to the under graduates doing B. A. at the school of open learning University of Delhi. Such an experience to put into practice what I had learned was very exciting. I thus taught ‘history of Urdu’, ‘Introduction to Urdu Literature’ to the same in the same for several years. I have had the opportunity to undertaken several field-works during MA, M.Phil and PhD research work in same University. I worked on Urdu language during my M. A. In University of Delhi, had offered so many projects to Prof. Irteza Karim of University of Delhi, to cross-examine the findings of Prof. Irteza Karim who had claimed the existence of some kentum elements in an Indo-Aryan language called Bangani. After an orientation program, which was followed by an interview, I was selected to assist him in the field for the abovementioned project. The language and its structural complexities inspired me to take another field-oriented paper in my M. Phil and do extensive field-work for few days on Bangani. I submitted a report on ‘The structure of NP in Bangani’ for the course. My PhD work, as it turned out, needed several field-works in order to have varied and intense lingual data. All these years I have developed a passion to work with the native speakers of different languages and with all necessary field techniques, I have always been able to create a congenial environment for data collection. Later on, at the University of Delhi, where I went to pursue my PhD, I had the privilege of doing some advanced courses such as political and historical back ground of Urdu, syntax, documentary/descriptive linguistics and psycholinguistics. My research was also largely related to the examination of the complex nature of words and their syntactic environments in which they are patterned to make up sentence and finally the discourse. Though, I had to quit the program as my RA-ship in got over after one year, I had the chance to learn the streaks of professionalism in academics. Teaching Urdu as a modern Indian language in the Department of Urdu, enabled me not only to use the techniques and tools of linguistics in my teaching (such as sound-system, structure of the syllable, words and sentences) but also helped me gain a first hand insight into the problems of syntactic constructions such as conjunct verb construction, infinitives and the small clause-construction in Urdu, seen as a modern Indian language from the perspective of the learner. I submitted my PhD in the Dept of Urdu University of Delhi, and the thesis of Ph. D &M. Phil Dissertation and other collection of Articles has been under published by reputed publications New Delhi. I am very happy to report that Prof. Irteza Karim, Head, Department of Urdu has written the foreword for the book. He accepted my request to do this as he had read the draft of my same scripts.

I have examined eight different varieties of Urdu-Persian, besides providing an account of nine major languages of India to show how the phenomenon of ‘Grammatical Agreement’ works in these languages. My training as a field-Urdu helped me to collect and collate the data of eight varieties of Urdu-Persian. The incessant drive to try to find a unified theory for the Urdu languages phenomenon by comparing and cross examining the structure of different languages that I learned at various stages of either teaching or learning language typology, helped me to provide a better analysis and examination of the function of agreement phenomenon in typologically similar and genetically related varieties of Urdu-Hindi. I have shown that the varieties of Urdu-Hindi can be classified in three different TYPES on the basis of the agreement system that they display;

A. Languages that have only Subject-verb agreement.

B. Languages that have both Subject-verb & Object-verb agreement on an alternative basis (i.e. the verb agrees with either the subject or the object in different syntactic environment).

C. Languages that have primarily Subject-verb agreement, however, other actants (NPs) also find their marking on the verb due to certain pragmatic value or requirements of the language e.g. specificity marking, animacy factor, scale of honorificity and some patter gap in the system of pronouns etc. I have tried to unify the agreement types (a) & (c) into one system and have termed it as a single system of agreement and have labelled  the agreement type (b) as a dual system of agreement. The motivation for the combining (a) & (c) into one comes from two main factors; (i) there is no change of the syntactic environment of marking the inflection of other actants (NPs) on the verb besides the subject (ii) the languages do not show overt object agreement. With the help of such micro level study of the phenomenon in the varieties of Urdu-Hindi, I have tried to provide a solution to the problem of ‘agreement facts’ in complex predicates of Urdu-Hindi at a macro level which otherwise remains unexplained.

Before joining the Department of Urdu, Kirori Mal College, University of Delhi, I was selected in a reputed research institution .However, I took up the job at University of Delhi, considering the fact that I would be able to finish my post doctoral work within the stipulated time-limit if I work in University of Delhi in general and the Department of Urdu Kirori Mal College in particular has provided me a very strong and healthy environment of growth and a good opportunity to further shape my research interest.  I have been teaching several papers of Urdu language & literature since 2000. They include ‘history of Urdu, Urdu culture, Urdu society Urdu prose & poetry, in the Department of Urdu School Open learning DU). I have also helped the Department to carry out intensive field-works on several assignments. In addition to my regular teaching assignments, I have also in contributed to other regularly organized programs of the Department. I have thus taught History in such programs to Indian students. Teaching these classes always has helped me to practice the theories of most of the core areas of Urdu literature. The feed back (the assignments) from the programs have enriched my point of view of analyzing the corpus. It has also given me insights into the area of interference and the typological similarity of the target and source language, despite the fact that innovate in language teaching in addition to the direct method of teaching mostly followed and used within teaching of Urdu and English. I am working on the role of Urdu language in promotion to nationalism which has been accepted for publication by a reputed publisher. The book contains a precise and in-depth account of historical study of the Urdu language. I am also having planned to work on a text-book–“Introduction to Urdu Language for Foreign language learners” which will help the learners to accelerate their process of learning the foreign language. The work has also been already accepted for publication by a reputed publisher. The publisher has also promised to bring out a foreign print. to keep the price of the book affordable not only for the students in sub-continent also for all over the world.

 I have professional interest in various schools of thoughts in Urdu literature. Area of my interest started emerging while doing post graduation in Urdu from University of Delhi. I started reading more about poetry & novel. Most of my study period was devoted towards this direction. This area of interest kept continued in my M.Phil course with new direction. I did a lot of work in the same field with progressive approach. Ph.D work was slightly activated from this direction and adopted a new specialization area in Romantic long verse (MATHNAVI) Attending seminars /workshop in this field in the documentary and literary proof of my interest in this profession. I also touched the clam cal field in Urdu literature. Ministry of Tourism & culture had awarded me the junior fellowship to carry out the research on “Urdu Hindi Folk Literature". My work on the same was well appreciated by the Ministry peoples. On basis of that Indian Council of Historical Research has awarded me Post Doctoral Fellowship for doing the Research on "A Study of Hindu-Muslim Relations Around Partition as reflected in Saadat Hasan Mantos Stories". In the last, I would like to accept the challenging work for promoting the Urdu language from different perspectives Teaching & Research have become extra forte of my life style. You will be happy to read the opinion of my Guide Prof. Irteza Karim who is my elder brother that “As Researcher Dr.Yahya Saba is well known not mainly in Urdu also other subjects. He deeply committed to its aim of setting the highest literary standards by recognizing good literature and also establishing a deep culture bond among various languages and communities of India through his work and contribution. Published work of high quality in different Urdu news paper and journals which are significant contribution to knowledge. He is actively engaged in research and teaching at University level since ten years. He want to introduce innovative concepts to provide a multi-disciplinary profile and to allow a cafeteria like approach including initiating new research to cater to frontier development in the concerned subject to to combine the practical requirements of research in the Indian academic context with the need to observe high standards to provide knowledge in the frontier areas of their disciplines, it has also been aimed to combine the goals and parameters of global knowledge with pride in the Indian heritage and India’s contribution in this context. The purpose of my research has been to provide a broad common framework for exchange mobility and free dialogue across the entire Indian research community. This research will provide spirits of openness and continuous improvements create thoughts and actions in the mind of the people of nation so that they live united. Guiding people a path of life with righteousness as righteous man gives the strength of character. Helping all religious leaders, philosophers, politicians, historians, academicians and researchers of India is to give strength to the people to combat the divisive forces. Guide Indians to develop an attitude to appreciate different ideologies and transform enmity among individuals, organizations’ and nations, into friendliness and harmony with the embedded thought that nation is bigger than the individual in the minds of the leaders and people. people to work with perseverance to transform the country into a peaceful and prosperous nation, a large scale attempt on our part to contribute to harmony in society and will help us always to maintain harmony in world, his research will convert our beloved country into a love garden from which whole world will take a holy lesson of love and peace which is the main sources of national integration and reconstruction”  moreover examine closely my research, work and contribution in Urdu literature, through my bio-data and autobiographical account which attached with this application.