9. among regional languages, combines hindi with arabic script and is the official language of
a. punjabi; afghanistan
b. urdu; pakistan
c. sinhalese; sri lanka
d. bengali; bangladesh

Among regional languages, Urdu combines Hindi with Arabic script and is the official language of Pakistan (B). Urdu is the dominant language in Pakistan as well as some provinces within India. This language is closely linked to Hindi however, the script is different and distinct in that it is written in Persian-Arabic script. 

The three steps before modern english were indo-european, germanic, and old english. as peoples moved around the eurasian continent, their languages changed. throughout the ages, the languages became more specialized. as english has many germanic influences, it is easy to see how this was one of the forebears. also, old english was one of the main ancestors of the modern language, spoken in the 5th through about the 13th centuries.