Language dynamics in Pakistan

[FearlessRoar]

In every region and province of Pakistan, natives speak their native languages such as Pashtuns speaks Pashto, Balochi speaks Balochi, Sindhi Speaks Sindhi, Gilgiti speaks Shina and Baltistani speaks Balti and so on. Irrespective of their class, they never stop speaking their native language.

However, when it comes to Punjab, people speak Punjabi, but predominantly the lower middle class. Interestingly, if you notice the elite class in Punjab, they rarely speak Punjabi,they prefer Urdu or English.

Why is that? Share your thoughts

 

[Cricket Warrior]

There should be no shame in speaking one's own language. Nowadays most of the class believes that if they speak their native language so they will seem to be from a less advanced family.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

In every region and province of Pakistan, natives speak their native languages such as Pashtuns speaks Pashto, Balochi speaks Balochi, Sindhi Speaks Sindhi, Gilgiti speaks Shina and Baltistani speaks Balti and so on. Irrespective of their class, they never stop speaking their native language.

However, when it comes to Punjab, people speak Punjabi, but predominantly the lower middle class. Interestingly, if you notice the elite class in Punjab, they rarely speak Punjabi,they prefer Urdu or English.

Why is that? Share your thoughts

It's because of attaching negative connotation with Punjabi. Many people in elite class even go as far as terming it language of uncouth and uncivilized people. But when it comes to competitive exams these so called "elites" themselves opt for it just because it is a good scoring subject.

 

[KB]

There is a historical context that needs to be understood - below is what I wrote on this topic here a couple or so months ago. (The only point I would add is that it might also be argued that Punjabi, in grammar and vocabulary, is closer to Urdu when compared to other regional languages in Pakistan.):

I think there are deeper roots to the marginalisation of the Punjabi language in Pakistan. In 1901 of the 186 vernacular newspapers and periodicals published in the Punjab, 137 were in Urdu. The two most important newspapers in the province at the time were both published in Urdu: Akhbar-i Am and Paisa Akhbar.

In her book, The Social Space of Language, Farina Mir has made the case that colonial policies were crucial. The colonial state opted to replace Persian as the language of administration with Urdu rather than Punjabi. Some officials regarded Punjabi as not a language in itself but a derivative dialect of Urdu, or in the words of one colonial official: “merely a patois of the Urdu.” Other officials claimed that Punjabi was unsuitable because it was “inflexible and barren, and incapable of expressing nice shades of meaning and exact logical ideas with the precision so essential in local proceedings.” The decision in favour of Urdu also enabled the East India Company to use administrators who had worked in north India and therefore already had knowledge of the language. Mir also points out that some officials perceived it as a Sikh language rather than language of the region and some officials feared alienating rural elites as “Urdu is the language of the educated classes.”

Mir adds that “Lahore colonial officials” also “nurtured Urdu literature.” Particularly important was the Anjuman-i-Punjab which sponsored Urdu mushairas. This patronage was timely in the context the shock of the rebellion in 1857, which had devastating consequences for the Muslims of Upper India. In the aftermath, the centre of gravity for the output of Urdu literature moved westwards: from Delhi to Lahore. Key intellectuals such as Muhammad Husain Azad and Altaf Hussain Hali spent time in the city. Azad reached Lahore in 1861 after the trauma of 1857 and remained there until death. He helped organise a modern style of mushairas and authored Urdu textbooks that helped spread the language in the city. Hali’s stay was temporary but seminal in his intellectual development. His famous and powerful Musaddas (The Flow and Ebb of Islam) was published in the city in 1879.

As a result of the colonial decision to opt for Urdu rather than Punjabi there was no standardisation, modernisation and codification of Punjabi as a language.

This is the overall context. Since Pakistan’s independence the importance of projecting class aspirations has accentuated the trend. Punjabi, seen as a rustic language, does not rate high in the hierarchy: English and Urdu are directly linked with aspirations for progress.

This said, we should not take the argument too far. Punjabi still has significant emotional resonance. It has always been a language associated with oral circulation and oral performance, even if it is not widely read in Pakistan. Think of the rich tradition of Punjabi poetry and of the tradition of Punjabi Qisse. These traditions remain vibrant. We might also point to the highly popular film Maula Jatt (1979), and the rural Punjabi folk genre it represented and shaped. Maula Jatt, the peasant-warrior wielding a gandasa and talking in a plain Punjabi manner, was a very different kind of icon to what appeared in Urdu films up to that point.

Perhaps no Punjabi poet is as called upon in contemporary Pakistan as Bulleh Shah. In lines such as the following, we see see the tremendous ability of the poet to utter profound insight with the simplest of lines:

Bullhia: mullan ate mashalci dohan ikko citt
Lokan karde canana ap hanere nitt

Bullha, the mullah and the torch bearer both have the same intent. They spread light to people, but are always in the dark themselves.

(Translated by Christopher Shackle)

 

[hassan918]

I am from Punjab and I think most people here do speak and understand Punjabi but a lot of the people only speak Punjabi with their family members and when they are in public, they usually speak Urdu. I am not sure what is the situation in KPK or Sindh but I had a few visits to Karachi in recent years and most of the people their speak Urdu and not Sindhi.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

English: a colonial legacy or relic?​

The locale is the subcontinent under the yoke of the East India Company. Owing to the presence of gora saheb bahadur and the interaction of these English speaking intruders with the naive local community, the fidget of imitating the spoken English was turning into a fetish.

In this setting, two local wrestlers, rather call them pehalwans to relish the cultural undertones, are carried away with the craze of speaking English. They were all ears whenever they heard a gora interacting with the natives.

After much travail, they become able to speak pidgin English. But there develops a rivalry between the two to outwit each other with their newly acquired ‘expertise’ in English.

One day, one friend throws down the gauntlet and asks the other friend to tell the English equivalent for agar-batti. The other in a jiffy blurts out ‘if thirty-two’. The former himself not knowing the exact translation of the word accepts the answer as his defeat but nurtures in his heart the William Blake’s poison tree against his friend.

Now their meetings thin out. One day, when they come across each other in the vegetable market, without exchanging their usual courtesies, the first friend thinking of taking revenge challenges the other one again. This time, he changes his stratagem and asks his friend to translate ‘misunderstand’ into Urdu. The latter smirks victoriously and utters ‘Miss neechay khari’. The twice-vanquished friend gulps down his anguish of defeat and moves away mute.

Being a pehalwan, he doesn’t yield to his defeat meekishly. He gets obsessed with taking revenge on his friend. Then one day, he challenges his friend to have a wrestling match, ostensibly to salve his piqued ego. Actually, he wanted to insult his friend with a heavy blow in front of people. The other friend, however, sees through his friend’s nefarious intentions.

Source : The Express Tribune

English: a colonial legacy or relic? | The Express Tribune

We have always adopted an oxymoronic attitude towards English

tribune.com.pk

 

[The Bald Eagle]

International Mother Language Day 2024: Date, history and significance​

International Mother Language Day is observed annually on February 21. Established12 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the aim of this day is multifold – firstly to protect and celebrate the world’s linguistic heritage, then to promote cultural and linguistic diversity, and also to create awareness about preserving traditional cultures and languages. Here is all you need to know about International Mother Language Day:

International Mother Language Day is observed on February 21 every year.

The date February 21 was chosen to commemorate the 1952 Bengali Language Movement in Bangladesh, when students and activists protested against the imposition of Urdu as the sole official language. The movement took place when Bangladesh was a province of Pakistan and its people fought for the recognition of their Bengali language.

Source: Moneycontrol