“I Am Not Punjabi, My Parents Are”: Degradation of the Language of Dominant Majority

• Published in: Acta Linguistica Asiatica
• Main Authors: Haidar, Sham, Wali, Tehreem, Tahir, Tehreem, Parveen, Mehwish
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakultete / Ljubljana University Press, Faculty of Arts 2021
• Subjects: language ideology; linguistic identity; linguicide; ethnic identity; domain of use; jezikovna ideologija; jezikovna identiteta; lingicid; etnična identiteta; domena uporabe; sami
• Online Access: https://revije.ff.uni-lj.si/ala/article/view/9449; https://doi.org/10.4312/ala.11.2.101-127

Due to social and geographical mobility and globalization, many minority languages in the world are pushed to the periphery. Reasons for such a trend differ among languages. In the case of the Punjabi language, despite being spoken by a major portion of the population, the speakers are gradually disowning it. Considering this gradual shift, the present study explores the predicament of the Punjabi language. The study uses phenomenological design and collects data from Punjabi ethnic students in four different universities in Islamabad. The study uses semi-structured interviews, TV shows, and natural conversations. Findings reveal that the Punjabi speakers themselves disown their language as well as Punjabi identity due to social, economic, religious, and political reasons. Especially women avoid the language more, they do not speak Punjabi with their children, and they reject their Punjabi identity. Zaradi družbene in geografske mobilnosti in globalizacije so številni manjšinski jeziki na svetu potisnjeni na obrobje. Razlogi za to se razlikujejo. V primeru pandžabskega jezika se govorci kljub temu, da jih govori večji del prebivalstva, pandžabščini postopoma odpovedujejo. Glede na ta postopni premik študija raziskuje težave pandžabskega jezika. Študija uporablja fenomenološko zasnovo in zbira podatke študentov pandžabskih narodnosti na štirih različnih univerzah v večjezičnem in večkulturnem glavnem mestu Islamabad. Študija uporablja pol strukturirane intervjuje, televizijske oddaje in naravne pogovore. Študija ugotavlja, da se govorci pandžabščine sami odpovedujejo svojemu jeziku in pandžabski identiteti iz družbenih, ekonomskih, verskih in političnih razlogov. Še posebej ženske se jezika bolj izogibajo, s svojimi otroki ne govorijo v pandžabščini in zavračajo svojo pandžabsko identiteto.