History of the Turkish language

Introduction

The Turkish language is a very old language. Its history dates to almost 5500 to 8500 years ago. The Turkish language is very rich in terms of its vocabulary, and it has a unique morphological, phonetic, and grammatical structure which distinguishes this language from other languages. The Turkish language is spoken in various parts of Europe and Asia, and it is classified as an Altaic branch of the Ural-Altaic language family (Dogançay, 1995). The Turkish language is also known by other names such as Anatolian, Türkisch, and Istanbul Turkish (Ethnologue, 2022). According to Ethnologue, the Turkish language is spoken by over 88,098,480 people around the world.  

The stages of development of the Turkish language 

The development of the Turkish language started 2500 to 3000 years ago in Southern Siberia and Mongolia. Therefore, the history of this language can be divided into 3 main categories (AYDINGÜN & AYDINGÜN, 2010). 

Ancient Turkish Language

Old Turkish Language, which is also known as the Old Ottoman, has its roots from the 7th to 13th centuries (Dogançay, 1995). Old Turkish language and Germanic runes had similar alphabets but still, both these languages had different scripts. Currently, it is spoken in Magnolia, and it has very little connection with modern Turkish (AYDINGÜN & AYDINGÜN, 2010). According to many scholars, the Chinese people held the Turks as their slaves, and this was the time when both these communities established cultural and diplomatic relations between them. That is the reason that the Modern Turkish language also has some words from the Chinese language in it (Topuzkanamış, 2020). In the 11th century, the Turks converted to Islam. This was the phase when the Turks established a relationship with the Arabs Muslims and the Turkish language was influenced by the Arabic Language. Therefore, Arabic calligraphy was being used to write the Turkish language. But still, the Turkish language is very different from the Arabic language (Aytürk, 2008). During the establishment of the Seljuk Empire, the Persian language influenced the Turkish language and became the official language of the government at that time which greatly impacted the growth and development of the Turkish language (Dogançay, 1995).

Middle Turkish

It was the period of the Ottoman Empire (from the 13th to the 20th Century). The development of the Turkish language during this period is also known as Middle Turkish. The growth and development of the Turkish language were greatly influenced by Arabic and Persian. Therefore, the Turkish language at that time was a mixture of Arabic, Persian, and Turkish itself. During this time, Arabic letters were being used to write the Turkish language (Ottoman Turkish) and, Arabic and Persian words were being used in the Turkish language (AYDINGÜN & AYDINGÜN, 2010). The Ottoman Empire was spread over the area of the Caspian Sea to Algeria (west) and the Turkish (Ottoman Turkish) was being used as the official language of the state known as the Ottoman Empire. Ottoman Turkish became the language of elites as it was only spoken by a certain segment of the empire. The local people of the empire were used to speak their local languages, such as Albanian, Arabic, Italian, Greek, Berber Kurdish, Bulgarian, etc (Aytürk, 2008).

Modern Turkish Language

The new phase for the development of the Turkish language was initiated by Kemal Ataturk. In 1928 AD, after the foundation of the Turkish Republic, the Arabic alphabet used in the Turkish Language was removed and replaced by the Latin alphabet. Therefore, within the next few years, the Turkish language freed itself from foreign vocabulary words (Dogançay, 1995). 

Until the 15th century, the Uyghur alphabet was being used to write the Turkish Language. After the 15th century, it was written using the Arabic alphabet. After the 20th century, the era of reforms was started which replaced the Arabic alphabet. It was the time when the Turkish language has shown great signs of development. In 1932 AD, a new institute was created for the development of the Turkish language known as the Turkish Language Institute (TLI) (Topuzkanamış, 2020).

The Objective of Founding the Turkish Language Institute

The objective of this institution was to contribute towards the development of the Turkish language through conducting linguistic research in order to develop language literacy and to make the Turkish language a whole culture (AYDINGÜN & AYDINGÜN, 2010). 

Many scholars think that the Latin text used in the Turkish language is more suitable than the text or alphabet of Arabic because the Latin text made the way for the Turkish language for a better representation of the vowel system (Turkish language). Therefore, gradually, and slowly the Persian and Arabic words got replaced by appropriate Turkish words through the work done by the Turkish Language Institute. Of these appropriate words, some words were new, and some were from the Turkish language, but they were not being practised for a long time (Dogançay, 1995). This institute also developed and changed the grammatical structure of the Turkish Language. Previously, the Persian and Arabic grammatical structure was used in the Turkish language. Today, the literacy rate in Turkey is more than 96%, and the reforms made in the journey of growth and development of the Turkish language and different education reforms played a great role in it (Aytürk, 2008).

Works Cited

1. AYDINGÜN, A., & AYDINGÜN, İ. (2010). THE ROLE OF LANGUAGE IN THE FORMATION OF TURKISH NATIONAL IDENTITY AND TURKISHNESS. Nationalism and Ethnic Politics.
2. Aytürk, İ. (2008). Politics and Language Reform in Turkey: The 'Academy' Debate. Department of Oriental Studies, University of Vienna.
3. Dogançay, S. (1995). An Evaluation of the Turkish Language Reform After 60 Years. John Benjamins Publishing Company.
4. Ethnologue. (2022). Turkish. Retrieved from ethnologue.com: https://www.ethnologue.com/language/tur
5. Topuzkanamış, E. (2020). History of Turkish language education in the process of educational modernisation of Ottoman: from the 1770s to 1890s. Paedagogica Historica.

History of Hindi language

History:

Literary Hindi, written in the Devanagari script, has been strongly influenced by Sanskrit. Its standard form is based on the Khari Boli dialect, found to the north and east of Delhi. Braj Bhasha, which was an important literary medium from the 15th to the 19th century, is often treated as a dialect of Hindi, as are Awadhi, Bagheli, Bhojpuri, Bundeli, Chhattisgarhi, Garhwali, Haryanawi, Kanauji, Kumayuni, Magahi, and Marwari. However, these so-called dialects of Hindi are more accurately described as regional languages of the “Hindi zone” or “belt,” an area that approximates the region of northern India, south through the state of Madhya Pradesh.

Modern standard Hindi evolved from the interaction of early speakers of Khari boli with Muslim invaders from Afghanistan, Iran, turkey, and central Asia. As the new immigrants settled and began to adjust to the Indian social environment, their languages which were ultimately lost enriched Khari boli. Like other Indo-Aryan languages, Hindi is a direct descendant of an early form of Vedic Sanskrit, through Sauraseni Procrit and Śauraseni Apabhraṃśa (from Sanskrit apabhraṃśa "corrupt"), which emerged in the 7th century CE

Bhartendu Harish Chandra is the father of Hindi language. In modern India, Harishchandra is considered the father of Hindi.

Modern Standard Hindi has been the official language of independent India since 1949 when language reforms were carried out and the Devanagari alphabet was chosen as the official script. In other words, it's roughly 70 years old.

History of Korean language

 

Introduction:

Korea is a peninsular country in the Asian continent. Its land area, is 220,911 square kilometers (84,500 square miles). It is around the size of the state of Minnesota in the United States, or the combined area of England, Scotland, and Wales. It is divided into North and South Korea. (Young Ick Lew). Total population of Korea is 77.56 million. North Korea has a less population of 25.78 million, on the other hand South Korea’s Population is 51.78 million. (World Bank , 2020). Korea is surrounded to the north by two major neighbors, China and Russia, and to the east and south by the Japanese islands separated by a 120-mile strait. Both North and South Korea remain a fulcrum of power politics among the world's great nations. Different artifacts from Paleolithic era discovered show that human beings inhibited from 500,000 BC. According to most archeologists semi-nomadic people who crafted comb-marked and plain-brown pottery under the influence of Shamanistic culture during the Neolithic Age, from around 3,000 to the eleventh century BC, compromise the major branch of the race now known as Korean. (Young Ick Lew).

History of Korean Language:

Koreans are ethnically and linguistically distinct from the (Han) Chinese.   Koreans are of the Tungusic branch of the Mongoloid race. Their polysyllabic, agglutinative language is related to the Altaic language family, which includes Turkish, Mongolian, and Japanese. Chinese influences seen in today's Korean culture are a reflection of the Korean people's conscious and deliberate adoption of Chinese culture from the second century BCE to 1895 CE. Some linguist divides Korean language evolution in following periods.

·         Pre historic Korean

·         Old Korean

·         Middle Korean

·         Modern Korean

 

 

 

Pre historic and Old Korean:

Original Korean is derived from Altaic (extinct language) in pre-historic times. Very little is known of this era but it is assumed that sound changes happen during the pre-historic times. This era is responsible for a major amount of the morphological and syntactic changes between Korean and Proto Altaic.
For old Korean no useful linguist data exist for the three old Korean languages i.e., Sinla, Paykcey and Kokwulye. In some existing records written in the Itwu script of Chinese characters, only fragmented reflexes have been observed. There is a wealth of information available regarding the Sinla language. Sinla is a closely related language to Altaic. The time of old Korean was the beginning of the inflow of Chinese character words.

Middle Korean:

Early middle Korean data was recorded in Chinese characters, whereas late middle Korean data was recorded in the newly originated Korean alphabet Hankul. Hankul in the early fifteenth century made extensive and exact transcription of Korean language for the first time. The middle Korean period is characterized by the introduction of a large number of Chinese words into Korean language as a result of the advent of the Koyle dynasty. Major phonological developments are thought to have occurred during the early Middle Korean period.

Modern Korean:

Modern Korean is descended from Middle Korean, which is descended from Old Korean, which is descended from the Proto-Korean language, which is thought to be its linguistic ancestor. Korea has its own language and writing system, known as "Hangeul," which was developed by King Sejong (1397–1450) during the Joseon dynasty. Koreans are quite proud of this extraordinary accomplishment. Hangeul is a very efficient and simple script to learn and use, and most importantly, its propagation was meticulously documented, which is unique in the world. Hangeul is made up of 14 consonant letters and 10 vowel letters. It can reproduce almost all of the sounds made by nature and humans.

Korean is a language spoken by around 75 million people, 48 million of whom live in South Korea and 24 million in North Korea. More than 2 million people speak Korean in China, 1 million in the United States, and 500,000 in Japan. South Korea's (Republic of Korea) and North Korea's (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) official languages are both Korean. Minor differences in spelling, alphabetization, and vocabulary selection (including letter names) exist between the two Koreas, but both largely support the unified standards recommended by the Korean Language Society in 1933.

 

 

Portuguese Language

Author:shah jahan bugti

History of portuguese

Portuguese language, Portuguese, Português, Romance language that is spoken in Portugal, Brazil, and other Portuguese colonial and in the past colonial territories. Galician, spoken in northwestern Spain, is closely related to Portuguese. Portuguese is a Romance language that developed over 2,000 years ago, in the third century BCE, when the Romans appeared at the Iberian Peninsula, a European peninsula mainly comprised of modern-day Portugal and Spain. In 216 BCE, Roman soldiers arrived speaking Vulgar Latin, also called colloquial Latin, which is the form of spoken Latin from which all Romance languages changed. The Romans weren’t alone in their inspiration on Portuguese. During the collapse of the Roman Empire between 409 CE and 711 CE, the Iberian Peninsula was conquered by Germanic tribes, who both brought their languages to the region and adopted some of the Vulgar Latin dialects and culture. The Moorish invasion of 711 CE also influenced both Spanish and Portuguese. Today, modern Portuguese has between 400 and 800 words of Arabic origin. In 1143, Portugal was recognized as an independent kingdom. In 1290, the king of Portugal, Denis, created the first university in Lisbon and declared that the spoken language of Vulgar Latin be used and that it should be called Portuguese. Modern Portuguese evolved from Galician-Portuguese or Old Portuguese, which is now two distinct languages: Galician and Portuguese. Even though they are two separate languages, Galician and Portuguese are similar, with some speakers describing the difference between them as similar to the difference between American and British English.

• Number of People speaking Portuguese language:

Portuguese is an official language in 10 countries and territories, including Brazil, Mozambique, Angola, Portugal, Guinea-Bissau, East Timor, Equatorial Guinea, Macau, Cape Verde, and São Tomé and Príncipe. During the period of Portuguese colonialism of the 15th and 16th centuries, the Portuguese language was brought to many regions of Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Local officials and Europeans of all nationalities used Portuguese as a lingua franca (a common language) to facilitate communication. Portuguese was also used by Roman Catholic missionaries in Asia, and today there is a cultural presence of Portuguese in parts of India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Indonesia. 

Portuguese is estimated to have 232 million native speakers and about 258 million speakers in total. It’s the ninth most spoken language in the world, and the second most spoken Romance language, after Spanish.

Portuguese owes its importance as the second Romance language (after Spanish) in terms of numbers of speakers, largely to its position as the language of Brazil, where in the early 21st century some 187 million people spoke it. In Portugal, the language’s country of origin, there are more than 10 million speakers. It is estimated that there are also some 8 million Portuguese speakers in Africa (Angola, Cabo Verde, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, and Sao Tome and Principe). Portuguese is also spoken by about 678,000 people in the United States, with large communities of speakers in the states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

• Difference in Brazil’s and European Portuguese:

Brazilian Portuguese differs from European Portuguese in several ways, including several sound changes and some differences in verb conjugation and syntax; for example, object pronouns occur before the verb in Brazilian Portuguese, as in Spanish, but after the verb in standard Portuguese.

 Despite differences in phonology, grammar, and vocabulary, Portuguese is repeatedly mutually understandable with Spanish. There are 4 main Portuguese dialect groups, all mutually intelligible: 

(1) Central, or Beira, 

(2) Southern (Estremenho), including Lisbon, Alentejan, and Algarve, 

(3) Insular, including the dialects of Madeira and the Azores, 

(4) Brazilian. Standard Portuguese was developed in the 16th century, basically from the dialects spoken from Lisbon to Coimbra.

 Brazilian (Brasileiro) fluctuates from the Portuguese spoken in Portugal in several respects, in syntax as well as phonology and vocabulary, but many writers still use an academic metropolitan standard. A Judeo-Portuguese is attested in 18th-century Amsterdam and Livorno (Leghorn, Italy), but practically no trace of that dialect remains today.

  Grammar and pronunciations of Portuguese:

Typical of the Portuguese sound system is the use of nasal vowels, indicated in the orthography by m or n following the vowel (e.g., sim ‘yes,’ bem ‘well’) or by the use of a tilde (∼) over the vowel (mão ‘hand,’ nação ‘nation’). In grammar its verb system is quite different from that of Spanish. Portuguese has a conjugated or personal infinitive and a future subjunctive and uses the verb ter (Latin tenere, Spanish tener ‘to have,’ ‘to hold’) as an auxiliary verb instead of haver (Latin habere, Spanish haber ‘to have’; in Spanish used only as an auxiliary verb).

Until the 15th century, Portuguese and Galician shaped one single linguistic unit, Gallego-Portuguese. The first evidence for the language consists of scattered words in 9th–12th-century Latin texts; continuous documents date from approximately 1192, the date assigned to an surviving property agreement between the children of a well-to-do family from the Minho River valley.

Literature began to bloomed especially during the 13th and 14th centuries, when the soft Gallego-Portuguese tongue was preferred by courtly lyric poets throughout the Iberian Peninsula except in the Catalan area. In the 16th century, Portugal’s golden age, Galician and Portuguese grew beyond separately, with the merging of the standard Portuguese language. From the 16th to the 18th century, Galician was used only as a home language (i.e., as a means of communication within the family). Toward the end of the 18th century, it was revitalized as a language of culture. In the 21st century, with Spanish, it is an official language of the comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”) of Galicia. In 2008 the Portuguese parliament passed an act mandating the use of a standardized orthography based on Brazilian forms.

• Words, letters, and alphabets:

The Portuguese alphabet is based on the Latin alphabet and comprises 26 letters of which 5 are vowels and 21 are consonants. The letters K, Y, and W are only used for loanwords, meaning that only 18 consonant letters are, in fact, used to write Portuguese words. 

Bibliography

Babbel Magazine. (2021, april 30). Portugese Language. (Y. Yates, Ed.) How many People speak portugese language. Retrieved from https://www.babbel.com

Britanicca. (n.d.). Portugese language. Portugese Language. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com

Portugesopedia. (2022). The Portugese Alphabets. (P. C, Ed.) The Portugese Alphabets. Retrieved from https://www.portuguesepedia.com

PASHTO LANGUAGE.

 v Pashto language of AFGHANISTAN:

 

 

Ø INTRODUCTION TO PASHTO:

 

Pashto also denoted Pashtu, also called Pashtu or Pakhtu, member of the Iranian division of the Indo-Iranian group of Indo-European languages. Massive adoption has caused Pashto to share many features of the Indo-Aryan group of the Indo-European languages as well. Originally spoken by the Pashtun people, Pashto became the national language of Afghanistan in 1936. It is spoken by more than 35 million people, most of whom reside in Afghanistan or Pakistan. Tinier speech communities exist in Iran, Tajikistan, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.

 

Ø Origins and lexicon:

 

Scholars have discovered it difficult to reach consensus regarding specific claims about Pashto’s origins. However, it is clear that the speech community’s location in a contested part of the ancient world originated extensive contact with, and borrowing from, other languages, including varieties of ancient Greek, Saka, Parthian, and Persian. Pashto also united with the northwestern Indian languages, especially the Prakrits, Balochi, and Sindhi. From these languages, Pashto acquired retroflex sounds (sounds produced with the tip of the tongue curled against the roof of the mouth) and approximately 5,550 loanwords.

 

Ø Dialects and Pronunciation of Words of Pashto language:

 

The dialects of Pashto fall into 2 main divisions: the southern, which preserves the ancient /sh/ and /zh/ sounds, and the northern, which uses /kh/ and /gh/ sounds instead. Aspirates sounds accompanied by an audible breath are common to most of Pashto’s neighboring Indo-Aryan languages but are uncommon in Pashto. The slight changes that denote loanwords from the Prakrit’s, Sindhi, and Balochi are generally quite easy to identify. For instance, gadi ‘a cart’ in Sindhi is portrayed as gari in Hindi and gardai in Pashto. Likewise, the term for ‘male buffalo’ is depicted sand in Hindi and sanr in Pashto. A number of words are identical in Hindi, Sindhi, and Pashto, including sadak ‘road,’ peda ‘a sweet,’ and khirki ‘window.’

 

The Pashto language has also borrowed words from Tajik (a form of Persian) and Uzbek (a Turkic language); examples include ruai-jirge ‘a common platform’ and ilghar ‘attack.’ A number of Arabic words or their Persianized forms have also been absorbed into Pashto, as have several Persian verbs. The sound /n/ of Persian is replaced by /l/ in Pashto.

 

Ø Grammar and literature:

 

The sentence construction of Pashto is alike to that of Hindi. Unlike Persian, but as in the Prakrit’s, the Pashto noun comes after the adjective and the holder leads the possessed in the genitive construction. The verb generally agrees with the subject in both transitive and intransitive sentences. An exception occurs when a completed action is reported in the past tense. In such cases, Pashto forms are the same as Hindi forms: the verb agrees with the subject if it is intransitive and with the object if it is transitive.

 

Pashto is written with a modified Arabic alphabet. The earliest literary form is poetry; Mohammad Hotak’s Pata Khazana (1728–29; “The Hidden Treasure”) is a collection of Pashto poetry from the 8th century onward. The national poet of Afghanistan, Khushhal Khan Khatak (1613–94), wrote spontaneous and forceful poetry of great charm. His grandson Afzal Khan was the author of an early history of the Pashtun.

 

Ø Script

 

The earliest authenticated records of Pashto as a literary language date from the late sixteenth century, at a time when the whole area was part of the Mogul empire. The language has always been written in the Perso-Arabic script with the addition of certain modified letters to represent the peculiar consonant phonemes of Pashto. In the earliest manuscripts there is a considerable variety in the representation of three consonants, but later a standard system emerged. Since the adoption of Pashto as a national language in Afghanistan, a number of innovations have been introduced into the script which have aided clarity.

The Pashto language has a total of 46 letters that are written in the Naskh script. These letters have been modified from the Arabic alphabet by including some extra letters to arrive at sounds that are Pashto-specific.

 

v HISTORY OF PASHTO LANGUAGE:

 

It is assumed that the Pashto language is about 2500 years old. Still, precisely how many people speak Pashto is not certain. There are different estimates that range from 26 million to 40 million. 31% - 51% of the Afghan population speaks Pashto as their first language whereas 10% -27% of them speak Pashto as their second language. According to article 20 of the Constitution of Afghanistan, according to it the Afghan National Anthem would be in Pashto and Pashto would be preserved as the 1st state language of Afghanistan. The Pashto language today represents the country’s culture and social heritage and is widely used in education, literature, media, religious institutions, etc.

 

Ø Pashto In Pakistan:

 

In Pakistan the Pashtun outweigh north of Quetta between the Suleiman Range and the Indus River. In the mountain areas the main tribes are, from south to north, the Kākaṛ, Sherani, and Ustarana south of the Gumal River; the Maḥsud, Darwesh Khel, Waziri, and Biṭani between the Gumal River and Thal; the Turi, Bangash, Orakzay, Afridi, and ShinwarI from Thal to the Khyber Pass; and the Mahmand, Uthman Khel, Tark Lani, and Yusufzai north and northeast of the Khyber Pass. The cities of Kandahar, Jalalabad, and Lashkar Gah in Afghanistan and Peshawar and Quetta in Pakistan are important centers of Pashtun culture.

 

Ø  LITERATURE IN PASHTO:

 

The history of Pashto literature stretches over 5000 years having its roots in the oral tradition of tapa. Though, the first recorded period begins with Bayazid Ansari (1526-74), who established his own Sufi school of thoughts and began to preach his beliefs. He gave Pashto writing style and poetry a new and powerful tone with a rich literary legacy. Khair-ul-Bayan, often quoted and intensely criticized thesis, is most probably the first book on Sufism in Pashto literature. Among his believers are some of the most distinguished poets, writers, scholars and Sufis, like Arzani, Mukhlis, Mirza Khan Ansari, Daulat and Wasil, whose poetic works are well protected.

 

Akhund Darweza (1533- 1615), a popular religious leader and scholar gave a powerful counterblast to Bayezid’s movement in the shape of Makhzanul Islam. He and his followers have enriched the Pashto language and literature by writing several books of writing style.

 

 Khushal Khan Khattak (1613-89), also known as a father of Pashto, is the central figure of this period. He presented new forms and modern trends in Pashto literature. The Persian ghazal, rubai and masnavi influenced the Pashto poets and writers of this period. The Sufism of Hafiz Shirazi found an echo in Rahman Baba’s works. Likewise, Abdul Qadir Khattak, Ashraf Khan Hijri, Kazim Khan Shaida, Ma`azullah Khan, Ahmad Shah Abdali and many others have left valuable treasure of literature in Pashto. This period was overshadowed by poetry, but writing style also held an important place. Romantic stories and versified fiction gained popularity towards the end of this period and continued with some modifications throughout the second period and even into the third which reached in the evolution of Pashto literature ended with the death of great warrior-king and poet, Ahmad Shah Abdali.

 

This period begins with the dawn of the twentieth century. The Khilafat and Hijrat Movements gave rise to a type of poetry that called out to soldiers of freedom. This generation of Amir Hamza Khan Shinwari and Dost Mohammed of young poets developed the poetry of the period with new idealism. Abdul Akbar Khan Akbar, Ghani Khan, Khadim Mohammad Akbar, Khaliq, Samandar Khan, Rahat Zakheli, Khan Mir Hilali, Makhfi, Sanober Hussain Kakajee, Khan Kamil played an important role in raising the cause of Pashtun’s revivalism.

 

The twentieth century proved very fertile, rich and flourishing for Pashto literature because it gave new genres and literary forms like Drama, Short Story, Novel, Takl, Character-Sketch, Travelogue, Reportage, Satire, Azad Nazam and Haiku.

 

Ø First Organization, Academy, Book & Dictionaries of Pashto:

 

A large number of literary organizations also took birth in this century. Olasi Adabi Jirga that is considered as the first ever organized literary organization of Pashto was founded by Sanober Hussain Kakajee, Dost Mohammed Kamil and Amir Hamza Khan Shinwari in 1949. Olasi Adabi Jirga made astonishing contributions to Pashto literature. The two major achievements of this organization were literary criticism and research on scientific lines. It also created great men of letters like Qalandar Moomand, Murad Shinwari, Saif-u- Rahman Salim, Hamish Khalil, and some others. Qlandar Moomand founded Da Sahu Leekunkew Adabi Maraka in 1962 and provided invaluable services to Pashto since its beginning. Qalandar Moomand compiled the first ever Pashto to Pashto dictionary (Daryab) while Hamish Khalil compiled a comprehensive directory of Pashto poets and writers (Da Qalam Khawandan) containing necessary information about more than 3000 men of letters.

 

The younger generation of poets carried forward the legacy of these early poets and writers with great enthusiasm. The contributions of Kabul Adabi Tolana and Pashto Academy are immense. The Afghan scholars, researchers, linguists, historians, poets, and writers namely Gul Bacha Ulfat, Adul Hai Habbibi, Adur-Rauf Benawa, Qayam -u- Din Khadim, Adul Shakoor Rashad, Sadiqullah Rashtin and many others have a major share in promoting Pashto language and literature. In the development of Pashto language, we see that Amir Sher Ali Khan introduced military titles in Pashto. These titles are:  ghund (regiment) dagarwal (Colonel), tolai (company), jagran (Major) etc. He also ordered that all military commands will be delivered in Pashto. He introduced Pashto title ‘Loynab’ for Prime Minister.

 

Ø Status of Pashto in Afghanistan:

 

After 2001, the new political order in Afghanistan created optimism in linguistic and ethnic minorities. Generally, it is said that language is a tool of communication, but it is also used as a symbol of power. It means when someone is in power, his or her language becomes powerful and get the official status. Language has always played a two-fold role: as an agent of unity and division. Afghanistan is a multiethnic country. There are many languages spoken in different parts of Afghanistan. According to ethnologue, there are 41 languages in Afghanistan. Pashto and Dari have been announced as official languages in article 16 of the current constitution of Afghanistan. After the independence of Afghanistan in twentieth century, it also changed its language policies for the advancement of national identity, political ideologies, national unity, and ethnic aspirations.

 

Two main languages of Afghanistan i.e., Pashto and Dari, are Iranian languages. Pashto belongs to southeastern group of the Iranian branch of Indo-European languages. There are some extinct languages belonging to Eastern Iranian group of languages. They are Avestan, Sogdian and Bactrian. But these are not mutually understandable. A Pashto speaker wouldn’t understand these languages. Likewise, Pashto and Dari are Iranian language, but they are not mutually understandable. Both are spoken in same geographical territory and use the same Perso-Arabic script for their writing. Most of the speakers use these languages as their second languages.

 

Ø Development of Pashto as National Language:

 Pashto belongs to southeastern group of the Iranian branch of Indo-European languages. Pashtuns are the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan comprising 38 to 44% of the population. Another source has mentioned Pashtuns, being the largest ethnic group comprising around 42% of the Afghan population and Tajiks are the next major ethnic group are 25 to 30% of population. Research has shown that 50% of Afghans speak Dari and 35% speak Pashto. Although major ethnic group in Afghanistan is Pashtuns but Dari is used by the majority of the people either as first language or as a second language, that is why number of Dari speakers are higher than that of Pashto speakers.

 

There are three major groups of the dialects of Pashto language. They are: Nangrahar or eastern dialect, the dialect of Kandahar or western dialect and the dialect of Kabul or central dialect. People living in southwest Afghanistan and Baluchistan speak Kandahari dialect. The Khattak dialect, spoken by people living in Kohat etc. also comes under the common name Kandahari dialect. Khattak tribe has essentially established the Pashto literary tradition. Wazirs also have some of the Kandahar features in their dialect. Speakers of the dialect of Kabul or the central dialect mostly live in the provinces of Ghazni, Logar, Kabul and Parawan. Speakers of the Nangrahar dialect or eastern dialect reside in the northeast regions of Afghanistan and in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Kandahari dialect enjoys the highest prestige (among the Kandaharis) and works as the basis for the writing system.

 

In Amir Habibullah’s era (1901-1919) the language issue got significance. In 1911 Mahmud Tarzai published an article in Seraj-alakhbar, claimed that Pashto is the ancestor of all Aryan (Indo-Iranian) languages. On September 12, 1915, Tarzai published another article declaring Persian as official and Pashto as national language of Afghanistan. At that time state was using Islam, Afghan history and Pashto language for building one nation and one national identity. During the reign of King Amanullah Khan (1919-1929), Pashto emerged in newspapers. In 1924, the first Afghan constitution was endorsed by Loya Jarga. At this time, Loya Jarga also granted the title of Tolwak to King Amanullah Khan. Loya Jarga also directed the concerned authorities about the translation of the constitution and all other government regulations into Pashto language. There is no mention of languages in this first constitution of Afghanistan. In 1927, some scholars from Kandahar formed Pashto Maraka. or Pashto Society with the support and encouragement of the government.

 

Pashto status planning started in the 3^rd decade of 20th century. Since 1933 it was needed for all civil servants and officials to learn Pashto with Persian language. Those who spoke Pashto were also being encouraged and favored for various posts in various departments of the government. King Nadir Shah (1930-1933) took measures for the promotion of Pashto and Dari languages and literature. Nadir Shah, when he was in France, had been inspired by the Academy of France, and on his return, he formed ‘Anjumane-adabi’, under the supervision of the royal secretariat in 1931. Majalla-e-Kabul and Saalnama-e-Kabul were being published under this anjuman. There were four aims of this Anjuman-e-Adabi.

1)      First, study and clarification of Afghan history and heritage.

2)      second, development of Afghan literature and folklore.

3)      third, advancement of Pashto language.

4)      Fourth, was expansion of the culture and knowledge of Afghanistan.

 

Among the forerunners of modern Afghan Intellectuals and press are: Sarwar Guya, Fikri Saljuqi, Muhammad Ali Kohzad, Ghulam Muhammad Ghubaar, Sayyid Qasim Rishtiya, Ahmad Ali Durrani, and Qari Abdullah. Pashto got its state backing, and it was declared as official language of Afghanistan in 1936. Later on, the Advisory Board of Education, formed rules and laws for making Pashto as medium of instruction in elementary schools in all parts of the country. Anjuman-e-Adabi which had been formed by Nadir Shah was renamed as Pashto Tolana (Pashto Society) and it was brought under the ministry of education. It was enlarged and several other divisions were also included in it. Three main tasks were assigned to Pashto Tolana.

1)      They were developing Pashto dictionary,

2)      writing Pashto standard grammar and

3)      standardization of Pashto spelling and pronunciation.

 

 In these developments the titles of the magazine Majallah-e-Kabul and the year book Saalnaama-e-Kabul were replaced by da Kabul Majallah and da Kabul Kalanai. Later on in 1941, the yearbook of the Kabul was renamed as da Afghanistan Kalanai. Even though it was having Pashto titles, the contents were mostly in Persian language.

 

Ø Issues in application of Pashto language:

 

After announcement of Pashto as official language and as medium of instruction it faced some problems and issues. Major of these problems and issues were that other ethnic groups like Uzbek were conversant in Persian (Dari) and feel aggrieved to learn Pashto, shortage of trained Pashto teachers in non-Pashtun areas. Moreover, this policy also affected the administrative, economic, and educational aspects of the development. Due to these reasons the policy makers were forced to revisit the policy. In 1946, during the reign of Shah Mahmud Khan as Prime Minister, Persian was rebuilt as an official language. At that time, minister of education, Najibullah Torwayana, who himself was a Durrani Pashtun, was of the opinion that making Pashto as medium of instruction was a mistake and he recommended educational institutions as bilingualist. In 1940s and 1950s, the government took measures for the advancement of Pashto language. Ministry of information and culture was given this task.

 

Ø Steps of Pashto academy for betterment:

 

Meanwhile, Pashto Academy also took some measures. These were the expansion of vocabulary, design of official orthography, promotion of research about Pashto language and literature. At this time Pashto academy also faced the challenges of the creation of courtesy titles and honorifics in Pashto language. Pashto academy coined Xagalay, Mermen and Pegla respectively for Mr. Mrs. And Miss. Pashto academy created equivalent weight of Arabic and Persian terms used in public and academic institutions. Academy also set up some academic titles in Pashto as Pohand, Pohanwal and Pohanyar respectively for professor, associate professor, and assistant professor. Similarly, Pohantun and Pohanzai were created respectively for university and college. During the rise of the issue of Pashtunistan, Pashto was entirely used for propaganda in press and radio in Afghanistan.

 

Ø Issue of DARI and PASHTO language:

 

 In March 1963, when Shah of Iran mediated between Pakistan and Afghanistan on the issue of Pashtunistan at that time Pashtun nationalists felt a fear that these diplomatic relations would weaken the interest of the government in the issue of Pashtunistan and similarly pledge of the government for propaganda against Pakistan would be reduced and thus the commitment of the government for the promotion and development of Pashto language would also be decreased. That is why during the drafting of the constitution of 1964 the issue of language policy rose again. Pashtun nationalists were trying to declare Pashto as national and official language because they were claiming that this state of Afghanistan has been founded by a Pashtun, Ahmad Shah Abdali. On the other hand, the Dari speaking people claimed Dari to be the official and national language because of its rich and old literary tradition and history. 

 

In article three of the constitution of 1964, Pashto, and Dari languages both were declared as official languages of Afghanistan. Persian was renamed as Dari for the first time in this constitution.18 In article 35 Pashto was declared as national language of Afghanistan. Article 35 states that state will take necessary measures for the promotion of national language. To implement this article of the constitution, Dari-speakers were required to attend Pashto classes after duty otherwise their monthly pay would reduce. At that time a non-Pashtun Prime Minister, Dr. Muhammad Yusuf, in a press conference, said that Pashto had rooted in the culture and political history of Afghanistan and the large number of people speak it. Thus, it had always been the national language. In an article, published in Siraj-al-Akhbar, on 12th September 1915, written by Mahmud Tarzi, Persian (Dari) was labelled as official language while Pashto as national language. In a book, written in Russian language by Aslanove and later translated from Russian into Pashto in 1968 by Muatamed Shinwari by the name Da Afghanistan Milli Jaba aw Adab, Pashto has been named as milli jaba or national language. Brain Spooner has also termed Pashto as national language. In article twenty of the 2004 constitution of Afghanistan, it has been declared that national anthem of Afghanistan will be in Pashto language. It is said that it is not an correct representation of all Afghans. Before the Soviet Occupation many attempts were made to equalize Pashto with Dari. For this purpose, Dari-speaking children were required to study Pashto in the public schools, and Dari-speaking government officials, were required to take Pashto classes.

 

 Ethno-linguistic factor played a role in the development of political organizations like Afghan Millat (Afghan Nation), PDPA, Sho’la-i-Javid (Eternal Flame), and an anti-Pashtun organization Setam-i-Milli (National Oppression). When PDPA was divided into two parties in 1967, ethnic division was also a factor of this factionalism. The PDPA language policy was based on Lenin’s egalitarian view about the equality of nation and languages. Jami’at-i-Islami-i-Afghanistan formed in 1960s was also divided into two groups on ethnic and linguistic grounds. On 15th May 1978, PDPA revolutionary council, look its law number four and declared 7 languages as national languages of Afghanistan. They are Pashto, Dari, Uzbeki, Turkmani, Nuristani, Pashai and Baluchi. In 1978-79 PDPA declared Uzbeki, Turkamani, Baluchi and Nuristani as national languages to divide the strong status of Dari into many sections and thus pave way for Pashto to arise as sole national and official language. Another reason of PDPA commitment for declaring minority languages as national languages, was getting political support of other ethnic groups. During Najib’s reign, in 1987, a new constitution was introduced. In article thirteen of that constitution Afghanistan was declared as a multinational state. Article fourteen states that languages, literature, and culture of all of the nations will be encouraged.

 

When government of Najib dissolved and Kabul was taken over by Mujahedin in 1992, Burhanuddin Rabbani was elected by the council of religious leaders in May 1992. He got support of Dari and Turkic-speaking people and the power of Pashto decreased in his time. In this period national anthem was also changed from Pashto into Dari. During Taliban regime, in 1996, there was no language policy, but majority of Taliban were Pashtuns and majority of them didn’t know Dari. So, Pashto was the sole official language during Taliban era. In post-Taliban era, in the constitution of 2004, there is nothing mention about national language but according to the article twenty of the constitution the national anthem would be in Pashto language. Article sixteen of the constitution has mentioned languages like Pamiri, Nuristani, Baluchi, Turkmani, Pachaie, Uzbeki, Dari and Pashto. Further it has been added that among these and other current languages of the country Dari and Pashto languages will be used as official languages of the country. According to the above-mentioned article of the constitution, state will launch effective strategy for the development of the languages of Afghanistan. All languages of Afghanistan are freely permitted in mass media, press and publications. Particular language related to Academic, national, and administrative departments will be preserved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bibliography

Britannica. (2016, october 25). Pashto Language. Retrieved from www.britannica.com

Britannica. (n.d.). Defination, People,Culture. (A. Zeidan, Ed.) Pashtun People. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com

Central Asia Journal no.83. (2018). Conflict between Dari and Pashto Language in Afghanistan. Conflict between Dari and Pashto Language in Afghanistan. Retrieved from http%3A%2F%2Fjournals.uop.edu.pk

Outsourcing Translation. (n.d.). History of Pashto Language. Breaking The Barriers. Retrieved from https://www.outsourcingtranslation.com

Pukhtoogle. (2012, march 11). Brief history of pashto language. Brief history of pashto language. Retrieved from https://pukhtoogle.com

 

                                HISTORY OF INDONESIAN LANGUAGE

Indonesian is the official language of Indonesia. Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world. It is made up of 17,508 islands and is home to more than 240 million people with an immensely diverse admixture of more than 750 languages and 300 ethnic groups. To promote nationalism and sense of unity in the post colonization era, the Pancasila ideology was introduced in 1945, which underlines the national identity as culturally neutral, along with the use of Bahasa Indonesia (the Indonesian language) by all people in Indonesia. It has 43 million native speakers (2010 census). Bahasa Indonesia is spoken as a mother tongue by only 7% of the total population, it is the national language and is used by 200 million people as their second language. Outside Indonesia, Indonesian is spoken in the Netherlands, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and the US. Indonesian language code is id.

Indonesian is a standardized dialect of the Malay language that was officially defined with the declaration of Indonesian independence in 1945, and the two languages remain quite similar. The Indonesian name for the language is Bahasa Indonesia (language of Indonesia); this name is sometimes used in English as well. The language is sometimes called "Bahasa" by English-speakers, though this simply means "language" in Indonesian. The language is spoken fluently as a second language by most Indonesians, who generally use a regional language (examples are Minangkabau and Javanese) at home and in their local community. Most formal education, as well as nearly all national media and other communication, are in Indonesian. In East Timor, Indonesian is recognized by the constitution as one of the two working languages (the other is English).

 

HISTORY

During the time of Dutch colonial control (until 1942), the official language was Dutch but, because Malay was more widely known, it became increasingly important both as an administrative language and as a medium of instruction in schools. Riau Malay, the dialect spoken in central Sumatra near Singapore, became the standard. In the early part of the 20th century, Malay became associated with the nationalist movement for independence. In 1928, young nationalists declared Bahasa Indonesia, their new name for Malay, to be the national language. Their aspirations were not fully realized until independence came in 1945, and Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian) was decreed to be the national language.

Indonesian is a normative form of the Malay language which had been used as a lingua franca in the Indonesian archipelago for centuries, and was elevated to the status of official language with the Indonesian declaration of independence in 1945, drawing inspiration from the Sumpah Pemuda (Youth's Oath) event in 1928. It is very similar to the official Malaysian form of the language. However it does differ from the Malaysian form in some ways, with differences in pronunciation and also in vocabulary.

Indonesian language is spoken as a mother tongue by only 7% of the population of Indonesia (mainly in the area of Jakarta), but altogether more than 200 million people speak it, with varying degrees of proficiency. The countries with the highest population of Indonesian speakers are Taiwan (239,000), Hong Kong (190,000), Singapore (118,000) and the Netherlands (118,000). It is an essential means of communication in a region with more than 300 native languages, used for business and administrative purposes, at all levels of education and in all mass media. However, most native Indonesian speakers would admit that the standard correct version of the language is hardly ever used in a normal daily conversation. One can read standard correct Indonesian in books and newspaper, or listen to it when watching the news on television, but few native Indonesian speakers use formally correct language in their daily conversations. While this phenomena is common to most languages in the world (for example, English).  This is mostly due to the fact that most Indonesians tend to mix aspects of their own local dialects (Javanese, Sundanese, Balinese, and even Chinese) with Indonesian when speaking, which results in the creation of various types of accented Indonesian.

The Dutch colonization left an imprint on the language that can be seen in words such as polisi (police), kualitas (quality), konfrontasi (confrontation), kopi (coffee).

 

Language Vitality of Punjabi Language

 

The word Punjab is derived from combination of two Persian words including “Panj” which means Five and “Ab” mean Water which refers to the phrase “Land of Five Rivers” including Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej. Moreover, Punjab is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and is considered to be the second largest province after Baluchistan. It is the most populace province with the population around 110 million, where the urban population is 40 million and Rural Population is 70 million. Moreover, the Capital of Punjab Province is Lahore and is the second largest city after Karachi. Further, in Punjab province there are 36 Districts in number and 127 Tehsil towns in total. The Punjabi language is widely used in Province Punjab. In addition, Punjabi language is categorized as a member of the Indo-Aryan subgroup of the Indo-European family of languages. Many Persian and Arabic words were integrated in Punjabi language.

 

o   Absolute number of speakers

 

Punjabi is regarded as 10th   most widely spoken language around the globe. Around 122 million population speak Punjabi as their native language. Most Punjabi speakers resides in India and Pakistan. There are around 30 million speakers of Punjabi in India. Moreover, it is also considered as the official language in Delhi. Punjabi is also spoken by significant overseas communities including United Kingdom and Canada. Further, in United Kingdom Punjabi is the 3rd   most spoken language and in Canada it is 4th   most spoken language after English, French and Mandarin. Among these countries Punjabi is widely spoken language in Pakistan. There are around 70 million Punjabi speakers in Pakistan.

o   Proportion of speakers within the total Population

 

Urdu is the national language of Pakistan, however, in terms of regional languages “Punjabi” is most commonly spoken in the province of Punjab. In Pakistan there is about 221 million out of which around 70 million people speaks Punjabi. It has different dialects and major dialects includes Majhi, Doabi, Malwai, Powadhi, Pothohari, Multani, Shahpuri, Dhani, Jangli, Hindko, Jafri and Chenavari etc.

o   Availability of materials for language education and literacy

 

Punjabi, which is widely spoken in Punjab has been promoted by the government through media. Punjabi films, dramas and theatres that have been become very popular. In promoting Punjabi culture and literature newspaper e.g, “Daily Lokaai” is the most famous Punjab newspaper published in Lahore, journals and magazines have also played a very significant role. Poets and writers like Munir Niazi, Ahmad Rahi, S.Kunjahi, Ashfaq Ahmad, Bano Qudsia have also played a very influential and fundamental role in producing master pieces of poetry and writings in Punjabi. Moreover, Sufi poets also used Punjabi for their writings and the most famous Punjabi Islamic Philosopher and Sufi poet was Bulley Shah. The Holy Quran has also been translated into Punjabi language by Muhammad Ali Faiq who was an Indian writer. Punjabi is taught up to MA level in Punjab University and Punjab Academy located in Lahore and it has translated and produced many books in Punjabi. Apart from that, other universities that offers Master of 2 years in Punjabi language are University of Sargodha that is located in Sargodha, Government College University located in Faisalabad, Government Postgraduate College for Women and Government Shalimar Degree College located in Lahore. In Pakistan, Punjab channel is also very famous TV channel that promote Punjabi culture and language because it broadcast every drama and show in the Punjabi language. All this played a very significant role in promoting Punjabi language.

o   Intergenerational Language Transmission

 

With reference to intergenerational transmission of Punjabi language, the educated parents mostly prefer to communicate in Urdu instead of Punjabi with their children. Several urban-settled families are in the process of losing Punjabi language as their mother tongue as they consider it to be less prestigious. They prefer to interact in Urdu language among their children because of its prestige. The major concern is that a significant number of families will ultimately no longer have

Punjabi language as their mother tongue in generations to come. The practical and realistic value of a language is essential in convincing people to use it widely for a variety of functions. Since the Punjabi language is not much helpful in career growth or in acquiring good employment opportunities, its pragmatic value has decreased. This has also become a weakening factor thus leading Punjabi language towards unimportant and informal linguistic functions in life.

o   Community members’ attitude towards their own language

 

The native speakers of Punjabi language in Pakistan have started to disdain and look down upon their own language over the last some years and have contributed significantly in downplaying their language. Instead of feeling pride in using their native language, they feel that it’s a disparaging language and not suitable for being used in formal affairs. It has been noted that individuals tend to shift their language to some other if they perceive that their language has low social status or is socially low. The status of Punjabi language is below par on economic as well as social basis so shift of language may likely take place in the Punjabi speaking community. The Punjabi language has lost its significance slowly and gradually primarily due to the social attitude of its native speakers. The most common use that Punjabi is best suited in is its use for humor, cracking jokes, and informal communication.

o   Type and quality of documentation

 

Despite the fact that Punjabi is the provincial language of biggest province in the country, it remains absent in education system of the province. The province of Sindh initiated to teach Sindhi language in schools and the same was the case with Pashto in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Both of these Provinces teach their provincial languages that are Sindhi and Pashto as compulsory subject in school. On the other hand in the province of Punjab which is the largest province of the country with the largest community of the country, there is not a single school where Punjabi is used as a medium of instruction and taught as a subject. Unfortunately, Punjabi was not implemented in schools and thus remained absent in the education sector. There is an urgent need to introduce Punjabi as a subject in the schools of the Punjab province. Punjabi has no place in Pakistan‘s educational policies and language planning, and is not taught in schools or colleges. It is Urdu which, being the national language of Pakistan, is taught as a compulsory subject in schools and colleges. Interestingly, one can do an MA or a PhD in Punjabi at university, but cannot learn it in schools where it is not even an optional language. Thus, the lack of support

from educational institutes is one of the major reasons for downplaying the role of Punjabi language. If at all, the Punjabi is to be reclaimed, the most important step is to implement it in the educational sector.

o   Response to New domains and Media

 

Community of Punjabi speakers in Pakistan is exceptional in the world because of the overall mindset of the individuals and ethnic-lingual civilizations, it does not set any signs of immodesty, emotional attack, national respect or social-cultural existence with its language. Empirically speaking, more than 90% people of Pakistan comprehend this language and adore its music, poetry, folktales, sayings and phrases. Punjabi literature and past revel in deep-rooted fundamentals and are very rich rationally and artistically. Baba Fareed Ganj Shakar, Baba Guru Nanak, Hazrat Shah Hussain, Hazrat Waris Shah, Khawaja Ghulam Fareed, Hazrat Sultan Bahu and Mian Mohammad Bakhsh are some of the most prominent leads on the prospect of Punjabi Sufi and typical literature. If we want to study the devastating services of Punjabis for Urdu and Hindi literature, music, film industry, broadcasting and cinema of the subcontinent, we will have to collect a large volume. Bollywood film industry’s foundations were positioned by Punjabis and particularly the innovative figures from and nearby the unique city of Lahore and this development is still happening.

With the beginning of information technology (IT) and social websites, Roman Punjabi has been born and is being effectively used by the Punjabis for common communication from all portions of the world. In Pakistan, the lack of a suitable written script is a main risk to the existence of the Punjabi language. If that is tackled, the other social-cultural or political problems will automatically dissolve. Without a script one cannot even consider of creating it the medium of primary learning. The Roman script is informal for the new generations of all the Punjabis whether from India, Pakistan, Canada, US or UK.

Punjabi music

 

Punjabi music appeared to be popular between both rural and urban residents. Punjabi music states to both Indian and Pakistani Punjabi music. Folk music is the traditional music of Punjab which was produced by using customary musical instruments like Tumbi, Algoze, Dhadd, Sarangi, Chimta and more. Folk music typically has shared composition. This feature of folk music has

shifted with time but the older types of folk begin with the Dhadi type, which does follow notions of common composition. The folk dhadi genre emphasizes on the stories of heroism and love. For example, the legendary romantic stories of Hir-Ranjha and Sahiba-Mirza. Folk music is also usually used in several events in the Punjab region. In almost each marriage ritual family members, friends, and professional musicians perform diverse arrangements of folk songs which communicate melodies of farewell, joy, fright, and courage in the present. Folk music remains to be used as a modern instrument and a method of discovering empathy. According to a research, 75% out of all the participants claimed that they listens and enjoy Punjabi music. 84% of urban participants claimed that they listened to Punjabi music compared to 66% of the rural participants. In Lahore, 82% of the males and 86% of the females said they listened to Punjabi music.

 Punjabi movies

 

Punjabi movies appear to be popular across rural & urban areas, but they are not as common among females as they are among males. The motives can be ascribed to absence and inaccessibility to these shows for females. According to a survey, most of the urban people watch Punjabi movies because they considered them funny and full of comedy. For urban populations, Punjabi is the language of fun and humor, but for rural areas, it is the folks’ language and they speak, listen to music, and watch movies in Punjabi since this is the language they are born to and live with. There was a big Pakistani Punjabi movie industry in the 1980s and 1990s, but it has slowly died, and barely any Punjabi movies are created in Pakistani Punjab now. However, the most famous movies throughout Pakistan and in the Punjab province are Indian Hindi movies.

Punjabi plays and shows

 

This is an interesting situation that rural people and urban people use the term “plays” to refer to two different categories of dramas. For the rural population, the term “Punjabi plays” means the TV programs that are displayed on Pakistan Television (PTV) between 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm. For urban residents, the term “Punjabi plays” stands for the stage shows that are typically comedy shows. The stage shows in Lahore are known for their not very refined jokes, sexual hints, and provoking dances. These plays are a popular among urban middle class males who are small traders. Few women ever go to see these stage dramas, so they are not very popular among urban females. In rural areas, the most popular genre for females is the TV programs, but for rural males DVDs of Lahore stage dramas are more popular, although not a lot of people in the rural areas

watch either. There was a difference across rural and urban lines, and a significant difference was observed across gender lines where males tended to like Punjabi plays more than females in urban areas, and females tended to like Punjabi plays in rural areas

Print media in Punjabi

 

It is also important to note that hardly any Punjabi newspapers are published in Pakistani Punjab. It is ironic that for a population of 85 million, there were only two Punjabi newspapers in the province in 2013. There was no information available on the circulation number of these two journals. In Indian Punjab, newspapers use Gurmukhi script, which people in Pakistani Punjab are not able to read. However, the unavailability of training and materials in reading Punjabi makes it harder for the public to read their own language. The lack of publications in Punjabi on the Pakistani side can be attributed to many factors. One of the biggest factors is the tacit government discouragement of regional languages. The only way to reverse the lack of literacy in Punjabi is for the government of Punjab to introduce Punjabi friendly policies that include teaching Punjabi as a subject in all the elementary schools in the province by encouraging more Punjabi publications.

o   Shifts in Domains of Language use

 

Punjabi is a language that has not only survived but flourished till mid-19th century despite all the hostility of the state and ruling elite, local and foreign, for specific historical reasons born of exploitative power structure that carried inbuilt bias against the resilient culture of our people. It was also employed by poets, writers and literati for creative and literary expression. But in the new schools introduced by the colonizers two foreign languages [English and Urdu] were imposed as medium of instruction. English reflected the colonial power and Urdu was made to serve a sort of bridge between the rulers and the ruled. Apart from political consideration, in the words of great linguist and scholar Dr GW Leitner, the first principal of Government College of Lahore, it was “Hindustani prejudice” against Punjabi that won the day. Punjab’s writers and activists struggled against this policy after emergence of Pakistan as an independent state but one only saw slow improvement in the situation.

o   Official Status of Language

In Pakistan, Punjabi is spoken by some 70 million speakers, mostly in Punjab province, but official status at both the national and the provincial level is reserved for Urdu. There are also important overseas communities of Punjabi speakers, particularly in Canada and the United Kingdom. In Pakistan the general maintenance of the historical preference for Urdu has stood in the way of those who looked to achieve an increased status for Punjabi, albeit in a form more obviously influenced in its script and vocabulary by Urdu and so itself somewhat different from standard Indian Punjabi. Since Pakistan’s Punjab is much larger and less homogeneous than its Indian counterpart, its internal linguistic variety has also encouraged opposition to the Punjabi activists based in the provincial capital of Lahore by rival groups based in the less prosperous outlying areas of the province, notably by the proponents of Siraiki in the southwestern districts, whose claims to separate linguistic status are vigorously disputed by adherents to the Punjabi cause. There are various studies that talk about the lack of promotion of Punjabi in educational sector in Pakistan. There is hardly any school where Punjabi is taught or promoted and neither is there any newspaper in the Punjabi language published in the country. If any journalistic venture is initiated in Punjabi language, it is short-lived. The Punjabi themselves have made no serious efforts to promote their language; consequently they have unconsciously undermined their mother tongue. Unfortunately, there is widespread culture-shame about Punjabi language. The educated parents prefer to speak Urdu rather than Punjabi with their children. Punjabi language is also considered indecent and vulgar language by some, no other than Punjabis themselves again. Such linguistic attitude of the Punjabi speakers can also be attributed to the language policies that have not justified the promotion of indigenous languages. The language policies of Pakistan (Language Policy, 1973, 1989, 2007, 2009) have been designed as to promotion of Urdu at the cost of other indigenous languages.

After Partition, the language policy of Pakistan became a tool in the hands of military-civil bureaucracy axis that viewed the promotion of regional cultures and languages as a threat to their centralized power. Soon after independence, many regional movements, demanding a fair share of the state’s resources, had risen in East Bengal, Sindh, Baluchistan and the NWFP against the powerful center that was dominated by Punjabis. To counterbalance these demands for regional autonomy, efforts were made to develop a new national identity for all Pakistanis based on a Pakistani, and later Islamic, ideology and by making Urdu language as the symbol of this national identity. The predominance of Punjabis in civil bureaucracy and armed forces necessitated the

complete submergence of Punjabi identity into an all- pervasive Pakistani identity as a political tool to legitimize the rejection of all other regional and linguistic identities. Punjabis were projected as the vanguards of Pakistan’s ideological frontiers. The Bengali Language movement of 1952 and the growing Bengali nationalistic tendencies that eventually led to the separation of Bangladesh from Pakistan, and the growth of regional movements in other provinces, further justified the educated Punjabis’ complacent attitude towards denial of their cultural and linguistic identity. The politics of language in the multi-language Pakistan is the politics of power struggle between a predominantly Punjabi centers against various ethnic groups who demand their share in the national resources based on their regional nationalities. The self-serving opinion in the ruling classes of the Punjab since the Partition is to suspect all sentiments in favor of regional cultures in other provinces as anti-Pakistan. In their efforts to legitimize their hold on power and to eradicate the menace of provincialism, they lead by example by disregarding their own cultural and linguistic roots.