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.