Author: Mahima Khan

Pashto Language Vitality (KPK)

International Language Transmission

The cultural and historical richness of the Pashto language as well as its significance within the context of other languages has been acknowledged across the world. This article explores the contradictions of various historians and philologists in connection with the origin of Pashtos as a main language of South Asia, with special reference to Semitic and Aryan theories, the process of development ofits literature, the dialects of the language and its place within the context of the South Asian linguistic reality. This work also explores the evolution of Pashto literature and critically investigates a recently conducted DNA study that negates Pakhtoon ’s genetic association with Arabs.

 

Community members attitudes towards their own language

The aim of this study was to explore the attitudes of parents that they favor or disfavour the use of Pashto in education because parents and maternal languages have very strongest natural attachment with children. A sample from the study was drawn randomly. Cluster sampling technique was used, which included six hundred parents of primary school students. A questionnaire based on two points scale was used for data collection. The collected data was analyzed, and it was found that most of the parents considered Pashto as a mother tongue and the easiest medium of instruction but they did not favor it on the basis that it would not support their children in upcoming education and competitive examinations which are in English. If one wants to enhance parents' involvement, education should be provided through children's mother tongue at the early primary school level while national and international (English) languages should be implemented at onward levels.

Shifts in domains of language use

Domains divide language according to the particular context of its use. Concerning different contexts of research, the domain varies. The purpose of the present research is to explore the sociolinguistic significance of Pashto-English hybridization in the language domains. To explore the area, TV programmes from a Pashto channel Khyber News were selected through purposive sampling. As two episodes from each programme were selected, thus a total of ten programmes were taken for analysis that makes about 10 hours of recording. For data analysis, Kachru’s (1978) framework was used. The findings show that according to different domains of language use, the frequency of hybridized words varied. In the domain of Government and Administration and School and Education, mostly words were hybridized, followed by the domain of Economy, Playground and Street, Military and Courts. The findings reveal that domains have sociolinguistic significance that determines the extent to which language is hybridized

 

Governmental and institutional language attitudes and policies, including official status and use

What Can Be Done?

Just  as  speech  community  members  react  differently  to  language  endangerment,  so  do  linguists, educators and activists to requests for assistance by speech communities. Such requests relate mainly to five essential areas for sustaining endangered languages:

 1.    Basic  linguistic  and  pedagogical  training:  providing  language  teachers  with  training   in   basic   linguistics,   language   teaching   methods   and   techniques,   curriculum development and teaching materials development.

 2.     Sustainable  development  in  literacy  and  local  documentation  skills:  training  local  language  workers  to  develop  orthographies  if  needed,  to  read,  write,  and  analyse  their  own  languages,  and  to  produce  pedagogical  materials.  One  of  the  effective  strategies  here  is  the  establishment  of  local  research  centres,  where  speakers of endangered languages will be trained to study, document and archive their  own  language  materials.  Literacy  is  useful  to  the  teaching  and  learning  of  such languages. 

3.    Supporting   and   developing   national   language   policy:   National   language   policies   must   support   diversity,   including   the   preservation   of   endangered   languages.  More  social  scientists  and  humanists--and  speakers  of  endangered  languages themselves--should be actively involved in the formulation of national language policies.

 4.   Supporting  and  developing  educational  policy:  In  the  educational  sector,  a  number  of  linguists  are  engaged  in  implementing  increasingly  popular  mother  tongue  education  programs.  Since  1953  and  especially  in  the  past  fifteen  years,  UNESCO   has   been   instrumental   in   this   development   through   its   policy   statements.  So-called  mother  tongue  education,  however,  often  does  not  refer  to  education  in  the  ancestral  languages  of  ethnolinguistic  minorities  (in  most  cases  endangered  languages),  but  rather  to  the  teaching  of  these  languages  as  school  subjects.  The  most  common  educational  model  for  teaching  ethnolinguistic  minority children in schools still uses locally or nationally dominant languages as media  of  instruction.  Teaching  exclusivelyin  these  languages  supports  their  spread, at the expense of endangered languages. For example, fewer than 10% of the  approximately  2000  African  languages  are  currently  used  in  teaching,  and  none of these 10% is an endangered language. We favour the inclusion of regional languages in formal education, but not at the expense of ethnolinguistic minorities (The Hague Recommendations on the Educational Rights of National Minorities, 1996;  Skutnabb-Kangas,  2000).  It  has  been  demonstrated  convincingly  that  acquiring bilingual capability need in no way diminish competence in the official language.  5.   Improving  living  conditions  and  respect  for  the  human  rights  of  speaker  communities: Language  documenters,  though  not  directly  involved  in  economic 

 

 

 

Type and quality of documentation

and  social  development,  can  help  governments  identify  overlooked  populations.  For   example ,  national  HIV/AIDS  awareness  or  poverty-alleviation  programs  often  do  not  consider  minority  communities,  especially  if  they  are  illiterate.  Linguists   and educators  can  be  vital  mediators  by  supporting  these  communities  in  formulating  claims  about  their  linguistic  and  other  human  rights.  Conversely,   materials  such  as  those  on  health  care,  community  development  or  language  education  produced  for  these  marginalized  communities  require  specialist  input.  Concepts and content need to be conveyed in a culturally meaningful way

 

 

Response to new domain and media

Pakhtunwali or Pashtunwali is a culture in every sense of the word. Look at it from a variety of angles and you would find it a rich resource in terms of a vibrant worldview and philosophy of life. However, its fuller understanding necessitates a diachronic approach (studying a phenomenon in its historical perspective) followed by a synchronic appreciation (probing the present state and use of the subject under investigation).

Historical analysis of Pakhtunwali is sine qua non in the context of current wave of crisis both in Pakistan and Afghanistan as the phenomenon is generally associated with Pakhtun culture. This perception is the natural corollary of the piecemeal approach to the study of Pakhtunwali over the last two centuries.

Resultantly, our understanding of this culture suffers from distortions, misappropriations, and serious shortcomings.

The piecemeal approach is accompanied by the essentialist attitude of the investigators. The latter approach assigns some permanent characteristics and attributes to a culture and the behaviour of a people is seen as determined by them. It just ‘reduces and otherises’ a culture in terms of stereotyping and constructivism.

Stereotyping and constructing national and socio-cultural identities are generally produced by vested interests. The behaviour of a people is seen in the context of concrete structure of a culture. All this is found in works so far produced on the culture of Pakhtunwali.

Pakhtunwali has been treated this way since the first encounter of Pakhtuns and the British, nay, traces in this regard might be found in the early phase of Pashto literature. The epic of Amir Karor -- the first known Pakhtun poet belonging to the eighth century -- is an important example of Pakhtun heroism and warlike attitude.

The essentialist understanding of Pakhtunwali ignores the process of its social and cultural changes. Questions such as the origin of Pakhtunwali and the historical processes and forces which caused it develop are not being seriously considered by investigators. It follows that discourse of the same nature about Pakhtunwali that is found in Pashto, English and Urdu.

Whether language corresponds to the actual reality or not? It is a hotly contested issue between the two poles of positivism -- objectivity inclined and relativism-oriented. Hence, different discourses are available about the same phenomenon.

It is in this theoretical framework that language of the Pakhtuns (Pashto) and languages about the Pukhtuns (such as English and Urdu) vis-à-vis Pakhtunwali call for serious consideration. The same discourse which is dominantly found in Pashto, English, and Urdu repeats the so-called essentials of Pakhtunwali -- nang (honour), badal  (revenge), paighor (taunt), nanawaate (beseeching pardon), tarburwali (agnatic rivalry) and melmasthia (hospitality) -- in a casual manner.

"These things," as this writer wrote in The Friday Times (February 4-10 2011) "though central to the Pakhtuns’ social life, are in no way the sum-total of Pakhtunwali, and the journalists and anthropologists who repeat them ad nauseam have really not done their homework. In fact, I would like to term this prevalent approach as repeating-Pakhtunwali-parrot-fashion".

Pashto does contain a medley of representations of Pakhtuns and Pakhtunwali made by their political leaders, mystics, religious puritans, literary figures, historians, and the unknown enchanters of folklore. All these forms of representation reflect essentialist attitude and hold in common a certain amount of essence with orientalist understanding of Pakhtun culture.

One exception should be pointed out in all these genres of representation -- the realm of Pakhtun spiritualism epitomised by sufis like Rahman Baba and the Roshania poets.

English sources form the next category of representation of Pakhtunwali. It has a great diversity as people from different socio-cultural, historico-geographical and religio-political backgrounds over the years have investigated the domain of Pakhtunwali.

It is, again, nothing short of ‘repeating-Pakhtunwali-parrot-fashion’ in essentialist mode. No holistic and diachronic analyses are found in these works.

Similarly, Urdu language presents another kind of representation of Pakhtunwali. This is to be generally related to the cultural and political horizon of Pakistan. It might also have political bearings, especially in the context of Indo-Pak and Pak-Afghan geo-strategic realities. As the larger portion of the population has greater access to Urdu media, the essentialist nature of Pakhtunwali gets widely portrayed in Pakistan.

All these understandings do not correspond to the cultural phenomenon of Pakhtunwali. They are merely tenuous representations. And it is purely in essentialist terms, coupled with piecemeal approach, that all the historical episodes of violence are associated with Pakhtunwali. All other internal and external factors, which remain instrumental in any such crises are being simply ignored.

‘Repeating-Pakhtunwali-parrot-fashion’ is an intentional, but also an unintentional in some cases, attempt aiming at socio-cultural and political constructionism. Its unavoidable effect is indoctrination and nurture of generations of Pakhtuns in terms of false consciousness, irrational thinking, and delusions of heroism.

All this provide a fertile ground for viewing individual and collective behaviour as caused by Pakhtunwali, an utter oversimplification of reality in the framework of certain preconceived constraining structures of culture. In this way, the process of social and cultural changes vis-à-vis Pakhtunwali is dehistoricised.

In contrast to the above-mentioned understanding of Pakhtunwali, a diachronic analysis, which would take into account the process of continuity and change and the resultant syncretic and dialectic nature of Pakhtunwali would portray this culture in totally different terms.

The long-awaited contextualisation of Pakhtunwali against the spatio-temporal dynamics in a historical perspective would show the futility and naivety of the essentialist attitude and piecemeal approach.

The diachronic analysis of Pakhtunwali requires situating it in the frontier homeland of Pakhtuns from times immemorial. The concept of frontier area reminds us the two categories of geographical limits by British historian Arnold Toynbee viz cul de sac and roundabout.

The former are closed areas on the fringes having no transit and characteristic of receiving things while the latter are open areas having routes and arteries which traverse them. It implies that roundabout areas happen as being vigorously receiving influences from different directions and radiating them further.

Peripheries turn into centres this way, one may argue. Pakhtun land in history has played such a unique role, a thesis substantiated by Gandhara culture (though a dominant group of academics would deny any contribution by Pakhtuns to Gandhara civilisation, a debate which I would like to avoid here).

Pakhtunwali has developed over centuries and seen phenomenal transformations via syncretic and dialectic processes. Against this backdrop, two different paradigms, with further subdivisions, in the history of Pakhtunwali are found. They are prior to Pakhtuns’ conversion to Islam and in the wake of this conversion.

Utterly disowned by Pakhtuns, investigations in relation to the first category suffer from crucial limitations in terms of lack of vivid literary evidence and the Islamisation of Pakhtun historiography as is clear from the story of the so-called conversion of Qais Abdur Rashid, Pakhtuns’ ancestor, to Islam on the invitation of Hazrat Khalid bin Walid. But all this shall not hinder and turn such investigations as futile pursuits. A viable research design, buttressed by multidisciplinary concerns, can bring success in this regard.

Intensive study of Pashto folklore, new approach to the analysis and interpretation of archaeological data, and anthropological and ethnographic investigations can help us greatly in knowing pre-Islamic layers of Pakhtun culture. Zoroastrian traces, Vedic elements, Buddhistic signs and symbols are still found in abundance in Pakhtun culture.

With the arrival of Islam, Pakhtunwali underwent important transformation. Well-known Pakhtun poets: Hamza Shinwari and Samandar Khan Samandar see, in a greatly exaggerated way, Pakhtunwali as in complete conformity with Islam, a view contradicted by Pashto folklore.

Irrespective of this debate, it should be observed that over the last millennium Pakhtunwali saw phenomenal social and societal changes. Nomadism, sedentism, transition from egalitarianism to feudalism and, lastly, modernism are landmark developments in its history. All these developments have effected fundamental changes in the culture of Pakhtunwali in a historical sense.

This passing reference to the history challenges the essentialist and piecemeal view of unchanging nature of Pakhtunwali. It also reveals its relevance by dint of its mutability in response to new socio-political realities.

It has been practised in conjunction with the dynamics of every new social environment. This necessitates its appreciation in a holistic sense of the concept of culture -- in ideational and ecological contexts.

This new understanding of Pakhtunwali would lead to its welcoming in the process of institution building, policy making and, above all, putting an end to stereotyping. It would help Pakhtuns to live in conformity to the spirit of new circumstances instead, to be determined by purposeful constructions. 

 

 

Availability of materials and language education and literacy

IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTICS FOR A LANGUAGE ADOPTED AS MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION According to Farani the important characteristics for language of instruction were as under; v. It should be clear and comprehensible for both educators and learners. vi. Conduction of research should be feasible through it. vii. Its grammatical arrangement should be easy and understandable. viii. It should be fraught with extensive vocabulary. ix. The related language should be used for communication and also understandable countrywide. Zubair suggested and gave his arguments in favor of home language of students as the medium of instruction because it provides home like environment in teachinglearning process for primary school students. He further added that education should be provided in mother language of the students and language second (L2) should be implemented as a subject only from class one (Gillani et al., 2010).

 

Proportion of speakers within the total population

Pashto is the first language of between 40% and 55% (11 to 15.4 million) of the people of Afghanistan, and 10% to 28% (2.8 to 7.8 million) speak it as a second language, and the total is around 18 or 19 million.

Absolute numbers of speakers 

Approximately 40 million people around the world speak Pashto as a native language. Meanwhile, Dutch has only 22 million native speakers. In addition to Afghanistan, 25 million people speak Pashto in Pakistan.