TRANSCULTURAL TRANSFORMATIONS: EXPLORING SEMANTIC AND PRAGMATIC SHIFTS IN ENGLISH TO URDU LEXICAL BORROWINGS WITHIN SOCIAL CONTEXTS
Main Article Content
Abstract
The relationship between English and Urdu, two languages which belong to two different language families, has been the topic of research by scholars for a long period of time. This paper aims to identify English words in Urdu that have changed meaning or shifted from their original denotations, delving into the reasons behind these shifts. The study emphasizes that these changes reflect the sociocultural dynamics within Pakistani society. Using a mixed-method research approach, this paper employs qualitative and quantitative analyses to explore how these semantic and pragmatic shifts manifest in everyday Urdu conversations. It highlights twenty borrowed English words in Urdu, showcasing areas where contextual variation becomes evident. Utilizing Speech Act Theory, the paper reveals how these borrowed words not only convey information but also perform social actions within specific cultural contexts. Additionally, the paper analyzes Urdu-English code-switching in Pakistani English, focusing solely on the lexical and phrase levels for data analysis.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
References
Ali, S. & Satti, M. J. (2020). Equivalence and the Loss of Originality: A Comparative Study of English Translation of Selected Urdu Idioms. Journal of South Asian Studies. Department of English, The University of Lahore, Gujrat Campus, Pakistan. DOI: 10.33687/jsas.010.01.3905
Anwar, B. (2009). Urdu-English code switching: The use of Urdu phrases and clauses in Pakistani English (A non-native variety). International Journal of Language Studies 3 (4).
Bhatia, T. K. & Ritchie, W. C. (2006). Bilingualism in the global media and advertising. The handbook of bilingualism, 512-546.
Giles, H., & Powesland, P. F. (1975). Speech style and social evaluation. Academic Press. Retrieved from URL: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1976-11833-000
Jake, J. (1994). Intrasentential code switching and pronouns: on the categorial status of functional elements. Linguistics, 32(2), 271-298. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/ling.1994.32.2.271
Jilani, F. S. & Anwar, B. (2018). Lexico-semantic features of Pakistani English newspapers: A corpus-based approach. International Journal of English Linguistics 8 (4), 50-63.
Mahboob, A. (2003). The English language in Pakistan: A brief overview of its history and linguistics. Pakistan Journal of Language, 4(1).
Matras, Y. (2011). Universals of structural borrowing. Linguistic universals and language variation 231, 204-233.
Myers-Scotton, C. (1996). Contact Linguistics: Bilingual Encounters and Grammatical Outcomes. Oxford University Press Inc. New York.
Myers-Scotton, C. & Jake, J. L. (2007). Matching lemmas in a bilingual language competence and production model: evidence from intrasentential code-switching. The Bilingualism Reader. 2nd edition. Routledge.
Nevalainen, T. (1999). Early Modern English lexis and semantics. The Cambridge history of the English language 3, 1476-1776.
Omoniyi, T. (2010). Introduction: Change, accommodation and conflict. The sociology of language and religion: Change, conflict and accommodation, 1-13.
Parveen, S. & Aslam, S. (2013). A Study on Reasons for Code-Switching in Facebook by Pakistani Urdu English Bilinguals. Language in India 13 (11).
Qureshi, M., Jadoon, N. K., & Farooq, M. (2023). An Account Of Semantic Change In Pakistani English And Its Impact On Its Intelligibility And Acceptability. Pakistan Journal of Social Research. Vol. 5, No. 2. Pp. 538-546.
Rafi, M. S. (2013). Urdu and English contact in an e-discourse: Changes and implications. Gomal university journal of research 29 (2).
Rafi, M. S. (2017). Linguistic Simplicity and Complexity in Computer-Mediated Communication of Urdu/English Bilinguals, Linguistics and Literature Review 3(2): 47–60. DOI: https://doi.org/10.29145/2017/llr/030203
Romaine, S. (2016). Bilingual language development. The development of language, 251-275.
Sales, A. J. G. (2022). Linguistic Borrowing of English Words and Utterances among Philippine’s Generation Z in Cebuano Visayan. Journal of Research and Innovation in Language. Vol. 4, No. 1, April 2022, pp. 25-37. Cebu Technological University – Argao, Cebu, Philippines. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31849/reila.v4i1.7559
Yaqub, H., Azhar, M., & Kakepoto, I. (2017). The Material Clause System in English and Urdu Tests: A Corpus-based Analysis of Ideational Metafunction. ELF Annual Research Journal 19, 97-118.
Younas, M. et al. (2020). Code Switching in ESL Teaching at University Level in Pakistan. English Language Teaching; Vol. 13, No. 8. Canadian Center of Science and Education. DOI: 10.5539/elt.v13n8p63. Retrieved from URL: https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v13n8p63
Zahid, M. & Zeeshan, M. A. (2023). A Journey from Literal to Pragmatic Concept—A Case Study of AMU Jargon. Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow Volume 23: 6 June 2023 ISSN 1930-2940, 11.
Zahra, F., Saleem, T., & Abdullah, A. F. (2021). Testing matrix language framework model On Urdu-English online news entity: A creative approach. Multicultural Education 7 (1), 265-274.
Zawar, K. M., Sana, S., & Muhammad, N. (2021). Representation of Pakistani culture through code-mixing: A critical analysis of the novel Holy Woman by Qaisra Shahraz. Lingua Cultura, 15(2), 263-271. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21512/lc.v15i2.7551