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PROJECT CODE SWITCHING

AND BORROWING
INTRODUCTION
TO IN PAKISTANI
BILINGUALISM FOOD MAGAZINES

SUBMITTED BY:
AQSA GHAZAL
2015-B.ENG-002 DATE OF
RABIA TAYYAB
SUBMISSION:
2015-B.ENG-026
ROZINA HASSAN KHAN
MAY 17, 2019
2015-B.ENG-030
NEELOFAR AMIR KHAN
2015-B.ENG-048
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Code Switching and Borrowing in Food Magazines

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SERIAL TOPIC PAGE


NO. NO.
1. ABSTRACT 2

2. INTRODUCTION 3

3. CODE SWITCHING, CODE MIXING, 3-4


LEXICAL BORRWING, AND
HYBRIDIZATION
4. RESEARCH QUESTIONS 5

5. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 5

6. LITERATURE REVIEW 5-8

7. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 8-9

8. DATA COLLECTION 8

9. METHOD OF ANALYSIS 9

10. ANALYSIS OF PAKISTANI FOOD 9-17


MAGAZINES
11. CONCLUSION 18

12. REFERENCES 19

13. APPENDIX
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Code Switching and Borrowing in Food Magazines

ABSTRACT

Code-mixing is a common process in the modern bilingual world and it also occurs in media as it
does in other areas of society. The aim of this research is to explore the extent to which code-
mixing is done in Pakistani food magazines. If we talk about Pakistan, English vocabulary is
frequently borrowed and mixed in Urdu which is the national language of Pakistan. This research
deals with intra-sentential code switching and borrowing and it also explores the concept of
hybridization in the language of the recipes published in Pakistani food magazines. The research
technique of qualitative approach has been applied. For this sociolinguistic analysis 11 recipes
from 3 different food magazines were taken and a content/document analysis was done in order
to find out the extent and reasons of code switching and code mixing in them.
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Code Switching and Borrowing in Food Magazines

Introduction
The national language of Pakistan is Urdu, besides Urdu many regional languages are spoken,
which make it a multilingual country. English is the official language and has a supreme status in
the society. This hold of English Language due to imperialism of western culture, and the
attitude and response of the society towards English Language has originated the phenomenon of
code-mixing in people’s daily communication. Media (electronic and print media), besides
playing an effective role in the development of communication has also increased the
phenomenon of code-mixing. This has been noticed in various researches relevant to this field
(Mushtaq & Zahra, 2012;Rasul, 2006). It is also giving rise to a hybrid language (Khalid). This
trend of switching or mixing codes has become one of the most important issues in
sociolinguistics. Code-switching and code-mixing are the sociolinguistic phenomenon which are
common in bilingual or multilingual communities. In Pakistan like many other countries
majority of people are either bilingual or multilingual. English language is a second language in
Pakistan and it is learnt formally and practiced informally. People are aware of its importance to
great extent. That is reason they usually mix and switch to English Code in their native language.
Although, many words have their equivalent words in Urdu language but they are not a part of
people’s active vocabulary and are not usually used in everyday conversations.

Code Switching, Code Mixing, Lexical Borrowing and


Hybridization
Code Switching:
According to Muysken (as cited in Lau et al., 2011), “Code-mixing is a process in which
lexical items and grammatical features of two or more languages exist in the same
sentence.”

According to Richard Nordquist (P. HD; An American author) “The practice of moving back
and forth between two languages or between two dialects / registers / styles of the same
language is called code-switching. It is also called code-mixing.”
Code switching is common in Asian countries, where speakers are mostly bilingual and they
have English as their second language (L2) and their first language (L1) is their mother tongue.

Code Mixing:
Mixing of two or more languages or language varieties in speech is called code-mixing.

In code-mixed sentences, pieces of one language are used while a speaker is basically using
another language. These 'pieces' of the other language are often words, but they can also be
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phrases or larger units. 'code-mixing' is the shift of code found within one and the same clause or
sentence. [Bing (1987:23) ]

Types of Code Switching:


Code switching can occur within, at the end, or at the beginning of a sentence.
Code switching can be classified as follows:
1. Inter-Sentential
In inter-sentential code switching, switching is done at sentence borders. This is seen between
fluent bilingual speakers.
For example:
main tau yahan hon. what happened?
2. Intra-Sentential
In intra-sentential code switching, the switching is usually done in the middle of a sentence, and
no interruptions, hesitations or pauses are there to indicate shift. The speaker is usually
unconscious of the shift.
For example:
office ka lie assistant page maker ki zaroort ha.
3. Extra-Sentential
In this type of code switching a tag is added from one language into an expression that is in
another language.
For example:
bhai g, get up please.

Lexical Borrowing:
Lexical borrowing is the process in which words from one language are changed or modified for
use in another language. The word that is borrowed is called a borrowed word, or
a loanword. Lexical borrowing results from the lack of vocabulary and it is done to fulfill a
lexical need. When speaking first language, people will often use a term from their second
language because they don't know the suitable word in their first language.

Language Hybridization:
The result of code switching is a process known as language hybridization. Sometimes speakers
use noun from English language and combine it with Urdu phrase e.g. cake ko pakain Similarly
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hybridization in verb phrases is also evident by combining English verb with Urdu phrase e.g.
sab cheezain achi tarah mix karain.

Research Questions
1. Is code switching and borrowing prevalent in recipes in Pakistani food magazines?
2. What kind of code switching and borrowing is used in recipes in Pakistani food magazines
and at what level?

Aims and Objectives


• The aim of the research is to examine the phenomenon of code switching in Pakistani
food magazines.

• The aim of this research is to explore the process of hybridization as a result of code
switching.

Review of Related Literature


This chapter is consisting of the review of related literature which depicts that there are some
language phenomenon occurs in societies which helps to make more effective and meaningful
communication. One of these phenomena is code switching which is defined as “the process in
which the bilingual speakers shift back and forth between one language and another with in the
same conversation” (Trudgill, 2003). In multilingual community code mixing or code switching
is universal phenomena. This phenomenon occurs in various fields such as television,
newspaper, food discourse, magazines, classroom, radio broadcast and internet etc. According to
Moyo, T. (1996) when people are competent user of more than two languages they use more
code switching. Sumarsih, et al. (2014) suggested that code switching is used to fill the gap and
to ease communication.
A different researches show different reasons for why people use code switching such as people
in educational context use code switching when they are not able to cope with the target
language (Bista, 2010; Skiba 1997). Kanthimathi (1999) present three different factors of using
code switching. The first factor is the amount of exposure to language. The Second factor is
frequency of the usage of language in different domains. The third factor is the medium of
instruction. Likhitphongsathornand Sappapan (n.d) found out through their investigation of use
of English in song writing that even code switching is also used in music. Another study by Li
(2000) suggests that English code switching is generally used by speakers because it requires less
effort and is comparatively precise.
Another study conducted by Kannaovakun and Gunther (2003) examined the use of language in
Thai entertainment programme which showed that almost seven types of code switching were
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Code Switching and Borrowing in Food Magazines

used. These types include shifting between two codes that is English and Thai language,
clipping, transliteration, abbreviation, hybridization, clipping, and using of English nouns etc.
Another research conducted by Shen (2010) examined the English code switching in Chinese
sports news reports. The results showed that code switching were done at all level from single
lexeme to phrase and sentence.
Another case study research conducted by AL-Mulhim (n.d.) examined the influence of media
on use of code switching by younger generation in Saudi Arabia. The young females where taken
as sample and were made to watch the famous television programmed known as “Scoop”. The
purpose of this study is to find out how the language used in the programme effects their usual
language. The results showed that it encouraged them to use same words in their usual everyday
language. Sittikussuji Indrastuti(2009) conducted research to observe the frequency of code
switching on Yasika F M Radio . The results found out that mostly code switching is used to add
humour or to shift from serious to non-serious matters.
Mushtaq and Zahra (2012) conducted research on Urdu-English code switching in Pakistani
television commercials. The purpose of the research was to analyze the extent and impacts of
code switching in commercials shown on different Pakistani television channels. The data was
recorded from three different Pakistani television channels including Hum TV, Geo TV and
ARY Digital Network. The results showed that code switching is used in Pakistani television
commercial at great extent and leaving a strong impact on the audience or viewer by serving the
purpose of effective communication.
Furthermore, when two languages frequently mixed it results in hybridization and new hybrid
variety of language emerges. This new variety has to some extent qualities of both languages but
has its own unique vocabulary and grammar (Asghar, 2012). This study also reveals that some
speakers are habitually using English equivalents of Urdu words to show prestige and command
on English language.
Talaat (2002) conducted a research titled as “The Form and Functions of English in Pakistan”.
The data was collected from magazines and newspapers published in English language in
Pakistan. The methodology was based on comparative analysis of Urdu sentence structure with
“Standard British English”. It was noticed that English language is greatly influenced by Urdu
structure which giving rise to the emergence of Pakistani English. The research concluded that
structural divergence in a language is due to literal translation and code switching.
Andleeb Ehsan and Syed Abdul Aziz (2014) studied the phenomenon of code mixing done in
Urdu news of a private Pakistani channel. The aim of the study was to find out the equivalent of
the inserted English language words in Urdu language. The results showed that mostly the code
switching was done at words level and rarely at phrase level. The results also found out, although
Urdu is rich in vocabulary but still there are some science and technology related vocabulary
which has no equivalent in Urdu language such as “CCTV, Video, SMS, Mobile” and also
Government office register such as “ISPR, Chief election commission, Returning officer,
Country manager”. There are many other English words used in Urdu news which has its
equivalent in Urdu language such as “security plan” its Urdu equivalent is “Salamati mansooba”
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Code Switching and Borrowing in Food Magazines

and “Media” its Urdu equivalent is “zara-i-iblaagh”. It was concluded that there are some
reasons behind the use of code mixing by the news channel. First reason is to convey the
message to the audience effectively. The second reason is that people usually don’t aware of the
Urdu equivalent of the inserted English word used in the news. So they utilize English
vocabulary word for communicate purpose.
Sarwet Rasul (2013) studied the phenomena of code mixing and borrowing in “Pkistani children
magazines”. The data was collected from the sample of two monthly magazine for children-
Taleem-o-Tarbiat and Hamdard Naunehal. The aim of the study is to explore the causes,
functions, frequency and nature of borrowing and code mixing. The results found out that code
mixing was used either for convenience and to convey message or idea easily. It was noticed that
the use of English words in magazine belong to simple vocabulary which is used in everyday
language of Pakistani society.

Reasons for Code Switching:


There are a many reasons for switching from one language to another. Some reasons can be, as
presented by Crystal (1987).

The first of these is the notion that a speaker who may not be able to express him/herself in one
language switches to the other to compensate for the deficiency. As a result, the speaker may be
triggered into speaking in the other language for a while. This type of code switching tends to
occur when the speaker is upset, tired or distracted in some manner.

Secondly, switching commonly occurs when an individual wishes to express solidarity with a
particular social group. Rapport is established between the speaker and the listener when the
listener responds with a similar switch. This type of switching may also be used to exclude
others from conversations who do not speak the second language.

Another reason can be that the speaker may not be aware of the substitute of that word in his/her
own language. Code switching is used most often when a person doesn’t know a word.
One of the major factors of code switching is that elements of the other language convey the
meaning of the intended idea more accurately (Gumperz, 2004).

Functions of Code Switching


There are also some functions performed by code switching. Among these, the following ten
functions have been described in the professional literature (Malik, 1994):
•Lack of Facility
•Lack of Register
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•Mood of the Speaker


•To emphasize a point
•Habitual Experience
•Semantic significance
•To show identity with a group
•To address a different audience
•Pragmatic reasons
•To attract attention.

Code Switching in Pakistani Food Magazines


Many food magazines are published in Pakistan. In these food magazines a lot of code switching
can be seen. There are many reasons for this. Firstly, there are some Urdu words which are now
the part of dictionaries only and they are neither in common use nor understood by the people
these words have been replaced by English words and they are not in common use. For example,
the words like chop, mix and dishes have become an irreplaceable part of vocabulary of food
recopies and these words are more understandable by readers, and look more appropriate as
compared to Urdu words. Mostly switching is seen in foreign recipes the reason for this is that
finding substitutes for all the English words is not an easy task so same words are used instead of
looking for Urdu substitute of each and every word.

Secondly, there is an aspect of social pressure and modernity as well. Magazines use code
switching to attract people and it is also associated with the social class of the reader. While
adopting English culture and cuisines we adopt is vocabulary items as well.
These magazines are related to the upper-middle social class who knows the importance and
status of English. In order to fulfill discourse demands and to convey a better meaning that can’t
be conveyed otherwise, these magazines use code-switching and use borrowed words from
English language. They do this for the ease of understanding and convenience of the reader.

Research Methodology
The mixed method approach has been used in this research. It finds out the frequency of the
occurrences of borrowing and code mixing in selected recipes and also analyzes the types and
different forms of code switching and borrowing taking place in the recipes. Qualitative part of
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the research deals with what type, how and when the phenomenon of code switching ana
borrowing appears in the recipes.

Data Collection
The source of data for this research is Pakistani food magazines. Three well known food
magazines that are published monthly, including Kitchen, Dastarkhawan and Masala food
magazine have been taken. These magazines are read by millions of Pakistani people who are
mostly bilingual. For this analysis total 12 recipes were considered and a content/ document
analysis was done in order to find out the extent and reasons of code switching and code mixing
in them.

Method of Analysis
In the analysis Distributional method has been used, data was classified based on the types of
Code Switching and borrowing. The analysis was done in two steps. First was identifying the
code switching and borrowing in the data, then analyzing the type and form of code switching,
borrowing and hybridization.

Analysis of the Recipes Text


Recipe 1 (Macaroni Soup)
In this recipe, the total instances of code switching and borrowing are 10 at both word and phrase
level. The instances of code switching in English which have their equivalent in Urdu are
following: cup (pyala), soup (yakhni), mix (hal karna), serve (paish) and tomato (tamatar).
These are the English vocabulary words used in this recipe instead of Urdu vocabulary. These
words are mixing of single words, which have their equivalent in Urdu. One of the reasons
behind that is lack of facility; usually people switch words when they cannot find a proper
vocabulary word in their first language. Secondly, due to lack of register, the speakers are not
equally competent in two languages and so they use code switching.

There are also borrowed items in the recipe as they cannot be replaced properly because there are
no prevalent Urdu substitutes for those words. These include words like ketchup, macaroni,
serving dish, and powder. These words have no proper Urdu substitutes and hence they are used
as such. This is due to lack of proper Urdu equivalents of these words. Moreover, people may
consider themselves conventional while using such English words.
This recipe also include verb hybridization like mix kar lain and serve karain.
The recipe text also contains the examples of noun hybridization such as siyah mirch powder
dalain, Macaroni Mix ko serving dish main nikal lain and tomato puree daal kr pakain.
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If we consider the name of recipe that is Macaroni Soup, this name is formed by the mixing of
English adjective Macroni with the noun soup.

Recipe 2 (Chinese Beef Chilli)


In recipe 2, the total cases of borrowing and code switching are 19, both at word level and phrase
level. Mostly nouns, verbs, and adjectives are switched in this recipe. In this example, there are
examples of verb hybridization and noun hybridization as well.
If we consider the mixing of English in the recipe, then there are examples of code switching at
both word level and phrase level. Some instances of switching, which have their equivalent in
Urdu, include paste (gooda), cup (piyaali), boil (ublay), serve (paish karna), fry (talna),
marinate (masalon main rakhna), corn flour (makai ka aata), salt (namak) and rice (chawal).
Although these Urdu equivalents are also used in Pakistan, but due to prestige and high status
associated with English language, people mostly prefer to use English words instead of their
Urdu words.

There are also borrowed items in the recipe as they cannot be replaced properly by prevalent
Urdu substitutes. These include words like inch, second (unit of time), serving dish, powder,
soya sauce, ketchup, and baking powder. These words have no proper Urdu substitutes and
hence they are used as such. This is due to lack of proper Urdu equivalents of these words.
Words such as sauce, cup, powder, paste, serve, and inch, all are part of daily conversation in
Pakistani society. These words are those that are becoming a permanent part of Urdu language
vocabulary and they have been used directly in Urdu language without any translation. Even the
illiterate and uneducated class of society uses them in their everyday language. Moreover, in the
words like haldi powder, baking powder, surkh mirch powder, powder is a borrowed word from
English which is used as it is in Urdu language and has no such Urdu equivalent.

This recipe text also contains the examples of noun hybridization like marinate krain and boil
rice k saath serve krain. It also contains instances of verb hybridization like fry krain and rice k
saath serve krain. We use these words regularly and we do not feel any change or switch in our
language while using borrowed English words.

If we analyze the name of the dish, which is Chinese Beef Chilli, then code switching is done at
phrase level. If we talk about its Urdu translation, then it will be chini masale daar gai ka ghost.
In our present society, the status of English has gone very high. If someone will use these Urdu
words, then people will consider him or her as conservative person and people will usually say
that he even does not know the basics of English.

Recipe 3 (Beef and Apple Casserole)


In this recipe, the total cases of borrowing and code switching are 18. Some of the instances of
code switching of single words, which have their equivalent in Urdu, include cubes (chakor
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tukre), slice (chote tukre), size (kaad / naap), chop (kaatna), cup (piyaali), brown (bhura),
mustard (sarson), bake (dum pakhta karna), shoulder meat (kandhe ka ghost), sauté (thore tail
main talna) and fry (talna).

This recipe also contains those words that do not have their Urdu substitutes. Some of the words
belong to English language while some words belong to French language. Examples include
gram (sometimes word masha is used but it is almost out of use), casserole, powder, and oven
(bijli ka tandoor seems very odd).

The Urdu substitutes of some of the above mentioned words are not common in daily
conversation of native Urdu speakers like sauté, casserole, slice, powder and oven. Most of the
words like cup, mix, oven, bake, fry, slice, powder and chop etc are part of daily conversation in
Pakistani society. Most of them are part of Urdu language and they replace the prevalent Urdu
substitutes and they are now used in Urdu without translation.

The recipe text also contains the example of noun hybridization like slice kaat lain and mirch
powder shamil krain. Examples of verb hybridization include chop kar lain, bake krain, sauté
krain and fry kar lain. Although these nouns have Urdu substitutes but now these English words
have now become a part of our everyday vocabulary. This is due to the fact that most of the
Pakistani population is bilingual, who are habitual of using English words in Urdu sentences.

If we consider the name of recipe that is Beef and Apple Casserole, this name is formed by the
mixing of expanded noun phrase beef and apple with the noun casserole.

Recipe 4 (Bake Chicken)


In this recipe, examples of borrowing and code switching are 15 on both word and phrase level.
Mostly nouns and verb are switched but adjectives are also switched at some places.

As we know most of the people knows English and they feel more comfortable while using
English so they borrowed many words from English in Urdu language. We can see this influence
on this recipe also.

If we consider the examples of switching of English in the recipe, then there are examples of
code switching at both word level and phrase level. Some of the examples of single words, which
are in English, and they have their translation or equivalent in Urdu, include Cup (pyala), pan
(karahi), mushroom (khumbi), dish (rukabi), chicken (murghi), serve (paish karna), side
(hissa/rukh), seasoning (chirakna), marinate (masalon main rakhna), bake (dumpakhta
karna), cut (kaatna) and cheese (paneer). The word cream can be treated as a case of code
switching as it has its Urdu equivalent garhi balai but the equivalent is not used at all for the
word cream.

The recipe text also contains the example of noun hybridization like dono sides se pakain, oven
main pakne dain, mushrooms shamil karain, cheese shamil karain, khoobsurat dish main serve
karain, and chicken shamil karain. Although these nouns have Urdu substitutes but now these
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English words have now become a part of our everyday vocabulary. An example of code
switching of adjective phrase is also evident as oven proof bartan main rakh dain.

It also involve instances of verb hybridization such as dish main serve krain, is ko season karain
and marinate kr dain.

If we analyze the name of dish which is Bake Chicken, then this name is formed by the
combination of verb “Bake” with a noun “Chicken”. The whole name of dish is in English.

Recipe 5 (Special Dry Fruit Cake)


In this example, the total instances of borrowing and code switching are 16 at both word level
and phrase level.

The nouns and verbs which have Urdu substitutes include bake (dumpakhta karna), mixture
(ammeza), dry fruits (khusk mewajaat), mix (haal krna), presentation (paish krna) and room
temperature (kamre ka darja hararat).

There are also examples of verb hybridization like mix karain, check kar karain and bake
karain.
There are also examples of noun hybridization like cake tin main butter paper ko lagain, is
mixture ko dalain, and toothpick se check karain.

In this recipe text, some examples of mixing of single words, which do not have their prevalent
or common substitutes in Urdu, include tin (ragia,kaali), mixture (ameeza), butter paper
(makhan ka kaghaz), brown sugar (bhoori cheeni) and toothpick (khalal). A few of the above
mentioned Urdu substitutes like bhoori cheeni, makhan ka kaghaz, kaali and khalal seems very
odd and if someone uses these pure Urdu terms, then he appears to be very out-of-date.

The words like minute (unit of time), cake, cherries, inch, and oven do not have proper Urdu
substitutes. The reason is that either they are borrowed from English language or people are not
even aware of their Urdu substitutes.
If we analyze the name of this recipe, i.e. Special Dry fruit Cake, then the whole name is in
English language. It is formed by combining expanded noun phrase special dry fruit with the
noun cake.

Recipe 6 (Chicken Tamatar Cream Soup)


In recipe 6, the total cases of borrowing and code switching are 11, both at word level and phrase
level. Mostly nouns, verbs, and adjectives are switched in this recipe. In this example, there are
examples of hybridization in verb phrase like mix kar lain and dish ko serve krain.

If we consider the mixing of English in the recipe, then there are examples of code switching at
both word level and phrase level. Some instances of switching of single words, which have their
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equivalent in Urdu, include cream (malai/ balai), dish ( rakabi), chiken (murghi), chop
(kaatna), cup (piyaali), serve (paish karna) and mix (milana) sauce (chatni) soup (yakhni),
corn flour ( makai ka atta) . Although these Urdu equivalents are also used in Pakistan, but due
to prestige and high status associated with English language, people mostly prefer to use English
words like pan and cup instead of their Urdu words like daigchi and piyaali.

There are also borrowed items in the recipe as they cannot be replaced properly prevalent Urdu
substitutes. These include words like powder (burrada), blender (mix krnay ki machine) these
words have no proper Urdu substitutes and hence they are used as such. While the word
croutons (a small piece of fried or toasted bread served with soup or used as a garnish) has no
Urdu substitute. This is due to lack of proper Urdu equivalents of these words. Moreover, people
may consider themselves conventional while using such Urdu words.

Words such as sauce cup, powder, pan, serve, spicy, all are part of daily conversation in
Pakistani society. These words are those that are becoming a permanent part of Urdu language
vocabulary and they have been used directly in Urdu language without any translation. Even the
illiterate and uneducated class of society uses them in their everyday language. Moreover, in the
word like safeed mirch powder, powder is a borrowed word from English which is used as it is
in Urdu language and has no such Urdu equivalent.

This recipe text also contains the examples of hybridization in noun phrase like corn flour mix
krain, dish ma nikal lain, blender ma pees lain. We use these words regularly and we do not feel
any change or switch in our language while using borrowed English words.

If we analyze the name of the dish, which is Chicken Tamatar Cream Soup, then code
switching is done at phrase level. In the name, chicken can be replaced by (murghi) while if we
try to translate cream soup it seems to have a very odd Urdu substitute which will be (malai
yakhni). In our present society, the status of English has gone very high. If someone will use
these Urdu words, then people will consider him or her as conservative person and people will
usually say that he even does not know the basics of English.

Recipe 7 (Egg and Meatball Soup)


In this example, the total cases of borrowing and code switching are 12 at both word level and
phrase level. The word mirch powder is combination of both English and Urdu nouns, in which
mirch is Urdu word while powder is English word with no proper substitute in Urdu.

There are also examples of hybridization in verb phrase like mix karain, serve krain, and fry
krain. In these examples, the basic structure of sentence is in Urdu, but the main verb in the
sentence belongs to English language.

In this recipe text, some examples of mixing of single words, which have their equivalent in
Urdu, include chop (kaatna), mix (milana), corn flour, cup (piyaali), sauce pan (daigchi), fry
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(talna),serve (paish karna) meat balls (koftay), sauce pan (karahi), golden brown( sunehri) .
Again these Urdu equivalents are less preferred in our society because of high status of English
language.

This recipe also includes such borrowed items that do not have prevalent Urdu substitutes. These
include words like powder, parsley, blender, garnish, and serving bowl. Although the Urdu word
sajana can substitute the English word garnish, but the Urdu substituent is hardly used by
Pakistani speakers and they are even unaware of this substitute; therefore, they prefer the English
term cream in their recipes.

Hybridization in noun phrases is also made by sandwiching the item of one language (in our case
which is Urdu) between the items of the other language (which is English in this case). For
example, serving bowl main nikal kar serve karain. In this example, the Urdu phrase main nikal
kar is hybridized between English language noun serving dish and verb serve.

If we analyze the name of dish which is Egg and Meatball Soup the whole name of dish is in
English. It can be called anday aur koftay ki yakhni but it will again sound very odd and
unconventional because of the frequent use of the English words

Recipe 8 (Spicy Gola Kabab Karhi)


In this example, the total cases of borrowing and code switching are 12 at both word level and
phrase level. The words Lal mirch powder and dhania powder are combination of both English
and Urdu nouns, in which lal mirch and dhania is Urdu word while powder is English word with
no proper substitute in Urdu.

The examples of hybridization in verb phrase include mix karain and serve krain. In these
examples, the basic structure of sentence is in Urdu, but the main verb in the sentence belongs to
English language.

In this recipe text, some examples of mixing of single words, which have their equivalent in
Urdu, include cup (piyaali), sauce pan/ frying pan (daigchi), fry (talna), and serve (paish karna)
brown( bhura) slice (tukray). Again these Urdu equivalents are less preferred in our society
because of high status of English language.

This recipe also includes words like paste. Although the Urdu word murakab can substitute the
English word paste, but it is not commonly used. Similarly the word marinate ( masalon ma
dabona) doesn’t have a proper Urdu substitute.

Now, if we consider the name of the recipe that is spicy gola kabab karhi then this phrase is
formed by the mixing of Urdu words like gola kabab karhi, and English word spicy which has an
Urdu equivalent masalay dar.

Recipe 9 (Roasted Chicken And White Sauce)


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Code Switching and Borrowing in Food Magazines

In this recipe, examples of borrowing and code switching are 18 on both word and phrase level.
Mostly nouns and verb are switched but adjectives are also switched at some places. It also
involve the verb hybridizations such as fill krain, fry krain, set krain and roll krain.

As we know most of the people knows English and they feel more comfortable while using
English so they borrowed many words from English in Urdu language. We can see this influence
on this recipe also.

If we consider the mixing of English in the recipe, then there are examples of code switching at
both word level and phrase level. Some of the examples of single words, which are in English,
have their translation or equivalent in Urdu, include Cup (pyala), mushroom (khumbi), fresh
cream (taza balai), sauce (chatpati chatni), Dish (rukabi), fill/ filling (bharai/ amaiza), bread
(dabal roti), fry (talna).

Some other words which don’t have prevalent urdu substitute are the words like, powder, brush,
coconut milk, white sauce, lemon grass which are used in recipe. Most of the word like bread,
powder, cup, dish, sauce, fry, slice, paste etc. are part of daily conversation in Pakistani society.
Most of them are part of Urdu language and they replace the prevalent Urdu substitutes and they
are now used in Urdu without translation.
The recipe text also contains the examples of hybridization in noun phrases like lemon grass
mila dain, chicken fillet k ander, coconut mlik dalain. Although some of these nouns have Urdu
substitutes but now these English words have now become a part of our everyday vocabulary.
This is due to the fact that most of the Pakistani population is bilingual, who are habitual of using
English words in Urdu sentences.

If we analyze the name of dish which is Roasted chicken and white sauce, it is formed by
combining two phrases one is adjective phrase Roasted chicken and the other one is white sauce.
It has been adopted in English as it is.

Recipe 10 (Potato And Vegetable Frittata)


The given recipe is an Italian original “Potato and Vegetable Frittata”. The title of the recipe is
written in Urdu script in the magazine but the base language of the complete phrase is English.
Urdu equivalents for potato and vegetable have not been used even when Urdu is L1 of readers.
The reason behind this can be ;1) to not break the flow of the base language 2) to attract reader’s
attention towards the recipe as the script is readable to most of readers while keeping the Italian
catch.

Moving on, the headings of ingredients, directions and mixture prep have been given in Urdu
equivalents but “Presentation” is given as it is. Motivation behind this borrowing can be
unavailability of suitable Urdu equivalent. The addition of this section in recipe is actually a
western trend which has been adopted by Pakistani cooks over the decade. Which suggests the
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Code Switching and Borrowing in Food Magazines

use of the loanword might be to increase the value of the recipe in social status attached to the
language of it.

The total number of CS observed in the text of this recipe is twenty two. Urdu is the base
language and English words have been borrowed, mostly nouns and few verbs. For example
“cup” is used in the Urdu script as a noun, “Layer” is used as intra-sentential CS “aalu ki Layer
lagain”. Verbs such as “bake” and “mix” have been borrowed that have no suitable Urdu
equivalent. Majority of the Urdu speakers are familiar to these words without knowing the Urdu
term. “Oven”, “parmesan cheese” and “Cheddar cheese” are few more examples present in the
text of such words. Hybridization, too, has been done in Noun phrases and Verb phrases
.Hybridization through sandwiching one language between the other is also evident in the text in
the lines, “Oven ki dish”, “30 se 35 minute tak Bake kren”. The scientific measurement of
temperature has also been given in English “200c”.
The analysis of the kinds of Code Switching occurring in the above recipe concludes:
i. Someone efficiently bilingual in Urdu and English has written the recipe’s text.
ii. Motivation behind CS is affirming; to the trends of higher status language.

Recipe 11 (Chocolate Bar Cake)


The title of the recipe is published in Urdu script but not translated in Urdu. The English name is
written in Urdu script. Both the sub headings of ingredients and method are in Urdu as well,
predicting the larger population of readers to be Urdu speaker.

The ingredients that do not have an Urdu equivalent are mentioned in Urdu script as they are i.e.
“black coffee”, “baking powder”, and “chocolate slice”. The very first ingredient exhibits
Hybridization in a noun phrase “Saada chocolate bar”. The part of the noun phrase that has an
Urdu equivalent has been translated into Urdu i.e. “saada” for plain in English and the part that
seemingly has no Urdu equivalent i.e. “chocolate bar” is kept as it is.”Gram” is the same in
both the languages so it remains the same. This suggests that the publisher intends to keep the
text as much monolingual as possible so that Urdu readers can understand it.

Considering CS happening on sentence level, Inter-sentential CS occurred four times, “baking k


lye...”, “Oven mein …”, “Double boil maker mein...”, “Cake k beech mein...” .Intra-sentential
CS occurred thirteen times for example “..anday aur baking powder mila..” , “ … tayar ki hwi
chocolate cake per daal..” .
Studying CS at phrase level, all the CS occurred at noun phrases except one occasion, “freezer
mein set hone k lye rakh den.” .Here , because the verb “set” does not have any Urdu
equivalent, the English equivalent is used. Bilinguals have this advantage of access to vocabulary
of more than one language in time of need. This whole recipe is strictly Urdu except for the
products like chocolate that is known widely by Urdu speakers.
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Code Switching and Borrowing in Food Magazines

Recipe 12 (Mango Rasmalai)


The title of the recipe exhibits Hybridization at noun phrase level as “Mango” is English
equivalent of the fruit while the base language is Urdu. “Rasmalai” is a dessert of Subcontinent
so there is no English equivalent for it. The fact that the title could have been easily made purely
Urdu yet it is not suggests the motivation behind this type of CS is bilingualism. Upper middle
class and elite tend to switch Urdu with English as much possible in order to sound more
westernized. This recipe is present on a website which means the readers must be literate who
know how to function electronic media. Which further means they are familiar to English
vocabulary enough as well.

Ingredients like “mango piori” , “liter” , “condensed milk”, “tin” have been borrowed which do
have Urdu equivalents. Hybridization is present in noun phrase by sandwiching Urdu between
English “condensed milk aik tihaai tin”. Bilinguals unintentionally, due to factors like hierarchy
of languages and style, replace words with higher language frequently and eventually
completely. Words like “condensed milk” are so frequently used by people relatively more
exposed to English that they forget the Urdu equivalent for it.

The number of times CS occurred Intra-sentential is nine while Inter-Sentential CS occurred only
once i.e. “Fridge mein thnda kar len.” At word level, mostly the CS borrowed nouns from
English like “Balls” , “size”, “Fridge” while only one verb is borrowed that is “garnish kar
len”. It can be concluded that lack of Extra-sentential and Inter-sentential CS can be because the
CS has been done out of need and nothing else. Tag questions, hybridization suggest deeper
level bilingual which is not present in the text because it is a formal representation of Urdu
language.
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Code Switching and Borrowing in Food Magazines

CONCLUSION
The analysis of 6 recipes of the selected food magazines has shown that code switching and code
mixing is frequently and most of the times unconsciously done in Pakistani food magazines. The
collected data and analysis of the recipes shows that mostly switching is done in foreign recipes.
The possible reason is that it is difficult to find Urdu words for some English terms for common
people because Urdu is a weak language in Pakistan and people do not have much proficiency in
its vocabulary.

Moreover, English language is dominant in Pakistan and people prefer to learn and speak
English as a result it has pushed back Urdu language and the influence of English can be seen on
Urdu language in the form of switching , code mixing and borrowing of English words. Most of
the words have their equivalents in Urdu language. However, these equivalents have been
discarded because of the changing attitude and status of the society towards Urdu and English
language. The reason of switching and mixing utterances and languages is not because of lack of
language skills but because to deliver better meaning related to the society that we belong to.

The presence of borrowed English words in local or Pakistani recipes shows that there are some
words and phrases that we have borrowed as it is from English language and we don’t have Urdu
substitutes for them.

It is obvious from the language of the data that people prefer code switching and code mixing not
only because it is suitable and makes the speech fluent but it also shows their attraction for the
language of prestige and upper class i.e. English. It is a symbol of socio economic strength, and
sophistication in our society.
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Code Switching and Borrowing in Food Magazines

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