English in Asia and the Southern Hemisphere (Advanced Seminar)

Prof. R. Hickey (Lecturer)

WS 2015/16 (Term)

The English Language in Pakistan

Names: Duygu Demir and Zekiye Tolun

Course of study: LA-MA

Type of credit: TN=Teilnahme

Module: I (Historical and Social Perspectives on Language) [Duygu Demir]

K/Ka (Key Cultural Topics in Context) [Zekiye Tolun]
Contents
1. Introduction
2. About the Country: Pakistan
2.1 A Profile of Pakistan
2.2 The History of Pakistan
3. The English Language in Pakistan
3.1 The Role of the English Language in Pakistan
3.2 Language Policy in Pakistan
3.3 Linguistic Aspects of Pakistani English (PakE)
3.3.1 Phonology: Sounds and Phonological Features
3.3.2 Lexical Variations in PakE
3.3.3 The Use of Word-Formation in PakE
3.3.3.1 Compounding
3.3.3.2 Affixation
3.3.3.3 Conversion
3.3.3.4 Abbreviation/Acronyms
3.3.3.5 Blending
4. Conclusion
5. Sources/Recommended Reading
Introduction

Name of individual: Zekiye Tolun

Course of study: LA MA HRGe
Type of credit: TN
Module number/letter: Ka
 Introduction

Just to give you a short impression… J

Video “Differences between Indian and Pakistani accent“

URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXVF7AVY0aI (last accessed 29th November, 2015)

2. About the Country: Pakistan

Name of individual: Duygu Demir

Course of study: LA MA GymGe
Type of credit: TN
Module number/letter: I
 2. About the Country: Pakistan
2.1 A Profile of Pakistan

p Official language(s):
Urdu, English
English - Urdu
Hello – salam
Thank you - shukriya
Friend – dost

p Population: about 185

million
p Capital: Islamabad
p Key industries:
Agriculture, hunting,
forestry and fishing;
manufacturing;
wholesale and retail
trade

Source: Pinon/Haydon 2007: 113.

University of Texas at Austin, 2015. “Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection” URL:
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/cia15/pakistan_sm_2015.gif
Source: Hickey 2015. ”Studying Varieties of English” URL: https://www.uni-due.de/SVE/
 2. About the Country: Pakistan

2.2 The History of Pakistan

v Pakistan was part of India until 1947
v Macaulay’s minutes of 1835
v à social and political status of English
v Learning English by contact and through schooling
v 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War: East Pakistan became
Bangladesh and West Pakistan became Pakistan

Source: BBC 2007. “After partition: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh” URL:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/629/629/6922293.stm
Mahboob/Ahmar 2008: 244.
Source: BBC 2007. “After partition: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh” URL:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/629/629/6922293.stm
3. The English Language in Pakistan

Name of individual: Zekiye Tolun

Course of study: LA MA HRGe
Type of credit: TN
Module number/letter: Ka
 3. The English Language in Pakistan

3.1 The Role of the English Language in Pakistan

v Independence 1947: complex linguistic picture in Pakistan

Ø No monolithic linguistic structure in one of the five provinces
Ø Integration of English into legal, educational, and other
systems
v Pakistan maintained English as an official language
Ø Key role in economic, educational, social, and political lives of
Pakistani people
v English became ‘nativized’ and ‘vernacularized’
Ø Due to several processes, e.g. economic and social mobility
v Majority speaks English as an additional language
v Level of language proficiency varies

Sources:
Mahboob/Ahmar 2008: 244.
Mahboob 2012: 531.
Haque 1993: 13ff.
Name of individual: Duygu Demir
Course of study: LA MA GymGe
Type of Credit: TN
Module number/letter: I
 3.2 Language Policy in Pakistan

v General Haq’s government: Islamization and Urduization

policies à decrease role of English

v Today: shift of schools from Urdu to English

v Greatest use of English in urban areas
v Improvement of English language skills: English
Language Teaching Reforms project (training to
teachers)

Source: Mahboob/Ahmar: 245.

Pinon/Haydon 2007: 113.
3. The English Language in Pakistan

Name of individual: Zekiye Tolun

Course of study: LA MA HRGe
Type of credit: TN
Module number/letter: Ka
 3.3 Linguistic Aspects of Pakistani English (PakE)

v PakE: heterogenous language

à reasons: socio-economic, geographic, and educational
background of the people
à various first languages of its speakers

è Variation within PakE based on the speakers’ first language

v No current researches that explored relationship between PakE and

various indigenous languages
à current studies focus on native speakers of Urdu

Source: Mahboob/Ahmar 2008: 245ff.

 3.3.1 Phonology: Sounds and Phonological Features

v Vowels: Two main groups

Invariant vowel Vowels exhibiting

realisation variation
Vowels were spoken Vowels are varied in their
without variation by realization as spoken by
Pakistani speaker different speakers
Can be further divided into Grouped in monophthongs
two sub-groups: and diphthongs
Group 1A à vowels are
similar to RP1
Group 1B à no variation
within Pakistani speakers;
different from RP

Source: Mahboob/Ahmar 2008: 248f. 1 RP: Received pronunciation

 Group 1A - Examples: Vowels without variation among
Pakistani speakers and similar to RP

Lexical item; PakE RP (based on

Monophthongs Oxford Dictionary)
HAPPY I I
THOUGHT ɔ: ɔ:
START ɑ: ɑ:
DRESS e e
TRAP æ æ
STRUT v v
GOOSE u: u:

Lexical item; PakE RP (based on

Diphthongs Oxford Dictionary)
PRICE aɪ aɪ
CHOICE ɔɪ ɔɪ
MOUTH aʊ aʊ
Mahboob/Ahmar 2008: 249.
 Group 1B - Examples: Vowels without variation among
Pakistani speakers but different from RP

Lexical item PakE RP

horsES I ə
lettER v ə
commA v ə
NURSE v ɜ:
LOT ɔ: ɔ

Mahboob/Ahmar 2008: 250.

 Group 2: Vowels exhibiting variation

Lexical item; PakE RP

Monophthongs
FOOT ʊ ~ u: ʊ
BATH ɑ: ~ æ ɑ:
CLOTH ɔ ~ ɔ: ~ o: ɔ

Lexical item; PakE RP

Diphthongs
FACE e: ~ eɪ eɪ
GOAT o: ~ ɔʊ ~ ʊ ɔʊ
GOAL o: ~ əʊ əʊ
NEAR ɪə ~ eə ɪə
SQUARE eə ~ əɪ ~ ɑɪ eə
CURE jʊə ~ jeɔ: ~ eɔ: jʊə:

Mahboob/Ahmar 2008: 251.

Consonants:

vRhotic variety of English: refers to pronunciation of /r/

v E.g. [fɔ:rs] ‘force‘ ; [wɑ:rm] ‘warm‘ à postvocalic [r]
v This kind of variation is not explored well enough!

vRetroflection of [t] and [d]: retroflex stops

v realized as
v E.g. ‘strut‘ and ‘dress‘

v (dentalization)
v Use of dental stops instead of dental fricatives à feature of South Asian
English
v E.g. ‘north‘ and ‘then‘

Mahboob/Ahmar 2008: 252f.

 v /v/ and /w/
v No phonemic distinction à realized as allophones of /w/
v E.g. or ‘wind‘

v Clear /l/
v Another feature of South Asian English
v Pakistani speakers do not exhibit an allophonic variation of /l/
v E.g. [go:l] ‘goal‘ and ‘lot‘

Mahboob/Ahmar 2008: 253.

 Phonological Features

vSpelling Pronunciation/Gemination
v Double consonants
v E.g. [p] in [hæppɪ] and [t] in [lettʌr]

vVowel reduction
v Unstressed vowel automatically reduced to a schwa
v E.g. indefinite article ‘a‘ , definite article ‘the‘ , ‘was‘ , words with initial a
(like ‘attempt‘) à

vEpenthesis
v In a consonant cluster, e.g. [ɪstrɔ:ŋgʌr] ‘stronger‘ and [ɪstɑ:rt] ‘start‘
v Between a voiced bilabial stop and an alveolar lateral approximant, e.g.
[bɪljʊ] ‘blue‘

Mahboob/Ahmar 2008: 253f.

 3.3.2 Lexical Variation in PakE
Lexical items which vary in the meaning from Standard British
English (SBE) usage as a result of English-Urdu contact

Some examples…

vColony: different meaning

àPakE and Urdu: locality or neighbourhood in which people of
the same profession live
àSBE: the word estate would be preferred

vMarriage:
àSame meaning in PakE and Urdu
àEquivalent of SBE‘s wedding
àè continued and frequent use in PakE

Talaat 1993: 56ff.

 Some English items have been fully integrated in Urdu
àFill in lexical gaps for which no Urdu-word exists
àFrequent use in Urdu has reinforced continued use in PakE

Tallat 1993: 62.

Name of individual: Duygu Demir
Course of study: LA MA GymGe
Type of Credit: TN
Module number/letter: I
 3.3.3 The Use of Word-Formation in PakE

Compounding

p Rickshaw-wallah – one who drives a rickshaw

p Balloonwalla – one who sells balloons
Also productive in Urdu: paniwala – one who sells water
(pani)
p Camel kid – a young boy sent to the Middle East for use as
jockeys in camel races
p Childlifter – a lifter is a thief
Bottle-cap lifter and shop lifter as the only lifter
compounds in BrE and AmE
p To head-carry - “to carry on the head”
p Country-made - “locally made”

Source: Baumgardner 1998:208-210.

 Affixation

p Urdu-based and English-based formations

Suffixation
p The –ee and –(i)er suffix very productive in PakE
p Earthquake affectees, riot affectees, ...
p Denter: “I had to go to my denter to get the car repaired [...]”
(Baumgardner 1998:215)
p Eve- teaser – a youth who harasses girls

Prefixation
p Mostly Urdu-based formations
p Anti- and –de productive prefixes
p “He said that this decision was anti-shariat in spirit”
(Baumgardner 1998:219)
p “If I were you, I would de-friend her” (Baumgardner 1998:219)

Source: Baumgardner 1998: 213,215-219.

 Conversion
p majority of PakE conversions adjective-to-noun
p faithfuls : “The number of those Pakistani faithfuls who will
perfom Umra [...]will cross 120,000 this year”
(Baumgardner 1998: 220)
p poors: “Political and social sectors have demanded the
Government to provide shelter to the poors” (Baumgardner
1998: 220)

Clipping
p Common Urdu clippings in PakE:
Muj < Muj [ahideen]
Pak < Pak[istan]

Source: Baumgardner 1998: 220-225.

 Abbreviations/acronyms

p d/o < “daughter of”

p “In another incident a young girl Rabia Bibi d/o Karim
jumped into Lower Jhelum Canal” (Baumgardner 1998:
224)
p RA < Raziullah Anha “God is pleased with him” (Urdu
abbreviations used in PakE include Arabic expression)
p WASA < Water and Sanitation Agency

Source: Baumgardner 1998: 225.

 Blending

p Lollywood < hind-clipping of Lahore + fore-clipping of

Hollywood
p Islumabad < Urdu Islamabad + inserted English slum
p In some blends only one morpheme is clipped:
p Photomachinist < photocopy + machinist
p Cricketomacy < cricket + diplomacy

Source: Baumgardner 1998:226.

 4. Conclusion

pPakE: heterogenous language

pLinguistic aspects of PakE need to be studied in more detail
pGreat variation concerning pronunciation of PakE-speaking
people à based on their first language
pEnglish in political, economic and social areas
pUse of Word- formation in PakE: mostly conforms to
morphological rules in English

Our own text.

5. Sources/Recommended Reading

Baumgardner, Robert J. . Word-Formation in Pakistani English, in: English World-Wide, Karachi 1998: Oxford University
Press, 19, pp. 205–246.

Haque, Anjum Riyazul. The Position and Status of English in Pakistan, in: Robert J. Baumgardner 1993 (Ed.): The English
Language in Pakistan. Oxford University Press, pp. 13 – 18.

Mahboob, Ahmar. Pakistani English, in: Bernd Kortmann and Kerstin Lunkenheimer (Eds.): The Mouton World Atlas of
Variation in English. Berlin/Boston 2012: De Gruyter Mouton, pp. 531 – 539.

Mahboob, Ahmar and Ahmar, Nadra Huma. Pakistani English: phonology, in: Rajend Mesthrie (Ed.): Varieties of English 4.
Africa, South and Southeast Asia. Berlin 2008: De Gruyter Mouton, pp. 244 – 258.

Pinon, Robert and Jon Haydon. English Language Quantitative Indicators: Cameroon, Nigeria, Rwanda, Bangladesh and
Pakistan. 2010: Euromonitor International.

Talaat, Mubina. Lexical Variation in Pakistani English, in: Robert J. Baumgardner (Ed.): The English Language in Pakistan.
Oxford University Press, pp. 55 – 62.

Internet Sources
BBC News. 2007. “After partition: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh” URL:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/629/629/6922293.stm (last accessed November 29, 2015).

Hickey, Raymond. 2015. “Studying Varieties of English” URL: https://www.uni-due.de/SVE/

(last accessed November 29, 2015).