LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 12 : 3 March 2012
ISSN 1930-2940
Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.

Pakistani Variety of English: Its Forms and Functions

Muhammad Shaban Rafi, Ph.D. English (Candidate)
Amnah Moghees, M.Phil. Applied Linguistics
==================================================================

Abstract

The study assumes: (a) Post-colonial literature in English provides the impetus for the emergence
of a Pakistani variety of English, and (b) the Pakistani variety of English generalizes Urdu
phrases to anticipate its various forms and functions in discourse. Pakistani English post-colonial
writers have opposed imperialism while generalizing Urdu phrases to anticipate various forms
and functions in discourse. A purposive sample consists of four short stories and one novel
chosen to address the aforesaid standpoints. While studying these assumptions, factors such as
translation and borrowing were considered.

The analysis shows that post-colonial literature in English manifests a variety of English. For
example; Ahmad Ali writes in his novel, Twilight in Delhi, “If husband and wife are willing,
what can the Qazi [justice] do?” (p 95). This is a mere translation of the Urdu proverb: jab mian
bivi raazi tuo kia keray ga qazi . Talat Abbasi repeats the same phenomena intermittently in his
short story, “Simple Question”: “But it’s like weights placed on my eyes,” which exists in Urdu
as lakin aisey jese meri ankhoun pe wazan rakha hua hai. This phenomenon is common and long
standing in post-colonial literature. It deviates from the norms of standard English, thus marking
legitimately a new offshoot of English.

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Pakistani Variety of English: Its Forms and Functions 428
Key words: Pakistani English, Forms and Functions

Introduction

When a language comes into prolonged and consistent contact with other languages or dialects
owing to reasons such as trade, occupation, immigration, social network, and so on, the
languages exert influence on each other. As a consequence, a new variety comes into being. A
variety is a neutral term used to refer to any kind of language – a dialect, accent, sociolect, style
or register (Trudgill, 2003, p 139). The notion of variety is used here to refer to offshoot of
Englishes. Researchers (Pennycook, 1998; Crystal, 1997; Pilpson, 1992; and Kachru and Nelson;
1992,) assert that the emergence of various Englishes is a product of the imperial transplant of
English to the subcontinent. The seismic effects of imperialism appear not only in the socio-
economic life of the people, but in the indigenous dialects, such as Urdu, spoken in the
subcontinent (Sebba, 1997). Kirkpatrick (2007, p 95) says that the majority of South Asian
writers agree that English is now a language of South Asia and that it can be adapted to suit
Indian cultures and tastes. Ruchira Mukerjee, author of Toad in my Garden, supports the
aforesaid verdict by emphasizing that English is no longer a foreign language but a part of our
psyche (D’ Souza, 2001, p 148). Similar view can be heard in Pakistan. The novelist Sidhwa
(1996) writes: “English … is no more monopoly of the British. We the excolonized have
subjugated the language, beaten it on its head and made it ours.” (p 231)

Likewise the post-colonial writers (those with Urdu as their first language) have been expressing
their experiences in the local variety of English. They have ceaselessly blended the Urdu
language largely spoken in the subcontinent with English perhaps to indigenize their allegiance.
For example, in Twilight in Delhi, Ahmad Ali writes, “You seem to have all your fingers in ghee
[success] these days.” (p 139)

This excerpt shows an admixture of Urdu and English lexemes, which seems to mark another
variety of English. We observe this phenomenon across the board into the post-colonial literature
of various Muslim writers: Ahmad Ali, Bapsi Sidhwa, Zaibunissa Hamidullah, Hanif Qureshi,
Sara Suleri, Muniza Shamsi, Ahmad Ali, and Tariq Rahman. Rahman (2010, p 2) shares the
verdict that Pakistani writers with international reputations – Bapsi Sidhwa, Zufikar Ghose and
Ahmad Ali – use some indigenous lexical items and idiomatic turns of speech for artistic
reasons. Eventually, a constant indigenization of literature written in English by these writers
proof as an impetus for the emergence of Pakistani Variety of English (PVE).

Emergence of a novel variety is a gradual process. However; publication of literary work into
foreign language is one of the primary reasons for inception of a new variety. While writing into
a foreign language; a writer confronts generally language freedom which causes admixture,

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Pakistani Variety of English: Its Forms and Functions 429
reduction and simplification of languages and eventual outcome of a new variety (Kachru, 1986).
Unlike the simplified diagram below; incarnation of new variety is indeed a complex process.

Figure 1.1: Anatomy of Language Contact

Culture-bound registers of source language construct complexity while translating it into the
target language. Language and culture are mutually inclusive entities; one can exist concurrently
in the presence of another. Therefore translation of local culture through the foreign language
perpetuates local colors. The Pakistani post-colonial writers used English language as a mean of
explicating local ethos, which resulted into pidiginization as well. According to Talat (2002)
Pakistani English has gone through the process of pidginization and creolization. She further
reveals that English is used as a wide variety of socio-cultural settings together with Urdu and
other regional dialects and languages of Pakistan.
Every language is rule governed and cultural specific and eventually restricts the writers to
explicate cross cultural conceptions. However, these constraints are observed in the Post-
colonial literature for instance; Ahmad Ali in his novel Twilight in Delhi illustrates: zanan
khana, mardan khana, rakhail, hakeem’ and so on which highlights sociolinguistic limitations of
English. Rahman (2010) reinforces the verdict that in Pakistan, the cultural reality is different. It
is shaped to a great degree by Islam and Muslim history. Thus lexical items are often borrowed
to describe cultural loaded concepts.
Along with this, it is believed by the sociolinguistics that bilingual writers blend cultural coded
terminologies since they have choices to do so. One of the suppositions behind this phenomenon
is perhaps ideas and signs activated in first language faster than second language or absence of
equivalent forms in the second language.
This is apparent from the above mentioned discussion that the Pakistani Post-colonial literature
in English marks the beginning of the distinct variety of English, which is characterized by its
forms and functions in discourse. Various linguistic features such as semantic, morphological,

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Pakistani Variety of English: Its Forms and Functions 430
lexical, syntactic, phonological, and pragmatic are unique to this variety. Rahman (2010) divides
PVE into four sub-categories: (a) Anglicized English – a variety spoken by Pakistanis who have
been exposed to English generally for long periods in the westernized settings, (b) Acrolect –
differs from British English in the dimensions of semantics, phonology, syntax, lexis and
morphology – it is spoken by Pakistanis who have been educated in English as medium of
instruction schools, (c) mesolect – differs markedly from British English – used by Pakistanis
who have educated in Urdu as medium of instruction school, and (d) basilect – it is kind of
Pakistani English pidgin – used by Pakistanis have not much education. Rahman have used the
terms acrolect, mesolect and basilect relatively different from the authors of world Englishes
such as Richards.
Another proliferating writer of the world Englishes, Braj B Kachru, refers to Pakistan in his
survey of South Asian English on the grounds that ‘the Indianness’ in Indian English is to a large
extent shared with other South Asian countries – Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanaka
(1983). The concept of South Asia as a linguistic area is also found in other studies (Emeneau,
1958; Masica 1976), and in general only India English has been described on the assumption that
the description is valid for Pakistan also. Thus, while agreeing with reservation that there is an
‘Indian English’, Halliday (1964) mentioned that both Indian and Pakistani speakers are
expected to conform to it rather than aim at a British or American model. Quirk (1972)
mentioned that India, Pakistan and several African countries used fairly stable varieties of
English. Past studies, as some of them mentioned above did not investigate PVE in detail expect
drawing speculations and generalizations, however the present study explores: (a) Post-colonial
literature in English provides impetus for emergence of PVE, and (b) PVE generalizes Urdu
phrases to anticipate its various forms and functions in discourse, through a detailed investigation
of English literature composed by Pakistani writers of international reputation.

Methodology
As mentioned above, data were collected from the Pakistani English Post-colonial literature:
“Bingo” by Dr Tariq Rehman, “Bull and She Devil” by Zaibunissa Hamidullah, “Simple
Questions” by Talat Abbasi , “Shahrazad’s Golden Leopard” by Muneeza Shamsie and a novel
“Twilight in Delhi” by Ahmad Ali to address the above mentioned assumptions (a and b).
The study followed three steps approach to address the assumptions. Firstly, a list consists of the
Pakistani English Post-colonial writers was prepared to lucid few misconceptions: (i) which time
line ideally represents the Post-colonial period, and (ii) who are the Pakistani English Post-
colonial writers. This ambiguity was resolved by including the period of post-independence and
the writers who had cultural and spiritual ties with Pakistan. Among the existing population of
the post-colonial writers, the study drew on the above mentioned sample for analysis. This
sample was selected on the basis of its representativeness of the variety and variation that was
considered useful for analysis.

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Pakistani Variety of English: Its Forms and Functions 431
Secondly, extensive reading was carried out to locate the elements of literal translation and
borrowing in the selected texts. The primary aim of this step was to work out gradually, through
interpretations of data what functional and non functional factors together encourage cross-
linguistic influence in bilingual settings such as Pakistan.

Thirdly, the measures such as transferability and conformability were considered to ensure
validity and reliability in the results. Transferability measure refers to the degree to which the
results of the study may be generalized in another context or setting. The present study made
attempts to enhance transferability by explicating the research contexts and the assumptions that
were central to investigation. Conformability refers to the degree to which the results can be
confirmed or corroborated by others. The researcher requested educated native speakers of
English to verify forms which are unique to PVE. This approach brought a measure of
consistency in the results.

Analysis and Discussion

The analysis shows that the Pakistani English Post-colonial writers have been using Urdu
expressions to indigenize their literary work. Thus they mark a new variety of English –
popularly known as PVE. In “Twilight in Delhi” Ahmad Ali infuses some idioms which
instantiate transliteration such as: (i) You seem to have all your fingers in ghee [success] these
days (p.139), (ii) ...heaven and earth made one (p.40), and (iii) When husband and wife are
willing, what can the Qazi do (p.95). Similar occurrence is elicited while reading short stories.
For example; Muneez Shamsie delineates on Urdu phrases transliteration in Golden Leopard:
‘Oh! You are light of my eyes,’ for ‘tum meri ankhoun ka noor ho’, and in “Bull and She Devil”
Zaibunissa Hamidullah writes: ‘Increase the fertility of soil…’ for ‘matti ki zerkhaizi ko berhata
hia’. Furthermore, transliteration of Urdu can vividly be noticed in Talat Abbasi’s short story
“Simple Question”; ‘but her tongue still so sharp’ for ‘lakin usski zaban abhi tak bohat taiz hai’
and at another place in the same story; ‘but it’s like weights are placed on my eyes’ for ‘ lakin
aisey jese meri ankhoun pe wazan rakha hua hai’.

In “Twilight in Delhi” literal translation of fragments and expressions are also observed. For
example, ‘blood in his eyes’ for ‘uss ski ankhoun ma khoon’, ‘breast of Hindustan’ for
‘Hindustan ka seena’, ‘naked swords’ for ‘nangi talwar’, ‘Farangis’ for ‘Farangiyoun’,
‘Mussalmans’ for ‘Musalmanoun’, ‘fell into the hands’ for ‘hathoun ma girna’ and ‘Mohurs’
for ‘Moharoun’.
Table 1 below indicates Urdu loan words in the selected English literature. Although many of
these loan words have their equivalent forms in English but it seems that the writers have been
localizing native English for so called artistic reasons. However, English form of the actual
phrase or lexis is given in the parentheses.

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Pakistani Variety of English: Its Forms and Functions 432
 Bingo

1-Talisman (magic) 2- Houris ( voluptuous woman)

The Bull and She Devil

1- Shaitan (devil) 2- Lassi (a drink made from yogurt)

3- Falsa (black currant) 4- Sherbet (beverage)

5- Champak ( magnoliaceous tree) 6- Motia (Jasmine)

7- Lota (ewer) 8- Shabash (praise)

Simple Question

1- Rickshaw (three wheeled vehicle) 2- Rickshawallah (rickshaw driver)

3- Ustanij (female teacher) 4- Munni (baby girl)

5- Dhal (pulse) 6 Paan (Beatle leaf)

7- Seer (1 kg weight) 8- Dhobi (washer man)

9- Begum Sahib (lady of the house) 10- Rani Mahrani (queen)

11- Roti (a kind of bread) 12- Dupatta ( a length of material worn as a

head covering by women )

13- Khaki (mustard brown) 14- Latrine (bathroom)

15- Ammaji (old lady) 16- Shalwar (a kind of loose trousers)

Shahrazad’s Golden Leopard

1- Sarees ( a dress worn by women; consists 2-Kabab (a variety of meat)

of several yards of light material that is draped
around the body )

3- Shawl (warm length of material worn as 4- Adab (complement)

head covering by women)

5- Takhti (a wooden board) 6- Bua (old lady)

7- Ayah (maid) 8- Maulvi Sahib (cleric)

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Pakistani Variety of English: Its Forms and Functions 433
9- Nauzbillah (God forbid) 10- Haram (illicit)

11- Shikar (hunting)

Twilight in Delhi

1- Kotha (Donkey) 2-Hakim (herbalist)

3- Burqa (female gown to veil) 4- Maktab (clinic)

5- Sabeel (any drink to distribute among 6- Saqi (drinker)

people for free)

7- Faqir (beggar) 8- Painch (judge)

9- Molvi (religious man) 10- Zanan khana (female lounge)

11- Merdan khana (male lounge) 12- Ferangi (English man)

13- Mohar (stamp) 14- Begum (wife)

Table 1.1: Urdu Loan Words in Pakistani English Literature

Moreover, in Bingo, there are redundant registers for example; the word ‘Unofficer’ is not found
in British English. The prefix un- is attached with the noun ‘officer’ and a new word is coined. In
the same way ‘Kiddish’ is formed with the combination of suffix –ish and noun kid to make an
adjective, which have connotation of ‘childish’ or something ‘immature’ in Pakistani context. In
the same short story another unusual expression is introduced like; ‘most goddamnest’ as an
adjective which is not a part of British English. This expression makes the adjective in double
superlative order as it is combined with ‘most’ and secondly with addition of the superlative
degree ‘–est’.
It has been argued through analysis and interpretation, that all types of lexical divergences and
redundancies; in terms of function, connotation, repetition and transliteration are found
interconnected with each other. For example, a number of lexical divergences result from the
literal translation of L1 (First Language) expressions but a greater variety of divergences found
to a varying degree used by the bilingual PVE writers. The inter-textual variation seems to
suggest that as we move away from the norms of English, lexical variations are observed in
terms of repetitions, non-specific vocabulary, and usage of obsolete words, odd combinations
and atypical phrases. Consequently, these variations manifest the novel variety of English – the
Pakistani variety of English. Thus it is found that the Pakistani English Postcolonial writers
generalize Urdu phrases to anticipate various forms and functions in discourse.

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Pakistani Variety of English: Its Forms and Functions 434
Conclusion
This research explores: (a) Post-colonial literature in English provides the impetus for emergence
of the Pakistani variety of English, and (b) the Pakistani variety of English generalizes Urdu
phrases to anticipate its various forms and functions in discourse. To address these assumptions,
the study delineates on qualitative corpus analysis. Extensive reading of the selected corpora: (i)
Bingo, (ii) Bull and She Devil, (iii) Simple Questions, (iv) Shahrazad’s Golden Leopard, and (v)
Twilight in Delhi were carried out to draw on the above mentioned assumptions. It is discovered
that the Pakistani Post-colonial literature in English manifests a new variety of English.
As we have discussed above, the Post-colonial writers have indigenized English language by
infusing Urdunized expressions. There are primarily two reasons to use Urdu loan words in
English literature: (a) appropriateness, and (b) transliteration. The writers use intentionally
Urdunized expressions, which is also called ‘theory of appropriateness’ to expand the
circumference of local readership, and to mesmerize the target readers. Unlike the theory of
appropriateness; the writers have been infusing or borrowing Urdunized expressions due to
devoid of equivalent forms in English. Thus Pakistani literature in English is an offshoot of
English in which English language acts as superstate language. If the new variety of English is
emerging, then a fresh relationship between nonstandard and standard English is likely, and this
has immediate educational implications.

Implications
The study shows that in Pakistan Standard English has been diffusing or adapting other
languages or dialects into its ecology. Eventually, it has become language of others. Jenkins
(2006) supports this assertion by making a prophecy that within this century, English may lose
its position as principal world language to one or more of the languages of these others. The
study visualizes this phenomenon from figure 1.2 in which English has been diffusing into
Englishes.

English
English
English

Figure 1.2: Diffusion of English

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Pakistani Variety of English: Its Forms and Functions 435
If new varieties of English are emerging, then a fresh relationship between nonstandard and
standard English is likely, and this has immediate educational implications. English textbooks in
countries where English is spoken as a second language are likely to pay much more attention to
local varieties of English, and ELT publishers are to provide materials in local varieties of
English (Jenkins, 2006, p 205). For Example the novel “Twilight in Delhi”, which reflects local
variety of English has been chosen by some universities in Pakistan as compulsory text in Master
of Arts in English syllabus. Increasing popularity of the local English writers is primarily due to
(a) reflection of local culture, and (b) ease with understanding local variety of English.
=========================================================

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Muhammad Shaban Rafi, Ph.D. English (Candidate)

Department of English Language and Literature
University of Management and Technology
C-II, Johar Town
Lahore-54770
Pakistan
[email protected]

Amnah Moghees, M.Phil. Applied Linguistics

Department of Technology
The University of Lahore
1-KM Raiwind Road
Lahore
Pakistan
[email protected]

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