Social stratification of allophonic variation in punjabi language
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Date
2016
Authors
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Publisher
University of Management and Technology
Abstract
This study examines allophonic variation in Punjabi language – spoken in the capital city of Pakistani Punjab. A sample of 72 respondents was selected from beauty parlors representing high, middle and lower class income. To reveal social stratifications (i.e., class, gender and age) in the use of prevocalic and postvocalic 14 Punjabi variants were finalized. A quantitative approach was applied to address the research questions: (a) Do the allophonic variants [b] / [v] mark social stratification at the word onset position? (b) Do the allophonic variants [z] / [j] mark social stratification at the word coda position? (c) Whether or not do females use the standard allophonic variants [b] and [z] than males?, and (d) What is frequency of the use of allophonic variants [b] and [v] and [z] and [j] between parlor goers of (16 – 30 years old), (31 – 45 years old) and (46 – 60 years old)? Also, Chi-square was measured to investigate the association between social stratification and the use of allophones. The present study finds that the use of allophones at least in the beauty parlors of Lahore city mark social stratifications. While mapping out the allophonic usage, different respondents were found using different word variants or two lexical items with similar semantic representation. Hence, social variability of the people of Lahore city who frequently visit beauty parlors can be reflected through Punjabi allophony. This study will hopefully motivate future researchers to extend social stratification research whose subject-matter has been largely English to other languages.
Description
Supervisor: Dr. Muhammad Shaban
Keywords
MS Thesis, Allophonic variation, Punjabi language