Lexical Variation among Punjabi Dialects as a Marker of Linguistic Boundaries in Pakistani Punjab
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Date
2016
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Publisher
University of Management and Technology Lahore
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to examine the lexical variation among five Punjabi dialects such as Majhi, Doabi, Potohari, Jangli and Saraiki to find out that how far lexical variation marks the existence of regional boundaries. This study specifically examines ten Punjabi variants; Five Functional words (Kiwain / Kidan / Kaistra), (Jiwain / Jidan / Jaistra), (Hanji / Aahoo / Han), (Bhawain / Chahay / Bhalay), (Tohada / Tussanda / Taira) and Five Content words (Laal / Ratta / Suwa), (Biwi / Zanani / Zall), (Nianay / Baal / Bachay /Jatak), (Chhaiti / Jhabday / Jaldi / Trikh), (Bohta / Baon / Ghana). The data was collected from 300 middle aged (30 to 50 years old) educated (primary to bachelor) and non-educated male and female respondents belonging to five regions of Pakistani Punjab namely Bahawalnager, Multan, Lahore, Faisalabad and Khewra. 10 predetermined questions were asked to elicit information. The findings of the study suggest there is a lexical variation among Punjabi dialects. The respondents show linguistic heterogeneity to maintain their identities. Various factors such as region, gender, education, social and political background and ethnicity are also involved in defining individual's identity. Some interesting findings add to our information like female respondents are more likely to use standard linguistic forms in their conversation as compared to men. Same is the case with educated respondents, they are conscious about their choice of variants in their conversation as compared to non-educated respondents. With these findings we can safely speculate that lexical variation marks off the resident of one region from other region. On the basis of these lexical differences among Punjabi dialects we can mark the regional boundaries between these five specific regions of Pakistani Punjab.
Description
Supervised By:Dr. Muhammad Shaban
Keywords
lexical variation, MPhil Thesis