1887
Volume 8, Issue 1
  • ISSN 1878-9714
  • E-ISSN: 1878-9722
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Abstract

This paper investigates the mixing of Urdu and Punjabi language elements in a comic television serial –  – that aired during the month of Ramzan (Urdu for Ramadan) in 2012. The serial features exaggerated depictions of a Punjabi Lahori family and a (Urdu-speaking) Karachiite family. Of particular interest is the way marked phonological features and lexical items are deployed to highlight (‘Punjabi-ness’). This study explores relationships between the humorous performance of language mixing and language ideologies in Pakistan. Even in places where is strongly emphasized, the lexico-grammatical choices made by the characters still render the language maximally understandable to an Urdu-speaking (rather than Punjabi-speaking) audience. Using theories of ‘mixed language,’ this study seeks to address the importance and implications of these ways of performing ethnolinguistic identity.

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/content/journals/10.1075/ps.8.1.02kir
2017-04-10
2025-02-12
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