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Article published In:
Pragmatics and Society
Vol. 8:1 (2017) ► pp.26–37

Karachi weds Lahore

The performance of ethnolinguistic identities in Pakistani TV comedy

| The University of Texas at Austin

This paper investigates the mixing of Urdu and Punjabi language elements in a comic television serial – Larka Karachi Ka Kuri Lahore Di – that aired during the month of Ramzan (Urdu for Ramadan) in 2012. The serial features exaggerated depictions of a Punjabi Lahori family and a muhajir (Urdu-speaking) Karachiite family. Of particular interest is the way marked phonological features and lexical items are deployed to highlight panjabiyat (‘Punjabi-ness’). This study explores relationships between the humorous performance of language mixing and language ideologies in Pakistan. Even in places where panjabiyat 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.

Keywords: language ideologies, language contact, language mixing, language and media, Pakistani television, Urdu, Punjabi
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction & background
  • 2.Theoretical framework
  • 3.Language mixing in LK3LD
  • 4.Mixed languages and linguistic hegemony
  • 5.Conclusions
  • References


This article is currently available as a sample article.

Published online: 25 April 2017
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ps.8.1.02kir
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