EXPLORING KINSHIP TERMS USED BY YOUNG SINDHI SPEAKERS IN KARACHI, PAKISTAN

Abstract

Young Sindhi Speakers in Karachi have been acquiring language of wider communication Urdu, and language of education and opportunities English; at the expense of their heritage language Sindhi (Abbasi, 2019). As a result, young speakers use different lexical categorizations in their daily life. Therefore, the present study explores the kinship terms being used by young Sindhi speakers in their home and the reasons for using those terms in the multilingual settings of Karachi. This case study is used under a qualitative research design to understand which kinship terms are used by young Sindhi speakers. Using a semi-structured interview guide as a data collection instrument, ten young Sindhi speakers were interviewed. The population was selected using purposive criterion sampling technique. Data was analyzed using frequency and thematic analysis. The findings of the study shows that young Sindhi speakers are using a mixed blend of Sindhi, Urdu and English kinship terms in their home settings. In most of the cases, the terms have been borrowed from Urdu and English. Also, some of the participants used both Sindhi and Urdu kinship terms to address different immediate relatives. However, English terms are more common for distant male and female young cousins. The reasons for using these kinship terms include attitude of young Sindhi speakers, social mobility and exposure to dominant languages.