DIACHRONIC SEMANTIC PROSODY OF IDEOLOGICAL KEYWORDS IN PAKISTANI POLITICAL DISCOURSE: A CORPUS-BASED CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF IMRAN KHAN’S SPEECHES (2011–2023)

Abstract

The present study investigates the diachronic semantic prosody of the ideological keywords in Pakistani political discourse by critically analyzing the speeches of Imran Khan from 2011 to 2023 using a corpus-based approach. This study uses the three-part Critical Discourse Analysis framework and corpus linguistics methods to analyze  terms such as “change”, “Naya Pakistan”, “justice”, “corruption” and “democracy” in different political contexts. The results show that there are substantial changes in semantic prosody that reflect Khan's political trajectory from opposition leader to prime minister and beyond. The study helps to understand the linguistic construction and discursive maintenance of political ideologies by the strategic use of keywords that have different semantic associations. This diachronic approach provides a better understanding of how language, beliefs, and power influence each other.