Hindko and Gujari. c - SIL International

86
Calvin R. Rensch
(6.8) Attitudes Expressed About the Value of Speaking Urdu,
Pashto, Panjabi and Gujari
Urdu Pashto Panjabi Gujari
Singo Di Garhi high low high low
Sherpur high high moderate low
Balakot high low high low
Each community views Urdu as a useful language. Pashto is
valued only in Sherpur. Conversely, Panjabi is valued highly in
Singo Di Garhi and Balakot but only moderately in Sherpur. No
community sees great value in learning Gujari.
Attitudes toward the Hindko speakers’ own language were
also studied. Respondents were asked whether they see
advantages in speaking Hindko. In every community the
responses were positive. They were asked whether they would
like to have books and newspapers in Hindko. The responses in
Singo Di Garhi and Balakot were highly positive but in Sherpur
and Jammun were mildly positive to mildly negative. When
asked whether they would like their children to learn to read and
write in Hindko, respondents in Singo Di Garhi and Balakot were
mildly positive, but those in Sherpur and Jammun were mildly
negative. In general, attitudes toward Hindko are uniformly high
in Singo Di Garhi and Balakot, where Hindko is relatively
unchallenged (except to some degree by Urdu, especially in
Balakot). Attitudes toward Hindko are less strong in Sherpur and
weaker yet in Jammun, the two communities where Pashto is a
stronger challenge to Hindko.
When respondents were asked to listen to tape recordings of
speech samples from Wad Pagga and Talagang, the two dialects
most widely understood throughout the Hindko-speaking region,
and to comment about their impressions of the speaker and the
place from which he comes, attitudes expressed toward Wad
Pagga were quite positive, while those toward Talagang were
mildly negative.
Finally, respondents were asked for their opinions as to
whether the Hindko language will continue to be spoken. In