Hindko and Gujari. c - SIL International

70
Calvin R. Rensch
(5.4b) Responses from Three Hindko Communities to the
Question: “Are there advantages to speaking Pashto, Panjabi,
Gujari?”
Pashto Panjabi Gujari
Community Yes No Yes No Yes No
Singo Di Garhi 30% 70% 75% 25% 37.5% 62.5%
n = 10 n = 8 n = 8
Sherpur 76 21 55 41 16.6 80
n = 29 n = 29 n = 30
Balakot 20 80 70 30 30 70
n = 46 n = 47 n = 46
Clearly, Hindko and Urdu are widely viewed by Hindko
speakers as languages that carry advantages. In every
community, at least 88 percent of the respondents viewed it as
advantageous to speak both. As might be expected, nearly all the
reasons stating the advantages of Hindko were affective — “It
feels easy,” “it is a good language,” “I like Hindko,” “it is our
mother tongue.” On the other hand, the reasons given as
advantages for Urdu were largely effective or instrumental — “it
is understood all over Pakistan,” “useful in cities, offices and
bazaars,” “it is used in schools,” “it is easy to write,” “with it we
can speak with people who have different mother tongues.”
Counter to this generalization, however, a few respondents when
speaking of Urdu said, “it is sweet,” “I like the language,” while
a few when speaking of Hindko said, “with it we can easily
communicate our message,” “with it we can communicate with
Panjabis.”
There was much less agreement about whether it is
advantageous to speak Pashto, Panjabi, or Gujari. Respondents in
Sherpur were much more in favor of speaking Pashto than were
those in Singo Di Garhi and Balakot, where there are few Pashtospeaking
people. The positive respondents in Sherpur see an
advantage in being able to communicate with Pashto-speaking
people. Two respondents also mentioned that it is the language of
their ancestors, Swati Pathans, revealing a factor of
ethnolinguistic loyalty.