multiethnica 61
Linguistic diversity, vitality and maintenance: a case study on the language situation in northern Pakistan
HENRIK LILJEGREN AND FAKHRUDDIN AKHUNZADA
The multilingual and multicultural region of northern ce and advocacy that have been carried out in recent Pakistan, which has approximately 30 distinct languages, years, particularly through the work of the Forum for Language lnitiatives (FLI) and its partner organizations is described and evaluated from the perspective of throughout the region. language vitality, revealing the diverse and complex interplay of language policies, community attitudes and generational transmission. Based on the experience The region: its people and languages of conscious language maintenance efforts carried out It is essential to point out from the start that the re in the area, some conclusions are offered concerning gion dealt with here is not a single geopolitical unit the particular effectiveness of regional networking and with generally agreed on boundaries. lnstead, it is roade up of several political units with varying status within non-governmental institution support to promote local today's Pakistan. In order to operationalize the descrip languages and sustain their vitality in times of great tion and decide what areas and languages to include change. or leave out, a somewhat artificial decision was roade to define northern Pakistan as that part of the country that is situated above the 34th parallel, or all Pakistan I ntrod uction held territory north of the city of Peshawar. The three Northem Pakistan's mountain region is characterized main units that makeup this region of 125,000 km2 by great linguistic and cultural diversity. The approx (approximately the land area of England) are: (a) the imately 30 indigenous languages spoken there belong northem-most part of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pro to various genera and a number of those languages ser vince, forrnerly North-West Frontier Province; 1 (b) the ve-at different levels-as lingua franca. Although the entire autonomous and self-governing Gilgit-Baltistan region can be described as a transit zone of sorts bet region, formerly known as the Northern Areas; and (c) ween the cultural spheres of South Asia, Central Asia the northem half of the self-governing state of Azad and the Himalayas, it is in many respects a region with Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).2 Only the fust is, as one its own distinct heritage and identity, which is visible in of four provinces, a fully integrated part of the Islamic similar social structures, a shared system of values and a Republic of Pakistan. It is also the most language-dense unique way of relating to the environment (Cacopardo unit of the three. A territory in the south-western part and Cacopardo 2001, 26, 249-50). of the region, of marginal interest to our study, betongs The present paper seeks to describe the language to the Federally Administered Trial Areas (FATA), a situation across northem Pakistan, in terms of which !arge autonomous tribal region almost exclusively in languages are spoken, the leve! and character of mul habited by Pashtuns, that is, speakers of Pashto.3 Ac tilingualism observed, the relative size and geographi cording to the 1998 census of Pakistan,4 which is the cal scope of individual languages and their respective most recent full-scale census carried out in the coun status and level of vitality. However, we do not limit ty, 5 the population of northern Pakistan was 13 million, ourselves to pure description. There is also an attempt compared with a total population of 136 million. If we to evaluate and draw some conclusions regarding apply an estimated growth rate of 41 per cent between modern-day language activism in the region and those the years 1998 and 2015, 6 the region's population to collaborative efforts in the area of languagc maintenan- day would be approximately 18 million and the esti- nr 36-37 (2017) 62 multiethnica mated total national population 192 million. l ). Apart from the south-west, which is mainly com The political heterogeneity alluded to above also prised of low-elevation areas and linguistically domina applied to the region in the past. Historically, it was ted by Pashto or Hindko, two big languages in this con at the centre of the "Great Game" as British, Russian text, the region is sparsely populated, especially in the and Chinese imperial aspirations played out, prima north-eastern corner of Gilgit-Baltistan, which coinci rily at the beginning of the 20th century, but it never des with some of the world's highest mountain peaks constituted an unquestionable unit. lnstead, it was a and continental glaciers. As is clear from the map, the patchwork of minor, primarily princely states with highest linguistic density is found in a helt in northern dramatically shifting allegiances. It increasingly came Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, bordering Gilgit-Baltistan. under British control
nr 36-37 (2017) multiethnica 63
1973, 298-99) and Degener (2002, 104), while the Ethnologue, in line with K. D. Decker (1992, 147-50), maintains two separate iso codes. Balti, found in the eastem parts of Gilgit-Baltistan, is the westem most outpost of Tibeto-Burman, the major phylogenetic component of the vast highland region compri sing the Himalayas and the Tibe tan plateau. Finally, Burushaski is a language isolate spoken in a few non-adjacent pockets in the extre me north of our region, close to the border with China...... P.ahari-Pdthwa-li 100 15() Religiously, the region is smu .,.. larly heterogeneous, Gilgit-Baltis- tan in particular (Weinreich 2009, Sindh province and in adjacent Rajasthan across the 16). Although alrnost the entire population is Mus Indian border. Domaaki, by contrast, is the language of lim, four separate persuasions of Islam are well repre a single village in the Hunza valley of northem Gilgit sented: Sunni, Shia, Ismaili and Nurbakhshi, often in Baltistan, with only a few hundred speakers at most. open opposition to each other. Apart from in some Four languages are Iranian. The regionally most influ urban centres, these groups have a clear geographical ential of them, and with the highest number of spea distribution, but the correlation with ethnolinguistic kers, is Pashto, a language with a geographical spread identity is much less clear-cut. Ismailis are mostly in far beyond this region and with a total number of spea Hunza and Yasin in the northernmost part of Gilgit- kers in the eight-digit range. lts rather dramatic inroads from the south-west Table 1. Languages of northern Pakistan listed according to phylogenetic affiliation. into the region itself, however, are rela Family Gentts Subdivision Subgroup Language 150639-3 IJJdo-European lodo-Aryan North-western Kunar Dameli (dml] tively recent. The numerically much Gawarbati [Swt] smaller Yidgha- and Wakhi-speaking Chitral Kalasha [kis] communities, by contrast, have a long Khowar [khw] standing presence in the northern Kohisumi Gawri (Kalami) [gwc} lndus Kohistani [mvy] parts of the region. Dari is essentially Tol"\vali (trw] the variety of Farsi spoken in Afgha Chilisso (clh] nistan and by an increasing number Gowro [gwf] of Afghans who have taken refuge in Bateri (btv] Shina Gilgiti Shina (scl] northem Pakistan since the beginning Kohistani Shina [pik] of the long period of unrest and war in Ushojo [ush] Afghanistan. In this context, however, Kundal Shahi [shd} we limit ourselves to the small com Kalkoti [xka] munity of Dari speakers in the Shishi Palula [phl] Kashmiri Kashmiri [kas] Koh valley in Chitral, which settled !,ahnda Northcrn Hindko [hno] there two centuries ago. Two of the Pahari-Pothwari [pbr] language communities listed, Kati and Central Gojri [gju] Kamviri, are Nuristani, most of whom Domaaki (dmk] Nuristan.I Northero Kamviri [xvi] are found in Nuristan, the immedia Kati [bsh] tely adjacent area of Afghanistan. A I no.niaJJ Eastern Northeastem Northem Pasbto (pbu] further caveat is a difference of opini Yidgha [ydg] on regarding whether these two really Wakhi [wbl] are two separate languages or just sub Western Southwestern Dari [prs] Sioo-TibetaJJ Tibeto-Burman Western Bodisb Balti [bft] varieties of the same language. The lat lsolate Burushaski (bsk] ter view is held by Strand (2001, 253; nr 36-37 (2017) 64 multiethnica
Baltistan, and in the northern part of Chitral. They are are concemed. We have simply counted the number of primarily speakers of Burushaski, Wakhi, Khowar and digits in each estimated total-number-of-speakers figu Yidgha. There is a concentration of Shiites, or more re: a language in, for instance, sizc range 5 means that correctly Twelver Shiites, in Nager, Shigar and Skardu, it hasl0,000-99,999 speakers, size range 6 100,000- all of these locations in Gilgit-Baltistan, and Shiites 999,999 speakers, and so on. are well represented among speakers of Shina, Balti While it is difficult to generalize, it is safe to conclude and Burushaski. The vast majority of the population that most of the language communities in the region in Balti-speaking Gangche, a district in Baltistan, are (21 of the 29) count their speakers in thousands (size followers of Nurbakhshi. All the rest of the region is ranges 4 to 6) rather than millions, or even in hundreds Sunni-dominated. Only a small and shrinking popula or less. The median-language in the region is a langu tion in Chitral, possibly about 3000 in number, and all age with 58,000 speakers. In a worldwide comparison, of whom speak Kalasha, are adherents of a traditional the living languages of northem Pakistan are therefore religion (Heegård Petersen 2015, 13). Table 2. Languages of northern Pakistan sorted according to size.9 Language vitality and language policies ~a~uage Size range # of speakers (tot) # of speakers (!>ak) Northern Pasbto 8 21,038,000 18, 700,000 "öä·.:1 · · ·· · · ·- · · ·- · · .. · · ·· · · ······7· .... ···· ·· ·· ··9,"6öö;ööci" · · · ····· ·· ·-···· ·-· 2jöö··· · ··· UNESCO (2003) has identified nine main factors in measuring the vitality of langu Kasbmiri 7 5,580,830 105,000 ages: (a) absolute number of speakers; (b) Pabari-Potwari 7 2,500,000 2,500,000 Northero Hindko 7 1,880,000 1,880,000 proportion of speakers within the total po «;oj.r19· .. • ·-· • • •• •• •• •• .... --·---6· ------· --· ---· ·992;ööö-· --· ·- ·-·· ·· ···· --1so;ööö· ·· ·· ·· pulation; (c) trends in existing language Gilgiti Shina 6 337,000 371 ,400 domains; (d) response to new domains and BaJti 6 290,000 270,000 media; (e) materials for language educa Khowar 6 242,200 223,000 tion and literacy; (f) govemmental and in lndus Kohistaoi 6 200,000 200,000 stitutional language attitudes and policies; Kobistaoi Sbioa 6 200,000 200,000 (g) community members' attitudes to their Gawri {Kalami} 6 100,000 100,000 · ai.·.:~5i;å5 i Absolute number of speakers Yidgba 4 6, I SO 6, 150 Kalkoti 4 6,000 6,000 Language statistics are surrounded by a gre Dameli 4 5,000 5,000 at number of practical difficulties and much Kalasba 4 5,000 5,000 controversy. Although information on mot Ushojo 4 2,000 2,000 her tongue was induded in the most recent Chilisso 4 1,000 1,000 · K.;;~iiäi sii å'ti i ···---·· .. ··-·· · ·y-· ------.... ·---·-1öö. · · ·-· · · .. · · · · · .... --·10ö· --·-·- ccnsus of 1998, the only available choices Domaaki 3 340 340 were: Urdu1 Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashto, Balo chi, Sariki and "others."This means that the Gowro 3 200 200 official data available is of very little help. However, the numbers that appear in Ethnologue are of in a relatively good position, as the size range in which uneven and uncertain quality, as they stem from various the largest number of the world's 7000 languages are types of sources, some of which are well-informed and found is range 4 (Lewis, Simons, and Fennig 2015). This based on careful surveys and of relatively recent date, also means that only a few of the languages-those in while others are rather dated or based on rough esti size range 3 and some of the smaller ones in range 4- mates or qualified guesses. lnstead of being too preoc are vulnerable solely because of thcir size. These ranges cupied with exact numbers, it makes more sense to ca offer a feasible way of characterizing the different types tegorize languages in tt::nu:. uf rdalivt: size. While we do of language represented. First, however, it is useful to cite absolute numbers (see Table 2) according to Eth elaborate on the numbers in more detail by taking into nologue, the size ranges given are probably more revea account size in relation to the national population as ling as far as the scope and influence of each language well as the population of the region as a whole. nr 36-37 (2017) multiethnica 65 Proportion of speakers within the total population northern AJK that appear to be more similar to the The relative number of speakers is another measure in Hindko of the Abbottabad/Mansehra area have tra addition to the absolute number discussed above. It is ditionally identified themselves as speakers of Pahari not entirely clear, however, how this measure is sup (Rehman 2011, 227-28). Our solution is to consider posed to be applied or how to interpret "total popula the cluster of northern Hindko and Pahari-Potwari col tion". Here we interpret it to mean the proportion of lectively as a range-7 language in northern Pakistan. speakers in Pakistan and the proportion of speakers in Kashmiri is at most a range-6 language in Pakistan, 10 the region. For some of the languages listed, the total and even smaller in northern Pakistan, but a major number of speakers in Pakistan is significantly different language in the Indian-adrninistered territory of Jam from the number of speakers across the region (see Ta mu and Kashmir. The Nuristani languages in northern ble 2) and in other cases the size of a language com Pakistan, Kati and Kamviri are spoken by relatively munity in the region differs in major ways vis-a-vis the recent offshoots of communities in Afghanistan. Alt number of speakers in the country. First, from the na hough counted as range-5 languages more widely, they tional perspective, most of these language communities are small range-4 languages in the specific context of constitute insignificant minorities. Using the estimated northern Pakistan (K. D. Decker 1992, 129-50). Gojri population figure of 192 million discussed above, the and Wakhi are special for other reasons. As noted abo median-size language with only 58,000 speakers cor ve, Gojri is the language of a widely scattered group, responds to just 0.03 per cent of the country's total in the region itself, in Pakistan more generally and in population. Second, as noted above, the region itself northern India. The total nurnber of speakers could hasa population of only 10 per cent of Pakistan's total. exceed one million, and the number in northern Pakis To give some examples, Dari (Afghan Persian) is a tan is likely to be around half a million (Hallberg and range-7 language looked at from its total number of O'Leary 1992, 96-98). Wakhi is another transnational, speakers, the vast majority of whom are in Afghanistan and at least to some extent nomadic, community with where it enjoys the status of an official language along a permanent and long-standing presence in adjacent with Pashto. However, in the Pakistani context, as well areas of four different countries. In addition to Wakhi as in the regional context, it is a mere range-4 langu settlements of 20,000 in the extreme north of Khy age with just 2500 speakers in a single village in Chi ber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan, the wedge of tral (K. D. Decker 1992, 12-14). Although northern Afghan land separating Pakistan from Tajikistan often Pashto is numerically the largest language community referred to as the Wakhan corridor has a major concen in northern Pakistan, and an expanding one, at least tration ofWakhi speakers, numbering 17,000. Wakhi is half of its estimated 19 million speakers are found in also spoken by some 15,000 people just across the bor adjacent areas south of the 34th parallel, thus placing der in Tajikistan, and by a remaining group of 6000 in it regionally within range 7 rather than range 8. While areas of China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region the vast majority of all northern Hindko speakers, who that borders Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Pakistan, the also identify themselves as speakers of Hindko, are latter group officially recognized as Tajiks. found within the demarcated region, primarily in the Taki~g the above-mentioned caveats into account, rather densely populated Abbottabad and Mansehra a more precise characterization of the relative size districts where they constitute a numerically domi of the languages in our context is attempted in Table nant or strong component (Rensch 1992b, 5-6), the 3, placing them in five different groups. The range-7 number of Pahari-Pothwari is much more uncertain languages are numerically strong both in the region as far as our region is concerned. In a strict linguistic and outside of it. Northern Pashto, in particular, fun sense, there is no sharp boundary between Hindko and ctions as a regional lingua franca in many of the areas Pahari. lnstead, they are part of a widespread Punjabi in the south-westem parts of the region, well beyond related continuum which is characterized by dusters its core areas, even when none of the speakers in ques of locations that each identify with a particular name tion are first language speakers of Pashto (K. 0. Decker for their language (Dyrud and Radloff 2011, 3- 8, 20, 1992, 83-85, 123-26, 144-46, 159-61; Rensch 1992a, 31-46; Rensch 1992b, 87). In Pakistan, it is mainly in 49-57; S. J. Decker 1992, 75-76). Northern Hindko is the area centred around Murree in the northern-most used in a more limited way as a communication langu part of Punjab province that people identify themsel age between speakers of Hindko and speakers of other ves as speakers of Pahari rather than Hindko (Lothers languages (primarily Gojri and Pashto) in areas where and Lothers 2007, 2-3). They are thus toa !arge extent Northern Hindko is the dominant language (Rensch bt:yon nr 36-37 (2017) 66 multiethnica entire districts. Some of these are also used as second the languages in Table 3, regardless of size range, is ac languages and are even expanding at the expense of tively used in all discourse domains, at all times and for other, smaller languages. The latter is particularly true all purposes. In Pakistan, even languages with far more of Khowar, which serves as a local lingua franca in the speakers than many national European languages are extrernely multilingual Chitral district, where it has rarely used for writing, administration or educational replaced the original language in a number of locations purposes. Not even the "mega language" Pashto, which in recent times (Munnings 1990, 10; Decker 1996). is counted as one of a handful of regional languages, 11 Most range-5 languages have a relatively limited geo and nationwide is numerically superseded only by graphical scope (an exception is Wakhi, as described Punjabi, 12 or rather the above-mentioned greater Pun above) and are spoken in dusters of adjacent villages. jabi continuum, is used universally in its core areas. In These languages are only exceptionally, or to a very this particular region, Urdu is the mother tongue of limited extent, learned and spoken as second langu only a few individuals, usually officials or highly quali ages. The languages classified within range 4 are spo fied professionals temporaril y posted to the urban cen ken in even smaller, and often remoter, locations than tres. Nonetheless, Urdu is, as in most other parts of the range-5 languages. Some of the smaller ones within country, the prescribed medium of instruction in go the range are spoken only in a single village. These are vernment schools, and proficiency in Urdu is a mini almost without exception subject to language shifts, mum requirement for obtaining a professional job. No either in their entirety or in some locations. The num netheless, the need for Urdu in any day-to-day interac ber of Chilisso speakers is likely to have dropped to tion is in most locations extremely limited, although an under 1000. The most recent information is based on increasing number of people are being exposed to Ur a survey carried out more than 25 years ago, and even du as a result of more widespread access to media. then its viability vis-å-vis the locally more influential English is also taught-or at least presumed to be form of Kohistani Shina was questionable (Hallberg taught-in many private and higher education institu 1992, 122-24). The range-3 languages are spoken in tions. lf acquired to a high standard, it is a sure ticket geographically very limited areas, often in a single vil to the most attractive jobs in the country, while also lage, and they are in serious competition with other providing the potential for success abroad. As the offi languages. Gowro, which in the early l 990s had as cial language of the civil service, knowledge of English few as 200 speakers in an enclave in Indus Kohistan, is considered attractive in this region, too, and is im entirely surrounded by Kohistani Shina, might even portant for gaining access to higher education. A better no longer be spoken (Hallberg 1992, 131-32). Kundal position in the local administration or a job in the tou Shahi is actively used by a minority in a single village in rist sector is also dependent on an applicant's skills in AJK; the dominant language is Hindko (Baart and Reh English. Sending one's children to an English-speaking man 2005, 5). Use of Domaaki is rapidly decreasing at school is highly desirable, even though leaming is often the expense of Burushaski and Shina (Weinreich 2011, only by rote, supervised by teachers who can barely 165-66). make themselves understood in English, and not sel dom with the aid of hopelessly out-of-date textbooks. Exposure to English as a living language is restricted to Trends in existing language domains ephemeral contact with a few visitors. However, as mo The coexistence of a non-dominant local or regional re people gain access to media, exposure to more natu language and at least one dominant language is typical ra! English is likely to increase. Regardless of practical in the region. Only in a few cases, mostly where range-3 use, both Urdu and English function as important mar languages are spoken, does a dominant language pene kers of prestige, This can be seen for instance in how trate the home domain to any great extent. None of educated speakers tend to mix Urdu (and English) lex- ical material liberally into their re spective mother tongues. Table 3. Languages of northern Pakistan grouped according to relative size. Nonetheless, Pashto, in its northern Regional size Languages _!!l_f!ge variety, is locally influential. Although 7 Northem Pashto, Nottbem Hindko/Pahari-Potwari its traditional heartland lies outside the region outlined above, and the · 5· ·· · · ·· ···· ·· ·· · ··· · ·0~~·;i;;.sio·;; T-~~~;ii,-w:.khi,-säie~f,·i>~-1~·1 ~-- · · ·· · · ·· · · ·· · · ·· · ··· · · ·· · · ·· · ··· · · ·· presence of Pashto and Pashtuns is · 4· · · · · · · · ·· · · · · · · · · · · aå-~ill-'bäii; ·i nr 36-37 (2017) multiethnica 67 their presence dates back to an Afghan expansion seve district, dominates the province at large and controls ral ccnturies ago, resulting in control of the lower, more much of the district's commerce. Their respective fertile areas, while the Indo-Aryan peoplcs were pus scope is largely geographical. Khowar is used in the hed back into the area's remoter parts (Biddulph 1986, largest part of Chitral, from its northernmost reach to 163; Strand 2001, 254). The expansion of the Pashto somewhere south of the bazaar town of Drosh in the language continues today, along with an expansion of south. Pashto covers the southernmost part, coinciding Pashtun commercial interests. It has become a widely with the area with the largest concentration of Pashtun used "bazaar speech," crucial for everyday cross-linguis settlements, from Arandu by the Afghanistan horder tic communication in many parts of the region, especi in the south, northward, including Drosh. This means ally in its urban centres. Attitudes to Pashto, however, that the area where Palula, a fairly typical language are not uniform. In Chitral, where Pashto is a relatively with a limited or local scope, is spoken is a transitio "new" language (Morgenstierne 1932, 67), attitudes nal zone, evidenced by the high leve! of bilingualism are generally negative towards Pashtuns and their lang in both languages, with a preference for Khowar in a uage. Many mother-tongue speakers of Khowar, the northern dialect area and Pashto in a southern area. dominant language in the district, speak either Khowar Most Palula men, regardless of dialect, communicate or Urdu with them, rather than using Pashto which is in Khowar with mother-tongue Khowar speakers as often associated with low-status jobs-while Urdu as well as with speakers of any of the other languages well as Khowar are secn as marks of sophistication (K. whose heartland is within the area where Khowar is D. Decker 1992, 21; Marsden 2005, 40-41). This cont the lingua franca, while many choose to speak Pashto rasts with the general sentiment in Swat, where Pashto with mother-tongue Pashto speakers and with spea has long been the dominant language. Among speakers kers of for instance Gawarbati and Dameli. The latter of Torwali, for instance, it is reported that many see two languages, which like Palula are languages with a themselves as Pashtuns, even though thcir mother ton vcry limited geographical scope, are spoken in the non guc is not Pashto. Many hold Pashto in high regard and overlapping area where Pashto is the sole lingua franca. consider it essential for conducting business and com Palula is almost exclusively used among people munication with non-Torwali speakers (Rensch 1992a, who speak it as their first language, and it is only in 61). An interesting pattern noted in the Torwali com the main Palula settlements that it enjoys a somewhat munity is that while there is a significant difference in exclusive status, as there are few resident native spea proficiency in Urdu between educated and less educa kers of other languages. In almost all situations where a ted Torwali men, there is no corresponding difference non-Palula speaker is present, even in one of the main in their Pashto proficiency. This clearly highlights the Palula villages, the language switches quickly to one fact that forma! learning is instrumental to acquiring of wider communication. There isa general reluctance Urdu, whereas Pashto is mainly acquired outside the among Palula speakers to use their own language in educational domain (Rensch 1992a, 35-44). Howe the presence of other-tongue speakers, unless expli ver, attitudes may have changed considerably since citly er;icouraged; and when visiting the bazaar town the early l 990s, as a result of the-largcly Pashtun-led of Drosh speakers of Palula often do not feel comfor and locally unpopular-Taliban insurgency in the Swat table speaking the language even between themsel Valley in 2007-2009. vcs. Although the exact pattern varies from location Many areas display additional linguistic complexi to location, multilingualism is widespread in all Palula ties of their own. In some cases it is possible to speak of settlements, and the ability to use other languages has excessive multilingualism, with a hierarchy of multiple possibly increased over time. There is strong pressure languages, wherein the speakers of the languages with to learn other languages for educational and business the lowest prestige often exhibit the highest degree purposes, and today it is very common for people to of multilingualism. Chitral District, and in particular speak, with some fluency, as many as three languages the southern part of it, can be described as excessi besidcs Palula. Children need to learn Urdu as soon as vely multilingual. Within an area of approximately they start school to gain anything from the teaching, 3000 square kilometres, 12 of the listed languages are and as soon as they leave their home villagc to go to the represented, and three additional other-tongue langu bazaar, or meet people from non-Palula villages, they ages play a significant rote. Somewhat simplified, two need either Khowar or Pashto in order to communi languages function as lingua franca: Khowar, which is cate. Only a few peoplc are purely monolingual: main the mother tongue of the overwhelming majority in ly older people, women to a larger extent than men, thc valley (and district); and Pashto which, although and small children. Although there is little explicit in its speaker community is one of the smallest in the community pressure to abandon Palula, the domains of nr 36-37 (2017) 68 multiethnica use are steadily diminishing. One of the few restraining important languages, such as Hindko, Shina, Kashmiri factors is the relatively low proportion of other-tongue and Khowar, very little airtime is dedicated to these, speakers with a permanent presence in the main sett and usually only nr 36-37 (2017) multiethnica 69 possibly written since the lOth century (Koul 2003, age policy in Pakistan is "meant to strengthen the state 899); Pashto, written since the 16th century (Penzl by promoting Urdu as a national language" (Jan 2011). l 955, 4); and Khowar, written since the early 20th cen At least until very recently, both the central and the tury (Buddruss 1982, 7-27), its practical application provincial government had paid little attention to any has often been very limited; and as far as circulation is language other than Urdu. concerned, it has rarely reached far beyond a small lite Because Urdu is countrywide the most widely under rary circle within the speaker community. The products stood language, the use of any other language has only have been mostly poetry collections, newsletters and rarely met with any official recognition or been alloca religious pamphlets. While there have been attempts ted any significant resources, even though the consti to devise literacy materials for various languages in the tution gives some concessions to provincial languages. region, they have rarely been put to any practical edu- Only Sindhi and Pashto are included in the curricula of government-owned schools, and even then as subjects rather than media of instruction (Rah man 1998, 148-50). In spite of the explicit status given to Urdu, more than 60 years after Pakistan gained its independence, English remains the de facto official language. Nationwide, it is the langu age of the ruling elite, leaving Urdu to be a status symbol for the middle classes. In practical terms this discourages the use of Urdu as a medium for "mo dern" domains such as techno logy, science and politics (Rah man 2006, 77-79), as English is regarded in its role as an official language as a means of moder nizing the state (Jan 2011). The use of English as a medium of cational use. Reading and writing, for those who have instruction has been explained even in recent educa been to school, almost invariably means reading and tional policy by its importance for "competition in a writing in Urdu and/or English. An exception to this globalized world order". 15 pattern is Pashto, or Sindhi in southern Pakistan, which In recent years, however, attitudes seem to have has been used in primary education, although only in been shifting slightly in favour of languages other some of the Pashto-dominated areas. Since the l990s, than Urdu or English. This can for instance be seen in a number of new orthographies (both Arabic- and La the wording of the above-mentioned 2009 education tin-based) along with curricula have been devised and policy: "In addition (to Urdu and English), there are put to use in local educational programmes with vary mother tongues I local vernaculars in the country that ing levels of ambition, even in relatively small language are markers of cthnic and cultural richness and diver communities, a development that we return to below. sity. The challenge is that a child is able to carry for ward the cultural assets and be at the same time, able to compete nationally and internationally." For the first Govemmental and institutional language attitudes and policies time in the history of the country, in February 201 4 the While Pakistan as a whole is host to about 70 langu National Assembly Standing Committee on Informa ages, only Urdu, which is spokcn by 8 per cent of the tion, Broadcasting and Heritage held a discussion on population, has the constitutional status of a natio the language issue inside the National Parliament buil nal language (Rahman 2006, 73).14 Urdu alone is pro ding. Non-Urdu speakers were provided with an opp mule nr 36-37 (2017) multiethnica 71 tional community language to a grandparent language. The third period began after independence. In the Another factor that has a hearing on intergenerational 1950s and l 960s, the study of the region's languages transmission is the dramatic increase in seasonal migra was taken up by a new generation of researchers-Rus tion in the past decade. Many families or entire hous sian, French, German, and so on-with slightly diffe eholds, not only men as was often the case in the past, rent goals and preferences to their predecessors. The move to larger urban centres or bigger cities during the languages of this region also became the objects of winter. In some areas, such as the Swat Valley, religi cross-linguistic comparison, both within the region and ous militancy and a subsequent military intervention, from a more general typological perspective. Detailed and the destruction of much of the infrastructure, has text annotation and the study of individual languages speeded up this development. There are now substan in their cultural context became central aims. tial, semi-permanent groups of Gawri or Torwali spea A more recent push, which began in the 1980s, has kers, for example, in many of the big cities. seen a conscious effort to document language com munities or aspects of languages that bad hitherto escaped such dedicated study. A number of such lang Amount and quality of documentation uage-specific documentation projects have resulted in Linguistic description or documentation of one kind or comprehensive grammars, dictionaries or annotated another has been undertaken since the early 19th cen text collection. Some of those are in the form of PhD tury. Somewhat simplified it can be divided into four dissertations. Many of these undertakings have also to a rough time periods or generations of scholars. The first larger extent than before engaged, trained and involved period could be called the colonial period and stret people from the local language communities. ches from the early 19th century to the First World War. The researchers were almost exclusively British. Past and current efforts in the area of language The first linguistic information began to appear in the maintenance and advocacy 1830s in works mainly concerned with ethnography, geography or history, usually consisting of short sam It cannot be stressed enough that any language mainte ple vocabularies, often with little consistency in trans nance activities or attempts to revitalize languages that cription. Generally, the works of the 1860s-l 880s are have already !ost some of their previous vital ity need to of higher quality, but still mainly limited to word lists. be made with the utmost sensitivity to the communi To some extent, the material started to be used for ties and their values. It is also important to take account comparative studies, but much of what was published of the bigger picture of regional language dynamics. during these years is found in supplements to trave! Furthermore, the willingness-or in some cases reluc notes or ethnographical descriptions of the region. It tance-of individual communities or community mem was not until the last years of the century that the stu bers to collaborate must be seriously assessed. Collabo dy of these languages assumed a more systematic cha ration, or mutual give and take, is no longer optional in racter, and it is during these years that material for the this line of work, and will in every case produce bet Linguistic Survey of India began to be compiled under ter re;ults and additional insights (Mithun 2001). It is the supervision of Grierson. also crucial to understand, however, that such negotia The next period covers the years between the two tion comes at a cost. It is, in our view, essential that the world wars. This period is not one involving a !arge objectives or expectations of the community are roade number of researchers, but rather a few scholars taking central to any research plans or language-related deve on outstanding roles in linguistic description of a fairly loprnent efforts. Such projects need to produce tangible !arge number of languages. Published in the 1920s and and practical applications, which will of course vary in 1930s, these are still quoted as the sole source for some scope depending on the resources available. Such app of the region's less well-documented languages. The lications might be products that not only can be used two most important scholars active during this peri but are truly useful and appreciated by the community, od were Thomas G. Bailey and Georg Morgenstierne. or programmes that empower the language communi Bailey's production mainly concerned Kashmiri and ty. Revitalization for its own sake is rarely sustainable. Shina. Morgenstierne travelled extensively in the regi As far as smaller language communities are concerned, on in the 1920s and produced a nurnber of works on a cross-community networking, institutional support and considerable number of languages, some of them docu regional collaboration seem to be essential as both ini mented for the first time. The studies have an obvious tial motivation and sustaining factors. diachronic character, and the focus was on describing This section takes a brief look at some of the corn phonological and morphological structures. ponents or factors that have already begun to have a nr 36-37 (2017) 72 multiethnica positive effect on language vitality and sustained ling language consultant in 2003. This was in connection uistic diversity in this region. It is primarily based on with the establishment of a regional language resource our personal experience gained from linguistic field centre (see below), and gave him proper employment work, language activism and advocacy in the context status as well as access to workspace, relevant training of northern Pakistan. 16 and the comradeship of and mutual support from a group of other people from neighbouring communities with similar roles. Research and research collaboration A !arge number of other people in the community Traditional fieldwork-whether linguistic, anthropolo were also involved in collaborative research activities. gical or sociological-was typically non-collaborative. One of the more productive activities was a series of The focus was research on a community, wherein the word collection workshops, initially led by the author role of the researcher was mainly that of an observer and Naseem Haider, but later facilitated by Naseem and thc community was usually seen as the passive ob Haider alone. In short, a group of 12 men represen ject of study. This has changed over the years, at least as ting different occupational domains and age groups reflected in the development of research methodology met for about four hours on three consecutive days. (Dwyer 2006, 32). As a first step, ficldwork became re In groups of about three, one of whom functioned as search both on and for a community, a model already a note-taker, they systematically went through, wrack well-established in the work of the Summer Institute ed their brains, discussed and noted clown words and of Linguistics, for example, where language descrip phrases and a !arge number of semantic domains, col tion, scripture translation and literacy programmes ha lectively contributing to a growing lexical database ve bcen the combined results of language communities that would feed into a community dictionary. Working worldwide. Only in the recent decades, however, has with a team from the community, taking various per the methodology incorporated a third dimension: field spectives, specialities and personalities into account, is work as research with or by a community. A framework both a good way of obtaining a broad range of data that encompasses all three dimensions has been label and an opportunity for the community to contribute led "empowering research" (Cameron et al. 1993, 87). to the research process. [n this case it gave many of While one of the authors' (Liljcgren's) own involve those involved an appreciation of lexicographic work ment with the Palula community, from 1998 onward, and an understanding of why it takes such a long time started out much as a one-man enterprise, trying to to prepare a dictionary. achieve aset of academic goals, it gradually developed into a collaborative undertaking and throughout the The Forum for Language lnitiatives and regional project, a number of people from the community beca networking me involved at varying levels of activity, independence and expertise. Friendships as well as good working rela As our research activities progrcssed, we became in tionships, most of the time on a voluntary basis, were creasingly aware of the inadequacy of pursuing purely established early on with a number of excellent people. academic goals while involving ourselves with a local After a time we saw the potential for more extensive community and a language that showed signs of tosing collaboration, and one of the voluntary co-workers its vitality. There was a nagging feeling of taking so was taught to transcribe and use some basic recording mething from the community without offering anyth techniques. He was made a co-researcher rather than ing in retum. Yet, what could an individual scholar do simply an informant. In the next few months he made that would be of any lasting value to the community? a number of valuable recordings, some of them with It was obvious that no existing institution or organiza older people who were eager to have their own stories tion in the country would ever be of any help in this re recorded. Voices of female members of his own hous gard. There were no resources or support within reach ehold could also be recorded, people with whom the fora community that wanted to maintain, revitalize or author, as a non-related male, was not able to interact. promote its own language. Our friend's growing skills in transcription also beca Along with some fricnds, foreign scholars and me a real time-saver, as he intuitivcly, and much more people trying to do something for their own language accurately than the author, noted very subtle contrasts communities, we started to see the need fora common in aspiration or vowel length, among other things. platform for the documentation and development of A few years down the road the need arose for a local languages and cultures. So much could be achie more regular working relationship, and another co ved if language-specific efforts to give local language worker and friend, Naseem Haider, became a full-time workers some linguistic training, raise awareness about nr 36-37 (2017) multiethnica 73 language endangerment, document local traditions and collaboration in matters from orthography develop produce orthographies and vernacular literature could ment to mother-tongue education that from a Wes somehow be coordinated. In 2003, after more than tern perspective would be considered the domain of tvvo years of planning and communicating with nume an individual language. The opportunity to sit clown as rous language activists in the region and other scho representatives of various minor language communi lars engaged in language-related work, as well as fund ties to discuss issues of common interest in the lssues raising and finding our way through the bureaucratic in Language Development workshops held in various jungle, the non-governmental/non-profit organization locations has been much appreciated, and important that later became known as the Forum for Language cross-language relationships have been established. lnitiatives (FLI) was established. 17 The aim of the FLI Many of our Pakistani colleagues hold-probably cor was to be a resource centre for all the language com rectly-that cross-language collaboration in the region, munities of northern Pakistan, but in particular for and perhaps in the country as a whole, is essential in the lesser known and disadvantaged ones. It has now the long run in order to convince politicians that they functioned for more than a decade, providing training, need to take local languages into consideration in edu workspaces and library resources, as well as a meeting cational matters or when allocating resources to pre place across languages, and offering assistance with serve, research and promote local culture, history and setting up mother-tongue cducational programmes or language. The efforts describcd below are also to a !ar publishing literature. ge extent carried out within the framework of the FLI. Perhaps most importantly, the centre represents the language communities thcmselves. Although a number Local language activism, professionalism and vernacular of non-Pakistani consultants and linguists were actively media involved in the initial stages, Pakistani colleagues, most of them mother tongue speakers of languages in the Several years ago, a Pakistani professor and friend of region, have increasingly stepped in and taken over ours expressed his disappointment with all the Wes the administrative, executive and teaching functions. tern scholars who had come to Pakistan throughout There is also an essential informal partnership between the years, often spending a long time studying com the centre and a number of community-based organi munities, languages or cultures, taking that knowledge zations. Most of these organizations are language and back to their universities, and through publications and culture societies that have been formed in order to pro lectures contributing to a better understanding of this mote particular languages, some with a more limited region in the West, but in most cases without having focus on preserving oral traditions, folklore or poetry, left any lasting imprint on the communities in which others with more explicit revitalization goals. A socie they had conducted thcir research. Very few had made ty for the promotion of Palula, Anjuman-e-taraqqi-e any effort to mentor their informants in their respec Palula (later renamed thc Palula Community Welfare tive fields, help them to become researchers in their Organization), for instance, was formed in 2003. Since own right, or even name them as co-authors of any of its establishment, the organization has been active in their publications. approving and rcvising a written form of Palula, in lar It is true that many linguistic fieldworkers today ge part in agreement with the orthographic principles acknowledge that it is not just a nice gesture but also applied to Shina as spoken in the Gilgit area, and in their responsibility to train and mentor the people encouraging local authors and poets to use the writ they work with in a local community, so that they can ten language. Many of its members have participated carry on documentation or produce materials themsel in the training provided by the FLI. In close interac ves (Mose! 2006, 74). This is especially pertinent in a tion with like-minded community-based organizations, country like Pakistan, where unfortunately linguistics in particular the Gawri Community Development Pro as an in independent discipline has been and still is gramme and ldara Baraye Tal.eem-o-Taraqi (represen largely absent from the major universities. While some ting the Gawri and Torwali language communities in courses in linguistics are offered at several English Swat, respectively), it has planned and implemented departments or other language dcpartrnents, they are community-based schools that use their respective at best introductory. Most lack cross-linguistic aspects, mother tongues as the medium of instruction. and any student who wishes to make linguistics his For many of our local languagc activist fricnds, it or hcr major subjcct must npply to study abroad in is simply not enough to see that work is continuing, order to benefit from relevant instruction and super sometimes with considerable success, in an individual vision and get access to professional journals or litera language. For them it is critical to see cross-language ture. This excludes almost any potential student from nr 36-37 (2017) 74 multiethnica viduals will need additional education and mentoring, it is a great achievement to have come this far given the circum stances and the general lack of professionals in the field when the FLI first started. One of the more important compo nents is a one-year Discovery Programme designed to equip learners with the skills to dis cover and document some of the basic features of their own languages and cultures, and to help them begin a language development project. It con sists of four two-week interac tive courses at the centre, each followed by a practical field assignment. The programme has involved participants who Figure 4. lnternational Mother Tongue Day event. speak 12 of the languages lis- the language communities in the north. Even among ted above. the 20 or so Pakistani doctoral level degree holders in A number of language communities now have well the area of linguistics (in a wide interpretation of the established and well-functioning community-based term), very few take an active interest in the docu organizations to address their own language issues. mentation or description of the many lesser-described Staff members from these organizations have gained languages of Pakistan. language development skills through the FLI, as well From the start, one of the main goals of the FLI as skills pertaining to administration, book-keeping and has been to train speakers of the lesser-known langu leadership. As a result, they hold their own seminars, ages in the field of linguistics, culture and literacy. arrange poetry sessions, organize International Mother The focus was not so much on offering a certificate in Tongue Days and carry out government-level advoca this or that subject, or on teaching theory to already cy for the rights of their mother tongues. A few also highly educated individuals, but instead on supplying run mother tongue schools or preschools (see below). a basic understanding of some linguistic, educational Many publish books in and about their languages and and anthropological concepts and providing training in issue local newsletters. The FLI has also helped more practical skills linked to planning and leading a project, directly with publishing books and booklets in the collecting and organizing data, or handling recording region's languages, such as Khowar, Gawri and Palula. devices and useful software. Motivation and commu More recently, the FLI has offered training to repre nity endorsement have been more important criteria sentatives from l 0 language communities in setting up when accepting students on courses and programmes and maintaining community websites, with the result or inviting people to workshops. Almost invariably, the that a number of the region's language communities students- or trainees as they are more often called are now visible for the first time on the Internet and are mother-tongue speakers of the language or mem post material in their own languages, as well as infor bers of the community in which they intend to work. mation about their communities and languages in The centre has provided training of varying scope Urdu and English. and length to more than l 00 people, women and men, most of whom have become teachers and adminis Mother-tongue schools and curriculum development trative staff in community-based schools, education committee members, literacy development specialists, Children growing up in the rural communities of dictionary compilers, translators, researchers or project northem Pakistan of course face many different chal managers. Many are now influential members of their lenges1 but language is one of the biggest obstacles to respective communities. Although all of these indi- overcome when they begin school. Urdu is a foreign nr 36-37 (2017) multiethnica 75 language to the vast majority of them, because until system or translating materials from other languages. that time they have been conversing with family and lnstead, mother-tongue speakers of Palula ( over 30 friends in a language (sometimes more than one) that is men and women) produced all of the curricula from linguistically and culturally distinct from Urdu. Thrus scratch, representing a set of culturally relevant the ting them into classrooms where instruction is in Urdu mes; they themselves set up school management com from the first day and all the books are in Urdu is ex mittees, recruited teachers and other staff, and provi tremely difficult for the children and this puts them at ded classroom space in some of their own homes. The an educational disadvantage from the very beginning. following materials were produced in preparation for In schools where teachers are from the children's own the first school year: 64 reading stories, 64 listening sto language community, the teachers often use some of ries, a primer, a pre-reader, a pre-writing book, a school the local language when explanations are needed, and timetable, bask maths books, "big books," 32 songs and they therefore get a more gradual introduction to the rhymes, a teachers' guide, lesson plans, and a year plan. formal medium of instruction. Not all areas or schools Simple photocopies were roade for each book so that have this luxury. For instance, in the areas where a the material could be edited along the way at low cost. language has a weaker status or is spoken alongside At the time of writing there is a growing demand to other more influential languages, the minority children set up more classes like this in the Palula communi remain silent and inactive throughout the entire school ty as well as literacy classes for illiterate adults in the day. Sometimes this is combined with teachers or fel community. low pupils overtly ridiculing them for their inability to Alongside the Palula community, there are currently speak properly. Sadly, the number of students dropping similar programmes either running or in the process of out of school increases at each grade leve!, partly due being launched in the Gawri, Torwali, Khowar, Hindko to such factors, and it is not uncommon for students and Indus Kohistani communities. Activists have mana who have been to school for only a few years to be vir ged to convince the communities and their leaders that tually unable to form a single sentence in the language the mother tongue as the initial medium of instruction of instruction. is more conducive to learning than starting with Urdu For this reason, people in the Palula, Torwali and or English. Evaluations of programmes indicate that Gawri communities gradually, and in parallel, identi parents are fully satisfied with their children's perfor fied the need for mother-tongue curricula that could mance, and other parents are now requesting admissi be used in schools in their areas. For instance, a trial on for their children to Palula's MLE schools (Rehman orthography was put together in the Palula area, based and Sagar 2015, 119). on linguistic research, and endorsed by the commu nity. Starting with a group of people already literate Awareness raising, advocacy and the future of the in Urdu, basic spelling principles were discussed and languages of northern Pakistan applied in a writers' workshops and, following some fine-tuning, an alphabet book was put together to be Language activists representing various languages in used as a motivational tool in the community. the region are currently engaged in activities to create Through the FLl, the concept of multilingual educa awareness about their mother tongues, many of them tion (MLE) was introduced to the Palula community as part of the FLl intervention. These activities include in 2005. This led to the establishment a fust mother holding seminars, appearing on television or radio pro tongue school in Ashret in 2008 and a second school in grammes, publishing articles in newspapers and pos 2010. Multilingual education is an approach whereby ting comments or information on websites. Some of students, in this case preschoolers, start to learn to read the communities invite scholars or policymakers to and write in their mother tongue, and then gradually such seminars and discussions. Many language commu bridge to the official medium of classroom learning and nities also arrange special programmes in connection instruction. Having completed two years of schooling with International Mother Tongue Day, often inclu in Palula, the children are admitted into the govern ding poetry or music sessions. These events help crea ment primary school. Providing this bridge to Urdu has te awareness about the importance of mother tongues. made the prograrnme more acceptable to parents who It seems that this has resulted in an increased general firmly believe that their children will only succeed if awareness about languages, language issues and langu they are proficient in the national language. age communities. Government, media and policyma The help provided by the FLI was mainly in the form kers are now much more engaged in questions related of training and consultancy. Throughout this process it to local or regional languages than was the case in the was never merely a matter of introducing a uniform past. The number of articles in the national press dea- nr 36-37 (201 7) 76 multiethnica ling with language issues has grown and television talk tion programmes. Most of these are in the size ranges shows raise questions about the country's many langu 5-6, to our knowledge Gojri, Hindko, lndus Kohis ages. There is also a growing concem that education tani, Kalasha, Palula, Torwali, and Gawri. It would should be available in the mother tongues of children. make more sense to re categorize Khowar and all the The Pakistan Muslim League, the political party cur languages ranked by Ethnologue as developing (5) as rently in power, has promised to establish a national vigorous (6a), with the proviso that a number of these commission for the development of the languages of vigorous languages are on their way to becoming deve the country. loping languages (5). We do not agree with the ranking of Gawri (Kalam Kohistani) as threatened (6b). All the available information supports its grouping together Conclusions with the other vigorous (6a) languages. Whether Chi We acknowledge the great difficulties in accurately lisso can be ranked as vigorous is highly doubtful, and characterizing the vitality of an individual language, we would prefer to categorize Gowro, Chilisso, Yidgha, and, even more so, in drawing relevant conclusions re Kundal Shahi and Domaaki in a more generic way as garding language status in an entire region. To illustrate "of decreasing vitality at present". the point, we present the Ethnologue EGIDS ratings In terms of numbers of speakers, these languages (Lewis, Simons, and Fennig 2015) of the languages in are found in a span from millions of speakers to only northem Pakistan in Table 4, and allow ourselves to a few hundred, and it is therefore difficult to genera reflect on some of those measurements that we find lize. However, a typical language in northern Pakistan particularly puzzling or contradictory, referring back to is in the range of 10,000-100,000 speakers. The typi our above review of vitality factors and maintenance cal language is also one that has a relatively lirnited efforts. geographical scope, such as over a district or a moun That Khowar is the only language ranked at leve! 3, tain valley. Virtually all of the languages have limited or even higher than Pashto, is surprising, but is proba domains. None of them are universally used within bly linked to how the descriptor "wider communica their geographical locations. Although a substantial tion" is interpreted. Khowar is indeed, as noted above, number have developed a written form, most have used as a second language by speakers of a number of done so only recently (and with it curricula and lite other languages, but only in a relatively limited part racy materials) and its use is still quite restricted. Urdu of the region, within Chitral District. Pashto, on the and English have total dominance in many advanced other hand, serves as a lingua franca in a much wider domains, including administration, forma! educa region, being the dominant language of Khyber Pak tion and state-run media. Nonetheless, the majority htunkhwa Province, and would therefore qualify as of the languages are vital and unthreatened as car a language of wider communication (3). However, riers of informaJ communication within communities neither Khowar nor Pashto plays a crucial role in admi and in the home domain, and a few are even gaining nistration, whether at the district or provincial leve!, ground in entirely new domains, such as social media and instant messaging. Only in a handful of cases has the Table 4. Vitality measu~s of languages of northern Pakistan according to the EGIDS scale. re been any dramatic loss in EGIDS measu~ __Langu .ages Wider communication (3) Khowar domain use over a relatively · e nr 36-37 (2017) multiethnica 77 ken preference for shifting to another language, or for to have been included in the total of 992,000. one's children to speak another, "more useful" langua 10 Many of these are migrants or descended from migrants who ge. Similarly, there is uninterrupted transmission to the left the Kashmir Valley after the partition of India in 194 7, resi youngest generation in all but a few of the smallest and ding in various places in Pakistan. It is unclear how many are already substantially weakened language communities. residents of Pakistan-administered AJK, and thus constitute a Documentation is ongoing and although a number of permanent ethnolinguistic community of Kashmiri speakers in northern Pakistan. the region's languages are well-described or reasonably well-documented, l 0-12 of them can still be termed 11 Punjabi, Sindhi, Balochi, Saraiki and Pashto. seriously under-documented. 12 According to statistics based on the 1998 census (Government Although official Pakistan has hitherto done little of Pakistan n.d.), Pashto mother-tongue speakers make up 15 for its many languages, there are few practical restric per cent of the population. tions. There are many examples of maintenance efforts 13 See the AVT Khyber website. http://avtkhybcr.tv/. Accessed carried out in the region. These include: linguistic field March 11, 2016. 1 work, the formation oflocal language societies, training • Artide 251 of the 1973 Constitution ("National language") of indigenous groups in language documentation, ort dedares Urdu the national language, with English serving as an hography development, the production of vernacular of6cial language until its expected replacement by Urdu. Con materials, the setting up of mother-tongue schools, stitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. http://www.pakis tani.org/pakistan/constitution/. Accessed 14 March 2016. and various language advocacy initiatives. Scrutinizing some of these efforts, especially those carried out by 15 Government of Pakistan 2009, National Education Policy, 2009, and through the FLI, we have identified a number of Ministry of Education. http://www.aserpakistan.org/document/ learning_resources/2014/National%20Education%2 Policy%20 key factors for success: community involvement and 2009.pdf ownership; an organization specialized in training, 16 coordinating and supporting local initiatives; regional Liljegren as a field linguist and co-founder of the Forum for Language lnitiatives; Akhunzada as a language activist and exe (inter-community) networking; and that any project cutive director of the above-mentioned organization. aimed at local languages results in applications that are 17 truly appreciated by the community. The organization was initially regjstered as a legal entity in Pakistan undet the name of the Frontier Language Welfare Organization, and used the name Frontier Language Institute while based in Peshawar. In 2009 the of6ce and all its main Notes functions were relocated to Islamabad, and the organization is now registered as the Forum for Language lnitiatives. 1 The following districts were included: Abbottabad, Batagram, Buner, Charsadda, Chitral, Kohistan, Lower Dir, Malakand (Pro 18 Some examples indude: the Shina website, http://www.sas tected Area), Mansehra, Mardan, Shangla, Swabi, Swat, and kenshina.com/en/node/33109; the Khowar website, http:// Upper Dir. www.khowarchitral.com/en/node/32740; the Palula website, http://www.palulacommunity.org/en/welcome; and the Gawri 2 The following districts were induded: Muzaffarabad and Nee lum. website, http://www.gawri.org/en/node/32682. 3 The two northern-most ageocies, Baja ur and Mohmand, are part of northero Pakistan as we have defined it. References • US Census Bureau, Demographic lntemet Staff, Demobase: Baart, Joan L. G., and Khawaja A. Rehman. 2005. "A First Look at Gridded Mapping, accessed 11 February 2016, https://www. the Language of Kundal Shahi in Azad Kashmir." SIL Electronic census.gov/population/international/data/mapping/demobase. Working Papers 2005-2008: 22. html. Backstrom, Peter C. l 992a. "Burushaski." In Languages of Northern s A new census is planned to start in March 2016 (Haider 2015). Areas, edited by Peter C. Backstrom and Carla F. Radloff, 31- 54, 243-72. Sociolinguistic Survey of Northern Pakistan 6 Government of Pakistan, Ministry of Finance. http://www.finan 2. lslamabad: National lnstitute of Pakistan Studies Quaid-i ce.gov.pk/survey_l 415.html. Accessed March 15, 2016. Azam University and Summer lnstitute of Linguistics. 7 Varieties belonging to a six-th group, Pashai, are spoken in adja --. 1992b. "Domaaki." ln La11guages of Northem Areas, edited cent areas of north-eastem Afghanistan. by Peter C. Backstrom and Carla F. Radloff, 77-83, 293- 300. Sociolinguistic Survey of Northern Pakistan 2. Islamabad: s The factors are presented in a different order than in the original National lnstitute of Pakistan Studies Quaid-i-Azarn document, to better suit the structure of our presentation. University and Summer Institute of Linguistics. 9 The figures offered by Ethnologue are extremely inexact and --. 1992c. "Wakhi." In Languages of Northem Areas, edited somewhat contradictory. For example, it lists 300,000 as the by Peter C. Backstrom and Carla F. Radloff, 57-74, 273-92. number of Gojri speakers in Pakistan, apparently exduding Sociolinguistic Survey of Northern Pakistan 2. Islamabad: Azad Jammu and Kashmir, but in addition to that, 200,000- National lnstitute of Pakistan Studies Quaid-i-Azam 700,000 in AIK. However, the 690,000 speakers in lndia appear University and Summer lnstitute of Linguistics. nr 36-37 (2017) 78 multiethnica Biddulph, John. 1986. Tribes of the Hindoo Koosh. Lahore: Ali Sandra J. Decker, and Daniel G. Hallbcrg, 83-141, 207- 57. Kamran Publishers. 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