Phonological variations and changes in mewati language Shahbaz Ali ID # 14016084015 M. Phil / MS A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of M. Phil/MS in Applied Linguistics in DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES (SSSH) UNIVERSITY OF MANAGEMENT AND TECHNOLOGY (UMT) 2017 i Dedication To my parents, family and friends, Who did everything for me to achieve my goals in life . Thanks to my honorable teachers, especially Dr. Muhammad Shaban Rafi who guided me to locate such kind of great destination. ii Acknowledgement I praise Allah Almighty for providing me this opportunity and permitting me the ability to proceed successfully. I would like to express gratitude to my parents, friend and teachers who helped me to write this dissertation. I am grateful to my honorable supervisor Dr. Muhammad Shaban Rafi for motivational and inspiring comments and ideas. I am also grateful to Mr. Muhammad Saad who also gave valuable comments onmy thesis. My deepest and heartiest thanks for my beloved parents, family and friends, who always encouraged and facilitated me at every moment. iii Declaration I do solemnly declare that this research work has been written by Shahbaz Ali In partial fulfilment for the degree of Masters of Philosophy in Applied Linguistics DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES (SSSH) UNIVERSITY OF MANAGEMENT AND TECHNOLOGY (UMT) LAHORE iv Abstract This study examines phonological variations and changes in the variety of Mewati language spoken in the districts of Lahore and Kasur. To reveal phonological variation and changes 15 variants in this variety of Mewati language were analyzed. Quantitative methodology was used in the study to answer the research questions. Mewati speech community migrated from the current state of Rajasthan, India and settled across the various districts of Pakistan in 1947. In Pakistan after migration, Mewati speech community came into contact with other languages and dialects spoken across Pakistan. Over the years, the use of Mewati language has been diminishing. Striking features have been noted at diverse linguistic levels, such as phonetics and phonology, lexicon, semantics and syntax. Labov (1966) argued that language change could be measured across diverse age cohorts. Apparent time hypothesis was considered appropriate to study variations and changes in Mewati language. The data was collected from a sample of 30 respondents belonging to various age groups. The respondents were living in both rural and urban areas. The three age groups were between 13-19 years, 20-40 years and 40-70 years respectively. The participants were the residents of Lahore and Kasur. The results showed a significant phonological variation and change in the speech patterns of 13-19 years old Mewati speakers. While, the second age group (20-40) displayed fluctuation between speech sounds in Nevertheless, the respondents in the third age .ﭼﺎﻭﻝversus Chawal ﭼﺎﻣﻞ -words such as Chamal and ﭘﮑﻞ-group 40-70 were observed to always use original sounds of Mewati suach as pakal as opposed to their Punjabi and Urdu substitutes in words like the above mentioned ; ﭘﮑﮍ -pakarr examples. Considering the changes in the speech of the first age group (13-19 years), there is significant reason to believe that the Mewati language holds a tendency to be changedconsiderably in future. v Table of Contents Acknowledgement ........................................................................................................ ii Declarationn ..................................................................................................................iii Certificate ...................................................................................................................... iv Abstract .................................................................................................................. …. v Table of Contents ......................................................................................................... vii Chapter One….. ......................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1 1.1.Overview of the Chapter ............................................................................................... 1 1.2. Introduction to the Topic .......................................................................................... 1 1.3. Pupose of the Study .................................................................................................. 5 1.4. Objectives of the Study ............................................................................................. 5 1.5. Significance of the Study .......................................................................................... 6 1.6. Research Questions .................................................................................................. 6 1.7. Summary ................................................................................................................... 6 1.7. Outline of the Study .................................................................................................. 7 Chapter Two.................................................................................................................................... 7 Literature Reviw ............................................................................................................................. 7 2.1. Chapter Overview ................................................................................................ 7 2.2. Origine of the Term ............................................................................................... 7 2.3. History of Meo and Mewati Speakers ................................................................... 8 2.4. Linguistic Variation Across Society ..................................................................... 9 2.5. Language Contact ................................................................................................ 11 2.6. Borrowing ............................................................................................................ 14 2.7.Theoretical Background .............................................................................................. 15 2.8. Social Structure and Factors ................................................................................ 17 2.8.1. Class ........................................................................................................................ 18 vi 2.8.2. Age 19 2.8.3. Social Networks .................................................................................................. 20 2.8.4. Gender .................................................................................................................. 21 2.9. Phonological Studies ............................................................................................ 21 2.10. Lexical Diffusion ................................................................................................. 24 2.11. Rural and Urban Setting ...................................................................................... 25 2.12. Models of Language Change ................................................................................ 29 2.12.1. Gravity Model ....................................................................................................... 29 2.12.2. Wave Model ........................................................................................................ 31 2.12.3. Family Tree Model .............................................................................................. 32 2.13. Summary ............................................................................................................. 32 Chapter Three................................................................................................................................ 33 Methods and Material ................................................................................................................... 33 3.1. Overview of the chapter ...................................................................................... 33 3.2. Methodology ....................................................................................................... 33 3.2.1. Data collection Procedure ...................................................................................... 33 3.2.2. Sample................................................................................................................. 34 3.2.3. Data Collection Tool ............................................................................................... 35 3.3. Ethical Considerations ............................................................................................ 37 3.4. Data Analysis .......................................................................................................... 38 3.4.1 Defining Variable ................................................................................................. 38 3.4.2. Theoretical Underpinning ................................................................................... 38 3.5. Summary ................................................................................................................