Post-colonial era: Evolution of language, not for the better

Technology has damaged language’s social fabric: writers.

ISLAMABAD:

Language is an important medium of communication that needs centuries to change, according to Nasir Abbas Nayyar, an author of several books including “Ma Baad Nau Aabaadiyaat” (post-colonialism), which encompasses treatises on post-colonialism.

Nayyar was speaking at the Islamabad Literature Festival on “Zamanay kay Sath Zubaan Badal Rahee hay” on Wednesday in front of a packed audience comprising writers, poets and philosophers at the Margalla Hotel. Dr Arifa Syeda Zehra was the other speaker at the session which was moderated by Tehseen Firaqi.

Nayyar said the evolution of language was driven primarily by what he termed psycho-linguistics and socio-linguistics. “We can see it and feel it in everyday life, in our culture and norms,” he said.

Language is a mixture of mind and body, a significant tool for communication that changes over time, he added.

When probed about her opinion, Zehra said while it was imperative for language to evolve with time, it should not be destroyed by mixing it with other languages.

Zehra, a renowned educationist and scholar who has translated several books -- including a Bangladeshi novel, “Darya Bibi” and a Moroccan novel “Ababil” — into Urdu, said the perception of an ‘educated’ person had changed from being knowledge-based to language-based.

“We have changed our perception about knowledge. When we were under British rule, Urdu thrived, but now under the Arab Shahi, our native language is dying,” she said. “We are breaking relations between our language and region.”

Nayyar and Zehra agreed that technology, in particular mobile phones and the Internet, had damaged language’s social fabric. They lamented the use of vernacular at the cost of mainstream languages.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 3^rd, 2013.