URDU CODE-MIXING ON PAKISTANI TWITTER: LINGUISTIC INNOVATION OR IDENTITY CRISIS?

Abstract

With the evolution of computer mediated communication, language does not function in a traditional sense where words are used on paper in combination with other linguistic, cultural and social factors when being grouped or joined. In Pakistan, Twitter is a powerful platform on which code-mixing between Urdu and English is prevalent. This study aims to determine whether such code-mixing is an act of linguistic innovation or it expresses an identity crisis among Pakistani users. Using a single-case mixed-method design, this study analyzes computationally 5,000 microblog posts published in Pakistani Twitter alongside interview data gathered from 25 active users. The results indicate that the use of code-mixing has three functions: it promotes stylistic creativity, communicates socio-cultural identity, and makes digital discourse more efficient. But at the same time, it’s a product of forces that also reveal conflicts over authenticity, globalization and linguistic power. Where younger users see code-mixing as a mark of being modern and inclusive, opponents consider it a degeneration of language purity. In this paper we contend that the contemporary GCMU is not simply lacking in language but it also lacks the drama of existential identity crisis; instead, it stands as a creative innovation serving hybrid digital cultural identities. The contribution of this study to the field of sociolinguistics is that it presents Pakistani Twitter as a smallscale model of multilingual communication in globalized contexts.

Keywords: Urdu-English code-mixing, Pakistani Twitter, digital identity, sociolinguistics, linguistic innovation, globalization, cultural hybridity