Hindi-Urdu conversational styles/exchange patterns

Everett, Daniel DEVERETT at BENTLEY.EDU
Wed Aug 14 17:56:34 UTC 2013


Mike,

Thanks. Yes, I am aware that they are the same language. When I taught at U of Manchester, I regularly assigned intro students to interview folks on the "curry mile" about Hindi and Urdu. The language attitudes vary quite a bit.

However, now that the cultures are diverging I am interested in exactly those "stylistic" differences. Though they are mutually intelligible, are different strategies occuring for dialogue in different contexts, especially contexts that exist in one cultural context but not another?

I did not want to prime my question in any way, hence it could have given the impression that I wasn't aware of the well-known fact that they are the same language.

I am interest in variable rates of shift for culture and language and how one can come to affect the other. 

Dan

Everett, Daniel. in progress. Dark matter of the mind. University of Chicago Press.

On Aug 14, 2013, at 1:51 PM, Mike Morgan wrote:

> Dan,
> 
> I am not sure you will find anything, since at the conversational
> level they are one and the same language. (and, at least in some parts
> of India -- Mumbai for example -- everyone -- except right wing Hindu
> fanatics -- will admit that the purist Hindi speakers are the
> Muslims... because "pakka" Hindi = Urdu).
> 
> Differences only come into play at "higher" stylistic levels... and
> when politics comes into play (i.e there may well be a LOT of
> differences in speeched of Hindu "fundamentalist" wing politicians in
> Hindi vs Muslim "fundamentalist" politicians in Urdu. (Also of course
> difference in writing styles... beond the obvious difference ins
> cript.)
> 
> OR, given the 60-some years of separation there might be differences
> at the conversation level between the Hindi-Urdu of India and the Urdu
> of Pakistan.
> 
> BUT, that said, I am unaware of any such contrastive studies off hand...
> 
> 
> 
> On 8/14/13, Everett, Daniel <DEVERETT at bentley.edu> wrote:
>> I am looking for a study contrasting or comparing conversational (in
>> particular turn-taking) patterns in Hindi vs. Urdu.
>> 
>> 
>> Dan
>> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> mwm || *U*C> || mike || माईक || мика || マイク (aka Dr Michael W Morgan)
> sign language linguist / linguistic typologist
> academic adviser, Nepal Sign Language Training and Research
> NDFN, Kathmandu, Nepal



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