Dissertationsprojekt

Comprehensive Lexico-Semantic Typological Kin-Kit of Major Pakistani Languages

Linguistic typology research on Pakistani languages is only in its early stages and though its significance has been suggested by several scholars, it primarily focuses on systematic study of phonological and grammatical features and it has been given considerably less attention in realms of semantic and lexical organization. Since there is a lot yet to be explored in the field of linguistic typology, the present study focuses on developing the linguistic diversities of the native languages of Pakistani. Kinship phenomenon is highly recognized in Pakistani society on the basis of cultural values and significance of relations. Pakistan is an excellent showcase, due to the important role that the family plays in Pakistani culture, and due to its multilingualism.

Based on similar lines, this project will explore the multiplicities of kinship structures of major native languages of Pakistan and their implications in society. To achieve the purpose, lexical typology is used as a tool to display the meaning-based connections amongst kin-terms of native languages. The study will explore how the kinship terms are distributed and how these are categorized across selected native languages resulting in displaying the possible meanings or concepts. On the methodological side, the study has two parts. The descriptive part will establish a comprehensive database of kin terms which will be used to produce typologies of kinship terminologies by categorizing their parallel structures and identifying kinship clusters in native Pakistani languages. The second part will present connotative meta-analysis of kin-terms and their semantic variations across native cultures. The study will produce a comprehensive Kin-Kit and a systematic catalogue showcasing not only the semantic-pragmatic parallel patterns of diverse languages but also continuously developing semantic constructions of kin relations which are becoming popular (common in use with its metaphorical meaning).