Issues in the study of bilingualism and multilingualism in India and Pakistan are examined, including the delineation of linguistic boundaries, defining a society that is multicultural and yet has developed a "communication ethos" based on a core of common experience, the difficulty in interpreting language role and defining language…

Sociolinguistics is a multidisciplinary field that studies language in temporal and spatial contexts, and observes language functions, identity and design, and considers the process of language learning and social controls on language. (CK)

A discussion of the Sindhi language diaspora, the biradari, across India and Pakistan looks at the implications of this geographic dispersal for the cohesion of the Sindhi-speaking community and culture. Three sociocultural characteristics of the scattered population are identified: urbanization; near-universal literacy; and bilingualism. Patterns…

Tribal cultures in South India are extremely varied. This paper examines different indicators of modernization, such as the degree of urbanization and the spread of literacy among the tribes, focusing on how modernization affects the tribal mind set and how this awareness is reflected in various processes of acculturation (e.g., claiming one's…