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…

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…