Abstract

This research focuses on the reasons why the Baloch community living in district Larkana in Pakistan’s Sindh province has shifted away from the habitual use of their heritage language. There is no documented evidence to trace the beginning of the migration of the Baloch community into Sindh. Many of them left their one-time home, Baluchistan, a province in Pakistan, due to tribal conflicts, extreme weather conditions, and natural disasters, and settled in Larkana and other parts of Sindh. Today, the Baloch community considers Sindh as their homeland, and they live in different villages and cities in Sindh. The focus of this study is the Baloch community in Larkana. Researchers have mostly focused on language shifts occurring from one neglected language to a more dominant language. However, in this study, the case of a language group shifting away from one neglected language (Balochi) to another neglected language (Sindhi) is investigated to demonstrate why in a region dominated by English and Urdu, a shift towards the Sindhi language has occurred. Exploring such reasons will help language revitalizers understand that dominance and economic reasons are not always the factors causing language shifts within a community. Interviews with members of the Baloch community provide some reasons for the language shift. Findings clearly demonstrated that there are cultural, solidarity, and psychological factors behind language shift.