Scripting change: The orthographic impact of intergenerational phonological change in Indian Sindhi

Abstract

Studies have shown that spoken Sindhi, both in Pakistan and India, has been undergoing phonological changes from generation to generation, from at least the mid-20th century (Bughio 2001; Iyengar 2017). These changes involve both vocalic as well as consonantal transformations, resulting in the emergence of two different chronolects (Frellesvig 1996), or varieties spoken by the older and younger generations. Bughio (2001) terms these chronolects ‘Old’ and ‘New’, respectively. The Old chronolect is most evident in the speech of Sindhi speakers aged 60 years or older, while the New chronolect is characteristic of the speech of those aged 40 years or younger.