Other Tongue: Heritage Language Shift among Young Sindhis in Pune

Earlier studies have revealed that heritage language shift is indeed taking place among sections of the Sindhi community in India. This study analysed the opinions of Sindhis in Pune below 35 years of age who admitted to having undergone such language shift, as to why this shift has occurred, and to what extent English is responsible for it. The results showed that learning or using a language, in the eyes of the informants, depended on the necessity of, exposure to and prestige associated with that language. It emerged that English ranked highly and Sindhi ranked low on all three parameters.