FROM COURTROOM TO COURTYARD: THE DECLINING DOMAINS OF USE OF BALTI AND SHINA IN BALTISTAN

Abstract

Balti and Shina are widely used across Baltistan; however, they are gradually receding from their traditional domains of use and are contracting to a few informal settings. This study primarily examines their use in the following domains — family and friends, education, workplace, administration, religion, and digital communication —while considering the implications for the vitality of these languages amid changing trends among their speakers. Fishman's Domain Theory provides the analytical framework for the current study, and Lewis and Simons’ Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale (EGIDS) helps interpret the results to assess the vitality of these two languages in the Baltistan region. The study follows a mixed-methods approach, i.e., an Explanatory Sequential Design, drawing data from questionnaire responses from 1286 respondents, followed by semi-structured interviews and field observations. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, while qualitative data were analyzed thematically. The findings show no uniform decline in Balti and Shina use among native speakers across all domains. They are still used among friends and family, especially in communicative events involving people from older generations. However, younger generations are gradually reducing their use in day-to-day communication, preferring Urdu and English, especially in education, administration, formal settings, and on social media platforms. Although native speakers of Balti and Shina express positive feelings toward their mother tongues, these attitudes do not translate into regular use in real-life communication. The mismatch between attitude and actual use suggests that these languages are valued as symbols of identity but are losing some of the most important functions that sustain them. Taken together, these findings indicate that these languages are at level 6b of EGIDS. This classification is an evidence-based interpretation and should not be treated as a definitive assessment of every Balti or Shina community in the Baltistan region. The study suggests that Balti and Shina vitality depends not only on positive attitudes toward them, but also on their transmission and regular use across family, education, administration, and other important and effective domains of language use.