Dr. Zahida Hussain
Government College Women University, Pakistan
The research aims at exploring the divergent patterns in the native and non-native Englishes in terms of variant tag questions (TQs). It tries to explore the forms and functions of variant TQs in two native (British and New Zealand) and two non-native (Indian and Singaporean) varieties with, of course, a major focus on Pakistani English. ICE components of the said varieties have been used in the research. The results revealed that TQs are under-used in non-native Englishes while least used in Pakistani English. As for the forms of TQs, unlike Singaporean and Indian speakers, Pakistani speakers follow the native speakers and observe the rules in the formation of tag questions. The do operator is equally prominent in the TQs of all varieties. The functions of TQs have also been analysed following Axelsson’s (2011) model in Pakistani English and the functions of declarative TQs have been compared with that of Indian English as both varieties share almost similar linguistic and sociocultural background. This showed that the speakers of both varieties prefer to use TQs where they want to exchange information. Moreover, tendencies have been found in the use of TQs where the speakers want to elicit information from the addressee. The formal and functional analysis showed that although there are some similarities in Pakistani and Indian varieties, at the same time, the tangible differences have been located. This leads towards the assumption that Pakistani English is a separate variety and cannot be merged with any other variety.
The above abstract is a part of the article which was accepted at The Fourth Annual International Conference on Languages, Linguistics, Translation and Literature (WWW.TLLL.IR), 1-2 February 2020, Ahwaz.
