CODE-MIXING IN URDU NEWS OF A PRIVATE PAKISTANI CHANNEL: A CASE STUDY

Code-mixing is a common phenomenon in the modern multilingual and bilingual world and it as much occurs in media as it does in other areas of society. This research aimed to explore the extent to which code-mixing is done in Urdu news of a private news channel, if any and to find out the equivalent words in Urdu language. It was a case study in which research technique of qualitative approach has been applied. Thirty on-aired news items were recorded. The tabulated data revealed that the phenomenon of code-mixing is frequently practiced. Although, most of the words have their equivalence in Urdu language but they are not a part of people’s active vocabulary and are not usually used in everyday conversations. It reflected the general behaviour prevailing in the society and that those words are used which are easily available and can facilitate easy and fluent conversation, no matter if they are used by performing code-mixing. The research will help in bringing awareness to news writers and concerned persons about their own practice of code-mixing, so that they remain conscious of the fact that English words do have their equivalents in Urdu language and should be used instead. Moreover, there is a need of making a language policy for the news as they are formal and viewed all over the world.