An Ethno Linguistics Perspective on the Marriage Rituals of Burushaski Community of Kashmir

Life cycle rituals are the most important part of an ethno-linguistic study. Rituals incorporate stages like birth, adolescence, youth, adulthood, maturity and death. Every stage in life conveys certain cultural forms, as people travel through these stages. Religion and myth hold important positions in these rituals, as every religion has remarkable soul-changing encounters appended to both natural and sociological events that epitomize life. The semantic structure of the rituals can characterize the implications and meanings of the cultural terms used in the rituals. Through rituals, one can express convictions and demeanor towards one's reality and surroundings. In this paper, all the religious and secular rituals associated with the linguistic community from birth to death are analyzed. The main focus will be on the language use in different rituals and forming a cultural lexicon.