ABSTRACT
Previous research has illustrated that migrants of Punjabi ancestry often have multilingual repertoires and in their daily communicative practices move between different languages in more hybrid and heteroglossic ways, while simultaneously making severe efforts to learn and maintain the Punjabi language across generations as a heritage language and a “mother tongue” with perceived links to the “homeland” of Punjab (see e.g. Dosanjh and Ghuman, 1997; Bradby, 2002; Detaramani and Lock, 2003; David, Naji and Kaur, 2003; Shankar, 2008). Moreover, the Punjabi language with its gurmukhi script is for many Sikhs more than just a means for communication but represents a language that bears historical and religious significances. It is perceived to be a sacralized language in the textual traditions, intimately associated with Sikh religious practices, and has at different times and places been used for politics of recognition and to mark out identity, community and space (see e.g. Grewal, 1999; Dusenbery, 1997; Hall, 2002). While Sikhs in increasingly diverse communities continue to display complex linguistic repertoires and uses in their everyday life, Punjabi is often represented as a heritage language, sometimes with an almost indexical relationship to Sikh identities and an imagined global community.
