Pakistani English Newspaper Paid Obituary Announcements: A Descriptive Analysis of the Transliterated Vocabulary

The study, qualitative and descriptive in nature, examines the use of transliteration in the paid Pakistani obituary announcements authored in the English language. Primarily, it identifies the frequently used transliterated vocabulary in these linguistic messages and reconnoiters the functional relationship that emerges in and between the textual moves of these announcements due to the linkage created by these transliterated words and phrases. Additionally, the study sheds light on the motives of the authors of these announcements behind opting for this lexical borrowing. Data, for the purpose, comes from the two prominent Pakistani English newspapers: The Dawn and The News International. The study concludes that the transliterated vocabulary used in the Pakistani English obituary announcements is a need-based, religiously and culturally enthused, lexical borrowing that not only helps the authors of these texts convey their intentional messages effectively but also enhances the exactness and spontaneity of the contents of these announcements.Keywords: Obituary Announcement, Transliteration, Lexical borrowing, Source language, Target language, Cognitive synonym