Your Tongue Is Still Yours: Reflections On Language

Dur e Aziz Amna

Nov 2019 · Random House

About this ebook

2019 WINNER OF THE BODLEY HEAD | FINANCIAL TIMES ESSAY PRIZE

'Surkh gulaaban day mausam vich,
Phulaan de rang kaalay.

(In the season of red roses,
These flowers are turning black.)'

Your Tongue Is Still Yours is a poetic meditation on language, regional cultures and how identity exists in the many layers between the two. Punjabi. Urdu. English. Arabic. Balti. Shina. Khowar. Wakhi.

Dur e Aziz Amna goes back to Pakistan, traversing its different regions before returning to New York, considering how language has shaped her past and how it might do the same for her children’s future.

Ratings and reviews

Salaams, i'm Britpak. I lived an a Pakistani, English and Italian community whilst growing up. As a child we were expected ( by our elders and parents) to speak our own language, wear shalwaar kameez and eat our own food whether others liked it or not. At the time i thought it was unfair and prevented me from assimilating. Now I know better and am proud to speak several languages, married a desi and my child is familiar with both cultures, bilingual and qawally loving! Languages open up the doors to culture and history which enriches our lives. Urdu is derived from Turkish and Arabic, making it easier to learn those languages too. Why sell Gold for Iron? I like your book, thanks for putting it out there and reminding us that language is the key to solidarity and unity.

I love the book good

I need book Arabic I am Arabic

About the author

Dur e Aziz Amna is a writer based between Rawalpindi and Ann Arbor. She was educated at Yale and is an MFA candidate at the University of Michigan Helen Zell Writers' Program. She is 27 years-old and is currently working on her first novel.

dureazizamna.com