Mahwish Bangash

Ms/MPhil in Linguistcs

Session 2020-21

Department Of English/Linguistics

Islamia College University Peshawar

Course Title

Communication Theories

Instructor

Dr. Iqbal
 The Coinage of New Words with Talibanization

   Coinage of new word is a rudimentary or integral part of every language as it ensures that
languages keep up with the scientific, technological and cultural advancement and evolution
of mankind. Whenever there is a new word invented or discovered, it needs a name. Pulling
out your trusty pocket dictionary or your trustier search engine will not do any good, so
people just make up a new name for it. This is called descriptivism and is common among
the masses and intelligentsia alike. If the new, unofficial word gains popularity and is
commonly spoken by the majority of the community, then it is eventually made an official
word and added to the dictionary. The word is said to have been "coined". Regardless of
what prescriptivists say in their filibusters, word coinage cannot occur without descriptivism,
which is the view that unofficial words can and should be introduced into languages to suit
the ever-changing needs of humanity. This essay delves deep into the phenomena of word
coinage and explains its function, importance and procedure, with reference to modern-day
and recent examples, especially the coinage of words resulting from Talibanization.

        Talibanization is an important phenomenon in world politics which has begotten the

coinage of numerous words in many important languages. During the 1879-88 Soviet-
Afghan War, the Afghan Mujahideen were mostly students, which is why a faction amongst
them began calling themselves "Taliban" which comes from the Arabic word 'Talib' meaning
'student' and the Persian suffix '-an' which denotes plural form. The Soviet Afghan war was
a major political event in which the U.S.A, England, U.S.S.R and many other important
countries were also involved, so the word Taliban became a commonly used term and was
coined into the Afghani, Urdu, Pashto, English and many other languages. A few years after
the war ended, the U.S.A. also tried its hand at invading Afghanistan. In retaliation, the
Taliban bombed U.S. embassies, which obviously resulted in enmity between the two sides.
The U.S.A. accused the Taliban of terrorism and lambasted them to such an extent that in
doing so they changed the meaning of the word Taliban to mean 'terrorist' or 'extremist'.
Similarly, the Taliban are known for their strict enforcement of Islamic laws and values and
absolute intolerance towards other religions and sects. As a result, now the term Taliban is
also used for any individual, community or organization which is considered to hold
repressive policies against others. e.g. There are new words being coined due to
Talibanization such as the word ‘saffronisation’. Radicalized Muslims often use the term
‘saffronisation’ to attack the Hindu nationalists as ‘kafirs' (infidels )and ‘Hindu Talibs’. The
term ‘saffronisation’ is used to describe policies related to Hindu nationalism. This word has
also been used to indicate Sikh Extremism .
Al-Qaeda ‘The Base’, ‘The Foundation’ is a militant Sunni Islamist multi-national terrorist
organization founded in 1988 by Osama bin Laden and several other Arab volunteers during
the Soviet–Afghan War. The organization has been designated as a terrorist group by
the United Nations Security Council, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO),
the European Union, the United States, China, the United Kingdom, Russia, India, and
various other countries. Their belief is that Al-Qaeda operates as a network of Islamic
extremists and Salafist jihadists.
Another word coined due to the Taliban is "Jihadist", which comes from the Arabic word
'Jihad' meaning 'struggle'. Muslims commonly use Jihad to mean 'fighting a war for the
cause of Islam'. Major political events such as the Soviet-Afghan war and the U.S.-Afghan
War (which involved the Mujahideen and Taliban) led to the word Jihad reaching the
Americans, who added their own suffix '-ist'(meaning: does, supports or believes in) to it to
coin a new word 'Jihadist'. Other languages besides English also had words coined due to
Talibanization. In Pashto the word 'jacket' had been borrowed from English, without a
change of meaning, but due to suicide-bombs frequently detonating in K.P.K the meaning
changed to 'suicide-bomb vest'. Catastrophes like 9\11 and taking over of Gaza strip in June
2007 to imply religion, callous bombing and terrorism in multiple countries has made the
talibans increasingly unpopular.       
Hence ,The surge of Talibanization as a result of the War on Terror waged by the US post
9/11 is viewed differently by various sections of society in the world, for some its
traditionalism, revivalism, revisionists and Islamic modernism while for others it is terrorism,
extremism and undermining democracy by the canopy of religious Fundamentalism.
Therefore, coinage of new words has become very important for today’s developing world as
there are always improvements in technology and new words need to be coined and added
to the dictionary so that everyone understands what the term or word is used for.