Code mixing
Healthy hai…isme aloe vera hai
Spanish-English (from Valdés-Fallis 1978:1).
a. No, yo sí brincaba en el trampoline when I was a senior.
‘No, I did jump on the trampoline when I was a senior.’
b. La consulta era eight dollars.
‘The office visit was eight dollars.’
c. Well, I keep starting some. Como por un mes todos los
días escribo y ya dejo.....
‘Well, I keep starting some. For about a month I write
every thing and then I stop....’
(2) Hindi-English
a. Train men seat mil jaae to ...
in get then
‘If one gets a seat in the train, then...’
b. Third Class kaa Dibbaa...
of compartment
‘a third class compartment...’ (lit.: compartment of third class)
c. buund-ify kar-naa
liquid-ify do-to
‘to liquefy’
d. ye maamlaa naazuk hai Let’s not talk about it.
This delicate matter is
‘This is a delicate matter, let’s not talk about it.”
e. main kah rahaa huun ki one in hand is two in the bush.
I say ing am that
‘I am saying that one in hand two in the bush.
Definitions
Code-mixing and code-switching
Code-mixing : People incorporate small units (words or short phrases) from
one language or dialect to another one. It is often unintentional and is on word
level (intra-sentential).
Code-mixing refers to the mixing of various linguistic units (morphemes, words,
modifiers, phrases, clauses and sentences) primarily from two participating
grammatical systems within a sentence. In other words, CM is intrasentential and
is constrained by grammatical principles and may be motivated by social
psychological motivations
Code-switching
People (particularly bilinguals or multilinguals) intentionally
switch from one language or dialect to another due to factors such
as situations, subject, feeling and sense of belonging. It is often
well-motivated and is on phrase or sentence level (inter-sentential).
Code-switching refers to the mixing of various linguistic units
(words, phrases, clauses and sentences) primarily from two
participating grammatical systems across sentence boundaries
within a speech event. In other words, CS is intersentential and
may be subject to some discourse principles. It is motivated by
social and psychological motivations.
Some questions
What kinds of elements (linguistic) can be mixed?
Is Code-mixing (henceforth, CM) random/arbitrary? or
Is there a grammar of CM?
Why do bilinguals employ mixed speech any way?
what is the social evaluation of code-mixed languages?
Is Code-Mixing a random phenomenon?
Hindi-English
I told him that ram bahut bimaar hai
Ram very sick is
‘I told him that Ram was very sick.”
*I told
him ki ram bahut bimaar hai
that Ram very sick is
‘I told him that Ram was very sick.”
Please Note: *= Ungrammatical sentence
Socio-Psychological and Linguistic/Pragmatic Motivations
for Code-Mixing and Code-Switching
Linguistic and Pragmatic Functions
A.1 Quotations
From a conversation two Chicano professionals. While referring
to her baby sitter, the speaker says the following:
She doesn’t speak English, so, dice que la reganan: “Si se les va olvidar el idioma a las criaturas.”
‘She does not speak English. So , she says they would scold her: “the children are surely going to forget
their language.’
A.2. Addressee specification:
Another function of mixing or switching is to direct the message to
one of the several possible addressees. Consider the following
interaction in a typical multilingual educated Kashmiri family:
English-Kashmiri-Hindi [Kachru 1990: 63]
A: Hello, how are you kaul Sahib?
B: vaaray mahraj
‘Well, sir.’
A: valiv bihiv
‘Come in, sit down.’
A.3. Interjections
English-Hokkien [Tay 1989: 416]
D: Do what?
A: System analyst la
‘System analyst, what else?’
C: hà
‘Is that so?’
A: Programmer la.
A. 4 Reiteration
Reiteration or paraphrasing marks another function of mixing. The message expressed in one
language is either repeated in the other language literally or with some modification to signify
emphasis or clarification. The following examples illustrate the emphatic and clarificatory
role of mixing, respectively.
English-Spanish: Chicano professionals [Gumperz 1982: 78]
A: The three old ones spoke nothing but Spanish. No hablaban ingles.
‘The three old ones spoke nothing but Spanish. They did not speak English.’
English-Hindi: Father calling his small son while walking through a train compartment.
[Gumperz 1982: 78]
Father: Keep straight. [louder] siidhe jaao
‘Keep straight. Go straight.’
Nonlinguistic (Socio-psychological) Functions
Social meaning in code switching:
Situational switching: Norway (case of Bokamal and Ranamal): B & R have
distinct status and usage to indicate cues.
As indexical of social negotiation:
Sometimes code switching takes place to signal personal rights and
obligations relative to the other participants in the exchange, sometimes
considering probable consequences, sometimes to signal multiple identities
etc.. A case reported by Myers Scotton: Entrance to IBM Nairobi head office.
A visitor, who is a school principal in Luyia area of Western Kenya
approaches the guard and speaks Swahili, English and Luyia dialect fluently.
Social network :
Studies on Chinese community in Tyneside in eastern England focuses on the language
choice as opted by the various groups within this community. The Chinese community,
as reported, does not live in identifiable settlements like other migrant groups. Instead,
they are scattered around the city and generally maintain a low public profile. The first
generation and the sponsored migrants are busy in a family owned catering business
and donot develop social ties with non Chinese groups. However, the third group, i.e.
the Brtish born generation has a much wider social network. However, the family is the
primary social unit, with a very strong internal authority structure. Language choice:
between members of the first or sponsored generation of migrants, it is Chinese, with
some English borrowings. Between the above two groups and the last generation, it is
often a code switched variety depending on the task at hand
