Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Introduction: bUingualism aod language contact
- I Sodal aspects of tbe bilingual community
- II The bilingual speaker
- III Language use in the bilingual community
- IV Linguistic consequences
- References
- Index to languages and countries
- Subject index
- Author index
- Miscellaneous Endmatter
10 - Code switching and code mixing
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Introduction: bUingualism aod language contact
- I Sodal aspects of tbe bilingual community
- II The bilingual speaker
- III Language use in the bilingual community
- IV Linguistic consequences
- References
- Index to languages and countries
- Subject index
- Author index
- Miscellaneous Endmatter
Summary
In many situations speakers make use ofthe grammar end lexicon ofjust one language when producing utterances, but rhis is not absolutely necessary. Thus we find utterances of the fcllowing type:
This type ofutterance, known as code mixing, bas been studied in considerable detail since about 1970, from a ioaotinguiuic point of view: why do people switch between languages; from a psychotinguistic point of view: what aspects of their language capaciry enable them to switch; end from a linguistic point ofview: how do we know that they are really switching and have not simply introduced an element from another language into their linguistic system? Many outsiders see code mixing as a sign oflinguistic decay, the unsystematic result ofnot knowing at least one of the languages involved very weil. The opposite turns out to be the case, as we wiJl show in this chapter.
Switching is net an isolated phenomenon, but a central part ofbilingual discourse, as a number of studies have shown. An example is the fol1owing narranve, drawn from Valdës Fallis (1976):
(5) OYE (listen), when I was a freshman 1 had a term paper to do ..
And all of sudden, I starred acting real CURIOSA (strange), you know. I starred going like this. YLL'EGO DECfA (and then I said﹜, look at the smoke coming out of my fingers, like mat. And then ME DIJO (he said to me), stop acting silly. YLU EGO DECfA YO, MIRA (and then I said, look) can't you see. Y LUEGO ESTE (and then this), I starred seeing Iike little stars all over the place. Y VOLTEABA YO ASINA Y LE DECÎA (and I turned around and said to him) look at rhe … the … NO SÉ ERA COMO BRILLOSITO ASI (I don'r know, it was like shiny like this) like stars.
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- Information
- Language Contact and Bilingualism , pp. 117 - 128Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2006