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A response to MacSwan (2005): Keeping the Matrix Language

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 November 2005

JANICE L. JAKE ,
CAROL MYERS-SCOTTON  and
STEVEN GROSS
JANICE L. JAKE
Affiliation:
Midlands Technical College, Columbia, SC
CAROL MYERS-SCOTTON
Affiliation:
Midlands Technical College, Columbia, SC
STEVEN GROSS
Affiliation:
Midlands Technical College, Columbia, SC
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Abstract

This comment responds to some of the criticisms that MacSwan (2005) presents of the Matrix Language Frame (MLF) model of codeswitching (CS) in general and of Jake, Myers-Scotton and Gross (2002), in particular. The goal is to point out misunderstandings and misinterpretations that are the basis of MacSwan's critique. His attempt to show how the Minimalist Program can explain CS on its own fails. Theoretically, while either of the participating languages in CS could frame the bilingual CP, only one, the ML, does. That is, recognizing the construct of the ML as the source of the morpho-syntactic frame of each bilingual clause showing CS is necessary.

Type
Research Note
Information
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , Volume 8 , Issue 3 , December 2005 , pp. 271 - 276
Copyright
Cambridge University Press 2005

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Footnotes

The authors wish to thank two anonymous reviewers for their suggestions in revising this contribution.