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Code-switching as an example of language choice Steve Nicolle (2013)
Code-switching as an example of language choice
Definition
Codeswitching is the term used to identify alternations of linguistic varieties within
the same conversation... Utterances containing codeswitching show the same
discourse unity as utterances in one linguistic variety alone... The linguistic varieties
participating in codeswitching may be different languages, or dialects or styles of the
same language. (Myers-Scotton 1993: 12)
Example (Myers-Scotton 1993: 5)
Setting: A Nairobi office
Participants: Three young women from different ethnic groups (2 Luyia, 1 Luo)
Matrix language: Swahili
Embedded language: English (bold)
1st Luyia woman: Hello guys. Shule zitafunguliwa lini?
Hello guys. When will the schools be opened?
2nd Luyia woman: Na kweli, hata mimi si-ko sure, lakini n-a-suspect itakuwa week kesho.
[I-PRES-suspect]
Well, even I am not sure, but I suspect it will be next week.
Luo woman: Shule zi-ta-open tarehe tatu mwezi wa tano...
[they-FUT-open]
Schools will open on the third of the fifth month...
2nd Luyia woman: Nafikiri shule za primary na za secondary zitatangulia kufungua, lakini
colleges na polytechnics zitakuwa za mwisho kufunguliwa.
I think primary and secondary schools will be the first to open, but colleges
and polytechnics will be the last to open.
Code-switching and code-mixing
Code-switching is used in Sociolinguistics as a cover term for alternations of linguistic varieties
between sentences (see the first line of the example above) and within sentences (see the rest of
the example). In grammatical studies, alternation of linguistic varieties between sentences is called
code-switching, and alternation within a sentence is called code-mixing.
Reasons for code-switching
Code-switching occurs for different reasons. Here we will distinguish 3 kinds of code-switching;
these are not the only possible ways of categorizing code-switching, but they are quite useful in
distinguishing the reasons which motivate them. The three kinds are unmarked code-switching
(the usual language choice), situational code-switching (language choice motivated by a change of
situation), and metaphorical code-switching (language choice motivated by a desire to change the
power and/or solidarity relationship between speaker and hearer).
Unmarked code-switching
For some speakers, code-switching is their usual language choice. Such speakers use code-
switching as a way of indicating a particular dual identity. This type of code-switching is the
Code-switching as an example of language choice Steve Nicolle (2013)
unmarked choice among some bilingual peers (people of similar socio-economic status, age,
ethnic group, etc.) who identify positively with the identities represented by both language
varieties, and with the group that shares this dual identity (Myers-Scotton 1993: 117131). Such
unmarked code-switching is characterized by intra-sentential switching (code-mixing in
grammatical terms).
In discussing the case of young men in Harare and Nairobi who habitually mix English and Shona or
Swahili in their conversations, Myers-Scotton (1993: 122) notes:
[they] are not satisfied with either the identity associated with speaking English alone
or that associated with speaking Shona or Swahili alone when they converse with each
other. Rather, they see the rewards in indexing both identities for themselves. They
solve the problem of making a choice by evolving a pattern of switching between the
two languages. Thus, CS itself becomes their unmarked choice for making salient two
or more positively evaluated identities.
Unmarked code-switching does not occur in situations where there is clear diglossia (2 language
varieties used in different domains) or where the language varieties are markers of ethnic identity
(e.g. French and Flemish in Belgium).
Situational code-switching
At other times, code-switching may be due to a change of situational factors during a conversation;
this is called situational code-switching (which Myers-Scotton terms sequential unmarked code-
switching). Situational code-switching occurs wherever there are bilingual communities, and can
be caused by a change of place, interlocutors, topic etc. or because a specific word or phrase exists
in one language variety but not in another.
Examples of situational code-switching
In this examples of a conversation at the local tax office (from Holmes 2001:36, cited in Lewis &
Henson 2011), the change of topic from family to business motivates a switch from the local
variety of Norwegian spoken in Hemnesberget to STANDARD NORWEGIAN.
Jan Hello Petter. How is your wife now?
Petter Oh shes much better thank you Jan. Shes out of hospital and convalescing now.
Jan Thats good Im pleased to hear it. DO YOU THINK YOU COULD HELP ME WITH THIS PESKY FORM? I
AM HAVING A GREAT DEAL OF DIFFICULTY WITH IT.
Petter OF COURSE. GIVE IT HERE.
Paul Kroskrity (2000, cited in Lewis & Henson 2011) reports the following example of code-
switching by three older Arizona Tewa men who are discussing the selection of a site for a new
high school (which took years of discussion) in the eastern Hopi Reservation:
Speaker F [in Hopi]: Tututqaykit qanaanawakna. ("Schools were not wanted.")
Speaker G [in Tewa]: Wdtknkegenaadi imb akhonidi. ("They didnt want a school on
their land.")
Speaker H [in Tewa]: Naemb eeyae nelemo dbtmm kay wdimu::di. ("Its better
if our children go to school right here, rather than far away.")
Code-switching as an example of language choice Steve Nicolle (2013)
Although Tewa is the expected language in Tewa homes, these trilingual (Tewa, Hopi, and
English) men are following a conversational norm of talking about the Hopi Reservation as a
whole by using Hopi.. Speaker Gs abrupt shift to Tewa, and the reference to the Hopis as
they, clearly show how a new we-they dichotomy is invoked. The Tewas may identify with
the Hopis in facing the outside world, but in political confrontations with the Hopis, Tewa
ethnic identity readily emerges. Here the codeswitch to Tewa underscores the speakers
disapproval of the Hopi conservatism, indecision, and intragroup discord that led to the
failure to locate a new high school on the reservation for several decades beginning in the
mid-twentieth century. (Kroskrity 2000:340-341)
Metaphorical code-switching
When code-switching occurs in situations where there is diglossia or where language varieties have
ethnic associations, and there has been no change in the situation, it is called metaphorical code-
switching (also called conversational code-switching or marked code-switching in Myers-
Scottons terms). Metaphorical code-switching is internally rather than externally motivated: the
switch of language variety is used as a metaphor for a change in the power and/or solidarity
relations between the speaker and the hearer.
An example of metaphorical code-switching
When my mother is in the mood to refer to us by endearments, she will sometimes say that
we are "My mijos." Mijo is a contraction of "mi hijo," which means "my son" or "my child."
This does not make sense as a straight borrowing, because what she is really saying is the
redundant "my my children," yet as a codeswitch it conjures up the feelings of the extremely
close bonds of our Mexican extended family. She is not simply choosing a word, she is
evoking a tradition.
(From website of Amparo Bertram, accessed Dec 31, 2010, cited in Lewis & Henson 2011)
What code-switching is NOT
It is not a performance error, i.e. it is not caused by a lack of proficiency in the matrix language.
Code-switching is common among fluent bilinguals.
Code-switching must be distinguished from borrowing. In borrowing, the borrowed words (loan
words) become assimilated to the phonology and grammar of the receptor language. In code-
switching, people tend to switch completely between the two linguistic systems sounds,
grammar & vocabulary (Holmes 2001: 43, cited in Lewis & Henson 2011). Note the English plural
forms of colleges and polytechnics have been used in the example on p.1, retaining English
grammar as well as vocabulary.
References
Holmes, Janet. (2001). An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. Pearson Education.
Kroskrity, Paul. (2000). Language ideologies in the expression and representation of Arizona Tewa
identity. In P. V. Kroskrity (ed.). Regimes of Language: Ideologies, Polities, and Identities.
Santa Fe: School of American Research Press. pp. 32959.
Lewis, Paul & Bonnie Henson. (2011). Introduction to Language Development. Unpublished course
materials: SIL International.
Myers-Scotton, Carol. (1993). Social Motivations for Code Switching: Evidence from Africa. Oxford:
Clarendon Press.