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.