Code Switching and Code Mixing

Code:

According to wardaugh, code is defined as the particular dialect or language one chooses to use on any given occasions and the communication system used between two or more parties. It is possible to refer to a language or a variety of a language as a code. The term is useful because it is neutral. Terms like dialect, language, style, standard language, pidgin, and creole are inclined to arouse emotions. In contrast, the ‘neutral’ term code, can be used to refer to any kind of system that two or more people employ for communication.

Sociolinguistics considers Code Mixing and Code Switching as the by-products of bilingualism.People, then, are usually required to select a particular code whenever they choose to speak, and they may also decide to switch from one code to another or to mix codes even within sometimes very short utterances and thereby create a new code in a process known as code-switching. Code-switching (also called code-mixing) can occur in conversation between speakers’ turns or within a single speaker’s turn. In the latter case it can occur between sentences (inter-sentential) or within a single sentence (intra-sentential). Code-switching can arise from individual choice or be used as a major identity marker for a group of speakers who must deal with more than one language in their common pursuits.Some scholars like Kachru (1983), Annamali (1989), Bokamba (1988), Sridhar and Sridhar (1980), Hamers and Blanc (1990), Bhatia (1992), Poplack (1980) treat these phenomena as the distinct manifestations. Some other scholars like Eastman (1992), Scotton (1992), however, consider that there is no distinction between them.

According to Mary W.J. Tay (1989:408), “Code-mixing involves the embedding or mixing of various linguistics units, i.e. morphemes, words, phrases and clauses from two distinct grammatical systems or sub-systems within the same sentence and same speech situation.”

Crystal (1995) states, “Code or language switching occurs when an individual, who is bilingual, alternates between two languages during his or her speech with another bilingual person.”

To illustrate further the difference in code mixing and code switching, examples are given below:

Life in cities is comfortable bass I am sick and tired of traffic.

Life in cities is comfortable but I am sick and tired of traffic.

Here in the above sentence, only one word from Arabic is mixed in a sentence of English. This is code mixing.

If you work hard, rǽhtingah.

If you work hard, you will pass.

Here in the above sentence, the speaker starts in English but switches to Arabic to complete the sentence. This is code switching.

Two kinds of code-switching: situational and metaphorical. Situational code-switching occurswhen the languages used change according to the situations in which the conversantfind themselves: they speak one language in one situation and another in a different one. No topic change is involved. When a change of topic requires a change in the language used we have metaphorical code-switching. The interesting point here is that some topics may be discussed in either code, but the choice of code adds a distinct flavor to what is said about the topic. The choice encodes certain social values. Linguists have found it very difficult to explain precisely when, linguistically and socially, code-switching occurs, i.e., what all the constraints are. However, there is broad agreement about the general principles that are involved.

There are many uses of code switching:

  1. The first function of code mixing is of “equivalence
  2. Secondly, code switching helps in reiteration.
  3. Thirdly, code switching in language classroom has a repetitive function. In this case, the teacher uses code switching in order to transfer the necessary knowledge to the students for clarity.
  4. Fourthly, Code Switching functions as a bridge between known (native language) to unknown (English.)
  5. Finally, code switching helps in building solidarity and intimate relations between the teacher and the students.

REASONS OF CODE-MIXING

When code mixing occurs, the motivation or reasons of the speaker is an important consideration in the process. According to Hoffman, there are a number of reasons for bilingual or multilingual person to switch or mix their languages. Those are:

a)Interjection

b)Quoting somebody else

c)Expressing group identity

d)Because of real lexical need

e)Talking about a particular topic

f)Repetition used for clarification

g)Being emphatic about something

h)To soften or strengthen request or command

i)Intention of clarifying the speech content for interlocutor

j)To exclude other people when a comment is intended for only a limited audience

Social motivations for code-switching:Code-switching relates to, and sometimes indexes social-group membership in bilingual and multilingual communities. Some sociolinguists describe the relationships between code-switching behaviors and class, ethnicity, and other social positions. In addition, scholars in interactional linguistics and conversation analysis have studied code-switching as a means of structuring talk in interaction.

Mechanics of code-switching:

Code-switching mostly occurs where the syntaxes of the languages align in a sentence; thus, it is uncommon to switch from English to French after an adjective and before a noun, because, in French, adjectives usually follow nouns. Even unrelated languages often align syntactically at a relative clause boundary or at the boundary of other sentence sub-structures.

Some proposed constraints are:

  1. The Free-morpheme Constraint: code-switching cannot occur between bound morphemes.
  2. The Equivalence Constraint: code-switching can occur only in positions where "the order of any two sentence elements, one before and one after the switch, is not excluded in either language." Thus, the sentence: "I like you porqueeressimpático." ("I like you because you are nice.") is allowed because it obeys the relative clause formation rules of Spanish and English.
  3. The Closed-class Constraint: closed class items (pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, etc.), cannot be switched.
  4. The Matrix Language Frame model distinguishes the roles of the participant languages
  5. The Functional Head Constraint: code-switching cannot occur between a functional head (a complementizer, a determiner, an inflection, etc.) and its complement (sentence, noun-phrase, verb-phrase).