Codeswitching

The term codeswitching (or code-switching) refers to the alternation between two or more languages, dialects, or language registers in the course of discourse between people who have more than one language in common. Typically one of the two languages is dominant; the major language is often called the matrix language, while the minor language is the embedded language.

• (Code-switching) "occurs when a bilingual introduces a completely unassimilated word from another language into his speech." (Haugen 1956:40)
• "Codeswitching ... is the selection by bilinguals or multilinguals of forms from an embedded variety (or varieties) in utterances of a matrix variety during the same conversation" (Myers-Scotton 1993:3).

Subtypes

• intersentential codeswitching
• intrasentential codeswitching

Examples

• German-Spanish
  • Aber du #sabes que eres, o sea, tú sabes que# du bist gut, zum Beispiel besser in Mathe als in Deutsch. #Eso sabe.
  • Aber du weißt, dass du bist, also, du weißt, dass du bist gut, zum Beispiel besser in Mathe als in Deutsch. Das weiß er.
• English-German
  • Nein er kam doch erst um neun, #you know?
  • Nein er kam doch erst um neun, weißt du?

The first example (from Edel 2007) shows, in its first sentence, a case of intrasentential codeswitching, where the switch occurs between words or phrases (it may also occur within the same word). Both sentences together provide an example of intersentential codeswitching, where the switch occurs between sentence boundaries. The second example illustrated a third (and rarely noted) form of codeswitching, the so called 'tag switches', where a tag phrase from the second language is embedded into the matrix language.

Comments

Codeswitching may be highly marked, depending on the interlocutors' specific social determinants such as age. The phenomenon is to be differentiated from borrowing. In general, the easiest way to find out whether a word or phrase is a borrowing in a given language is to determine whether the word is used by monolinguals of that language or not: Code switches are used exclusively by bilingual speakers.

Note on terminology

The terms codeswitching and 'code mixing' are oftentimes used synonymously, though 'code mixing' is often used for intrasentential codeswitching only.

Origin

Apparently the term was first used by Einar Haugen (e.g. Haugen 1956).

Reference

• Haugen, Einar. 1956. Bilingualism in the Americas: A bibliography and research guide. Montgomery: University of Alabama Press.
• Myers-Scotton, Carol. 1993. Duelling languages: Grammatical structure in codeswitching. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Other languages

German Sprachwechsel, Codewechsel, Codeswitching (de)