Talk:Code-switching

Code-switching in literature

As mentioned above, there have been several attempts to add so-called literary code-switching to this article, but no sources seem to describe any of the suggested novels as code-switching. In an attempt to find sources, I came upon work by Elizabeth Gordon and Mark Williams, literature scholars who suggest that when scholars in their field use the term "code-switching" they mean something different from what linguists mean. They write, "So we might say that 'code-switching' has a technical meaning in sociolinguistics but a somewhat different, general meaning when it is used to refer to literature" (1998: 75).

Since this article concerns code-switching as defined in linguistics and sociolinguistics, it is inappropriate to include a section on Code-switching in literature.

Gordon, Elizabeth and Mark Williams. (1998). "Raids on the articulate: code-switching, style shifting, and post-colonial writing." The Journal of Commonwealth Literature 33(2), 75-96.

Cnilep (talk) 23:56, 17 June 2010 (UTC)

Hearing no objections, I removed the section and added a hatnote directing to Macaronic language. That page lists several examples of "Modern macaronic literature", but could use more exposition. Cnilep (talk) 18:27, 24 June 2010 (UTC)

Field template

On 16 August I added the template {{Linguistics}} to this page, reasoning that the topic relates to several sub-fields within linguistics (e.g. sociolinguistics, syntax, phonology, language acquisition). On 17 August Stevertigo replaced that template with {{sociolinguistics}}, presumably reasoning that it is more specific and therefore more appropriate. Stevertigo did not use an edit summary, but did comment at User talk:Cnilep/Archive/11 September 2010#Article integration. See also a related discussion at Talk:Code-mixing.

Do other editors have an opinion on which template is most appropriate for this page? Cnilep (talk) 15:00, 18 August 2010 (UTC)

I think {{sociolinguistics}} is appropriate. It's true that code switching/mixing are relevant to other fields of linguistics too, as you said on your talk page, but really only to the extent that those fields interact with socio. The phenomena are primarily related to socio and only secondarily to the other fields. +Angr 15:37, 18 August 2010 (UTC)

I agree with Angr.·Maunus·ƛ· 15:39, 18 August 2010 (UTC)

Ditto. — kwami (talk) 20:47, 18 August 2010 (UTC)

Not to beat a dead horse (the 'Sociolinguistics' template has been in place for over a month now), but the recently published Cambridge Handbook of Linguistic Code-Switching (ISBN 9780521875912) offers evidence counter to the assertion that code-switching is primarily a sociolinguistic topic. I've not read the volume yet, but I notice that it has five parts of which only one (Part 2, Social aspects of code-switching) is primarily sociolinguistic. Part 3, The structural implications of code-switching, and Part 5, Formal models of code-switching, each deal with aspects of grammar, especially syntax. Part 4 is Psycholinguistics and code-switching. Part 1, Conceptual and methodological considerations in code-switching research, appears to be a general introduction. Cnilep (talk) 22:30, 27 September 2010 (UTC)

AAVE as "register shift"

At various times over the past two or three years editors, often anonymous contributors, have added descriptions of code switching in African American communities to this article. Speakers of African American English (also known as Black English, Ebonics, African American Vernacular English (AAVE), etc.) often speak of "code switching," by which they mean either switching from Standard American English (SAE) to AAVE, or the use of a style that has some features of both. This usage occurs in formal literature (e.g. here), but generally outside of linguistics as such.

In July of 2009 I added a paragraph to the lead section noting this common popular usage, giving both Spanglish and AAVE as examples.

On 29 August 2010 an IP user at 76.240.219.1 deleted the mention of AAVE; the user left no edit summary. I reverted the edit, saying, "Content removed w/o explanation." User:Dodger67 then reverted my edit, saying, "That's a register shift - not code-switching."

This claim butts up against two potentially controversial questions. First, must code switching involve two separate languages (e.g. Haugen 1956), or can it occur within dialects of the same language (e.g. Blom and Gumperz 1972, Milroy & Muysken 1995) or even among registers or styles (e.g. Myers-Scotton 1993, Alvarez 2000)? Second, is African American English a language distinct from American English (e.g. Smith 1998), is it a dialect related to other American dialects (e.g. Labov 1972, DeBose 1992, Rickford & Rickford 2000 inter alia), or is it an informal variety and therefore a "register" of American English? In both cases there is some controversy but consensus generally supports the middle ground: AAVE is a dialect, and code switching can and does occur among dialects.

All of this leaves aside the issue of popular usage, by the way. In popular usage among some speakers of AAVE, "code switching" calls to mind the usage of African American English and Standard American English varieties.

I would suggest that we restore the 2009 language or something close to it. We can also cite DeBose (1992) "Codeswitching: Black English and Standard English in the African-American linguistic repertoire" as support for calling such switching "codeswitching." Cnilep (talk) 17:17, 30 August 2010 (UTC)

We must clearly state that calling it code-switching is in fact controversial - with a suitably condensed version of the above by way of explanation.

Myers-Scotton and Alvarez effectively regard register shift to be merely a particular type of code-switching but I have to disagree. Code-switching is the mixing of different languages within a single conversation while register shift is using different varieties of the same language in different conversations (AAVE at home versus "standard" English at work). IMHO the difference is very clear. Roger (talk) 19:50, 30 August 2010 (UTC)

Our own opinions are not really the point; the point is what reliable sources say. Here are some reliable sources that describe code switching between AAVE and other varieties of English.

• DeBose, Charles (1992). "Codeswitching: Black English and Standard English in the African-American linguistic repertoire". In Eastman, Carol. Codeswitching. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. pp. 157-167. ISBN 185359167X. 
• Doss, Richard; Gross, Alan (1994). "The effects of Black English and code-switching on intraracial perceptions". The Journal of Black Psychology 20 (3): 282-293. 
• Flowers, DA (2000). "Codeswitching and Ebonics in urban adult basic education classrooms". Education and Urban Society 32 (2): 221-236. 
• Koch, Lisa; Gross, Alan; Kolts, Russell (2001). "Attitudes toward Black English and code switching". The Journal of Black Psychology 27 (1): 29-42. 
• Greene, Deric; Walker, Felicia (2004). "Recommendations to public speaking instructors for the negotiation of code-switching practices among Black English-speaking African American students". Journal of Negro Education 73 (4): 435-442. 
• Hobbs, Pamela (2004). "In their own voices: Codeswitching and code choice in the print and online versions of an African-American women's magazine". Women and Language 27 (1): 1-12. 
• Kendall, Tyler; Wolfram, Walt (2009). "Local and external language standards in African American English". Journal of English Linguistics 37 (4): 305-330. 
• Scanlon, Michael; Wassink, Alicia Beckford (2010). "African American English in urban Seattle: Accommodation and intraspeaker variation in the Pacific Northwest". American Speech 85 (2): 205-224. 
• Ervin-Tripp, Susan (2001). "Variety, style-shifting, and ideology". In Eckert, Penelope; Rickford, John. Style and Sociolinguistic Variation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 44-56. ISBN 0521597897.  (While Ervin-Tripp's title refers to style-shifting, the abstract calls it "code- /style-switching". These are switches within a speech.)

I have not found any sources that call AAVE a register, but this one comes close in its discussion of six registers associated with Black English.

• Bragdon, Ida Brownlee (1974). "An essay on a linguistic issue: What is Black English?". Journal of Negro Education 43 (3): 265-274. 

Bragdon's prool/cool/spool/pool taxonomy does not appear to have been taken up in subsequent decades. It's therefore a bit WP:FRINGE. Cnilep (talk) 14:45, 5 September 2010 (UTC)

According to Web of Science, Bragdon has not been cited in any other published work. Cnilep (talk) 13:36, 6 September 2010 (UTC)

Mechanics of Code switching

The Free-morpheme Constraint: code-switching cannot occur between bound morphemes.

Seems that the following example from Russian/Tatar code switching contradicts the previous idea:

• Да уж, ангельское личико… А задний мосты таралмаганмы сон? Ансы куренми бит… Жибар але бер икесен, в полный рост.
• Well, angel face… Is the rear axle of her not combed? You can't see it… Send me onw or two, to the full.

where ы is a bound morpheme from Tatar and мост… well it's not a free morpheme. The rule says: no switiching between bound morphemes… Please, study that deeper. 05:36, 8 November 2010 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.26.233.171 (talk)

code switching in india

I'm quite sure that code-switching is most common not in the countries mentioned, but in India. Here in India in all the cities code-sitch between the state language and English. eg. Hinglish in Delhi, Benglish in Kolkata etc. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 110.224.239.132 (talk) 05:48, 14 November 2010 (UTC)

Code switching is common throughout the world - certainly also in India, but unlikely that it is more so than elsewhere.·ʍaunus·snunɐw· 22:08, 31 August 2011 (UTC)

Examples of code-switching

Until 2008 there were more than two dozen "Occurrences" of code-switching listed on this page, none of which cited sources. Many consisted of true but trivial assertions such as, "Code-switching occurs in the South-Asian heritage communities of Great Britain" and "In China, code-switching occurs very frequently". I September of that year, I replaced these occurrences with an example from a secondary source, a well-known text on bilingualism (Zentella 1997).

Code-switching is a very common phenomenon in most parts of the world. If examples, especially those that come from editors' own experiences and knowledge and do not cite third-party sources, are added they threaten to quickly become unwieldy and trivial. If better examples exist, it may be better to replace one of the current examples than to greatly expand this section. Cnilep (talk) 06:16, 13 September 2011 (UTC)

I agree fully.·ʍaunus·snunɐw· 12:37, 13 September 2011 (UTC)