Chapter Two
Language Choice in Multilingual Communities
Q- Choosing
from the linguistic repertoire is related to the Domain. How?
Q- Explain how
Domain is an important linguistic term.
Examples 1, 2 and 3 clarify how the social factors
influence the use of linguistic forms. Social factors like participants,
setting, topic and purpose make up the Domain. The Domain determines the choice
of the code or variety rather than others in our linguistic repertoire.
A Domain is:
Ø A term made by the American Sociolinguist, Fishman.
Ø It is a very general concept which depends on three
social factors: participants, topic and setting. It involves typical interactions between typical participants in typical settings.
For example, in a family domain, the setting would be home, the participants
would be family members and the topic would be any family related topic.
For example, the
linguistic repertoire of a boy living in Zaire would be informal Shi which is used at home, market place, formal Shi which is used for weddings and
funerals, Swahili which is used as a lingua
franca to deal with people from a different tribal group, and is also used at
school, and with officials at government offices, or having job interviews, and
Kingwana which is used to the adults he
meets in the streets, younger children and also in the market place, Indoubil is used among young people regardless of
their ethnic background.
Similarly, in Paraguay two languages are used: Spanish
and Guarani. The use of each language is determined by the domain. For example,
if we take the university as a setting, a student and a lecturer as the
participants, a lesson discussion as the topic, the domain here will make one
choose Spanish, because Spanish is used for education, religion and
administration domains. Other domains like family, friendship is related the
use of Guarani.
A bilingual Tongan New Zealander would use Tongan in family interactions in a home setting,
the participants will be family members, and the topics will be family
activities. All these social factors make up the Domain. However, English will
be used in domains like education.
Ø It is important for bilingual and multilingual speech
communities because it helps in making models that summarize the norms of
language use. It forces us to be very clear about which domains and varieties
are relevant to language choice. Also, it compares patterns of code choice in
different speech communities. it also serves as a summary to a newcomer to a
community to describe which code to use in a particular situation.
Code switching
Q- How is code choice governed by social
factors?
Q- What is code switching? How do social
factors influence code switching?
ü Other than setting, topic and participants, there are
other more specific social factors that affect code choice (code switching).
ü The components of a domain are not always related.
This means that some times a typical setting will not involve typical
interaction. For example, two sisters may not use the local dialect which is
the appropriate code related to the domain of “home” while they discuss a
school topic, although the local dialect is supposed to be the typical code
used for that setting and for these participants. This is because they feel
more comfortable in using English, for example, for the school topic they are
discussing. This means that the code related to the domain of education is
leaking into the domain of home.
ü Therefore, code switching happens when particular
topics are discussed in one code rather than another, regardless of the setting
or the addressee.
ü Social dimensions also contribute to code switching. Social distance between the participants
determines the use of one code rather than another. Fro example, the boy living
in Zaire will use Swahili to strangers, but he will use Indoubli among his
friends or peers. Social Status also
determines the use of code switching. For example, in Zaire, a man would use
the standard Swahili when talking to a high-level official, a student would
also use standard Swahili when talking to his teacher, and a patient will do
the same when talking to his doctor. As for Formality,
a variety used in the sermon will differ from that used later while speaking
individually with the people. The variety used in a radio news report will
differ from that used in adverts. Function
or the goal of interaction is also important in determining code choice. For
example in Zaire, if the person is applying for a job, he has to use Standard
Swahili for this purpose. However he will use Indoubli when abusing a young
child and will manage to express his feelings very well by this code choice.
Diglossia
In the narrow sense, Diglossia has the following three characteristics:
1.
Two distinct
varieties of the same language are used in the community. One is regarded as
the high variety, while the other is regarded as the low variety.
2.
Each variety is
used for distinct functions. However the two varieties compliment each other.
3.
The high variety
is not used in every day conversation.
For example, Arabic speaking communities use Fus’ha
(Modern Standard Arabic) as the High Variety. It is used for domains of media,
education, religion, press etc. Also, the MSA is revered as the language of
Koran.
However, each Arab community uses its Colloquial
dialect which is the Low Variety, such as the Egyptian colloquial Arabic, the
Syrian colloquial Arabic and so on depending on the Arab different regions. MSA
is not used in everyday conversations, and is merely confined to official
speaking and writing, and reading. One can not use MSA while buying food. S/he
would sound very funny or outlandish.
In Diglossic communities, although the High and the
Low varieties are linguistically related they differ
in some cases. For example, the sounds of Swiss German are different that those
of Standard German. The sounds of Egyptian Colloquial are different than those
of MSA. The two varieties also differ in Grammar. The H. variety has more
complicated grammar than the L variety. Standard German uses more case markers
on nouns and tense inflections on verbs than Swiss German. On the level of
Vocabulary, the H variety has more technical and formal words because it is
used for formal domains, unlike the L variety. For example, in MSA we find many
formal words that we can find in Koran or, in lower level, poetry and
literature.
Attitudes to H and L varieties also differ. The H variety is held in high
regard. It is viewed as the more sophisticated, the prestigious and the one
that enjoys the higher status. It is also described as the fixed and standardized
language in grammar books. However, the L variety is not given that quantum of
praise. But in many areas of Switzerland people are quite comfortable when
using their L variety. They also use it with strangers. In that case, L variety
is valued by some speakers.
Example 7 quotes a man who is proud of his Haitian
language (L variety in Haiti) saying that this variety can convey many meanings
that the French variety (the H variety in Haiti) can not.
In the broader sense, diglossia covers any situation where two languages
are used for distinct functions in a speech community, and they complement each
other. One language is used for H functions, and the other is used for L
functions. For example, in Paraguay, where Spanish is appropriate to use,
Guarani is not, and vice versa. Characteristics 1 and 3 are dispensed with.
All in all, the L variety is still admired by the
people. For example, in Paraguay people take pride in Guarani, which is the L
variety. However, some people use the H in home, like in Sauris where parents
use Italian to children in order to prepare them for school.
Polyglossia
It occurs when a community regularly uses more than
two languages. There is a functional distribution for the different varieties
used in the speech community. The relationships between the varieties are not
straight forward. 1- In Zaire, one has over
four varieties used for different purposes: home, market place, younger people,
writing or other official and formal purposes. (formal shi, informal shi,
indoubli, etc.).
2- In Singapore:
Mandarine (H) VS Cantonese and Hokkien (L)
Singapore English formal
variety (H) VS Singapore English informal variety.
3- In New Zealand,
the Maori people were bilingual in English and Maori. Colloquial Maori was the
L variety used with friends and family in many shops. These communities made
use of two H varieties: a formal variety of Maori for formal interaction like
ceremonies, and English was the other H variety used for school, government,
courts and for all official transactions.
Changes in Diglossic Situation
Two varieties co exist together for a long time, but
eventually one tends to replace the other.
1-
England was
diglossic in the broader sense (different languages were used for different
functions). Latin was H variety. When the Normans were in control (1066),
French started to expand and replace Latin. It became an H variety used for
court, administration and legal systems. English was the L variety used by
peasents in the field. By the end of the fourteenth century, English displaced
French, and borrowed a huge number of words like beef (Boeuf ), mutton (mouton,
veal (veau) and pork (porc).
2-
In greece, there
were H variety and L variety that continued to exist side by side. Each one had
its own function. In 1901 there was a language riot because people protested
over the issuance of the New Testament in the L variety. Then the issue was
related to politics, as the right wing of the military government made the H
variety as the only official language of Greece. On the other hand, the
democratic govenrmtn made the L variety the official standard language,
labeling it as “ the people’s language”
finally, by 1990. The H variety was excluded from school and school
textbooks because it was regarded as archaic.
Code Mixing
How code
switching reflect social dimensions? (participants, status, functions, social
distance)
Code mixing occurs when a
speaker switches the code he/she is using in a domain for the following
reasons:
1-
example 8 shows
how code switching may be related to the participants: when one switches to
another language to greet a person who has just arrived, this means that the
speaker and the other person share the same ethnicity. In some cases, the code
switch is related to a particular person or addressee. For example, a polish family living in
Lancashire would switch to English in the arrival of an English-speaking
priest. Also, a speaker switches to another code or variety to signal
membership. For example, Scottish Highlanders who are not proficient speakers
of Gaelic use Gaelic tags and phrases in their English to mark their ethnicity.
Example 9 also shows how Maori people use Maori phrases in the same way too. This
kind of switching is called emblematic switching or tag switching : the switch
is an interjection ( a tag or a sentence filler) in the other language which
serves as an ethnic identity marker.
2-
Switches can also
reflect status. More formal relationships
which involve different statuses like patient-doctor,
administrator-client are often expressed in the H variety, while social
relationships which involve minimal social distance are expressed in L variety.
Switches can also be influenced
by Topic. Example 10 shows a speech between 2 people using Bokmal (H) and
Ranamal (L). they switch from a personal interaction to a formal transaction. Here
the change of topic symbolizes a change in relationship. I.e. they switch their
roles from neighbors to an bureaucratic and a member of the public. This kind
of code switching is commonly associated with a code switch in multilingual
communities.
In Belgium, a government cleric
deals with a query from someone she went to school with. They switch from a
local variety of Flemish to French to speak about business.
3-
To serve a
referential function: in the same example, (10) we see how bilinguals switch
for a certain language rather than another in discussing a certain topic. For
discussing business, Bokmal ir chosen rather than Ranamal. In china, students
switch to English while discussing school topics, but use Cantonese in speaking
to each other. In example 11, when
someone quotes a person s/she switches the code to serve as quotation marks. In
example 12, one switches to quote a proverb or a saying in another language.
These switches are referentially motivated. They are used to serve as
referential functions. (Referentially-oriented switch).
Switching for affective functions:
In example 13, the student switches from English to
Patois (a variety of Jamaican) in order to steam her fury at her teacher.
Although the teacher could not understand what she was saying, he knew that she
was cursing him. He managed to know how she feels about the situation. Here,
code switching expressed affective rather than referential meaning.
It can also
serve rhetorical effects. This is manifested in example 14 where the patois is
being used for amusement and dramatic effect. Polly is switching between the
patois and the English to imitate Melanie. Here the switch expresses an
affective function.
Many bilinguals and multilinguals are skillful in
using different codes of their linguistic repertoire to express rhetorical
functions. For example, in Paraguay, Guarani (L) is considered more appropriate
for Joking.
Also, a code switch from L to H variety may happen
because the person is angry or is rejecting something. In example 15, the
grandfather in a Hungarian family living in Germany uses German with his
grandchildren to put them at a distance, to show that he is serious and
disapproves their actions. In this case he does not use Hungarian because it
shows solidarity and friendliness.
In example 16, we see that the switch is done on the
level of Style. The father uses informal style to call his son (he calls him
with his nick name), but then he switches to a more formal style (calls him
with his full name).
Metaphorical Switching (code mixing):
How does code switching differ from code
mixing?
1-
This is achieved
by a rapid switching between different codes for rhetorical purposes. In
example 17, in Papua New Guinea a business man tries to convince his tribe men
to maintain their investments in a store. He uses the local language “Buang” to
signal membership, and he uses the H variety “Tok Pisin” (talk pidgin) to
signal his education, his skillfulness, superior knowledge and experience as a
successful businessman.
2-
In metaphorical
switching, each code represents a set of social meanings, just like am metaphor
represents complex meanings. This switch also requires rhetorical skills.
3-
Metaphorical switching enriches communication.
In example 18, the speaker
switches codes between Samoan and English to describe his experience in weight
loss. Samoan is used to express his feelings, and how he felt shame and
embarrassment over his look (it serves affective functions), while English is
used to give information about the experience, and what the doctor’s advice for
him was. (Serves a referential function). It also gives distance and
objectivity about the topic.
Code switching differs from code mixing in the fact
that code mixing is done due to lack of competence, while switching is
motivated in relation to the symbolic meaning each variety or code gives. The
rapid switching also conveys referential and affective information.
Lexical Borrowing
Q- How does lexical borrowing differ
from code switching?
1-
This kind of
switch is caused by lack of vocabulary.
2-
It is motivated
by lexical need: People may borrow a term from another language to express a
concept that they do not have an equivalent term for in their original
language, mainly nouns. This differs from code switching in the sense that
speakers have a choice about which words they are going to use.
3-
It also
differs from code switching on the level of form, because the words are adapted to the speaker’s first
original language. They are pronounced and used grammatically as if they were
part of the speaker’s original language
4-
For example, New
Zealand English has borrowed the word mana from Maori. There is no exact equivalent to
its meaning in English. It is pronounced as {ma:n\} by most New Zealanders. However,
the Maori pronunciation is different as it uses short /a/ in both syllables.
The word Maori is also adapted
by most English speakers. They use the English diphthong /au/ rather than a
longer /a:o/ sound. They also pluralize the word Maori with the English by
adding the plural infliction (s) producing the word to produce the plural form:
Maoris. In the Maori language the plural is not marked by (s). People who
rapidly switch tend to switch completely between two linguistic systems
(sounds, grammar and vocabulary) as opposed to borrowing.
Q- There are linguistic constraints or
limitation to code switching. Explain.
There are very general rules for switching regardless
of the codes or varieties involved. These rules are universal. It has been
suggested that the switch occurs when there is
1- Linguistic equivalence
between the two codes, meaning when there is a point where the grammars of both
codes match each other. For example: you can switch between an adjective and a
noun if both codes use the same order. ex: You switch from French to English to
say Grande house (big house), but you can not say bateau red.
(Red boat).
2- Also, it has been suggested that there is a matrix language frame which imposes structural
constraints on code switched utterances. So all system morphemes (such as tense
and aspect inflections) will come from this matrix, and any switch will be
determined or governed by this matrix. Example 20 shows that the content words
are from English but the system morphemes are from Swahili, which is the matrix
language. And they follow the normal order in Swahili.
3- There are also social
stylistic and contextual factors. This is related to which codes are
involved, the function of the switch, the level of proficiency in each code of
the people switching. It is suggested that bilingual people with high
proficiency will switch within sentences, while less-proficient people will use
tags or short phrases.
Attitudes to code switching
People are unaware of the fact that they code-switch,
and many of them apologize for it. Many people regard code switching as a
negative thing. This is clear in the terms that people used to refer to code
switching processes in monolingual areas:
Ø Among Mexican Americans, the derogatory (degrading)
term tex mex is used to describe the rapid code switching between
Spanish and English.
Ø In French speaking Canada, the negative term “joual”
is used to describe switching between french and English.
Ø In Britain, switching between Punjabi and English is
given the term (broken up panjabi)
On the other hand, bilingual or multilingual
communities eye code switching positively, as they regard it as indication of
one’s proficiency in more than one language, and the ability to manipulate tow
or more codes confidently.
Summing up important H and L varieties distribution
(This will help in recalling examples)
Bukavo, Zaire بوكافو
في زائير
H
varieties L
varieties
Formal
Shi
informal Shi
Standard
Zairian Swahili Kingwana
French (official language) Indoubli
Swahili
(Lingua Franca)
Paraguay باراغواي
H varieties L
varieties
Spanish
Guarani
Portugal
البرتغال
H varieties L
varieties
English
Portuguese
Singapore سنغافورة
H varieties L
varieties
Mandarine
Chinese
Cantonese
(family)
Mandarine Chinese (primary school Singapore English (friends and high-level stores)
and newspapear)
formal
Singapore English (government offices and jobs)
English
(secondry school)
Belgium
بلجيكا
H varieties L
varieties
French
Flemish
PNG (Papua New Guinea)
H varieties L
varieties
Buang
Tok Pisin
Arab
World
H varieties L
varieties
MSA (Modern Standard Arabic) colloquial dialects
Haiti هايتي
H varieties L
varieties
French Haitian Creole
Glossary
Linguistic Domain المجال اللغوي
Diglossia الازدواجية اللغوية
Polyglossia التعددية
Code-switching التحول اللغوي
Code-mixing الخلط اللغوي
Emblematic
switching التحول الرمزي (يرمز إلى أو يدل على شيء)
Tag switching التحول اللغوي في الجزء الأخير من الجملة فقط
Lexical Borrowing الاستعارة المعجمية
Linguistic
constraints القيود اللغوية
Equivalence التناغم والتوافق
Matrix Language
Frame (MLF) إطار المنظومة اللغوية
Codified and
standardized وضعت له المعايير والقواعد
Metaphorical, rhetorical بلاغي
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