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Sociolinguistics
Tutor: Andrei Avram

Language convergence. Code switching. Code mixing. Bilingual mixed languages

1 Language convergence
Kupwar Urdu, Kupwar Marathi and Kupwar Kannada (Gumperz and Wilson 1994)
(1) a. KU pala jra kat ke le ke a ya
b. KM pala jra kap un ghe un a l o
c. KK tapla jra khod i tgond i b yn
greens a little cut having taken having I came
I cut some greens and brought them.

2 Code switching
English / Canadian French (Poplack 1988)
(2) On va avoir une dpression l que well be rationed if we dont all die.

Alsatian German / French (Gardner-Chloros 1995)

(3) D meischte wie drinne spiele, ils sont costauds
DEF most REL in here play they are tough
Most of those who play here, theyre tough.

(4) Chinese / English (Milroy and Wei 1995)

We always have opportunities heu xing kei ta dei fong wui di yen
We always have opportunities to get to know people from other churches.

Spanish / English (Romaine 1995)

(5) Sometimes I start a sentence in English y termino en espaol.

Swahili / English (Myers-Scotton 1988, 1993a, 1993b)

(6) a. Passenger: Nataka change yangu.
I want my change.
b. Conductor: Change utapata, Bwana.
Youll get your change, mister.
c. Passenger: I am nearing my destination.
d. Conductor: Do you think I could run away with your change?

unmarked vs. marked code switching (Myers-Scotton 1988, 1993a, 1993b, 2002)
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3 Code mixing
Muysken (2000), Winford (2003)

English / Canadian French (Poplack 1988)

(7) Sont spoils rotten
Wolof / French (Poplack and Meechan 1995)

(8) elle parle franais mais des fois day def ay mots en anglais au milieu
she speaks French but sometims AUX put IND words in English in middle
She speaks French but sometomes puts English words in the middle.

Fongbe / French (Poplack and Meechan 1995)

(9) n exagrer d soleil m a peut entraner la maladie
if you overdo LOC sun in that can cause DEF sickness
If you overdo it in the sun, that can cause sickness.

Alsatian German / French (Gardner-Chloros 1995)

(10) Tee het er immer zammemlang
tea has he always together mix
He has always mixed tea together.

Panjabi / English (Romaine 1995)

(11) I wish, you know, ke m pure Panjabi bol ska.
I wish, you know, that I could speak pure Panjabi.

4 Bilingual mixed languages

Bakker and Mous (1994), Bakker and Muysken (1995), Winford (2003)

Anglo-Romani: Romani + English

(12) a. British Romani
Palla bish besh-aw apopli o beng vi -as. Yov pen-das [...]
after twenty year PL again DEF devil come PAST he say PAST
b. Anglo-Romani
Palla bish besh-es apopli the beng wel -ed and pen-ed [...]
after twenty year PL again DEF devil come PAST and say PAST
After twenty years the devil came back and said [...]

Javindo: Javanese + Dutch (de Gruiter 1990, 1994)

(13) a. Javanese:
Aku kabh tuku beras
we buy rice
b. Javindo:
Wij koop beras
we buy rice
We buy rice.
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Petjo: Malay + Dutch (van Rheeden 1994, 1995)

(14) a. Malay:
baju yang di -cuci orang perempuan
clothes REL PASS wash woman
b. Petjo:
kleren yang di -wassen door die frouw
clothes REL PASS wash by DEM woman
the clothes which are washed by that woman

Mednyj Aleut / Copper Aleut: Aleut + Russian (Golovko 1994)

(15) Jesli by oni ukaala-agaa-l -i huzu-um by txichi qula -chaa-l
if SUBJ they here move PAST PL all REFL SUBJ REFL PL be glad CAUS PAST
If they came, everybody would be glad.

Media Lengua: Quechua + Spanish

(16) a. Quechua
uka-ga yaku -bi urma-mu-ni.
I to water LOC fall CL 1
b. Media Lengua
Yo-ga awa -bi kay-mu-ni.
I to water LOC fall CL 1
I come after falling into the water.

Michif: Cree + French (Bakker 1994, 1997)

(17) Sources of grammatical categories of Michif

Category French Cree English
Noun Phrase
Nouns 94% rest rest
Adjectives all
Articles all
Numerals almost all
Demonstratives almost all
Personal pronouns almost all
VP elements
Verbs very few 88%-99%
Copulas some predominate
Negation 70% 30%
Function words
Question words almost all
Prepositions 70%-100% 5%
Postpositions almost all
Co-ordinating conjunctions 40% 55% 5%
Adverbial particles 30% 70%
Discourse particles mostly
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(19) Une fois ki:ya:w un petit homme. Ki:nihta:kaskikwa:sow. Ki:wikiw dune place ite un
gros gant ewiliyit. Puis kahkiya awiyak ki :kostewak le gant. Ma:ka le petit homme non
ki:kostew le gant. Ki:pa:natonawew le gant-wa. Ispi emiskawa:t le gant-wa. Le gant
ki:ka:stitinikow. Ma:ka le petit homme ki:kiciw ekwa ki:otinam son aguille avec le fil.
Kikaskikwa:tew le gant-wa. Ki:misikaskikwa:tew miswe le gant.
Once upon a time there was a little man. He knew how to sew. He lived in a place where a
big giant lived. Everybody was afraid of the giant. But the little man was not afraid of the
giant. When he found the giant, the giant caught him with his little finger. But the little man
escaped and took his needle and sewed up that giant everywhere.

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