Code-mixing- A Strong Communicative Tool

Code means language and code mixing refers to the phenomenon of simultaneously mixing of two languages in speech or writing. Generally speaking, we can say that code mixing means the mixing of words, phrases or smaller units of one language in the structure of another language. Sometimes more than one language is mixed up and code mixing becomes a regular feature of language usage. For example, it is a code mixed sentence: Muje shopping krna acha lagta hai I just love it! Code-mixing plays a very significant role in language and language variation, and also provides an insight into the socio-cultural phenomena taking place in that area or region, through the linguistic choices of people. Code-mixing is done in almost all the languages of the world; however, South Asia is a fertile field for research in code-mixing since in all South Asian countries a wide range of codes exist simultaneously, and their interaction gives way to code-mixing.

Code mixing is being extensively used in Pakistani media, hence influencing people in both positive and negative way. One of the negative aspects of code mixing is that by mixing different codes, language becomes artificial. Our mother tongue Urdu is also being affected by mixing in other languages, especially English, and it is feared that after some years Urdu will become a dying language. Many people believe that Code-mixing in our country promotes values of the Western culture. Foreign languages bring foreign culture and as we are between two languages, we are between two cultures, bringing us into the middle of nowhere. But apart from these negative effects of code-mixing, we cannot ignore its positive effects as they are more dominating, and by keeping the advantages of this phenomenon in our minds, we are more inclined to overlook its negative impacts. One of the important facts among many advantages of code-mixing is that it is a strong communicative tool and it can make language very much interesting. A code mixed expression clarifies a point better than an expression making use of only one language and it can also make language convincing. We can say that code-mixing is a sign of inter-cultural harmony and globalization. Making use of various languages in one utterance is a mean to merge different culture together. It has now become our second nature to mix many languages together for the sake of effective communication and thus we should better adopt and accept code mixing as a new way to enhance our communication skills.