Being a bilingual speaker myself, and having grown up in a multilingual home, I was particularly interested in this topic. Bilingualism is on the rise, “It has been estimated that more than half the world's population is bilingual, that is lives with two or more languages. Bilingualism is found in all parts of the world, at all levels of society, in all age groups. Even in countries with many monolinguals, the percentage of bilinguals is high.” (Grosjean, Myths about bilingualism). This means that the chance of running into another bilingual individual is quite high. Even though most bilinguals are perfectly capable of expressing themselves using just one language, a phenomena referred to as code-switching often occurs when two or more bilinguals
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The term borrowing implies that a word or short expression is borrowed from one language and adapted “morphologically (and often phonologically) into the base (other) language” (Grosjean, Interview on bilingualism). Sentence B on the other hand is an example of code-switching. The sentence begins with a base language (English), then switches completely to the guest language (Dutch) and then back to the base language (Grosjean, Interview on bilingualism). Code-switching usually occurs between people who share a bilingual identity (speak the same …show more content…
Thus on closer inspection there seem to be certain (subconscious) rules for code-switching. The first of these is that switching between a subject pronoun and a finite verb leads to impossible sentences (Nortier, Code-switching Is Much More than Careless
Word Count: 937 Mixing: Multilinguals Know the Rules!). Sentences A and B are therefore examples of incorrect code-switching.
A) Ik kocht the last copy (I bought the last copy)
B) I bought het laatste exemplaar ( I bought the last copy)
C) Ik kocht het last copy. (I bought the last copy)
D) I bought the laatste exemplaar. (I bought the last copy)
(Nortier, Codewisseling 184)
Sentences C and D on the other hand are correct examples since “code-switching between finite verb and direct object is less problematic” (Nortier, Code-switching Is Much More than Careless Mixing: Multilinguals Know the Rules!).
Making a distinction between the base and guest language is the second rule. Using the sentences below we will establish how to detect the base and guest language as well as the impact it has on the sentence structure.
A) Ik heb gekocht the last
The term borrowing implies that a word or short expression is borrowed from one language and adapted “morphologically (and often phonologically) into the base (other) language” (Grosjean, Interview on bilingualism). Sentence B on the other hand is an example of code-switching. The sentence begins with a base language (English), then switches completely to the guest language (Dutch) and then back to the base language (Grosjean, Interview on bilingualism). Code-switching usually occurs between people who share a bilingual identity (speak the same …show more content…
Thus on closer inspection there seem to be certain (subconscious) rules for code-switching. The first of these is that switching between a subject pronoun and a finite verb leads to impossible sentences (Nortier, Code-switching Is Much More than Careless
Word Count: 937 Mixing: Multilinguals Know the Rules!). Sentences A and B are therefore examples of incorrect code-switching.
A) Ik kocht the last copy (I bought the last copy)
B) I bought het laatste exemplaar ( I bought the last copy)
C) Ik kocht het last copy. (I bought the last copy)
D) I bought the laatste exemplaar. (I bought the last copy)
(Nortier, Codewisseling 184)
Sentences C and D on the other hand are correct examples since “code-switching between finite verb and direct object is less problematic” (Nortier, Code-switching Is Much More than Careless Mixing: Multilinguals Know the Rules!).
Making a distinction between the base and guest language is the second rule. Using the sentences below we will establish how to detect the base and guest language as well as the impact it has on the sentence structure.
A) Ik heb gekocht the last