Hierarchicalized matrices: codeswitching among urban Nigerian Arabs

This article investigates English–Japanese children's code-switching (CS) from the structural point of view. Muysken categorises it into three types, that is, insertion, alternation and congruent lexicalisation. Regarding insertion, using Myers- Scotton's matrix language frame (MLF) model, for example, the matrix language (ML) of a bilingual clause can be identified and items from the other language are considered embedded. In contrast, alternation does not distinguish between the matrix and embedded languages: the speaker makes a full change from using language A to using language B. In congruent lexicalisation, on the other hand, the ML consists of two or more languages. In this article, natural data from two English–Japanese bilingual children (5;9-9;3, 3;3-6;9) are analysed primarily using the MLF model, the insertion framework, but the ML cannot be identified in 41.8% of the data. These are examined with the alternation and congruent lexicalisation frameworks. Qualitative analyses show that psycholinguistic processes and pragmatic forces underlie those non-insertional types of CS. Psycholinguistic processes of triggering and formulaic language play important roles in alternation, whereas convergence, another psycholinguistic process, leads to congruent lexicalisation. From the pragmatic point of view, English makes a pragmatic/discourse frame and Japanese expresses propositional meanings. This finding suggests that bilingual children can attribute different functions to different languages.

This paper uses some data from Igbo-English intrasentential codeswitching involving mixed nominal expressions to test the Matrix Language Frame (MLF) model. The MLF model is one of the most highly influential frameworks used successfully in the study of grammatical aspects of codeswitching. Three principles associated with it, the Matrix Language Principle, the Asymmetry Principle and the Uniform Structure Principle, were tested on data collected from informal conversations by educated adult Igbo-English bilinguals resident in Port Harcourt. The results of the analyses suggest general support for the three principles and for identifying Igbo-English as a ‘classic’ case of codeswitching.

This article focuses on the question to what degree typological characteristics of the languages involved interact with the Matrix Language vs. Embedded Language and Content Morpheme vs. System Morpheme distinctions. In addition, the integration of Estonian items in Russian—Estonian codeswitched sentences is described, because the extent of integration of Estonian items into the Russian matrix is closely related to matrix language determination. Both Estonian and Russian have a complex inflectional morphology. Full integration of an Estonian item into Russian means gender and case assignment, but in fact this does not occur in all codeswitched instances. Russian—Estonian data demonstrate a wider range of possibilities than just fully integrated and completely unintegrated items. Estonian items may be integrated phonologically into Russian (e.g. regarding vowel length or stress), but morphological and phonological integration do not depend on each other: Estonian items may show extensive phonological but no morphological integration into Russian and vice versa. Bilingual data show that the matrix language cannot be determined by analyzing the morphosyntactic level only; the degree of phonological integration of codeswitched words should also be taken into account. Thus, the morphosyntactic bias in the Matrix Language Frame model, meaning that phonological adaptation has no influence at all on matrix language assignment, is criticized.

In this paper, we show how some proposals within the Minimalist Program are compatible with a model of codeswitching that recognizes an asymmetry between the participating languages, the Matrix Language Frame model. Through our discussion of an analysis of NPs in a Spanish–English corpus, we illustrate this compatibility and show how recent minimalist proposals can explain the distribution of nouns and determiners in this data set if they adopt the notion of Matrix Language as the bilingual instantiation of structural uniformity in a CP. We outline the central premises of the Matrix Language Frame model, and introduce the Uniform Structure Principle which requires that the structure of constituents be uniform at an abstract level. We then review previous applications of the Minimalist Program to codeswitching. Much recent research in minimalism has focused on issues related to feature checking. Earlier approaches to feature checking required matching of features in grammatical structures, although more recent proposals consider distinctions in the values of features and in types of matching. Because phi-features for grammatical gender in Spanish and English differ, an analysis of NPs in this corpus of naturally occurring Spanish–English conversations provides a test for minimalist applications to codeswitching. We present our general findings of the distribution of types of NP constituents and then consider explanations of these distributions in light of minimalist proposals. It is possible to explain these distributions in a recasting of the Matrix Language Frame model in minimalist terms, if the construct of the Matrix Language is maintained. The requirement that one language, the Matrix Language, provide an abstract grammatical frame in bilingual constituents corresponds to the type of uniformity that Chomsky (2001) suggests is necessary for the explanatory study of language and variation in language.

Introduction. In contact linguistics, the problem of differentiating between code switches and loanwords is relevant enough, which arises from that there are no unified research approaches thereto, and consequently nor there any precise definitions for the phenomena and classification criteria. The difficulties in distinguishing between the two linguistic processes result from that in intensive language contacts they tend to gain more similarities in terms of phonology, morphology and syntax — rather than differences. Some scholars argue that code-switching is the first stage in the development of a token in a matrix language, i.e. the lexemes had been code switches before they became ‘nuclear’ borrowings. The process of switching codes in speech is associated with the phenomenon of mass bilingualism. Goals. The problem of code-switching is understudied in Bashkir linguistics, and the paper attempts to distinguish the former from borrowings in the context of Bashkir-Russian bilingualism. Materials and methods. The study analyzes transcribed recordings of colloquial Bashkir (from speakers of Karaidel, a dialect of northwestern Bashkir) obtained during the author’s expeditions of 2022 and 2023. When it comes to describe code-switching, the workr employs Myers-Scotton’s Matrix Language Frame model. The article deals with intraphrasal switches in the form of inclusions and insular switches within one sentence. Results. The study identifies some difficulties of distinguishing between borrowings and code switches. According to G. Chirsheva, borrowings are divided into cultural and occasional (nuclear) ones. The latter are essentially and functionally close to code switches. K. Myers-Scotton presumes their main differences can be reduced to that code switches are used in individual cases (or no more than three times) and are not included in the mental lexicon of the matrix language. Therefore, barbarisms, such as еще / ищо, уже / ужы, вис, сәпсим, etc., which are often used in the speech of bilingual Bashkirs, must be referred to as occasional / nuclear borrowings (according to G. Chirsheva), while individual foreign-language inclusions be considered code switches.

Bilingual serial verb constructions: A comparative study of Ewe-English and Ewe-French codeswitching

Reviewed by: The Cambridge handbook of linguistic code-switching Margaret Deuchar The Cambridge handbook of linguistic code-switching. Ed. by Barbara E. Bullock and Almeida Jacqueline Toribio. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009. Pp. xv, 422. ISBN 9780521875912. $135 (Hb). [End Page 702] This edited collection contains contributions from an impressive number of leading code-switching (CS) researchers. It is divided into five parts: Part 1, ‘Conceptual and methodological considerations in code-switching research’; Part 2, ‘Social aspects of code-switching’; Part 3, ‘The structural implications of code-switching’; Part 4, ‘Psycholinguistics and code-switching’; and Part 5, ‘Formal models of code-switching’. One of its many strengths is that it includes chapters on a wide range of methodological approaches, including the use of experimental techniques in studying CS, CS and the internet, CS between sign languages, CS and language disorders, and CS and the brain. The contributors represent not only a wide variety of approaches to CS but also the diversity of terminology used. The editors provide a persuasive argument for the study of CS in their introductory chapter, ‘Themes in the study of code-switching’ (1–17), but could have better highlighted the different uses of terminology by contributors, and might have made a few recommendations leading to increased uniformity in the future. For example, Bullock and Toribio describe the famous sentence from Poplack 1980, Sometimes I’ll start a sentence in Spanish y termino en español, in three different ways, as involving (i) classic CS, (ii) alternation, and (iii) intra-sentential CS. Only the second description is uncontroversial. The term intra-sentential is contrasted with inter-sentential in a fairly standard way, in that the latter is described as involving alternation at clause boundaries. Under this definition, however, the sentence by Poplack would be inter-sentential because there is a clause boundary between Sometimes I’ll start a sentence in Spanish and termino en español. There is in fact considerable confusion in the literature in the use of the term ‘intra-sentential’: some investigators (including Poplack 1980:589) use the term to mean ‘intra-clausal’, while others (like Dorlein and Nortier in Ch. 8) use it as Bullock and Toribio do to include switching within a complex sentence that is made up of more than one clause. In the editors’ shoes I might have used the introductory chapter to draw attention to this multiple usage, and perhaps recommend to future researchers replacement of these terms with the clearer ‘intra-clausal’ and ‘inter-clausal’. Another issue regarding terminology arises from Bullock and Toribio’s suggested equation of Muysken’s notion of congruent lexicalization with Myers-Scotton’s notion of a composite matrix language. As Myers-Scotton (2002:100) makes clear, she disagrees with Muysken’s (2000:132) view of congruent lexicalization as involving bidirectional code-mixing. Furthermore, while congruent lexicalization occurs where the two languages are closely related (as in the Dutch-Sranan example given by Bullock and Toribio), the notion of a composite matrix language is most clearly illustrated by CS between two languages that differ in word order and morphology. But leaving aside issues in terminology, the volume includes work with original findings that have considerable theoretical implications. For example, Ghada Khattab, in ‘Phonetic accommodation in children’s code-switching’ (142–59), provides evidence that should lead us to modify the accepted view on the unimportance of nonnative as opposed to peer input. Another chapter that presents new findings is Barbara E. Bullock’s ‘Phonetic reflexes of code-switching’ (163–81). In a research context in which little is known about the phonetic aspects of CS, Bullock demonstrates how CS had an effect on the production of the voiceless stops that English-Spanish bilinguals use when speaking English only. In ‘Code-switching between typologically distinct languages’ (182–98), Brian Hok-Shing Chan accounts for the lack of agreement on a universal model of CS by appealing to processing strategies and sociolinguistic factors. Processing strategies may include considerations of economy and isomorphism, which he suggests may account for the commonly found uniformity of the matrix language in the matrix language frame (MLF) model. He suggests that this should...

This paper presents an analysis of the phenomenon of doubling in the context of Wolof-French codeswitching where the French subordinating conjunction comme “as” and its Wolof counterpart ni, often appear in succession. More specifically, the paper analyses the different patterns underlying the structure of these two conjunctions in the mixed sentence. The first observation is that doubling occurs either in the sentence initial position or between the independent clause and subordinate one. This suggests that each double corresponds both languages’ word order in the sense that in both Wolof and French, subordinating conjunctions can occupy the initial and middle position of the sentence. The study also indicates that the Wolof conjunction ni always occurs at the beginning of the subordinate clause, otherwise, the sentence becomes ungrammatical. For this reason, we claim that the Wolof conjunction (and not the French one) combines the subordinate clause to the independent one. Also, this is why the French conjunction comme may be dropped from the mixed sentence while the omission of the Wolof ni makes it ungrammatical. Using the Matrix Language Frame (MLF) model to explain the indispensability of the Wolof conjunction, it is shown that this subordinating conjunction is a bridge system morpheme. Like outsider system morphemes, earlies and bridges also come from Wolof, the matrix language in Wolof-French codeswitching.

The aim of grammatical accounts of language alternation, as we have seen, is to demonstrate how speakers achieve a sense of structural uniformity despite diversity, how they use linguistic resources available to maintain a sense of order. In Chapter 3, I have reviewed two models which have been proposed as accounts of order in talk in two languages. In concluding the discussion, I suggested that one of the weaknesses of the models, the Matrix Language Frame Model in particular, is that, drawing on the assumption that the sentence is the highest unit of grammar, these models fail to capture regularities across data sets. It was also suggested that the notion of Matrix Language might not be as useful a concept as it is said to be, since each CP must be examined indifferently in order to determine exactly what its Matrix is. In this chapter, drawing on my corpus of Kinyarwanda-French bilingual conversations, I propose a case study through which I indicate how these issues might begin to be addressed.

Aims and Research Questions: In this paper, we present a corpus-based study of preposition drop (p-drop) in the speech of Mari Russian and Beserman Russian bilinguals compared to the speech of Russian monolinguals. Based on data from spoken corpora, we demonstrate that the prepositions v “in,” k “to,” and s “with” are omitted in the speech of bilinguals more often than in monolinguals’ speech and propose some possible explanations for the variation attested across different bilingual speakers. Methodology: Quantitative method Data and Analysis: An analysis of variance was carried out on the spontaneous oral speech of 20 Beserman Russian and Mari Russian bilinguals, with a total number of tokens of approximately 166,000, in comparison with the speech of nine Russian monolinguals. Findings/Conclusions: We found that the omission of prepositions in the speech of bilinguals and monolinguals occurs in different contexts and for different reasons. In bilinguals, p-drop can possibly be explained by phonetic interference from their first language (L1), whereas monolinguals mainly omit prepositions in lexicalized expressions. A study of the influence of sociolinguistic factors showed that the older and less educated a person is, the higher the probability of p-drop in their speech; however, this effect is clearly observable only in bilinguals. Originality: This is the first corpus study of preposition drop in the Russian speech of Uralic bilinguals, considering both linguistic and sociolinguistic factors using logistic regression with nested mixed effects. Implications: The results obtained are important for studies of preposition drop in other contact varieties and for studies of language variation in general, since this phenomenon is not necessarily contact-induced: it can also be explained by sociolinguistic factors and lexicalization.

This paper aims to study the morphological features of code-switching in Chinese Netspeak. Myers-Scotton's Matrix Language Frame Model is employed to explore the morphological feature of the embedded words, nouns, verbs and adjectives in Chinese Netspeak. The study shows that in matrix Chinese frame model, English nouns, verbs and adjectives all lose their original morphological inflection change and syntax feature and follow the matrix Chinese grammar rules.

The author examines the structural features of code-switches in two novels - "The Corsican Caper" and "Chasing Sezanne" written by the modern British writer Peter Mayle. The matrix language of multilingual utterances is English and the embedded language is French. Code-switches are the alternate use of units of one language within the utterance in another language during one conversation. Two groups of code-switches are distinguished: those in the bilingual characters’ speech and those in the author’s speech. Peter Mayle has used different types of code-switches to emphasize their bilingual competence when they switch from English to French in various communicative situations. Different types of code-switches have been fixed: intersententional, intrasententional - within a phrase (insertions, embedded language islands), clause-switches, and tag-switches. The author of the article has found out 434 units of code-switches in the two novels, with 258 units being represented in the author’s speech and 176 units in the bilingual characters’ speech. The study has shown that the most frequently used type in the bilingual characters’ speech and in the author’s speech is intrasententional within a simple sentence, with embedded language islands being predominant. Keywords: code-switches, bilingualism in fiction, bilingual speech, matrix language, embedded language

The diminutive construction is formed and used differently in Spanish and English, which leads us to the question how this construction with different morphosyntactic and semantic-pragmatic characteristics in the input languages is governed in Spanish-English bilingual and codeswitching speech. Through the analysis of a dataset of diminutive constructions extracted from the Bangor Miami corpus, this paper contributes to a better understanding of how one and the same construction differently represented in the input languages is administered in bilingual contexts. As this is a first approach to studying diminutives in codeswitching, three well known structural codeswitching models serve as a primary theoretical tool against which the diminutive is tested. These arePoplack’s (1980)Universal Constraints,Myers-Scotton’s (2002)Matrix Language Frame Model, andBlom and Gumperz’ (1972)Metaphorical Codeswitching Framework. The results show that Miami bilinguals prefer the prototypical markers of each language, -itoandlittle(e.g.un partimecito, un little estante). Furthermore, while the data largely confirm Poplack’s Constraints, they refute our hypothesis based on Myers-Scotton’s MLF model. Regarding Gumperz’ theory, the use of diminutive markers in a particular language correlates with a certain meaning the speaker wants to communicate (i.e. quantitative or qualitative), which again provides support to the framework.

Code‐switching refers to the juxtaposition of elements from two (or more) languages (or dialects) within the same sentence or conversation. There are three major strands or approaches to code‐switching research: the sociolinguistic, the structural/syntactic, and the psycholinguistic. The first explores code‐switching's interactional functions and its relationship with macrosocietal factors. The second examines where in a sentence code‐switching can occur. The third investigates the cognitive mechanisms involved in the control of two languages. Well‐known models of code‐switching are introduced, with emphasis on sociolinguistic models, including Gumperz's situational and metaphorical code‐switching, Myers‐Scotton's markedness model and matrix language frame model, Auer's sequential analysis of code‐switching, Heller's politics of code‐switching, and Muysken's typology of code‐switching.

In the present study we analyze two features in Basque-Spanish code-switching data: (1) phonological mixing in intraword position involving phoneme /θ/ and (2) switches between pronouns and verbs. Both features have been discussed for several language pairs but have so far remained unexplored in the case of Basque and Spanish. The MELAN corpus on Basque-Spanish language contact is used in this study to obtain code-switching data and test the predictions of the two most influential theoretical frameworks for code-switching (the Matrix Language Frame (MLF) model and the Minimalist Approach) for these particular features. The results at the phonological level reveal that Basque-Spanish code-switching resembles most other language pairs in avoiding phonemes from different phonological systems within words, although counter-examples are found and should probably be interpreted as signals of sound change in Basque. Conversely, the results from the analysis of pronoun-verb switch cases reveal that in Basque-Spanish data, switches take place in positions disallowed by current models and unaccepted in several other language pairs. The findings suggest that the ergative case marking in Basque may play a role in the grammaticality of the pronoun-verb switch patterns.