Code-switching

The term codeswitching (or code-switching) refers to the alternation between two or more languages, dialects, or language registers in the course of discourse between people who have more than one language in common. Typically one of the two languages is dominant; the major language is often called the matrix language, while the minor language is the embedded language.

• (Code-switching) "occurs when a bilingual introduces a completely unassimilated word from another language into his speech." (Haugen 1956:40)
• "Codeswitching ... is the selection by bilinguals or multilinguals of forms from an embedded variety (or varieties) in utterances of a matrix variety during the same conversation" (Myers-Scotton 1993:3).

Subtypes

• intersentential codeswitching
• intrasentential codeswitching

Origin

Apparently the term was first used by Einar Haugen (e.g. Haugen 1956).

Reference

• Haugen, Einar. 1956. Bilingualism in the Americas: A bibliography and research guide. Montgomery: University of Alabama Press.
• Myers-Scotton, Carol. 1993. Duelling languages: Grammatical structure in codeswitching. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Other languages

German Sprachwechsel, Codewechsel, Codeswitching (de)