Language selection and switching in Strasbourg
By: Penelope Gardner-Chloros.
Series: Oxford studies in language contact
Publisher: Clarendon Press; Oxford University Press
Published: 1991
Place of publication: Oxford [England]; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 218
Subjects: Code switching (Linguistics) -- France -- Strasbourg.; Sociolinguistics -- France -- Strasbourg.
Description: The term "code-switching" is used to describe the mixing of different language varieties which result from language contact. This is the first full-length study to examine code-switching in a European context. Throughout history, Alsace has been a meeting place of the Roman and Germanic worlds. Today most of the population speak a German dialect, alternating with French, which is the language of public life, education, and the media. Gardner-Chloros describes this exemplar of code-switching, investing the many layers of significance of this mode of speech in the Alsatian community.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [199]-208) and index.