Code-switching and borrowing in the English of Finnish Americans in an interview setting
By: Timo Lauttamus.
Series: Kielitieteellisiä tutkimuksia,; n:o 20 =; Studies in languages; Kielitieteellisiä tutkimuksia ;; n:o 20.
Publisher: University of Joensuu, Faculty of Arts
Published: 1990
Place of publication: Joensuu
Language: eng
Number of pages: 56
Subjects: English language -- Study and teaching -- Finnish speakers.; Finnish Americans -- Language.
Description: It is suggested that code-switching and borrowing in the English of Finnish Americans can only be described in terms of a holistic framework which incorporates various (structural) linguistic, psycholinguistic and pragmatic (functional) factors. The major premise for the description is the idea that code-switching and borrowing are to be regarded as points on a gradient running form code-changes to fully integrated loans, not as independent processes. The first proposal, that code-switching and borrowing should be described holistically, is assessed on the basis of a general theory of code-switching theory. The empirical data elicited from the non-fluent, Finnish-dominant, speakers of English is not incompatible with the proposal. The second proposal, that code-switching and borrowing are gradient phenomena, is assessed partly on the basis of cross-linguistic evidence and partly on the basis of the empirical data in the interlanguage framework. The findings of the empirical study also show that the Finnish-origin incorporations into English discourse are mostly non-smooth single-word (noun) switches rather than smooth switches attested in Spanish-English bilingual communities like New York Puerto Rican. This suggests that Finnish-English non-fluent bilinguals favour the emblematic type of code-switching which requires less knowledge of the two grammatical systems as opposed to some balanced bilingual communities where frequent intra-sentential switching of larger constituents may be regarded as a verbal skill and a sensitive indicator of degree of bilingual competence.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 54-56).
Table of contents: label: 1
title: Introduction
pagenum: 1-4; label: 2
title: Code Choice and Code-switching
pagenum: 4-6; label: 3
title: A Functional Description of Code-switching
pagenum: 6-9; label: 4
title: A Structural Linguistic Description of Code-switching versus Borrowing
pagenum: 9-20; label: 5
title: Empirical Investigation
pagenum: 21-47; label: 5.1
title: Linguistic material
pagenum: 21-22; label: 5.2
title: Method
pagenum: 23-36; label: 5.2.1
title: Structural linguistic criterion
pagenum: 23-26; label: 5.2.2
title: Psycholinguistic criterion
pagenum: 27-32; label: 5.2.3
title: Functional criterion
pagenum: 32-36; label: 5.3
title: Results: Data on Finnish immigrants in Florida
pagenum: 36-47; label: 5.3.1
title: Linguistic and functional considerations
pagenum: 36-44; label: 5.3.2
title: Language proficiency and code choice
pagenum: 44-47; label: 6
title: Conclusions
pagenum: 47-51; title: Notes
pagenum: 52-53; title: References
pagenum: 54-56