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Vietnamese-English Bilingualism - Patterns of Code-Switching by Ho-Dac Tuc
Vietnamese-English Bilingualism - Patterns of Code-Switching by Ho-Dac Tuc
BILINGUALISM
Patterns of Code-Switching
Asian Linguistics Series
Editor-in-Chief: Walter Bisang, Mainz University
Associate Editors: R. V Dhongde, Deccan College, Pune
Masayoshi Shibatani, Kobe University
VIETNAMESE-ENGLISH BILINGUALISM
Patterns of code-switching
Ho-Dac Tuc
LINGUISTIC EPIDEMIOLOGY
Semantics and grammar of language contact in mainland Southeast Asia
Nick J. Enfield
A GRAMMAR OF MANGGHUER
A Mongolic language of China’s Qinghai-Gansu Sprachbund
Keith W. Slater
Ho-Dac Tuc
First published in 2003
by Routledge
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by Routledge
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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised
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storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library
Library o f Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN 0-7007-1322-0
To my mother
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Contents
List o f figures ix
List o f tables xi
Preface xiii
Abbreviations xv
1 Introduction 1
2 Subjects and methodology 23
3 Patterns of code-switching 41
4 Tonal facilitation of code-switching 87
5 Code-switching of personal pronouns 111
6 Conclusion 135
vii
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List of figures
ix
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List of tables
xi
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Preface
This book is based on a thesis presented in September 1996 for the degree
of Doctor of Philosophy at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. The
degree was granted in March 1997 on the recommendation of the
examiners, Professor Suzanne Romaine of Oxford University and Dr
Thao Le of Tasmania University. I am grateful for their constructive
criticism.
My principal acknowledgement must go to Professor Michael Clyne,
Professor of Linguistics of Monash University. Professor Clyne has given
me much of his time and has supervised me in all phases of study. I have
taken advantage of his superior standards of scholarship, and count myself
privileged to have been able to work under his crucial guidance. It was he
who first introduced me to the world of language contact. His concern for
linguistics scholarship and his interest in his students have served as a
constant inspiration to me. This book could not have been possible without
his encouragement and recommendation to his colleagues in Europe for
publication.
I wish to express my sincere gratitude to Professor Walter Bisang of
Institut fur Sprachwissenschaft, Universität Mainz, Germany, editor of the
RoutledgeCurzon Asian Language Series. Professor Bisang has provided
detailed comments on the Vietnamese language. He has allowed me
greatly to benefit from his knowledge of East and South East Asian
languages by freely providing copies of various papers and refining my
linguistic view of East and South East Asian languages.
Of those who have helped me over the years in preparing this book, my
especial gratitude is due to Lan Anh for her corrections of the manuscript
and careful editorial suggestions; Anja Lloyd-Smith of Monash
University for her practical help; Professor Arthur Abramson and the
editors of Journal o f Phonetics for constructive criticism on tonal aspects
in Chapter 4; Vo Van Vu for having provided me with a comfortable
computer; my wife Thuy who has assisted me greatly in numerous other
understanding ways; Van Xuan An for his varied assistance; and Nguyen
xiii
PREFACE
Van Hiep for his valued friendship. In particular, I would like to record
my thanks to Doan Do Hung, whose kindness helped to carry me through
difficult times, and Ho Dac Hai Mien for her help with indexing.
xiv
Abbreviations
xv
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Chapter 1
Introduction
1.1 INTRODUCTION
As early as the turn of the twentieth century, Ferdinand de Saussure pointed
out that it is time, rather than space, which influences language (Saussure
1959: 198). Though his remark is still true today, it does not seem to
speculate about several other factors which may affect language usage.
One such factor is the migration of people from one country to another
which leads to what we term ‘multilingual countries’. In countries such as
Australia, one may hear different languages spoken side by side by differ
ent people from all walks of life. In fact, for various reasons, from colon
isation to the provision of education at many levels of society (Milroy and
Muysken 1995), multilingualism is a widespread phenomenon in most
countries. As Romaine (1995: 8) puts it: ‘From a global societal perspective,
of course, most of the world’s speech communities use more than one
language and are therefore multilingual rather than homogeneous’.
Australia is an example of multilingualism where many languages are
accommodated. Contact between different languages has led to many
instances of bilingualism, including the alternate use of two or more
languages in the same conversation of the bilingual, which is known by the
general term of code-switching.
It is against this setting that the Vietnamese language, brought by
continuing waves of Vietnamese immigrants, emerges as one of the
minority languages in multilingual Australia. The language is sixth in
importance to English in terms of number of speakers throughout
Australia (Kipp, Clyne and Pauwels 1995).
More than two decades after the first boat carrying Vietnamese asylum
seekers arrived on Australia’s northern shores in early 1976, the number of
Vietnamese migrants has steadily increased (see Section 2.1). Being in a
new adopted country, the Vietnamese are confronted with a very different
environment from which they expected, by many others as well as amongst
themselves, to adjust accordingly. In contact with English as a dominant
1
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2
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3
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1980, 1981; Sankoff and Poplack 1981; Sankoff and Mainville 1986;
Di Sciullo et ah 1986; Myers-Scotton 1993a, 1993b). (2) The
psychological approach examines the interaction of the two grammars
involved in the process of code-switching (e.g. Macnamara 1971; Neufeld
1976; Clyne 1980; Sridhar and Sridhar 1980; Grosjean and Soares 1986).
(3) The ethnographic and communicative approach investigates the
speakers’ intention (e.g. Tay 1989; Stroud 1990). (4) The attitudinal
approach emphasises attitudes toward code-switching (Gibbons 1983,
1987; Bentahila 1983). And (5) the functional approach postulates the
conversational functions of code-switching (e.g. Auer 1981, 1984;
Gumperz 1982). It can be seen that code-switching has been studied
from various approaches and these can be grouped together in a number of
ways (Lu 1991).
In a recent study on code-switching, Muysken (1995) reiterates the
need for universal explanations when looking for grammatical constraints
on code-switching. On the other hand, Gumperz (1982) focuses on the
discourse functions and emphasises the strategic activities of bilinguals
within a framework of social values and symbols. The division of
approaches toward code-switching implicitly means that no single
approach to code-switching is likely to yield adequate results. Therefore,
it seems more appropriate to use a combination of approaches than to rely
on any single exclusive one and to show how a wide variety of approaches
complement one another (Milroy and Muysken 1995).
This study will use a combination of different approaches which can
serve as a useful framework for scrutinising code-switching data from
different angles. The data collection methods for this study include
questionnaires and recorded interviews, which will be described in
Chapter 2. The analysis is based chiefly on the collected code-switching
data.
4
IN TRO D U C TIO N
5
IN T RO D U C TIO N
the resulting changes that arise in each language due to contact with the
other.
The literature on code-switching over the past decades appears to have
focused on two particular issues. First, there is the debate over the
formulation and discussion of syntactic constraints. Some researchers have
argued for the postulation of universal syntactic constraints that govern
code-switching. The other major issue is the investigation of discourse
functions of code-switching. In general, a range of approaches to
code-switching has led researchers to an agreement that this linguistic
phenomenon cannot be dismissed as arbitrary, and that code-switching can
be approached from different angles concurrently with one another.
6
IN T RO D U C TIO N
7
IN T RO D U C TIO N
Code-switching Borrowing
frequent use - +
synonym displacement - +
integration: phonological + /- +/+
morphological - +
syntactic - +
acceptability by native speakers - +
9
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10
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11
IN TRO D U C TIO N
12
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15
IN TRO D U C TIO N
constraints has led some researchers to a conclusion that they may often
hold for typologically closely related language pairs or non-agglutinative
languages (Nartey 1982; Berk-Seligson 1986), but not always as even
Spanish-English counter-examples do exist. It is reasonable to conclude
that the constraints as formulated by Poplack are too powerful, and
therefore the claim of universality of such models needs to be relativised.
Another attempt to account for code-switching is the work of Woolford
(1980, 1983), who proposes a model within a generative framework. Her
approach assumes dependency relations on the basis of tree structures
rather than linear orderings. Based on Spanish-English code-switching
data, Woolford argues that
The phrase structure rule from both grammars are freely mixed in
the construction of trees: but the lexicon and word formation
component of each grammar remains entirely autonomous.
Terminal nodes created by a phrase structure rule unique to
English cannot be filled from the Spanish lexicon and vice-versa,
but lexical insertion is free in nodes created by phrase structure
rules common to both languages.
(Woolford 1980: 1)
Subsequently, in an attempt to incorporate a number of universal
principles within a Government-Binding framework of Chomsky (1981),
Di Sciullo, Muysken, and Singh (1986) propose the Government
Constraint that claims code switching is universally constrained by the
principle of government. They argue that switching is only possible
between elements that are not related by government. In their frame
work, switching between subjects and verbs is allowed, but not between
verbs and objects or within a prepositional phrase. The assumption
behind this formalisation is that the relation between a head and its
syntactic environment is circumscribed by the relation of government.
Despite the theoretical appeal of this constraint, it faces challenges
(Romaine 1986, 1995; Muysken 1990; Clyne 1987a), for the class of
governors includes not only content words but also functional categories
such as inflection. Admitting the existence of counter-examples to this
constraint include:
16
IN TRO D U C TIO N
The problem now relies not on the universality of a formalisable basis, but
also on the extent to which the constraints proposed in the literature are
supported in specific language pairs (Clyne 1987a).
Before Myers-Scotton (1993a) rejected all the earlier constraints
postulated and proposed her full account of an ambitious model of Matrix
Language Frame, a number of researchers had attempted to define which
one of two languages involved in code-switching is a base-language, also
termed matrix language (Wentz 1977; Joshi 1985; Klavans 1985;
Nishimura 1985). Klavans (1985), for instance, claims that the inflection-
bearing verbs of Spanish-English code-switching sentences determined the
matrix language of code-switching. Joshi (1985) argues that the matrix
language of Marathi-English intrasentential code-switching is determined
by the earliest constituent encountered by a parser. The notion of matrix
language was also implicitly postulated in Woolford (1983). It should be
noted here that switched interjections, exclamatives or adverbial adjuncts
are not taken as the first constituent which, as is understood, do not
determine the structure of the rest of the sentence. By contrast, Sankoff and
Poplack (1981) argue that because there is an equal chance to draw code
switching constituents from Spanish-English, it is unnecessary to
determine the matrix language. Clyne (1987a) points out that for some
language pairs, it is impracticable to talk in terms of a ‘base’ or ‘matrix’
language because some items are common to both languages.
From the point of view of grammatical analysis, the problem of
determining which language in a code-switched sentence is the base
language seems to rest on the nature of models which researchers employ.
In a structural model, some category or set of word classes determines the
base-language: a main verb, for instance, is often assigned the different
semantic roles and determines the state of affairs expressed by the clause;
therefore it is taken to determine the base-language. In the Matrix
Language Frame Model formulated by Myers-Scotton, the grammatical
morphemes are from the base-language. In the Government Model
proposed by Di Sciullo et al. (1986), the notion of the base-language is
present implicitly: the model assumes that each governing element creates
a matrix structure; in that way the highest element in the tree determines
the language for the whole tree.
In the Matrix Language Frame Model, Myers-Scotton and her
associates come up with a full account of an attempt to explain code
17
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18
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19
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1.5 CONCLUSION
The above-mentioned studies suggest that code-switching can be treated
not only from the perspective of structural constraints and rhetorical
functions, but also with a consideration of various relevant factors that may
influence the phenomenon. In Chapters 2 and 3, this perspective will be
taken up again in dealing with patterns of code-switching among
Vietnamese-English informants.
As far as the proposed constraints are concerned, it seems to be implied
that when two languages are in contact, they are standard and stable
20
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21
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Chapter 2
2.1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter presents the methods of data collection and gives an overall
account of the Vietnamese community from which the data were drawn.
This chapter consists of four sections. In the first section, a general
description of the Vietnamese community in Australia is given, followed
by a detailed account of the Vietnamese community in Melbourne in
which the data were collected. The second section examines the social
networks of the Vietnamese community in order to provide a framework
for an analysis of patterns of code-switching to be presented in the
following chapters. In the third section, the methods of data collection and
the rationale for adopting these data collection methods will be presented.
Finally, the sample points and subjects of the present study will be
described.
23
SU B JEC TS AND M ETH O D O LO G Y
Australia accepted over 1000 Vietnamese refugees. In late 1976, the first
boat carrying Vietnamese asylum seekers arrived on Australia’s northern
shores. In the next five years, about fifty additional boats with more than
2000 Vietnamese arrived. This period also saw a mass exodus of
Vietnamese people mainly from the South, who managed to reach the
country via refugee camps scattered over a number of Southeast Asian
nations and Hong Kong. Until 1988, these people had been automatically
granted refugee status and Australia, among other receiving countries,
offered them permanent settlement under the Refugee and Special
Humanitarian Program.
From 1982, the Vietnamese Family Migration Program was instituted
and migration from Vietnam was brought into line with Australia’s normal
migration processes.
In brief, the history of Vietnamese immigration into Australia has three
distinct stages: the pre-1975 period during which Colombo Plan students
and 537 orphans entered Australia (Coughlan 1989); the refugee
resettlement program from 1975; and a family reunion program since
the mid-1980s (BIR 1994).
The 1991 census records 121,813 first-generation Vietnamese. There
were also a further 25,151 Australian-born who reported that one or both
parents had been bom in Vietnam (BIR 1994).
There are problems with the accuracy of data concerning the ethnic
identity of Vietnam-born people. The 1986 census shows that about 64 per
cent of the Vietnam-born community were of Vietnamese ancestry and
around 33 per cent of Chinese ancestry. The question of ethnic identity
was not asked in the 1991 census. According to the estimation of the
Bureau of Immigration and Population Research (1994), it is likely that
around 27 per cent of the Vietnam-born community were of Chinese
ancestry. These people spoke Chinese at home. (This fact was taken into
account in the course of collecting data for this study as the research group
consists of those who are of Vietnamese ancestry and speak Vietnamese at
home.)
Since the early 1990s, the Vietnamese immigration into Australia has
begun to slow down due to the implementation of the 1989 Comprehensive
Plan of Action by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees,
which aims to screen out Vietnamese boat people considered economic
migrants and repatriate them from refugee camps to Vietnam. However,
the Vietnamese population in Australia has continued to grow steadily due
to the arrival of those who have come under the Family Migration
Program. Figure 2.1 illustrates the geographic distribution of the Vietnam-
born population in Australia in 1991.
24
SU BJEC TS AND METHODOLOGY
AUSTRALIA
Darwin
Northern
Territory
0.5% Queensland
Western Australia 7%
7%
Brisbane
South Australia
8% New South Wales
Perth 40%
Sydney
Canberra
Adelaide Victoria A.C.T.
36% j 1%
Melbourne
Tasmania
u.o /o
Hobart
25
SU B JEC TS AND M ETH O D O LO G Y
population comprised only 1.5 per cent of the total population in the
Melbourne Statistical Division in 1991. However, there are variations in
the patterns o f their distribution. For the purpose of this study,
concentration was calculated as the per centage of the total population
o f the local government area* using the language at home.
The result of the calculation reveals the distribution of Vietnam-born
persons as the proportion of the total population. As indicated in
Figure 2.2, the distribution of the Vietnam-born population within
Melbourne has focused on those areas in the west and south east and
within central Melbourne.
There were 44,082 Vietnam-born persons in Victoria, representing
36.3 per cent of all Vietnam-born population in Australia. Twenty per
cent of the total Vietnamese population in Victoria reside in the Local
Government Areas of Melbourne, Richmond, Collingwood and Prahran.
Another 32 per cent live in the western suburbs of Melbourne, including
Footscray and Sunshine and substantial numbers are residents of
the south-eastern suburbs, with a 15 per cent concentration in Spring-
vale.
Like the Vietnamese in other parts of Australia, those in Melbourne
formed many community groups of their own within the first years of
settlement, which numbered several dozen. These include some Buddhist
and Catholic congregations and youth groups. With the support of
the Victoria government, there were fifteen centres of the Saturday
School of Languages in and around Melbourne in which some 1000
Vietnamese children were enrolled. The Vietnamese have three
Melbourne-based weekly magazines with a national circulation of some
6000 copies. In addition, there are six Sydney-based daily and bi-weekly
newspapers circulating in Victoria. Since 1993, SBS radio broadcasts
fourteen hours a week of Vietnamese language programmes on a
nationwide scale.
The Vietnamese language has been taught in as many as seven
campuses in Melbourne, and is one of the languages examined at
matriculation level.
*Local government areas are defined as legal local government areas and incorporate local
government councils such as town and shires (1991 census).
26
SU B JEC TS AND M ETH O D O LO G Y
the social context within which they interact and with which they identify
(Milroy 1980). Accounts of the relation of patterns of language used
by individual speakers to the broader social context have been attempted
by several scholars (Gal 1979; Milroy 1987; Heller 1990; Milroy and
Li 1995).
This section sketches the structure of the Vietnamese community in
Melbourne. The purpose of this section is to provide a background
framework for the analysis of patterns of code-switching by the
informants, which is to be presented in the following chapters. The
framework used in this section is based chiefly on Milroy’s approach to
social networks (1980).
The concept of social network can be seen ‘as a boundless web of ties
which reaches out through a whole society, linking people to one another,
however remotely’ (Milroy and Li 1995: 138). By examining types of
personal social circles in which individual speakers interact, the structure
of networks in a particular community (the research population) would be
identified. With regard to code-switching in a bilingual community, one
purpose underlying the examination of social networks is to provide a
detailed account of the community (to which bilingual speakers belong)
with a view to establishing the relation of social networks to patterns of
language usage. The network approach is thus built upon the assumption
that types of social association with which individual speakers are
involved and the way they use the two languages are interrelated. In the
words of Milroy and Li (1995: 138): ‘... variation in the structure of
different individuals’ personal networks will, for a number of reasons,
systematically affect the way they use the two languages in the community
repertoire’.
Scholars have developed various analytical tools to examine the social
networks in the research population, especially in migrant communities.
One analytical tool proposed by Berry (1988) was used to analyse types of
social circles in which immigrants interact. With respect to the relation
ship between code-switching by bilingual speakers and types of social
networks with which they closely identify, Milroy’s ‘network strength
scale’ (Milroy 1980; Milroy and Li 1995), which is used to examine the
relationship between strength of link and variation in language behaviour,
is particularly helpful. Milroy’s scale is intended to chart the social
boundary within which speakers interact. However, as noted by Milroy and
Li (1995), this scale is particularly efficient if it is used to investigate the
effect of strong (and weak) ties developed within a definable (geographical)
territory. This indicates that the application of methods for investigating
social networks should take into account the salient features of the
27
SU B JEC TS AND M ETH O D O LO G Y
28
SU B JEC TS AND M ETH O D O LO G Y
29
SU B JEC TS AND M ETH O D O LO G Y
2.4 METHODOLOGY
This section discusses the methods of data collection, which include
recording natural speech and interviews based on the framework of a
questionnaire.
30
SU B JEC TS AND M ETH O D O LO G Y
31
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32
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33
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*These three areas were selected before the 1995 amalgamations of LGAs. As at 1 July 1995,
there were seventy-eight LGAs across Victoria (compared to 194 LGAs in 1994). Hence,
municipal boundaries were changed. Parts of Footscray, Altona, Williamstown and Werribee
were included in the new LGA of Hobsons Bay. Richmond was merged with Collingwood,
Fitzroy and part of Northcote to form the new LGA of Yarra. The new LGA of Kingston
included Springvale, Oakleigh, Chelsea, and parts of Mordialloc and Moorabbin. However,
the link between SLAs and LGAs has been maintained by ensuring that each LGA is made up
of one or more SLAs (source: Victorian Year Book 1996, No. 108).
34
SU BJEC TS AND METHODOLOGY
Northern
MELBOURNE
Middle Melbourne
.Moreland City Northern
Outer Melbourne Yarra Ranges
Hume City Shire Part A
Melton-Wyndham Eastern
Middle Melbourne
FOOTSCRAY Eastern
(in Western Outer Melbourne
Dandenong)
SPRINGVALE
RICHMOND (in Greater
Dandenong)
South Eastern
Boroondara City
Outer Melbourne
Frankston City
i j> if
i - .'.v,v. ••••. .• •••
FOOTSCRAY: 20
RICHMOND: 19
SPRINGVALE: 21 Source: ABS Cdata 1991 (Supermap)
35
SU B JEC TS AND M ETH O D O LO G Y
36
SU B JEC TS AND M ETH O D O LO G Y
The similarity between the three areas is that there is much industrial
activity within these areas or in nearby suburbs. There are similar types of
shopping centres with many asian food stores and the like. All the
distribution trends suggest that the Vietnamese generally prefer to reside in
areas with a high proportion of their fellow countrymen.
37
SU B JEC TS AND M ETH O D O LO G Y
forty-four, with the older age groups (over fifty) in particular being under
represented. However, the unequal distribution of the informants’ age is
consistent with the pattern of the Vietnamese community in Victoria.
According to the 1986 census, the highest per centage of Vietnamese
speakers was in the thirty to fifty-four age group representing 31.8 per cent
of the population of the community, followed by the twenty to twenty-nine
age group (10.6 per cent). The 1986 census shows that only 2.9 per cent
were aged between fifty-five and sixty-four.
Consistent with the age profile of the community in Victoria, the 1991
census figures also show a high per centage of Vietnamese speakers in the
twenty-five to thirty-four and thirty-five to forty-four age groups with 28.6
per cent and 19.3 per cent respectively.
For the sake of comparison, Table 2.2, based on the 1986 and 1991
census figures, indicates per centage of age distribution of the Vietnamese
speakers in Victoria and that of age distribution in this study.
According to the 1991 census, the median age of all Vietnam-born
persons in Australia was twenty-nine years. In comparison, that of the total
Australian population was thirty-two years. The 1991 census also shows
that seventy-one per cent of all the Vietnam-born were aged less than
thirty-five years. Given these figures, the pattern of the informants’ age
distribution is reflective of the wider Vietnamese population in Victoria
and Australia. The implication of the age pattern of the informants is that
it is a young group, with a high proportion of school aged children and a
low proportion of elderly persons (Kipp, Clyne and Pauwels 1995).
38
SU B JEC TS AND M ETH O D O LO G Y
by the fact that most of the informants stated that Vietnamese was the
language spoken in their home most of the time. In particular, twenty-one
informants said that in their family, siblings (including themselves) speak
Vietnamese to the parents and English to each other. Sometimes siblings
answered their parents in English. There were two women who were
married to English speakers but usually spoke Vietnamese with their
children when their husbands were not present.
With the exception of four informants, the remainder of the informants
claimed that they could follow radio and television in English well enough
to be informed of daily events. They most often read English newspapers,
and nine said they never read Vietnamese newspapers for various reasons.
Overall, all stated that they speak Vietnamese at home. This appears to
reflect a general pattern of language usage of the Vietnamese recorded in
the census. According to the 1991 census, 74.3 per cent of the Vietnamese
population in Victoria reported speaking Vietnamese at home. In that state,
among the Vietnam-born persons who were:
• aged 5 to 14 years, 81 per cent spoke Vietnamese at home;
• aged 15 to 44 years, 73.5 per cent spoke Vietnamese at home;
• aged 45 to 64 years, 71.2 per cent spoke Vietnamese at home;
• aged 65 and over, 75.5 per cent spoke Vietnamese at home.
The 1991 census also shows that the proportion of Vietnam-born persons
indicating that they spoke ‘English only’ at home was low: only 1.6 per cent
39
SU B JEC TS AND M ETH O D O LO G Y
40
Chapter 3
Patterns of code-switching
3.1 INTRODUCTION
It was noted in Chapter 1 that several studies of code-switching have paid
attention to the quantification of code-switching patterns with a view to
relating patterns of code-switching to other sociolinguistic factors
(e.g. Berk-Seligson 1986; Gardner-Chloros 1991; Lu 1991; Bentahila
and Davies 1995). In order to determine the possible influence of
sociolinguistic factors, researchers often isolate single variables, such as
age, social status, and correlate these variables with code-switching
patterns (Muysken 1991).
In this chapter, the main focus is on the nature and frequency of
code-switching in the corpus. It will be divided into six main sections. The
first section presents a rudimentary sketch of the structure of Vietnamese
in syntactic terms. This provides the context for an analysis of switching
by word classes found in the interview data. Second, a frequency count of
the code-switching of word classes of each informant is presented to
describe the overall code-switching pattern. In presenting quantitative
aspects of switched word classes, a major part of this section will be taken
up with the description of switched word classes. The third section
concentrates on the discussion of contrasting properties of Vietnamese and
English word classes. Section 3.4 discusses code-switching at the clause
level. The 3.5 section examines the relationship between code-switching
patterns and topics. In Section 3.6, code-switching patterns among the
informants residing in the three selected areas are described. On the basis
of Milroy (1980) who uses the concept of social networks to explain
variation in language use, this section presents a descriptive overview
of the different code-switching patterns, and compares patterns of code
switching between the three sub-groups living in the selected areas of
Footscray, Richmond, and Springvale.
41
PATTERNS OF C O D E -SW IT C H IN G
42
PATTERNS OF C O D E -SW IT C H IN G
Bisang (personal communication) points out that sentences (4) and (5) are
not structurally different. This is because a in (5) does not indicate a
question in the strict sense of the word but rather something like mild
surprise. In his view, ‘a real intonationally interrogative sentence’ should
be marked exclusively by intonation without any additional marker(s).
Thus for (5) to qualify as ‘a real intonationally interrogative sentence’, the
final particle a is not necessary and the main verb di should bear the
highest Vietnamese tone.
Dependent sentences, on the other hand, differ from independent
sentences in that the former needs to be preceded by some linguistic cue
such as prepositional phrases or verb phrases. In all identified types of
sentence, however, there is the possibility of omitting both pronominal
subject or object to serve a pragmatic purpose. Thus, even the single
constituent verb can constitute a well-formed sentence which is still
pragmatically neutral.
A sentence of any structure in Vietnamese can be summarised in the
following formulation:
S ------ > [Nom] + V + [O] + [{F, Q}]
The obligatory element in a sentence is the verb or verb phrase (VP),
optionally preceded by a nominal and followed by an Object (O) and a
final particle (F), or a question marker (Q). The use of square-brackets [ ]
indicates optional elements, and the braces { }, the choice of at least one of
the included optional forms.
As demonstrated in (2) to (5) above, different types of sentences can be
generated from this formulation. The declarative sentence takes neither F
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44
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Example (7) overtly marks both topic di chcr ‘go to market’ and the subject
may ‘you’. The subject in this example, however, can be omitted without
changing the speaker’s advice, as shown in (7b):
(7b) D i chcr a di dir&ng Church nhanh nhat.
go market PRT go street Church fast most
‘The fastest way to go to the market is via Church street.’
The brief discussion above indicates that the notion of sentence topic in
Vietnamese is a grammatical notion. It should be distinguished from the
notion of ‘discourse topic’, which refers to the overall topic of a
conversation in the normal sense, and is applicable to all languages. The
notion of sentence topic in Vietnamese is very much similar to that of
sentence topic in Mandarin Chinese, as is introduced by Li and Thompson
(1976). These authors implicitly relate the sentence topic to what is called
‘topicalisation’ to refer to the placement of a word or phrase at the
beginning of a sentence or clause. Basically, Vietnamese is known as a
topic-prominent language. The effect is that any noun can occur in the
topic position, be it an argument (English-style topic) or a non-argument
(Chinese- or Vietnamese-style topic).
The above analysis of the basic similarity and difference between
Vietnamese and English is introduced for later reference in Section 3.6,
which discusses contrasting properties of English and Vietnamese word
classes.
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PATTERNS OF C O D E -SW IT C H IN G
3.4.1 Nouns
In the quantification of switched nouns, proper nouns (names of persons,
places, streets, buildings) were excluded. It will be apparent from Table
3.1 that the incidence of code-switching to English nouns is higher than
that of other word classes. This figure, constituting more than 50 per cent
of the total switches, is relatively compatible with that in other studies
(e.g. Poplack 1980; Berk-Seligson 1986; Treffers-Daller 1991).
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PATTERNS OF C O D E -SW IT C H IN G
3.4.2 Verbs
English verbs comprise 12.35 per cent of the total of 3157 switches. Many
switched verbs were in invariable forms (infinitive without ‘to’ instead of
third person-singular, past or past participle forms).
Verbs refer to daily activities: e.g. ‘shop’, ‘discount’, ‘finish’, ‘clean’.
Some of the verbs were used in relation to the informant’s work
environment including: ‘transfer’, ‘kill’, ‘delete’, ‘fund’, ‘abuse’,
‘organise’, ‘supervise’, ‘refer’, ‘agree’, ‘draft’, ‘turn’, ‘check’, ‘test’,
‘supply’, ‘meet’, ‘order’, ‘apply’, ‘interview’, ‘book’. In description of
book reading, verbs were used to a lesser extent: ‘feel’, ‘gain’, ‘effect’,
‘choose’, ‘retreat’, ‘compare’, ‘pick’, ‘meet’, ‘lose’, ‘suffer’.
‘Pin’, ‘support’, ‘touch’, ‘typify’, ‘enjoy’ etc. were produced while the
informants were describing an Australian scene. The most frequently
switched verbs in the taped interviews are: ‘go’, ‘check’, ‘finish’, ‘pick’,
‘look’, ‘run’.
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PATTERNS OF C O D E -SW IT C H IN G
3.4.3 Adjectives
In a thorough study of cross-linguistic adjectives, Dixon (1977) contends
that there are languages in which adjectival meanings are expressed
primarily by nouns and/or by verbs. In Vietnamese, as in a number of
languages discussed by Dixon (1977) and Schachter (1985), there are a
large number of forms which are usually rendered by English adjectives
without copula. For this reason, and in the terms of Schachter (1985),
Vietnamese is an ‘adjectival-verb language’; that is, adjectival meanings
are expressed chiefly by nouns.
The switched adjectives accounted for 4.6 per cent of total switches. The
most widely switched adjectives include: ‘busy’, ‘easy’, ‘interesting’, ‘good’,
‘nice’, ‘silly’, ‘happy’, ‘bitter’, ‘lucky’, ‘sad’, ‘funny’, ‘boring’, ‘beautiful’.
The description of an Australian scene leads to the use of adjectives
such as: ‘small’, ‘familiar’, ‘peaceful’, ‘romantic’, ‘suburban’, ‘typical’.
In other cases, some of the adjectives which occurred refer to work
environment: e.g. ‘sick’, ‘maximum’, ‘industrial’, ‘stupid’, ‘mad’, ‘rude’,
‘ignominious’, ‘special’.
3.4.4 Adverbs
The proportion of the switches that are adverbs is low compared to that of
other word classes. In most cases, the switched English adverbs are placed
at the beginning of the clause. They are: ‘basically’, ‘unfortunately’,
‘actually’, ‘officially’. The most widely switched adverb is ‘very’, which
accounts for 33.87 per cent of the total switched adverbs.
3.4.5 Interjections
The switching of interjections accounts for 3.04 per cent of the total
switches. There is a set of invariable expressions of various kinds switched
by the informants, chiefly by young females under the age of 30 who had
been in Australia for over 10 years, such as ‘Oh my Goodness’, ‘so’,
‘yeah’ (alternatively with ‘yes’). Males also used these expressions but at a
lower rate compared to the females. In a few cases, the male informants
used English obscenities while talking in Vietnamese. Table 3.3 presents
the number of English inteijections in order of frequency.
3.4.6 Conjunctions
Conjunctions comprise only 0.57 per cent of the total switches in my
corpus. Examples of switches involving conjunctions include:
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PATTERNS OF C O D E -SW IT C H IN G
3.4.7 Prepositions
The occurrence of English prepositions is also low (0.77 per cent)
compared to other word classes. Some of the switched English
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50
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51
PATTERNS OF C O D E -SW IT C H IN G
(21) CAN YOU USE A RIGHT WORD FOR PARTICULAR PART FROM
can you use a right word for particular part from
HOLDEN VEHICLE thay bièt cài
holden vehicle teacher know CLA
này nó kèu là cài gì? (60M81S)
this it call is CLA what
‘Can you use a right word for particular part from Holden vehicle did
he know how to name this one?’
(22) Khi mà mày bài dàu hoc tièng Anh a
when PRT you start learn English PRT
WHEN YOU STARTED LEARNING ENGLISH (59M86S)
when you started learning English
‘When you start learning English when you started learning English.’
(23) OH IT COULD BE VERY COLD ngw&i ta bào thàng Ba
oh it could be very cold people tell March
bà già chèt rét mà. (33M75R)
old woman die cold PRT
‘Oh it could be very cold it is said that in March old women die of
hypothermia.’
(24) Có nhiéu khi em choc thay hoài
has many time I joke teacher/he always
I TRY TO HUMORISE HIM. (67F77F)
I try to humorise him
‘I often make fun of him I try to humorise him.’
Message repetition, quotation function and message qualification (Valdès-
Fallis 1977; Gumperz 1982; Saville-Troike 1982; Grosjean 1982) all may
play a part in causing code-switching between main clauses found in my
interview data. To these one can add the Vietnamese spoken style, which is, as
mentioned above, characterised by frequent repetition of linguistic elements
from immediately preceding utterances to serve an emphatic purpose.
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53
PATTERNS OF C O D E -SW IT C H IN G
54
PATTERNS OF C O D E -SW IT C H IN G
55
PATTERNS OF C O D E -SW IT C H IN G
sentence. In Vietnamese, one can only say may ngw&i dó lam khó dé minh
cái g i ‘those people make difficulties us w haf. Here, cái g i ‘what’ must be
placed at the end of the sentence. In the light of English, example (35)
conforms to the English syntactic rule but not to the Vietnamese language.
Consider example (36) taken from my corpus:
(36) Em cw hoi luat-sw WHAT YOU SHOULD DO. (69F78R)
you just ask lawyer what you should do
‘Just ask the lawyer what you should do.’
(36) shows that although the word order of both languages is not the same,
it is not violated. The reason is that ‘what you should do’ corresponds to
the Vietnamese Wh-word gi, which remains in its original (postverbal)
position.
The discussion presented above shows that there is no accompanying
syntactic violation at the point of code-switching between main and
dependent clauses in the Vietnamese-English corpus. The word order of
Vietnamese and English remains stable.
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57
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58
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59
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60
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Vietnamese speakers refer to the place where they live in as nha , (be it a
hut or a tent), regardless of the size and type of accommodation such as a
flat, unit, or mansion as in English. To express the meaning in (51), a
standard Vietnamese sentence should have been:
(52) Ba di coi nha ha ma?
In terms of standard Vietnamese, the unit number mot immediately
preceding nha ‘house’ should be omitted as in (52). As a matter of fact, in
(51), mot precedes ‘house’ in the utterance of 73M80S. In order to explain
why the unit number mot is added, it is perhaps worth investigating the
application of the notion of ‘convergence’.
Convergence is highlighted by Clyne (1987a) in his work on German
and Dutch in contact with English in Australia. He finds that ‘(a) the
syntactic system of LI in many individuals converges towards L2, and (b)
syntactic convergence in specific sentences often accompanies code
switching’ (1987a: 750). Clyne supplies evidence from his Dutch-English
corpus, as given in example (h) (Clyne 1987a: example (13)), in which the
subject pronoun is deleted because English and Dutch have different word
orders:
(h) Dan soms times go voor n hour nog in bed
‘Then (I) sometimes go back to bed for an hour’
Standard Dutch: ‘Dan ga ik soms voor een uur nog naar b e d ’
Clyne (1987a: 753) suggests that ‘. .. syntactic convergence will take place
around the switch, apparently in order to ease code-switching’. To put it
the other way around, code-switching is eased by already-existing
syntactic convergence. Thus the dropping of the pronominal subject in
(h), as indicated by Clyne, is a violation of the grammars of Dutch and
English, and is apparently carried out to facilitate code-switching.
It is possible to explain the addition of the unit number mot in (51) in
terms of convergence. Since the addition of mot is a violation of
Vietnamese grammar, it occurs instead as a convergence towards English
grammar for the sake of facilitating a switch using the single English noun
house. Thus, (51) can be seen as an instance of convergence.
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‘be’ (là, thi) can always be omitted before adjectives, making this verb
conveniently rendered by English adjectives: Co dep ‘she pretty’ means
‘she is pretty’; nó tre ‘he young’ means ‘he is young’, and so forth.
The most specific feature of Vietnamese verbs is that they do not in
themselves denote a clear notion of ‘voice’ in the grammatical sense. That
is, there is no necessity to distinguish between an active and a passive verb.
Examples illustrating this feature include:
(53) Hai cài nhà càt gàn nhau.
two CLA house build near one-another
‘Two houses are built near one another.’
(54a) Tho1 càt hai cài nhà.
worker build two CLA house
‘Workers build two houses.’
The above examples show that the actor and the object of the verb are not
formally marked. Both sentences are in the active voice. In (53), the
subject of the verb càt ‘build’ is hai cài nhà ‘two houses’. From the point
of view of English grammar, one might ask: How can a ‘house’ be built by
itself? There must be someone to build the house. But in Vietnamese, (53)
and (54) are complete sentences. There is no difference in meaning
between (53) and (54) although the word order between the two is
different. One reason is that the object of the verb can readily be
topicalised (see Section 3.2), often resulting in a sentence best translated
with an English passive. In short, (53) is a typical sentence which begins
with the object (hai cài nhà) as topic, followed by a verb and no subject.
Turning now to the switched English verbs in the interview data, the
following extracts will show that morphological typology and syntactic
structure of Vietnamese verbs are retained in the switched English
verbs:
(54b) Nó EXTEND them mot tang. (45F79S)
it extend more one storey
‘It is extended by an additional storey.’
(55) Khóng có ai dwac-EXEM PT hèt. (33M75R)
no has someone FUNC-V-exempt FINAL-PRT
‘No one is exempted.’
(56) May ngtr&i bi-TORTURE cùng có nù'a. (69F78R)
PL/some people FUNC-V-torture also have in addition
‘Some of the tortured were also present.’
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63
PATTERNS OF C O D E -SW IT C H IN G
64
PATTERNS OF C O D E -SW IT C H IN G
65
PATTERNS OF C O D E -SW IT C H IN G
66
PATTERNS OF C O D E -SW IT C H IN G
67
PATTERNS OF C O D E -SW IT C H IN G
68
PATTERNS OF C O D E -SW IT C H IN G
69
PATTERNS OF C O D E -SW IT C H IN G
70
PATTERNS OF C O D E -SW IT C H IN G
71
PATTERNS OF C O D E -SW IT C H IN G
72
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73
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PATTERNS OF C O D E -SW IT C H IN G
town, this is a park where people come for a picnic or they are on tour and
have their photo taken together. You know a flower called Rhododendron
on Mount Dandenong, yeah this park resembles the botanic (gardens) with
a coconut palm, right.’
In contrast, this informant made less use of code-switching when she
was describing her activities at home, as shown in example 82:
(82) The informant 65F80R was talking about her daily work at home:
Thir&ng sau ba g ià tan triràng di ve
Usually after three hour dissolve school go return
dòn hai dira nhò xong cài tam cho con
collect two child little already then bath for child
triróc, xong rói di nàu cam cho con an t&i me an
before, finish already go cook rice for child eat to mother eat
cài bò ve cho bo an
then dad return for dad eat
SO BORING cung ban YEAH VERY BUSY rièu-mà di làm thì
so boring also busy yeah very busy if go work then
bay g ià day roi
seven hour get up already
nèu em ò1 nhà, em khóng di làm a thi em day
if I stay home, I not go work PRT then I get up
WELL con day g ià nào em day g ià dó.
well child get up hour whichever I get up hour that
‘Usually after three in the afternoon (I) went to pick up my two children
from the kindergarten, then gave them a bath, then prepared dinner for the
kids, for me, and for their dad, (it’s) so boring it is very busy, if (I) went to
work (I) had to get up at seven if I was at home I have to, well, get up
whenever the kids wake up.’
Clyne (1967) shows that, when migrants enter Australia, they
encounter a new environment in which English terms and new concepts
are all around them. This indicates that migrants have to use some
English terms with which they were previously not familiar. The extent to
which migrants use terms in other languages depends on various factors;
among these, one would say, is the migrants’ sociolinguistic background.
Given the fact that the Vietnamese are of Asian background, and are
entering a Western environment, like Australia, the new situation with
which they are confronted would be more challenging than that which
migrants of Western background encounter. Given this, the Vietnamese
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76
PATTERNS OF C O D E -SW IT C H IN G
cua anh, anh muon noi la cai HOTEL cua anh ngoai
of it, it want say is CLA hotel of it besides
nhwng cai FACILITY nhwng cai HOTEL
PL CLA facility PL CLA hotel
khac co anh con dac biet hojn la cai VIEW cua anh,
different have it also special more is CLA view of it,
anh con THE BEST LOCATION
it also the best location
‘This is a hotel, I think they just want to show that the best thing about it is
the location and its facilities, obviously what they want to show off is its
view, f ... tell me which five star hotel does not has curtain, right.’
The same can be said of the patterns of code-switching in (85). Here,
English seems to be a source of vocabulary in that the same informant
used English terms where no direct equivalents exist in Vietnamese (e.g.
family payment).
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PATTERNS OF C O D E -SW IT C H IN G
78
PATTERNS OF C O D E -SW IT C H IN G
79
PATTERNS OF CODE-SWITCHING
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
1 Description 2 Description of 3 Description of 4 Description
of book, film daily work in picture in Australia of activity
Australia at respondents’ home
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PATTERNS OF C O D E -SW IT C H IN G
81
PATTERNS OF C O D E -SW IT C H IN G
3.7.2.2 Discussion
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83
PATTERNS OF CODE-SWITCHING
various roles are expressed in the main social events such as the Tet
festival (Vietnamese New Year). To organise such an important event
and during the event, many are in regular contact and exchange ideas,
advice, support, etc., over prolonged periods of time.
The interactional network ties described above may give an indication of
the quantitative patterns of code-switching of the three groups under study.
Figure 3.2 illustrates the quantitative patterns of code-switching of the
three sub-groups.
Several studies of the language use of immigrant groups (e.g. Pfaff
1979; Poplack 1980) suggest that immigrants have certain linguistic norms
which may involve code-switching and borrowing. Poplack (1980) in her
study of Puerto Ricans in New York, indicates that an immigrant group
switches codes to form an ‘overall discourse MODE’ (1980: 614,
emphasis in original). She observes that code-switching as a norm occurs
less frequently when the interlocutor is not a member of the identified
group. In relation to a study of rural speech in urban Norway, Kerswill
(1994: 22) also states that ‘A minority group may develop its own
linguistic norms (which may include code-switching and borrowing), but
only if its members have frequent contact with each other and there is
some stability and continuity’.
600
Footscray
500 Richmond
Springvale
400
300
200
100
I
c c
It l
3 € 1i ■<De o § 8 ®
O
Z 1 CO
■D a 3
0
< 2. - 2 'C
Q. o 1
O 5c
Figure 3.2 Comparison of code-switching patterns by the three sub-groups
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PATTERNS OF C O D E -SW IT C H IN G
The findings of Poplack’s and Kerswill’s studies may apply to the three
Vietnamese sub-groups with respect to similar quantitative patterns of
code-switching. If norm is understood in the sense that it is something that
is shared among the speakers, then to some extent the occurrence of code
switching in the speech of the three sub-groups may be considered as a
kind of linguistic norm, and can be seen as an unmarked choice (Myers-
Scotton 1993a). This idea is in fact suggested in a number of studies of
immigrant communities (e.g. Pfaff 1979; Poplack 1980; Kerswill 1994).
These studies argue that various forms of linguistic behaviour, including
code-switching, function as a linguistic norm in that they are the unmarked
mode of speech. In relative terms, the code-switching of the three groups
suggests that the phenomenon of code-switching may not simply be a
norm for them, but it may be an integral part of their bilingual repertoire.
3.8 CONCLUSION
In this chapter, we have seen that single words are switched more often
than entire clauses. A possible explanation can be that single words such as
nouns, verbs or adjectives exist in both languages, and more importantly,
are considered as ‘categorical equivalent’ (Muysken 1991, 1995). In a new
perspective on code-switching, Muysken proposes that one of the
important conditions for switching of single words is that the switched
word classes are considered as equivalents by speakers of the languages
involved. Muysken calls this condition as ‘switching under equivalence’.
Generally, focusing on the structural equivalence and contrast of word
classes in both languages, it has been revealed that English switched word
classes are patterned like the structure of their Vietnamese counterparts,
and occur overwhelmingly according to the word order of the Vietnamese
language. Given the surface similarities between the word order in both
languages, most switches occur at points around which the word order of
the two languages corresponds.
Specifically, it was shown that different syntactic word classes switch at
different rates. For example, switches of nouns are most common. By
contrast, there is no single switched article occurring in the data. There is
the possibility that these results could be due to structural equivalence and
contrast between the two languages.
The conclusion, once again, must be that categorical and word order
equivalence between the two languages (Muysken 1991, 1995; Pfaff 1979;
Poplack 1980) play an important role in inducing code-switching.
It has also been shown in this chapter that the informants in the three
areas of Melbourne engage in code-switching and that they all make use of
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86
Chapter 4
Tonal facilitation of
code-switching
4.1 INTRODUCTION
It has been noted in Chapter 1 that the explanations for code-switching are
as diverse as the approaches which researchers take in examining
code-switching behaviour. The study of code-switching has particularly
benefited from such an interdisciplinary perspective as every facet of the
issue is dealt with in the light of existing sub-disciplines of linguistics,
sociology, and psychology.
In view of this perspective, this chapter attempts to describe code
switching with the specific data of English and Vietnamese with special
focus on Vietnamese tones.
It has been recognised that although tone in Vietnamese does not have a
role in the expression of grammatical relations, it plays an important role
in distinguishing lexical items in the Vietnamese language. To a certain
extent there are intriguing relationships between tones. It may be of
necessity to see how Vietnamese tones are perceptually interpreted by
Vietnamese speakers and to discover how Vietnamese tones interact with
English stresses in code-switching.
This chapter is organised as follows. First, it will show the process of
word-combination in Vietnamese which usually observes tone relationships,
and describe various aspects of Vietnamese tones. The purpose is to
present the system of phonologically distinctive tones in order to provide
answers to a specific question. How do tonal features interact with each
other?
Second, the major part of this chapter will be devoted to a descriptive
analysis of Vietnamese tones at the point of switch (henceforth
abbreviated as switch point). For the purpose of addressing the specific
question of whether tones play a role in facilitating code-switching, it will
examine phonetic and perceptual features of Vietnamese tones and
compare them with English stresses in terms of their linguistic
plausibility. It will be shown that due to certain factors associated with
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TONAL FACILITATION OF C O D E -SW IT C H IN G
tones, the proportion of some tones is higher than that of others at switch
points.
In fact, Vietnamese tones have been examined in previous studies
(Le Vän Ly 1948; Haudricourt 1954; Johns and Huynh 1960; Robins
1963; Smalley 1965; Shum 1965; NguySn Bäng Liem 1970; Ross 1971;
Nguy§n Binh Hoa 1967; Le Ba Thao 1973; Hoäng Tue and Hoang Minh
1975; Doan Thien Thuat 1977; VÜ Thanh Phirong 1981, 1982; Thompson
1987). These studies focus mainly on two major points: the functions of
tones at lexical and semantic levels, and the number of tones in the
Vietnamese language.
Insofar as the study of Vietnamese tones is concerned, these studies,
with few exceptions, are purely descriptive; only a small number were
carried out based on experimental analysis (Andreev and Gordina 1957;
Trän Hirong Mai 1969; VÜ Thanh Phirong 1981). No study is concerned
with the issue of how Vietnamese tones operate in a linguistic environment
involving English words. This chapter attempts to address this issue. To
begin with, I shall sketch aspects of Vietnamese morphological processes.
Section 4.2 below will give the reader a general idea of how Vietnamese
words are formed with regard to tone features.
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90
TONAL FA CILITATION OF C O D E -SW IT C H IN G
tone which is distinct from level tone. On the other hand, other authors
have employed various sets of features to represent the number of tones. In
his study of Cantonese Chinese, Chao (1947) employs a five-level system
for the phonetic description of tones. He describes each of the six tones in
Cantonese with a numerical value, which represents the height of the tone
(phonetic pitch value) and the direction of movement of the tone. A value
of 1 represents the lowest phonetic value, and higher pitch values can be
represented with progressively higher numbers up to the value of five.
Chao’s system has been employed in several studies on tonal languages
(Williamson 1970; Fromkin 1972; Peters 1973; Clifton 1976; Anderson
1978). Chao’s system is presented in Table 4.2.
Chao’s (1947) scale is interpreted as follows: tone 55 (Tone 1) begins at
the highest level and remains at that level; 35 begins in the middle of the
scale and rises to high; 21 begins below mid and falls to low, and so on.
Chao’s system of six distinct tone levels provides for the specification
of six tone levels, but the fact is that the range of phonetically
distinguishable tones is not limited to Chao’s scale of five values (from
1 to 5). In Anderson’s own words: ‘It [the Chao system] is in principle
simply a notational convenience when interpreted phonetically ... the
actual range of phonetically distinguishable tones is not limited to five
values’ (Anderson 1978: 141). In an attempt to provide a universal
representation of distinct tones for tonal languages, many have proposed
various sets of features in substitution for Chao’s (1947) system (Wang
1967; Sampson 1969; Woo 1969; Maddieson 1972). The similarities of the
cited studies is twofold. In the first place, they all attempt to describe tone
levels in terms of a set of features with binary values; on the other hand, it
appears that there is no single system superior to others in terms of being
able to provide an accurate description of distinct tones in all tonal
languages of the world.’ One can therefore make a conclusion from the
literature that different languages require different sets of features which
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TONAL FACILITATION OF C O D E -SW IT C H IN G
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TONAL FACILITATION OF CODE-SWITCHING
Tone 1: [35]
1
Tone 2: [33]
4 Tone 3: [32]
Tone 4: [214]
2
Tone 5: [212]
5 Tone 6: [21]
3
illustrates phonetic pitch values and trajectories of the high, mid, and low
tones.
As can be seen from Figure 4.1, Tones 4 and 5 are bi-directional and
differ mainly with regard to creakiness, Tones 1, 2, 3, 6 are unidirectional,
and Tone 2 is level. As the direction of movement o f the fourth and the
fifth tones are similar, these two tones are distinguishable only by careful
speech because their pitch heights are just slightly different in that the
former ends somewhat higher than the latter. With regard to the phonetic
representation, the high level tone [35] can be interpreted as starting at
mid-level pitch and ending at the highest level pitch. Tone 2 [33] starts at
mid-level and remains at this level. Tone 4 [214] starts at mid-level, falling
abruptly down to low, then rising to the mid-level, and so on.
Based primarily on these different features of Vietnamese tones, there
are two factors which can be used to differentiate the six tones from one
another. The first is the pitch height, the second the direction of pitch
movement. Those separable only by pitch height alone are the low-level
tones (Tones 5 and 6), the mid-level tone (Tone 3), and the high-level tone
(Tones 1, 2, and 4). In addition to the dimension of pitch level, the direction
of pitch movement also shows much contrast between unidirectional
tones and bi-directional tones. If one simply takes into consideration the
direction of movement alone, then the tones in Vietnamese can be
classified into two groups: those which are bi-directional and those that
are unidirectional. Of the first group are Tone 4 and Tone 5, which are
distinguishable from the unidirectional first, second, third and sixth
tones.
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The first three tones (1,2 and 3) can be referred to as the ‘high tone
group’ because, in general, they have a common feature of higher pitch
than the ‘low tone group’ (4, 5, and 6). Let us recall that Tones 4 and 6 are
additionally marked by glottalisation. The markedness of this feature may
be another additional reason why these two tones show the lowest
occurrence rate at switch points. Table 4.5 shows that in this corpus the
high tone group accounts for 2698 cases, or 85.46 per cent of the total
number of tones at switch points. By contrast, there are only 459 tones
belonging to the low tone group at switch points. To determine whether the
difference is statistically significant, the result of these comparisons is
analysed by means of %2 analysis. It has been found that the data sets
between high-tone and low-tone groups differ significantly (p = 0.001) if
significance is set at the .01 level.
In examining tones at switch points by gender of the informants, it is
found that there is not much difference in the proportion of high and low
tones. Table 4.6 indicates the number of different tones which occurred at
switch points for both sexes.
As shown in Table 4.6, the proportion of the high tone group (Tones 1,
2, and 3) is much higher than that of the low tone group (Tone 4, 5, and 6).
This suggests that there is a common pattern of tones at switch points
between the male and female informants.
Tone name No. o f tones at switch point No. o f tones at switch point
by males by females
Tone 1 527 528
Tone 2 318 401
Tone 3 424 500
Tone 4 30 38
Tone 5 95 115
Tone 6 75 106
Total 1469 1688
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within the low tone group, the incidence of Tone 4 at switch points is very
low compared to that of other tones. In general, the high tone group
comprises 85.46 per cent of the total number of tones at switch points. By
contrast, the proportion of the low tone group at switch points is quite low
(14.54 per cent). The question would then arise as to whether, and to what
extent, specific tones have an effect on code-switching.
In order to answer this specific question and judge the extent to which
the high tones seem to play a role in facilitating code-switching, I shall
attempt here to present the quantitative and the qualitative nature of tones
in Vietnamese.
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the Thai lexicon, and the encoding of high tones as rising and low tone as
falling by Yoruba speakers. In a similar study of combined language
groups (Cantonese, Mandarin, Taiwanese, English), Gandour (1983)
confirms the previous findings, that is, Cantonese, Mandarin, Taiwanese
speakers all attach more importance to the dimension of pitch height than
to other dimensions.
Based on previous studies on the perception of tone by speakers of
tonal languages (Hombert 1976b; Gandour and Harshman, 1978; Gandour
1981), it can be concluded that pitch height and the direction of pitch
movement are the important factors in the distinction of tone for speakers
of the tonal languages under investigation.
Turning now to the linguistic features of Vietnamese tones, in a
thorough study of Vietnamese tones, Vu Thanh Phircmg (1981) claims
that the direction of pitch movement is an important cue for tone
perception. To determine the relative perceptual importance of various
tonal dimensions, such as pitch height, direction of pitch movement, and
intensity, Vu Thanh Phirong (1981) conducts a series of experiments.
First, he tests the perception of real speech tones in meaningful contexts;
tones at the lexical level when lexical meaning can be inferred from
meaningful utterances and contribute to the identification of tones. Next,
he tests the perception of real speech tones in isolated syllables where
the phonetic features of the tone alone would determine their
recognition. He then tests synthetic tonal variants imposed on the word
ta. The test design assumes that direction of pitch movement and pitch
height are the principal acoustical features distinguishing the six
Vietnamese tones.
Analysis of the results of these tests leads Vu Thanh Phirong (1981) to
the following conclusion. In Vietnamese, the direction of pitch movement
and pitch height play a more important role than other tonal dimensions,
such as duration, intensity, in the identification of tones.
The explanation for the claim that the direction of pitch movement and
pitch height are fundamental dimensions in the distinction of tone is
twofold. In the first place, this is because the Vietnamese language has two
tones which have similar direction of pitch movement and are
distinguished only by pitch height: Tone 4 and Tone 5. Second, the
remaining tones separable by pitch height and the direction of pitch
movement are Tones 1, 2, 3, and 6. Since Tone 2 and Tone 3 have little
contrast in pitch height, they are distinguishable only by the direction of
pitch movement.
The fact that pitch height and the direction of pitch movement are more
important than other dimensions in terms of differentiating the Vietnamese
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TONAL FACILITATION OF C O D E -SW IT C H IN G
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TONAL FACILITATION OF C O D E -SW IT C H IN G
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therefore were used not to fulfil grammatical functions, but to signal the
code-switching.
Consider examples (89) and (90) below:
(89a)
Nhitng gi no noi may phai RECALL lai het
PL what he say you must recall again FINAL-PRT
(89a) indicates the (lexical) item-to-item correspondence without do
immediately preceding ‘recall’. Supposing that the speaker did not switch
the English verb ‘recall’ but used an equivalent Vietnamese verb for
‘recall’ (nh&) without do , the sentence would have followed completely
the structure of a Vietnamese sentence. Do in this sentence is not only
unnecessary but also ungrammatical. Therefore, the insertion of do may be
assumed to have conveyed an emphatic meaning, which, as noted by
Thompson (1987), is to signal a new lexical item. In this regard, do (Tone
1) plays the role of a tone in Vietnamese, which, by definition, is used
lexically exclusively with no correlation with the syntactic aspects of the
sentence. In this sense, do serves to emphasise the following lexical item.
By the same token, in (90), the word co ‘to have’ is unnecessary on the
basis of the syntactic structure of Vietnamese and English. But without co
in (90) and do in (89), the English switched word in these two examples
would have been immediately preceded by a Vietnamese word bearing
Tone 5. Let us recall that Tone 5 has low pitch, is a bi-directional tone, and
does not have the emphatic characteristics of the high-pitch tones. Thus, we
might assume that the word co in (90) serves to signal the code-switching.
In order to judge the extent to which the cultural factor of tones would
contribute to code-switching, the researcher counted all system words
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bearing high tones occurring before switch points. It is revealed that the
proportion of system words accounts for only 3.8 per cent of all the
morphemes immediately preceding switch points. Incidentally, this
finding does not lend strong support to my assumption that the cultural
factor of Vietnamese tones specifically induces code-switching. However,
given the fact that system words bearing high tones do occur before code
switching, as shown in the above examples, it would be reasonable to
suggest that the cultural factor of Vietnamese tones is to a certain extent
indicative of code-switching.
Through the examination of the characteristics of the Vietnamese tones,
it can be concluded that the higher the pitch level of the tone (Tones 1, 2,
and 3), the more likely it will be to facilitate code-switching. In an attempt
to present this observation, it seems best to form a tonal model for the
occurrence of code-switches, which is illustrated in Figure 4.2.
As can be seen from Figure 4.2, the frequency of code-switching is
generally predicted from the perceptual value of pitch height in relation to
English stressed and unstressed syllables: the higher the value, the more it
facilitates a switch. The contour tones (Tones 4 and 5) are excluded in this
proposed model since they are perceptually not compatible with stress in
English.
4.6 CONCLUSION
In this chapter, the features of tone have been presented for the dual
purpose of (i) describing the possible alternation of adjacent tones and
sociocultural factors of tones that are found in the Vietnamese language,
and (ii) providing the linguistic basis from which a comparison between
the pitch height in Vietnamese and stress in English is made.
The analysis of tones immediately preceding code-switches revealed
that there is a statistically significant proportion of the high tone group
(Tones 1, 2, and 3) at the point of switching. This finding, together with
the fact that there are perceptually phonological compatibilities between
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the Vietnamese tones of high and mid-level pitch and that of English
stressed/unstressed syllables, suggests that code-switching is facilitated by
the mid-level to high-pitch Vietnamese tones.
It is worth noting here that although the findings may be intriguing,
tonal facilitation is viewed as a tendency, not as a universal rule governing
code-switching between English and the tonal languages of the world.
Nevertheless, the phenomenon of code-switching is made salient by the
Vietnamese tones.
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Chapter 5
Code-switching of
personal pronouns
5.1 INTRODUCTION
In many studies on structural constraints of code-switching, pronouns have
been categorised as belonging to the elements of the closed (vs. open)
class which, under structural constraints, are prohibited from switching
(Timm 1975; Poplack 1980). Based on his Marathi-English code
switching data, Joshi (1985: 194), for example, finds that closed class
categories (e.g. quantifiers, prepositions, possessives, determiners, pro
nouns) cannot be switched. As counter-examples to Joshi’s claim have
already been documented in the literature (Bentahila and Davies 1983,
Gardner-Chloros 1991; Azuma 1993; Jake 1994), it is not the intention
here to provide an analysis of switched pronouns in the light of structural
constraints, but rather to discuss the use of English personal pronouns in
the speech of Vietnamese-English bilinguals.
This chapter is divided into two parts. The first part begins with the
description of the variation in Vietnamese person-reference lexical items.
Then some rules regulating the usage of Vietnamese person-reference
forms are discussed. In the course of examining the meanings of person-
reference terms, attention will be paid to the relations between Vietnamese
person-reference terms and the contexts of their usages.
The first part therefore deals mainly with the pragmatic implications of
Vietnamese pronouns which consist of kinship terms, proper nouns, and
personal pronouns. The presentation of the Vietnamese system of person
reference is intended to provide the most salient features of the
Vietnamese sociolinguistic resource by means of which the use of person
reference is inextricably linked to the relationships between addressor,
addressee, and the referred third parties.
Given their acquisition of English in multilingual Australia, the
Vietnamese in Melbourne, or specifically the informants in this study,
have incorporated English personal pronouns into their own system of
person reference and, as expected, made use of English pronouns in their
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First, these linguistic forms are structural equivalents. That is, they can
substitute for each other in the same syntactic structure. Consider the
following example extracted from Thompson (1987: 293):
(a) Tai-sao con khong noi cho ma ich leri cua trau cau?
why child not tell for mother useful of betel
‘Why did the child not talk about the useful aspects of betel chewing
for mother?’
The above example can be translated in different ways as shown below.
Sufficient to say here that without knowledge of the context in which the
above utterance occurs, the hearer will find it very ambiguous. For
example, we can imagine a situation in which the speaker, after having a
family dinner, announces the utterance (a). Assuming that no ‘child’ is
physically present or present in previous discourse, and assuming that
there may be more than one child in the family, we may wonder what the
context should contain for the hearer to identify the potential referent.
The hearer may have a few assumptions about one or more children in the
family. Perhaps the child can be identified as the one who is the eldest
daughter in the family, and who often recites stories for her mother.
Clearly, several assumptions can be made by the hearer on hearing the
speaker’s utterance, which can be interpreted as follows. The speaker of
this utterance may be the mother. Since she may assume the position of a
child who refers to her as ma ‘mother’, she addresses herself as ma while
talking with her child. Or this sentence may be produced by the father. In
talking with the child, the father can simply take his child’s perspective by
using ma to refer to the child’s mother. Or in talking with the father, the
child addresses herself as con ‘child’ and refers to her mother as ma. It is
therefore possible to assume that there are five ways to identify the exact
referents of con and ma:
(b) Why did the child not [i.e. the addressee] talk about the useful aspects
of betel chewing for mother [i.e. the addressor]?
(c) Why did the child not [i.e. the addressee] talk about the useful aspects of
betel chewing for mother [i.e. the third party]? - (father talking to child)
(d) Why did the child not [i.e. the addressor] talk about the useful aspects
of betel chewing for mother [i.e. the third party]? - (child talking to
father)
(e) Why did the child not [i.e. the addressor] talk about the useful aspects
of betel chewing for mother [i.e. the addressee]?
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(f) Why did the child not [i.e. the third party] talk about the useful aspects
of betel chewing for mother [i.e. the addressee]? - (father talking to
mother)
The kinship terms con and ma can also be replaced by any address terms
(i.e. proper nouns or personal pronouns). For example, if the addressor is
the mother, she could choose other linguistic forms to address her
daughter: either con (‘child’/common noun), may (‘you’/personal
pronoun), or A (given name/proper noun) without violating the syntactic
structure of the utterance.
Second, the meanings of linguistic forms in the Vietnamese person-
reference system are defined in accordance with the speech environment.
That is, the use of the same linguistic form in the person-reference system
in different interactional situations may be decoded differently. This
feature will be elaborated in the sections that follow.
In fact, the relation between the meanings of linguistic forms and their
contextual usage is a complicated one. To begin with, Section 5.2.1 will
sketch some relevant linguistic theories which can be applicable to the
communicative rules of usage of linguistic forms in the Vietnamese
system of person reference.
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The study of address systems and terminology has long been of central
interest to sociolinguists and anthropologists. Many have not only focused
.
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Tzu-lu said, If the prince of Wei was waiting for you to come and
administer his country for him, what would be your first measure?
The Master said, It would certainly be to correct language. Tzu-lu
said ... Why should language be corrected? The Master said ... A
gentleman, when things he does not understand are mentioned,
should maintain an attitude of reserve. If language is incorrect,
then what is said does not concord with what was meant; and if
what is said does not concord with what was meant, what is to be
done cannot be effected ... Therefore the gentleman uses only
such language as is proper for speech, and only speaks of what it
would be proper to carry into effect. The gentleman, in what he
says, leaves nothing to mere chance.
(Confucian Analects, Book XIII, Ch. III)^
These two sayings spell out the cultural values of names in association
with roles. The Confucian doctrine of name rectification has entered into
the metalinguistic awareness of Vietnamese speakers, who in their daily
speech behaviour choose certain forms in the system of person reference
which they consider as appropriate to indicate the relations among the
referents (addressor, addressee, and third party). However, this is not
suggesting that the choice of form of address is exclusively Vietnamese.
Similar features can be found in other societies, as such a feature is evident
in many studies (e.g. Romaine 1994). Sifianou (1992), for example,
reports that Greek speakers are also aware of strategic effect in
conversation in using address terms. Sifianou (1992: 73) remarks that
‘The creation and use of forms of address serve important functions. They
enable speakers to express their distance and formality or intimacy and
give clues to participant stands in the social structure’.
The choices of linguistic forms are discussed in the following
sections.
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number of European and Asian languages (Brown and Gilman 1960: 252).
In very brief terms, Brown and Gilman distinguish between singular or
‘familiar’ T (from the Latin tu) and plural or ‘polite’ V (from the Latin vos)
second personal pronouns in any language. These authors find that when
interactants are closely related, they tend to use T pronouns reciprocally. If,
however, interactants are not close but of similar status, they may exchange
V pronouns reciprocally. The choice of V form is related to differences and
is indicative of the relationships between interactants. Wardhaugh (1986:
267) renders support to Brown and Gilman’s findings by stating that the use
of the V form indicates ‘our feelings towards others - solidarity, power,
distance, respect, intimacy, and so on - and our awareness of social
customs’. Romaine (1994: 148-58) reports similar findings in the use of
address forms of various European languages.
However, any attempt to bring in a rule which specifies the relation of
Vietnamese personal pronouns to the context of their usage is not possible
because under particular speech environments, terms of personal pronouns
may change accordingly. As indicated in Table 5.1, the usage of such
Vietnamese personal pronouns as tao ‘I’ and may ‘you’ may pragmatically
presuppose either the underlying incongruence and hostility, or reinforce
solidarity and stability between speakers. It is the inconsistency of rules
specifying the relation of personal pronoun forms to the context of their
usage that underlies certain ambiguity. This ambiguity emerges from the
inconsistent meanings of Vietnamese personal pronouns, and is similar to
the ambiguity with regard to the choice of kinship terms discussed
previously.
I would suggest that the conflicting meanings of Vietnamese personal
pronouns as well as other subclasses of person reference system can be
removed if there exists a set of lexical forms which are decoded as being
pragmatically neutral in addressing the referents. In this respect, English
personal pronouns can serve as mediating forms. From a historical
perspective, the French personal pronouns toi/moi have been transferred
into the Vietnamese system of person reference in certain contexts, such as
within French-educated Vietnamese circles. The two French personal
pronouns toi/moi were also used by Vietnamese speakers when they spoke
to people they did not know well. By using toi/moi for self- and addressee
references, Vietnamese speakers deliberately avoid taking the risk of
implying a negative relation in speech behaviour. In other words,
Vietnamese speakers neutralise the ambiguous meanings of Vietnamese
personal pronouns by replacing alternative forms in the person-reference
system with French personal pronouns. The phenomenon of avoidance, so
to speak, occurs not for structural but for semantic reasons.
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The same can be said of English personal pronouns which have been
used among Vietnamese-English bilinguals in the corpus. The researcher
has observed that a number of the subjects were very adept at avoiding the
use of linguistic forms in the Vietnamese system of person reference in
certain contexts. Specifically, the subjects frequently used me and you for
addressor and addressee references when the status of the referents appears
to be ambiguous: between those whose ages are different while (social)
status is similar (i.e. engineer/social worker), or between those who do not
know each other well enough to establish a relationship. In a number of
cases, the referent of anh/chi/em (‘elder brother’/4elder sister’/ ‘younger
sibling’ respectively) shifts to me/you/he/she with the change in the
addressor’s attitudes towards the referents (addressee and third party). In
other words, the shifts from Vietnamese personal pronouns to English ones
signal a change in the addressor’s attitudes. The significance of the use in
personal pronouns can be highlighted in the utterances below:
(A) Setting: Exchanges between younger sister and her elder brother:
(93) Anh cho1 em di
elder brother [i.e. addressee] ride younger sibling go
diro’c khong? (73F79S)
OK not [i.e. addressor]
‘Can you give me a ride?’
(94) Tdi nay anh ban. (65M79S)
tonight elder brother [i.e. addressor] busy
‘I’m busy tonight.’
(95) YOU ALWAYS ban a, ME noi
you always busy PRT me say
em H TAKE ME THEN. (73F79S)
younger sibling H [i.e. third party] take me then
‘You’re always busy, I’ll ask H to take me then.’
The use of the kinship term anh in (93) pragmatically implies respect for
and solidarity with the addressee. When ‘elder brother’ turned down his
sister’s request, the use of the personal pronoun you in (95) immediately
negates the previous implication. At the same time, 73F79S used the
kinship term em ‘younger sibling’ in referring to her younger brother H
(third party) to pragmatically imply slightly greater solidarity with the third
party than with the addressee. In other words, the shift from the frequent
use of the kinship term anh to English personal pronoun you implies at
least a temporary negation of the solidarity and affectionate kinship
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At first, 66F84F uses the personal pronouns tao ‘I’ and may ‘thou/thee’
to construct an informal solidarity with the addressee. It should be recalled
that the use of the addressor-and-addressee reference pair tao ... may can
communicate either informal solidarity or the negation of solidarity. Its
usage depends on the relationship between the speakers. In (97), 66F84F’s
linguistic usage of tao ... may is appropriate in light of her social
relationship with 69F78R, who is expected to comply with 66F84F’s
request. When 66F84F’s request is turned down, 66F84F uses the common
noun co (aunt/miss) instead of the previously used personal pronouns tao
and may. The use of co immediately implies at least a temporary negation
of the affectionate friendship relation. 66F84F also attempts to distance
herself from her friend by switching to the English personal pronoun me,
which is followed by an English sentence.
This is not the end of the story. At this point, one may wonder why is
it that 66F84F did not switch to another term of the Vietnamese reference
system which in itself is rich in both lexical items and meaning, instead of
switching to the English personal pronoun ‘me’ which is pragmatically
neutral? The possible answer lies in the regularities in the use of
Vietnamese personal reference.
As seen in setting (B), 66F84F sets off the conversation by using the
personal pronouns tao . . . may for addressor and addressee references.
The use of these linguistic forms implies not only stable solidarity but
also congruence between the participants because the first person tao in
its self-reference use co-occurs with the second person may , not with
any common noun or any other personal pronoun. In the light of the rule
regulating the use of these linguistic forms, 66F84F’s use of co for
addressee reference would indicate denial of the co-membership of the
addressor and the addressee. As a matter of fact, the use of such
common nouns as co ‘Miss’ or bd ‘Mrs’ between speakers of equal
status, such as between friends or husband/wife, for addressee reference
is usually to negate the solidarity nature of a close relation. In general,
the shift from one personal reference term to another marks a change in
the addressor’s attitude. Along the same lines, the switch from co - a
term which had already marked the negation of the close relation in this
speech context - to the English personal pronoun ‘me’ can be seen as a
device that is used to emphasise the intense conflict between the
speakers.
According to the basic assumption of the Markedness Model, the
meaning of code-switching arises as either a conventional (unmarked) or
unconventional (marked) choice for the speech context in which it occurs.
To Myers-Scotton, code-switching is at the service of the individual’s
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intentions, and the individual’s intentions are the basis of all commu
nicative meaning. Following Myers-Scotton’s argumentation, in setting
(B), 66F84F’s knowledge of the unmarked RO set can be seen through the
use of personal pronouns ta o ... mày at the outset of the conversation. The
regularities in the use of address terms in Vietnamese require that specific
pairs of address terms (personal pronoun with personal pronoun, kinship
term with kinship term) should be consistently co-concurrent to maintain
the established relations between speakers, or can be changed at the
addressor’s intention to create a desired situation. When 66F84F switched
to English, she tries to establish a new role relationship between herself
and her friend. Thus the function of marked choice noted by Myers-
Scotton is fulfilled in this conversational context.
The following examples render support to Myers-Scotton’s Markedness
Model:
(C) Setting: A son (76M88S) tells his father (40M88S) about a car accident
in which he hit another car.
(103) Chà ló ra tr ita c mà con dang chay thing
he pop up before while child PRE-V-run straight
dir&ng chinh mà. (76M88S)
road main FINAL-PRT
‘He popped up while I was driving on the main road.’
(104) Cung tai con chay dir qua. (40M88S)
also because child run aggressive very
‘Because you drove too fast.’
(105) Khóng dir thàng chà ló cà cài dau
not aggresive CLA-boy pop up whole CLA head
con cài. (76M88S)
more argue
‘Not that fast the front of his car popped up yet he even argued.’
(106) Óng ta già chira? (40M88S)
he old yet
‘Is he old?’
(107) Chà H E ’S ABOUT YOUR AGE DAD ókng hói bàng lài
he he’s about your age dad he ask driving licence
con nira. (76M88S)
child more
‘He is about your age, dad. He even asked me to show my driving
licence.’
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the choice of verbal behaviour, the younger must use appropriate address
terms in referring to the older. His father (40M88S) notices the usage of
this combined form, and wants to clarify the identity of the man by asking
about his age. Being aware of the inextricable connection of person
reference terms to interactional contexts, 76M88S switched to the English
personal pronoun ‘he’. 76M88S’s code-switching may have a dual
purpose: first, to deliberately negate the address terms he has just used,
second, to avoid repeating using an inappropriate term in reference to an
older person. In this way, 76M88S places himself in a lower status vis-à-
vis the third party in terms of age distance.
76M88S’s awareness of the pragmatic effects of linguistic usage is
further evident in that he switched from ‘he’ to the form ong for the third
party reference. The code-switching in setting (C) is clearly indicative of
some kind of ‘social motivation’ - to use Myers-Scotton’s terms - and is
an instance of ‘code-switching as a marked choice’.
A similar case is found in the speech of 72F79F in setting (D). In this
example, 72F79F relates a fictional story about a girl whose face is badly
scarred for life after having been attacked with acid solution. By asking if
the girl in the story is a victim of an affair, the interviewer wants to know
whether this is the reason why someone threw acid at her. The question
was raised because at the outset of the conversation, 72F79F uses the third
person co which gives an impression of, and refers to, a young female, not
of and to a girl of seven or eight years old. 72F79F immediately corrects
her speech by switching to the English personal pronoun ‘she’, which is
understood as a general term for a female regardless of age in English.
77F79F then keeps repeating the English personal pronoun ‘she’ in regard
to the girl for the rest of the conversation. It seems as if the repetition of
‘she’ can be conceived as being purposeful and rational to reaffirm the
principal character in the story: the seven year-old-girl, not anyone else
who is qualified to be addressed as co. In other words, the use of ‘she’ is
the linguistic equivalent of creating the position of the girl without risk of
violating the regularities in the use of Vietnamese person-reference terms.
The overall interpretation of code-switching from examples (91) to
(109) would indicate the usefulness of Myers-Scotton’s Markedness
Model. First, the Markedness Model concerns the negotiation of identities
by means of code-switching indexing RO sets. In this theoretical model,
code-switching is indicative of some kind of consensus about mutual
relationships between the referents (addressor, addressee, and third parties)
in a conversational interaction.
Second, another premise of Myers-Scotton’s Model is the co-operative
principle based on Grice (1975). According to Grice, the co-operative
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C O D E -S W IT C H IN G OF PERS ONA L PR ONOUNS
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C O D E -S W IT C H IN G OF PE RSO NA L PR ONOUNS
130
C O D E -S W IT C H IN G OF PE RSO NA L PRONOUNS
activities are not tied to one particular language, and even among
those which have a tendency to be realised more often in one
language than in another, the correlation is never strong enough to
predict language choice in more than a probabilistic way.
Indeed, the relationship between language varieties and speech activities is
not a clear-cut one. However, given that there is to a certain extent a shared
knowledge of expectations in conversation between interlocutors with
regard to the regularities in the use of person-reference forms in
Vietnamese, Myers-Scotton’s Markedness Model provides a theoretical
framework, and the most salient feature of the Markedness Model is that
interlocutors are assumed to have common knowledge for appropriate
sociolinguistic behaviour. In this view then, the norms and regularities in
the use of address terms in Vietnamese are the shared knowledge of
speakers of Vietnamese. To put it differently, the Vietnamese system of
person reference is a shared linguistic resource. This resource is equally
accessible by most of speakers of the language. Given this available
resource and the knowledge of how to use it, the speaker will retrieve
appropriate address terms in accordance with the conversation in which
the speaker enters.
To clarify this point further, I will attempt here to compare the notions
of resource and access in different speech situations: Vietnamese-English
bilinguals in this study and people of African nations in Myers-Scotton’s
study (1993a). Myers-Scotton claims that \ .. because everyone [speakers
in African nations] starts with the same equipment (the markedness metric)
and has relatively similar experiences, a consensus emerges within the
community’ (p. 88). Her claim indicates that the communicative resource
(e.g. English) in African nations is somehow equally distributed among
groups and individuals by means of social mechanism such as education or
law. But as Myers-Scotton also notes that access to English is dependent on
access to higher education ( \ .. real access to this language comes through
extended formal education, and such education is tied to privilege’ p. 28),
therefore access to linguistic resources is quite limited and as a result of
this it is unequally distributed among groups and individuals.
Turning now to the Vietnamese-English bilinguals, knowledge of the
regularities in the use of person-reference terms, as presented in Section
5.2, is undoubtedly shared among themselves. In other words, this
knowledge is an available resource to which the participants in the
conversation can access. As demonstrated in examples (93) and (96), when
a new speech situation arises during the conversation, the speakers shift
from one type of Vietnamese address term to another or switch to English
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C O D E -S W IT C H IN G OF PE RSO NA L PRONOUNS
132
C O D E -S W IT C H IN G OF PE RS O NA L PRONOUNS
switches to English to define the identity of the girl in the story (i.e. age
and gender) whom she inaccurately refers to as co. Her code-switching
indicates that she is at a loss as to how to define the girl’s status at the
outset of the conversation.
5.5 CONCLUSION
It has been recognised in the code-switching literature that code-switching
is a universal phenomenon in multilingual communities but its functions
(in Myers-Scotton’s terms: its social motivation) may be different in
different communities. Taking into account this observation and the
specific characteristics of the overall picture of speech interaction in
Vietnamese bilingual speakers in Melbourne, this chapter has attempted to
explain the occurrence of pronoun code-switching in the corpus in the
following ways:
i First, it has presented the rule-governed uses of linguistic forms in the
Vietnamese system of person reference. In Vietnamese, the use of
appropriate address terms is indispensable to every utterance in all
speech contexts. Its use is inextricably related to extralinguistic factors
such as personal identity, age, gender, degree of solidarity and
co-operation. Not only does its use designate the participants, but it
also concurrently creates interactional contexts. In terms of Myers-
Scotton’s Markedness Model, the appropriate use of person-reference
forms is the unmarked rights-and-obligations set. Therefore, the
presentation of the Vietnamese system of person reference is an
important step towards applying the Markedness Model in analysing
the code-switching of personal pronouns in this study.
ii Second, this chapter has applied Myers-Scotton’s Markedness Model.
The model offers an insight into how code-switching of personal
pronouns fulfils one of the communicative functions associated with
Vietnamese language and culture. The model makes sense in that it
considers code-switching in any conversation as a strategy to negotiate
identities. Although the model’s claim of universality does not, as
expected, receive entire support from other studies of code-switching,
for example Swigart’s study of Wolof-French code-switching in Dakar
(1992), the examination of my corpus demonstrates that the model is a
useful approach to code-switching because of the following factors.
First, the approach rests on the principle that code-switching signals
the addressor’s intention to change the social relationship with the
participants in the conversation. Considering the important function of
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134
Chapter 6
Conclusion
135
C O NC L US IO N
basis of many insightful studies in this field, this study was able to apply
some of the findings. In Chapter 3, we saw that Poplack and Sankoff’s
Equivalence Constraint was on the whole applicable. It is shown that many
instances of code-switching between Vietnamese and English occur
frequently at structural positions which are compatible to both languages.
This is because basically both Vietnamese and English have a similar word
order. Despite this fact, the Equivalence Constraint does not account for all
incidences of code-switching between this language pair, as there are
instances which show that code-switching occurs at those structurally
incompatible places between the two languages.
Many similar findings have been reported in other studies in which the
validity of the Equivalence Constraint was checked against data from
relatively incompatible pairs of languages, especially between typologi-
cally different pairs of languages (e.g. Turkish-English in Pfaff 1990;
Dutch-English and German-English in Clyne 1991a; Adanme-English in
Nartey 1982; Spanish-Hebrew in Berg-Seligson 1986; Dutch-Moroccan
Arabic in Nortier 1989; Finnish-English in Poplack, Wheeler and
Westwood 1987, among others). Findings in these studies indicate that
the Equivalence Constraint does not seem to be as universally valid as it is
claimed to be.
The same can be said of Di Sciullo, Muysken and Singh’s (1986)
Government Constraints. These authors argue that constraints on code
switching can be embedded into general linguistic theory, and that code
switching cannot take place between a governor and its complement. We
saw in Chapter 3 that there were instances of code-switching between
prepositions and their complements. Generally, the few counter-examples
can be seen as a contribution to previous studies which lend support to
the objections to the generality and universality of the Equivalence and the
Government Constraints.
On the other hand, Clyne’s notion of convergence (1987a), and
Muysken’s concept of categorial equivalence (1991, 1995) are useful as
they can account for switching of a number of word classes. As was
discussed in Chapter 2, Muysken (1991) reiterates that it is not possible to
make absolute claims, but only to make probabilistic claims about
grammatical constraints on code-switching. Under his notion of
‘categorical equivalence’, code-switching of a particular word class
is possible when such a word class exists in both languages and is
considered to be equivalent by speakers of both languages. Muysken’s
perspective is applicable in accounting for switching of a number of word
classes, especially the switching of prepositions in the corpus of this
study.
136
C O NC L US IO N
137
CO NC L USIO N
138
CO NC L USIO N
139
C O NC LUSIO N
140
Appendix 1
Sample questionnaire
141
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Appendix 2
List of informants
143
LI ST OF IN FO R M A NTS
144
Appendix 3
Tai em khong biet MAGAZINE la sach gi, noi tieng Anh ha, mac cirdi
qua.
Neu noi khong dwcrc thoi k i mot phim nao di.
Coi FILM ha, em co coi THE LOVER, em di vcri chi T chi T OK co ong
nay khoang ba miro-i may tu6i, ong la ngirai Tau & Phap, ong qua Viet
Nam cai ong cua con nho Tay ngirai Phap ma no mcri mu’d’i sau tu6i,
WHAT ARE YOU DOING? mircri sau tu6i roi cai hm hai ngirai thich
nhau ma PHYSICAL khong a NO YEAH co NO khong co khong co tai
thang nay ba no ARRANGED MARRIAGE YEAH ong mcri ba mu’O’i,
ong Ion ho*n m irai lam tu6i miro’i bon tu6i gi do, khong thu’O'ng dau
tai nha no ngheo lam, cai no ngu vo*i ong YOU KNOW YEAH roi no
lay tien do, roi no khong co thu’O'ng ma thang nay thirong no lam
YEAH.
145
EXT RA C TE D SA MPLE INT ERVIEW S
Roi sao?
Hm thi no cai thang do lay vo* con nh6 kia SAVE UP A LOT OF MONEY
roi di ve Phap, YEAH ma hoi no len tau di THAT’S WHEN SHE KNEW
YOU KNOW HM SHE REALLY LOVED HIM TOO LATE cai hoi no len
tau co chiec xe cua thang do tai no giau lam no co CHAUFFEUR YEAH.
Vay thoi a?
NO NO no dau co ve Phap no con nho len tau YEAH tai no 6* Viet Nam
roi no khong co tien, cai ma no keu du thang nay dSn no di cho'i roi cho
tien, cai het gia dinh co tien du ve Phap, roi thang nay o' Viet Nam vcri vo*
no, YEAH MARRIAGE ARRANGED MARRIAGE ba no dau co chiu, tai
no cung noi vcri ba no tai no thirong con nho Tay nay ma ba no khong
chiu, roi ARRANGED MARRIAGE luon.
Thircrng mdi ngay em lam gi?
Phong khach em thay cung MODERN vcri nha nay chac nghe nhac nhieu
l&m, v&i doc sach coi sach nhieu cung sach nira ne co CD vo*i may dia nha
nay cai nay la phong khach, cai nay la KITCHEN COOK do hm hai ba noi
chuyen uong tra COOFEE cung vui, chac noi chuyen dai xira co hai dan ba
may ngu'O'i nay khung qua de cai nay tren day ne dk EGGS cai hinh nay la
chac IS IT VIETNAM phai khong? ASIAN COUNTRY thay ngu'O'i ta kh6
em thay buon, kh6 cai ch5 tam buon SO SAD may dira nho cung om nira,
em thay may cai BUILDING nay 6* EUROPE thi em thay ARCHITEC
TURE cai nay cung ROMANTIC YEAH em thay, cai nay cung dong ngu'O'i
WHAT IS IT THE PARK cai PARK may ngu'O'i gia vui, co nu'6'c xanh.
A em mcri doc cuon MAGAZINE GIRLFRIEND em doc cai HORO
SCOPE WAIT noi thang nay em phdi du lich MEET nhieu ngu'O'i vcri phai
ra vcri em co trircmg o' HIGH SCHOOL ne I MEAN ban & HIGH
SCHOOL co ban o' UNI o' RMIT khong a trong cuon sach cuon
MAGAZINE no noi vcri em phai ra UNI tim ban mcri JUST HM NEW
HORIZON THAT WAS IT SAID AND IT SAID GOOD tot.
146
EX T RA C TE D SAM PL E INT ERVIEWS
147
EXT RA C TE D SAMPL E INTERVIEWS
nhat la tai vi cai khu nay no nhieu sac toe qua ma viet khong lam gi dirge
het do no phai ph6 bien sach bao nay no phai noi cho ngirai ta biet quyen
lgi cua ngircri ta nay no Viet nam minh no khong lam gi het, thing t thi tir
ngay do, no tau viet ma lam me gi con k thi con do con tre qua thanh ra
chira ra lam dirge gi het co ngirai hu*a cho em lam co ngiroi hu*a dira em
lam TEAM LEADER KENSINGTON BOSS a em dgi HAND OVER a co
thing do nhimg thang do khong lam nira chi chiu khong n6i ve NORTH
MELBOURNE lam circ thi tai no muon no dau chiu lam cai con do cai
thu* nhat cai thvr hai nira no hoc PART TIME nira cho nen no dau dk thoi
gicr vo no lam.
Bay gi& ong ta may tarn hinh nay di.
Cai khu ma goi la vimg que co nghia la vung que em dem vay thoi khong
co mot cai gi goi la voc dang gi goi la cua CITY ca a cho* anh thay sao cai
nay nhir la mot cai a mot van phong STOCK EXCHANGE phai ha em
nghi cai nay la mot cai khong ph&i STOCK EXCHANGE khong phai a
dung roi STOCK EXCHANGE chu* TELEPHONE win lai COMPUTER
ne WHITE COLLAR OFFICE cai nay goi a MELBOURNE nhimg ma
MELBOURNE nhin may BUILDING nay MELBOURNE gi nira cai
RIALTO BUILDING nay phai khong dung roi tai no cai dircmg chay
chung quanh bi6n lam cho minh tircmg, cai nay hk cai nay la khuon vien a
PARK cai nay chac la MELBOURNE cai nay RIALTO co BUILDING
SHELL day YEAH ga xe lira ben nay cai nay la BRIDGE no noi ra dircmg
lo phai khong toa soan bao ir AGE THE SUN gi day dung roi HERALD
SUN ne do dung roi.
Em muon noi la da so khong phai dam viet nam lam cho HOUSING la no
vay, tai no khong CONCERN gi het lam vo do lam thoi het gicr cai dam
lam HOUSING OFFICER con phai goi dien thoai len noi chuyen vcri xep
no sao thang do no STUPID qua vay thing do chira no khong bao gio* lam
dirge SUPERVISOR het a ACTING no cung khong lam dirge thang do
no bo lao anh a/ thang do la viet nam HOUSING OFFICER viet nam
khong dira nao cho'i vcri no xin chuyen ve FOOTSCRAY no lam gan nhir
biet khong thi no phai DEAL vcri ben van phong NORTH MELBOURNE
co cai thang an do no hoi em thang do sao co biet no tai no cung lam
HOUSING OFFICER no hoi em cho* may biet gi no phai goi dien thoai
len noi chuyeen vcri SUPERVISOR no tao thay no cham lam, bay gio* no
lam TENANT UNION dircri FOOTSCRAY no lam TENANT UNION no
lam cai dam hiep hoi cir dan no noi con h no noi vcri em la no khong co
NAME no khong noi co nghia la ai no noi co nhieu ngirai viet nam lam
nghia la ta day lam cho chinh phu con do thi no cung khong no OPERATE
148
EXT RA C TE D SA M PL E INT ER VIEWS
cái kièu mà goi là quan chúa vây dó, nó làm PERMANENT chir cüng lâu
làm mà nó làm dirài SOUTH MELBOURNE mà môi lân cài con
SUPERVISOR cü cùa nó eu* nu* em nói o' nëu nó nói em chuyên
DISPUTE nhir vây thi em nói muôn hoc cài càch mà mà HANDLE cài
DISPUTE nhir là em làm diró'i cho cài dàm PRAHAN, nó hoc
WELFARE cài gì em nghï là vây, em nói chuyên goi là kièu mà goi là
PERSONAL thôi, nghe nói nó xin nó nôp dirge cài JOB dó tai vi cái khu
FOOTSCRAY dông ngu'O'i viêt quá thành ra TENANT UNION nó tuyèn
nó con dó nó nói tiëng viêt khóng giói tai có mot hôm di cái FUNCTION
cái nó vô cái FORUM nói chuyên vë à nó có nam sác dân nam sác toc nói
chuyên vë nhìrng ngirài mà goi là sác toc mà goi là không nói tiëng Anh
này no có nhìrng tra ngai ve nhà eira thì nó m ài m a nó nói cài FORUM
thi là môi mot SPEAKER thì nó là SPEAKER cho viêt nam thì nó dirng
lèn nó nói là nó là nó lúe nó rài viêt nam thì nó mó*i chin mirai tuèi thì nó
không rành cài chuyên goi là lich su' viêt nam em nghï trong bung biët me
gì vë viêt nam nó nói vây a, thì tai hôm dó chi có mot minh em viêt nam à,
thì tai no m ài bên HOUSING di mà cái tui TENANT UNION nó mài, em
nghï khi nó nói câu dó nó nhìn em em nghï biët me gì vë lich sir viêt nam
tai vi cái thàng tây ban nha nó dúng lên nó nói sa vë lich su' cài FORUM
bài vây em nghï sau lúe mà già BREAK em ra em nói nó em nói cài
FORUM thì chi có tir 9 già sàng dën 2 già chiëu thôi mà nói chuyên nó vë
lich sir ngirài ta tài dây dâu phài ngirài ta nghe lich su' dâu cài chuyên là
bày già nëu anh chiù làm à dây là goi là TENANT WORKER nëu mà anh
chi càm thây là van dë mà nhìrng ngirài anh chi REPRESENT anh chi
làm có cài gì tra ngai.
Ong di hop nhtr vây thw&ng không?
149
EX T RA C TE D SA MPLE INT ERVIEWS
150
EXT RA C TE D SAMPLE INT ERVIEW S
câi hôm may câi hôm minh nam o' trong doc bao a doc chi dô mot doan
mât no mô* chû* cvr nhây nha nhây.
W: Tai lüc do thay chira an.
M: Không an dirge 2 tuân hem 2 tuân 6* trong không an dirge.
W: Nhimg bây giô' thây an dirge.
M: Bây gio* thi an dirge qua mà buôn cirai no không an dirge no không
ia.
W: Thây không bi gi thây.
M: Không dirge câi gi cà kinh the thi cô di bao gio* cô di. A ha nôi là tinh
là tinh vây thôi nëu minh dé cho ho OFFICIALLY MAKE A
CONNECTION WITH ho thi VERY HAPPY.
W: WOW HE WAS COMMISSIONED BY UNESCO.
M: Làm câi chuyen Hà Nôi OK.
W: SO ARE YOU PROUD OF ME?
M: (T roi sao nira.
W: GO ON.
M: Cô dâu cô làm gi tôi dâu toi dâu cô dé câi gi toi dâu.
W: Không nhirng mà thi WELL HM I THOUGHT SERIOUSLY ABOUT
WHAT thày nôi LAST TIME WE SPOKE ABOUT hoc thêm HISTORY a
ANYWAY I KNOW THIS PERSON WHO KNOWS THIS PERSON
AND I SPOKE TO THIS LADY thi OBVIOUSLY ho CALLED FOR
HERITAGE PRESERVATION thi I SORT OF SAID I NEED TO SORT
OF MY WORK nëu mà.
M: Câi do tôt à.
W: YEAH.
M: Câi dô thi tôt à nhirng mà thàng x thi.
W: OH NO nhirng mà I.
M: HE IS IGNOMINIOUS thë mà thë mà nô là mot câi.
W: Nhirng mà câi bà câi bà dô là là câi SHE’S AN ARCHITECT HERE à
bâ dirge FUNDED câi câi FUND BY AIDAB AND SHE’S WORKING
WITH THE JAPANESE THIS WEEK I MEAN dé PUT TOGETHER mot
câi MASTER PLAN OF HOW TO.
151
EXT RA C TE D SAMPL E INT ERVIEW S
152
EX T RA C TE D SA M PL E INTERVIEWS
153
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Index
173
IND EX
high tone 94, 98, 99, 101, 104, 108 name rectification 115, 116, 117, 118,
Hmong 56, 68, 69 127
name taboo 119
independent sentences 42, 43 network strength scale 27
inflected language 139 Non-Switchability Constraint 15
interference 29 Northern Vietnamese 92
intersentential code-switching 7, 50 Norwegian 139
intonation languages 89
intrasentential code-switching 7, 10, 11, perception of tone 103
12, 17, 18 person reference 5, 111, 112, 114, 115,
Italian 19, 114 116, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123,
124, 125, 128, 131, 132, 133, 134,
Japanese 15 137
junior kin 119 phonological 6, 8, 9, 89, 92, 93, 102,
103, 104, 108
Kay Elemetrics Sona-Graph 140 pitch contours 89
Khmer 55, 56, 138 pitch height 94, 100, 101, 104, 108
kinship terms 111, 112, 114, 117, 118, pitch level 90, 93, 94, 97
119, 121, 122, 126 pitch movement 93, 94, 100, 101
Korean 60 pitch range 100
pitch variations 89
language contact 2, 5, 9, 137, 138, polysyllabic language 88
140 Prahran 26
language pairs 11, 15, 16, 17, 105, 137, principle of government 16
138, 140 psycholinguistic 5, 14, 53, 138
lexical tones 100, 102 Punjabi 15
linguistic assimilation 140
linguistic behaviour 2, 19, 20, 28, 32, recipient language 8
33, 85 reduplication 89
low tone 94, 98, 99, 101 rhetorical functions 18, 20
rights-and-obligation 20, 133
Malay 60 role relations 126, 130, 132
Maltese 138
Mandarin 45, 95, 101, 140 single free morpheme 88
Maori 15 situational switching 7
Marathi 17 social circles 27, 29
Markedness Model 20, 112, 125, 126, social motivation 19, 82, 128, 133, 134
128, 130, 131, 132, 133, 137 social networks 18, 19, 23, 26, 27, 28,
matrix language 9, 13, 14, 17, 18 29, 32, 41, 82, 137
Matrix Language Frame Model 9, 13, social relationship 114, 124, 130, 132,
14, 17 133
mid-level pitch 93, 94, 104, 109 social values 4
monolingualism 8, 51, 135 sociolinguistic 5, 7, 14, 19, 41, 75, 80,
Moroccan 18 82, 105, 111, 112, 123, 131, 134, 137
morphological processes 8, 9, 59, 62, sociolinguistic situation 139
88 socio-psychological motivations 20
multilingualism 1, 140 solidarity relations 118
multiplexity 18 sound dimensions 102
174
INDEX
175