The wonders of code-switching

For years I've been getting funny looks when I answer the phone to my mum. Not because I'm saying something strange, but because the person listening can understand only half of the things I say due to unconsciously jumping between two different languages mid sentence. This is commonly known as code-switching. 

In linguistics, code-switching occurs when a speaker alternates between two or more languages. Multilingual speakers (those who are fluent in more than one language) sometimes use elements of multiple languages when in conversation with each other. Therefore code-switching is defined as the use of more than one linguistic variety in a manner consistent with the syntax and phonology of each variety.

There are many types of code switching used. Personally the most common that is used in my house is "Intra-sentential switching" which occurs within a sentence or a clause. For example in a switch between Spanish-English, one could say, "La onda is to fight y jambar." This represents how drastic the switch is and how it could happen any time.

There are many theorists studying the syntactic and morphological patterns of language alternation who conclude that there are certain grammatical rules and specific syntactic boundaries for where code-switching might occur. For more information on that research, search for 'Poplacks model' or 'Matrix language frame model'.

After a simple google search I was produced with 5 reasons why people code switch:

1) Our lizard brains take over

2) We want to fit in

3) We want something 

4) We want to say something in secret (common way of my trying to slyly slag someone off)

5) It's helps up convey a thought

I'd say a very common reason for me switching languages is to say a phrase that just sounds better in a certain language. For an example the French phrase- "Qui court deux lievres a la fois, n'en prend aucun"is sure to sound better in French when the direct translation to English is- "Who runs two hares at once, shall in no way". This shows clearly that the expression will just sound better in French. 

So if you hear someone flipping between languages, they're not doing it for banter, it's an unconscious multi-lingual way of communicating. 

Shaymaa Bani