Code-Switching at the Interfaces

Languages, vol. 9, pp. 258

Abstract

One characteristic of multilingual speakers is that in everyday life, they may integrate elements from their languages in the same sentence or discourse, a practice known as code-switching. This paper examines code-switching at the interfaces, in particular as related to information structure. Despite the fact that a core question of modern linguistic theory is how syntactic and information-structural theories interact in accounting for licensing of different grammatical phenomena, there has been relatively little literature on code-switching and information structure. In this paper, we provide an overview of the available literature on code-switching across different language combinations, focusing in particular on subject pronoun–verb switches, ellipsis, light verbs, topic/focus particles, and code-switching between sign languages. We argue that the study of the interplay between information structure and code-switching sheds light on our understanding of multilingual grammars and language competence more generally. In this regard, we discuss theoretical and methodological considerations to guide future studies.

Authors 2

1. Antje Gerda Muntendam corresponding

   Florida State University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA

2. M. Carmen Parafita Couto corresponding Aachen Centre for Linguistics, Leiden University

   Leiden University · Universidade de Vigo

   Affiliation as printed

   Centre for Linguistics, Leiden University, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands

   Language Variation and Textual Categorisation (LVTC), Universidade de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain