Language Contact: Diglossia, Code Switching, Pidgin and Creole

Outcomes and Objectives

 The present lecture aims to help students understanding of the different linguistic
phenomena that arise in contact situations.
1. Diglossia
The term diglossia was used for the first time by Charles Ferguson (1959, p.336) who defines
it as:
A relatively stable language situation in which, in addition to the primary dialects
of the language (which may include a standard or regional standards), there is a
very divergent, highly codified (often grammatically more complex) superposed
variety, the vehicle of a large and respected body of written literature, either of an
earlier period or in another speech community, which is learned largely by formal
education and is used for most written and formal spoken purposes but is not used
by any section of the community for ordinary conversation.
Diglossia is a sociolinguistic situation in which two varieties of the same language which
have different and complementary functions coexist in the same speech community. One
variety is high (H) since it is prestigious and standard. The other one is low (H) because it is a
non-standard linguistic form. These varieties have instinct functions and domains in diglossic
speech communities. The high variety is used in formal contexts such as literature, media,
newspapers, education and religious sermons. The low variety is employed in informal
everyday situations. The high variety is usually spoken and written, but the low variety is
often only spoken. For instance, Arabic is a diglossic language since the standard Arabic and
the colloquial Arabic are two varieties that are used separately in different contexts. In
Switzerland, the standard German (H) and Swiss German (L) have separated function.
Jushua Fishman (1972, p. 136) defines diglossia as "the phenomenon in which one language
is considered higher than another." Fishman extended the definition of diglossia to include
two genetically unrelated distinct languages which have different functions in different
situations rather than two varieties of the same language. For instance, in Paraguay, Spanish is
the high variety and Guarani is the low variety for all speakers (Swann et al.,
2004).
2. Code-Switching
Code-switching is a sociolinguistic phenomenon in which the bi/multilingual speaker
deliberately shifts back and forth between codes in the same conversation. Code here is a
neutral term that can be used to refer to language or any linguistic variety such as dialect or
style. Dell Hymes (1974) defines codeswitching as "the alternate use of two or more
languages, or varieties of language, or even
speech styles." Gumpers (1982, p.59) defines code-switching as "the juxtaposition within the
same speech exchange of passages of speech belonging to two different grammatical systems
or subsystems." In code-switching, the speaker uses two codes in the same speech.
Auer (1984, p. 1) explains code-switching as "the alternating use of more than one language".
In the Algerian speech community, people always switch between the colloquial dialect and
French.
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2.1.Situational Code-Switching and Metaphorical Code-Switching
Blom and Gumpers (1972) made the distinction between situational code-switching
and metaphorical code-switching. In situational code-switching, the speaker switches
between languages, dialects, accents or styles during a conversation because "the setting itself
has changed and demands a different variety" (Trask, 2007). Wardhaugh (2006, p. 104)
described this type of code-switching by claiming that "the languages used change according
to the situations in which the conversant find themselves: they speak one language in one
situation and another in a different one. No topic change is involved." In this type, the speaker
shifts to another code when the setting or the participants involved in the conversation change.
For example, the teacher uses English in formal classroom instructions and the colloquial
Arabic in informal discussions with students in the classroom. Metaphorical code-switching
occurs in the same situation when the speaker faces difficulties to express his ideas using one
language. He switches to another language without any change in the situation because the
topic of the conversation changes to encode a social value or a social meaning. For example,
when we talk about religious topics we shift to the standard Arabic.
Wardhaugh (2006, p. 104) explained the differences between situational codeswitching
and diglossia as follows:
In diglossic communities the situation also controls the choice of variety but the
choice is much more rigidly defined by the particular activity that is involved and
by the relationship between the participants. Diglossia reinforces differences,
whereas code-switching tends to reduce them. In diglossia too people are quite
aware that they have switched from H to L or L to H. Code-switching, on the
other hand, is often quite subconscious: people may not be aware that they have
switched or be able to report, following a conversation, which code they used for
a particular topic.
At the structural level, code-switching can be intersentential, intrasentential or extrasentential
(Poplack, 1980)
Intersentential code-switching refers to the shift from one language to another at the level of
sentence boundaries i.e. two adjacent sentences are produced in two different languages.
Intrasentential code-switching occurs when the speaker switches between codes in the same
sentence or clause.
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Extrasentential code-switching occurs when speakers introduce tag questions, hedges,
exclamations from the donor language such as 'you know, kind of' into the recipient language.
For example, Algerians tend to introduce French expressions in their speech.
3. Pidgin and Creole
The developments of pidgins and creoles are the consequences of language contact.
Pidgin is a new simple form of language that is created when groups of speakers have
minimal need to interact for different purposes such as trade and laboring, but they do not
share a common language. Wardhaugh (2006, p. 61) defines pidgin as "a language with no
native speakers: it is no one’s first language but is a contact language. That is, it is the
product of a multilingual situation in which those who wish to communicate must find or
improvise a simple language system that will enable them to do so.'' Pidgin consists of simple
lexical, morphological and syntactic structures. One language is the superstrate language
spoken by the more economically and politically powerful group. Lexicon of pidgin is taken
from this dominant language. The second language which is the substrate language often
spoken by the less powerful and minority group provides the syntactic and the phonological
features to pidgin (McKay, 1996). Some pidgins may disappear when the purpose of
communication finishes. Others may be nativized when contact is sustained and when
children of the next generation acquire pidgin as their first language, pidgin becomes a creole.
In creole language, pidgin's lexis becomes sophisticated and elaborated, and its syntactic
structure becomes more complex.
References
Auer, P. (1984). Bilingual Conversation. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Blom, J.-P. and Gumperz, J. J. (1972). `Social meaning in linguistic structures: codeswitching
in Norway', in J. J. Gumperz and D. Hymes (eds) Directions in Sociolinguistics.
Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Ferguson, C. A. (1959). `Diglossia', Word, 15: 325-340.
Fishman, J. A. (1972). Language and Nationalism: Two Integrative Essays. Rowley, MA:
Newbury House.
Gumperz, J. J. (1982) Discourse Strategies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Holmes, J. (2013). An introduction to sociolinguistics. New York, NY: Routledge.
Hymes, D. (1974). Foundations in Sociolinguistics: An Ethnographic Approach. Philadelphia:
University of Pennsylvania Press.
McKay, S., L. (1996).Sociolinguistics and Language Education. In Mckay, S., L. &
Hornberger, N., H.(eds) Sociolinguistics and Language Teaching. Cambridge University
Press.
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Poplack, S. (1980). `Sometimes I'll start a sentence in English y termino en espanÄ ol:
towards a typology of code-switching', Linguistics, 18: 581-618.
Swann, J., Deumert, A., Lillis, T., & Mesthrie, R. (2004). A Dictionary of Sociolinguistics. (1
ed.) Edinburgh University Press.
Trask, R.L. (2007). Language and linguistics: The key concepts. (2nd edition by Peter
Stockwell.) London: Routledge.
Wardhaugh, R. (2006). An introduction to sociolinguistics. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.