Ni Made Ayu Sri Undari Dewi

1901541092 / Sociolinguistics D

Language Choice in Multilingual Communities

 Domains of Language Use

Certain social factors like the participants, the social context of the talk, and the function
and topic of any discussion are very important in choosing a language to use in different
kinds of speech community. These factors in certain interactions are relevant in
describing patterns of code choice. This code choice is known as domains of language
use.
 Modelling Variety of Code Choice
A domain involves typical interactions between typical participants in typical settings. By
using information about the domains of use in a community, we could get the norms of
language use for the community. For example:

Models could describe the code that is

usually used in different situations. It is very
useful for bilingual and multilingual speech
communities. However, there are other factors that also affect the code choice such as the
social distance (stranger vs friend), relative status or role (doctor–patient, teacher–student,
etc.), degrees of formality (formal wedding ceremony vs lunchtime chat) and the function
or goal of the interaction. If the model does not the language patterns of the community
accurately, then it needs to be modified since it loses its value as a method of capturing
generalizations.
 Diglossia
Diglossia is a characteristic of speech communities where there are two varieties needed
to cover all the community’s domains. The 3 features of diglossia are:
1. Two distinct varieties of the same language are used in the community, with one
regarded as a high (or H) variety and the other a low (or L) variety.
2. Each variety is used for quite distinct functions. H and L complement each other.
3. No one uses the H variety in everyday conversation.
The difference in the pronunciation of H and L are varies. The grammar of H is often
morphologically more complicated. Most of the vocabulary of H and L is the same. The
 H vocabulary has many more formal and technical terms while the L variety has words
for everyday objects. The H form mostly would not appear in everyday conversation and
the L form would seem odd in writing. The H variety is generally the prestige variety, but
people may also admire the L variety. The L is learned at home and the H variety learned
in school, but some people may use H in the home too. Literature is generally written in
H rather than L, but there may be a rich oral literature in L. Though H has generally been
standardized and codified in grammar books and dictionaries for centuries, L languages
are also increasingly being codified and standardized.
 Code switching
Switching code is used to indicate a change in the social situation and that the speaker
takes positively the presence of a new participant. It may also indicate a change in the
status relations between people or the formality of their interaction. People may switch
code to discuss a particular topic. Bilinguals often find it easier to discuss particular
topics in one code rather than another. The switch acts are like a set of quotation marks.
Some other functions of code switching are:
- Affective function: To express affective, disapproval, or anger rather than for
accurate quotation.
- Metaphorical switching: Switching between codes with such rapidity. Metaphors
used to represent complex meanings. By switching between two or more codes, the
speakers convey affective meaning as well as information.
 Lexical Borrowing
People often use a term from their first language if they don’t know the appropriate word
in the second language. This is called as borrowing and is different from switching—
where speakers have a clear choice about the words they will use in a language. Borrowed
words are usually pronounced and used grammatically as if they were part of the
speaker’s first language. In contrast, people who are code-switching tend to switch
completely between two linguistic systems (sounds, grammar and vocabulary).
 Linguistic constraints
Switching only occurs in sentences where the grammars of both languages match each
other. This is called ‘the equivalence constraint’. We may only switch between an
adjective and a noun if both languages use the same order for that adjective and noun.
Only very proficient bilinguals will switch within sentences while people who are less
proficient will tend to switch at sentence or use only short fixed phrases in the end of
sentences in the other language.