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Congruence and Welsh–English code-switching

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 November 2005

MARGARET DEUCHAR
Affiliation:
University of Wales, Bangor

Abstract

This paper aims to contribute to elucidating the notion of congruence in code-switching with particular reference to Welsh–English data. It has been suggested that a sufficient degree of congruence or equivalence between the constituents of one language and another is necessary in order for code-switching to take place. We shall distinguish between paradigmatic and syntagmatic congruence in relation to the grammatical categories of the two languages, focusing on the insertion of English nouns and noun phrases, adjectives, verbs and participles in otherwise Welsh utterances. We shall demonstrate how differing degrees of congruence between grammatical categories in the two languages are reflected in different code-switching outcomes.

Type
Research articles
Copyright
Cambridge University Press 2005

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Footnotes

Thanks are due to the following for their comments on an earlier draft of this paper: Ad Backus, Emyr Davies, Kirk Hazen, Brian Joseph, Lesley Milroy, Pieter Muysken, Carol Myers-Scotton, Carmen Silva-Corvalán, Enlli Thomas, Marilyn Vihman and two anonymous referees. Any remaining shortcomings are, of course, my own.