Language Contact and Influence in Multilingual Societies

AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLINGUISTICS 2015
CHAPTER IV
LANGUAGE CONTACT
Multilingualism and language contact has likely been common throughout much of human
history, and today most people in the world are multilingual. In tribal hunter-gatherer societies,
multilingualism was common, as tribes must communicate with neighboring peoples and there is
often inter-marriage. In present-day areas such as Sub-Saharan Africa, where there is much
variation in language over short distances, it is usual for anyone who has dealings outside their
own town or village to know two or more languages.
When speakers of different languages interact closely, it is typical for their languages to
influence each other. Languages normally develop by gradually accumulating dialectal
differences until two dialects cease to be mutually understandable, somewhat analogous to the
species barrier in biology. Language contact can occur at language borders, between adstratum
languages, or as the result of migration, with a “disturbing” language acting as either a super-
stratum or a sub-stratum.
Language contact occurs in a variety of phenomena, including language convergence and
borrowing. The most common products are code-switching and mixed languages. Other hybrid
languages, such as English, do not strictly fit into any of these categories.
The most common way that languages influence each other is the exchange of words.
Much is made about the contemporary borrowing of English words into other languages, but this
phenomenon is not new, nor is it very large by historical standards. The large-scale importation
of words from Latin, French and other languages into English in the 16th and 17th centuries was
more significant. Some languages have borrowed so much that they have become scarcely
recognizable. Armenian borrowed so many words from Iranian languages, for example, that it
was at first considered a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages. It was not recognized as an
independent branch of the Indo-European languages for many decades.

A. Adoption of Other Language Features
The influence can go deeper, extending to the exchange of even basic characteristics of a
language such as morphology and grammar. The language of Nepali, for example, spoken in
Nepal, is a Sino-Tibetan language distantly related to Chinese, but has had so many centuries of
contact with neighboring Indo-Iranian languages that it has even developed noun inflection, a
trait typical of the Indo-European family but rare in Sino-Tibetan. It has absorbed features of
grammar as well, such as verb tenses. Romanian was influenced by the Slavic languages spoken
by neighboring tribes in the centuries after the fall of the Roman Empire, not only in vocabulary
but also in phonology and morphology.
English has a few phrases, adapted from French, in which the adjective follows the noun:
court-martial, attorney-general, Lake Superior. It is easy to see how a word can diffuse from one
language to another, but not as obvious how more basic features can do the same; nevertheless,
this phenomenon is not rare.
B. Language Shift
The result of the contact of two languages can be the replacement of one by the other. This
is most common when one language has a higher social position. This sometimes leads to
language endangerment or extinction.
However, when language shift occurs, the language that is replaced (known as the
substratum) can leave a profound impression on the replacing language (known as the
superstratum), when people retain features of the substratum as they learn the new language and
pass these features on to their children, leading to the development of a new variety. For
example, the Latin that came to replace local languages in present-day France during Roman
times was influenced by Gaulish and Germanic. The distinct pronunciation of the dialect of
English spoken in Ireland comes partially from the influence of the substratum of Irish. Outside
the Indo-European phylum, Coptic, the last stage of ancient Egyptian, is a substratum of
Egyptian Arabic.

C. Creolization And Mixed Languages
Language contact can also lead to the development of new languages when people without
a common language interact closely, developing a pidgin, which may eventually become a full-
fledged creole language through the process of creolization. A prime example of this is
Saramaccan, spoken in Suriname, which has vocabulary mainly from Portuguese, English and
Dutch, but phonology and even tones which are closer to African languages.
A much rarer but still observed process is the formation of mixed languages. Whereas
creoles are formed by communities lacking a common language, mixed languages are formed by
communities fluent in both languages. They tend to inherit much more of the complexity
(grammatical, phonological, etc.) of their parent languages, whereas creoles begin as simple
languages and then develop in complexity more independently. It is sometimes explained as
bilingual communities that no longer identify with the cultures of either of the languages they
speak, and seek to develop their own language as an expression of their own cultural uniqueness.
D. Mutual and Non-Mutual Influence
Change as a result of contact is often one-sided. Chinese, for instance, has had a profound
effect on the development of Japanese, but the Chinese language remains relatively free of
Japanese influence, other than some modern terms that were re-borrowed after having been
coined in Japan based on Chinese precepts and using Chinese characters.
In India, Hindi and other native languages have been influenced by English up to the extent
that loan words from English are part of day to day vocabulary. In some cases, language contact
may lead to mutual exchange, although this exchange may be confined to a particular geographic
region. For example, in Switzerland, the local French has been influenced by German, and vice-
versa. In Scotland, the Scots language has been heavily influenced by English, and many Scots
terms have been adopted into the regional English dialect.

E. Linguistic Hegemony
Obviously, a language's influence widens as its speakers grow in power. Chinese, Greek,
Latin, Portuguese, French, Spanish, Arabic, Persian, Sanskrit, Russian, German and English have
each seen periods of widespread importance, and have had varying degrees of influence on the
native languages spoken in the areas over which they have held sway.
Some forms of language contact affect only a particular segment of a speech community.
Consequently, change may be manifested only in particular dialects, jargons, or registers. The
South African dialect of English has been significantly affected by Afrikaans, in terms of lexis
and pronunciation, but English as a whole has remained almost totally unaffected by Afrikaans.
In some cases, a language develops an acrolect which contains elements of a more prestigious
language. For example, in England during a large part of the Medieval period, upper-class
speech was dramatically influenced by French, to the point that it often resembled a French
dialect. A similar situation existed in Tsarist Russia, where the native Russian language was
widely disparaged as barbaric and uncultured.
F. Code Mixing
Code-mixing refers to the mixing of two or more languages or language varieties in
speech. Some scholars use the terms "code-mixing" and "code-switching" interchangeably,
especially in studies of syntax, morphology, and other formal aspects of language. Others assume
more specific definitions of code-mixing, but these specific definitions may be different in
different subfields of linguistics, education theory, communications etc.
Code-mixing is similar to the use or creation of pidgins; but while a pidgin is created
across groups that do not share a common language, code-mixing may occur within a
multilingual setting where speakers share more than one language.
Some linguists use the terms code-mixing and code-switching more or less
interchangeably. Especially in formal studies of syntax, morphology, etc., both terms are used to
refer to utterances that draw from elements of two or more grammatical systems. These studies

are often interested in the alignment of elements from distinct systems, or on constraints that
limit switching. While many linguists have worked to describe the difference between code-
switching and borrowing of words or phrases, the term code-mixing may be used to encompass
both types of language behavior.
While the term code-switching emphasizes a multilingual speaker's movement from one
grammatical system to another, the term code-mixing suggests a hybrid form, drawing from
distinct grammars. In other words, code-mixing emphasizes the formal aspects of language
structures or linguistic competence, while code-switching emphasizes linguistic performance.
While linguists who are primarily interested in the structure or form of code-mixing may
have relatively little interest to separate code-mixing from code-switching, some sociolinguists
have gone to great lengths to differentiate the two phenomena. For these scholars, code-
switching is associated with particular pragmatic effects, discourse functions, or associations
with group identity. In this tradition, the terms code-mixing or language alternation are used to
describe more stable situations in which multiple languages are used without such pragmatic
effects.
In studies of bilingual language acquisition, code-mixing refers to a developmental stage
during which children mix elements of more than one language. Nearly all bilingual children go
through a period in which they move from one language to another without apparent
discrimination. This differs from code-switching, which is understood as the socially and
grammatically appropriate use of multiple varieties.
Beginning at the babbling stage, young children in bilingual or multilingual environments
produce utterances that combine elements of both (or all) of their developing languages. Some
linguists suggest that this code-mixing reflects a lack of control or ability to differentiate the
languages. Others argue that it is a product of limited vocabulary; very young children may know
a word in one language but not in another. More recent studies argue that this early code-mixing
is a demonstration of a developing ability to code-switch in socially appropriate ways.
In psychology and in psycholinguistics the label code-mixing is used in theories that draw
on studies of language alternation or code-switching to describe the cognitive structures

underlying bilingualism. During the 1950s and 1960s, psychologists and linguists treated
bilingual speakers as, in Grosjean's term, "two monolinguals in one person.” This "fractional
view" supposed that a bilingual speaker carried two separate mental grammars that were more or
less identical to the mental grammars of monolinguals and that were ideally kept separate and
used separately. Studies since the 1970s, however, have shown that bilinguals regularly combine
elements from "separate" languages. These findings have led to studies of code-mixing in
psychology and psycholinguistics.
Sridhar and Sridhar define code-mixing as "the transition from using linguistic units
(words, phrases, clauses, etc.) of one language to using those of another within a single
sentence.". They note that this is distinct from code-switching in that it occurs in a single
sentence (sometimes known as intrasentential switching) and in that it does not fulfill the
pragmatic or discourse-oriented functions described by sociolinguists. (See Code-mixing in
sociolinguistics, above.) The practice of code-mixing, which draws from competence in two
languages at the same time suggests that these competences are not stored or processed
separately. Code-mixing among bilinguals is therefore studied in order to explore the mental
structures underlying language abilities.
A mixed language or a fused lect is a relatively stable mixture of two or more languages.
What some linguists have described as "code switching as unmarked choice" or "frequent code
switching" has more recently been described as "language mixing", or in the case of the most
strictly grammaticalized forms as "fused lects". In areas where code-switching among two or
more languages is very common, it may become normal for words from both languages to be
used together in everyday speech. Unlike code-switching, where a switch tends to occur at
semantically or sociolinguistically meaningful junctures, this code-mixing has no specific
meaning in the local context. A fused lect is identical to a mixed language in terms of semantics
and pragmatics, but fused lects allow less variation since they are fully grammaticalized. In other
words, there are grammatical structures of the fused lect that determine which source-language
elements may occur.
A mixed language is different from a creole language. Creoles are thought to develop from
pidgins as they become nativized. Mixed languages develop from situations of code-switching.

There are many names for specific mixed languages or fused lects. These names are often used
facetiously or carry a pejorative sense. Named varieties include the following, among others:
Chinglish,Denglisch,Dunglish,Englog,Franglais,Franponais,Greeklish,Hinglish,Konglish,
Manglish,Maltenglish,Poglish,Porglish,Portuñol,Singlish,Spanglish and Tanglish.
G. Code Switching
In linguistics, code-switching is switching between two or more languages, or language
varieties, in the context of a single conversation. Multilingual—people who speak more than one
language—sometimes use elements of multiple languages in conversing with each other. Thus,
code-switching is the use of more than one linguistic variety in a manner consistent with the
syntax and phonology of each variety.
Code-switching is distinct from other language contact phenomena, such as borrowing,
pidgins and creoles, loan translation (calques), and language transfer (language interference).
Borrowing affects the lexicon, the words that make up a language, while code-switching takes
place in individual utterances. Speakers form and establish a pidgin language when two or more
speakers who do not speak a common language form an intermediate, third language.
On the other hand, speakers practice code-switching when they are each fluent in both
languages. Code mixing is a thematically related term, but the usage of the terms code-switching
and code-mixing varies. Some scholars use either term to denote the same practice, while others
apply code-mixing to denote the formal linguistic properties of said language-contact
phenomena, and code-switching to denote the actual, spoken usages by multilingual persons.
In the 1940s and 1950s, many scholars considered code-switching to be a sub-standard use
of language. Since the 1980s, however, most scholars have recognized it is a normal, natural
product of bilingual and multilingual language use.
The term code-switching is also used outside the field of linguistics. Some scholars of
literature use the term to describe literary styles which include elements from more than one
language, as in novels by Chinese-American, Anglo-Indian, or Latino/writers. In popular usage

code-switching is sometimes used to refer to relatively stable informal mixtures of two
languages, such as Spanglish, Franponais or Portuñol.
Both in popular usage and in sociolinguistic scholarship, the name code-switching is
sometimes used to refer to switching among dialects, styles or registers, such as that practiced by
speakers of African American Vernacular English as they move from less formal to more formal
settings.
There may be many reasons that people code-switch. Code-switching relates to, and
sometimes indexes social-group membership in bilingual and multilingual communities. Some
sociolinguists describe the relationships between code-switching behaviors and class, ethnicity,
and other social positions. In addition, scholars in interactional linguistics and conversation
analysis have studied code-switching as a means of structuring talk in interaction. Some
discourse analysts, including conversation analyst Peter Auer, suggest that code-switching does
not simply reflect social situations, but that it is a means to create social situations.
The Markedness Model, developed by Carol Myers-Scotton, is one of the more complete
theories of code-switching motivations. It posits that language users are rational, and choose
(speak) a language that clearly marks their rights and obligations, relative to other speakers, in
the conversation and its setting. When there is no clear, unmarked language choice, speakers
practice code-switching to explore possible language choices. Many sociolinguists, however,
object to the Markedness Model’s postulation that language-choice is entirely rational.
Scholars such as Peter Auer and Li Wei argue that the explanation of the social motivation
of code-switching lies in the way code-switching is structured and managed in conversational
interaction; in other words, the question of why code-switching occurs cannot be answered
without first addressing the question of how it occurs. Using conversation analysis (CA), these
scholars focus their attention on the sequential implications of code-switching. That is, whatever
language a speaker chooses to use for a conversational turn or part of a turn has implications for
the subsequent choices of language by the speaker as well as the hearer. Rather than focusing on
the social values inherent in the languages the speaker chooses (brought along meaning), the
analysis should try to concentrate on the meaning that the act of code-switching itself creates
(brought about meaning).

The Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT), developed by Howard Giles,
professor of communication at the University of California, Santa Barbara, seeks to explain the
cognitive reasons for code-switching and other changes in speech, as a person seeks either to
emphasize or to minimize the social differences between him- or herself and the other person(s)
in conversation. Prof. Giles posits that when speakers seek approval in a social situation they are
likely to converge their speech with that of the other person speaking. This can include, but is not
limited to, the language of choice, accent, dialect, and paralinguistic features used in the
conversation. In contrast to convergence, speakers might also engage in divergent speech, with
which an individual person emphasizes the social distance between him- or herself and other
speakers by using speech with linguistic features characteristic of his or her own group.
In a diglossic situation, some topics and situations are better suited to one language over
another. Joshua Fishman proposes a domain-specific code-switching model (later refined by
Blom and Gumperz) wherein bilingual speakers choose which code to speak depending on where
they are and what they are discussing. For example, a child who is a bilingual Spanish-English
speaker might speak Spanish at home and English in class, but Spanish at recess.
Bilinguals who code-switch report grammatical intuitions such that switching at some
grammatical boundaries is licit while switching at other boundaries is illicit. In this sense, code-
switching exhibits speakers' intuitions about grammaticality just as monolingual language does.
Linguists have made significant effort toward defining the difference between borrowing
(loanword usage) and code-switching. Generally, borrowing occurs in the lexicon, while code-
switching occurs at either the syntax level or the utterance-construction level.
In studying the syntactic and morphological patterns of language alternation, linguists
have postulated specific grammatical rules and specific syntactic boundaries for where code-
switching might occur. Historically, research on the grammar of code-switching has focused on
constraint-oriented approaches and constraint-free approaches.
Attempts to formulate grammatical constraints on code-switching include the Free-
morpheme Constraint, which stipulated that a code-switching cannot occur between bound
morphemes, and the Closed-class Constraint, which posited that closed class items (pronouns,
prepositions, conjunctions, etc.), cannot be switched.

The Equivalence Constraint suggests that code-switching can occur only in positions where
"the order of any two sentence elements, one before and one after the switch, is not excluded in
either language." Thus, the sentence: "I like you porque eres simpático" ("I like you because you
are nice") is allowed because it obeys the syntactic rules of both Spanish and English. The
Functional Head Constraint is another constraint-based theory. It holds that code-switching
cannot occur between a functional head (a complementizer, a determiner, an inflection, etc.) and
its complement (sentence, noun-phrase, verb-phrase).
Although constraint-based theories are widely discussed, linguists continue to debate
apparent counter-examples to each proposed constraint.
The constraint-free approach views explicit reference to code-switching in grammatical
analysis as tautological, and looks to explain specific instances of grammaticality in code-
switching in terms of the unique contributions of the grammatical properties of the languages
involved in the construction of interest. Jeff McSwan characterized this approach with the
research program refrain, "Nothing constrains code switching apart from the requirements of the
mixed grammars." This approach focuses on the repudiation of any rule or principle which
explicitly refers to code switching itself.
Working within a speech production framework advocated by Willem Levelt, Carol
Myers-Scotton has proposed the Matrix Language Frame (MLF) model of code-switching which
distinguishes between the roles of the participant languages. Some theories, such as the Closed-
class Constraint, the Matrix Language Frame model, and the Functional Head Constraint, which
make general predictions based upon specific presumptions about the nature of syntax, are
controversial among linguists positing alternative theories. In contrast, descriptions based on
empirical analyses of corpora, such as the Equivalence Constraint, are relatively independent of
syntactic theory, but the code-switching patterns they describe vary considerably among speech
communities, even among those sharing the same language pairs.
Scholars use different names for various types of code-switching. Intersentential switching
occurs outside the sentence or the clause level (i.e. at sentence or clause boundaries). It is
sometimes called "extra-sentential" switching Whereas, Intra-sentential switching occurs within
a sentence or a clause. Tag-switching is the switching of either a tag phrase or a word, or both,

from language-B to language-A, (common intra-sentential switches).Intra-word switching occurs
within a word, itself, such as at a morpheme boundary.
Researcher Ana Celia Zentella offers this example from her work with Puerto Rican
Spanish-English bilingual speakers in New York City. In this example, Marta and her younger
sister, Lolita, speak Spanish and English with Zentella outside of their apartment building.
Zentella explains that the children of the predominantly Puerto Rican neighborhood speak
both English and Spanish: "Within the children’s network, English predominated, but code-
switching from English to Spanish occurred once every three minutes, on average."
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