Talk:Code-switching

Field template
On 16 August I added the template Linguistics to this page, reasoning that the topic relates to several sub-fields within linguistics (e.g. sociolinguistics, syntax, phonology, language acquisition). On 17 August Stevertigo replaced that template with sociolinguistics, presumably reasoning that it is more specific and therefore more appropriate. Stevertigo did not use an edit summary, but did comment at User talk:Cnilep/Archive/11 September 2010. See also a related discussion at Talk:Code-mixing.

Do other editors have an opinion on which template is most appropriate for this page? Cnilep (talk) 15:00, 18 August 2010 (UTC)
 * I think sociolinguistics is appropriate. It's true that code switching/mixing are relevant to other fields of linguistics too, as you said on your talk page, but really only to the extent that those fields interact with socio. The phenomena are primarily related to socio and only secondarily to the other fields. +Angr 15:37, 18 August 2010 (UTC)
 * I agree with Angr.·Maunus· ƛ · 15:39, 18 August 2010 (UTC)
 * Ditto. — kwami (talk) 20:47, 18 August 2010 (UTC)

Not to beat a dead horse (the 'Sociolinguistics' template has been in place for over a month now), but the recently published Cambridge Handbook of Linguistic Code-Switching (ISBN 9780521875912) offers evidence counter to the assertion that code-switching is primarily a sociolinguistic topic. I've not read the volume yet, but I notice that it has five parts of which only one (Part 2, Social aspects of code-switching) is primarily sociolinguistic. Part 3, The structural implications of code-switching, and Part 5, Formal models of code-switching, each deal with aspects of grammar, especially syntax. Part 4 is Psycholinguistics and code-switching. Part 1, Conceptual and methodological considerations in code-switching research, appears to be a general introduction. Cnilep (talk) 22:30, 27 September 2010 (UTC)


 * In view of the evidence adduced above by, I have re-added the Template:Linguistics field template and linked the edit comment to this section. Please  me to discuss. --Thnidu (talk) 01:23, 12 June 2016 (UTC)

code switching in india
I'm quite sure that code-switching is most common not in the countries mentioned, but in India. Here in India in all the cities code-sitch between the state language and English. eg. Hinglish in Delhi, Benglish in Kolkata etc. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 110.224.239.132 (talk) 05:48, 14 November 2010 (UTC)
 * Code switching is common throughout the world - certainly also in India, but unlikely that it is more so than elsewhere.·ʍaunus·snunɐw· 22:08, 31 August 2011 (UTC)
 * Salman Rushdie, somewhere in his writing, said that in what was then Bombay, where he grew up, they jokingly said they spoke "HUGME", a mixture of Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, and English, sometimes with words from all 5 languages in the same sentence. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 138.123.68.64 (talk) 00:49, 5 March 2014 (UTC)
 * Bilingual immigrants to Britain of Punjabi descent and their descendents code-switch between English and Punjabi all the time when speaking to each other. They will happily switch to straight English when conversing with someone with a different background. --Ef80 (talk) 20:33, 18 May 2015 (UTC)


 * I think code-switching occurs throughout the world, but maybe more so in places where there are multiple local languages being spoken by the people. India is definitely a great example but we can also talk about Indonesia, and several countries in Africa such as Nigeria --Gulf Peninsula (talk) 6:50, 01 Nov 2020 (UTC)

Code-switching in politics
I understand somewhat why this wouldn't fit in this article since the term, when applied in a political context, strays from the strict linguistic definition. That said, it is still the same basic use of the term, just applied in a specific context. Monica Heller, who is cited in this article, has written about it extensively. The whole last paragraph of the lead section talks about alternate uses of the term from the standard linguistic definition, so I'm not sure why the political use wouldn't fit there. - Maximusveritas (talk) 15:54, 31 October 2013 (UTC)


 * As to why "the whole last paragraph" fits the standard linguistic definition, see Talk:Code-switching/Archive July 2016. Publications in the fields of applied linguistics and sociolinguistics call the switch from African American English to Standard American English "code-switching". Use of the term in literary criticism is more tenuously connected to its use in linguistics, but scholarly publications are at least cited.


 * If Professor Heller or others make the case that politicians' shifts in stance are code-switching in this sense, then by all means cite those publications. I suspect, though, that a better fit is Stance (linguistics), which is currently a non-existent page cited from Appraisal (discourse analysis) . See, for example, Cnilep (talk) 23:37, 31 October 2013 (UTC)

The political sense of the term is the one that I (not a linguistics professional) encounter most often, and I came to this article hoping to read about it. Racist or anti-Semitic (etc.) statements may be so covered in habitual euphemism that the person speaking may be sincerely convinced that what he's saying isn't racist or anti-Semitic (etc.), since he isn't using any "forbidden" vocabulary, so that the code switching may even affect the speaker's own self-awareness. But strained circumlocutions (e.g. saying "member of the [whatever] community" when you clearly wish that you "could" say something else) can be potent indicators in themselves, and a person may speak differently on the same topic if he thinks that none of "them" are around. (I have sometimes been around when it was apparently not realized that I was one of "them" ...) DSatz (talk) 17:57, 23 June 2015 (UTC)


 * I've seen several journalists describing politicians who adapt different speaking styles, which Slate, for example, calls "Code-switching—or code-mixing, or style-shifting" Some writer deride this as inauthentic (though, as Slate points out, everybody does it). I have therefore cited a scholarly paper about perceptions accent and style shifting in politics – one that specifically calls it "code-switching" on page 341.
 * Monica Heller's work on "The politics of codeswitching" is about literal code-switching between French and English (and sometimes other languages), and how this is taken up in Canadian politics. I assume "the political sense of [code-switching]" means the former rather than the latter, right? Cnilep (talk) 04:04, 16 September 2016 (UTC)

CMS UA
I know that Carol Myers-Scotton uses a lot of initialisms such as CS for "code switching" and ML for "matrix language", and I know that some of the scholars follow her in this usage. It is, however, confusing for non-experts to encounter text dense with such abbreviations. Manual of Style/Abbreviations urges consistency throughout an article. The style guide also suggests, "Always consider whether it is better to simply write a word or phrase out in full, thus avoiding potential confusion". I would recommend spelling out most, if not all of the labels from Myers-Scotton's work, even where she does not. (Oh, and just in case the heading of this section is unclear, it refers to "Carol Myers-Scotton's use of abbreviations".) Cnilep (talk) 00:45, 5 November 2013 (UTC)
 * Well, I just appended "(MLF)" to the first mention of "Matrix-Language Frame". I'll see what else ... --Thnidu (talk) 06:30, 12 June 2016 (UTC)

Criticism section
just added the Template: Criticism section headnote to § Grammatical theories. ISTM that a more nuanced criticism is justified.

The only subsection I'd accuse of NPOV violation is Matrix language-frame model. That one is so long it seems to overshadow the others; it contains enough detail to warrant a separate article and should be significantly trimmed.

And then, the criticisms are scattered. Poplack's model -- or Sankoff and Poplack's model, depending on which paragraph you consult; where does Sankoff come in? -- is the only subsection to include criticisms of the theory, while Joshi's Closed-class Constraint and Belazi et al.'s Functional Head Constraint are relegated to Controversies. All these seriously cry out for conscious and conscientious rewriting.

Please me to discuss. --Thnidu (talk) 02:17, 12 June 2016 (UTC)
 * My main concern is that there are criticisms categorized under one section header, Generally speaking, they need to go throughout the article to make it more neutral. -- I dream of horses If you reply here, please ping me by adding to your message (talk to me) (My edits) @  05:18, 12 June 2016 (UTC)
 * No disagreement there! But a rewrite should also cover my other issues: Sankoff, Joshi, and Belazi+'s treatment, and the bloatedness of Myers-Scotton's (Matrix Language-Frame model), which is not only bloated but very hard to read. I'm working on that now.) --Thnidu (talk) 07:27, 12 June 2016 (UTC)

Nairobi?
The second set of examples in § Matrix language-frame model doesn't specify the language being switched with English. The text refers to it as "Nairobi", but there is no such language. Swahili seems the likeliest, and applying Google Translate to a section of example #2 supports that. I'm editing accordingly. --Thnidu (talk) 07:05, 12 June 2016 (UTC)

Non-verbal code-switching
I removed this sentence: "Like verbal code-switching, non-verbal code-switching can provide contextualisation cues."

The sentence cited Pahta and Nurmi (2009). That piece defines code-switching as "an umbrella term to refer to any identifiable changes from one language to another within a communicative episode". Their intent, as I understand it, is to include historical letters as "communicative episodes" that can feature code-switching. They do not suggest non-verbal code-switching as far as I can see. They do write, "we can speak of code-switching as a contextualisation cue, as one of the many linguistic or non-verbal procedures which can be used for signalling contextual presuppositions". But I take it that they mean contextualization cues – not code-switching – can be non-verbal. Cnilep (talk) 03:32, 21 July 2016 (UTC)

Intro section organization
In the intro section, there are three full paragraphs about the linguistics usage of the term before we get to everyday usage of the term. Should this be reorganized, perhaps to put the everyday usage first then all the linguistics, or else linguistics paragraph 1, then everyday, then linguistics 2 and 3? --zandperl (talk) 16:40, 20 September 2016 (UTC)


 * The rest of the article is about linguistics. As a general rule, Lead sections should reflect article content. The disambiguation page, named in the hatnote, can help readers find the Code Switch blog or literature using multiple languages. Cnilep (talk) 00:06, 21 September 2016 (UTC)

Code switch weights and measures.
We British switch weights and measure, metric and imperial all the time; is this considered code switching by linguists? If so should this be covered by the article? It actually seems very similar to me and this page came up when search for the proper phrase to describe this. 185.6.155.248 (talk) 12:06, 8 May 2019 (UTC)
 * It's an interesting phenomenon! But no, it's not code-switching in the linguistic sense. Pathawi (talk) 05:59, 23 June 2020 (UTC)

Remote work
discusses code-switching making remote work more difficult. 2601:648:8202:96B0:0:0:0:313A (talk) 17:13, 22 January 2021 (UTC)

Shorter word
Isn't the most obvious reason for code switching that some concepts require more, or longer, words in one language than another, so bilinguals will tend to use whichever is shorter and easier to say. I have observed this a lot while listening to my wife dropping English words into conversation in Farsi. Isn't laziness a major driving force in linguistic evolution? DenisHowe (talk) 10:26, 2 May 2022 (UTC)

No, there are decades of research on code-switching with many documented communicative functions, none of which are laziness. Laziness is also not a major driving force in linguistic evolution. Unless you have some sources other than your interpretation of your wife's speech, this won't be a productive avenue for discussion.2601:602:9200:80:CD4C:FAEC:4248:3F45 (talk) 06:44, 22 May 2022 (UTC)
 * Also, ad-hoc borrowing (here: dropping English words into conversation in Farsi) is something many would consider "code-mixing" rather than "code-switching". –Austronesier (talk) 11:55, 22 May 2022 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: Multilingualism and Language contact
— Assignment last updated by Potato2357 (talk) 21:12, 9 November 2022 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: Writ 2 - Academic Writing
— Assignment last updated by Roach Jefferson (talk) 23:57, 20 March 2023 (UTC)

Minor Edits
Hello! I am Melany Mihai a student from UCSB in a Writing 2 class. We are doing a project on editing Wikipedia pages and I would like to add this portion into the intro. In linguistics, code-switching or language alternation occurs when a speaker alternates between two or more languages, or language varieties, in the context of a single conversation or situation. Code-switching is different from plurilingualismin that plurilingualism refers to the ability of an individual to use multiple languages,[1] while code-switching is the act of using multiple languages together. Multilinguals (speakers of more than one language) sometimes use elements of multiple languages when 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 may happen between sentences, sentence fragments, words, or individual morphemes (in synthetic languages). However, some linguists consider the borrowing of words or morphemes from another language to be different from other types of code-switching.[2][3] There are many ways in which code-switching is employed, such as when a speaker is unable to express themselves adequately in a single language or to signal an attitude towards something.Likewise, code-switching is utilized when communicating with different jargon and in different setting. Code-switching is used to directly adapt to the audience so that they understand you clearly and effectively.Several theories have been developed to explain the reasoning behind code-switching from sociological and linguistic perspectives. Caiversi25 (talk) 14:02, 2 March 2023 (UTC)

Question about minor edits to Distinguishing features
Hello! This is Kaixiang Lin. I am also a student from UCSB Writing 2 and work on the same project mentioned above. I am planning to add some portion of terms that are usually confused with Code-switching, like Code-Meshing, and translingual. I think these would be best fit under the section of Distinguishing features and to avoid over repetitive, I am planning to mainly focus on the differences between these if there are. I am not sure if this would be helpful to page, or this is already considered and intentionally left out. Some advice would be highly appreciated! Thanks ahead. Olkxiver (talk) 06:59, 8 March 2023 (UTC)

Added Subsection of Easily Confused Terms
Hello! This is Kaixiang Lin. I am also a student from UCSB Writing 2 course. I executed my plan as I discussed above and eventually to add my edit as the subsection called Easily Confused Terns under the section Distinguishing features. Feel free to edit these if I made mistake of inappropriate formatting and talk to me on the talk page of my sandbox about these. Thanks ahead! Olkxiver (talk) 06:27, 22 March 2023 (UTC)

references for code switching in education - gone
At some point, the references in the education section got unlinked, or whoever added them didn't port them over correct from a sandbox. Not sure where exactly the info comes from- there are at least four un-linked sources in there and im not sure how long they've been there for, unlinked. The info there tracks with the rest of the article, so it definitely had actual sources at some point, i just have no clue where from. Ejones0 (talk) 21:13, 9 May 2023 (UTC)


 * The section "Code-Switching in Language Education" appears to have been added by User:Ephvex with [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Code-switching&diff=1146145473&oldid=1146142232 this edit] in March 2023. The text added at that time includes the non-functional numbers (e.g. "code-switching is often a very common method to establish communication between educators and learners.[1]") visible now. Perhaps it was copied from a sandbox or other page. Unfortunately Ephvex doesn't seem to be around after their course ended in April, but User:Ephvex/sandbox appears to include the draft text, with references. Cnilep (talk) 05:34, 10 May 2023 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: Writing 2
— Assignment last updated by Bryceucsb (talk) 01:22, 13 June 2023 (UTC)

Hello, I am a student at UCSB working on a writing project in order to add to the code-switching conversation. I would like to add additional information to the application in language learning process paragraph, as well as the bilingual advantage paragraph. Additionally, I would like to add my own paragraph based on the bilingual disadvantage. Gaucho221 (talk) 20:58, 5 June 2023 (UTC)

Merger proposal
I propose merging Code-mixing into Code-switching. Too much WP:Overlap. The slim differences that "some scholars" see can be included on Code-switching. Knowledgegatherer23 ( Say Hello ) 01:25, 23 June 2023 (UTC)


 * Oppose. Although some work under the heading of code-mixing is essentially identical to code-switching, other work uses that heading for quite different (albeit diverse) topics. I would have only a weak objection to changing Code-mixing to a disambiguation page – namely that not all of the topics labeled code-mixing are currently treated in other Wikipedia entries. (Full disclosure: I created the code-mixing entry in 2009; before that it was a redirect to Code-switching.) Cnilep (talk) 01:45, 26 June 2023 (UTC)


 * Agree. I think code-mixing can be succesfully integrated within the Code-switching article, and the term be kept as a redirect to its own section within Code-switching. Malacitana (talk) 16:24, 21 July 2023 (UTC)
 * Weak support. I support merging the articles in principle. I think in such a case, however, there should be a larger discussion about changing the name of the merged article to language alternation or similar, to capture its more generalized nature. While code-switching and code-mixing are more-or-less synonymous, other forms of language alternation such as code-blending (which does not currently have its own article) are distinctly different from code-switching and would not fit well under this moniker. Alphaw00lf2000 (talk) 13:31, 17 August 2023 (UTC)
 * I'd like to wait for a few more opinions to determine consensus. Knowledgegatherer23  ( Say Hello ) 14:19, 19 August 2023 (UTC)

Accuracy of examples
On a similar note, the examples listed on the article seem to be innacurate as some look more like examples of Code-meshing. Supporting this, there has been much recent research and changing opinions in recent years on this matter. The whole section doesn't cite any sources and the above section only cites one extremely outdated source from last century. I propose writing new examples. What does everyone think? Knowledgegatherer23 ( Say Hello ) 07:34, 23 June 2023 (UTC)


 * Why were this user's edits allowed to go through? This person has simply replaced the academic (useful) definition of code-switching with the popular misunderstanding of it. Code-switching is NOT simply speaking different language varieties to other people! Why would that even have a name? Does anyone struggle to identify why a bilingual French-English speaker might choose to use French in France and English in England? 2600:8800:2F00:3970:499E:9E4C:539:253C (talk) 04:20, 29 July 2023 (UTC)

the writing agenda

 * Code-switching in remote settings has become higher on the writing agenda due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Remote settings have taken the likes of social media, emails, and any other setting where communication has been made via online platforms.

What is the writing agenda? In the second sentence, what exactly does taken mean? —Tamfang (talk) 21:46, 18 July 2023 (UTC)


 * I think that they maybe meant to say that code-switching is being taken into account and performed intentionally in some remote-meeting contexts. Malacitana (talk) 16:12, 21 July 2023 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: African American Studies
— Assignment last updated by Studenteditor03 (talk) 14:40, 8 November 2023 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: Linguistics in the Digital Age
— Assignment last updated by Fedfed2 (talk) 00:54, 9 December 2023 (UTC)

the null transformation

 * For Example, the American English sentence "First day I walk in the door, there she was" transforms into "First day I walk in the door" in African American English. This alteration serves to clarify the action, emphasizing its singular occurrence.

Can someone check the source of this passage to confirm that the phrase transforms into exactly the same phrase? (And that Example is indeed anomalously capitalized?) —Tamfang (talk) 21:02, 8 December 2023 (UTC)
 * This is a grave misrepresentation of the source. Apart from the fact that American English sentences do not "transform" into AAVE sentences, the author Rusty Barrett actually presents the sentence "First day I walk in the door, there she was" as the correct AAVE version of incorrect **"First day I walk in the door, there she be", a sentence that appears in Kathryn Stockett's novel The Help (one of many language blunders in that novel). Barrett writes: "Why is a college-educated White woman rewarded for using African American English incorrectly in her writing, while an African American child who writes in perfectly correct African American English is likely to be reprimanded, corrected, or asked to switch it out for another more appropriate version of English?" I will remove the passage, since it really misses Barrett's point. –Austronesier (talk) 21:33, 8 December 2023 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: Writ 2 - Academic Writing
— Assignment last updated by Icecream209 (talk) 07:07, 26 March 2024 (UTC)

Proposed merger
I think Situational code-switching should be merged into Code-switching, of which it is undoubtedly a sub-category. BetweenCupsOfTea (talk) 03:29, 11 March 2024 (UTC)


 * Support Situational code-switching is definitely a sub-category. Adleid (talk) 20:21, 11 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Oppose after reading Cnilep's reply. Adleid (talk) 07:18, 12 March 2024 (UTC)


 * Oppose for reasons of length. 'Code-switching' currently has around 10,000 words, which WP:SIZESPLIT suggests is close to the limit for most readers' attention span. Linking to 'Situational code-switching', Metaphorical code-switching, Translanguaging, Code-mixing etc. with templates such as Further and Main would allow readers to focus on the area of interest to them. Cnilep (talk) 02:54, 12 March 2024 (UTC)


 * Comment: The every-day use of code-switching has shifted to mean Situational code-switching, while technical use among linguists continues to be bilingual code-switching. I'm not sure they can be merged due to length concerns. The ideal solution might be to revisit the merge of Code-switching to Code-mixing and then have Code-switching redirect to Situational code-switching to reflect the now more common every day use and something at the top to let linguists, linguistic students and those who might be looking for bilingual Code-switching to go to the merged page. Mars3 (talk) 03:22, 29 June 2024 (UTC)

Code switching in the slavery era
This article doesn't mention this topic. Is there a reason for that? Wiki-uk (talk) 19:25, 25 May 2024 (UTC)


 * Predominantly discussions of code-switching in the context of slavery refers to Situational code-switching. While there is a lot of linguistic research about enslaved people and the language contact from the Atlantic Slave Trade, I can't find or think of any specifically about the sort of bilingual code-switching that might fit this topic. Mars3 (talk) 01:26, 29 June 2024 (UTC)