
Government and Codeswitching
Explaining American Finnish
Helena Halmari(Author)
Benjamins (John) North America Inc.,US (Publisher)
Published on 23. May 1997
Book
Hardback
276 pages
978-1-55619-546-4 (ISBN)
Description
Bilingual codeswitching is a complex, multifaceted phenomenon, which calls for explanations on several different linguistic levels. This volume focuses on one such level: the level of syntax. An explanation for the regularities and consistencies in the codeswitching patterns of American Finns in their spontaneous conversations is sought for in the Universal Grammar -based principle of government as realized in case-assignment and agreement relations. A bulk of the Finnish-English intrasentential data get their explanation on the structural, hierarchical level, but this level of syntax is found to be interestingly intertwined with sociolinguistic, psycholinguistic, and discourse levels, which all contribute to variation in codeswitching patterns. The proposed principle of government is seen as one important explanation in typologically certain kinds of language pairs such as Finnish and English; however, this principle is not treated as a monolithic constraint, but rather as the leading tendency which is occasionally overridden by other than syntactic forces.
The volume is intended as a complement - not as a contradiction - to earlier explanations of codeswitching phenomena. Its main message is: while all linguistic levels contribute to the construction of bilingual speech, the importance of syntax can not be ignored.
The volume is intended as a complement - not as a contradiction - to earlier explanations of codeswitching phenomena. Its main message is: while all linguistic levels contribute to the construction of bilingual speech, the importance of syntax can not be ignored.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Amsterdam/Philadelphia
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 245 mm
Width: 164 mm
Weight
500 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-55619-546-4 (9781556195464)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Content
1. Acknowlegments; 2. Abbreviations and Symbols; 3. Searching for Answers; 4. Defining Codeswitching: Methodoological Problems; 5. Introducing the Subjects and the Data; 6. What Constrains Intrasentential Codeswitching: Different Proposals; 7. Finnish-English Codeswitching: Towards a Structural Explanation; 8. Testing the Limtis of the Government Constraint; 9. Codeswitching or Borrowing?; 10. Towards a Generalizable Structural Constraint: Evidence from Other Languages; 11. Concluding Remarks; 12. Appendix: Introducing the Subjects and Their Switching Patterns; 13. Notes; 14. Bibliography; 15. Author Index; 16. Subject Index