Language post!

[xrezzo]

Ever since I've heard Russell Peters's coinage, I've called my own uncontrolled slips into a Filipino accent, "Indian Tourettes."

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3:35 - 3:58

So I'm wondering if other people get this and if there's a legit academic term for it. I know people go in and out of languages in conversation- speak "Spanglish," "Taglish," etc - for a variety of reasons (an

Comments

He's funny :)

[ladycaramel08]

Yes, swithcing between two languages (e.g. Spanglish) is a phenomenon linguists call "code switching" We use different styles/ varieties of languages when we speak to different people (e.g. odds are you don't speak the same way to your friends as you do to your grandparents) when code switching is used in dialogue with another person, it shows that both the speaker and the listener are knowledgeable of both languages. The code switching can occur for many reasons some of which you listed. In addition, the speaker might use the language to alienate surrounding people, or make themselves closer to the person they are speaking with. If the language is a native tongue switching to it to discuss something "closer to the heart" is common. The speaker may realize the listener may not understand the topic if it's spoken in the other language. Another possible reason is that sometimes in situations of diglossia- two languages spoken in an area but one is a "high form" and one is a "low form"- if a person were code switching between say

Re: He's funny :)

[ladycaramel08]

SN: High form and low form are terms used, but in the case I mentioned it does not imply one language is superior to the other, only that they are used in different contexts.