Codeswitching in Igbo-English Bilingualism
Product details
- ISBN 9781474278140
- Weight: 506g
- Dimensions: 156 x 234mm
- Publication Date: 20 Oct 2016
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
- Language: English
Our Delivery Time Frames Explained
2-4 Working Days: Available in-stock
10-20 Working Days: On Backorder
Will Deliver When Available: On Pre-Order or Reprinting
We ship your order once all items have arrived at our warehouse and are processed. Need those 2-4 day shipping items sooner? Just place a separate order for them!
Codeswitching occurs when multilingual speakers embed elements of more than one language into the dominant (or Matrix) language within individual utterances of conversation. Codeswitching in Igbo-English Bilingualism explores the syntax of bilingual codeswitching between the Benue-Congo African language of Igbo and English. Within the framework of Myers-Scotton’s highly influential Matrix Language Frame (MLF) model, Kelechukwu Ihemere explores the notion of asymmetry in Igbo-English codeswitching, arguing that the two languages do not contribute equally in the creation of mixed utterances. In the abstract interaction between the two grammars, the Matrix language is more activated than the Embedded language, resulting in either monolingual Igbo discourse or discourse with an Igbo morphosyntactic frame but with English insertions.
Using both linguistic and quantitative analyses, this book uniquely investigates the governing principles and restrictions on bilingual clauses and grammatical codeswitching in the context of a West African language and English. Providing a detailed descriptive and theoretical investigation of Igbo-English data and a deeper analysis of the MLF model, this book will be of interest to anyone working in the fields of comparative syntax, bilingualism and contact linguistics.