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Code-mixing with a difference

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 July 2004

AYSHA VISWAMOHAN
Affiliation:
Has a Ph.D. in American Drama. She is a visiting faculty member in the Department of Humanities at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras/Chennai. Email: essaare@yahoo.com

Abstract

In recent years, the sociolinguistic theory of code-switching and code-mixing has been a source of great interest among scholars worldwide. The phenomenon is common in such multilingual societies as India. Most known cases of code-switching are, however, restricted to the spoken form, in which English is liberally interspersed with such regional languages as Hindi, Marathi, and Telugu. What has not yet significantly caught the attention of scholars is the notion of such switching and mixing in print. This practice is however particularly prevalent among writers in popular magazines, who resort to written code-switching for a variety of reasons. The present paper endeavours to examine the causes of the popularity of this style of writing in the light of some accepted theories of multilingualism.

Type
Original Article
Copyright
© 2004 Cambridge University Press

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