Code-switching in Hong Kong
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Code-switching is a type of linguistic behaviour that juxtaposes "passages of speech belonging to two different grammatical systems or sub-systems, within the same exchange".[1] Code-switching in Hong Kong mainly concerns two grammatical systems: Cantonese and English. According to Matrix Language Frame Model, Cantonese, as the "matrix language", contributes bound morphemes, content and function words, whereas, English, the "embedded language", contributes lexical, phrases or compound words.[2]
Distinctions still exist, albeit subtle, among "Hong Kong English", "borrowing", "code-mixing" and "code-switching". The definition of Hong Kong English is controversial, as to whether it is a type of learner language or a new variety of English. Nevertheless, it belongs to the domain of English.[3] "Borrowing" or "loanwords" refers to words taken from another languages after the process of phonological and morphological assimilation. Borrowed items are supposed to be so deeply entrenched into the base language that speakers are not always conscious of their foreign origin.[4] "Code-mixing" and "code-switching", on the other hand, incur less integration into the base language and speakers sometimes are aware of the coexistence of two systems. Various units can be involved in the process, from single words to longer elements such as phrases and clauses.[5] Early works on this phenomenon in Hong Kong reserve "code-mixing" for intra-sentential alternation between Cantonese and English and "code-switching" for the inter-sentential alternation. Nevertheless, "code-mixing" has been gradually stigmatised, implying the incompetence of the bilingual speakers in either or both languages. As a result, "code-switching" tends to be employed as the umbrella term for both alternations, although the intra-sentential mode is predominant among Cantonese-speaking Hong Kong Chinese.[6]
Code-switching, deemed less formal than pure English or Cantonese, appears mostly in interaction between peers. Still, this phenomenon occurs in written media, including local magazines, popular entertainment books, columns in newspapers and advertisements, especially on technology or business administration related topics.[7]
- The history of British colonisation and the tradition of bilingualism since then exert significant influence on linguistic situations in Hong Kong. (See Bilingualism in Hong Kong for more)[8]
- For individual Hong Kongers, even after the handover to the People's Republic of China in 1997, the status of English remains both a cultural and symbolic capital. The fact that they code-switch, continue to use traditional Chinese characters (along with Taiwan, Macau, and the Chinese diaspora), and accord high "prestige value" to English, signals the gesture of maintaining a separate identity from mainland China.[9]
Linguistic features of code-switching in Hong Kong
Phonetics/phonology
Different segments of English words undergo phonological changes when mixed into Cantonese, affecting vowels, single initial and final consonants, initial and final consonant clusters. Stress of original codes is also subject to shift in some cases.[10]
Syntax
The English elements engaged in the code-switching process are mostly of one or two words in length, and are usually content words that can fit into the surrounding Cantonese phrase fairly easily, like nouns, verbs, adjectives, and occasionally, adverbs. Examples include:
- 去canteen食飯; heoi3 ken6-tin1 sik6 faan6 ('go to the canteen for lunch')
- 好多嘢press你; hou2 do1 je5 pet1 si4 nei5 ('A lot of things press you')
- 我唔sure; ngo5 m4 su1-aa4 ('I'm not sure')
- 幫我check一check啊; bong1 ngo5 cek1 jat1 cek1 aa1 ('Help me search/check for it')
Meanwhile, structure words like determiners, conjunctions and auxiliary verbs almost never appear alone in the predominantly Cantonese discourse, which explains the ungrammaticality of two節 (does not make sense, but literally means 'two parts'). English lexical items, on the other hand, are frequently assimilated into Cantonese grammar. For instance,
- 兩part; loeng5 paat1 ('two parts'), "part" would lose its plural morpheme "s" as do its counterpart in Cantonese.
- equip 咗; ji6 kwip1 zo2 ('equipped'), "equip" is followed by a Cantonese perfective aspect marker. A more evident case of the syntactic assimilation would be where a negation marker is inserted into an English compound adjective or verb to form yes–no questions in Cantonese.
- 佢可唔可愛呀？; keoi5 ho2 m4 ho2 oi3 aa3 ('Is she/he lovely?') is pure Cantonese while a sentence like 佢cu唔cute啊？; keoi5 kiu1 m4 cute aa3 ('Is he/she cute?') is a typical example of the assimilation.
For English elements consisting of two words or more, they generally retain English grammar internally without disrupting the surrounding Cantonese grammar. For example,
- 唔使再搵part-time job啦; m5 sai2 zoi3 wan2 paat1 taam1 zop1 laa3 ('You don't need to look for a part-time job again')
(Examples[11] are taken from the same source).