We, they and us

A note on code-switching and stratification in North India

Datos Bibliográficos

ID7901122
AutoresRajendra Singh (0000-0002-3301-0083, Université de Montréal, autor de correspondencia)
Año1983
Volumen12
Número1
Páginas71-73
Fecha de publicación1983-03-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaLanguage in Society (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0047-4045 • E-ISSN: 1469-8013
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s004740450000960x
OpenAlexW2111703728
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas10
Referencias citadas1

Gumperz (1976) claims that the direction of a code-switch provides important clues regarding the intended illocutionary force of an utterance and that oppositions like warning/personal appeal and casual remark/personal statement can be seen as metaphoric extensions of the we/they code opposition. “What at the societal level,” he observes, “are seen as norms of language usage or symbolic affirmations of ethnic boundaries are transformed here and built upon in conversation to affect the interpretation of speakers' intent and determine effectiveness in communication” (39–40). His hypothesis was corroborated by his Hindi-English bilingual speakers who felt that whereas a shift to the “they” code (English) suggested more of a threat, a shift to the “we” code (Hindi) signified more of a personal appeal. Code choice, according to Gumperz, is a device that determines the interpretation of an utterance (at least as far as its illocutionary force is concerned

Appeal · Casual · Code-switching · Conversation · Interpretation (philosophy) · Linguistics · Opposition (politics) · Political science · Sociology · Utterance · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Law · Multilingual Education and Policy · Philosophy · South Asian Studies and Conflicts