Code-switching: Difference between revisions

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[[File:Maya_Diab_interview_in_Morocco_-_Oct_28,_2017.webm|start=43|end=52|thumb|[[Maya Diab]] code-switches between English and [[Lebanese Arabic]] mid-sentence]]

{{sociolinguistics}}

In [[linguistics]], '''code-switching''' or '''language alternation''' occurs when a speaker alternates between two or more [[language]]s, or [[language varieties]], in the context of a single conversation or situation.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}. These alternations are generally intended to influence the relationship between the speakers, for example, suggesting that they may share identities based on similar linguistic histories.

Code-switching is different from [[plurilingualism]] in that plurilingualism refers to the ability of an individual to use multiple languages,<ref name="Council of Europe">{{Cite web |title=Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (CEFR) |url=https://www.coe.int/en/web/common-european-framework-reference-languages/home |access-date=2022-11-16 |website=Council of Europe |language=en-GB}}</ref> while code-switching is the act of using multiple languages together. [[Multilingualism|Multilinguals]] (speakers of more than one language) sometimes use elements of multiple languages when conversing with each other. Thus, code-switching is the use of more than one linguistic variety in a manner consistent with the [[syntax]] and [[phonology]] of each variety.