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Article published In: Regional Chinese in Contact
Edited by James A. Walker
[Asia-Pacific Language Variation 5:1] 2019
► pp. 9–27

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On intergenerational differences in code-switching among Cantonese people

 | South China University of Technology | La Trobe University
Published online: 13 June 2019
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https://doi.org/10.1075/aplv.18008.sha
Abstract
As part of a Chinese government project to document and protect the country’s language resources, this research examines variation in Cantonese spoken in the city of Guangzhou. Over 100 speakers were recorded and the 44 hours of natural discourse were searched for occurrences of code-switching (CS) between Cantonese and Mandarin (C-M) or English (C-E). This paper describes the differences between age-groups in terms of the distribution of different types of CS and its communicative functions. More frequent CS is observed among younger people due to increasing degrees of language contact with Mandarin and English, challenging the maintenance of Cantonese in younger generations.
Abstract (Chinese)
自从中国政府提出实现“中国梦”、“民族复兴”、“文化自信”的倡议以后，文化传承得到了极大的重视。2015 年，中国教育部、国家语委启动为期 5 年的中国语言资源保护工程，语言资源记录和保护工作目前在中国进行得如火如荼。在此背景下，本人获得记录粤语代际自然语料、研究自然话语中粤语变异和粤语传承状况的项目。在收集并转写 100 名广州人本地人近 44 小时的自然话语录音后，我们发现广州人存在粤语-普通话和粤语-英语的语码转换现象，代际差异明显。本文重点从发生语码转换的人数、转换单位数量、转换句法成分结构等方面展示不同年龄广州人语码转换的差异，概括出语码转换的发生情景和交际功能，指出年轻人和未成年人由于语言接触更多而产生较多的粤语-普通话和粤语-英语语码转换，粤语-普通话语码转换是普通话对本土方言冲击的一个表现，未成年人的粤语传承会受到一定的挑战，应大力鼓励家庭有意识向下一代教授母语的行为。
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Code-switching
  • 3.Language situation in Guangzhou (Canton) and research questions
  • 4.Methodology
  • 5.Results
    • 5.1Distribution by age-group
    • 5.2The functions of CS
      • A.Ease of expression
      • B.Articulateness and simplicity
      • C.Softening effect
      • D.Topic shift
      • E.Turn accommodation
      • F.Style shifting
  • 6.Speaker awareness of CS
  • 7.Intergenerational code shift
  • 8.Discussion
  • 9.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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