Oldal 16 [16]
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
switching as a ‘marked’ linguistic act gains significance only if interpreted
against a broader social, macro context taking into consideration the socially
determined rules of well-formedness.
As a leeway out of the dichotomy embracing the theoretical approaches
to the interpretation of the meaning-making function of code-switching,
Bhatt and Bolonyai* adopted ‘Optimality Theory’ for the analysis of bilingual
language use, a comprehensive model based on an algorithmic representation
of the empirically observed sociopragmatic functions that the act of code¬
switching fulfils. Bhatt and Bolonyai? claim that code-switching is a socio¬
cognitive mechanism fulfilling an array of sociopragmatically interpretable
functions. They focus only on the meaning-making mechanism of code¬
switching, so they have excluded from the scope of their model the instances
of code-switching prompted by lack of appropriate language competence, as
well as borrowings, abbreviations, and proper nouns.
Adopting Optimality Theory for the analysis of bilingual use, Bhatt and
Bolonyai® claim that the sociopragmatically meaningful function(s) that an
instance of code-switching fulfils is always the optimal one in a particular
context. Optimality Theory is based on the premise that the linguistic output
is the optimal one among the candidates, or linguistic inputs, competing for
surface representation. Therefore, if code-switching is realized, then it fulfils
a particular function in the given context the most optimally, more optimally
than a monolingual realization, or in given linguistic contexts, a switch toa
different language would. In the process of competing for surface realization,
the candidates, or linguistic inputs, go through a set of constraints which
act as sociopragmatic principles. The constraints are arranged hierarchically
and are violable, which means that the successful output might violate all
the constraints but not the highest ranked one. A code-switch, therefore,
can be interpreted as the most successful candidate optimally fulfilling the
sociopragmatic function required by a given situation. As the successful
candidate cannot violate the highest ranked constraint, the fulfilled function
is the optimal one and is ranked above other functions activated in the given
context.
and code choice, International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 44 (1983), 115-136; Carol
Myers-Scotton, Code-switching as indexal of social negotiations, in: Monica Heller (ed.), Code¬
switching. Anthropological and Sociolinguistic Perspectives, Berlin, Mouton de Gruyter,
1988, 151-186; Carol Myers-Scotton, Social Motivations for Code-switching: Evidence from
Africa, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1993b; Carol Myers-Scotton, A theoretical introduction to
the Markedness Model, in: Carol Myers-Scotton (ed.), Codes and Consequences: Choosing
Linguistic Varieties, New York, Oxford University Press, 1998, 18-38
Bhatt — Bolonyai, Code-switching and the optimal grammar of bilingual use, Bilingualism:
Language and Cognition, 522-546
5 Bhatt — Bolonyai, Ibid., 522-546
®° Bhatt — Bolonyai, Ibid., 522-546
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