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OPTIMALITY THEORY IN ANALYZING BILINGUAL USE
In an algorithmic representation, as no evidence has been provided for the
conflict between Faith, Perspective, and Face, the ranking of constraint in
the Kashmiri-Hindi-English speech community follows Bhatt and Bolonyais
hypothesis:
{FAITH, PERSPECTIVE, FACE} >> POWER >> SOLIDARITY
Optimal bilingual grammar: Hungarian-English code-switching
The ranking of constraints in the Hungarian-English data (collected in the
Hungarian-American immigrant community) differs from the Kashmiri¬
Hindi-English ranking. According to Bhatt and Bolonyai, the Hungarian¬
English ranking is as follows:
{FAITH, PERSPECTIVE} >> SOLIDARITY >> {FACE, POWER}'*”
The first example indicates that in the interaction of Solidarity and Power,
Solidarity outranks Power.
Example [18] — The interaction of SOLIDARITY and POWER
1 A “Tve tried to call you several times, but your voicemail picks up
2 immediately. Minden rendben? (‘Is everything all right?’) Call or
e-mail me back.”
(cited by Bhatt and Bolonyai)'**
In this utterance, the intended meaning of the switch to Hungarian is to
enable the mother to expose her genuine feelings of worrying about her son.
By switching to Hungarian (line 2), which is the language of intimacy and
closeness shared with the son, the mother can maximally express her motherly
concern. The switch to Hungarian, however, violates the constraint of Power
as it deprives the mother of her superior position, control over the situation.
The optimal output, the actual surface representation is the code-switch to
Hungarian, which complies with Solidarity but violates Power. Relying on
the premise of OT, the optimal candidate cannot violate the highest ranking
constraint, so Solidarity must outrank Power. Perspective, Faith, and Face are
not activated by this utterance.
187 Bhatt — Bolonyai, Ibid., 540
188 Bhatt — Bolonyai, Ibid., 540
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