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AN OPTIMALITY THEORETICAL ANALYSIS OF HUNGARIAN-AMERICAN BILINGUAL USE
The functions of Perspective-related code-switches
In the section below, I give a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the socio¬
pragmatic functions expressed or indexed by the instances of code-switching
in the set of data. To illustrate the functions listed under the five principles
set up by Bolonyai and Bhatt’, examples taken from the data collected by the
author is analyzed. The classification of the functions under the five principles
acting as constraints as well relies on the comprehensive background research
of previous studies on code-switching conducted by Bolonyai and the author
(2007-2008). This comprehensive list of all functions can be found in Appendix
1.
In the examined set of data, the code-switched instances falling under the
category of Perspective have turned out to be the most numerous (N=112) (see
Table 50). The various sociopragmatic Perspective-related functions that have
been found in the sample are listed below.
(a) (Self/) Quotation
Example [28]
1 G1F82,60 "Nem tudtam megállni, azt mondom, excuse me, azt mondja
2 what, mondom, Hungary has a Herend, and is a beautiful. I did
3 not know that!”
(I could not help saying, I said, excuse me, then she said, what, I say Hun¬
gary has a Herend (hand-made china factory), and is a beautiful. I did not
know that!)
(source: data collected by Koväcs in 2008-2009)
In this utterance, the speaker recalls a dialogue in her past. She presents the
dialogue to the listeners by giving voice to herself in the recalled conversation
as well as to the other person. As the conversation she recalls took place in
English, she switches to English when she quotes herself and the other character.
The switch to English and back to Hungarian also indicates the shifts in roles.
When the speaker takes the role of the narrator, she speaks Hungarian, which
is the unmarked language of the interview, but when she leaves the frame of
the narrator’s role and takes on that of the actual participants of the recalled
conversation, she switches to English. Hence, the switch to English enables the
speaker to quote the actual sentences of the conversation she was reminiscing
about as well as taking on the role of the participants of the conversation.
29° Bhatt — Bolonyai, Ibid., 522-542