code-switchingn.
/ˈkəʊdˌswɪtʃɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈkoʊdˌswɪtʃɪŋ/ Linguistics.
The action of shifting between two or more languages, or between dialects or registers of a language, within a discourse, esp. in response to a change in social context.
ΚΠ
1951 L. S. Freeland Lang. Sierra Miwok (Memoir 6: Suppl. Internat. Jrnl. Amer. Linguistics, Vol. 17 No. 1) 39 The extent to which cultural traits match will be very important for the ease with which code-switching takes place.
1959 E. Pulgram Introd. Spectrogr. Speech xi. 82 The hearer is able to perform what communication engineers call code switching, a process of adjustment to the articulatory habits of the speaker which permits the listener to learn quickly certain types and degrees of phonemic deviation.
2019 Res. Afr. Lit. 50 120 In this narrative Adichie repeatedly employs linguistic code-switching to lend dramatic sharpness to interpersonal conflict.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2020; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
code-switchingadj.
/ˈkəʊdˌswɪtʃɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈkoʊdˌswɪtʃɪŋ/ Linguistics.
Characterized by or engaging in shifts between languages, or between dialects or registers of a language, within a discourse, esp. in response to a change in social context.
ΚΠ
1972 E. A. Folb Compar. Study Urban Black Argot 3 [The author] focuses on the ‘verbal repertoire’ in relation to the code-switching behavior within a speech community.
2018 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 12 Sept. (Movies section) Stenberg plays a code-switching teenager with one face for her neighborhood and one for her prep school.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2020; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1951adj.1972