Shared Lexical Items as Triggers of Code Switching
This provides robust evidence for linguistic theories on code-switching, addressing a fundamental question in bilingualism research, though it is incremental as it refines existing hypotheses.
The study tackled the problem of why bilingual speakers code-switch by testing the Triggering Hypothesis, which links code-switching to lexical triggers like cognates and proper names, using five large datasets across three language pairs; the results confirmed that shared mental lexicon words trigger code-switching, with effects depending on distance and direction but not etymology.
Why do bilingual speakers code-switch (mix their two languages)? Among the several theories that attempt to explain this natural and ubiquitous phenomenon, the Triggering Hypothesis relates code-switching to the presence of lexical triggers, specifically cognates and proper names, adjacent to the switch point. We provide a fuller, more nuanced and refined exploration of the triggering hypothesis, based on five large datasets in three language pairs, reflecting both spoken and written bilingual interactions. Our results show that words that are assumed to reside in a mental lexicon shared by both languages indeed trigger code-switching; that the tendency to switch depends on the distance of the trigger from the switch point; and on whether the trigger precedes or succeeds the switch; but not on the etymology of the trigger words. We thus provide strong, robust, evidence-based confirmation to several hypotheses on the relationships between lexical triggers and code-switching.