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Trilingual code-switching using quantitative lenses: An exploratory study on Hokaglish

Author(s):

Publisher:

Type:

Year Published:

Wilkinson Daniel Wong Gonzales

Philippine Journal of Linguistics

Journal Article

2016

Volume:

47

Issue:

NA

Pages:

106-128

Keywords:

Chinese Filipino, trilingual, codeswitching, Tagalog, English, Hokkien

Abstract

Adopting a quantitative approach, this paper highlights findings of an exploratory study on Hokaglish, initially describing it as a trilingual code-switching phenomenon involving Hokkien, Tagalog, and English in a Filipino-Chinese enclave in Binondo, Manila, the Philippines. Departing from the (socio)linguistic landscape of the archipelagic nation, the discussion eventually leads to a frequency-based description of this phenomenon. Preliminary findings suggest that, in Hokaglish, code-switching from Hokkien to English appears to be the most frequent code-switching combination among the six possible ones and that it is typically found in religious institutions. From the investigation, Hokaglish yielded more attestations of intrasentential code-switching than intersentential ones in households particularly. Moreover, findings also indicate that switches in the word-level are very frequent and that morphological code-switching is virtually non-existent in Hokaglish conversations. The paper ends with a discussion that will more or less provide some justification for the findings.

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