Addresses the issue of whether there exists a matrix language to a code-mixed (CM) sentence, or whether no feasible linguistic analysis can reliably assign a matrix language to a CM sentence. The examination draws on natural conversations involving Chinese-English CM in Singapore. (41 references) (GLR)

Explores verbal strategies involving code-switching (English terms used in Chinese-based interactions) in the speech community of a Taiwanese teacher's college. Code-switching is described in terms of the fulfillment of language functions and is shown to express a linguistic style concerned with communicative appropriateness and social identity.…

Provides a brief account and explanation of the phenomenon of language use among the Baba community, which uses Hokkien, Malay, and English in the process of code selection and code mixing/switching. Data are drawn from recordings of conversation of the Babas and Nyonyas. (Author/OD)

Examines how code switching and mixing are used as communication strategies in multilingual communities and discusses how to establish solidarity and rapport in multilingual discourse. Examples from the main languages spoken in Singapore--English, Mandarin, Hokkien, and Teochew--are used. (Author/OD)