Abstract
Code-mixing, regarded as a characteristic feature of fluent bilingual speech, has been investigated from various perspectives. This article argues for a usage-based approach to code-mixing as a unified theoretical framework, which is capable of integrating the multitude of existing explanations for this phenomenon and of yielding new insights into its structure. Under a usage-based view, linguistic knowledge emerges in language use, which is grounded in social interaction and is affected by cognitive processing. The aspects of human cognition explored in the present article as factors influencing the structure of code-mixing include the perception of similarity between the contact languages’ elements and structures, the frequency of linguistic units in language use and their recency in discourse. I demonstrate that the perception of similarity between the contact languages’ elements and structures opens up possibilities for code-mixing, whereas the frequency and recency of linguistic units influence the probability of their use in code-mixing.
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