Bilingual and Trilingual Codeswitching Between Hungarian, Romanian and English in the Speech of Two Transylvanians Living in North America

Abstract

This case study investigates the bilingual and trilingual codeswitching patterns of two multilinguals who grew up in a Hungarian–Romanian two-language family in Transylvania, and whose bilingual codeswitching changed into trilingual codeswitching after they moved to North America. An analysis of the speakers’ discourse reveals the amounts of bilingual and trilingual codeswitching as well as the dynamics and interaction of the three languages used. Using Myers-Scotton's Matrix Language Frame model as the theoretical framework for codeswitching, the different levels of activation of the three languages were analysed. Furthermore, patterns of convergence, divergence and transference were explored. The findings of the study show that a significant amount of the codeswitching of both speakers is trilingual. Differences in patterns between bilingual versus trilingual codeswitching and the different language combinations were found due to the language structure and social and cultural background of the speakers.