Abstract
Code-switching has been used in many languages by many different groups of people or speech communities, but little is known about how and why they are used as communicative strategies in modern song lyrics. This paper aims to explore and describe the recent phenomenon of English code-switching in modern Malay songs. 25 modern Malay songs were selected and analysed using Content Analysis. The analysis was made based on Poplack’ Theory as well as the functions of code-switching proposed by Appel and Musyken. Two types of code-switching commonly used in modern Malay songs were discovered. They were intrasentential and intersentential code-switching. The classification of the functions of code-switching was then made based on the six functions of code-switching, which are referential, directive, expressive, phatic, metalinguistic, and poetic. The findings of this research also indicate other functions of code-switching that demonstrate bilingual creativity among songwriters in Malaysia. In conclusion, the findings of this study indicated that code switching in Modern Malay songs is not just a random switch from one code to another but carries certain social functions that emphasize on the establishment of people’s intimacy, solidarity and local identity. Keywords: Code-switching; Intrasentential; Intersentential; Referential; Directive; Expressive; Phatic; Metalinguistic; Modern Malay Songs
Highlights
Studies of Malaysian English might have started almost 50 years ago, with a number of researchers (Tongue 1974, Wong 1978, Lowenberg 1992, Nizar Idris 2000, David 2000, Asmah Haji Omar 1998) who put forward some important background and extensive descriptions of this variety
It is common for bilingual communities to employ certain linguistic phenomena to make their communication more interesting, meaningful and effective. One of these phenomena is code-switching which is common among Malaysians, be it in formal classrooms or random social meetings
The present study had focused on the types of code-switching and the functions of both intra and intersentential code-switching used in Malay songs
Summary
Studies of Malaysian English might have started almost 50 years ago, with a number of researchers (Tongue 1974, Wong 1978, Lowenberg 1992, Nizar Idris 2000, David 2000, Asmah Haji Omar 1998) who put forward some important background and extensive descriptions of this variety. The development of English as a second language in a postcolonial country like Malaysia has undergone the processes of nativisation and language adaptation (Schneider 2003) and one of the prominent features of this variety is codeswitching (Tongue 1974, Wong 1978, Augustin 1982, Lowenberg 1992, Nizar Idris 2000, Lee et al 2010). The mixing of two or more languages in conversation, is not seen as a positive linguistic phenomenon by some researchers
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