Abstract
AbstractMost studies of code switching have focussed on its use in informal, oral settings, but written examples also occur. The Castilian-Hebrew switching in the Jewishtaqqanot‘statutes’ of Valladolid, Spain, written in 1432, provides important data for testing the different constraints proposed in studies on code switching. Examples of switches between determiner-noun, preposition-noun, possessive-noun, quantifier-noun, andser-participle indicate that the code switches in thetaqqanotusually conform to some of the constraints already proposed: the Free Morpheme Constraint, the Equivalence Constraint, and the Closed-Class Constraint. At the same time, the analysis of these medieval switches confronts the same unresolved issues as other studies, for instance, the need to adequately distinguish between borrowings and code switches and the question of whether bilingual utterances always have an identifiable matrix language.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
