An Investigation on English/Chinese Code-switching
in BBS in Chinese Alumni’s Community
Luqun Ge
Applied Linguistics
The University of Edinburgh
2007
Abstract
The study, based on Myers-Scotton’s revised Markedness Model, investigates
English/Chinese code-switching in BBS in Chinese alumni’s community,
aiming to prove people are rational calculator when they switch codes. 82
fragments are retrieved from 4 classes in Chinaren, a large virtual Chinese
alumni’s community. With qualitative analysis, 8 functions of code-switching
in this BBS are found: quotation, clarification, tone-softening, euphemism,
humor, gap-filling, language skill-making and fashion. The revised
Markedness Model is well proved in this study, i.e. people tend to minimize
the costs and maximize the benefits when they code-switch.
Key words: code-switching, BBS, the revised Markedness Model
Acknowledgement
First of all, I am deeply indebted to my supervisor, Dr. Hugh Trappes-Lomax
for his guidance, encouragement and patience throughout the dissertation
period. His keen insight as a linguist has influenced me greatly.
My special thanks also goes to teachers in Applied Linguistics who have
taught me during the year of my graduate study. Their scholarly expertise
and constructive comment on my study have always been a great inspiration
to me.
Finally, my gratitude goes to my family for their encouragement, love and
care and during my postgraduate study.
Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction……………………………………………………………1
Chapter 2 Literature Review……………………………………………………..4
2.1 Terminology………………………………………………………………...4
2.1.1 Code, code-switching and code-mixing……………………………4
2.1.2 Code-switching and borrowing………………………………….....7
2.1.3 Code-switching and bilingualism…………………………………..8
2.2 The three main approaches of code-switching functions research……9
2.2.1 The macro approach research……………………………………...10
2.2.1 The micro approach research………………………………………15
2.2.3 The check list approach research………………………………….17
2.3 Computer-mediated discourse research………………………………..20
Chapter 3 Theoretical Framework……………………………………………..23
3.1 The markedness evaluator……………………………………………….23
3.2 The indexicality principle………………………………………………...24
3.3 The negotiation principle………………………………………………...25
3.4 The rationality……………………………………………………………..26
Chapter 4 Data and Methodology……………………………………………...29
4.1 Data source and collecting method……………………………………..29
4.2 Data-analyzing method…………………………………………………..30
Chapter 5 Data Survey and Analysis…………………………………………..33
5.1 The structural forms of BBS Chinese/English code-switching………..33
5.1.1 Intra-sentential code-switching……………………………………33
5.1.2 Inter-sentential code-switching……………………………………36
5.2 The surface features of BBS Chinese/English code-switching………..38
5.2.1 Fixed English phrases as habitual use in a Chinese context…....38
5.2.2 Simplified lexicon and sentences………………………………….41
5.2.3 Tolerance of surface errors…………………………………………43
5.3 The speakers’ rationality in code-switching……………………………44
5.3.1 Code-switching for quotation……………………………………...45
5.3.2 Code-switching for clarification…………………………………...49
5.3.3 Code-switching for tone-softening………………………………..51
5.3.4 Code-switching for euphemism…………………………………..54
5.3.5 Code-switching for humor…………………………………………56
5.3.6 Code-switching for gap-filling…………………………………….58
5.3.7 Code-switching for language skill making……………………….61
5.3.8 Code-switching for fashion………………………………………...62
Chapter 6 Conclusion……………………………………………………………66
6.1 Findings……………………………………………………………………66
6.2 Limitations and suggestions for further study………………………...69
Reference……………………………………………………………………………71
Appendix……………………………………………………………………………77
Chapter 1
Introduction
The question regarding the phenomenon of code-switching, one of the
unavoidable consequences of communication between different language
varieties, has lingered on in discussion both in theory and practice for several
decades. Therefore, the literature on this topic is abundant, including
sociology, anthropology, linguistics, etc. The perennial question “why do
speakers take the trouble to select one linguistic variety over another?” has
received numerous controversial answers. Sociologists attempted to direct our
attention to social factors at a macro level; anthropologists attempted to direct
our attention to life and culture of a certain community; linguists attempted to
direct our attention to language speakers’ linguistic performance or their
competence; and so on.
Among these various fields, the field of linguistics is particularly flourishing
in the study of code-switching in which linguists probe this phenomenon
from different perspectives such as sociolinguists, psycholinguistics,
conversation analysis, pragmatics, etc., which results in very fruitful
achievements. However, most of the studies made are conducted by using
face-to-face conversations or written materials occurring in the real world.
There is still a huge potential to further study code-switching from other
specific situations, such as situations of code-switching in computer-mediated
discourse like chat room talking, e-mail, BBS talking, etc. To my knowledge,
up till now, there hasn’t been many studies on code-switching in
computer-mediated discourse (e.g. Jayantilal 1998, Qing & Yang 2005,
Siebenhaar 2006, Hinrichs 2006), and very few has been conducted on
Chinese/English code-switching in one specific situation such as BBS.
In this study, I am going to study a Chinese/English code-switching corpus
collected from a BBS (http://alumni.chinaren.com) based mainly on
Myers-Scotton’s revised Markedness Model (Myers-Scotton & Bolonyai 2001,
Myers-Scotton 2002), attempting to prove that speakers are rational
calculators when they switch codes. Specifically speaking, I am going to prove
that, despite of objective constraints such as gender, social status and ethnic
group, when speakers in this BBS switch from Chinese to English or visa
versa, they usually consider which code offers him/her the greatest benefit by
utilizing different functions of code-switching to realize what he thinks the
best choice. Three questions will be addressed in this study.
1. What functions does Chinese/English code-switching bear in this BBS?
2. How do code-switching users in this BBS realize optimal rationality by
utilizing various code-switching functions, according to the revised
Markedness Model?
3. What modifications might be necessary to the revised Markedness Model?
The organization of this dissertation is as follows. Chapter one is a general
introduction of this research. Chapter two is a review of the relevant literature,
including relevant terminologies, three main approaches on code-switching
and computer-mediated discourse research. Chapter three is a detailed
introduction of the theoretical framework of this dissertation, namely, the
revised Markedness Model. Chapter four is concerning the data and
methodology adopted in this study outlining the specific data source, the
collecting method and the data-analyzing method. And chapter five is a
detailed analysis of the functions of code-switching in this BBS and the ways
how speakers achieve rationality. Chapter six is the last chapter. It draws a
conclusion, lists the limitations of this study and makes some suggestions for
further study.
Chapter 2
Literature Review
2.1 Terminology
A brief survey of the enormous contributions in the literature on
code-switching studies would really enhance our understanding of this
linguistic phenomenon. But it is confusing that there is still no consensus
regarding the precise meaning of the terms used by the scholars in this field.
In the long run of scientific research terms may sometimes block many
beginners by making things more difficult. And more importantly, as Clyne
(1987:741) points out, “Vagueness in terminology can influence the results of
research.” Therefore, it is necessary to make clear the terms in this study
—code, code-switching and code-mixing, code-switching and borrowing,
code-switching and bilingualism.
2.1.1 Code, code-switching and code-mixing
Code is widely regarded in the linguistic field as the synonym for language,
and it can be used to refer to any kind of language system. So Chinese is a
code. Cantonese is a code and English is also a code. In this study, the term
code mainly refers to the two linguistic systems — English and Chinese.
Code-switching is defined by Gumperz (1982:59) as “the juxtaposition within
the same speech exchange of passages of speech belonging to two different
grammatical systems or subsystems”. Compared with Gumperz (1982),
Myers-Scotton (1993a, vii) gives a concrete definition of code-switching as
“the use of two or more languages in the same conversation, usually within
the same conversational turn, or even within the same sentence of that turn.”
Hoffman’s definition is quite similar to Myers-Scotton’s (1993a). He thinks
code-switching is “the alternate use of two languages or linguistic varieties
within the same utterance or during the same conversation” (Hoffman, 1991:
110). Although Gumperz (1982), Myers-Scotton (1993a) and Hoffman (1991)
give the definitions based on their own understandings, they share in
common using code-switching as an umbrella term to include any linguistic
alternations within or beyond a sentence.
Code-mixing is defined by Bokamba (1989: 278) as “the embedding of various
linguistic units such as affixes (bound morphemes), words (unbound
morphemes), phrases and clauses from two distinct grammatical (sub-)
systems within the same sentence and speech event.” In other words,
code-mixing occurs at the intra-sentential level. Meanwhile, Bokamba
(1989:278) thinks that code-switching takes places at the inter-sentential level.
So according to Bokamba (1989), code-mixing and code-switching are two
different concepts, the former occurring at the intra-sentential level and the
latter at the inter-sentential position. This concept of distinguishing
code-switching and code-mixing is shared by many scholars (Sridhar &
Sridhar 1980, Tay 1989, Kamwangamalu & Lee 1991).
The above introduction shows us a picture of the terminological confusion in
this field. One group of scholars (e.g. Bokamba 1989, Kamwangamalu 1992,
Sridhar & Sridhar 1980) argues that code-switching and code-mixing are two
different phenomena. One occurs at the inter-sentential level and the other at
the intra-sentential one. On the other side, the other group of researchers (e.g.
Gumperz 1982, Myers-Scotton 1993a) regards code-switching as an umbrella
term to cover the linguistic alternations both at the inter-sentential and
intra-sentential levels.
As Milroy & Muysken (1995:12) point out it is impossible to impose some
order on the prevailing terminological confusion and also considering the
functions of code-switching and people’s rationality in code-switching are the
focuses of this study, it is more or less pointless to pay too much attention to
the argument of the definitions of code-switching and code-mixing. In this
study, I will follow the researchers (Gumperz 1982, Myers-Scotton 1993a,
Hoffman 1991) using code-switching as an umbrella term to cover both the
inter-sentential and intra-sentential linguistic alternations.
2.1.2 Code-switching and borrowing
Many researchers have studied the relationship between code-switching and
borrowing (e.g. Sankoff 2002, Pahta 2004, Crespo and Moskowich 2006) and
point out the distinctions between them. Pahta (2004: 79) holds that
code-switching comes before borrowing and borrowing has more constraints
on its use, as Pahta (2004: 79) writes:” switching involves the use of two
languages in one utterance, whereas the term ‘borrowing ‘is used of
embedded elements that have been integrated into the host language.” And
Crespo and Moskowich (2006: 52) argue code-switching requires speakers to
be bilingual while borrowing does not have such a requirement. Although the
distinctions between them seem very obvious, many scholars (e.g.
Treffers-Daller 1991, Pahta’s 2004) treat code-switching and borrowing as the
two ends of a continuum as no clear-cut differentiation has been provided by
scholars (Crespo and Moskowich 2006: 51). In order to distinguish
code-switching and borrowing from a continuum, several criteria need to be
taken into consideration, such as phonological and morphosyntacical
adaptation (McClure 2001) and ‘Frequency Hypothesis’ (Myers-Scotton 1993b).
The phonological and morphosyntacical adaptation refers the degree to which
a foreign term has been adapted to the host language phonologically and
morphosyntactically;
and
‘Frequency
Hypothesis’
means
using
the
frequencies of occurrence to distinguish code-switching and borrowing. In
this study, I am going to rely on the Contemporary Chinese Dictionary (2002)
to distinguish code-switching from borrowing as the above mentioned criteria
are fully taken into consideration by dictionary compliers to decide whether a
word is a loan one or not.
2.1.3 Code-switching and bilingualism
Since code-switching is believed to be only where bilingualism is found, a
study of code-switching could not avoid the introduction of the concept of
bilingualism. In the history, there are many ideas about what can be called a
bilingual or bilingualism. An early understanding is put forward by
Bloomfield (1933: 56) who thinks a bilingual should have “native-like control
of two languages”. This idea sets a very high standard for being a bilingual
and has been gradually discarded by many scholars.
Later, Macnamara
(1969) lowers the standard and considers somebody as a bilingual if she/he,
besides the first-language skills, possesses some second language skills of
speaking, listening, writing and reading. The above two definitions set the
level of linguistic proficiency as the criterion for being a bilingual. The
difference between them is just a matter of degree. While Apple & Muysken
(1987: 3) do not take the level of linguistic proficiency into consideration, their
view on bilingualism is broad. They argue if a person who regularly uses two
or more languages in alteration he/she is regarded as a bilingual. Up till now,
the broadest view on a bilingual or bilingualism is held by Myers-Scotton
(2006). She thinks a bilingual possesses “the ability to use two or more
languages sufficiently to carry on a limited casual conversation…
“(Myers-Scotton 2006:44). Although there are various and controversial
definitions of a bilingual or bilingualism, the review reflects a trend that
researchers gradually begin to understand this phenomenon in a broad way.
The current opinion (e.g. Myers-Scotton) is: a bilingual is neither required to
be a linguistic master; instead, anyone, no matter how poor his linguistic
ability is, as long as he/she can carry on communication with more than two
codes, can be called as a bilingual. So, in this study, as all the subjects are
English major students, they certainly qualify to be called bilinguals.
2.2 The three main approaches of code-switching
functions research
Questions like why people code-switch and what are the functions of
code-switching have been explored by many researchers from different
perspectives and they have developed their own theories to explain this
phenomenon. Some researchers have gone into the social context for
explanations, with Blom & Gumperz’s (1972) study and Myers-Scotton’s
(1993a) Markedness Model representing the most typical ones. More
specifically, the social factors of language using are emphasized in such
studies. By contrast, some other researchers (e.g. Auer 1998, Li 2002) take
Conversation Analysis as their theoretical support and argue that the
meanings and functions of code-switching have a strong association with the
sequence of conversation. In other words, there is a focus on the contributions
of the organization of conversation to code-switching. And other scholars
make use of a checklist approach to present the functions of code-switching.
For example, Grosjean (1982: 152) suggests a comprehensive list of reasons for
code-switching. In this study, the above approaches are termed as the macro
approach, the micro approach and the checklist approach and will be
reviewed respectively in the following section.
2.2.1 The macro approach research
Among studies from the macro approach, Blom & Gumperz’s (1972) and
Myers-Scotton’s (1993a) are probably the most important ones. Such an
approach locates the social and situational factors as the impetus for the
linguistic choice. As Myers-Scotton’s (1993a) Markedness Model is closely
related with the present study, in the following I will focus on Myers-Scotton’s
(1993a) work in order to better understand this approach.
Myers-Scotton (1993a) applies the construct of “markedness” to the study of
language variation and she thinks that the various codes employed by
speakers can also fall into two categories: the unmarked and the marked.
Although just as I discussed in the above chapter, there have been countless
researches on code-switching, Myers-Scotton’s work -- Social Motivations for
Codeswitching: Evidence From Africa (1993) is the one that puts forward a
general theoretical mechanism from her studies on code-switching between
English and Swahili in Nairobi, Kenya. In the book she proves with sufficient
examples that in bilingual or multilingual societies the social meanings of
code-switching could generally be explained by the Markedness Model.
Aiming to provide explanation for motivations of code-switching, the
Markedness Model integrates the spirits of a variety of disciplines such as
sociology of language (language choice), pragmatics (implicatures and
intentional meanings), social anthropology (negotiation), and linguistic
anthropology (communicative competence) (Myers-Scotton 1993a: 75). The
model assumes that speakers have a sense of markedness and they are able to
identify whether it is marked or not on the available linguistic choices for
communication but usually the choice is made based on social-psychological
factors (Myers-Scotton 1993a: 75). Central to the Markedness Model are the
negotiation principle and three maxims. The negotiation principle is a key
principle in this model, as Myers-Scotton (1993a: 113) argues all the
phenomenon of code-switching can finally be explained by this principle. The
principle of negotiation will be explained in detail in the next chapter.
Then there are three maxims. The first one, the unmarked-choice maxim leads
a speaker to “make your code choice the unmarked index of the unmarked
RO set in talk exchanges when you wish to establish or affirm the RO set”
(Myers-Scotton 1993a: 114). This maximum leads to two outcomes, either
sequential
unmarked
code-switching
or
unmarked
code-switching
(Myers-Scotton 1993a: 114). Sequential unmarked code-switching refers to the
switching which happens when one or more of the situational factors change
in the course of conversation (Myers-Scotton 1993a: 114). It usually involves
with intersentential switching (Myers-Scotton 1993a:125). While for unmarked
code-switching, Myers-Scotton (1993a: 117) argues a great deal has related
with intra-sentential level. And the unmarked code-switching involves several
conditions. First, the speakers must be bilingual equals without many
socio-economic differences; second, both speakers wish to embody dual
memberships that the code-switching can index; third, the speakers have a
good evaluation on the values of codes indexing their identity in the
communication; fourth, the speakers must have a relatively proficiency of the
two languages but code-switching occurrence is more related with the
familiarity of the languages than proficiency or other social factors
(Myers-Scotton 1993a: 119).
The second maxim, the marked choice maxim, would direct a speaker to
“make a marked code choice which is not the unmarked index of the
unmarked RO set in an interaction when you wish to establish a new RO set
as unmarked for the current exchange” (Myers-Scotton 1993a: 131). In other
words, the speakers violate the conventionalized expectation in an interaction
and deliberately make the marked choices to set up a new set of rights and
obligations. Myers-Scotton (1993a: 132-140) lists several specific effects which
could be achieved through marked code-switching and they are: to enlarge
the social distance via authority or anger, to exclude people from the ethnicity
group, to have aesthetic effect, etc. Marked code-switching usually involves
structural flagging such as repletion, being phonologically flagged since
marked code-switching is a strategy used to call attention (Myers-Scotton
1993a).
While in many situations, a speaker is capable of recognizing what is an
unmarked code choice for his interaction with other speakers, Myers-Scotton
(1993a: 142) also mentions that there are a few situations whereby an
unmarked code-choice is not clear and in such cases, the speakers will adopt
the exploratory maxim, as she writes “When an unmarked choice is not clear,
use code-switching to make alternate explanatory choices as candidates for an
unmarked choice and thereby as an index of a rights and obligations set
which you favor” (Myers-Scotton 1993a: 142). She thinks that explanatory
code-switching is less common than unmarked code-switching, because in
many situations the choice of unmarked code is clear (Myers-Scotton 1993a:
142). It usually happens when there is a conflict of norms or speakers do not
know which norm should apply (Myers-Scotton 1993a: 142). With the analysis
of many examples, Myers-Scotton (1993a: 147) argues that both explanatory
code-switching and unmarked code-switching function as strategies of
neutrality because by code-switching speakers can avoid confining
themselves to one set of Rights and Obligations.
As all other theories in social science, the Markedness Model is controversial.
Opinions ranging from unconditional rejection to unconditional acceptance
have been going on since the Markedness Model came into being. In order to
compensate for the limitations of the Markedness model, Myers-Scotton
revised the model twice, in 2001 and 2002 respectively.
The revised Markedness Model borrows strong strength from a widely
applied general social science theory: the Rational Choice Model. This model
has been employed in a variety of areas such as economics, psychology,
political science and etc. Thus there are many versions of this model. Among
the various versions of Rational Choice Model, Myers-Scotton mainly follows
the version of one social scientist, Elster, who has written widely about
rationality. His views on rationality can be reflected in the following sentence:
“When faced with several courses of action, people usually do what they
believe is likely to have the best overall outcome” (Elster 1989:22).
Myers-Scotton (Myers-Scotton & Bolonyai 2001, Myers-Scotton 2002)
combines this theory with the study of linguistic choices and argues that
speakers are rational actors when they choose to make different linguistic
codes.
2.2.2 The Micro approach research
In contrast to the studies with the macro approach, studies from the micro
approach(e.g. Auer 1984, Li 2002), with its aims to explore the functional
aspects of code-switching as well, locate the impetus on the structure and
sequentiality of the code-switching in conversation rather than resorting to
the macro social factors.
Auer (1984) holds that the functions of code-switching emerge with the
sequential development in conversation. In his study on code-switching, he
(1984:5) treats the sequentiality and embeddedness of code-switching in the
sequential organization as the starting point of his analysis. Since the meaning
and functions of code-switching can’t be analyzed if they are divorced from
the environment of the sequences, the analysis of code-switching then needs a
methodology which has a special attention on the development of sequences.
Thus Conversation Analysis is adopted since it focuses on structural
organization. According to Auer (1984: 5-6), the conversation analysis
approach to code-switching has its advantages over other approaches. Firstly,
it considers the sequence of conversation as the priority of the analysis and at
the same time focuses on the influence on turns. Secondly, it reduces the
subjective analysis as directing attention on turns in conversation. In a word,
an analysis of code-switching from the perspective of conversational analysis
pays adequate attention to the sequentiality of conversation turns.
On the other hand, the Conversation Analysis approach to code-switching has
been criticized for separating itself from the macro social context which can
not be completely ignored in descriptions of code-switching functions.
Myers-Scotton & Bolonyai (2001:4) argues “we heartily agree the structural
features of any conversation, especially the nature of certain adjacency pairs,
can be considered devices that constrain speakers to view certain potential
choices as preferred and others as not. However, the structural features
studies by CA offer an exceedingly ‘flat ’explanation of choices.”
As a result, now advocates of Conversation Analysis have become less radical
and begun to consider how to integrate both macro and micro factors (e.g.
Auer 1998, Li, Milroy & Pong, 1992). Layered models are thus proposed by
synthesizing both aspects For example, Li and his colleagues (Li, Milroy &
Pong 1992) propose a two-step approach. In their study, the first step is to use
social network to describe the linguistic preferences of groups of people in the
community. The second step is to conduct a detailed conversational analysis.
Moyer (1998) proposes a three-layered model. In this model, on the highest
layer, English, Spanish, the mixing of English and Spanish as code choices are
influenced by the macro sociolinguistic factors; on the intermediate layer, the
Conversation Analysis approach helps to find out the specific functions of
code-switching; on the lowest layer, speakers can choose to use more or less
English with Spanish as the base language, and to use inserted or alterational
code-switching. In contrast to these models, in this study, I will use the
revised Markedness Model (Myers-Scotton & Bolonyai 2001, Myers-Scotton
2002) to explore the functions of code-switching.
2.2.3 The checklist approach research
Besides those two approaches, there are other discussions on the functions of
code-switching which can not be simply assigned to the macro approach or
the micro approach. Most of these studies use a checklist to present the
functions of code-switching, and thus are referred as the “better-taxonomy”
approach by Myers-Scotton (1993a: 63). In this study I call it the checklist
approach.
Gumperz (1982) proposes the famous six functions of code-switching to
categorize its motivations. They are quotations, address specification, interjections,
reiteration, message qualification and personalization versus objectivization
(Gumperz 1982: 75-84). His proposal of the six functions offers great
inspiration in this study.
Besides the best-know study of Gumperz’s (1982), there are some other
studies aiming at generalizing functions or motivations of code-switching.
Grosjean (1982) suggests a more comprehensive list of reasons of
code-switching:
fill a linguistic need for lexical items, set phrase, discourse marker, or sentence
filler; continue the last language used (triggering); quote someone; specify
addressee; qualify message: amplify or emphasize (“topper” in argument); specify
speaker involvement (personalize message); mark and emphasize group identity
(solidarity); convey confidentiality, anger, annoyance; exclude some from
conversation; change role of speaker: raise status, add authority, show expertise.
(Grosjean 1982: 152)
Appel & Muysken (1987:29-31) make use of Jacobson’s typology of language
functions to address the issues of language choice in bilingual conversations.
They distinguish six functions: the referential function, the directive and
integrative function, the expressive function, the phatic function, the
metalinguistic function and the poetic function (Appel & Muysken 1987: 29-30).
However, the methodology of setting up checklists of functions adopted by
Gumperz (1982: 75-84), Grosjean (1982: 152), Appel & Muysken (1987: 29-31)
and many other researchers (e.g. Li 2000) have received many criticisms from
theorists such as Auer (1995) and Myers-Scotton (1993a). For example, Auer
(1995) argues strongly against generalizing functions of code-switching as a
checklist as in Gumperz’ s (1982: 75-84) study and points out that there are at
least three problems with such a checklist, with some of them also recognized
by Gumperz (1982: 82): first, there are no clear definitions of such functions
and a single label of function might involve different code-switching
structures; second, the categories of functions lack specific criteria — some
labels refer to functions while some others refer to structures; third, and
perhaps the most importantly, such a checklist is not able to provide
interpretations about how exactly code-switching is used to serve the
specified functions (Auer 1995: 120-121). The main criticism by Myers-Scotton
(1993a: 63) is that such studies “stop short of organizing any listings or
insights into a coherent and comprehensive theoretical framework”. She
(1993a: 64) challenges Apple & Muysken’s (1987: 29-31) classification of the
functions of code-switching by raising several questions.
Although Auer(1995) and Myers-Scotton (1993a) have pointed out sharply the
problems with these checklist studies, there is also something very important
in these studies which both Myers-Scotton’ s (1993a) and Auer’s (1995)
analytical models fail to capture, especially explaining code-switching in a
particular community. The checklist approach provides us with a more
complete picture of why people switch codes in a particular community and it
permits assigning several functions to one specific switch simultaneously.
With this method, the analysis of this study can be carried out orderly.
2.3 Computer-mediated discourse research
With
the
development
of
computer
networks,
the
research
of
computer-mediated discourse began to attract the attentions of some scholars.
Herring
(2001:
612)
defines
computer-mediated
discourse
as
“the
communication produced when human beings interact with one another by
transmitting messages via networked computer”. Here the term refers to the
text-based modes and spoken modes such as telephone or voice-to-voice
technologies are excluded.
Besides, Herring (2001:614-615) divides computer-mediated discourse into
synchronous and asynchronous modes. The synchronous mode requires
communicators to be online at the same time (Herring 2001:615). However,
the asynchronous mode does not require users to log on simultaneously;
instead, they can read messages at any time because the information can be
saved on the website of that (Herring 2001: 614).
In this study, I choose BBS as a mode of computer-mediated discourse to
explore the phenomenon of code-switching. All the data used to analyze
Chinese/English
code-switching
are
collected
from
a
BBS
(http://alumni.Chinaren.com). In this specific situation, both of the two
communication modes — the synchronous mode and asynchronous mode
appear. Members of all the classes can log on at any time. As a result, some of
them may encounter each other. In this situation, the synchronous mode
occurs. But message senders can also sent a message to the addressee while
he/she is not logging on. The message will be stored in the bulletin board of
this site for a very long time. Whenever the addressee log on, he/she will see
the message. Therefore the asynchronous mode occurs. Actually, a large
proportion of the conversations collected from this BBS belong to the
asynchronous mode.
Several scholars have conducted the research of code-switching in
computer-mediated discourse. Siebenhaar (2006) conducts a study on
code-switching in Swiss-German Internet Relay Chat rooms and by the
quantitative approach he finds that the varieties of German and Swiss dialects
occupy a high percentage of the linguistic forms in the chat room. Another
scholar,
Jayantilal
communication
(1998:
between
76)
four
studies
the
Malaysian
code-switching
women
and
in
finds
email
that
code-switching is motivated by “socio-psychological considerations such as
role-relationships, topics, attitudes and values.” Qing & Yang (2005) also
explore the codes-switching in the internet. They study the forms and
functions of Chinese/English code-switching as well as its significance in
Internet literature. They list four functions of Chinese/English code-switching
in Internet literature, namely, to estrange language, to be recognized easier, to
be economy and to achieve rhetorical effects. The last two functions are
confirmed by this study.
Therefore, the above three studies on computer-mediated environment
code-switching have different focuses. One is concentrated on chat room, the
asynchronous communication; the other is on E-mail, the synchronous
communication; and another is on Internet literature code-switching. In
contrast to these studies a corpus from a BBS will be employed in this study,
which can be synchronous or asynchronous, to prove that code-switching
occurring in the virtual world can be predicted by the revised Markedness
Model (Myers-Scotton & Bolonyai, 2001, Myers-Scotton 2002). That is to say,
no matter where speakers are, when they employ code-switching they wish to
gain the highest benefit at the lowest cost subjectively.
Chapter 3
Theoretical Framework
In this chapter the revised Markedness Model (Myers-Scotton & Bolonyai
2001, Myers-Scotton 2002) is introduced as the theoretical framework of the
dissertation. As I have given a general introduction of the Markedness Model
and its development in chapter two, the following is a detailed introduction of
the essential part of this revised model.
The
revised
Markedness
Model
(Myers-Scotton
&
Bolonyai,
2001,
Myers-Scotton 2002) centers on one premise (the markedness evaluator), two
principles (the negotiation principle and the indexicality principle), and one
heart (the rationality).The following is the detailed introduction of it.
3.1 The markedness evaluator
The revised Markedness Model presupposes every speaker has a markedness
evaluator (Myers-Scotton & Bolonyai 2001:8) and it is an innate capacity of
human beings (Myers-Scotton 2002: 207-208). For this abstract capacity,
Myers-Scotton & Bolonyai (2001) give a detailed explanation.
Specifically as a sociolinguistic construct, markedness refers to the capacity to
develop the following three abilities. (i) The most important is the perception that
relevant linguistic choices for a specific interaction type fall along a multidimensional
continuum from more socially unmarked to more marked. (ii) In addition, speakers
learn to recognize that the markedness ordering of choices is dynamic; it depends on
the specific interaction type, as well as how the interaction itself develops. (iii) Finally,
speakers develop the ability to provide relevant interpretations for all choices, marked
as well as unmarked, given the interaction type.
(Myers-Scotton & Bolonyai 2001:8)
Based on above, Myers-Scotton & Bolonyai (2001:9) think that the markedness
evaluator is a “deductive device” and what it offers is “a process evaluating
potential options”.
3.2 The indexicality principle
Peirce (1955), a famous philosopher, points out that there exist three kinds of
relationships between language symbols and the objects they refer to. They
are the relationships of sign, indexicality and symbol. About indexicality, he
gives an example to explicate it: if strong smoke rises from above a house, it
indexes that the house is on fire (Myers-Scotton 1993a: 85). Myers-Scotton
(1993a) argues that various codes that speakers choose to express themselves
also bear this indexicality. She thinks any linguistic choice speakers make
indexes a desired set of Rights and Obligations. Although the markedness of a
Rights and Oobligations set depends on the norms and social meanings, it is
open to change for a specific interaction type, namely, it is dynamic
(Myers-Scotton & Bolonyai 2001:8). An example is offered to clarify this point.
When the interviewer and the interviewee find they are from the small town
with the same distance, their speaking tone would change from formal to
informal (Myers-Scotton & Bolonyai 2001:9). So Myers-Scotton & Bolonyai
(2001: 10) state there is no universally marked Rights and Obligations set just
as there is no universally unmarked Rights and Obligations set.
3.3 The negotiation principle
Myers-Scotton (2002: 206) argues “Speakers almost always have multiple
identities. A linguistic choice reflects the presentation of one identity rather
than another, possibly an identity that is not established, but whose
realization is being negotiated by the code choice”. Therefore, code-switching
is an important way for speakers to negotiate one’s identities or one’s Rights
and Obligations. The principle of negotiation is very important in the Model
as it establishes the goal of conversation (Myers-Scotton 2002: 209).
Myers-Scotton & Bolonyai (2001: 10) hold that speakers know that a marked
linguistic choice will be considered as negotiation and under the specific
situation, they would use marked choice to negotiate for the new Rights and
Obligations. In the example give by Myers-Scotton and Bolonyai (2001:7), the
boy used the marked code to talk with his mother in order to change his role
as a compliant boy and show his independence. Just as the indexicality
principle, the negotiation principle is very powerful in analyzing situations
between people in unequal situations.
3.4 The rationality
The heart of the revised Markedness Model is rationality. Specifically
speaking, this model proposes that speakers are rational actors when they
switch codes. The linguistic choices they make reflect their goals to “enhance
interpersonal relations and/or material or psychological rewards, to minimize
costs” (Myers-Scotton & Bolonyai 2001:6). Rationality explains why speakers
make choice and at the same time is a mechanism which leads them to make
decision. (Myers-Scotton 2002: 207)
In the process of code-switching, according to the revised Markedness Model,
there are three filters for speakers to go through before they realize what they
think to be the optimal choices. The fist filter consists of external constraints.
Such constraints include linguistic choices, discourse strategies and
knowledge of appropriate linguistic usage in specific cultural setting
(Myers-Scotton 2002:207). Those are called the speaker’s “linguistic
repertoire” by Myers-Scotton (2002: 207). Here it is worth pointing out that
Myers-Scotton (2002) has incorporated the micro element of conversation into
the external constraints, which is new and different from Elster’s (1989)
interpretation of external factors. Also, Myers-Scotton (2002:207) holds that
these external factors determine “what the individual have at their disposal”
but do not make a decision on which choice a speaker make.
Contrasted with the first filter, the second filter is internal to the speakers. It is
composed of two elements: the somatic markers of Damasio’s 1996 model and
the markedness evaluator (Myers-Scotton & Bolonyai 2001: 13). The first one
exists in all types of organisms and it permits quick decision-making based on
previous experiences (Myers-Scotton 2002:207). So it is very general. By
contrast, the second one, the markedness evaluator, is more specified. As I
have introduced the markedness evaluator in the previous section, I will not
introduce it again. According to Myers-Scotton (2002: 208), both of the two
architectures are gained from experience and they function to bias the
speakers’ linguistic choices based on experience. On this basis speakers can
anticipate about what would be considered an unmarked or marked choice in
specific interactions in their community.
The third filter tells why choices are made in terms of rationality. According to
Myers-Scotton (2002: 208), rationality operates as the mechanism determining
which choice is made from the linguistic repertoire. At this stage, speakers
will consider the following features.
(1) actors take account of their desires, values, and prior beliefs.
(2) They check these elements for internal consistency
(3) Finally, they consider what available evidence tells them about likely
outcomes.
(Myers-Scotton 2002: 208).
Following these procedures, the speaker finally makes up his mind which
code to choose to achieve optimality. Although a clearly list of steps make
decision-making look like more objective, Myers-Scotton (2002: 208) argues it
is still subjective, as the decision is made in relation to specific situations and
speaker’s different understandings of “the best choice”.
Chapter 4
Data and Methodology
4.1 Data source and collecting method
BBS which is quite an exotic word to many people just a few years ago has
been a part of everyday life for educated people in China. The data is
collected from a BBS, a large virtual community: Http://alumni.chinaren.com.
It belongs to one of the most established websites — Sohu. This community is
chosen for two reasons. One is that this alumnus is one of the earliest and
biggest alumni in China. In this BBS almost every class, especially classes of
universities, has its own virtual space. Most subjects of this community are
university or college students. Therefore, most of the citizens in this
community are bilinguals. The other is that my university class has a virtual
space here so that it is convenient for me to register here to collect data.
Because some of the classes lock their “door”, it is difficult for strangers to
register and become one of their members. As a result, some of the
information is unavailable. While some of them are generous, strangers can
easily enter into their classes to collect data and talk with them freely.
Observation and record are the two main methods of data-collecting in this
study. The period of data-collecting is from June 20th to July 20th, 2007. Since
BBS can store the messages for a very long time, there are huge amounts of
conversation fragments in this community and the earliest conversation
fragment I collected is January 7th, 2005. As it is impossible to collect all the
code-switching conversation fragments or sentences down, 82 fragments from
four classes are chosen as the data. All data come from naturally occurring
situations in this BBS. I even didn’t correct some of the errors in the data.
Permission for using the data in this study has obtained from the
administrators of each class community.
All the data are obtained from the following four classes: YD i.e. Class 1, 1997,
Faculty of English Language and Culture, Yan’ an University; SD i.e. Class 1
of 2001, Faculty of English Language and Culture, Shandong University; GW
i.e. Class 2 of 1997, Faculty of English and Culture, Guangdong University of
Foreign Studies; BW i.e. Class 2 of 2001, Faculty of English and Culture,
Beijing University of Foreign Studies.
4.2 Data-analyzing method
In this section, I am going to give an illustration of the steps adopted to
analyze the data. There are altogether three steps. Step one is a general survey
of the structures of code-switching and a conclusion of its distinct surface
features. Step two is a classification of the data according to their different
functions.
The third step is to analyze the data to prove that every code-switching user is
a rational actor, namely, for speakers, code-switching reflects a goal to
enhance interpersonal relations or gain material or psychological rewards and
to minimize costs. In this step, the natural occurring examples will be given
with their settings specified, for fear that discussing language samples
without placing them in the conversational structure from which they are
drawn makes too many potentially informative features disappear. And then
the deep-rooted reasons for code-switching are discussed based on the
revised Markedness Model, i.e. rationality. The following example is a case in
point.
In this example, a speaker named 老牛 is a teacher now. After acting as a
proctor of the TEM-8 (English Major Test Band 8), he was sharing his
experience with his former classmates.
今天监考专八，看的人头晕，不免多嘴几句，我指着一道改错题，低声对一个女
说:你看着副词能修饰名词呢?那女生可能是没见过我，有眼不识泰山，居然不屑
地对我讲，那 inspection 是动词!我崩溃了。还有个男生翻译“政治家”，politician，
我说:statesman!他改了过来。我说:复数!他冼然大悟，忙疾书:statesmans!我又崩
溃! (I acted as a proctor of the TEM-8 today and there were many students taking this
exam. I pointed at the one item of error correcting and whispered to a girl student:
look, how can an adverb modify a noun? That student might not know me and
scorned on my hint by saying Inspection is a verb. I was totally shocked. Another
student, when he was translating “政治家”, used politician. I told him to use the
word of statesman. He accepted my suggestion but wrote the word down in the single
form. I reminded him to use the plural form but what he wrote on the exam paper was
statsmans. I was shocked again. )1
(YD 2005-03-07)
The matrix language of this monologue is Chinese. But the speaker switched
to English four times. Obviously the speaker does not switch to index a new
rights and obligations set as Myers-Scotton claims. Then why did he switch?
First, the four switches here bear the function of quotation. Second, by
employing code-switching here, the speaker successfully reached his goals for
authenticity and vividness. He did this because his experience and belief tell
him that quotation is a good way to restore what happened vividly and at the
same time to make listeners or readers believe what happened. Therefore, the
force behind code-switching is rationality, i.e. despite of objective constraints
such as gender, social status and ethnic group, code-switching users in this
BBS switching from Chinese to English or vise versa, think which code offers
him/her the greatest benefit.
1
The words in parenthesis in italicized form are the translation of this paragraph.
Chapter 5
Data Survey and Analysis
This chapter contains three sections. The first one is a brief survey of the
structural forms of Chinese/English code-switching in this BBS. The second
one is a description of the distinct surface features of the data. These two
sections are necessary because they can provide a better general
understanding of the whole data. The third section is to argue how rationality
is realized through various functions of code-switching in the light of
Myers-Scotton’s revised Markedness Model. Therefore, it is a deep analysis of
the data.
5.1 The structural forms of BBS Chinese/English
code-switching
Thomason
(2001:132)
distinguishes
the
forms
of
code-switching
as
intra-sentential code-switching and inter-sentential code-switching. The
number of both of these two kinds of code-switching is huge in the corpus.
5.1.1 Intra-sentential code-switching
Three kinds of intra-sentential code-switching are found in the corpus:
morpheme switching, word switching and phrase switching. The following
are the examples of the first kind of intra-sentential code-switching:
morpheme switching.
(1) 何盆子那家伙脑子有问题吗？哈哈，我简直狂笑到不能自持 ing. (Is there any
problem with Hepen? Haha, I cannot help laughing)
(YD 2007-03-23)
(2) 这几天怎么突然冷清了，郁闷 ing 贴个 motto:… (Why has few people logged
onto the BBS these days? I am a bit gloomy and post a motto: …)
(BW 2006-09-07)
(3) 第一天上班，混日子 ing ( This is my fist day at work and I am just muddling
along )
(YD 2005-07-13)
(4) 有谁知道彩云的电话，万分期待 ing (Anyone got Caiyun’s telephone number? I
am awaiting)
(YD 2007-04-01)
In examples (1-4) English morpheme — the suffix “-ing” is inserted after
Chinese. In example (1) and (4), the form “-ing” is following verbs. In the
other two examples, the form “-ing” is following adjective “郁闷”( gloomy)
and verb phrase “混日子”(muddle along). The morpheme switching makes
the conversation funny and exotic, which I think, is a big feature of the BBS
computer-mediated discourse.
The second kind of intra-sentential code-switching is word code-switching. In
examples (5-7) the speakers directly insert some words in their sentences,
including nouns, verbs, adjectives and pronouns.
(5) …Tocil 是最便宜的，房间布局还不错，不过走廊很窄，很多人 share 洗手
间和厨房，听很多住在那里的人嫌吵，不过如果要省钱的话选 tocil 是最好的，
离 tesco 和中心校区都不远，所以我去年第一志愿也填了 tocil, 可惜没分到(Tocil
is cheapest and has good lay-out. But it has very narrow corridor and the kitchen and
toilet are shared. I was told it was very noisy and many students who lived there
could not tolerate the noise. But if you want to save money, Tocil is the best choice as
it is not far away from Tesco and the school. Last year I applied for it but was denied)
(GW
2007-04-18)
(6) 哇，不要打击我幼小,tender 的心灵啊，不过，我对你和老崔还是有信心的
(Wow, don’t strike my little and tender mind. But I still have confidence in you and
Laocui)
(YD 2007-07-05)
(7) you 误会 me 了，I 是先给 you, send 了一个 message, 好久好久都米有
reply, … … (You misunderstood me. I sent you a message first and there has bee a
long time that I haven’t replied..)
(YD 2007-04-22)
The third kind of intra-sentential code-switching is phrase switching.
Example (8) is switching from Chinese to English and example (9) is from
English to Chinese.
(8) 刚才看了 Mr and Mrs Elizondo 的结婚照片，好感动想不到身边自己的朋友
这么快就开花（于是进入了盼望结果的阶段）了。但是也要告诫各位，千万不要
萌发攀比的念头（偶刚才就有了那么一点）呵，还是要找到合适的人选和时机成
熟的时候才能下这个决定呀千万不要 try this at home, 父母的指导是 extremely
needed, 还是那一句，总觉得 Mr and Mrs Elizondo 的故事比翁帆和杨振宁更
有说服力，更能撼动我的心( I looked at the wedding photos of Mr and Mrs Elizondo
and felt touched. I didn’t expect them to get married so quickly. But here is a word of
caution. Don’t compete for this and wait until you find the right person at the right
time. Please do not try this at home. Parents’ opinions are extremely needed. But
anyway, I felt the story of Mr and Mrs Elizondo is more persuasive and touching
than that of Wengfan and Yang Zhengning )
(GW 2005-6-28)
(9) Just like it goes in our mother tongue: 来日方长. I viewed the disc
designed by Wanda and thought about all of your guys. Hope you two can
recover very soon. (Just like it goes in our mother tongue: there will be time for that.
I viewed the disc designed by Wanda and thought about all of your guys. Hope you
two can recover very soon )
(BW 2006-12-07)
5.1.2 Inter-sentential code-switching
Compared
with
intra-sentential
code-switching,
there
are
many
inter-sentential code-switching cases in the corpus. Here are a few examples.
(10) who is fordeamgirl?
报个名啊，不然会被ｋ啊, 呵呵 ( who is fordeamgirl?
Tell us your name otherwise your message will be deleted. Hehe )
(SD 2007-07-02)
(11) who will marry, I… I’m the last person to know that. Who knows whom
I’ll marry? 正如方针所示：我们要允许一部分人先结婚，先婚带后婚，最终实
现共同结婚。”你们不做示范，怎么带动我们呢 (who will marry, I.. I’m the last
person to know that. Who knows whom I’ll marry? Just like the policy states: we
should allow a group of people get married first. Then those people provide impetus for
the remaining to get married. Finally the objective of all people getting married will be
realized. You didn’t set an example for us. How to motivate us? )
(SD 2005-02-25)
(12) I opened my wallet and found it empty, I reached into my pocket and
found no coin, searched my life and found you then I realized how rich I am.
真的很想念你们，愿新的一年里一切都好(I opened my wallet and found it empty, I
reached into my pocket and found no coin, searched my life and found you then I
realized how rich I am. I really miss all of you and wish you all the best in the coming
year )
(BW 2006-12-26)
5.2 The surface features of BBS Chinese/English
code-switching
In the data three distinctive features of BBS code-switching are found. They
are fixed phrases as habitual use, simplified lexicon and sentences and
tolerance of surface errors. The following three sections are the detailed
description of these three features.
5.2.1 Fixed English phrases as habitual use in a Chinese
context
According to the Markedness Model (Myers-Scotton 1993a), when a speaker
takes trouble to switch his/her code, he/she is purposive, especially switching
to a marked mode. Huang (1995: 2) finds, however, the markedness of
language varieties is a relative construct in some situations. He (1995:3) argues
that for some speakers the markedness of some codes is a variable whose
markedness bears the characteristic of changing from strong to weak till
neutral. Huang (1995: 3) gives some examples, such as “卡拉 ok ” (Karaoke),
“阿 Sir” ( Sir) ,etc. According to him, no one in Hong Kong regards those as
the marked code-switching, i.e. they are no longer purposive.
There is a similar phenomenon throughout the data I collected. There are
abundant English phrases or words, which is concerned with the use of fixed
phrases of greeting, parting, interjections, some discourse markers, etc.
Examples (13-18) below are only a small portion of them. The following
examples (13-19) are examples of typical code-switching at the first sight. But
after some careful observation, it is found those switchings (13-18) are slightly
different from example (19). Example (19) is a joke which was posted by a boy
named Guisan to share with his former classmates. The setting of the joke is
that a cow is calling a goat. The switching “cow” here has an obvious function
of humor. It is used to indicate entertaining people as a joke. From examples
(13-18), it is difficult to figure out what the speakers tried to indicate by
switching to English, namely, the function of those switched codes is hard to
define. And the revised Markedness Model (Myers-Scotton & Bolonyai 2001)
argues that when a speaker switches his/her code, he/she intends to minimize
costs and maximize benefits. According to this, the switchings in example
(13-18) seem puzzling. Inspired by what Huang (1995) mentioned above, I
think code-switchings like those in examples (13-18) have more or less
become some speakers’ habitual use in this special context. For these speakers,
who are English-major students, those fixed phrases generally do not carry
any particular functions any more and the markedness of them is almost
disappearing to neutral. Therefore, that code-switching has social and
psychological functions usually depends on various language users and
contexts.
(13) 快过年了，不知道该说什么
Merry Xmas and happy New year! (New Year
is coming and don’t know what to say. Merry Xmas and happy New Year!)
(SD 2006-12-22)
(14) 我们也不知道什么时候才放假，可怜希望你：enjoy yourself. (we don’t know
when we will have our holiday. How miserable we are. Hope you enjoy yourself)
(GW 2007-06-17)
(15) hi, everybody, long time no see! 没时间与大家一一道别，很舍不得你们（hi,
everybody, long time no see! I do not have enough time to say goodbye to everyone
and it’s so hard to leave you）
(YD 2006-07-05)
(16) 观音姐姐的意思是恭喜你 “走出去了”, i guess……(What Sister Guanyin
means is congratulation on your moving out of terrible situation. I guess)
(GW 2007-06-02)
(17) By the way,又没有人知道白云花园又没有一房一厅出租啊? (By the way,
does anyone know one-bedroom apartment put out to lease in Baiyun Garden?)
(GW 2005-06-20)
(18) Mark, ATTENTION PLEA 你们做好的路线应该从浦东国际机场乘磁浮到
龙阳 ( Mark, ATTENTION PLEA. The best route you should choose is to take the
Maglev train from Pudong Airport to Longyang)
(BW 2006-10-15)
(19) A: 喂，你是谁啊？（hello, who are you ?）
B: 我 cow 啊。( I’m cow)
A:
谁？ (who?)
B: 我 cow 啊 (I’m cow)
(YD 2007-07-01)
5.2.2 Simplified lexicon and sentences
Baron (1984: 131) made a prediction that computer conference participants
would use “fewer subordinate clauses” and “a narrow range of vocabulary”.
Murry (1990: 43-44) observed that computer science professionals “delete
subject pronouns, determiners, and auxiliaries; use abbreviations; do not
correct typos; and do use mixed case” in synchronous computer-mediated
discourse in workplace environment.
A lot of similar cases are found in the corpus, namely, when speakers switch
from Chinese to English, there are numerous abbreviated words and only
very few subordinate clauses except for quotations. This is not an exclusive
feature of BBS. Actually it is a typical phenomenon in computer-mediated
communication for the reason that computer is always connected with high
speed in our daily lives. In order to save time or to minimize typing effort,
speakers will use many abbreviated words as showed in examples (20 & 21),
in which the speakers used “ur” for “your”, “u” for “you” and “thx” for
“thanks”, and even abbreviated interjection as in example (22), in which the
speaker used “BTW” for “by the way”. By analyzing thirty-five e-mails of four
Malay bilingual women, Javantial (1998: 68) thinks that principle of economy
plays an important role in e-mail correspondence. I think that when speakers
switch from Chinese to English in this BBS, one of the motivation is for the
principle of economy too.
(20) haha, 《乱世佳人》中的 Scarlett 对 Rhett 也说过类似的话，我就借用他
的一句话答复吧: I follow ur general idea. And when I’m dead at ur feet. I
hope ur conscience will hurt u. Good bye, Eileen. (哈哈，略有改动)( haha,
Scarlett in Gone with the Wind said similar words to Rhett. I just borrow one
sentence from him: I follow ur general idea. And when I’m dead at ur feet. I hope ur
conscience will hurt u. Good bye, Eileen (haha, I’ve made small change)
(YD 2006-07-16)
(21) 我已经知道了彩云的电话，many thxs. (I’ve got Caiyun’s telephone number,
many thxs)
(YD 2007-04-04)
(22) 我会继续努力的，虽然我短期目标不在终身大事上 BTW, 我羡慕的不是阿
莎… 是大牛，找到一个如意内人。(I will work hard, although my short-term goal is
not to get married. BTW, I do not envy Asha but Daniu, who finds a perfect life
partner)
(GW 2006-07-02)
5.2.3 Tolerance of surface errors
Herring (2001：616) holds that although language in CMC is less standard
compared with standard written language, only a small percentage of these
less standard or unstandard forms turns out to be errors because of speakers’
lack of knowledge of standard forms. In the data this phenomenon, i.e.
surface errors, is also overwhelming. It includes grammatical errors, spelling
errors, punctuation errors and capitalization errors. For these errors I support
Herring’s (2001: 616) view that only a small percentage of those errors is
caused by the lack of knowledge of the standard language forms.
Example (23) is just a good case in point in illustrating what is mentioned
above. When the speaker switched from Chinese to English, there is a word
“baot”. From the context, this word should be “boat”. The fact that the
speaker did not correct it is not that he did not realize the spelling error but
errors like that are acceptable in informal talking on the Internet as long as it
does not influence understanding. The phenomenon of surface errors comes
from users’ intention to “economize on typing effort, mimic spoken language
features, or express themselves creatively “(Herring 2001: 617).
(23) 同病相怜, we are in the same baot. I have veen under the weather these
days too. Hell! And don’t talk dirt! Remember, YOU Are A LADY! And
Wuhouliuyun is a guest here. I don’t
know more about her than u do.ur--, a
mystery here, lol anyway, it is always nice to make some friends, right?
(YD 2007-06-02 )
5.3 The speaker’s rationality in code-switching
The above chapter is a cursory survey of the corpus. Actually, the features of
Chinese-English code-switching in this special community are far more
complicated. The following sections will give a further analysis of more
examples in the light of Myers-Scotton’s revised Markedness model
(Myers-Scotton & Bolonyai 2001, Myers-Scotton 2002) attempting to prove
that speakers are rational actors. Specifically speaking, speakers switch from
Chinese to English or vise versa largely depending on “assessments of
possible options in terms of a cost-benefic analysis that takes account of their
own subjective motivations and their objective opportunities”(Myers-Scotton
& Bolonyai, 2001: 5).
As mentioned in chapter two, studies on the functions of code-switching are
numerous. There are studies from the macro approach (e.g. Blom & Gumperz
1972, Myes-Scotton 1993a) and studies from the micro approach (e.g. Auer
1984, Li 2002). And there are also some case studies attempting to summarize
functions of code-switching, which is called the checklist approach (e.g.
Grosjean 1982, Li 2000). Although it is hard to avoid setting up checklist of
various functions of code-switching when the study is concerned with
code-switching function, this methodology has received many criticisms. The
foremost reason is that such a checklist is not able to provide interpretations
about how exactly code-switching is used to serve the specified functions
(Auer 1995: 121). And Myers-Scotton (1993a: 64) thinks that such a checklist is
never exhaustive. The main focus of the study is not to set up a checklist of
functions of code-switching but to classify each code-switching item occurring
in the corpus via its function as a way to analyze how rationality works in this
special virtual community. It attempts to prove that code-switching users are
rational actors, namely, when they take the trouble to switch codes, they are
calculating from which codes they can benefit more, given the objective
constraints.
5.3.1 Code-switching for quotation
Conley and O’Barr (1990) found that “… linguistic variation in any setting is
not random, but socially patterned” (cited in David 2003: 8). This study shows
that a large portion of switching, no matter from Chinese to English or from
English to Chinese, is patterned switching of which quotation is among the
most frequent. And among the six functions of code-switching proposed by
Gumperz (1982), the function of quotation also comes first. The following
examples are good cases in point.
(24) Setting: A boy (Student B) from Guangdong University of Foreign Studies
was studying in Sydney now. His laptop was stolen. Student A was
comforting him and he replied.
A : 听说你的 laptop 丢了，可怜啊，以后小心点哦( I was told that your laptop was
stolen. I felt sorry about it and please be careful next time )
B: 悉尼的消息好快就到了广州哦，laptop 是在家丢的。我现在才知道保护自己
的重要性，不单悉尼，很多城市都是很不安全的，最重要的是大家出来社会要学
会保护自己，警察根本做不了什么的，报警我足足等了两个钟头，来了后只是水
边问了下情况，扔下一句话：sorry, but there is nothing we can do。
我当时
就觉得国外的警察跟人民公安没法比。（How quickly the news spreads! My laptop
was stolen at home. Now I realized the importance of self protection. Not only Sydney,
a lot of cities here are not safe. The most important thing is to learn to protect yourself
when going abroad. Australian policemen are useless. I waited for them for two hours
and when they arrived they just told me “sorry but there is nothing we can do”. At
that moment, I felt they are inferior to our Chinese policemen）
(GW 2006-05-07）
(25) Setting: A girl was commenting on the attitude of people in Hong Kong
toward people from Mainland China.
A: 香港人就是这样啦，说从中国别的地方来的是 “from mainland China”, 说
自是“from Hong Kong”(People in Hong Kong behave like this. They feel proud of
being from Hong Kong and looks down upon those who come from mainland China )
(GW 2005-04-08)
In example (24), after giving some specific information of his bad luck in
Chinese, student B shifted to English again. To be exact, the switching
occurred when he quoted the policemen’s words. It is clear that while people
typing in Chinese, shifting to English needs to shift some keys on the
keyboard. Then why would student B like to take this trouble and shift to
English? Myers-Scotton & Bolonyai (2001: 22) write: “And, as a rational actor,
speakers collect, pay attention to and take account of all these sources of
available evidence in calculating the possible outcomes of their decisions
regarding how to speak”. Therefore, judging from his prior knowledge,
student B knows that when one describes something, it is more efficient and
expressive if he can cite the language originally used by other speakers. By
switching from Chinese to English student B achieved three goals at least. The
first one is that he can describe the incident accurately and vividly. The
second one is that he can ensure authenticity by replicating the language used
by the original speaker. The third one is that he can express his dissatisfaction
with the police in Sydney more successfully. As a result, shifting to English
here is the optimal choice after his calculation according to the prior
knowledge. Here student B realized rationality by applying the function of
quotation of code-switching.
Example (25) is just the same as example (24) from the point of view of
rationality. In order to express her feeling accurately, speaker A directly
quoted the words in the language originally used by people in Hong Kong. In
this way, some Hong Kong people’s attitude toward people from Mainland
China is self-evident, i.e. a trend to look down upon people from Mainland
China. These examples prove that switching one’s code to quote some words
or sentences is a good way to reproduce the original event more vividly and
clearly.
The following two examples are slightly different from what is mentioned
above, but they all belong to the quotation function of code-switching except
that the following examples belong to proper name quotation. In example (26),
the speaker switched three times from Chinese to English when he/she needs
to say some place names in Britain. And in example (27), the speaker switched
his/her code when talking about a tool—emule and he mentioned the name of
an English TV series, too. Both speakers switched to English for these proper
names because they know that it is more energy-saving and accurate to quote
them directly than to translate them into Chinese. They calculate the
cost-benefit formula when they decide which code to use.
While some researchers (e.g. Myers-Scotton 1992: 28-29) treat cultural terms
including proper names as something unrelated to code-switching, I opt for
an opposite position. Since code-switching is understood as a sociolinguistic
behavior that is embedded in certain social-cultural context, there is no reason
why cultural terms, including proper names, should be ruled out.
(26) Setting: A student who intended to study abroad to Britain was asking for
some information. One of his classmates who was studying in Britain then
replied as the following.
A: 黄凡是自己一个人在 Sheffield, 离广外在英国的基地 Warwick 和 Lancaster
都有一定距离哦！而且最近他忙着拍人家捡贝壳哦（Huangfan is alone in Sheffield,
which has a fair long distance from Warwick and Lancaster. What’s more, he is busy
with photographing someone collecting shells）
(GW 2006 -04-13)
(27) Setting: A student was explaining what “emule” is
A: 而且种子只是一种连接方式而已，而 emule 可以主动搜索，一个被动，一个
主动。我们今天讲的只是去找 the simpsons, 我们只能提供 emule 方式去寻找。
如果你有主动搜索的种子，那你可以公布出来，如果没有解决办法，就不要轻易
否定别人的努力。（Zhongzi is just a way of connection but emule can search. The
former is passive and the latter is active. Today we are just discussing about searching
for the Simpsons. We can search for it with emule. If you do have Zhongzi with search
function, please share it with others. If not, please do not negate others’ efforts）
(GW 2006-07-21)
5.3.2 Code-switching for clarification
In some situations speakers need to clarify some messages to make
themselves understood. Code-switching can fully fulfill this function. By
creating contrast through the juxtaposition of two codes, usually interlocutors’
attention is gained successfully. Examples (28-29) belong to this category
(28) Setting: Speaker A’s roommate, Fred, had have a son, which aroused
speaker A’s feelings and he commented on it.
A: 同志们，人家高桑，彩云，彩艳，还有我们三三，i.e. Fred，现在已经有儿子
了，喷喷喷，实在是羡煞俺们这些“剩下的果实了”！ 哎，苍－天－呐，世界上
幸福的人到处有，为何不能算我一个！
（Gangsang, Caiyun, Caiyan and Sansan, i.e.
Fred, have sons already. We, who haven’t get married do envy them. Oh, my god,
there are so many happy people in the world and why I can not be a member of them）
(YD 2007- 03-18)
(29) Setting: A member, named Lawrence, was against the fact that several
strangers had registered and become the members of their class. He wanted to
delete them. Speaker B was persuading Laurence not doing that.
A: 最近怎么这么多陌生人，如果再不自报家门，你们将踢出这里！！
(Why are there so many strangers? If not tell us where you are from, you will be
kicked out）
B: hi, buddy, don’t be so touch to those “strangers”, they are not here to
disturb, they are our friends, and they mean well. Still remember what
Confucius says “isn’t it delight after all to have friends come from afar?” (有朋
自远方来，… … )
(YD 2006-7-14)
In example (28), speaker A was afraid of being misunderstood by other
members because he mentioned one of his classmates by calling the nickname
of him “三三”. Hence, he switched immediately to English to clarify that
“三
三”is Fred. Because students of English majors are used to talking with each
other by using English names, his switch here makes it very clear who “三
三”is. Example (29) is the same case. By speaking in English first and the
repeating the same meaning in Chinese, member B stressed his idea that
allowing strangers to become members of their virtual community is
“delight”. The above examples clearly show that code-switching users are
purposive. They employ the function of code-switching to clarify their ideas if
necessary.
5.3.3 Code-switching for tone-softening
A successful communication depends on many factors, and tone-softening is
one of them. In some situations it is an effective way to save faces by
code-switching to soften the tone of words or sentences. In this way those
sharp and harsh words could be avoided if necessary. Many bilinguals take
advantage of their linguistic repertoire and benefit from this function of
code-switching in everyday communication. The following examples will
specify this view.
(30) Setting: Recently, members of this class talk with each other less and less.
They just logged on and had a look and left. Nobody wanted to say
something. Member A and B were complaining about it.
A :怎么都光来冒泡泡呀？（why are there so many divers?）
B: salute to All The DIVERS!
(SD 2007-06-27)
(31) Setting: After working for one or two years, member A is complaining of
not being able to make some money and intends to open a company. Member
B responds to it.
A: 唉，给别人打工永远都没有翻身的时候，我现在算明白了。我打算近一两年
里自己开个公司。(ai, there is no hope of working for others. I have understood it now
and plan to set up a company in one or two years)
B: Zhutian, you are really ambitious, but, to set up a new company, you
have to consider lots of things. I hope you will be successful, no matter what
happens I will always be on your side.
(SD 2005 -11-09)
(32) Setting: Member A is telling member B that one of their roommate “老六”
has gone to Australian. Member B responds to this piece of information.
A: 听说没？我们老六去澳大利亚了？！(Have you told that our Laoliu went to
Australia?)
B : 借电影《飘》里白瑞德的最后一句话，表达我的感触——Frankly, my dear, I
don’t give a damn! (I want to borrow the last sentence by Rhett Butler to express
my feeling ---- Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn!)
(YD 2007-06-21)
On the internet, if someone is uploading or posting something to a
community, netizens call it “watering”. But if one is always logging on and
contributes nothing to the community, they call he/she “diver”, in Chinese
“ 潜水者” or “冒泡泡”. In example (30) some members of this class have been
“divers” recently. Speaker A was complaining in Chinese using a wh-question
sentence which softened the tone of this sentence. But speaker B was using a
statement with capitalized words and an exclamatory mark, a very tough tone.
This is the reason why the speaker resorted to code-witching to soften the
tone of his words because most of the members are his classmates here. The
next two examples can also confirm the opinion. Example (31) is a member
saying he wants to open a company in one or two years in Chinese. But
speaker B gave his best wishes and said he was “too ambitious” in English to
give his suggestion in an indirect way. And in example (32) when speaker A
told speaker B that one of their roommates “老六”had been to Australia,
speaker B used “don’t give a damn” in English to express his indifference to
“老六”, which expressed his feelings and avoided being embarrassed.
5.3.4 Code-switching for euphemism
There are some words which are culturally unacceptable in certain situations
in every society. Bilinguals have the advantage of avoiding these words by
code-switching to another language in these situations. The following
examples show how code-switching can help people to act in an appropriate
way to express the same meaning.
(33) Setting: Speaker A is asking who is 宣丽丽. And speaker B is telling him
that there is no such a person in their class.
A: 宣丽丽是谁来着，跟我要电话号码( who is Xuan Lili? She asked for my phone
number.)
B: 大哥，英语系 01 级就没有叫宣丽丽的，是不是给伪装的 call girl 给骗了？！
(hey, these is no such a person called Xuan Lili in our class. Are you being cheated by
some call girl disguised as Xuan Lili? )
(BW 2007-06-25)
(34) Setting: Speaker A is logging on for a long time. But no one talks with him.
He is complaining about this and speaker B responds to him.
A: 怎么还没有人搭理我啊（why has no one chat with me?）
B: how are you? Stilling flirting? Like a busy butterfly? How many flowers
have you ever touched?
(SD 2007-07-13)
(35) Setting: A boy is announcing the news that he and his girlfriend has
broken up. And he is giving his opinion about love and marriage.
A: 我和ｘｘ同志．．．经过两年的相爱终于分手了。向那些曾祝福过我们的同志
表示感谢，那些曾经不看好我们的同志报喜。向那些正在热恋或准备结婚或已经
结婚的说你们别再犯傻了，婚姻简直就是：a piece of shit. And it’s a piece of dog
shit or bull shit. Anyway, do not believe love or anything related to this kind
of rubbish. (I have broken up with xx after two years of love. I want to express
thanks to those who sent their best wishes to us and want to announce good news to
those who didn’t think good of our future. And I ‘d also like to caution those who are
in love or prepare to get married or have married that marriage is a piece of shit. And
it’s a piece of dog shit or bull shit. Anyway, do not believe love or anything related to
this kind of rubbish)
(SD 2006-09-03)
In example (33) speaker A was asking who knew a girl named 宣丽丽. But
speaker B did not think there was such a person in their class and he thought
she might be a call girl. But usually saying the words “call girl” is indecent in
China for educated people, especially for a boy before his classmates. Speaker
B realized this and did not say “妓女” but “call girl”. In this way he expressed
his meaning clearly and maintained his decency. Example (34) is almost the
same as example (33). It concerns the topic of “flirting” which is considered
indecent in China. So speaker B switched his code to make use of the
euphemism function of code-switching. Example (35) is a little different. From
the speaker’s words we can see that he has just broken up with his girl friend.
Perhaps he was upset and wanted to say some dirty and harsh words. But
saying dirty words like “shit, dog shit, and bullshit” in Chinese is not a good
thing anyway. Therefore, he switched to English from Chinese, which made
him abreacts his angry feeling successfully and still remained his politeness.
The three examples above prove one thing: speakers are rational actor.
Generally speaking when they switch codes, they are quite purposive.
5.3.5 Code-switching for humor
Actually people all agree that talking through the Internet is a “poor” way of
communication. That is to say, communication through the Internet is lack of
the help of facial expression, body language and the tone of speech, etc, which
are very ultimate for a successful communication. Under this circumstance,
humor plays an important role in Internet talking because it is an effective
way to gain attentions from others. The following examples show the power
of humor made by code-switching.
(36) Setting: Speaker A noticed that one of her classmates had changed his
net-name, which was Guisin before. And she asked why he had changed his
name.
A: u changed your name? Why not 鬼三? hehe…
(YD 2006-03-23)
(37) Setting: When speaker A was logging on, the former monitor of this class
logged on. And speaker A was greeting her.
A: 班长来了，班长好，向你老人家 salute!
这几天跑到哪里去了，怎么不见您
的鬼影子啊 ( Hey, monitor. say hello to you and salute to you. Where have you been
these days?)
(YD 2007-06-30)
(38) Setting: One of the members who was greeted by speaker A as “elder
sister” is logging on. Speaker A is greeting him.
A: elder sister—好久不露面了，身子骨还硬朗否？今天您过大寿，（也许是阴
历？）anyway, 生日快乐撒。你二妹，三三，老五，老六都不在，老四我在这
里向你致以亲切的问候，祝老姐姐您呐，工作顺利，早日把自己嫁出去。我闪了，
否则砖头就飞过来(elder sister, how are you ? today is your birthday ?anyway,
happy birthday. The other sisters are not here and I would like to give you my best
wishes. Wish you success in work and get married soon)
(YD 2007-07-12)
In example (36) one of member A’s classmates changed his net-name, which
was Guisin before. Member A asked him the reason for changing his name in
English. But he switched to Chinese when she mentioned his former name by
translating it into Chinese “鬼三”. Usually, when students majoring in English
use each other’s English names, they seldom translate those English names
into Chinese except for some special purposes. Therefore, speaker A here took
the trouble to switch to Chinese is for some purpose--- humor. By this switch
the humorous effect is self-evident. Here “Why not 鬼三” is much more
humorous than “why not Guisin”.
In example (37) speaker A encountered his monitor and from his words we
can see he hadn’t seen his monitor for a long time. He greeted his monitor in
Chinese but switched to English for one time. This switch functions the same
as the one in example (36). The speaker switched to “salute” to express his
respect to his monitor in a very humorous way. In example (38), when the
speaker was logging on, a member of this class who was called “elder sister”
by the speaker logged on as well. In fact, the member who is called “elder
sister” by the speaker is a boy with a gentle temper. In this situation, the
speaker called him “elder sister”. The humor of it is obvious.
5.3.6 Code-switching for gap-filling
Given the typological difference there are many lexical gaps between Chinese
and English. Speakers switch codes partly because there are lexical gaps. The
following examples show how speakers make use of code-switching to fill the
gaps between Chinese and English.
(39) Setting:
Speaker A was learning abroad. When she got some good news
of her classmates in her motherland, she said the following words.
A --- 你们真幸福呀，期末考试成绩出来了我得五个Ａ，惊死我了。放两个星期
的假，就去了一趟尼亚加拉大瀑布，然后 summer semester 开始。Bullshit, 宋
元要结婚了吗？搞得我也想找个鬼佬算了（So happy you are. I got 5 As in the final
exams and a bit shocked over the good results. I spent two weeks on holiday and went
to Niagara Falls. Then summer semester begins. Bullshit. Is Songyuan going to get
married? I envy her and want to get married as well）
(GW 2005-06-28)
(40) Setting: Speaker A uploaded a flash to share with his classmates
A : 来来来，都看看俺们一个陕北后生的原创 flash，二道街。（在哪里呀？不记
得了），第二段“有几个小青年．．．的打扮．．．
陈浩南”几句很有意思。陕北话
很亲切。（hey, come on, enjoy the flash created by a young man from Shanbei. ERdao
Road? Where is it? I cann’t remember. Several sentences in the second paragraph are
very interesting. The dialect of Shanbei makes you feel so close to it）
(YD 2007-5-21)
(41) Setting: Speaker A was disappointed by the life after graduation and said
she wanted to look for a boyfriend. And speaker B responded to her message.
A: mum’s , real life is … different from what I … expected. It is just busy, …
nothing else! I am even thinking of looking for a boyfriend.
B: well, still not find your 王老五啊？
(GW 2007-07-09)
In example (39), the speaker was abroad. She was telling her classmates the
recent life abroad after she read some good news of her classmates. In her
speech she switched three times. The last one is for the euphemism function
of code-switching as mentioned before. The first one is “A” that is used to
mark the students’ homework or tests in the U.S. , which is very different
from China though some places in China are beginning to employ this system.
Consequently, there is no equivalent for “A” in Chinese. In this situation the
switch to English is the rational choice. The second switch is the same. Since
the holiday system is not totally the same as that in China, the speaker
switched to English to be exact and fill the lexical gap.
The function of the switch “flash” in example (40) is also lexical gap-filling.
The word “flash” is translated as “动画” in Chinese. Actually, this translation
is far too narrower than the word “flash” can express. As a rational calculator,
the speaker will of course choose to code-switch in this kind of situation.
Example (41) is switching from English to Chinese, but the switch has the
same function as the above two examples. The Chinese noun “王老五” usually
refers to those young, single and rich males in China. If the speaker did not
switch to Chinese but translating it into English, the long English phrase
“ young, single and rich man” will far too less expressive than “王老五”.
Therefore, every speaker is rational when they switch codes.
5.3.7 Code-switching for language skill making
Some scholars (e.g Yang & Qing 2005) find that people will deliberately make
their words attractive and charming to demonstrate their cleverness in using
language or for some other special purposes. Code-switching can fulfill this
function in some situations. The following conversation fragments looks
poetic because of the code-switching employed by the speakers.
(42) Setting: A member of this class named “老牛” uploaded several of his
pictures. To be honest, this “老牛” is not so good-looking. But speaker said he
was as handsome as before.
A: 老牛还是那么帅呀（Laoniu is still so handsome）
B: You are perfect except that you never lie
A: Your are perfect except that you never use irony
(YD 2007-07-01)
(43) Setting: Speaker A and speaker B were talking whether they were going
to be admitted by some university as postgraduates.
A: 等国家线啊，谁知道会栽在英语上啊，你今年能去读吗？(waiting for the
minimum acceptance score? I failed in English. Have you been admitted? )
B: To go, or not to go, that is the question. What about u? wanna try again?
A: to try again or not to try again, that is a question! To try zhejiang university
again or to the other is another question.
(YD 2007- 06-23)
In example (42), after speaker A saw the picture of “老牛”, she complimented
“老牛”and said that he was as charming as they were in college. But his “老
牛”is just common in looking. As a result, he responded to her words by a
sentence “You are perfect except that you never lie”. Actually he was firing
back at her and he used irony but switched to English to soften the tone of his
speech. That triggered speaker A and she also switched to an English sentence
“Your are perfect except that you never use irony”. The contrast of these two
sentences is obvious. And code-switching is used to make conversation
rhetorical.
Example (43) is another one in which speaker A was asking speaker B if he
can be admitted as a postgraduate that year. Speaker B had no definite answer
to this question and he himself was anxious about it, too. The situation made
him recall Shakespeare’s famous words “To be or not to be, that’s a question”.
And he changed it as “to go or not to go, that’s question”. Trigged by this
sentence, speaker A imitated the style of it to respond to speaker B. The
intention of employing code-switching here is easy to see: to show their
skillful management of some linguistic varieties.
5.3.8 Code-switching for fashion
Just like in the real world, English has obtained a vogue status on the Internet
and mixing English with Chinese in speaking is considered to be elegant or
have some foreign flavor for some people although there are many different
voices. There are many original usages of some words or phrases on the
Internet which are considered fashionable like the following examples.
(44) Setting: When speaker A was logging on, speaker B logged on. Since
speaker A hadn’t met speaker B for a long time, she scolded speaker B for not
logging on recently. But speaker B didn’t accept that.
A: 好久不出来发言，干什么，玩失踪啊 （you have been silent for a long time. Are
you hiding yourself? ）
B：冤枉啊，小民哪有什么玩失踪啊，我这不一直来这里的么，来了不是一直灌
purified water 吗，您算算您老人家多儿才来的？我不问您老人家良心，您老人
家倒来问我（you wronged me. I didn’t hide myself and has been always visiting here
and pouring purified water. How often do you come here?）
(YD 2006-03-18)
(45) Setting: There were some discussions about the past college life. Speaker
A logged on and said the following words.
A: sometimes, I really miss those old days and those folks. Alas, we could
never go back to re-experience those sweet, even stupid things. All those
things vanished like a fart in the wind. 我闪了。
(YD 2006-06-28)
(46) Setting: Members were talking about the boyfriend of a “Angela”, a
member of this class. The following is speaker A’s words to that “Angela”.
A: angela 估计要 faint 了吧，还没打算结婚呢，就被我们说成这样了。呵呵，
靡靡。坚决反对你带沙子回来。要带回来你就自己吃喽。Joy, 我可是见过她的他
了，哈哈。羡慕吧。(probably Angela is going to faint. She and her boy friend haven’t
decided to get married but have been gossiped a lot by us. Joy , I have seen her boy
friend. Haha, envy me? )
(GW 2007-05-07)
In example (44) speaker B switched to English “purified water” for one time.
This “purified water” is not the real purified water in our real life. As
mentioned above, on the Internet, if a netizen is uploading or posting some
thing to the community, he calls it he is “watering” the community. If a
member posts some interesting or constructive words, they call it he is
watering “purified water”. Speaker B here is using this fashionable expression
which is very humorous at the same time.
The switch in example (45) is from English to Chinese. Usually Internet
impresses people with its unimaginable high speed. When someone wants to
be off the line, he seems to flash off the line. As a result, when someone
intends to be off the line, he always says “我闪了”. The last sentence of
speaker A in example (45) is very indecent, which made the speaker want to
leave at one, otherwise there would be many negative words from his
classmates to him. So he switched to the popular phrase in Chinese “我闪了”
to show that he himself felt that the last sentence was indecent. And the
switch “faint “ is also very fashionable, which is often abbreviated as “ft”,
meaning that someone is shocked and annoyed by something which is quite
popular on the internet. We can see in example (46) Angela’s boyfriend was
commented by many of her classmates. Speaker A was comforting her and
asked her if she was “faint”, in Chinese “晕了”.
Chapter 6
Conclusion
6.1 Findings
The revised Markedness Model is well proved in the dissertation. This model
is a rationality-based model which believes speakers’ linguistic choices are
oriented to seek optimality subjectively (Myers-Scotton & Bolonyai, 2001).
Results show that the three questions which intend to probe at the beginning
of this study can be answered respectively.
First, the eight functions of code-switching are found in this BBS. They are
code-switching for quotation, by which speakers could restore what
happened vividly and at the same time guarantee its authenticity;
code-switching for clarification, by which speakers could avoid confusion and
express themselves clearly; code-switching for tone-softening, by which
speakers could use some harsh words and expressions but still could keep
their social status; code-switching for euphemism, by which speakers could
employ the words and expressions which are culturally unaccepted but still
could save their faces; code-switching for humor, by which speakers could
turn some situations into funny and relaxed ones; code-switching for
gap-filling, by which speakers could express some new or culturally-oriented
words and phrases that do not exist in certain languages; code-switching
language skill-making, by which speakers could show their skill of
manipulating
languages
and
make
their
expression
aesthetic;
and
code-switching for fashion, by which speakers could make their expressions
with a foreign flavor or to keep up with the fashion.
Second, by utilizing these various functions, speakers achieved their goals of
optimality. To be specific, in this study, all the subjects are Chinese
college/university graduates majored in English and they communicate with
their classmates through BBS. The external social situational factors, such as
education, social status, age, etc, constrain the linguistic repertoires of the
subjects. In the study, the subjects are able to use at least three languages:
Chinese, English and a second foreign language/ a dialect. And they have a
sufficient knowledge of how to use language appropriately in specific
interaction. These what the subjects can have at their disposal are filtered
through the markedness evaluator, an internal constraint, which leads the
subjects to weigh the linguistic choices based on their previous experience
and form a bias toward the choices. Finally, the third filter—rationality makes
the subjects to choose the linguistic choice to get the maximum benefits and
minimum costs. The data in this study confirms the centerpiece of this model
that speakers are rational actors.
As to question three, i.e. what modifications might be necessary to the revised
Markedness Model, it is difficult for any theory of social science to avoid
being incomplete or not completely applicable to certain situations, let alone
what we study is language varieties in society, which is a quite complicated
thing. The Markedness Model is built up on the studies of code-switching
between English and Swahili in Kenya where English has a superior status.
Furthermore, this model has been revised twice but the data of these two
times of revision are mainly from dinner table conversations between parents
and their children. The relation between parents and children is usually not so
equal. Therefore there are many cases of employing code-switching to
negotiate identities and to set up a new Rights and Obligations set.
During the course of the analysis, there is almost no evidence to prove the
principle of negotiation, i.e. code choice is a way for speakers to negotiate
their identities. The main reason is because the data collected is from a special
community in which almost all members are equal in social status. As a result,
the negotiation of identity is seldom necessary. Therefore, if the negotiation
principle is regarded only as one of the functions of code-switching occurred
in certain situations, especially situations between speakers with unequal
status, this model would be more applicable.
6.2 Limitations and suggestions for further study
Admittedly, this study is a preliminary study on Chinese/English
code-switching in one BBS which is a very huge community. Since the virtual
world is difficult to control and some of the settings of the conversation
fragments need to be guessed from the context, it is hard to deny the
subjective elements in this study. In the course of classifying the
code-switching function types, I find sometimes one switch has more than
one functions, or there are more than one functions in one conversation
fragments. Therefore the classification is not as exact as I imagined.
Furthermore, because the language fragments are drawn from the Internet,
most of the speakers of these language fragments are strangers to me. As a
result, I can not communicate with them so I do not know what they are
thinking when they switch codes. If I could do that, I would have been able to
compare what they really think to what I analyzed based on the revised
Markedness Model to make the study more objective.
Some common functions of code-switching such as exclusiveness do not
appear in the data. This is largely due to the community from which the data
is collected is special, namely, people there are almost equal in status.
The study is only a tiny touch on computer-mediated discourse which is a
vast and new field waiting for those who are interested in this area. Without
exception, in linguistic studies, a new area also means a lot of chances and
openings. For example, research of the structure of Chinese/English
code-switching or chat-room code-switching are promising areas of study.
Reference
Appel, R. & Muysken, P. (1987) Language contact and bilingualism. London:
Edward Arnold.
Auer, P. (1984) Bilingual Conversation. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John
Benjamins. Publishing Company.
Auer, P. (1995) The pragmatics of code-switching: a sequential approach. In L.
Milroy & P. Muysken (eds.) One speaker, two languages: cross-disciplinary
perspectives on code-switching. Cambridge ： Cambridge University Press,
115-135.
Auer, P. (1998) Code-switching in conversation: language, interaction and identity.
London, New York: Routledge.
Baron, N.S. (1984) Computer mediated communication as a force in language
change. Visible Language XVIII (2): 118-141.
Blom, J.P. & Gumperz, J.J. (1972) Social meaning in structure: code-switching
in Norway. In J.J. Gumperz & D. Hymes (eds.) Directions in Sociolinguistics.
New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 407-434.
Bloomfield, L. (1933) Language. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd.
Bokamba, E.G. (1989) Are there syntactic constraints on code-mixing? World
Englishes 8 (3): 277-292.
Clyne, M. (1987) Constrains on code switching: How universal are they?
Linguistics 25: 739-764.
Conley, J. & O’ Barr, W.M. (1990) Rules vs. relationship: the ethnography of legal
discourse. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Crespo, B. & Moskowich, I. (2006) Latin forms in vernacular scientific writing:
code-switching or borrowing? In R.W. McConchie et al. (ed.) 2005 Symposium
on New Approaches in English Historical Lexis (LEL-LEX). Somerville, MA:
Cascadilla Proceedings Project, 51-59.
David, M.K. (2003) Role and functions of code-switching in Malaysian
courtrooms. Multilingua 22: 5-20.
Elster, J. (1989) Nuts and Bolts for the social sciences. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Grosjean, F. (1982) Life with two languages: an introduction to bilingualism.
Cambridge, Massachusetts, London: Harvard University Press.
Gumperz, J.J. (1982) Discourse strategies. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Herring, S.C. (2001) Computer-mediated discourse. In D. Schiffrin, D. Tannen
& H. E. Hamilton (eds.) The Handbook of discourse analysis. Masschusetts,
Oxford: Blackwell, 612-634.
Hinrichs, L. (2006) Codeswitching on the web: English and Jamaican Creole in
e-mail communication. Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Hoffmann, C. (1991) An introduction to bilingualism. London, New York:
Longman.
Huang G.W. (1995) Fang shi yuan ze yu yue –ying yu ma zhuan huan
(Manner-principle and Cantonese/English code-switching. Modern Foreign
Languages 69 (3) : 1-6.
Jayantilal, R. (1998) Code-switching and transfer in email correspondence
exchanged between four Malaysian women. Jurnal Pendidikan Tigaenf.
Retrieved from
http://apps.emoe.gov.my/ipba/rdipba/cd1/article121.pdf
Kamwangamalu, N.M. & Lee, C.L. (1991) Chinese-English code-mixing: a case
of matrix language assignment. World Englishes 10 (3): 247-261.
Kamwangamalu, N.M. (1992) ‘Mixers’ and ‘mixing’: English across cultures.
World Englishes 11 (2/3): 173-181.
Li, D.C.S. (2000) Cantonese-English code-switching research in Hong Kong: a
Y2K review. World Englishes 19 (3): 305-322.
Li, W., Milroy L., & Pong, S.C. (1992) A two-step sociolinguistic analysis of
code-switching and language choice. International Journal of Applied Linguistics
2(1): 63-86.
Li, W. (2002) “What do you want me to say?” On the conversation analysis
approach to bilingual interaction. Language in Society 31 (2): 159-180.
Macnamara, J. (1969) How can one measure the extent of a person’s bilingual
proficiency? In L.G. Kelly (ed.) Description and measurement of bilingualism.
Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 79-97.
McClure, E. (2001) Oral and written Assyrian-English codeswitching. In R.
Jacobson (ed.) Codeswitching worldwide II. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 157-191.
Milroy, L. & Muysken, P. (1995) One speaker, two languages: cross-disciplinary
perspectives on code-switching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Moyer, M.G. (1998) Bilingual conversation strategies in Gibraltar. In P. Auer
(ed.) Code-switching in conversation: language, interaction and identity. London,
New York: Routledge, 215-234.
Murray, D.E. (1990) CmC: a report on the nature and evolution of on-line
e-message. English Today 23: 42-46.
Myers-Scotton, C. (1992) Comparing codeswitching and borrowing. In C.M.
Eastman (ed.) Codeswitching. Clevedon ,Philadelphia , Adelaide: Multilingual
Matters Ltd., 19-39.
Myers-Scotton, C. (1993a) Social motivations for code switching: evidence from
Africa. New York: Oxford University Press.
Myers-Scotton, C. (1993b) Duelling languages: grammatical structure in
codeswitching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Myers-Scotton, C. & Bolonyai, A. (2001) Calculating speakers: codeswitching
in a rational choice model. Language in Society 30 (1): 1-28.
Myers-Scotton, C. (2002) Frequency and intentionality in (un)marked choices
in codeswitching: “This is a 24-hour country”. The International Journal of
Bilingualism 6 (2): 205-219.
Myers-Scotton, C. (2006) Multiple voices: an introduction to bilingualism.
London: Blackwell.
Pahta, P. (2004) Code-Switching in Medieval Medical Writing. In I.
Taavitsainen & P. Pahta (eds.) Medical and scientific writing in Late medical
English. Philadelphia:John Benjamins Publishing Company, 73–99.
Peirce, C.S. (1955) Logic as semiotic: the theory of signs. In C. Hartshorne & P.
Weiss (eds.) Collected Papers of Charles Sanders Peirce. Cambridge, Mass:
Harvard University Press, 98-119.
Sankoff, G. (2002) Linguistic outcomes of language contact. In J.K. Chambers,
P. Trudgill & N. Shilling-Estes (eds.) The handbook of language variation and
change. Oxford: Blackwell, 638-668.
Siebenhaar, B. (2006) Code choice and code-switching in Swiss-German
Internet Relay Chat rooms. Journal of Sociolinguistics 10 (4): 481-506.
Sridhar, S.N. & Sridhar, K.K. (1980) The syntax and psycholinguistics of
bilingual code mixing. Canadian Journal of Psychology 34 (4): 407-416.
Tay, M.W. J. (1989) Code switching and code mixing as a communicative
strategy in multilingual discourse. World Englishes 8 (3): 407-417.
Thomason, S.G. (2001) Language contact. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University
Press.
Treffers-Daller, J. (1991) Towards a uniform approach to code-switching and
borrowing. In Papers for the workshop on constraints, conditions and models.
Strasbourg: European Science Foundation, 259-279.
Yang, C.L & Qing, X.B. (2005) wang luo wen xue zuo pin zhong de ying yu yu
ma zhuan huan (On the forms and functions of Chinese-English
codeswitching in internet literature) Journal of Henan Polytechnic University
(Social Sciene) 6 (2): 140-144.
The Contemporary Chinese Dictionary (2002) Beijing: Foreign Language
Teaching and Research Press.
Appendix
1. (SD 2005-07-01)
A: 师兄好，我现在拿到了曼大的 power engineer 的 condition offer，准备 7 月
毕业就过去，他们要求我的 ielts 达到 6.5，我现在只有 5.5，如果读完语言课的
话，还要不要重考 ielts，还是只参加学校的考试就可以啊，要是没过怎么办呢，
ielts 成绩对签证有没有什么影响啊?多谢师兄了!!
B: 签证的时候需要出示 IELTS 的成绩。你签证之前最好拿到 conditional offer，
否则会有一些影响，有多大我就不知道了。你是读 PH.D 还是 MSC?
A: 我想是读 msc,那是不是 foundation course 和 pre-sessional course 都必须上
过之后才能读 MSC?
B: 关 于 具 体 要 求 你 最 好 直 接 发 信 或 打 电 话 问 学 校 的 postgraduate
administrator/secr.曼大的 Power 很好，好好准备签证吧。。。
2. (SD 2006-09-01)
你说话越来越奇怪了，说的好多东西我都不懂，for example,一直搞不懂你为甚
叫知知，为什么不叫猪猪?猪猪多好听，多有高贵，多有气质，多适合你这种地
位的新时代的知识女性!，another example, PP?? PP 系虾米意思?难道是。。
3. (SD 2007-07-13)
A: I want to make friends.
A:怎么才能和美国人交朋友啊?
B: How to make friend with Americans? Improve your English first
4. (SD 2006-11-07)
A: 大家看体育新闻了吗?XX 同学，不，MR XX，现在可是频频上镜啊。他会成
为国足新主帅的翻译吗?加油啊，XX
B: cool!不过听说荷兰人的英语很烂，所以你一定要加油补习荷兰语，更上一层
楼。
5. (SD 2006-12-24)
真快呀，一转眼又一年了，大家对于这一年的收获应该不小吧!个人在不同的岗
位都做出了卓越的贡献!可喜可贺!回顾这一年来的经历有些感慨有些成就又有些
伤感!总之一年来我们都在努力，都在进取!寄希望于来年，更高更努力，更大的
收获!努力吧，亲爱的朋友们，等你捷报的消息!最后祝愿大家新年快乐，合家幸
福，身体康健，万事如意，心想事成!make a wish in the comging new year! a
new start in the new year! a new you in the coming new year! Reference wish
you fufill your dreams! thanks you !happy new year
6. (SD 2007-06-21)
A: 不知道是哪位好心人批准了我??实在是让我感动得涕泪横流啊!
B: Except me(Eva),who else?
A: i know you love me, and you showed that to me! i am right here waiting
for you to come back! dear eva!
7. (SD 20006-09-03)
我和朱海容同志经过两年的相爱终于分手了。向那些曾祝福过我们的同志表示感
谢，向那些曾经不看好我们的同志报喜。向那些正在热恋或准备结婚或已经结婚
的同志说你们都别再犯傻了，婚姻真的就是 a piece of ..shit. and it is a piece of
dog shit or bull ..shit. anyway, don't believe ..love or something related ..to
this kind of rubbish.独身真的是很好，想和谁一起都行,不必今天打个报告，明
天作个解释，人生苦短，何必活的那么累，而你怎么又知道这个人就是你一生的
唯一。其实有一句话我一直就不太明白，今天算懂了。那句“退一步海二阔天空”
不就是这个意思。世上没有绝对。当我和第一个女友分手时，我告诉自己不会有
比她更好的了，结果我错了。当我经过许多至到和朱海容分手，我才会明白人生
会有不同的许多的选择，而你每一次选择的时候其实都是对的，所谓的爱无非是
给性的一个美好的谎言一 yes, yes, exactly. i share ..this feeling 一虽说婚姻是爱
情的坟墓，可要是没有婚姻爱情不就死无葬身之地了嘛
8. (SD 2005-11-09)
A: 唉，给别人打工永远都没有翻身的时候，我现在算明白了。我打算近一两年
里自己开个公司。
B: hehehe, zhutian, you are really ambitious, but, to set up a new company,
you have consider lots of things. i hope you will be successful. no matter what
happens, i will al ways be on your side.
9. (SD 2007-07-09)
A: 你是在航空公司工作吗?但我看你开的又太不像客机。是什么啊?
B: 呵呵，没有了，这次回国，跟南航的朋友一起飞北京的航班，这是空客
Airbus320 飞机，西西，我还在澳洲念我那 boring 的 IT 呢
10. (SD 2006-10-15)
人生随时都会给我们一个措手不及，它随时在给予你，也在随时剥夺属于你的东
西甚至生命。所以及时行乐未必就是坏事情 After all, tomorrow is another day.
BUT, one possibility is that tomorrow you will be a dead man! 活着就不要想
明天，whatever will be will be!
11. (SD 2007-06-27)
A: 怎么都光来冒泡泡啊??
B: Salute To ALL THE DIVERS!
12. (SD2005-02-25 )
who will marry,I...I'm the last person to know that. Who knows whom I'll
marry? 正如方针所示:“我们要允许一部分人先结婚，先婚带后婚，最终实现共
同结婚。
”你们不先做示范，怎么带动我们呢?
13. (SD 2007-07-02)
who is fordreamgirl?报个名啊，不然会被 K 啊 呵呵
14. (SD 2005-10-30)
另外，在威海的 GGMM 们，有没有逛街的。我有件事拜托。上次毕业前我曾经
买到过一盘 Guns N' Roses 的 Use Your Illusion 一 I 的演唱会 DVD，很不错。
现在急切的寻找 Guns N' Roses 的 Use Your Illusion 一 II 的 DVD。印象当中，
上次的那家小店好像是在华联北面的一条小路，东西走向的路，然后小店是在路
北边，朝南的。里面卖一些 VCD 啊，DVD 影碟的，当然，都是盗版的了。一
些国外乐队演唱会的 DVD 好像另外用箱子和纸袋包装的。你跟老板讲，就知道
了。如果有空逛街的，如果逛到那边的，要是有时间的话，哈哈，麻烦帮我打听
一下。面致酬谢!!
15. (SD2006-03-15)
Okay, Thomas. You're tryin' to stop smoking? Good. But I just take it for fun
not for pleasure. Once you take it for pleasure then you die! So remember this,
my friend.春节期间有没有谁看过央视 1 套早上&30 开始的韩剧《阁楼男女》的?
我很喜欢这部片子，有谁看过?告诉我一下结果吧。谢谢!
16. (SD 2007-09-17)
A：来，猜个谜语: 女孩子身上有一个部位: 爸爸可以碰两次，妈妈也可以碰两
次，男朋友只能碰一次，老公一次也不能碰。是什么啊? Come on, you can do it!
B：-shadow 君，为老不尊，居然传这种东西，可恶，你是不是无聊的不行了?
要不刷碳去!
17. (SD 2006-12-22)
快过年了，不知道该说什么 Merry Xmas and happy New year!
18. (SD 2006-05-07)
嘿嘿，我 5.1 最后还是去了上海，淮海路的繁华、衡山路的迷乱、外滩的银行、
梅龙镇的二 burberry 专卖店，还有八百半二里我下了半天狠心都没有动手买下
来的 levis 仔裤……真他妈是个好地方。上海的商店比北京更好，东西多，高级，
酒吧比北京差，缺乏原创性，专玩 jazz 的 cotton club 还可以，不过可能不如北
京的 big ..easy 另外，衡山路上的酒吧基本上一般，包装倒很精美。至于王钱说
道的新天地，倒还可以，老房子很有味道，可惜，大家看到《南方周末》上关于
它是强占民宅才建起来的报道没有?真是这样的话我情愿终生不再去那里。外滩
的老建筑很好，我曾经去外滩的工伤银行取钱，一进去就被镇了，老式的英国建
筑，窗户足有 5 米高，只在电影里见过这么款的建筑，((harry portter》里的那
个小精灵银行。建议大家有空一定要去上海，或者，干脆搬过去住得了!
19. (SD 2007-06-30)
A：I do not tend to shock anyone,i have been busy preparing for my wedding.
I WILL MARRY ON FEBRUARY 61 have never thought of marrying,but now i
am facing it. Say good bye to single life and count days for the Married life
SORRY,I CAN NOT INVITE YOU TO MY WEDDING BECAUSE I WILL
MARRY INMY HOMETOWN. WISH EVERYONE HAPPY! LIU PENGKANG
B：MR ZHU，恭喜恭喜!什么时候办事呀?呵呵
C：woooo, with whom?????? Ask him to send some pics here!!
D 同志怎么能问这么外行的问题，大朱能和谁结婚呀?你忘了快毕业的时候他跟
谁打的最火热?这也没什么大惊小怪的，要是 XXX 把小孩给我生了，现在都能打
酱油了。对了，你什么时候要小孩呀?我第一个报名当干爹!!!
A：Marriage is not bad ,but giving the birth is another issue....
B：I'm still frightened by both of them. But things might be diferent if I had
found my MR. Right.有时候我想自己是不是太贪心了?这个世界除了爱人难求，
丈夫和情人都不难找，可是偏偏就和命运较劲，到哪里找那种虚无飘渺的感觉??
还是祝大家祝大猪幸福吧，这家伙，仗着外院的优势，享受着众姐妹的“呵护”，
终于有志者事竟成了。
20. (BW 2007-07-20)
A:你的手机号好象变了，告诉我一下。
B:没有，是手机丢了，号还是 136000 那个。
A: damn it! 我的手机也被盗，是在赵欣她们学校附近丢的。
C:阿毛，为了女朋友丢个手机算什么，是吧
21. (BW2006-11-29)
这几天翻了翻《红楼梦》。要是让我拍 The Dreams in the Red Mansions。我就
请 leonardo De Caprio 出演宝玉，或者请(((boys don't cry))里面那个反串男孩
的奥斯卡最佳女主角(名字我忘了)，效果绝对牛!黛玉由 Wynona Ryder 出演，也
应该差不多。宝钗嘛，judy foster。史湘云，camron diaz。贾珍，Micheal douglass。
贾政 Anthony Hopkins。贾赦，Niel Jackson。贾琏，Brad Pitt。熙凤，zeta jones
(micheal douglass 现妻)。平儿，Nichol Kidman。秦可卿，uma thurman(pulp
fiction)。贾母，Audrey Hepburn(昨天刚刚仙逝)。薛潘，Elton John。贾雨村，
tom hanks.刘姥姥，whoopi goldberg(修女也疯狂)。石头，Kurt Liu o
22. (BW 2007-07-11)
A: 如果大家能凑到一块，这个周末就开踢吧?现在得先联系一下对手平分场地
费。对了，XX，外贸大的土场多少钱一场?
B: 比赛场地最新情报:贸大草场 800 圆大洋，我和研究生部的同学联系了一下，
问他们有没有意思想踢草场.那人把嘴一撇......-一主要是觉得费用太高了.看看大
家什么意思?要不找机会我们去北大的手球小场踢吧，那里免费.而且踢得特别爽.
我踢过一回.
C: pope, anywhere, anytime. woowooo
23. (BW 2006-04-16)
A: 谁是 xiao xin 啊
B:
Xiao xin is me, Qian Yinyi,haha. i am studying in the university of
westminster foran MA of interpreting and translation(diplomacy). i miss you
all.
24. (BW 2006-12-26)
I opened my wallet and found it empty, reached into my pocket and found no
coin, searched my life and found you then I realized how rich I am.真的很想
你们，愿新年里一切都好!!
25. (BW 2006-09-07)
这几天怎么突然冷清了?郁闷 ing 贴个 motto:
Loving is not how you forget but how you forgive,not how you listen but how
you understand, not what you see but how you feel, and not how you let go
but how you hold on.
26.(BW 2007-07-13)
A: 怎么还没有人搭理我啊，
B: how are you? still flirting? like a busy butterfly? how many flowers have
you ever touched?
27. (BW2005-12-07)
a bad cold these days. Flu is terrible; you both have to be cautious! I was
wondering how you could manage to get into Pudong Ramada Hotel;you're
really really something!-r a feeling that your legs are being pulled now- haha
八_八 okay. Anyway your work should be considered Top Priority without
any doubt. Just like it goes in our mother tongue:来日方长!I viewed the disc
designed by Wanda last weekends and thought about all of you guys. Hope
you two recover very soon! Give my regards to Juny. We'll have a better pub
with inexpensive beer next time you come. Look forward to your good news!
28. (BW 2007-06-25)
A: Who's 宣丽丽?
B: 大哥，英语系 01 级就没有叫宣丽丽的，是不是给伪装的 call girl 给骗了?!
29. (BW 2005-01-07)
i have seen LaoDa&LaoLiu several times, and we also gathered twice. so,
wish a come one day. here has become the gathering centre for our six
members. and a can also find my current photoes in“班级共享，
30. (BW 2005-12-04)
I am terribly busy in work every day. A big big headache!简直忙死 T。负责中
东欧洲东南亚每个客户都拥有一种不同口音 pretty difficult
31.(BW2006-10-26 )
天气明显转凉，今天上海阴天
又小雨!远方的兄弟姐妹注意身体!Take Care!
32 (BW 2006-10-15)
MARK, ATTENTION PLEASE!你们最好的路线应该是，从浦东国际机场乘磁悬
浮到龙阳站(也就是终点站)，然后从龙阳站乘地铁到河南中路站。河南中路站出
口就是南京东路。南京东路外滩有 55 路公交，到临平北路就是我的公司!
33 (GW2007-04-18)
xxx 要来华威啦，恭喜!我住的是 heronbank,en-suite 的.这是新的宿舍区，室内
条件不错，窗外风景秀丽，只是价钱贵了点，而且离 Tesco(超市)太远了，这是
致命的弱点!Lakeside 在 heronbank 旁边，房间里多了电话，其他设施差不多，
一样价钱.Claycroft 算是性价比不错的，离 Tesco 就几步远，买东西很方便.去图
书馆教学楼什么的也不远.两个人共用一个洗手间，室友卫生习惯好的话就没问
题.房间内有电话.不过 cc 的别称是 China Centre,住里面中国人奇多.
Tocil 是最便宜的，房间布局还不错，不过走廊很窄，很多人 share 洗手间和厨
房，听很多住那里的人嫌吵，不过如果要省钱的话选 tocil 是最好的，离 tesco
和中心校区都不远，所以也最抢手.我去年第一志愿填了 tocil,可惜没分到.
34. (GW 2006-07-02)
我会继续努力的，虽然我短期目标不在终身大事上 BTW，我羡慕的不是阿枫…
是大牛找到一个如意内人，
35. (GW 2007-06-02)
观音姐姐的意思是恭喜你“走出去”了，i guess...。谢谢观音姐姐的鼓励
36. (GW 2005-02-28)
我这学期的课程可是真的有点多，而且还要做什么 powerpoint，这下我可是真
的
37. (GW 2005-04-18)
Warwick 的 xdjm 你们都住在哪个宿舍?学校宿舍哪个好?给推荐一个性价比高
的..…谢啦
38. (GW 2006-04-13)
黄凡是自己一个人在 Sheffield，离广外在英国的基地 Warwick 和 Lancaster;都
有一定距离哦!而且最近他忙着拍人家捡贝壳哦
39. (GW 2005-04-08)
香港人就是这样啦，说从中国别的地方来的是”om mainland China"，说自己是
"from Hongkong"...
40. (GW 2006-07-21)
而且种子是一种连接方式而己.而 emule 可以主动搜索一个被动，一个主动.我 们
只能提供 emule 方式去寻找。如果你有主动搜索的种子，那你可以公布出来，
如果没有解决办法，就不要轻易否定别人的努力
41. (GW 2005-09-19)
还有谁在悉尼的吗?我就住在 EASTWOOD，联络一下吧!我用 OPTUS FREE
CALL, (+61)0432-635-2932005-07-02
42. (GW 2005-06-28)
刚才看了 Mr and Mrs Elizondo 的结婚照片，好感动想不到身边自己的朋友这
么快就开花（于是进入了盼望结果的阶段）了。但是也要告诫各位，千万不要萌
发攀比的念头（偶刚才就有了那么一点）呵，还是要找到合适的人选和时机成熟
的时候才能下这个决定呀千万不要 try this at home, 父母的指导是 extremely
needed, 还是那一句，总觉得 Mr and Mrs Elizondo 的故事比翁帆和杨振宁更
有说服力，更能撼动我的心。你们真幸福呀，期末考试成绩出来了我得五个Ａ，
惊死我了。放两个星期的假，就去了一趟尼亚加拉大瀑布，然后 summer semester
开始。Bullshit, 宋元要结婚了吗？搞得我也想找个鬼佬算了
43. (GW2007-05-07)
angela 估计要 faint 了吧，还没打算结婚呢，就被我们说成这样了。呵呵，靡
靡。坚决反对你带沙子回来。要带回来你就自己吃喽。Joy, 我可是见过她的他了，
哈哈。羡慕吧。
44. (GW 2007-07-09)
A: mum’s , real life is … different from what I … expected. It is just busy, …
nothing else! I am even thinking of looking for a boyfriend.
B: well, still not find your 王老五啊？
45. (GW 2007-06-17)
听笑说你己计划好了暑假出游的行程，羡慕啊!
我们也不知什么时候才放假，可怜希望你::Enjoy yourself!
拖儿们，年算是彻底过完了，你们在新的一年有何打算。我要辞职了，还没批呢，
但我是决心一定不可阻拦!
Lene, could you give me some informations about your life in Paris?
I will go to France next year. Your help is much appriciated!
46. (GW 2006-05-07)
A : 听说你的 laptop 丢了，可怜啊，以后小心点哦
B: 悉尼的消息好快就到了广州哦，laptop 是在家丢的。我现在才知道保护自己
的重要性，不单悉尼，很多城市都是很不安全的，最重要的是大家出来社会要学
会保护自己，警察根本做不了什么的，报警我足足等了两个钟头，来了后只是水
边问了下情况，扔下一句话：sorry, but there is nothing we can do。
就觉得国外的警察跟人民公安没法比。
我当时
47. (GW 2005-06-20)
By the way 有没有人知道白云花园有没有一房一厅出租呀??大家好，我现在正在
做毕业论文，是关于英语教学的。因为我做的题目在国内比较难找到合适的对象，
我们英语专业，就己经算是比较 experienced 的了，所以希望各位同学能帮助我
完成这份问卷。感激不尽啊
48. (GW2005-06-25)
嗬嗬，我心情还算可以，这一学期没有 term paper 要写呀，这么又要放暑假了。
可是，你不知道，一想起毕业论文我就头疼，万一给 fail 掉了，岂不太惨。嗬嗬，
所以这个暑假还是不能好好过呀!下一学期还要找工作。具体以后再拿工作，现
在也还没有拿定主意。再说了，也不是我能说得了就算呀!到时候再说吧!嗬嗬，
还是祝大家心情都好吧!!!
49. (YD 2007-04-04)
我已经知道了彩云的电话，thx , good night
50. (YD 2007-03-18)
同志们，人家高桑，彩云，彩艳，还有我们三三，LeXred，现在已经有儿子了，
啧啧啧，实在是羡煞俺们这些“剩下的果实”了!哎，苍一天一呐，世界上幸福的
人到处有，为何不能算我一个!
51. (YD2007-06-02)
同病相怜, we are in the same baot. I have veen under the weather these days
too. Hell! And don’t talk dirt! Remember, YOU Are A LADY! And
Wuhouliuyun is a guest here. I don’t
know more about her than u do.ur--, a
mystery here, lol anyway, it is always nice to make some friends, right?
52. (YD 2005-07-16)
抵制日货!从你我做起!日本在我国境内销售的产品品牌有:
SONY、富士、TOYOTA, HONDA, National, Panasonic, Asahi(朝日啤酒)、宅
急便、NEC、资生堂、苏菲、诗芬、花王、SHARP, NISSAN, Nintendo、佳能、
尼康、奥林巴斯、柯尼卡、SANSUI(山水音响)、吉野家快餐、Nippon(立邦)漆、
多乐士漆、爱华、三菱、碧柔、美能达、JVC、东芝、铃木_SUZUKI、马自达-MA
DA,卡西欧-CASIO、建伍-KENWOOD、阿尔派 ALPINENEC、精工_SIEKO、
日立 HITACHI、兄弟 BROTHER、先锋 PIONEER、富士通 FUJITSUTUKA、
爱普生 EPSON、理光_RICHO、三洋_SANYO、京瓷-KYOCERA、狮王_LION、
多芬夕 OVE, 乐而雅-LAU 如果中国人 1 个月不买日货，日本将有数千家企业面
临破产。如果中国人 6 个月不买日货，日本将有一半人失业。如果中国人 1 年不
买日货，日本经济结构彻底瓦解，日本还能这样嚣张吗!
53. (YD 2007-06-30)
A: 才 几 天 没 有 回 家 来 看 ， 家 里 就 好 热 闹 哦 . 唉 . 早 知 道 昨 天 也 推 门 看 看
哪.regretting…大家好啊，看到大家七嘴八舌的，真有意思.
B: 班长来了，班长好，向您老人家 salute!这几天跑到哪里去了，怎么不见您的
鬼影子啊
A : I've been to several places these days，吃到好多小吃，嘻嘻
B: 一个妇道人家，到处乱跑什么，watch yourself, in case one day you are
caught by the 人 贩子，and sell you to the mountainous areas just like 祥林嫂，
哈哈哈，狂笑 ing..
54. (YD 2007-06-23)
A: 等国家线啊，谁知道会栽在英语上啊，你今年能去读吗？
B: To go, or not to go, that is the question. What about u? wanna try again?
A:
to try again or not to try again, that is a question! To try zhejiang
university again or to the other is another question.
55. (YD 2006-03-18)
A: 好久不出来发言，干什么，玩失踪啊
B：冤枉啊，小民哪有什么玩失踪啊，我这不一直来这里的么，来了不是一直灌
purified water 吗，您算算您老人家多儿才来的？我不问您老人家良心，您老人
家倒来问我
56. (YD 2005-10-27)
A：i will marry a beautiful girl, maybe in Oct., anyone wants to come yan
liang，
contact me if a wish ,off.02986209943,m.p13892859925
B：恭喜，恭喜!现在我们的老二，老三，老五都名草有主了。还有老六，你要加
油哦，争取个 blonde 回来。老大说她一个人过很舒服，不知道姐姐说的是不是
真话。老四? that is to say, me, George.我看就算啦，哪个美女会瞎眼看上?
57. (YD 2007-06-27)
A：nice to meet you here，最近怎样啊，how is marriage life
B：as far as I know, there is no difference between marriage and being single.i
am still alone except for holidays.
C：啧啧，，I want to marry!!
B： Though I'm living alone, I'm not lonely.讨厌的老牛嘲笑我，我就喜欢这样
It's none of your business, so don't be so bossy
A： then you should go out and have fun. make yourself busy, like chatting
with people. or, go cruising KTV or bars with others ladies(girls,
women ... )Be Happy
58. (YD 2007-7-05)
A：看到这么多婚纱照，真羡慕啊，改天把俺和老崔的也传上来玩玩。
B：That's a good idea. Don't let's wait too long.
A：哇，不要打击我幼小，tender 的心灵啊，不过，我对你和老崔还是有信心的。
59. (YD 2007-07-02)
A:老牛一瞪眼，鸡(机)都不敢飞;老牛二瞪眼，月亮都遮住半边脸;老牛三瞪眼，
连海也要啸翻天;老牛四瞪眼，地球都会震.我好怕怕哦……
B: hey, you! you give me shut up, otherwise, i will give you some color see
see!
A: I will not be frightened by threat
60. (YD 2007 -07-12)
elder sister—好久不露面了，身子骨还硬朗否？今天您过大寿，
（也许是阴历？）
anyway, 生日快乐撒。你二妹，三三，老五，老六都不在，老四我在这里向你
致以亲切的问候，祝老姐姐您呐，工作顺利，早日把自己嫁出去。我闪了，否则
砖头就飞过来
61. (YD 2007-04-22)
A: all my dear 们，五一去大连，有谁去。同去，同去。
B: 说话不算数，刚才还说要来投奔我呢，这会又要去大连.去吧去吧，我是不会
在大连等的，pig.
A: you 误会 me 了，I 是先给 you 发了一个 short message，好久好久都米有 your
reply, i 是那么那么那么那么那么的 full of bitterness,万念俱灰啊，琳琳娃.so,I
想要离开这浮躁的 city, I 决定去海边看一看落日，让 the gentle sea breeze 使 I
清醒.让往事 gone with the wind.-一哇嘎嘎，吐死了没有?
62. (YD 2005-07-12)
A: 那个橄榄(Olive)是 who?你们谁谁的家属，还是 secret admirer 什么的?啧啧
啧，都追到班里来了。
B: 以前私密设置都选择了不公开，不知道谁什么时候给改成公开了?!我刚改过来
了，do a all agree?
C: Agree! 老让别人那么随便就看我们家的人说话，总归是不太好的啊.管理员同
志，辛苦一下 nf!!!
D: is it a bad thing to make more friends, you guys are so strange.
63. (YD 2005-12-23)
A: 大家节日快乐，结婚的新婚愉快，结了的婚姻幸福，没结的爱情甜蜜
B：hey, what about me? i am still forlorn and--,lovelorn,any kind words for
me? a broken heart?
64. (YD 2006-08-19)
A:老牛啊，你知道李老师的联系方式吗?
B: shuya 是 who 啊，anyway, After graduation，我从未不 GItj-htr}们联系过，
sometimes, I really miss those old days and those folks. Alas, we could never
go back to e-experience those sweet--even stupid---- things.
65. (YD 2007-07-01)
A: 老牛还是那么帅呀
B: You are perfect except that you never lie
A: Your are perfect except that you never use irony
66. (YD 2005-03-23)
You 啊，you 啊，没救啦。
67. (YD 2007-03-23)
何盆子那家伙脑子有问题吗？哈哈，我简直狂笑到不能自持 ing.
68. (YD2007-04-04)
我已经知道了彩云的电话，many thxs.
69. (YD 2006-06-06)
A："For dust thou art and unto dust thou shalt return"
B："For dust thou art and unto dust thou shalt return"?????
A： That is old English, a sentence form the Old Testament of the Bible, to be
exact, Genesis 3:19(圣经，I 日约第一章底+九小节)，it is, in Chinese，尘归尘，
土归土。See what I mean?
70. (YD 2005-07-14)
Hi, lawrence, did ya get my short message about the translation? well, i will
repeat:区长，hief Executive, District Government(县长 Chief Executive, County
Government)
71. (YD 2005-03-07)
今天监考专八，看的人头晕，不免多嘴几句，我指着一道改错题，低声对一个女
说:你看着副词能修饰名词呢?那女生可能是没见过我，有眼不识泰山，居然不屑
地对我讲，那 inspection 是动词!我崩溃了。还有个男生翻译“政治家”，用
politician，我说:statesman!他改了过来。我说:复数!他冼然大悟，忙书: statesmans!
我又崩溃!
72. (YD2007-06-28)
A：你们是怎么上传照片的?我昨天传了一张上来，为什么没有呢?纳闷 ing!
B：sometimes, I really miss those old days and those folks. Alas, we could
never go back to re-experience those sweet, even stupid things all those things
vanished like a fart in the wind.我闪了
73. (YD2006-05-15)
谢谢大家的祝福，只不过我的生日是阴历 512THANK YOU ANYWAY 下次记得
祝福哦，MAY YOU HAPPY EVERYDAY
74. (YD 2007-06-21)
A: 听说没？我们老六去澳大利亚了？！
B : 借电影《飘》里白瑞德的最后一句话，表达我的感触——Frankly, my dear, I
don’t give a damn!
75. (YD 2006-03-23)
u changed your name? Why not 鬼三? hehe…
76. (YD 2007-05-21)
A : 来来来，都看看俺们一个陕北后生的原创 flash，二道街。（在哪里呀？不记
得了），第二段“有几个小青年．．．的打扮．．．
陈浩南”几句很有意思。陕北话
很亲切。
B：我刚看过了，听着地道的延安话突然热泪盈眶.二道街就是亚圣下边那条街，
那是新街，旧的在同一方向往北延伸，现在修建的已面貌全非了，我们上高中时
还经常在那逛，吃粼面皮.记得小时侯站在宝塔山上俯瞰延安市，只见二道街有
条绿带，给人以凉爽的感觉，其余都是一派炎热的景象.而个可四大变样了
A：吃面皮的女生哭咧?憨人，哭剩了?咋悄悄接!那条大街(gai),应该就是繁华段
了，以前常走的.我，李霞，李靓在那周围还吃过炒冰，李靓给那谁谁还买了件
灰色衬衣，放了朵玫瑰，然后让我送去.俺当时的心情很复杂啊，哈哈哈哈，just
kidding.现在想来有点恍如隔世的感觉，歌曲里好多地名也很陌生.…all those
things vanished like a fart in the wind.[呵呵，用词不雅，表砸我，我撤.
77. (YD 2007-07-16)
A ：Attention plz,14 days after ur
birday, e. May 26th in lunar calender, is
my birthday. Now, rack ur brains preparing a surprise for me，ur long time
admirer, ON'T YOU FORGE? hahaha
B：DON'T PUT THE CART BEFORE THE HORSE. It's you who should
prepare a surprising pleasure for me. To be friendly,I1l give you some hints,
money is not so bad, I prefer it to anything. hahaha...I'll give you a surprise by
presenting you a birthday gift in advance, look
A：come on...
B：啊，我给你的片片(图片)咋没拷过来，it'.。。it's a bomb.
A：haha,【乱世佳人>中的 Scarlett 对 Rhett 也说过类似的话，那我就借用一句
他的话答复 I follow your general idea. And when I'm dead at your feet, I hope
ur conscience hurts u, Good bye.
78. (YD 2005-07-13)
第一天上班，混日子 ing
79. (YD 2007-04-01)
有谁知道彩云的电话，万分期待 ing
80. (YD 2006-07-05)
hi, everybody, long time no see! 没时间与大家一一道别，很舍不得你们
81.(YD 2007-07-01)
A: 喂，你是谁啊?
B: 我 cow 啊。
A: 谁？
B: 我 cow 啊.
82. (YD 2006-07-14)
A: 最近怎么这么多陌生人，如果再不自报家门，你们将踢出这里！！
B: hi, buddy, don’t be so touch to those “strangers”, they are not here to
disturb, they are our friends, and they mean well. Still remember what
Confucius says “isn’t it delight after all to have friends come from afar?” (有朋
自远方来，… … )