grammatical constraints and motivations for - University of the ...

The important issue is to consider whether the word carries meaning while
standing on its own. The implication, then, is that closed class words may be
switched if they have the ability to stand on their own and create meaning.
Based on these notions, Azuma (1996: 366) proposes the Stand Alone Principle
that:
“A ‘chunk,’ any segment that can meaningfully stand alone in the speaker’s
mind, may be switched.”
Azuma (1996: 366) further suggests that the Stand Alone Principle can account
for switching of:
a) most open class items which can meaningfully stand alone;
b) some closed-class items which can meaningfully stand alone (e.g., discourse
markers);
c) ‘chunks’ such as noun phrases, adjectival phrases, and clauses; and
d) frozen expressions (and) quoted expressions.
While some of these constraints do appear to be universal, others are language
specific as they apply only to switching across particular languages. When
constraints do not appear to apply to English/Afrikaans switching, they can clearly
not be regarded as universal. However, where constraints are applicable to
English/Afrikaans codeswitching, their credibility of being universal will be
increased.
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