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

nouns) are used. I have selected a few of these and carried out a line by line
analysis in an attempt to account for each switch from a motivational stance.
Turn 22
The first story begins in turn 22 where the host begins with two French words.
These terms would be unknown to the audience, but obviously serve as quotations
as he attempts to describe the situation to his audience. He then switches to
English, uttering “Ooh girlfriend” even though he is addressing a group of people
and not just a woman. However, this phrase is commonly used on the Cape Flats,
particularly as slang among homosexual men. Thus, the switch here serves an
identity function as the host flaunts his gay, agony-aunt persona.
Next, he switches to Afrikaans as he directly addresses both the co-host and the
audience. Here, switching serves a directive function as the message is directed to
a particular group. In addition he uses the language of those he addresses as
Afrikaans is the home language of the majority of listeners. By switching to
Afrikaans, the host is not only able to directly address a particular group, but is
also to allude to their shared socio-cultural identity. The switch allows the host to
bond with the audience by using the language that allows them to share common
ground, while also signaling a shift to a more humorous tone.
The host then switches back to English, using a typical colloquial phrase – “you
know” – which is followed by the Afrikaans conjunction “met” and then the
English phrase “sign language.” It is likely that the host intended to make a single
switch to Afrikaans, but was then forced to insert the English phrase in order to
fill a lexical gap. It is highly unlikely that the host knew the Afrikaans equivalent
and, even if he did, it would be considered too formal to use in this context. Thus,
the host uses the virtuosity maxim (Myers-Scotton, 1993a, 2006a) as he switches,
as a means of making sure the conversation is able to continue. In addition, he
shows accommodation in that he switches according to what the addressees would
prefer, while also employing a means to make himself understood.
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