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

The next switch to Afrikaans occurs after the conjunction “because” as the host
uses the Afrikaans determiner “die”. However, he once again opts to switch back
to English by using the phrase “French waiters.” Its Afrikaans equivalent, ‘Franse
tafelbediendes’ would be considered ‘suiwer’ Afrikaans and, thus, too formal.
Therefore, the switch serves both an accommodation function (Slabbert &
Finlayson, 2002) and a phatic function (Appel & Muysken, 1987), as it changes
the tone to an informal one, creating a humorous tone where its Afrikaans
equivalent would not have.
The last important switch in this turn occurs after an Afrikaans quotation. “But
this is radio …” marks the beginning of a switch to English. In this instance, the
switch once again indicates a change in tone as the host shifts from a lighthearted,
humorous story to a serious explanation.
Turns 49 – 65
In turn 49 the host begins telling a story about his trip to Amsterdam with a group
of listeners. There are many interruptions in between as the co-host asks
questions and makes remarks. At times, the host ends a turn in one language and
begins a new turn in another. Where this occurred, the language change was
analyzed as a switch, regardless of the interruption.
In turn 49 the story begins in Afrikaans. The first switch that occurs is marked by
the word [bəgΛз]. This is neither English nor Afrikaans, but it appears as though
the host has used the English noun, ‘baggage’, and adapted it phonetically to
make it sound French. This is likely because in a previous turn (i.e.turn 22), the
host made reference to being in Paris.
Next, the host switches back to Afrikaans, using the typical colloquial phrase,
“verstaan jy.” This phrase is used continuously throughout the discourse and
functions as an interjection or sentence filler (Cook-Gumperz, 1976), rather than
as an interrogative.
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