Sociolinguistic Variation and Codeswitching between Parsi Gujarati and English
Anindita Sahoo and Scherezade Dastur
Abstract
In this study, we investigate the sociolinguistic variation in the code-switching patterns of Parsi Gujarati speakers, a distinct variety of Gujarati spoken by the Parsi (Indian Zoroastrian) community, with an emphasis on regional and intergenerational differences. The study aims to fill that gap by quantitatively analyzing code-switched linguistic data from a representative sample of speakers across two Indian states, Gujarat and Maharashtra.
The study reveals that Parsi Gujarati speakers prefer bilingual over monolingual speech, regardless of age or to which region they belong. The study also indicates that there is no significant variation in the frequency and extent of Parsi Gujarati and English across the generations. The difference lies only in the choice of codeswitching strategy with the older and / or semi-rural speakers opting for insertional codeswitching, while speakers from other generations and regions codeswitch in an alternating manner in addition to using insertions in their speech.
Keywords: Code-switching, regional variation, Intergenerational variation, bilingualism, Parsi Gujarati-English, linguistic anthropology, sociolinguistics