Code-switching can occur between different languages or between different varieties of the same language. The study's findings reveal that code-switching serves as an index and a verbal tool for the missing.
The Matter and the Means
Language and Society
One such frontier is "sociolinguistics," the study of language in relation to its users living in society. Code switching is called “using two language versions in the same conversation.
Objective
One of these ethnic groups of the state is Mising, also spelled 'Mishing' by some writers. Tabu Taid, a pioneer in this field, says of the nomenclature: “Until recently, the Misings were commonly called the 'Miris'.
Approach and Scope
The study also covers a cross section of the missing population living in the urban areas of Assam. In this context, it includes a community that forms a significant part of the Assamese population living in the Brahmaputra valley, given that their linguistic practice remains unexplored and unexploited even today.
Review of Literature
He finds the concept of linguistic repertoire necessary to describe code switching in the verbal behavior of a bilingual person or community. The code-switching research took a significant turn with a series of publications coming from Myers-Scotton.
Code-switching research in India : Code-switching research in India is relatively a recent phenomenon although skeletal works in the field were done in the
Thus, although code-switching occurs constantly between languages, this does not imply that the weaker languages will eventually merge with the stronger languages. Chengappa, Daniel and Bhat (2004) examine the “similarities and differences in the code-switching behavior of aphasic and neurologically normal Malayalam–.
Code-switching research and the Misings : Although code-switching practice has been prevailing amongst the Misings for about three centuries now, the
But specific studies on the Mising tribe and language did not begin until the second quarter of the nineteenth century. William Robinson wrote the first ever grammar of the Mising language and published it in the same magazine in 1847.
Methodology
Therefore, the speaker makes his/her choice of code according to the response of the listeners. This represents a set of indexical rights and obligations of members of a society created by prevailing social norms.
Collection of Data (a) Primary : For the purpose of finding specific facts from the field, the following sociolinguistic methods were used
During field data collection, care was taken to obtain a representative cross-section of the missing population. These languages in the speakers' repertoire can be used simultaneously in a single conversation.
Code-Switching and the Misings
Code-switching and Bilingualism
In such a depiction of contemporary verbal interaction, the following Hindi-English code-switching occurs in a Hindi film song:. Both inter-sentence and intra-sentence types of code switching can occur in the same discourse although they may differ in terms of the degree of social meaning that the code switch indicates.
But this knowledge about the functions of different languages is acquired from the social environment in which the speakers live. First, the sister-in-law is trained to understand the meaning and application of the popular English proverb "Old habits die hard."
In multilingual societies like that in India, the speakers in some places have a wider repertoire with a number of linguistic choices in hand. In the present day
One striking linguistic aspect of the code-switching situation is the fact that we find few of the constraints against structural borrowing commonly reported in the linguistic literature. The two main aspects of the bilingual development process are the idea of code-switching and the idea of inter-language.
The issue of varying definitions
Yet another researcher, Peter Auer (1995) and his colleagues prefer to use the term code-alternation as a hyponym for code-switching for this purpose. But this term, which denotes longer stretches of linguistic change in speech, may not represent all the elements represented by the term code-switching.
The Misings
This leads to the conclusion that the Miaos and the extinct were birds of the same feather in the distant past. Ptolemy was a Greek astronomer as well as a geographer who lived in the second century of the first millennium.
Entry to the Brahmaputra Valley : The history of entry of the Misings into the Assam valley from the hills of Arunachal Pradesh is not free from controversies
However, it has been established that the Misings were one of the countable ethnic groups in the Assam Valley during the Ahom rule. It is believed that the descent of the mountain tribes downhill to pursue a new lifestyle in the Assam Valley took place in dribbles.
Contact with the Plains People : As the Misings began to settle in the plains of the Brahmaputra valley, the process of social intercourse began through political
In the chapter "Miris" in "An Account of Assam" (1841), Robinson wrote referring to the missing as "It is hoped that the Government will soon employ such means as will best secure these advantages; and perhaps no one will answer better.the purpose than a friendly embassy (like Miris).” The administration took advantage of these skills and introduced many of them into the civil services like Katakis.
The North Assam group is named based on the geographical location of the language groups and not on the variety of the language. Today, the extinct language is one of the top twenty "non-scheduled languages" of India, which is 0.04% of the country's total population (E-Census India 1991).
General Features of the Mising Language
The two-letter combinations "ng" and "ny", representing velar and palatal-nasal sounds, respectively, typical of the Mising tongue, are also included in the alphabet. Fricative: the language's fricative chords are denoted by "s" and "r" for alveolar and postalveolar sounds respectively.
Conclusion
History of origin of the Tanis or Amis." The Mishings: their History and Culture, ed. Toward a better understanding of code-switching and inter-language in bilingualism: implications for bilingual education." The Journal of Educational Issues of Language Minority Students.
Catalysts and Circumstances
Acculturation
During the Ahom rule in the seventeenth century, some villages in the plains faced attacks and raids by the Misings. Towards the end of the seventeenth century, the Misings began to reconcile with plains society.
Education
The concept of village headman Gaonburha came from the plains raised by the Assamese and since then he is considered to be the head of the village council. By the first half of the nineteenth century, the disappeared, as was true with many other Assamese ethnic groups, began going to schools to receive formal and systematic education.
Although education brought about a complete reformation of the individual and the society, the following are the direct general results of education on the
As a result, the Misings also gained the benefits of education, which encouraged the younger generations in society to attend schools and colleges. Since one of the purposes of education is to develop the individual to his full potential, the enlightenment of education motivated the Misings to strive for progress and improvement.
Modern Communication
Since education is a means of promoting the development and well-being of the individual, society and humanity at large, it taught the missing to think and realize who they were, where they were and who they were with. He taught the Misinga to think and act in a systematic and scientific way, replacing their primitive way of thinking and acting, which required more effort and yielded less results.
Surface Communication : It has been gathered from the oral stories told by the elderly persons that there was hardly any road communication in the Mising
According to the general feelings of the local population, the improved road and rail communication system has not always had a positive effect. Some members even entered into inter-caste marriage relationships, and in the process some members of the new groups assimilated with the Misings, e.g.
Pope's (2002) definitions of the general effects of mass media on society and culture today also appear to be relevant to the Misings. The Mishings, a colorful tribe from the Brahmaputra Valley.' In The Mishings: Their History and Culture, ed.
In the Zone : Analysis and Verification
The degree of knowledge a speaker has of L2 (or the languages other than L1) governs the frequency and amount of switching to that language. The amount and
It is also part of the strategic study of code switching that in many cases there is usually dominance of one language over the other during conversation where language interference or intrusion occurs. Speakers may often shift according to emphasis because they feel that mot juste is easier to find in one of their languages than in another, or because of their perception of the speaking situation, changes in content, the language skills of their interlocutor, degrees of intimacy and so on” (Edwards 1994, 72).
Analysis and Verification of Data
They are not expected, predictable or known in advance in the society or situation in which a given set of rights and obligations are in force. In Myers-Scotton's words, the speaker making a salient choice calls for a new situation for a new RO set to take effect.
Use of code-switching as sociolinguistic devices (marked choices)
It is noteworthy that the use of code-switching as a linguistic tool and implicator is diverse and knows no boundaries. The present study addresses and presents the use of code-switching as an important sociolinguistic tool used by the Misings, as found in the fieldwork conducted in the strategically selected towns and cities.
A linguistic tool to include/exclude participants in/from in-group discussions
Setting: Inside a vanished household in the evening when the family members gather around the fireplace to discuss the next day's works. Over their morning tea, Pegu and his relative talk about the woman sitting on a bench on the other side of the porch.
A comforting agent for non-speakers during in-group conversations While it is used as a device for excluding the non-speakers from a discussion, it is
The guests show the sign of alienation from the discussion in the first part of the conversation between the two brothers, by their silence. But as Bichitra switches to Assamese in sentence 2, the guests turn to him and one of them offers to participate in the discussion by understanding the topic being discussed by the brothers.
A means to attract attention and emphasize points
The rights and obligations of the people mandate that the custodians of the disappeared language and culture speak in the disappeared. But also in these sentences part of the complementary clause. bim ngo MAC-r hoi eta kotha jonabo bisarisu je” in sentence 7 and “Eta kothar karonei amak bohut beya lage je” are in L2 which means that the linguistic base of speech is shifted from the matrix language.
Providing spiritual satisfaction through code-switching
He categorically discloses that the priests, like himself, give the blessing both in Mising and in Assamese, because if it is done in Mising alone, the host is not satisfied. Therefore, the priests first bless in Mising and then use the mantras from the book in Assamese.
A means of displaying skill and ability
In the example above, it can be seen that the priest, while invoking the gods, speaks Assamese and speaks for the plants, animals and ancestors of the Mising family. The conversation continues on a topic regarding the poor performance of the MLAs elected from the Mising areas.
A medium of showing high professionalism at business place
One of the passengers, a middle-aged woman known to the conductor as understood by her speech, tries to talk him into Mising asking him to waive her child's fare. The conductor speaks Assamese throughout, despite the fact that he is missing and is being talked to in Mising by some of the passengers who apparently know him and are known to him as well.
A teaching device in educational institutions
2 Iraboti: Ngolu kaka nzela ya Ohomiya na ba poribipo:do, pe nzela ya Mising pe botongi ya bidoku. 8: Empila malamu biteyelo bana mibale na Mising-pe bujai po:pe idak, odokkepek éde na: ba Asomiya-pe lubidoku.
Employing code-switching to express ethnic solidarity
For him, like most children growing up in the city, the mother tongue is Assamese, and he addresses his parents as Maa and Baba, as Assamese-speaking children do. This is the same with Indians raised in the UK or USA who are Indian but whose mother tongue is English.
A device to explain technicalities to uneducated people
The technical words such as fiber optic cable, meter box etc. are pronounced in English because these words are not found in Mising or Assamese.). Mising and Assamese are used to explain the details while English is used to refer to technical words such as fiber optic cable, meter box etc.
Code-switching as sociolinguistic devices and indices (unmarked choices)
Another participant who has a public relations career, Jugal Doley, believes that the three languages are essentially involved in a communication exercise during the interpretation of the user manual to rural telephone subscribers.
A verbal lubricant
Below is an excerpt of a conversation between members of the bride and groom's party. The use of L2 in the groom's party response amar kortobyo in sentence 25 and ghorot lakhi ejoni paisu.
An index of dual identity
Speaker B uses two English words and one Assamese word out of ten words in sentence 2. Speaker D uses five Assamese words out of thirteen in sentence 5 and Speaker E uses four Assamese words out of six.
A medium of communication with animals
Furthermore, Binod says that the oxen will not understand if the commands are given in Mising language. Since we live here in the plains, we have only been introduced to this method of cultivation.).
As lexical and conceptual fillers in written communications
In this script, the words 'butukoli' and 'raikong' are the misingised forms of the Assamese words 'Bhutuni' (a female goblin) and 'Rakhyoh' (gluttony) respectively, and the word bari is a direct loanword meaning an outdoor garden with plants. The terms Hai Iskul (High School), Iunibarsiti (University), Medikel Kolej (Medical College), Egrikalsar (Agriculture), Injiniyaring (Engineering) are the missing spellings of the English words given in brackets.
As a natural and unmarked medium of verbal communication
It is used as a compound verb and is now an integral part of the Mising vocabulary in the rural areas. He further states that speaking in a mixed language has itself become the unmarked language of the Misings.
Switching to L2 unmarkedly motivated by annoyance and anger
How come everyone in the family expects everything from me without doing anything. Although Mili's main occupation is farming, he also runs a small grocery store in the village.
A device to avoid a sense of expressional vulgarity
An elderly couple is there to invite XY and his wife to their daughter's wedding to be held in the first week of the Assamese month of Bohag (third week of April). Apparently impressed by the room's upkeep, the old lady appreciates it and compares it to the living room of her own home.
A narrative device (partly marked and partly unmarked)
Most code-switching activities take place in informal situations. First, he shifts imperceptibly to L2 in sentence 6 to refer to a major change in the mentality of the Boros, which he calls the meaning of nabajagoron.
Code-switching as an index of power (marked and unmarked)
Similarly, the speaker uses the following L2 speech fragments as unmarked choices: Boro jatir dangor andulon eta ghotisile meaning "a great revolution of the Boro community took place" in sentence 7; bohut sohidu hol meaning "many became martyrs" in sentence 8; jatiyo setona dc eta beleg dhoronor poristithir sristi korile which means "their nationalist feelings took another direction" in sentence 9; Boro ionoghostir. meaning "religious matter of the Boro community" in sentence 10; jatiyo hisabe conversion huar loge, loge, dhormot dikhyit huar loge loge meaning "as soon as they return to a particular community and religious group" in sentence 12; and dikhyit hoi gol meaning "pledged" in sentence 13. He makes pointed choices when he switches to L2, rashtra-khonor jaitiyotatu rakhya koribor karone meaning "to save the nation's identity" in sentence 15, and his switch to L3, "not at the cost of my identity" in sentence 15 where he emphasizes the original meanings of these passages and asks the audience to understand them.
The functions related to a social phenomenon is generally open and unlimited
Similarly, one of the fish sellers at an evening fish market in Gomari village (October) speaks mainly Assamese, as this is the unmarked language in a place where many customers come from nearby villages inhabited by Assamese-speaking people. Over time, if this process continues in ascending order, it can lead to a shift, displacement or even extinction of the minority culture(s).
The general experience : Before going into assessing the future possibilities of the Mising language on account of code-switching, it would be useful to take a
The decline of the Celtic languages in Great Britain resulted in the disappearance of Cornish and Manx. The recessive use of the minority language leads to the process of its displacement or displacement, which may eventually lead to its extinction.
Trend of the Mising language : In the light of the above parameters, we may now take the case of the Mising language, its present scenario, direction and future
This percentage increases to 57%, 18% and 3% respectively in case of educated and city/town dwellers leaving only 22% for their ethnic language i.e. extinct. Negotiating identities in coverage: A theory of marking and code choice. International Journal of the Sociology of Language.
Conclusion : Toward a Larger Frame
- An overview
- It is found that the Mising–Assamese code-switching takes place within a sentence intra-sententially as well as beyond the boundaries of a sentence inter-
- As already suggested, the Misings migrated from the upper courses of the rivers Huang-ho and Yangtse-kiang in North-west China and entered India around
- As speech is one of the prime aspects of human character which is dynamic as well as variable, the dominant languages have found their way into the weaker ones
- The rural dwellers versus the urban dwellers
- Points arrived at : In view of the above observations, the following points are arrived at with regard to the nature and results of acculturation and nature of
- Code-switching as interpersonal interaction vis-à-vis inter group relationship
- The sociolinguistic findings
- A verbal device to exclude or include non-speaker participants (marked)
- A means to emphasize points or attract attention (marked) : Under certain situations when a speaker feels that the other participants are not paying attention to
In this case, the elements of the dominant language (Assamese) spilled over into the weaker language (mising) and became integral parts of speech. In Missing society, there are two opposing trends in the use of Missing language.
