Browsing by Author "Sanmuganathan, K."

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4

Code Mixing as a Ruled Governed Phenomenon– A Study with Special Reference to the Tamil-English Mixed Discourse.
(The Third International Conference on Linguistics in Sri Lanka, ICLSL 2017. Department of Linguistics, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2017) Sanmuganathan, K.; Wijerathne, W.M.
In bilingual and multilingual societies, there are usually at least two interacting language groups, each representing different cultural and linguistic features. Sri Lanka is a multilingual country where there is a tendency of mixing two languages as a communicative strategy used by the speakers. It has been observed that mixing of indigenous languages - Sinhala, Tamil and English is a common speech behaviour, which occurs in the discourse of educated bilinguals in Sri Lanka. There have been several studies on sociolinguistic, structural linguistic and psycholinguistic aspects of code mixing in different countries. In recent years, researchers have increasingly focused on the linguistic constraints on code mixing. The objective of this study is to investigate the rules of code-mixing (CM) in Tamil-English mixed language data. The focus of the present study of Tamil-English mixed discourse is the educated urban bilinguals in Jaffna. From a syntactic point of view, it is proposed that code mixing is governed by a host code/guest code principle. This principle says that in a code-mixed discourse involving languages L1 and L2, where L1 is the host code and L2 is the guest code, the morphosyntactic rules of L2 must conform to the morphosyntactic rules of L1, the language of the discourse. In order to determine the rules that govern Tamil-English CM, the qualitative method of analysis was adopted. The present study drew upon data collected a recorded spontaneous conversation between bilinguals in a language contact situation in which the two languages are syntactically very different from each other, namely, Tamil and English. The data collected were analyzed and findings were derived. Linguistically, the analysis confirms that Tamil-English Code-mixing is a rule-governed behaviour. The study addresses that Tamil English code mixing is a rule governed phenomenon, that is, there are constraints that govern where in a sentence a code-mix can occur and where it cannot occur. In that context, CM facilitates to avoid communicative hindrances.
Impediments encountered in teaching morphosyntactic features of English
(2009) Sanmuganathan, K.
Linguistic Constraints on Tamil-English Code-Mixing
(Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Kelaniya, 2015) Sanmuganathan, K.
In situations of language contact, the point of contact is the bilingual individual, and there are usually at least two interacting language groups, each representing different cultural and linguistic groups. When languages or speakers come in contact, a variety of phenomena are observed, and these include bilingualism, linguistic convergence, borrowing, pidgins and creoles, language switching and language mixing. In recent years, research has increasingly pointed toward the universality of three linguistic constraints on code-mixing: (i) an equivalence of structure constraint, (2) a size-of-constituent constraint, and (3) a free morpheme constraint. The term constraint is here used to refer to restrictions that govern or determine the types of linguistic units that the bilingual can or cannot code-mix in his or her speech. It is proposed that code-mixing is governed by a host code/guest code principle. This principle says that in a code-mixed discourse involving languages L1 and L2, where L1 is the host code and L2 is the guest code, the morphosyntactic rules of L2 must conform to the morphosyntactic rules of L1, the language of the discourse. In order to determine the rules that govern code-mixing, the researcher involves the combination of qualitative and quantitative method of analysis. The present study draws upon data collected from an interview and a spontaneous conversation between bilinguals in a language contact situation in which the two languages are syntactically very different from each other, namely, Tamil and English. The study addresses the question whether there are structural constraints on code-mixing. The researcher has examined this aspect of code-mixing and found that codemixing is indeed a ruled governed phenomenon, that is, there are constraints that govern where in a sentence a code-mix can occur and where it cannot occur.
A Study on Code-Mixing as a Communication Strategy among Urban Bilingual Tamils
(Department of Linguistics, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Sanmuganathan, K.
This paper explores code-mixing as a communication strategy among urban bilingual Tamils in Jaffna. In bilingual and multilingual societies where more than one language is used by different speech communities, speakers tend to know two or more than two languages. People who live in a bilingual or multilingual communication environment usually have the tendency to use two or more codes while communicating with each other. People not only speak different languages/codes but also mix the languages/codes known to them consciously or unconsciously. Code mixing is used as a linguistic device in informal styles of speaking. Therefore, this study tries to validate the factors contributing to code-mixing among urban bilingual Tamils. The research design incorporates the qualitative approach. The participants were urban bilinguals from different parts in Jaffna. The data for this study was collected by means of a questionnaire and analysed. The results showed that the degree of code-mixing depends on various factors such as amount of exposure to English, the medium of instruction and the frequency of language used in different domains, contexts and topics of discussion which trigger code-mixing. Mixing Tamil and English among Tamil bilinguals facilitates communication and is performed for certain practical reasons in their day to day communication.