Nativizations in bilingual discourse

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the frequent use of English lexical items in Sinhala-English bilingual discourse of Sri Lankans. More than 200 hundred years of contact with English has resulted in a host of English words being mixed in dominant Sinhala utterances by urban speakers in Sri Lanka. Most English words are borrowed into Sinhala such diutiya (duty) and a few are not (car eka). This paper attempts to describe borrowings in Sinhala from English using mainly Muysken’s (2000) typology of CM. Kachru’s (1986) analysis of nativizations is also used to describe borrowings in this study. Based on Muysken (2000), mixed discourse represents three strategies mainly insertion, alternation and congruent lexicalization (CL). This paper will focus on CL mixing patterns that enable word internal mixing. Data for the investigation are collected from recordings of informal conversations in the public domain with 20 urban speakers living in Colombo. All informants are bilingual and employed in the private sector. The data are recorded and transcribed for analysis. Based on the results, this paper proposes that most single word mixes from English are nativizations as the working of a single variety is present in the utterances. When borrowing words from English, Sinhala-English bilinguals use word-internal mixing strategy to nativize elements. A few single word lexical items from English undergo word-internal mixing but are treated as Sinhalizations in this paper. The categorization will enhance comprehensibility of the behavior of English lone lexical items in dominant Sinhala utterances. The findings are significant to the advancement of sociolinguistics and teaching and learning of English as a second language in Sri Lanka.