A Study On Codeswitching

This thesis is an analysis of codeswitching in the novel Muslims' Funeral, which is understood as a realization of human beings' accommodation to the general purpose of successful communication and survival in the long run. The core of this study is the detailed study of the functions thai codeswitching can fulfill and the analysis of codeswitching as a communicative strategy, the realization of the accommodation model, and as a cooperative activity.The theoretical framework of the present study is based on Giles' accommodation theory, the function model proposed by Jakobson and Halliday et al and the cooperative principle of Grice. The statistic result indicates that NPs are the most frequently switched lexical categories in codeswitching in my corpus. This implies that NPs are the easiest lexical categories for speakers to learn and to use.The various functions that codeswitching can perform are explored in the analysis of my data, including marker of the social status, measure of psychological distance, emphasis, convenience, sarcasm, etc. These functions cannot be realized by the utilization of one specific code. The communicators switch one code to another to approach their communicative goals.We think that codeswitching is a natural consequence of verbal communication, which cannot be avoided in the world today. It is featured by comparatively frequent contact between different nations and cultures. Along with the social development and globalization, codeswitching will possibly occur in much broader social contexts. This will call for more in-depth investigations.