A Memetic Study Of Chinese/English Code-switching

As a universal phenomenon in language contact, code-switching has attracted theattention of researchers from many disciplines since1970s. In the field of linguistics alone,it has been studied from different approaches such as sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics,grammar, discourse analysis and pragmatics. Remarkable achievements have been made aswell. These researches contribute to a deeper understanding of code-switching, but none ofthe approaches is comprehensive enough to explain the complexity of code-switching fullyand thoroughly. With the progress of reform and opening-up and the increasing frequencyof international communication, Chinese/English code-switching appear frequently in themass media (such as the Internet, TV, radio, newspaper, magazine, and mobile phone, etc.)and daily communication. The present research intends to analyze the Chinese/Englishcode-switching on the Internet, newspaper, popular songs and mobile phone shortmessages from the memetic perspective, aiming to explain the formation and wide spreadof this phenomenon and gain some enlightenment.Based on Darwinism, memetics is used as a new theory to explain the laws of culturalevolution. Meme is defined as a unit of cultural transmission or a unit of information. Anyinformation which is replicated and transmitted constantly can be counted as a meme. Inthis sense, languages, cultural customs, ideas and behaviors are likely to become memes.Thus, Chinese/English code-switching can certainly be regarded as a kind of meme since itis copied and spread continually. Based on the collected data, the present research firstanalyzes the formation process of Chinese/English code-switching memes and proposesthat code-switching, the co-existence of two languages, is formed as a result of the closegame between Chinese memes and English memes. Then it analyzes the reasons for thesuccess of Chinese/English code-switching memes in the aspects of language itself,development of modern information technology and mass media as well as thetransmission mode of memes. Later it classifies the memes based on the linguistic formsand summarizes the characteristics of the memes, which are technicality, brevity, novelty,fashion, epidemicity, emotionality and rhythmicity. In the end it states that Chinese/Englishcode-switching memes are mostly transmitted in the mode of repetition (mainly citation)and analogy. The research of code-switching from the memetic perspective helps to enhance theunderstanding of this language phenomenon; meanwhile the application of memetics inlinguistic analysis is helpful for the development of the new theory itself. The presentresearch presents the enlightenment brought by the meme theory in the attitude towardscode-switching, spiritual civilization construction and language teaching and learning. Inshort, human beings should make use of memetics and become masters of memes ratherthan puppies of memes. The final accomplishment of the goal largely depends on thefurther study of memetics.