A Study Of Code-Switching Between Quanzhou Dialect And Putonghua From The Perspective Of Adaptation Theory

Code-switching is a very important phenomenon in social communication in which people from different countries and areas try to realize their communicative goals by choosing different codes and following different social rules.Code-switching is defined by Gumperz(1982) as “the juxtaposition within the same speech exchange belonging to two different grammatical systems or subsystems.” It has received many scholars’ attention in recent years, particularly from the perspectives of socio-linguistics, syntax, psychology and pragmatics, and most researchers center their efforts upon the code-switching between bilinguals. However, the most frequent code-switching in Chinese people’s everyday life usually takes place between Putonghua(official language) and dialects.This thesis aims to explore the code-switching between Quanzhou dialect and Putonghua by taking as example two popular dialect entertainment programs in Quanzhou city: Huan Xi Jiu Hao(shortened as HXJH) and Quan Zhou Mei Shi(shortened as QZMS). Qualitative methodology is applied in this thesis. Eighty audios and fifty videos are collected and transcribed. Thirty-seven instances are selected as sources to analyze the characteristics of code-switching phenomenon.Verschueren’s Linguistic Adaptation Theory, as modified by Yu Guodong in his adaptation model, is adopted here as the theoretical framework to analyze the generation of code-switching between Quanzhou dialect and Putonghua in the entertainment context. This thesis focuses on two questions:(1) What major functions does code-switching perform in entertainment programs?(2) How does the Linguistic Adaptation Theory explore the different linguistic strategies applied by code-switchers in the context of entertainment?Through analysis, the following conclusions have been drawn:(1) Code-switching is a kind of language choice that can be applied by speakers in a highly flexible way to achieve their multiple communicative goals in the dynamic entertainment context.(2) With the help of code-switching, interlocutors can most probably realize the adaptation to the entertainment context from three aspects: linguistic reality, social conventions and psychological motivations.The significance of this thesis can be summarized as: Firstly, the analytical conclusion proves that adaptation theory can be used to analyze code-switching phenomenon between different dialects in the entertainment context. Secondly, a special oral corpus with Chinese local characteristics can provide a case study for code-switching study between dialects. Thirdly, the study allows researchers to better understand the reasons and functions of code-switching phenomenon in dialect entertainment programs. Finally, the results of the research may contribute to finding the differences of code-switching between different dialects and different languages.