A FUNCTIONAL-ANALYSIS OF JAPANESE ENGLISH CODE-SWITCHING

Functions of code-switching in blingual communities have been studied extensively (e.g., Auer, 1984; Blom and Gumperz, 1972; Gumperz, 1982; Heller, 1988a; Romaine, 1989; G. Sankoff, 1972; Scotton, 1988). This p aper examines the functions served by Japanese/English code-switching in Canadian Niseis' (second generation) overall in-group speech repert oire, which, according to Nishimura (1992), consists of three bilingua l varieties resulting from the language choices which the Niseis make depending upon their interlocutor(s). The Niseis use Japanese when tal king to native Japanese, mixing in English nouns. Some of these nouns fill in the Niseis' Japanese lexical gaps; some are of customary use i n the community's daily Japanese; some occur in free variation. The Ni seis, talking to each other, use English, interspersing Japanese phras es and sentences to express their shared ethnic identity. The Niseis u se both Japanese and English, when talking to combined groups of nativ e Japanese and Niseis, or whenever a kika-Nisei (a Nisei educated in J apan) is present. In this case, the pattern of code-switching is more complex, and the functions served are multiple. They can be classified into four categories: first, those which are related to the interacti onal processes between the speaker and the interlocutor(s); second, th ose concerning the organization of discourse; third, those which give stylistic effects; and fourth, those whose motivations are not clear.