+1 862 207 3288 1) Read the attached article “Code Switching and Italian American Identity” and do some independent background research on the subject of code-switching
2) Write up a Conversation Analysis, in essay form, following the guidelines in the attachment “SOC310 CA Assignment”
CODE-SWITCHING AND THE COMMUNICATIVE
CONSTRUCTION OF THE ITALIAN AMERICAN IDENTITY
I. Introduction.
This paper is an attempt to look at a series of cases of code-switching involving Italian Americans. I will
show cases of both metaphorical and situational ones (Gumperz, 1982). I intend to identify the contribution
of code-switching to the communicative construction of the Italian American ethnic identity. Moreover, I
hope to demonstrate the cultural nature of code-switching usage. This cultural component has been often
overlooked in favor of a view of code-switching as an integrated system.
Putting aside the question of what ethnic identity is, I prefer to ask: how is it displayed? Communicated by
the speaker? How is it constructed in an interaction between a speaker and an audience? According to
Schieffelin, Bilingualism should be seen as a “set of cultural and linguistic practices displayed between
speakers.” (1994:26). It is exactly in code-switching as a practice that I am interested. In every occasion I
have been present to, code-switching was a conspicuous element of Italian American speech. Not only they
would not try to avoid it, but it was used freely. This indicates, I believe, that the Italian Americans assign to
it an extremely positive value. Code-switching symbolizes and enact the ability to belong to two different
worlds, to two different cultures, and to do it successfully.
My analysis starts from a perspective that considers Ethnic identity as communicated. The individual is seen
as an agent strategically using identifications chosen from a “repertoire of identities,” that he/she has
available. This choice is done in relation to the context and to the other participants. The individual shifts
among different ethnic identities, and can express them in different ways. Kroskrity (1993:156) proposes to
consider ethnic groups as particular kinds of reference groups. Ethnic identity becomes one of a repertoire of
identities among which the individual can choose. This perspective “emphasizes the communicated and
negotiated aspects of ethnic and other social identities.” (1993:178).
The Italian Americans I met did not have one, unique identity, always a mirror of itself. They live, instead, in
between a series of possibilities, of possible identities. From their conversations, emerges a composite figure:
Italian, Italian American, American, and regional identities alternate, and often more than one is presented at
the same time. It is exactly in this communication of “being at the same time” in multiple identities, that can
be recognized the place and the role of code-switching usage. Nagata affirms that: “such easy switching of
ethnic identity seems to be of positive value in enabling the individual to avoid tensions due to
inconsistencies of role expectations in any given set of circumstances.” (1974:343).
Language, of course, is not an exact indicator of the cultural frame of the person using it (Duranti & Ochs,
1986). Particular uses of language, like code-switching, though, can be quite indicative, as the work by
Kroskrity with the Arizona Tewa demonstrates (1993). In particular, there seem to be a connection between
switches in codes and switches between “situational identities.” For example, during a dinner, when my
linguistic consultant Ada talks about her present life in Los Angeles, she uses many Ital-English words in her
Italian. When, though, she tells about her past in Italy, very few are found.
During the feast in honor of St. Trifone, in the “Casa Italiana,” an important community center, situated in
Chinatown, various speakers alternate at the microphone to address the public in English or Italian. In this all
Italian American occasion, each person makes of language an art. During the dinner, laughs often follow a
particularly ironic switch. In one case, a speaker starts to say, that a car has to be moved, a Mitsubishi. He
mispronounces the name of the brand in Misibusci, he looks serious. Some people shout the correct
pronunciation, and he, after a few other attempts, concludes with a Mister Bush, to which the audience
answer with roaring laughing.
In his analysis of the Tewa culture, Kroskrity writes that “Code-switching provides a means of formulating
the relevant social identity to be invoked. But though the languages are symbolic of these identities they are,
in accord with their complex associations with these groups, quite multivocal.” (1993:200). And codeswitching
itself, then, can be seen as a way of indexing, of showing to the audience the frame of reference,
the guide to the meaning through the labyrinth of multiple “personae” of the speaker. In fact code-switching
is also a “Contextualization Cue” (Gumperz, 1992), a way of revealing to the listener the point “from which”
the speaker is looking at the encounter. Thus, code-switching is communicative and metacommunicative at
the same time.
II. Code-Switching as part of the Italian American Code.
Code-switching is so common in the Italian American speech, that various scholars have considered it to be
part and characteristic of the Italian-English code (Di Pietro, 1976 & 1977). This already reveals the
importance and extent that it retains for the Italian Americans. Given the various regional origins of the
Italian-Americans, a large number of codes are available to them. Today, of the approximately 20 million
Italian-Americans, 3.9 million has claimed to talk Italian as their first language (Correa-Zoli, 1981:243;
Fishman, 1978; De Mauro, 1970). Between the Italian languages and English, a language “of passage” has
been used especially in the past, which I call Ital-English. This is formed by the following: 1) English loanwords
adapted phonologically and morphologically. 2) Loan shifts from English. 3) Use of a mixed grammar
(Di Pietro, 1961; La Sorte, 1985:166-167). 4) Code-switches (Correa-Zoli, 1981:247). There seem to be some
words that are constantly rendered in English. Many of them are interjections, like ainó, English I know.
III. The Research.
The data on which I base my analysis, were gathered as part of a research on the Italian American community
in Los Angeles, and their communicative construction of ethnic identity. They consist of three main kinds: 1)
naturally occurring conversations, gathered in the homes of my Italian American linguistic consultants. 2)
Uses of code-switching in writing, gathered through a close reading of the main Italian American newspaper,
“LíItaloAmericano”. 3) Uses of code-switching at the dinner meeting of an Italian American club, the
IAYALA (Italian American Young Adults of Los Angeles). I used videotaping and/or tape-recording. I then
built lists of all the occurrences of code-switching. The codes involved are English, Italian, and in minor
measure the regional Italian dialects, and various examples of what has been called the Italian-English code.
Each of them plays a part in the presentation of the Italian American self, and of their cultural belonging. In
particular, I am mainly interested here in switches between Italian and English.
The pattern of usage of the code-switching is significant, and revealing, in itself. Contrary to other cultures,
like the Tewa studied by Kroskrity (1993) and the Nahuatl studied by Hill (1985), where the
mixing/switching of codes is regarded as a breach in adequate performance, and derided (as a symbol of
cultural loss), for the Italian American in Los Angeles, code-switching and mixing is almost proudly
displayed. Myers-Scotton (1983) has suggested that given a “set of rights and obligations” between the
speaker and the audience, code-switching can be the expected choice in the conversation, that she defines as
“un-marked” (1983:122) or the un-expected choice (marked) (1983:116-117). For the Italian Americans,
which code is marked or un-marked depends a lot from the context. In most occasions, among Italian
Americans, the use of code-switching is the unmarked choice in conversation. Code-switching is “expected.”
The conversation may be entirely in English, though a few words and phrases in Italian or in the dialects, are
inserted into it, almost to create the legitimization of the encounter as Italian American.
Myers-Scotton indicates that the un-marked use of code-switching is found in communities and groups that
tend to stress a multicultural identity: “code switching implicates at least two different right-and-obligations
sets and therefore symbolizes the dual identities of the bilingual speakers.” (1983:122), and then “in certain
conventionalized exchanges, this means establishing or affirming multiple identities by using more than one
code.” (1983:123). This is definitely the case for the Italian Americans, who often strife to keep a balance
between their Italian and American selves.
Since an ethnic identity is connected to the choice of a certain linguistic code, a double, or multiple
identification can be represented more closely through a switch. This use of code-switching, is not unique to
the Italian Americans. The Puerto Ricans studied by Fishman (1971) and the Kenyans studied by Myers-
Scotton (1983) would act in very similar ways. In each case, a stress on multiple cultural or ethnic identities
was important and relevant to the individual.
One problem with Myers-Scotton is that she tends to generalize too much and to forget the singularity of each
encounter (and of each culture). One of the criticism done by Gal (1987) to Myers-Scotton and other has been
her lack of consideration of context. On the contrary, Gal, in her work, “interprets the differences in code
switching practices as diverse forms of resistance to symbolic domination within a historical and politicaleconomic
context.” (1987:637). The specificity of Italian American code-switching practices have been
shaped by the history of the immigration to America and its causes, the encounter between the various Italian
regional cultures and their resistance to the American reality. While the Italian Americans encourage codeswitching,
other cultures, like the Tewa studied by Kroskrity (1993:34), or like the Hungarians in Austria
studied by Gal (1987:644), prefer to follow a strict compartmentalization as a different way to obtain the
same end: preserve and affirm multiple identities.
Following is a series of examples from two different occasions. The first was a dinner meeting of the
IAYALA, held at an Italian restaurant in Rosemead. Here is the first example:
EXAMPLE #1
F1: Io (.) adesso (0.50) I reached my maximum.
I, now
M1: Signorina!
miss!
F2: Forza un po:í
come on, a little bit
??: [ ( )]
M1?: [(cíeí la)- uníaltra] pietanza che viene
there is the- another dish coming
F1: no: pietanza [( )
no dish
M2?: [come no? Eí, [( )
what do you mean no? It is
F1: [io iícaffeí, e sto::
I the coffee, and I am
F2: ma cíeí anche il dessert
but there is also the dessert
F1: Eh anche il desert, oh::: my goodne:ss, the diet is rui:ned!
Hu: also the dessert,
Two women, (F1 and F2) and a man (M1) are talking. Both women, when they code-switch to Italian, are
producing un-grammatical phrases with a strong American accent, indicating a limited proficiency in Italian.
Moreover, F2 shows traces of Tuscan-Italian dialect. On the contrary, M1 speaks Italian in a native way, with
a Southern accent. Given the effort that F1 and F2 do to speak Italian, it is natural to ask: why do they codeswitch?
If we consider code-switching the un-marked choice, then it appears easier to explain what happens.
Even if a person cannot really code-switch because he or she does not have a sufficient knowledge of the
other code, he/she just need to produce a few words, to achieve the “un-markedness”. The Italian American
code posses a pool of words, and even sentences, which are known and can be deployed by anybody. Thus,
when code-switching cannot happen in substance, it happens symbolically. For the Italian Americans,
speaking Italian is a positive quality, but not a necessary one to belong to the community. Then those few
words are tokens. They are a way of displaying belonging.
The way Ital-English is used is also worth noting here. Some of its terms, while being now useless as
substitutes of English, may have assumed a symbolic value especially for their capacity to segment a
coherent Italian-American identity both from an Italian and an American one. Even one Ital-English word, in
the right place, can be enough to reposition yourself inside the Italian American identity. A way of saying
which has become proverbial, like “mangia! mangia!” (eat! eat!) could be an example. The word reminds
Italian Americans of a specific character of their identity: the food choices and eating habits. In LíItalo-
Americano, “Mangia! Mangia!” is the title of the page dedicated to recipes and reviews of restaurants.
The second occasion is a dinner in an Italian American home, on November 1994. The hosts were Robert and
Eni. Eniís aunt, Ada, her son Renzo, and I were also present. Notice that the code-switching is between
English and Tuscan(Roman)Italian. Robert, the only person not of Tuscan descent, does not speak Italian
fluently. He speaks English and Piedmontese languages. I encountered tens of occurrences of code-switching.
I try therefore to pinpoint trends among them.
First, we have to distinguish among: 1) intra-turn switches; 2) inter-turn Switches; 3) Switches between turns
that repeat the same semantic content (this last is very frequent in my data). According to Gal, these switches
appear to facilitate the integration in the conversation of people with different capacity (proficiency) in the
use of the two codes (1987:642). The majority of the occurrences of code-switching I found are inter-turn.
This creates a continuous re-negotiation of the codes used. The overall pattern shows a continuous series of
shifts, were the conversation will be held in one code by everybody, then a person switches, then the others
switch, following, and finally the conversation is held in the other code, then the cycle repeats. Here is an
example:
EXAMPLE # 6
B: Do you know what she- do you know what she brought?
?: hu?
B: A rosemary plant.
E: [ O : h l o s o : ] I kno[w that
O:h I know
L: [(a rosemary plant)]
A: [e e e:: [basil- basol- [basilico vi[a
basil, thatís it
L: [a geranium
B: [yeah ( ) [( )
E: [and geranium
B: and [geranium too. ( ] ) mine died
E: [míha portato ël tremarino]
she brought me the rosemary
E: I kno:w, what are we [going to do] with this one?
B: [after all- ]
A: Eí ha la barba giaí quello li percheí eí- eí haí- haí visto ha messo gia::í-
It has the roots (in Tuscan, but in Italian it means ëbeardí) already, that one, because d- d- did you- did you see it has already
E: Come ha la barba?
What do you mean it has the beard?
A: Ha giaí le radiche.
It has already the roots. (this is also a Tuscan term, the Italian would be: radici)
E: Ohoh okey.
Second, the whole dinner can be seen as a continuous code-switch due to the presence of two people (Robert
and Ada) that always use different languages (English and Italian). In general I noticed the following: 1)
Robert and Ada code-switch very little. This is connected to their limited mastery of the other language. 2)
Renzo and myself code-switch a lot. 3) Eni code-switches the most. This could be connected to her attempt to
keep the situation together.
We have to consider the position that each participants has in the conversation. Kroskrity, quoting Heller
(1988), writes: “code-switching is typical of only those members of a community who find themselves ëat the
boundary of social groups.í” (1993:224), but then he continues commenting: “It is important to locate this
boundary not so much ëbetweení groups as ëwithiní individuals and to view it as less a preexisting imposition
and more a continuously achieved creation.” (1993:224). Eni, as the host and relative to the visitor, and as the
one who invited me, has this task. In other words, she seems to be making an effort to create a cultural bridge.
She code-switches the most because she is “at the boundary”, not of the Italian American community, but in
the context of the dinner, the boundary is “within” her.
Both Robert and Ada code-switch to facilitate the exchange, to go toward each other. Here is an example:
EXAMPLE # 9
E: Eí a lu li piace (.) eh- alla Piemontese ci mettono prima il formaggio =
He likes it uh- Piedmontese style, they put the cheese first
B: Yeah. Zia, eí:: vino?
Aunt, uh:: wine?
A: dove líhai ël [formaggio?]
where is the cheese?
B: [( ] [((coughing)) poco vino?]
little wine?
A: [ (si) no no ] now,
Particular patterns of usage of codes and CS can index, or constitute a claim to, the particular position of a
participant in the society, respect to the other people present. Adaís avoidance of English, for example, is
very meaningful: she is the Italian matron (as the others recognize). She is the past. She is Italy. She does not
need (or does not recognize to need) to build a bridge. She is the anchor to the other world. She is, for the
whole family, a point of reference. The marked choice is un-marked in her case. Again, the principle must be
shaped to an analysis of actual participants. A particularly interesting example, for my analysis of the
communication of ethnic identity, is the following:
EXAMPLE # 11
E: Il bimbo: eí tutto su- eí tutto ((Robertís surname)) quel bimbino, oh ddio zia =
the child looks all like his- he looks all ((surname)) that small child, oh my god aunt
B: = (ma) líeí [bel
but he is beautiful ((in Pedmontese))
E: [Se lo mettano- se lo- se lo mettan nella strada [ di ] Bosconero,=
If they put him- if- if they put him in the street of Bosconero,
B: [Zia]
Aunt
B: = quíl cití Zia líeí proprio bel!
that child, aunt, is really beautiful ((in Piedmontese))
(0.5)
A: ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
V: hh hh ha ha ha hh
In this case one of the participants, Robert, code-switches to a code that the others cannot understand:
Piedmontese. This is a strongly marked choice, and is very meaningful. According to Myers-Scotton (1983),
the use of the marked choice indicates a “Disidentification” of the speaker. By code-switching to
Piedmontese, Robert can be seen as in opposition to the definition that the others are doing of “Italian” as
“Tuscan”. This does not imply a refusal or an attempt to change the un-marked choice, but more of a
dissociation from it, or a reminder to the participants that other choices are possible.
For the Italian Americans, code-switching is also a display. It can hint at possible identities, even when they
may not be immediately relevant. Code-switching as display can be used almost to the point of limit, past
which there could be a breakage in communication. The Piedmontese phrase, thus, is a marked use of codeswitching
— it is notable and relevant — it furnishes a strong statement about the speaker and the audience. It
can be as strong as an overt pronominal use of the kind “we, Italians”, or “I, Piedmontese” (Kroskrity,
1993:198). Or it can be just un-noticeable, depending on who, how, when it is used. In this case codeswitching
is wanted, it is chosen Bilingualism, and therefore probably more conscious, than the un-marked
kind, which seems to be in general unconscious/subconscious. I will come back to this when talking about
code-switching in the newspaper.
Code-switching must also be understood. The audience must be able and willing to recognize it as
“Contextual Cue”. They must be able to understand the codes involved and the referential meaning of the
identities displayed. The audience also has to agree with that meaning. Notice how humor is the answer to
Robertís switch to Piedmontese, but only by those who understood that that was Piedmontese: me and Ada.
Renzo remained silent and later asked for explanations. In this sense in communication the construction of
ethnic identity is a co-construction. The audience must accept to play by the rules that the speaker id
proposing, or can refuse to do it, or again, can negotiate.
It is exactly to help us to understand this negotiation, that I found useful to keep the distinction between
metaphoric and situational code-switching. Even if in conversation they are more often than not so
interrelated that a distinction could be totally arbitrary, they can be seen as referring to different phases of the
negotiation for the construction of ethnic identity. Metaphorical code-switching is in itself a proposal.
Situational code-switching is a negotiation (refusal/acceptance/answer) to that proposal. Kroskrity writes:
“While situational code-switching is mostly guided by functional considerations of setting and participants,
metaphorical code-switching is guided by more expressive concerns, which provide an important source of
insights about the connotative meaning of these codes to their speakers.” (1993:193). Here is an example of a
series of code-switches, including a metaphorical one at the end:
EXAMPLE # 13
B: Do you want a beer?
R: no thank you.
B: do you want a soda?
(1.40) ((negative head movement from Renzo))
B: ma niente?
but nothing?
(0.75)
E: Renzo io nun tíinvito piuí
Renzo, Iím not going to invite you any longer
R: thank you
E: questíaltra volta por[tithe
next time you will bring
R: [thatís fine
E: Porti i- i- il (1.2) la scatolina col tu mangiare dentro.
You will bring the small box with your food inside
A: [Ha ha ha ha
V: [h h h h
E: youíll bring a bag lunch.
A: he he he he
Here Eni tries to make a joke in Italian, then repeats it in English, finding a problem in the absence of a
corresponding Italian expression for the English “bag lunch”. Metaphorical code-switching can also be
associated with particular fields of knowledge (Kroskrity, 1993:201). In general, there seems to be a clear
tendency to code-switch to Italian when talking about Italian food. Also, less defined, a tendency to codeswitch
to Italian when talking about Italian origins of the person(s). I observed quite consistent switches to
English, instead, in talking about modern technologies, the workplace, banks and finances, taxes, etc.
The situational code-switching is also relevantly used alongside the metaphorical, since it answers to the need
of being understood by those Italian Americans who do not understand Italian. These are the majority today.
In this way code-switching can assume an important meaning even in contexts in which many of the
participants are practically monolingual in English. Of course, when not all the participants are bilingual,
each code-switch with include some and exclude others. Here is an example from the IAYALA dinner
meeting:
EXAMPLE # 3
F1: Prendi un cucchiaio
take a spoon
M1: (ma) te deí mangiaí colla forchetta?
(but) do you have to eat with the fork?
(1.5)
F1: Yes, prendi un cucchiaio
take a spoon
??: ( )
F1: ( ) just take my spoon.
Schieffelin writes: “code-switching can serve as an important means of repairing as well as facilitating
conversation, in addition to being an important resource in establishing social identities.” (1994:31). This
appears clearer in those instances in which a phrase is repeated in both languages. Code-switching keeps the
conversation going, and thus the relationship among the present.
IV. Code-Switching in Writing.
The fact that code-switching and code-mixing are used in writing, is another prove of their being sanctioned
as correct usage. Very little could pass through the editorial press un-noticed. This, in turn, proposes again the
problem of the level of consciousness at which the decision to code-switch is made. In fact, even if
conversational code-switching is usually done sub- or un-consciously, in the case of writing some kind of
conscious choice (not to eliminate the code-switching in the editing) must have been made.
LíItalo-Americano is the only weekly Italian American newspaper in Los Angeles. The entire newspaper is
built bilingually, with sections and articles in Italian and in English. The majority of the code-switches are
done in the commercials, although they can be found in the articles and editorials as well. Myers-Scotton
talks about the initial use of various codes by the speakers as “showing their wares” (1983:126). A lot of
“showing our wares” goes on in the Italian American communication. In the commercials, the code-switching
could be an explicit address to the duality/multiplicity of the identity of the readers. A multiplicity that the
commercials affirm to share, like a promise of a possible understanding (you should buy from us, because we
are like you, because we can understand each other). They also furnish a hard ground (of possibilities) on
which it is based the un-marked use of code-switching. Also, the use of Italian words seem to give to the
statements more truthfulness. It makes things look more genuine or real. Here are two examples:
EXAMPLE # 16 — 5/11/95, p. 8, Commercial:
Music for all occasions – per tutte le vostre serate di successo –
for all of your successful evenings
chiamate “The Sicilian Band” –
call
EXAMPLE #20 — 8/31/95, p. 12, from the article “Festa Italiana – North Bay Italian Cultural Foundation”:
An abbondanza of Italian cuisine from A to Z – antipasto to zuppa – will tempt the palate
abbundance appetizer to soup
including calamari, frittata, pasta, focaccia, pizza, biscotti, polenta, sausage, spumoni,
squibs, omelette, pasta, fry-bread, pizza, biscuits, polenta, sausage, spumoni ((a kind of pastry))
cappuccino and even amaretto cheesecake. …
The Courtyard, transformed into an Italian piazza, provides tent shaded dining. Nearby are bocce ball courts,
…
bowls
In these cases, the person who does code-switching proposes him/herself as authoritative voice. He/she
requests complicity or compliance from the audience. Finally, code-switching can be also an innuendo at a
connection. For example the “caro signor/a” constantly used at the beginning of the “Letters” section:
EXAMPLE # 19 — 11/17/94, p. 21, Letters:
It was very interesting to see, and my relatives, who live in Italy, were surprised to learn about it from the
“cugino” who lives in California. S.C. — Caro Signor S.C.: Grazie for
cousin Dear Mister S.C.: Thank you for
your letter describing your visit …
V. Conclusions.
For the majority of Italian Americans, English today is the first language. The Italian language, I think,
represents the past, the identity in the sense of the heritage. Being able to use it can give prestige (Correa-
Zoli, 1981). For the Italian American parents, having been able to teach Italian to their children is a reason for
pride. It equals having kept the Italian traditions intact inside the family. For many young third and fourth
generation Italian Americans, to re-learn the language in school can be part of the search for their “roots”.
Linguistic Anthropology has demonstrated, that a common misconception of culture, is the belief that people
can be only in one culture at a time (Duranti & Ochs, 1986). Researches instead, indicate that people are
more often in-between many cultures, and they carry these with them in everyday interactions. Being inbetween
two or more ethnic identifications, not only is not painful or difficult for the Italian Americans, it is
not seen as a problem, but desirable. The perception of the self as a fully developed individual seem to be
connected, for them, to this ability of keeping the connection, being capable to live and function fully in each
and everyone of the realities that the multiple identities index.
APPENDIX
IAYALA dinner Meeting, 12/11/94, DiPillaís Restaurant in Rosemead
EXAMPLE # 2
((background noise of voices and plates moved, people eating, etc.))
??: ((laughing))
??: Ohhhh
A: Alessio! Non (cia/ce) la pi[zza la ( ), non ce líha l piatto (piuí) =
Alessio! (donít you have/isnít there) pizza the ( ), donít you have the dish any longer?
??: [Alessio
C?:
C: Vado uno de- [io prendo un- un cucchiaino perchè (dovrai [porger questa cosa) [( )
I go one of- I take a- a teaspoon because (you should pass this thing)
B: [Ohhhh [(
D: [( )
cosií sta bene (no this is good, have you got mushrooms?)
this way it looks good ((she probably means: this is good — in Italian: va bene))
A?: ( )
D: huuuu, no ma sta bene cosií.
no but it looks good this way
C: okey
D: Thank you
EXAMPLE # 4
M1: Per caso conoscete a: Pina Pizza?
By any chance, do you know Pina Pizza?
F1: Pina:?
M1: Pizza.
F2: Persico.
M1: Persico.
F1: In Fresno?
F2: [no:, here in Do[wney.
M1: [no, no [in Downey
F1: No::
F2: Cíha: una pizzeria, verso [(la) ( )
She has a pizza place, near the ( )
M1: [percheí loro (2.10) la:::: three four years ago they came
because they the::::
(to) fresno: (1.0) e hanno fatto olio.
and they made oil
(2.50)
F2: hu hu =
F1: = (when then) maybe was my pa:rents who did the olive [oil]
M1: [they wer-] they were your parents that did the oil.
Dinner at Robert and Eniís home:
EXAMPLE # 7
((voice of Ada talking to me in background, noises from the kitchen))
L: What do you making anyway?
B: polenta.
E: polenta.
L: polenta:? Coí fagioli¿
With beans?
E: no: noí ho fatto i fagioli [( )
no, I didnít make beans
L: [collíuccelli?
with birds?
E: No colla gallina e colle salsicce
No, with the hen and with sausages
L: ((sound of delusion)) pe::
E: peroí cíeí verdura ( ), poi ci ho ël formaggio
but there are vegetables ( ), and then I have cheese
L: (no thank)
E: e la gallina non la- so che carne non la mangi ma la gallina la mangi? No? Well ci ho
and the hen arenít you- I know that meat you do not eat it but the hen you eat it, right? No? Well I have
( ) [(mi sembra) ( )
I believe
B: [what do you-what do you want?( )
EXAMPLE # 8
E: Robert il vino?
Robert, the wine?
B: (ed-) the vino is right there.
( ) the wine is right there
EXAMPLE # 10
A: Allora lu un poí bere vino?
Then he cannot drink wine?
E: Niente vino
no wine
B: E:í I gu[ess IA:
[No, no moí viski no moe (boi)?
((ItalEnglish)) no, no more whiskey no more, boy?
B: Ni[ente
Nothing
E: [niente:
niente
DATA FROM “LíITALO-AMERICANO”:
EXAMPLE # 14 — 3/21/96, page 24, Calendar:
Apr. 6, Sat.: Garibaldina M. B. Society Ballo della Fratellanza. Foood Served
Brotherhood dance
6:30p.m.; Dancing 8-midnight. Tickets $4.
EXAMPLE # 15 — P. 9, Commercial:
Attenzione – Greater Bridgeportís monthly Italian-American newsletter. Il Bolllettino
Attention the bullettin
della comunitaís italiana. John Del Vecchio Editore-Riderrtore (sic) responsabile – if you
of the Italian community. Edited by John Del Vecchio- chief editor
are sponsoring an event open to the public, please send all details early to John Del Vecchio …
EXAMPLE # 17 — 5/11/95, p. 11, from the article “Líannuale ëSpring Flingí genovese” (The annual Genoese
ëSpring Flingí):
Dopo le brevi parole introduttive da parte del presidente dellíAssociazione, Jo-by
After the brief introductory speech from the president of the Association
Volunteers from the RCH ladies auxiliariy. To be presented with the 1995 banner of Love Humanitaria Award
this year will be …
EXAMPLE # 18 — 3/2/95, p. 12, from the article “A Fifth Star Appears at Four-Star Celebration”:
Ancora uníaltra cosa molto speciale. Giannina e (sic) stata giaí incoronata la regina della festa di Santa
Rosalia, 1994. Another special thing is that Giannina was already crowned Queen of the Santa Rosalia
Festival, 1994. ((repeated text))
EXAMPLE #21 — 1/12/95, p. 23, Calendar:
Jan. 21, Sat.: Garibaldina M. B. Society Ballo del Inverno. Semi-formal. Boun tempo
Winterís Dance Happy
hour 6 p.m. Dinner 7p.m. Reservations by Jan. 3.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Anisman, P. H. 1975 Some Aspects of Code Switching in New York Puerto Rican English. In Bilingual
Review/Revista Bilingue II (1-2): 56-84.
Bendix, E. H. (ed.) 1990The Uses of Linguistics. The New York Academy of Sciences, New York.
Correa-Zoli, Y. 1981. ëThe Language of Italian Americansí, in C. A. Ferguson & S. B. Heath (eds.)
Language in the USA. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
De Mauro, T. 1970. Storia Linguistica DellíItalia Unita. Laterza, Bari, Italy.
Di Pietro, R. J. 1961. Borrowing: Its Effect as a Mechanism of Linguistic Change in American Sicilian. In
General Linguistics, Vol. V, No. 1, Spring 1961.
Di Pietro, R. J. 1976 Language as a Marker of Italian Ethnicity. In Studi Emigrazione, 42: 202-217.
Di Pietro, R. J. 1977 The Need for a Language Component in the Study of Italian Americans. In S.M.
Tomasi (ed.) Perspectives in Italian Immigration and Ethnicity. Center for Migration Studies, New York.
Duranti, A. & Ochs, E. 1986 Literacy Instruction in a Samoa Village. In B.B. Schieffelin & P. Gilmore
(eds.) Acquisition of Literacy: Ethnographic Perspectives. Ablex, Norwood, NJ.
Duranti, A. & Goodwin, C. (eds.) 1992 Rethinking Context: Language as an Interactive Phenomenon.
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Eastman, C. M. (ed.) 1992 Codeswitching. Multilingual Matters, Clevedon, England.
Felson Duchan, J., Hewitt, L. E. & Sonnenmeier, R. M. (eds.) 1994 Pragmatics: From Theory to Practice.
Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
Fishman, J. A., Cooper, R. L. & Ma, R. 1971 Bilingualism in the Barrio. Indiana University, Bloomington.
Fishman, J. A. 1978. Language Loyalty in the United States. Arno Press, New York.
Gal, S. 1987 Code-Switching and Consciousness in the European Periphery. In American Ethnologist,
14:637-653.
Gumperz, J. J. 1982 Discourse Strategies. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Gumperz, J. J. 1992 Contextualization and Understanding. In A. Duranti & C. Goodwin (eds.) Rethinking
Context: Language as an Interactive Phenomenon. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Heller, M. (ed.) 1988 Codeswitching: Anthropological and Sociolinguistic Perspectives. Mouton, Berlin.
Hill, J. 1985 The Grammar of Consciousness and the Consciousness of Grammar. In American Ethnologist
12, 725-737.
Kroskrity, P. V. 1993. Language, History, and Identity: Ethnolinguistic Studies of the Arizona Tewa. Tucson:
University of Arizona press.
La Sorte, M. 1985 La Merica. Images of Italian Greenhorn Experience. Temple University Press,
Philadelphia.
Myers-Scotton, C. 1976 Strategies of Neutrality: Language Choice in Uncertain Situations. In Language 52
(4): 919-941.
Myers-Scotton, C. 1983 The Negotiation of Identities in Conversation: A Theory of Markedness and Code
Choice. In International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 44:115-136.
Myers-Scotton, C. 1993 Common and Uncommon Ground: Social and Structural Factors in Codeswitching.
In Language and Society 22 (4): 475-503.
Nagata, J. A. 1974. What is a Malay? Situational Selection of Ethnic Identity in a Plural Society. American
Ethnologist, 1:331-50.
Schieffelin, B. B. 1994 Code-Switching and Language Socialization: Some Probable Relationships. In J.
Felson Duchan, L.E. Hewitt & R.M. Sonnenmeier (eds.) Pragmatics: From Theory to Practice. Prentice Hall,
Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
Schieffelin, B. B. & Gilmore, P. (eds.) 1986 Acquisition of Literacy: Ethnographic Perspectives. Ablex,
Norwood, NJ.
Tomasi, S. M. (ed.) 1977 Perspectives in Italian Immigration and Ethnicity. Center for Migration Studies,
New York.
Zentella, A. C. 1990 Interpreting Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in the Study of Bilingual Code
Switching. In E.H. Bendix (ed.) The Uses of Linguistics. The New York Academy of Sciences, NY.
Zentella, A. C. 1990 Returned Migration, Language, and Identity: Puerto Rican Bilinguals in Dos
Worlds/Two Mundos. In International Journal Soc. Lang. 84: 81-100.
Curriculum Vitae | Work in Progress | Home
