Aspects of code switching, code mixing and borrowing used by the older generations in Tiaret

Abstract

The present work is intended to study the speech behaviour of the older generations in Tiaret. It will also shed some light on the different language attitudes and the non-linguistic variables that may play an important role in language choice. This modest work aims first to examine the sociolinguistic situation in Algeria and to give a brief description of the different languages present on its ground. The second vital goal of this memoire is to throw some light on the attitudes that the older generations in Tiaret hold vis-à-vis their languages. The last but not least purpose of this study is to analyse the most salient sociolinguistic phenomena such as code switching, code mixing and borrowing. In order for us to examine the language attitudes of our informants, we will use a questionnaire. The latter will encompass five subsections each one dealing with a specific kind of attitude. The most important part of our work is the analysis of the data gathered. Algerian Arabic/ French code switching instances will be analysed following the models developed by Bentahila and Davies (1983) and Bouamrane (1986) who studied Moroccan Arabic/ French and Algerian Arabic / French code switching respectively.