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MACANESE IDENTITY : CODE─SWITCHING AND CODE MIXING IN THE MACANESE COMMUNITY IN MACAO澳門土生葡人的身份認同：澳門土生葡人族群中的語碼轉換及混碼

This study examines how Macanese ethnolinguistic identity is constructed and negotiated through code-switching and code-mixing practices in Macao. Building on interactional sociolinguistics, the article argues that mixed-language choices are not merely stylistic or referential but perform social act...

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Published in:Review of Culture
Main Author: Linda Lam Ho
Format: Articles
Published: Instituto Cultural de Macau October 2011
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Articles
Online Access:https://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/pdfViewerParts/40040/3124
Summary:This study examines how Macanese ethnolinguistic identity is constructed and negotiated through code-switching and code-mixing practices in Macao. Building on interactional sociolinguistics, the article argues that mixed-language choices are not merely stylistic or referential but perform social actions that index alignment, solidarity, and group belonging in situated discourse. Methodologically, the author adopts Gumperz’s (1982) framework of “we/they-codes” and Myers-Scotton’s (1993) view of code-switching as an interactionally unmarked option, analyzing patterns of switching and mixing among Cantonese, English, Mandarin, and Portuguese within Macanese community speech events. The analysis focuses on three dimensions: (1) social motivations for switching/mixing, (2) discourse functions served by particular mixed codes, and (3) recurrent interactional patterns. The study finds that communicative selection of languages and varieties is closely tied to how speakers position themselves with respect to ethnic boundaries and shared identity claims. Rather than functioning as random alternation, code-switching and code-mixing operate as systematic resources for managing participation, signaling in-group affiliation, and sustaining a distinct Macanese identity amid Macao’s multilingual and postcolonial sociolinguistic landscape.
ISSN:1682-1106

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