1.1 Aim
The present study is an in-depth investigation of the Greek language spoken by immigrants in Cairns, Far North Queensland, Australia. The study aims to analyze language contact-induced changes and code switching patterns by integrating perspectives from contact linguistics and interactional approaches to language use and code switching.
Although language contact has been extensively investigated by linguists (see Aikhenvald 2002; Aikhenvald and Dixon 2001, 2006; Clyne 2003; Haugen 1953; Heine and Kuteva 2005; Johanson 2002; Matras 2009; Silva-CorvalĂĄn 1994; Thomason 2001; Thomason and Kaufman 1988; Tsitsipis 1998; Weinreich [1953] 2011; Winford 2003, among others, for important contributions to the field), to date there are very few in-depth studies of Greek varieties spoken away from Greece: Seaman (1972) on Greek spoken in the USA, and Tamis (1986) on Greek spoken in Victoria, Australia; aspects of borrowing and code switching in Greek diasporic communities are examined by Maniakas (1991), Tsokalidou (1994, 2006), Androulakis (1994), Hatzidaki (1994), Papademetre (1994), Finnis (2013, 2014), Fotiou (2010), Gardner-Chloros (1992), Gardner-Chloros and Finnis (2003), Gardner-Chloros et al. (2005), and Georgakopoulou and Finnis (2009). 1 The present study aims to fill this gap in the literature by reporting the findings of a fieldwork-based, inductive-focused investigation of the structure and use of the Greek language spoken in an Australian Greek community.
More specifically, the book explores the linguistic results of Greek-Australian English contact, with particular attention given to borrowing and code switching phenomena, 2 and it addresses key topics in language contact research such as the borrowingâcode switching continuum, factors facilitating language maintenance, and structural and interactional aspects of code switching. 3 The study brings to light original data from a speech community that has received no attention in the literature, and thus, it contributes to our understanding of the nature and extent of variation in Greek in diaspora.
In the following sections, I present the theoretical framework of the study. More specifically, the concepts of borrowing and code switching are introduced and discussed in Sect. 1.2. Borrowing is defined in Sect. 1.2.1, and lexical and grammatical borrowing, and borrowing of discourse patterns are discussed in Sects. 1.2.2 and 1.2.3, respectively. Factors facilitating language contact-induced change are analyzed in Sect. 1.2.4. Code switching is defined in Sect. 1.2.5, and structural, social and conversational aspects of code switching are discussed in Sects. 1.2.6 and 1.2.7. Section 1.3 offers a brief review of previous studies on Greek spoken in diaspora, and Sect. 1.4 presents historical and demographic information about the Greek population in Cairns. The research methodology of the study is presented in Sect. 1.5. The chapter ends with an outline of the structure of the book in Sect. 1.6.
1.2 Language Contact and Change: Setting the Scene
Languages can share grammatical categories, lexical constructions and meanings due to various reasons (see Aikhenvald 2006, pp. 1â2 for relevant discussion). Some categories may be universal features found across a number of languages. For example, in all languages nouns form an open class system (Aikhenvald 2014, p. 102). Some categories may have common linguistic origin. The grammatical category of gender, for instance, is typical of most Indo-European languages. Moreover, languages may share lexical, grammatical, or discourse features due to areal contact and borrowing. This is the focus of the present study.
According to Thomasonâs (2001, p. 62) broad definition, language contact-induced change is understood as following: âany linguistic change that would have been less likely to occur outside a particular contact situation is due at least in part to language contact.â Contact-induced changes may involve the gain or loss of a form or pattern. Namely, languages may borrow or lose a grammatical system, add a term to an existing system, or lose a term (Aikhenvald 2006, pp. 18â20). These contact-induced changes are âsystem-alteringâ (Aikhenvald 2006, p. 19), because they involve restructuring of the grammatical system and change of the languageâs typological profile. Contact-induced changes may also be âsystem-preservingâ (Aikhenvald 2006, p. 20), whereby no new categories are created or no new term is borrowed and added to an existing system.
Three types of contact situations can be identified: language maintenance, language shift, and language creation. Language maintenance occurs when a dominant group is in contact with a linguistic minority due to immigration, trade, or military invasion. This type of contact results into âunequalâ or âsubordinateâ bilingualism (Loveday 1996, p. 20), whereby the language of the dominant or majority group carries more power and prestige and influences the language of the minority group. The minority group preserves its native language with contact-induced changes from generation to generation (Winford 2003, pp. 11â12). For example, first-generation immigrants in Australia reserved their native language as the language of everyday communication at home and in the community (cf. Clyne 2003). Immigrant languages borrowed elements and patterns from the dominant language, namely English, and they were maintained over the second or third generation of speakers. In some cases, such as in Italian-English contact (cf. Clyne 2003), language maintenance declined after first-generation speakers started dying. 4 Such situations result into language shift, whereby the speech community abandons its native language completely or to some extent in favor of another language (Winford 2003, p. 15). Second- and third-generation immigrants tend to abandon the language of their parents and keep the immigrant language as a...