The Nature of Code-Switching in Puerto Rican Reggaeton
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!e Nature of Code-Switching in Puerto Rican Reggaeton Music Tim Gorichanaz University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee 2 Introduction It has been established for decades that code-switching is not the hapless habit of bilinguals, but rather a healthy and useful communication tool. Recent studies have even shown that bilingual speakers use code-switching as a stylistic device (!ompson, 2011). When we talk about code-switching, we often discuss it in the context of spontaneous speech. But there are also plenty of examples of code-switching in recorded language—in music and writing, for example—which has been the subject of a sizable body of research. I am most interested in studying code-switching in hip hop music. Code-Switching in Hip Hop A few scholars have begun to investigate the linguistic issues that hip hop manifests. !is research shows that code-switching has been used in hip hop music to convey particular themes (Davies & Bentahila, 2008), aid the structure of songs, grab attention (Sarker, Winer & Sarker, 2005), reflect the linguistic situations of their provenance communities (Perullo & Fenn, 2003), and express identity. !e expression of identity includes in-group identification (Shinhee Lee, 2011), aspirational identification—called “performativity” by (Hiwatari, 2008)—and ethnic identification (Babalola & Taiwo, 2009). We will now consider each of these more deeply. In the Arabic–French rai music of north Africa, which has been influenced by hip hop music both in style and content, words of certain domains tend to appear in a particular language. For example, discussions of love are almost exclusively expounded in French (Davies & Bentahila, 2006). Code-switching, therefore, can be used to signal topic change, taking on a structural function. !is device has also been observed in songwriting and written language in general throughout history. Historical linguist Tore Janson, for example, notes that music in the thirteenth century as well as ancient Greek writings employed different languages and dialects to discuss different topics (1991). 3 Code-switching can also support the structure of a song in other ways. Instead of being used to distinguish topics, for example, it could be used to distinguish sections of a song. Rai music has been shown to exhibit this: !e artist might sing the chorus of the song primarily in one language and the verses primarily in another, perhaps as a way to reformulate the message for the other group (Davies & Bentahila, 2006). !e authors concluded that the common language is generally used for the verses, which convey the story, while the language of the international community—the secondary audience—is used to provide “a minimal expression of the main theme” (p. 203). Considering structure in a more tactile sense, code-switching is also used to facilitate rhyme, which is vital to hip hop music. As Sarkar, Winer and Sarkar said, “!e use of rhyme in rap lyrics—both final and internal—is crucial to the success of any rap number” (2005, p. 2070). Fortunately for bilinguals, the available lexicon is effectively multiplied by the number of languages in use, allowing for more opportunities to rhyme. It was noted that in Montreal hip hop, “rappers draw on all possible linguistic sources in their rhyming” (Sarkar, Winer & Sarkar, 2005, p. 2070). It was found that line-ending words are often in languages other than the song’s primary language for the purpose of creating rhyme. Grabbing attention is another function of code-switching that was observed in Montreal hip hop. Rappers often use words with a vocative function at the ends of lines or as appositives in order to address the listener (or as an apostrophe, addressing another character in the song’s story) (Sarkar, Winer & Sarkar, 2005). Whereas the code-switching functions described above could be considered among the technical aspects of songwriting, code-switching can also be used stylistically in order to strengthen the song’s message. For example, code-switching in rai is sometimes used in the same way that north African bilinguals speak every day. In other words, the code-switching patterns of the music mimic those of common life in a specific region or social context. Because it is used to 4 symbolize the “identity of a very specific ethnic or social group,” this qualifies as an example of localization as defined by Davies and Bentahila (2002, p. 205). Seemingly contradictorily, code- switching in rai has also been seen as a symptom of globalization, or the expanding of a message for a wider audience; French is often used for the chorus, for example, because it is more accessible to a wider audience than Arabic (Davies & Bentahila, 2002). Another symptom of globalization in popular music is code-switching as mimesis. !is has been observed in rappers who imitate the successful American rappers they adopt as behavioral models (Nilep, 2006). Interestingly, these colluding phenomena of globalization and localization are very often at play in this field, leading researchers to engender to a lovechild phenomenon known as “glocalization,” or simultaneous globalization and localization (Wellman & Hampton, 1999). Code-switching in hip hop can also be used as a marker of identity. !is is unsurprising, given that language is a crucial—and changeable—aspect of identity, whereas certain other aspects of identity cannot be changed (race, for example). It has been discussed that youth in some cultures use code-switching to forge a common group and identity for themselves, allowing them to dissociate from their elders (Nilep, 2006). We have also seen that musical artists see themselves as symbols of their communities, and they use code-switching to explicitly mark themselves as such (Davies & Bentahila, 2006). In these ways, code-switching is used to establish an in-group identity. We have also seen code-switching used to communicate ethnicity. In order to do so, artists must demonstrate certain ethnic group markers to others, which can either be accepted or scrutinized. (Trimble & Dickson, 2004). For example, though Nigerian hip hop generally uses English as the primary language, artists often code-switch into a variety of minority languages in order to identify with their roots (Babalola & Taiwo, 2009). Another aspect of expressing identity is performativity, or the ongoing performance of cultural and social markers that are used to continually and precisely define an identity. 5 According to Rampton, identity and ethnicity can be declared (performed) through code- switching. In this way, speakers are able to communicate who they want to be perceived to be, rather than who their interlocutor understands them to be (perhaps from previous experience or racial prejudice) (1998). For example, Korean hip hop artists often use African American English lexical items to label themselves as macho individuals—a value that dominates hip hop culture. !ese words relate to the aspirational identities of the Korean artists (Shinhee Lee, 2011). Moreover, these types of group markers are strong: !ey are increasingly recognized by people who don’t even speak English (Sarkar, Winer & Sarkar, 2005). !e Markedness Model of Code-Switching As we have seen, code-switching has been employed in hip hop music to numerous ends. To begin to make sense of this, it can be helpful to consider this phenomenon in light of a theoretical model. Scholars in this field have used the Myers–Scotton Markedness Model of code-switching to frame their discussions, and I will do the same in my research. !e Markedness Model assumes that humans have an innate markedness metric that enables speakers to, first of all, interpret the usage of a particular language in a particular situation in terms of appropriateness (Meeuwis & Blommaert, 1994). In short, the an utterance would be considered unmarked if it used the code that would be considered most appropriate or common in a given situation. !is definition, of course, requires a shared understanding among community members of each language’s role in a particular context (Nilep, 2006). What can be accomplished by code-switching, according to this model? “Speakers are creative actors,” say Mendieta-Lombardo and Cintron, “who manage communicative skills according to what they want to accomplish” (1995, p. 566). In other words, they code-switch to further their goals in a communicative task. In the case of recorded language such as writing and music, one of these goals may be to mark identity—either to establish foreignness or to call 6 attention to a cultural nuance—and to illustrate how code-switching is used in real life. Mendieta-Lombardo and Cintron discuss this ability as the establishment of a “fraternal relationship with the reader” or audience who identifies with them. !ey go on to say that “such a fraternity is not going to stand on formality,” meaning that such constructed intimacy depends on the unmarked employment of code-switching (1995, p. 570). !e Present Study !is research gives us a solid ground in which to continue exploration, though it has some limitations. For example, it seems that no study has done a diachronic analysis of the evolution of code-switching in hip hop lyrics. Is it not possible that the nature of code-switching in these lyrics has changed over time? Another limitation of current research is that, though the research has surveyed code- switching in hip hop in several places around the world, there are still many areas and linguistic situations that have so far gone unrepresented. For example, so far no research has systematically analyzed Spanish–English hip hop lyrics. In fact, very little writing seems to have been done on Spanish–English hip hop in general; I was unable to find any articles treating the subject beyond anecdotal references. Doing so seems prudent because the Spanish–English bilingual situation is the most salient one in the United States, which is where most of the research in this field has been presented, and where hip hop originated.