Nepali-English Code-Switching in the Conversations of Nepalese People a Sociolinguistic Study
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DOCTORAL THESIS Nepali-English code-switching in the conversations of Nepalese people A sociolinguistic study Gurung, Dinesh Award date: 2019 General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 02. Oct. 2021 Nepali-English Code-switching in the Conversations of Nepalese People: A Sociolinguistic Study by Dinesh Gurung [M A, PGDE] A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of PhD Department of Media, Culture and Language University of Roehampton 2018 Declaration I, Dinesh Gurung, confirm that this is my own work and the use of all materials from other sources has been properly and fully acknowledged and the material has not been submitted previously, either in whole or in part, for a Degree at any other University. ------------------------------ Dinesh Gurung 2 Abstract This thesis investigates and documents the mixing of English elements at various levels in the conversation of the Nepalese people irrespective of their age groups, gender, education level, professions and geographical locations. The objectives of this research are to find out- the extent of mixing English in the conversation of the Nepalese people; groups of people by social variables mixing English more; the reasons for mixing English; the role of media and education in mixing English and finally the impact of Nepali- English language contact on Nepali language. I employed both primary and secondary data for this research; questionnaire survey with individual and group interview followed by the recording of the natural conversation of the people, the first hand empirical evidence of mixing English in the natural settings. Furthermore, I observed and analysed relevant Nepali-English mixed data from various domains such as print media, broadcasting media and education institutions. The structural analysis of the Nepali-English code-switching data from both primary and secondary sources evinces that the English elements from lexical level, clausal and phrasal level to sentence level are mixed in the conversation of the Nepalese people. The Nepali-English code-switching data are dominated more at lexical levels specifically by English nouns indicatiing contact-induced potential lexical loss of Nepali retaining the morpho-syntactic rules of the Nepali language. Intra-sentential and inter-sentential code- switching are evident in the code-switching data of Nepali-English language pairs. The English embedded language island is placed in a mixed sentence according to the Nepali grammar without violating the English grammar structure. The main reason for mixing the English elements is to facilitate conversation. This research identified mixing English elements in the conversation of the Nepalese people is influenced by professions, 3 education level and geographical locations. However, no significant difference was identified among the age group and gender group in mixing English in their conversations. Nepali-English mixed language has emerged as a dialect in the Nepali speech community through the recurrent use of the English elements in the Nepali conversation. This research adds Nepali-English code-switching study carried out based on the existing code-switching theories studied outside Nepal to the literature of the world code- switching study. The documentation of Nepali-English CS in this thesis bears significance at the time when teaching English has become global and has no more limited to its first language speakers. This study further provides platform to discuss the idea of trans-languaging in English language pedagogy. Similarly, this study provides empirical evidences to show that English is gradually developing as a second language in Nepal. 4 Acknowledgement This PhD project would not have been in this shape, had there not been support from my respected supervisors. I am deeply indebted to my supervisors- Dr. Eva Duran Eppler for the patient guidance, regular encouragement, advice with constructive comments and easy accessibility she has provided through out this PhD project, late Prof. Tope Omoniyi for his insightful guidance until just before the end of this research project and Prof. Anastassia Zabrodskaja for her constructive comments and feedback to complete the PhD. I have been extremely lucky to have Dr. Eva Duran Eppler as my co-supervisor now Director of studies, who cared so much about my work, my health and who responded to my every query so promptly. I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to Sarah Gartland and Jane Davies for their academic support at the initial stages of the research work. I would also like to extend my sincere gratitude to Daniel Rukstelis for stat support and to Dr. Lewis Ward for proof reading the document. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Dr. Bharat Devkota for his intellectual insight and technical support provided through out this PhD research generously and relentlessly. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Dr. Stephen Heming, Dr. Damodor Panta and Mr. Bharat Paudel for their encouragement and support. Dr. Hari Prasad Timilsina and Dr. Gandhi Subedhi also deserve my sincere gratitude for their encouragement. My sincere thanks also go to Mr. Keshav Phuyal and Mr. Milan Gurung for their kind assistance in field work and all the participants involved in different government and non- government organizations who supported me in providing me their insightful ideas and 5 thoughts on the research topics and also allowing me to audio-record their conversation for this PhD research project. My family members father Mr. Hasta Bahadur Gurung, brothers – Mr. Ramesh Gurung and Mr. Umesh Gurung, my sisters Mrs.Kausila Gurung and Mrs.Kalpana Gurung also deserve thanks for their continuous encouragement. Likewise, thanks go to my sister-in- law advocate Mr. Raju Gurung (Chairman of Shiranchowk Gaun Palika, Gorkha) for facilitating conducive situation in Nepal for my study in UK. My sincere thanks go to my father-in-law Mr Karna Bahadur Gurung and mother-in-law Mrs. Hari Maya Gurung. My massive thank goes to my better half Shyam Kumari Gurung for her relentless support to complete this PhD and my sons: Diwash and Biplav Gurung. 6 Table of Contents Declaration ........................................................................................................................ 2 Abstract ............................................................................................................................. 3 Acknowledgement............................................................................................................. 5 Table of Contents .............................................................................................................. 7 List of Tables................................................................................................................... 14 List of Figures ................................................................................................................. 15 List of Pictures ................................................................................................................ 15 Chapter 1: Introduction and Overview ............................................................................ 17 1.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 17 1.2 Background to the Study ................................................................................... 17 1.3 Research Objectives and Methods .................................................................... 21 1.3.1 Aims and Objectives of the Research .......................................................... 22 1.3.2 Research Questions ...................................................................................... 22 1.3.3 Rationale of the Research ............................................................................. 23 1.3.4 Research Methodology ................................................................................. 24 1.3.5 Organization of the Thesis ........................................................................... 24 Chapter 2: The Sociolinguistics of Multilingualism in Nepal ........................................ 26 2.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 26 2.2 Languages Spoken in Nepal and Their Status .................................................. 26 2.2.1 Caste and Ethnic Languages ........................................................................ 29 2.2.1.1 Spoken Caste and Ethnic Languages .................................................... 30 2.2.1.2 Written Caste and Ethnic Languages .................................................... 31 2.3 The Nepali Language .......................................................................................