Code-Switching and Code-Mixing: Insights into Portuguese-Umbundu Speakers in Huambo (Angola)

Abstract

This empirical research focuses on the dynamics of language contact in the province of Huambo (Angola), in the interaction between Portuguese and Umbundu speakers. The study sought to address two issues which were investigated in the corpus: (i) How do Portuguese and Umbundu speakers in Huambo switch their respective codes? ii) What social circumstances determine how Code-switching (CS) and Code-mixing (CM) occur between these speakers? This work employed the focus group methodological approach in an effort to encourage natural interaction among the speakers. The conversations of the three groups were recorded, namely group 1 (aged 12 to 17), group 2 (aged 18 to 27) and group 3 (aged 28 onwards). The aim was to trace the sociolinguistic variables that forced speakers to frequently switch between different codes. The findings obtained from the study suggest that the speakers performed CS and CM in the three groups sampled. Interestingly, the study also discovered that the age factor influences how frequently CS and CM are used. Theoretically, this research is grounded in the Language Contact theory with the main focus on the work of Inverno (2006Inverno ( , 2011Figueiredo and Oliveira (2013); Oliveira (2014) and Formal Grammar for Code-switching (see Sankoff and Poplack, 1981).

The ontology of diversity and open borders phenomenon in the Southern African development community region: an ethico-political enquiry.

“…Numerous Angolans of African descent spoke Portuguese as a second or third language. The country has approximately 100 distinct groups, languages, or dialects (Daniel, 2022).…”