Code-switching functions in online advertisements on Snapchat

Abstract

Code-switching is a well-researched phenomenon. However, little research has been conducted on code-switching in orally communicated advertisements on social media despite social media platforms witnessing the birth of many linguistic trends and having an impact on the linguistic behaviour of their users. To bridge this gap, the current study investigates the functions of Arabic-English code-switching in advertisements made by Saudi influencers on Snapchat. The data comprise 4000 words produced by 40 advertisers (20 male and 20 female, 100 words each). The advertisers, who belong to the same age group, advertised for a range of products and targeted mostly monolingual Saudi users of Snapchat. The sample produced 102 instances of switching from Arabic to English. The most common function in the data consisted of switching for availability (n = 78), but other functions were observed (quotation n = 9, specifying addressee n = 5, interjection n = 7, reiteration n = 1, and message qualification n = 2). The potential reasons for the higher frequency of switching for availability are discussed, and venues for future research are suggested.

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“…It allows individuals to draw on their multilingual repertoire to express certain ideas or emotions more effectively, create rapport, or indicate group membership (Brdarević-Čeljo et al, 2021;Stavans & Porat, 2019). Code-switching serves as a resource for communication, enabling members to navigate between languages and bridge linguistic gaps, ensuring mutual understanding (Almoaily, 2023;Cesaria et al, 2023).…”