Chinese―English Code―switching in Campus Advertisements

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【Abstract】This paper aims to analyze chinese-english code-switching in campus advertisements by the linguistic adaptation theory. Through the interpretation of the specific examples， the communicative goals are achieved by adaptation of linguistic reality， social convention and psychological motivations. Code-switching has significant pragmatic value in campus advertisements and makes the communication efficient.

【Key words】Code-switching； Advertisement； the Adaptation Theory

The term Code refers to any kind of system that people employ for communication. People may switch from one code to another and create a new code in a process known as code-switching （CS）， which has been a great concern of many linguists since 1970s， including Gumperz， Myers-Scotton， Poplack， etc. They have studied it from different perspectives and ways. The theory of linguistic adaptation is first put forward by Jef Verschueren， and he believes that why people could make choices in language use is because language has three hierarchically related properties： variability， negotiability and adaptability. Based on his theory， Yu Guodong analyzes the Chinese-English CS from the linguistic pragmatic perspective and develops his own adaptation model. In his opinion， communicators realize communicative goals by employing flexible principles： adaptation of linguistic reality， social convention and psychological motivations. The code-switching in campus advertisements will be analyzed from the three aspects.

In terms of Chinese-English CS， adaptation to linguistic reality refers to the adaptation to the linguistic existence and properties of Chinese and English respectively. As a result of different language systems， it is difficult to find equivalent words in both languages. Recent years， increasing number of high-tech lexicon， especially computer words， spring up like mushrooms in our lives， such as QQ， MSN， E-mail. Take e-mail as an example. The accounts of it are conventionally expressed in English， and it has already been a kind of linguistic reality. In order to adapt to this specific linguistic convention， the communicators have to use English to express those e-mail accounts because of their irreplaceability.

各位MM 们：本店以超低价推出新款指甲油，欢迎来店咨询！

This advertisement is specially designed to sell the products that girls love. Since Internet has played an important part in our lives， this online word MM， which refers to “美眉”， is often used to shorten the distance and increase the affinity of girls， therefore laying a good foundation for persuading them to buy.

C. Adaptation to psychological motivations

Psychological motivations refer to the speakers’ spontaneous motives behind their performing of a specific act of Chinese-English CS. The speakers’ motives influence or even decide not only what to say but how to say， namely how to construct their discourse. According to Yu， this kind of CS may be regarded as humor-creating strategy， saliency strategy， solidarity-building strategy， fashion strategy， etc.

The fashion strategy is quite common in the CS adapted to psychological motivations. Under the background of globalization， many enterprises and shops have their own English names， just like the “China Telecom” in its advertisement. In college campus， even some small shops only have English names， such as “59 Store”， which reflects people’s pursuit for fashion. In addition， understanding English seems to be a symbol of high education and dignity. Because of the merchants’ intention to show their fashion sense and increase students’ interest， it is no wonder that more and more CS sentences appear in the campus.

Through the analysis， we can find that， among the three adaptations of Chinese-English CS in campus advertisements， the first two can be regarded as passive adaptation， which means that the switching are based on the switchers’ consideration of constraints either from the language itself or society. The third adaptation is positive which is used by the switchers positively in order to achieve certain goals. Chinese-English CS frequently appears to achieve desired effect and satisfy specific communicative needs which other strategies are not supposed to fulfill. Campus advertisement， as a special advertising form， has its own features and CS in it will play increasingly important role with the growth of international association. Besides， this language phenomenon has significant pragmatic value in the discourse practice and makes the communication between people more convenient and efficient.

References：

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