Exploring Functions of Literary Code-Switching in Bangsamoro Short Fiction

Abstract

This study analyzed the functions of literary code-switching in select multilingual short fiction from the Bangsamoro Literary Review, which prominently uses code-switching in Filipino, Arabic, and Meranaw in mainly English-written stories. Building upon the framework of Djeghoubbi et al. (2023), this study investigated the occurrence of literary code-switches and their functions, including referential/lexical needs, vocatives, expletives, quotations, and more. It employed descriptive research design through quantitative and qualitative analysis of the switches. Specifically, the occurrence of switches is manually recorded and counted in the corpora, which were analyzed using textual analysis. Findings reveal that 184 total switches are identified in the Bangsamoro short fiction. The story Five Days at Ina’s House has the greatest number of switches, comprising 50 switches across three languages. There are 94 total switches under the referential/lexical need, 26 switches for quotation function, 24 for clarification and elaboration, 12 switches under set phrase function, 12 switches for vocative function, six switches for tags and exclamation function, three switches for linguistic routine function, and three switches each for expletive function and directive function. Interestingly, no switches function as triggered switches, commentary, and repetition, emphasis, and idioms. These conclude that culturally specific terms demonstrate the inclusion of culture in language and contribute significantly to the authenticity and cultural richness of literary works produced in BLR.