Przekraczanie granic: Przełączanie kodów jako zjawisko konwersacyjne

The article is a translated chapter of the handbook titled Language Contact and presents the functionalist approach to a code switching phenomenon, which is of fundamental importance to any changes resulting from language contacts. The author postulates the theory that all the contact phenomena, from loanwords to transfer of grammatical rules, have their source in the mixed use of language by multilingual speakers, which does not result from free code mixing, but from a creative use of a repertoire of means of expression in order to meet the communication objectives within the frames imposed by specific communication situations. Describing a code switching phenomenon in this regard, on the example of a specific transcript of conversation, the author first outlines its psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic aspects, presents them as a conversational strategy and links them to the process of borrowing lexical elements. Further, the article examines its particular elements and focuses on the strategic choice of a language code, conversational functions of code switching and structural phenomena within the multilingual speech. Much attention is also paid to a special category of functional words called speech modifiers, often taken unintentionally from the language other than the language of a current conversation. The test is richly illustrated with the examples from different languages, translated interlinearly, and provides a critical overview of contemporary literature on the subject.