You are here: Home :: Area CULI :: Linguistics and literature :: Communication science

Hristo Kyuchukov

Code-switching among Muslim Roms in Bulgaria

This article presents the language of Muslim Roms, who form a trilingual community in the northeastern part of Bulgaria, discussing language mixing between Romani, Turkish, and Bulgarian, applying the model of Myers-Scotton (1993). Two different Roma linguistic groups are observed: speakers of Vlax (Zagondzi) and non-Vlax (Xoraxani). The non-Vlax language, which is full of Turkish loanwords, is more prestigious than the Vlax language, which is more conservative, but both show almost the same patterns of language mixing. The study argues for the connection between language mixing and language prestige and looks at the question: Why do Roma speakers use elements from other languages when speaking Romani?

International Journal of the Sociology of Language, Walter de Gruyter

Print ISSN: 0165-2516
Volume: 2006, 05/2006
Pages: 41 - 51

Show full article (external site)

Show all available items of this journal

 

Area CULI