The Morphosyntax of Code-Mixing: The Efik-English Perspective

Abstract

Code-mixing is a product of language contact. It is an indispensable communicative strategy of the bilingual performer within the socio-cultural paradigms and beyond. The result is drawing from the resources of two languages, which invariably overlap in terms of the structure and system of rules. In this paper, we examine the morphosyntactic dimension of this sociolinguistic phenomenon, using the Efik-English bilinguals as our reference point. We discuss the verbal underpinnings behind code-mixing as a linguistic behaviour and conclude that though language mixing seems to reflect shared experience, and underlines the speaker’s involvement (mood) and the desire to be well understood, it however, forms complex structures which are not represented in the conscious mind of the bilingual speaker.

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