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This book provides a detailed linguistic analysis of the communication between highly proficient bilingual couples, each consisting of a native speaker of English and of Swiss German. Combining the accounts of ten couples on their language use with an analysis of their actual linguistic behaviour, several areas of the partners' speech and interaction were closely examined. These include their language choice and language mixing, attitudes, expression of emotions, swearing, as well as their humour and laughter. In addition, the influence of the bilinguals' mother tongue and gender on their language use was explored. Thus, the study provides valuable insights into the language practices of established bilingual couples, while also contributing to the fields of fluent late bilingualism and gender research.
List of contents
1. Introduction2. Language situation in Switzerland3. The communication of bilingual, bicultural couples4. Corpus and data collection5. "We have a language of our own": Language choice and use6. "German sorta creeps into it": Language mixing7. "This uh foreign girl with a great accent": Attitudes and attraction8. "In Swiss German, I lieb di, that's strange": Expressing emotions9. "You're not gonna say this word!": Swearing10. "Then we're the only two people laughing in the room": Laughter and humour11. Conclusion
About the author
Silja Ang-Tschachtli has a PhD in English Linguistics from the University of Zurich and teaches English at a Swiss grammar school.
