Can Code-switching Be Triggered by the Principle of Relevance Theory?

Abstract

This paper compares the manner in which the written language (here Hungarian) of a minority group (L1) functions outside its traditional setting in central Europe, in an environment where a dissimilar language (L2) is used. (For this research, English as spoken in Australia has been chosen). This is an intra-regional language contact situation where Hungarian immigrants live and communicate among the English-speaking population of Australia (also, the two languages involved are genealogically non-related and structural-typologically non-identical languages). The aim of this study is to investigate code-switching in a written discourse, as well as to argue that code-switching functions on the basis of the principle of relevance theory.