Motivations for Code-Mixing English Words into Spoken Taiwanese and Mandarin Chinese in Taiwan: Qualitative Survey Results

台灣青少年中英文語碼混合原因及動機之分析

羅主恩(Timothy M. Nall) ； 蘇淑品(Shu-Pin Nall)

《國立金門技術學院學報》 4期 (2010/01) Pp. 57-67

https://doi.org/10.7057/JNKIT.201001.0057

摘要

本文針對當今台灣年輕人所最常用的英文辭彙及年輕人偏好使用這些辭彙的原因做分析且探討。研究對象為四十五位來自不同科系的台灣大學生（平均托福成績為400分）。每位研究對象就其認知在台灣年輕人中最常用的英文借辭列舉出三十個最常用的英文借辭。四十位台灣學生（年齡界於十五至二十六歲）針對整合後前三十名最常用的英文借辭找出台灣青年人偏好使用這些英文借辭勝過其中文辭彙之原因。本研究結果支持Li（2002）之研究。研究結果顯示台灣年輕人偏好英文借辭之原因大致上包括文意上的簡便性，實用性，委婉性及英文借辭與教育程度及個人聲望之連結性等。

關鍵字

混碼 ； 借辭 ； 代碼轉換

並列摘要

This study investigates which English words are considered by today's young people as the most common loan words in Taiwan, and what might account for their high usage among Taiwanese youth. Since equivalent lexical items are available in their first language Chinese, why do young Taiwanese people prefer to use the English loan word instead? Forty-five native Taiwanese college from different majors (average TOEFL score approximately 400) were asked to list 30 English loan words that they think are the most commonly used among Taiwanese young people. A subsequent survey asked forty native Taiwanese young students (between the ages of fifteen and twenty-six) to identify the possible motivating factors for Taiwanese young people's higher use of these English loan words. Broadly following Li (2002), we have identified possible explanations for Chinese-English code-mixing in Taiwan among young people, including the principle of economy, lexical availability and specificity, euphemisms both benign and manipulative, and the prestige lent to a speaker by the creation of an appearance of being educated. We also considered the possibility of a ”halo effect” on at least some of the response.

並列關鍵字

code-mixing ； loan words ； code-switching