Chinese/English Codeswitching In Chinese Popular Songs

The present thesis is a pragmatic analysis of C/E (Chinese/English) codeswitching in Chinese popular songs, which is understood as a realization of songwriters' or singers' adaptation to the final aim of successful communication with the audience. The focus of this study is to make a detailed analysis of the pragmatic adaptability that C/E codeswitching can fulfill in Chinese popular songs and verify the validity and feasibility of the Adaptation Model. Methodologically, this study is primarily a qualitative analysis with quantitative analysis for support to present a more thorough understanding of the study of codeswitching.Since 1970s, codeswitching has been studied in detail from different perspectives. Five approaches stand out in the literature: the grammatical approach, the sociolinguistic approach, the psycholinguistic approach, the conversation analysis approach, and the pragmatic approach. The last approach is strong and comprehensive enough to cover the complexity and subtlety of codeswitching because it covers the linguistic, social. cultural and cognitive elements, which the other four approaches can not fully expound. As Verschueren's adaptation theory (1999) is a major manifestation of the superiority of pragmatic approach, it naturally becomes the theoretical framework of the present study. Based on Verschueren's adaptation theory, utilizing Yu Guodong's linguistic adaptation model on codeswitching (2001), this thesis is to give a detailed and profound analysis on the phenomenon of C/E codeswitching in Chinsese popular songs.This study encompasses three constituents: the adaptability, the negotiability and the variability of the C/E codeswitching in Chinese popular songs. In the analysis of the adaptability of codeswitching, we classify the objects to which the C/E codeswitching in Chinese popular songs adapts into four aspects: the social situations, the characteristics of music, the linguistic reality, and the psychological motivations. The negotiability of codeswitching, as proposed by the Adaptation Principle, is an important pragmatic principle in interpreting human beings' language use, because in the dynamic process of communication ail the choices are made according to highly flexible principles instead of...