Basque-Spanish Bilinguals and Reported Speech. Translation and Code-switching in the Basque Context of Language Revitalisation

Abstract

<p>This article discusses the multilingual practices of minority language speakers in oral everyday<br>interaction. The data come from bilingual speakers of an autochthonous minority language, Basque,<br>which has been the target of revitalisation efforts since the 1980s. The article examines the<br>varying use of ad hoc translation and code-switching in reported speech: When reporting a<br>previously expressed spoken or written message that was originally uttered in another language,<br>the bilingual speakers need to decide whether to translate the message or to use code-switching<br>and keep the original language. The examination of bilingual conversational data shows that the<br>two strategies, translation and code-switching, do not form opposite alternatives but are interconnected<br>and may serve the same function. In addition to the description of actual multilingual<br>practices, the article investigates the underlying ideologies of minority language speakers<br>concerning their language choices in reported speech.<br></p>