Medium choice in a community of Italians in the UK
Del Vecchio,Valentina
Del Vecchio,Valentina
Abstract
This study investigates language use and code-switching patterns within a close-knit, village-based Italian community in Bletchley (UK), aiming to understand how these social characteristics shape everyday linguistic practices and to propose a model for the description of a community’s average linguistic repertoire. Findings reveal that participants rely on a continuum of linguistic resources that do not necessarily align with separate entities, suggesting that what speakers alternate between are not languages in the strict grammatical sense. The study offers a fresh perspective on describing linguistic repertoires in similar communities, proposing a shift from the conventional notion of discrete language varieties to the more fluid concept of ‘medium’. Mediums can be either monolingual or bilingual, with the latter exhibiting varying degrees of mixing depending on several extra-linguistic factors. The nature of social networks plays a significant role in shaping the range, characteristics, and intergenerational distribution of the mediums available within a community.
Description
Date
2025
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Publisher
John Benjamins Publishing Company
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Keywords
linguistic repertoire, medum, code-switching, language shift, close-knit social network, Italian migration
Citation
Del Vecchio, V 2025, Medium choice in a community of Italians in the UK. in E Goria & M Di Salvo (eds), Italo-Romance Heritage Languages: multiple approaches. John Benjamins Publishing Company, pp. 64-100. https://doi.org/10.1075/sibil.68
License
info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess