Meanings
plural code-switchings · alternative codeswitching · alternative code switching
- countableuncountablehuman sciencesThe phenomenon or practice of alternating between two or more languages or language varieties.
As with many bilingual families, it was normal to observe frequent code-switching at our dinner table.
2 more examples
Within the English language, a good example of code-switching in daily life is weaving back and forth between African American Vernacular English and General American English.
In addition, our combined syntax-function approach sheds new light on a syntactic analysis of code-switching.
1997, Miwa Nishimura, Japanese/English Code-switching, P. Lang, page 36Synonyms: code-mixing
alternative codeswitching · alternative code switching
- gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of code-switch
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe phenomenon or practice of alternating between two or more languages or language varieties.
Translations
Arabic تَنَاوَب لُغَوِيّ
- تَنَاوَب لُغَوِيّ (tanāwab luḡawiyy)phenomenon or practice of alternating between two or more languages
Catalan alternança de codi
- alternança de codiphenomenon or practice of alternating between two or more languages
Chinese Mandarin 語碼轉換 /语码转换
- 語碼轉換 /语码转换 (yǔmǎ zhuǎnhuàn)phenomenon or practice of alternating between two or more languages
Estonian koodivahetus
- koodivahetusphenomenon or practice of alternating between two or more languages
Finnish koodinvaihto
- koodinvaihtophenomenon or practice of alternating between two or more languages
French alternance de code, alternance codique
- alternance de codephenomenon or practice of alternating between two or more languages
- alternance codiquephenomenon or practice of alternating between two or more languages
German Code-Switching, Sprachwechsel
- Code-Switchingphenomenon or practice of alternating between two or more languages
- Sprachwechselphenomenon or practice of alternating between two or more languages
- Kodewechselphenomenon or practice of alternating between two or more languages
- Kode-Umschaltungphenomenon or practice of alternating between two or more languages
Indonesian alih kode
- alih kodephenomenon or practice of alternating between two or more languages
Irish códmhalartú
- códmhalartúphenomenon or practice of alternating between two or more languages
Japanese コードスイッチング
- コードスイッチング (kōdosuitchingu)phenomenon or practice of alternating between two or more languages
Korean 부호전환, 코드 스위칭
- 부호전환 (buhojeonhwan)phenomenon or practice of alternating between two or more languages
- 코드 스위칭 (kodeu seuwiching)phenomenon or practice of alternating between two or more languages
Persian رمزگردانی
- رمزگردانی (ramz-gardâni)phenomenon or practice of alternating between two or more languages
Polish code switching
- code switchingphenomenon or practice of alternating between two or more languages
Portuguese alternância de código
- alternância de códigophenomenon or practice of alternating between two or more languages
Russian переключе́ние ко́дов, смеше́ние ко́дов
- переключе́ние ко́дов (pereključénije kódov)phenomenon or practice of alternating between two or more languages
- смеше́ние ко́дов (smešénije kódov)phenomenon or practice of alternating between two or more languages
Spanish alternancia de código, conmutación lingüística
- alternancia de códigophenomenon or practice of alternating between two or more languages
- conmutación lingüísticaphenomenon or practice of alternating between two or more languages
- transmudación lingüísticaphenomenon or practice of alternating between two or more languages
- transmudamiento lingüísticophenomenon or practice of alternating between two or more languages
- trastrocamiento lingüísticophenomenon or practice of alternating between two or more languages
Swahili kuchanganya msimbo
- kuchanganya msimbophenomenon or practice of alternating between two or more languages
Ukrainian перемикання кодів
- перемикання кодів (peremykannya kodiv)phenomenon or practice of alternating between two or more languages
Cite this entry
code-switching. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/code-switching
“code-switching.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/code-switching. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “code-switching,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/code-switching.
Source: code-switching on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.