The dynamics of code-switching in a Latin-Occitan book of prescriptions

Abstract

This paper concerns the study of a bilingual Latin-Occitan book of medical prescriptions compiled in the mid-14th century under the patronage of the Counts of Foix. A selection of passages is provided in order to analyse the dynamics of code-switching and to classify the different types according to categories established by critics. We find that the combination of Latin and Occitan takes place on more levels: the acrostructural level, with its bipartite division into two large blocks, in which one of the languages predominates; the internal level, which can be analysed according to the types of interphrasal or intraphrasal code-switching. In short, the latter is the level that concentrates more on the detail and mechanisms of code-switching during mixed-language enunciations.