Analysis of Code-Mixing in Marriage Proposals among Gorontalo People in Indonesia

Abstract

The Gorontalo language has coexisted with the Indonesian language for years, resulting in significant cohesion between two languages. Code-mixing is said to be a byproduct of such cohesion. The present study aimed to examine this linguistic phenomenon to what extent the Gorontalo language speakers code-mix between their native language (the Gorontalonese) with Arabic and Indonesian in their speech during organizing a marriage proposal or an engagement event. The study adopted a qualitative descriptive research design where the data was collected through observation, interviews, audio-video recording, and photo documentation. The result revealed that Indonesian, the Gorontalonese and Arabic are three languages mixed in the marriage proposal dialogue used in Gorontalo. The forms of all code-mixing involved the basic form, complex form, as well as phrases form. In this study, the causes of code-mixing are the language factors and the speakers, which ultimately result in language variation in all dimensions of communication terms. The study shed light on linguistic strategies and code-mixing patterns in a multilingual context.