Abstract:
This study investigates the code-mixing patterns of a three-and-a-half-year-old Tamil, English
and Sinhala trilingual Muslim child, focusing on the most frequently switched morphological
elements and the contextual factors influencing language choice. The research problem addresses
the limited understanding of how early trilingual children negotiate multiple linguistic
systems in naturalistic speech. The objectives were to identify the dominant morphological patterns,
describe contextual variations, and examine the motivations behind language alternation.
Literature on bilingualism and multilingualism identifies inter-sentential, intra-sentential, and
tag switching as the primary types of language alternation. While earlier perspectives linked
child code mixing to an inability to separate linguistic systems, contemporary research frames
it as a strategic communicative resource for gap-filling and for adapting to social contexts. Data
were collected over a three-month period through fortnightly visits to the child’s home and
recordings of interactions in both the home and preschool settings. The audio recordings were
transcribed and analyzed sentence-by-sentence to identify code-mixing instances, morphological
categories, and contextual patterns. Findings revealed that nouns were the most frequently
switched category, followed by verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Both inter-sentential and intrasentential
switching occurred, with tag switching observed less frequently. Language choice
was context-sensitive, where Tamil dominated in family settings, English in preschool and Sinhala
or mixed Sinhala–English with the researcher. Occasional three-language mixes within single
sentences indicated cognitive flexibility, but also highlighted gaps in lexical and grammatical
knowledge, particularly in the least dominant language, Sinhala. The study concludes that morphological
vulnerability, environmental exposure, and interlocutor language proficiency significantly
shape early trilingual code mixing. These findings contribute to the understanding of
multilingual language development in young children and have implications for early childhood
language education, suggesting the need for pedagogical strategies that acknowledge and
support natural code-mixing behaviour as part of multilingual competence.
