English–Greek code-switching in Greek Cypriot magazines and newspapers – an analysis of its textual forms and functions

3.1. Research on written code-switching

The bulk of the literature on code-switching is concerned with oral data, yet work on written code-switching is growing. Such research concentrates among others on private diaries (Montes-Alcalá 2001), comics (Ben-Rafael 2008), prose fiction (Callahan 2004), advertisements (Bhatia and Ritchie 2004), print media (Graedler 1999; McClure 1998; Onysko 2007), and the study of code-switching in previous historical times (Adams 2003; McLelland 2004). There are also studies on computer-mediated communication, such as email exchanges (Hinrichs 2006; Barasa 2016), online discussion forums (Paolillo 1996; McLellan 2005), blogs (Montes-Alcalá 2007), Facebook (Androutsopoulos 2013; Barasa 2016), and Internet fora (Dorleijn 2016).

Work on code-switching in print media that is not focused on advertisements is scarce. Two such studies are briefly discussed here. McClure (1998) studied Spanish–English code-switching in Spanish and Mexican magazines and English–Bulgarian code-switching in Bulgarian magazines and written advertisements. On the textual level, various functions of switching in the Spanish and Mexican corpora were noted, such as emphasis through repetition, use of set English phrases to induce an ironic tone, and use of quotations to reproduce a specific style of speech. In the Bulgarian corpus, English was uncommon (McClure 1998). In another study, Graedler (1999) investigated the use of English borrowings and code-switching in Norwegian in a monthly entertainment guide. Most switching to English took the form of headings, captions, and as the final element of a text. Around one-third of code-switching instances concerned names and formulaic language. Others involved quotations from interviews either originally conducted in English or in Norwegian (ibid, 335).

These studies discussed code-switching in print media at a time when most scholars conducted work only on oral code-switching. However, while these authors did note differences between oral and written mode (e.g., Graedler 1999), they did not develop or adopt a theoretical framework that takes into consideration the specifics of written discourse.

3.2. Written vs. oral code-switching

Despite the existence of differences between oral and written modes of expression, there is no theoretical framework specifically designed for research in written code-switching (with the exception of the “English on top” framework by Androutsopoulos (2012) which is discussed in Section 3.3), and researchers sometimes draw from frameworks designed for oral code-switching (Sebba 2012, 1) or do not use any specific framework in their analysis (see Section 3.1). This practice, however, obscures analytically important characteristics of written discourse such as the visual context of a text (Sebba 2012, 5). Sebba argues that research on written code-switching needs to be concerned with the semiotics of mixed-language texts and take into consideration the fact that the visual and spatial component of written discourse potentially offers contextualization cues for its understanding and interpretation (2012, 2). In oral discourse, a change in prosody or a specific gesture acts as contextualization cues. In written discourse, where only the visual senses are primarily used – auditory senses are also used when reading something, albeit silently most of the time – there are other means to contextualize a text: complex layouts; use of pictures and symbols, use of headings, footnotes, different sizes, and colours in fonts; the use of italics, bold, underlined, or CAPITAL letters; use of more than one linguistic varieties; and use of different scripts. These should be taken into consideration when analysing code-switching in a written medium. By doing so, this paper contributes towards the adoption and development of tools and concepts specifically designed for written code-switching.

Other differences between written and oral discourse also exist. First, oral discourse is usually spontaneous, unplanned, and unconscious. In print media, however, written discourse is planned and edited prior to publication. At the same time, oral discourse is always interactive; there are always two or more speakers who produce talk for each other (Sebba 2012, 6), while in written discourse and especially in print media, there is usually one author, sometimes an editor and the readers involved. Therefore, as Androutsopoulos (2007) claims, an analysis of code-switching in media discourse must “foreground the situated, intentional, and audience-oriented deployment of linguistic resources in media discourse” (209). Also, oral discourse is synchronous (Sebba 2012, 6) while written discourse is usually, but not always, asynchronous; chatting, for example, is synchronous but written in mode. Moreover, oral discourse is sequential, a characteristic that is also shared by some types of written texts; for example, chatting is also sequential and so usually is texting and emailing (Sebba 2012, 6–7). Furthermore, written discourse is usually permanent (ibid); once written down, it can be read and re-read. Spoken conversation, on the other hand, is transient, but, as Sebba also points out, technology can make spoken discourse permanent, too (2012, 7). Finally, there is more (overt) prescriptivism associated with written language than with oral language. The written mode has always been linked with standardization and codification processes and it is thus associated with an “inevitably strongly prescriptive dimension inherent in such processes” (Lillis and McKinney 2013, 418).

Given the differences between oral and written discourse, written code-switching cannot be approached solely with reference to concepts, theories, and tools developed for conversational code-switching.

3.3. “English on top”

A recent theoretical development regarding written multilingualism is Androutsopoulos’ (2012) “English on top” framework, which focuses on planned written discourse targeted at a large number of recipients. It is designed for cases where English is not an official, first, or widespread second language but a foreign language of a community and as such not the language of the media (2012, 210).

Androutsopoulos defines “English on top” as “a discourse strategy in which English features are used in addition to (‘on top of’) the predominant national language, in specific textual positions and for specific discourse functions” (ibid, 210). He claims that “English on top” “exploits the ambiguity of the metaphor ‘on top’, in terms of both quantity and space” because English is an additional code (quantity) and at the same time it is usually situated “in positions of more salience or visibility than the main code” (ibid). However, saliency in terms of space and saliency in terms of content are two different things. An English heading may be “on top” of the Greek one in terms of space but less salient in terms of content. Also, salience is relative; while English headings can be “on top” in terms of space, they can also be in the periphery. Androutsopoulos also raises the issue of the periphery:

The “on top” metaphor draws attention to English resources in the periphery rather than the core of such configurations, to their (often visually salient) margins, which are juxtaposed to longer – and, in terms of propositional content, more ‘substantial’ – parts of a text. (ibid, 215)

What is more, when discussing where this framework stands in the literature of bilingual discourse, Androutsopoulos (2012) argues that it belongs to the insertional type of code-switching. If paralleled to Peter Auer’s framework of bilingual speech (e.g., Auer 2009), which is also concerned with localized discourse forms and functions, “English on top” involves the insertions of elements of one language into the structure of another (Androutsopoulos 2012, 229).

“English on top” can take three different forms: naming, heading, and bracketing. Naming concerns names of media products (e.g., magazines) or media institutions (e.g., radio stations). Headings are not clearly defined in this framework, but what they refer to is generally straightforward. Bracketing concerns cases where English elements “bracket a textual unit, delimiting its beginning and end” (ibid, 220). For example, if a text is entirely in one language but the first sentence and/or the last sentence of that text are in another language, then those sentences function as brackets. While bracketing is abundant in German media discourse (ibid, 221), in my data set it is absent. More data are needed to see if bracketing is absent in the Cypriot Greek print media in general or in just this specific data set. Finally, many occurrences of “English on top” involve at least one of the following characteristics: they are intertextual, formulaic, and derived from specific English varieties and styles (Androutsopoulos 2012, 227). Sections 5.2 and 5.3 give examples of all three characteristics in the data.

Besides its concern with “English on top” textual positions and characteristics, the framework also has macrosocial concerns. “English on top” exploits both the symbolic values of English as the language of progress, modernity, success, among other features, but also its indexical value in the sense that English is “selected as a hint (a pointer or index) to the linguistic practises of certain groups or places that are deemed important for the interpretation of the on-going discourse” (2012, 232). Intertextual instances of English, for example, point to their use in other texts and do not (only) exploit the symbolic value of English (ibid). For example, the use of English phrases from specific styles of English, e.g., hip-hop music, can “index knowledge of and association to globally circulating hip-hop styles” (ibid, 233).

By applying and enriching the “English on top” framework, this paper contributes to the research on (written) code-switching by illuminating how it is employed by media actors in magazines and newspapers, and what functions English serves in contexts where English is not an official language, and thus not expected to be a language used in the media.

In what follows, I discuss how the “English on top” framework is employed in this paper.

4.1. “English on top” as adapted in this paper

In this paper, I do not restrict the analysis to “on top” instances of English, but I also examine what I call “English in text” which refer to any English used in the main text of a newspaper/magazine page. The implementation of the “English on top” framework aims to answer research question 2 regarding the spatial display of English (hence the distinction drawn between “on top” and “in text” English) and the textual forms and functions of written code-switching. Two of the three forms suggested for “on top” English are noted, naming and headings. Naming concerns any magazines’ and newspapers’ names which are in or employ English. In relation to headings, a look at print media shows that there are different kinds of headings. In my work, I employ a broad definition of what constitutes a heading: any piece/line of text that heads an adjacent text or picture. I also distinguish between generic (i.e., heading of permanent/regular columns) and thematic headings (i.e., headings specific to particular issues), which are my addition to the framework.¹ I call permanent headings “generic” because they have to do with the genre of the magazine in question; they are the essential parts of it.

Several characteristics noted in Androutsopoulos’ framework for “on-top” English are observed and discussed (e.g., English comes in the form of set phrases, and it is intertextual and formulaic). Such characteristics are also noted for “in text” English, which also comes in other forms not noted in Androutsopoulos’ framework (e.g., doublets). Thus, this paper both confirms and extends the framework.

Parts of this framework which would direct an analysis beyond the scope of this paper are not implemented. These involve any deep and extensive analysis of the use of English resources in a symbolic and/or indexical way. However, a brief indicative discussion on this level of analysis is given in the concluding remarks of the paper.

5.1. Frequency of English in the data

In this section, I address the question of how frequent the use of English is by showing the proportions of English to total words in the data. Advertisements were excluded from the count and the analysis in general since their language has a different aim, i.e., to attract the attention of consumers, a function which deserves an analysis of its own, which has been done extensively (inter alia Bhatia 2009; Martin 2007; Piller 2003). In the count of English, English names (such as Michael Jackson) and established borrowings were also excluded. The criterion followed to distinguish established borrowing from code-switching was dictionary entry (see Fotiou 2015). The presence of English in these print media is as expected very limited (Tables 3 and 4). The use of another language (here English) in the mainstream print media of a state is not expected or supposed to be “tolerated” in a sphere which is traditionally monoglot and makes use of the state’s standard official linguistic variety. This is so because of the role the mass media played in the formation of the nation-state (Androutsopoulos 2010). Also, written discourse and, consequently, textual code-switching is generally more subject to (overt) prescriptivism than is oral speech. As a result, practices such as code-switching are usually condemned and avoided. The limited use of English in the media shows that claims for excessive use of English on the island (see Section 1), as far as its presence in the print media is concerned, are unfounded.

While use of English is limited in the print media overall, there is more English use in magazines than newspapers. The mean percentage of English in magazines amounts to 0.66% – 16.5 times higher than in newspapers. Thus, the examples discussed in this paper are mainly taken from the magazines.

5.2. English “on top”: forms and textual functions

“On top” English takes the form of naming and heading. Naming is restricted to three magazines (Purple, Beautiful People, and Down Town) and one having a hybrid name (OK! ΤΟ ΠΕΡΙΟΔΙΚΟ ΤΩΝ ΔΙΑΣΗΜΩΝ “OΚ! THE MAGAZINE OF CELEBRITIES”).² The latter is an internationally distributed magazine, and the Greek part arguably marks its locality (Androutsopoulos 2012, 225). Generally, it is no surprise that some of the magazines have English names since worldwide “product naming and company naming is the domain for which English is the most favoured language” (Bhatia 2009, 606), and print media are products to be sold. At the same time, headings are important elements in a text. They aim to attract attention and also “form the lens through which the remainder of the article is viewed” (Bell 1991, 170). English headings in media where English is not the default language are also reported in Androutsopoulos (2012) and Graedler (1999).

As explained in Section 4.1, I distinguish between generic and thematic headings. A characteristic of the former is that the magazine’s name is sometimes a part of them. DT Face, DT people, DT market, and DT STYLE are all generic headings of DOWN TOWN, while People Beauty and People Globe are generic headings of Beautiful People. Purple magazine has similar headings (e.g., Purple news and Purple Chef). Generic headings link the articles of a magazine together – this ensures readers “know” which magazine they hold in their hands – while thematic headings head articles related to specific themes in a particular issue.

Conventionally, a heading is a discursive device placed at conspicuous positions in a textual unit; here the textual unit is the magazine/newspaper page. In the data, generic headings tend to be in “on top” positions, i.e., at the upper part of the page, but they are also placed at the upper left corner of the page, usually in smaller typeface and less prominent colours than other headings. This sometimes makes them hard to notice, especially when a more prominent heading follows them. For example, in the magazine page in Figure 1, which comes from PM, the generic heading PETS is at the upper left part of the page and it is not as visible and prominent as the thematic heading which is in Greek (“In the world of the sea/Interesting facts about fish”).

In the newspapers, the presence of English headings is limited. Here, I discuss one example found in PN (Figure 2), namely “Underground notes.” This was the heading of a regular column in Politis newspaper written by Sevgul Uludag, a Turkish Cypriot journalist who has investigated and written reports about missing persons from the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities.³ The English heading is most probably chosen purposefully. “Underground notes” alludes to the documentation of events which have been kept secret. Following Goffman (1986), instances of English “on top” can be seen as framing devices that provide cues to interpret the following text (Androutsopoulos 2012, 230). As such, this heading frames the text that follows it in the context of an underground story. Missing people’s stories are shameful because they show atrocities that were conducted by both communities in Cyprus. It is also possible that English is employed as a neutral choice that indexes a compromise, a mid-way path, neither Greek nor Turkish. The heading may also be a reference to Dostoevsky’s novel (1864/2009) Notes from the Underground, Dostoevsky himself being a revolutionary, and is thus an instance of intertextuality. These are various interpretations I reach as a reader. Which one was intended by the author (if any) and which interpretations are picked up on by each reader are impossible to assess.

As shown in Figure 2, the article has two headings, a generic and a thematic one, both in “on top” positions. The Greek thematic heading is a gerund structure which finishes with ellipses (…) and reads: “Going to Stillus in search of ‘missing persons’….” The fact that it is an incomplete sentence and the use of ellipses probably symbolize the process of finding these missing persons, which has no end. The more serious content of the thematic heading, which occupies more space on the paper, arguably catches the attention of the reader and renders the English generic heading comparatively unimportant. The thematic heading can also be seen as an update of the generic one and thus what is important and new, in an ongoing series of “underground” coverage.

Generally, it seems that most generic headings, while being located “on top,” are confined to the page’s margins, something more akin to a header than a heading (see also Sebba 2010). When seen in contrast to the thematic headings, they are rendered unimportant both by the importance of the thematic headings’ content and very often by their more salient typeface in terms of size and colours, for example. As van Leeuwen explains, salience is created when making a specific part of the text “stand out from its immediate textual environment” (2006, 144), and this can be realized through differences in size, font, and/or colour contrast (ibid, 145). Readers typically calculate the “weight of the various elements of the layout, and the greater the weight of an element, the greater its salience” (Kress and Van Leeuwen 1998, 200). For example, besides the difference in language between the two headings in (2), the generic heading is printed in a large white italicized typeface against a grey background, while the thematic heading is in bold black typeface which is a more typical choice for a newspaper heading (see also Sebba 2013). While in terms of size, both headings are approximately the same, the difference in the typeface’s weight in the two headings makes the bold one – which has an increased weight – more salient than the other one (van Leeuwen 2006). One can also argue that the contrast between the italicized English heading and the upright Greek one is that between handwriting and printing (ibid). In other words, the Underground notes are originally handwritten but what is published on the paper is typed, edited, and formal.

English was absent in headings of “hard news,” a pattern also noted for German print media (Androutsopoulos 2012). In magazines, which are not usually concerned with “hard news,” generic headings tend to be either in English or hybrid forms exploiting the English name of the magazine in question. Generic headings are 27% Greek, 21% mixed, and 52% English (raw numbers: 31, 24, and 60, respectively). The reverse picture is noted for the thematic headings: 65% Greek, 13% mixed, and 22% English (raw numbers: 441, 87, and 149, respectively).

Mixed headings (i.e., in hybrid forms) sometimes contain initialisms and clips. For example, DT (from: Down Town) is used in the generic heading: DT Κόσμος (“DT World”). Beautiful People magazine also uses part of its name, People, to form mixed generic headings such People ΜΟΔΑ (“People FASHION”). Another example is the hybrid heading DTCINEΠΡΟΣΕΧΩΣ, which comes from DT, consisting of three parts: DT, CINE – a clipped form of cinema – and ΠΡΟΣΕΧΩΣ (“COMING SOON”). This heading is a hybrid form; the two languages are combined to form it and Greek conveys the important information of the article, i.e., that the movie is coming soon.

Another generic heading that uses both languages comes from BPM, April 26, 2009, 42–43, and combines the English phrase Fashion police! in white font – the exclamation mark highlights importance of this “police” in lifestyle magazines – and a Greek part, in black font, which translates as: “The People comments on the appearances of the fortnight.” The two languages are marked by the use of different colours and size – the English part being slightly larger. The use of different ink colours can be seen as a flagging device which marks an instance of code-switching (Mbodj-Pouye and Van den Avenne 2012, 182).

English is also used in headings scattered around two pages under the aforementioned generic heading which portray photos of various women whose outfits are commented upon. Top List and Stop List, both placed on circles of different colours – Top List is placed on a pink circle and Stop List on a yellow one – playfully contrast with each other linguistically by the difference of a single letter – S. Top list is in a white font matching the white outfit of the woman in the biggest picture of the left-hand side page, for which she is praised. Stop list is in black, matching the black accessories – shoes, jacket, and bag – of the woman in the biggest picture on the right-hand side, for which she is criticized. The main colours of each page are also different, good fashion is surrounded by pink – some of the descriptions/praises of the women have a pink background – and bad fashion by yellow – some of the descriptions/critiques of the women have a yellow background. The choice of colour, the use of different or the same shapes, and any linguistic similarities and differences can act as framing devices which differentiate some elements of a layout from each other or indicate that they are to be read together (Kress and Van Leeuwen 1998). Here, the circle shape and linguistic similarity of the two headings act as connective devices which “have the effect of expressing that the elements thus connected are to be read as belonging together in some sense as continuous or complementary” (ibid, 189). At the same time, the different colour and the one letter difference which semantically produces an opposite word indicate the differences of the elements these headings correspondingly frame. Moreover, the two headings employ quite familiar words for many Greek Cypriots: top and stop are common borrowings from English and list is very similar to and synonymous with the Greek λίστα (/lista/), an Italian borrowing. Other headings – Αντιγράψτε ΤΟ LOOK! (“Copy THE LOOK!”) and δοκιμάστε ΚΑΛΥΤΕΡΑ (“BETTER try”) – constitute pieces of advice. They employ the same font and colours (a pattern of white, pink, and yellow) in their background which act as framing devices showing that the two headings should be read together (Kress and Van Leeuwen 1998).

Androutsopoulos notes that “on top” English is usually intertextual and formulaic and originates in specific varieties and styles of English (2012). Formulaic expressions in written code-switching are also noted in Paolillo (1996) and Montes-Alcalá (2001). My data enrich this observation. English comes in the form of intertextual and formulaic English in both “on-top” and “in-text” positions. In this section, I concentrate on the “on-top” occurrences and in the next section on the “in-text” ones.

To start with set phrases and idioms, Carla … Last Year, which is taken from BPM, April 26, 2009, 50 and is the only instance of vernacular English, acts as an expression of opinion. Something that is so last year is outdated, and this phrase summarizes the argument put forward in the article and frames it as a praise of Michelle Obama’s style at the expense of Carla Bruni.

Another set phrase is I love New York!, a famous logo which is portrayed in its original form with the heart symbol. It functions as an expressive act of enthusiasm (note the exclamation mark) and it bears a foreign cultural overtone since it heads an article in OKM about some Greek celebrities visiting New York. Examples with strong cultural overtones are also reported in McClure (1998) and Androutsopoulos (2003). Other set phrases (e.g., “Just Married!,” “Happily ever after,” “Love Affair,” and “Crazy in love”) function as declarations and announcements of people being together, either in a relationship or married. These, as well as the examples above, also function as catch phrases.

Other set phrases used are Opposites Attract, Conflict of interest, and In my shoes. Opposites Attract heads a text which explains that it is unfashionable to wear matching accessories. It functions as an expression of opinion. Conflict of interest heads an article in TM which talks about a TV talk show which has a political nature, even though that was not its aim at first. As a result, the hosts of other political talk shows believe that it has taken their job, hence the conflict of interest. Finally, in my shoes heads a column in PM which talks about fashion. However, these are not the original meanings of these phrases; opposites attract refers to the situation when people who are different from each other are attracted to each other due to their differences; conflict of interest refers to a conflict between a person’s private interests and public obligations, and in my shoes means “in my situation.” In the context where these headings are used, they have a more transparent semantic meaning. While in English these are formulaic sequences which have “relinquished their semantic compositional meaning in favour of a holistic one” (Nattinger and DeCarrico 1992, 32–33), here their (assumed) reading focuses on the individual meaning of the words that compose them. Here the use of conflict of interest has nothing to do with private vs. public interests. It refers to the creation of an overlap of interests because a TV show discusses a topic (i.e., politics) which was not initially its agenda and, as such, it targets an audience whom it was not supposed to target. In my shoes has nothing to do with placing someone in the situation of another but it is, instead, the heading of an article that discusses fashion. Opposites attract has nothing to do with (sexual) attraction between two people but with an argument put forward in relation to fashion stating that it is more attractive and fashionable to wear non-matching accessories. The reading of these phrases is a more transparent, literal one; one reads word by word. Less English pragmatic context and situation-specific knowledge of English is required. The functional role of English in such cases seems to be related with transparency and literateness which does not (necessarily) require knowing these phrases as formulaic sequences but perhaps for those readers who do know them as such, these headings catch their attention.

Other instances of language play and linguistic strategies such as puns and shortening of words are noted. At the textual level, use of English along with Greek performs literary and linguistic functions such as rhyming and puns, elements which are considered important in the field of advertising for highlighting information and for the sake of creativity and enjoyment when one understands the wordplay involved (Bhatia 2009; also Martin 2007). Let us discuss two examples. The first example involves the use of the phrase FANI’S BUSINESS, which is the (thematic) heading of an article in DTM which discusses a fashion designer whose brand name is Fani Couture. The article follows Fani’s studies in Paris and London and her travels. It has a flavour of the world and the heading arguably exploits the globalized character of English and symbolizes the fact that Fani’s Business is an international one. The heading also works as a pun on Funny Business. The pun, however, is problematic for someone who knows that funny business refers to “dishonest or unpleasant actions” since the article praises Fani’s business. In other words, as with the set phrases discussed above, it is assumed that one reads word by word and knowledge of the set phrases is not assumed, expected, or perhaps desired in some cases. The second example concerns the use of an intra-word switch, xουσία, which is another heading that involves a phonetic pun. This is a generic heading of an article in TM which criticizes Cypriot current and political affairs. It consists of ουσία/usia/(“substance, essence”) and the English letter <x>, which is similar to the Greek letter <χ> (the latter is either pronounced as [h] or [ç]) but still different enough so that the readers would recognize that it is not the Greek letter that is used here. xousia can be read as “not essence” when taking <x> to be something like a negative particle. In that case, it points to politics and politicians as being useless. When <x> is read in English as/eks/the heading becomes εξουσία/eksusia/(“power”) which points to the power that politicians have and usually abuse.

5.3. “In text” English: forms and functions

Here, I concentrate on “in text” English, its forms, and its textual functions. In terms of the form that English takes, some instances share the characteristics of “on top” English. To start with, there are instances of intertextuality in the form of quotations. The use of English in quotations for written media is also reported in Graedler (1999), Callahan (2001), McClure (1998), Montes-Alcalá (2001), and Androutsopoulos (2003). An example:

1. Καμία άλλη φράση δεν στιγμάτισε την υστεροφημία της Μάργκαρετ Θάτσερ όσο εκείνο το αλήστου μνήμης «there is no such thing as society» από τη συνέντευξη της […] (KM, April 26, 2009)

No other phrase so stigmatized the fame of Margaret Thatcher as the unforgettable “there is no such thing as society” from her interview […]

This is an exact reproduction of someone’s words, left untranslated at the point of its occurrence – it is translated later in the text – and flagged with Greek quotation marks. Its exact reproduction is arguably conducted because of the impact Thatcher’s statement has had. By reproducing the exact same words, the author wants to reproduce the effect they had when first uttered and to reproduce as much as possible the original tone of the utterance.

The following quotation is placed as a separate sentence even though syntactically it is not an independent clause. Instead of being a reproduction of someone’s words, it is a condensed version of the original utterance/utterances. This is indicated by the ellipses. It is also flagged with Greek quotation marks.

• (2) Βαθμολογήθηκε με 94/100 από τους 5 κριτές του Winegang. «Stunning, awesome and delicious…» (1) έγραψαν μεταξύ άλλων (PM, April 26, 2009)

It was rated with 94/100 by the 5 judges of Winegang. “Stunning, awesome and delicious …” (1) they wrote among other things

This is an example of quoting from an authoritative source to support one’s viewpoint, one of the functions that reported speech plays in print media discourse (Smirnova 2012). The use of a footnote giving the source of the quotation at the end of the article highlights the reliability of the author’s claim. Keeping quotations in the language they were first formed also links them to their original speakers (Onysko 2007) and alludes to the setting of their production, e.g., Thatcher’s pronouncement on society, or the original wine tasting event.

Direct quotations can serve various functions in print media discourse; they can act, for example, as argumentative devices (Smirnova 2012). When they appear in another language from the text that surrounds them, there is a contrast created from the use of two languages that is exploited, as is argued for oral speech by Alfonzetti (1998), so as to mark changes in footing as well as to emphasize the quotation. Here, it is both the use of direct quotations and code-switching that work to achieve the various functionalities noted in the aforementioned examples.

Set phrases are also used as “in text” English. Below a computer expert explains to the readers why they should not use illegal antivirus software. Formulaic expressions such as up to you function in setting an ironic tone to his text. The use of formulaic expressions to evoke irony or to emphasize the ironic tone of a whole article is also noted in McClure (1998).

• (3) Και αν σας πιάσει το πολύ-πολύ να σας διακόψει τα updates – καθιστώντας το antivirus ουσιαστικά άχρηστο. Up to you. (PN, April 26, 2009)

and if he catches you worst case scenario he will terminate the updates – constituting the antivirus essentially useless. Up to you.

McClure (1998) also notes the practice of altering set phrases in order to create irony. An example here is Cyprus Dream which alludes to the American dream (an instance of intertextuality).

• (4) Μετα το Cyprus Dream για μια θέση στη Βουλή των Αντιπροσώπων (TM, April 26, 2009)

After the Cyprus Dream for a position in the Parliament

This mockingly and critically refers to Cypriot politicians whose version of the American dream is a position in the parliament.

5.4. Is English use triggered by the discussion of specific topics?

This section aims to address research question 3. To start with, it seems that in the birthplace of Aphrodite, beauty finds expression in English in the magazines. Magazines’ names can be in English (e.g., Beautiful People) and most headings about beauty are in English; inter alia, PEOPLE BEAUTY (BPM), Beauty (OKM), Beauty Shopping (PM), and MY BEAUTY (TM).

For example, pages such as that in Figure 3 are inundated with beauty products with English names, e.g., Love of Pink, and sometimes French names, too. While such articles have an informative character – they offer beauty tips – they are in reality advertisements of beauty products and as Martin (2007, 177–178) notes advertising aimed at women tends to use English. Increased use of English in advertisements of cosmetic and beauty products is even documented in France although French is traditionally the language linked with beauty and cosmetics (Bhatia and Ritchie 2004). The use of English in French advertisements, which Bhatia and Ritchie find “particularly surprising” (2004, 534), demonstrates the supremacy of English in the field. Figure 3 is an apt illustration of this. The featured celebrity acts as a face model. Her picture is surrounded by products which, if one buys, would arguably be able to copy/adopt her look.  The copy the look concept is evident internationally. For example, Cosmopolitan, which is a global magazine (Machin and van Leeuwen 2010), always promotes the products and clothes of its cover women, so that the readers can copy their look.

In the magazines, many English insertions concern fashion, beauty, and style such as fashion week, designer, celebrities, and brand. English adjectives are used to describe someone’s look, e.g., elegant, modern, hot, casual, very elegant androgynous style, casual look, printed φούστες (“printed skirts”), glam rock look and terms for types of clothes, accessories, colours, and shapes, e.g., feathered one shouldered φόρεμα (“feathered one shouldered dress”), box clutch bag, peep-toe-heels, sequined φόρεμα (“sequined dress”), black leather leggings, total black leather outfit, ένα φανταστικό sequined φόρεμα σε nude tone (“a fantastic sequined dress in nude tone”).

Sometimes, we note dense code-switching (i.e., switching within almost all phrases of a single sentence) concerning fashion-related commentary. Cases of dense code-switching are not frequent, and they always occur below the picture of a woman or man whose clothes and style are described and either criticized or praised. Let us see two examples:

• (7) H Mischa Barton με classic little black dress, δίνει ένα extra modern ύφος στο look της με printed heels και υπερβολικά αξεσουάρ. (BPM, April 26, 2009)

Mischa Barton in a classic little black dress gives an extra modern style to her look with printed heels and extravagant accessories.

• (8) Επιτέλους η Sienna Miller επιστρέφει στο κόκκινο χαλί τόσο stylish όσο την έχουμε συνηθίσει με super sexy κόκκινο φόρεμα και ένα φανταστικό jacket που έκανε το look πιο rock μας έπεισε για το προσωπικό της fashion sense (ibid)

Finally Sienna Miller is back on the red carpet as stylish as she got us used to with a super sexy red dress and a fantastic jacket that made the look more rock and convinced us of her personal fashion sense.

As Androutsopoulos (2012) claims, English “on top” instances usually originate in certain styles of English the selection of which is stirred by their link with specific (cultural) domains. This is what we note here: a stylized form of English which originates in the international fashion domain which makes frequent use of English adjectives and fashion jargon such as little black dress and printed heels. Such insertions in the Greek Cypriot magazines allude to the international fashion domain. Unlike other forms of English discussed in Sections 5.2 and 5.3 (e.g., set phrases and doublets), English does not have any localized discourse functions in such examples.

Other topics showing English use are information technology and business. Examples:

• (9) Ανατρέξτε στην επιλογή «Free Products» (PN, April 26, 2009)

Go to the choice “Free Products”

• (10) Όσον αφορά την κατηγορία Open Source (σημ.: «Ανοικτός Κώδικας» = ελεύθερο και δωρεάν λογισμικό) (ibid)

As far as the category Open Source (note: “Open Code” = free software)

• (11) αφιερώστε λίγη ώρα να αναθεωρήσετε («custom») τι στοιχεία (components) εγκαθίστανται (ibid)

devote some time to customize (“custom”) what components (components) are installed

• (12) Αναθέσαμε σε έναν καθηγητή από κάθε σχολείο το ρόλο του συνδέσμου μάρκετινγκ (liaison marketing). Μεταξύ των ατόμων που λειτουργούν και ως opinion leaders, όπως και μαζί μου υπάρχει καθημερινή επαφή (SN, April 26, 2009)

“We appointed a professor from each school to take the role of the liaison marketing (liaison marketing).⁴ Among the people who function as opinion leaders, as well as with me, there is daily contact.”

Sometimes, terms are displayed in both languages; sometimes English is first used and then translated in Greek, as in (10), and sometimes the other way around as in (11) and (12). However, this is not always the case; see (9) and (12), opinion leaders. Also, some insertions are framed in quotation marks while others are not. This shows that the use of quotation marks is unsystematic. Unlike the fashion-related examples, we notice use of English mainly in the form of doublets and insertions which do not show the dense code-switching observed in (7) and (8). While in the fashion-related examples there is never any explanation for what is said in English, here most of the time the journalists make sure they provide the terms in both languages. However, the fashion examples have pictures which can help the readers understand what some of the fashion-related terms refer to.

It seems therefore that beauty, fashion, information technology, and business are topics which favour use of English while other topics such as personal relationships, sports, star signs, and cooking to name a few do not. In the final section of this paper, I will attempt to explain why this is so.