This study aims to provide a comprehensive account of two significant aspects of bilingualism, namely code-switching (CS) and code-mixing (CM), in the spoken discourse of Parsi Gujarati (PG), a variety spoken by the Parsi community in India. Code-switching, also known as inter-sentential switching, is the mixing of words, phrases, and sentences from two different grammatical systems across sentence boundaries within the same speech event. Code-mixing or intra-sentential switching, on the other hand, is the embedding of various linguistic units such as affixes, words, phrases, and clauses from two different grammatical systems within the same sentence and speech event (Auer, 2013; Bokamba, 1988, 1989; Coulmas, 1998; Gumperz, 1977, 1982; Kachru, 1977, 1982; Mesthrie, 2011; Muysken, 2000; Myers-scotton, 1993, 2017; Sridhar and Sridhar, 1980; Wei, 2000). In CS, bilinguals assign function areas to each language, which they use to perform different roles. In contrast, a new mixed code of communication emerges in CM, whose interpretation depends on the comprehension of both codes.
Using the framework of Interactional Linguistics (Couper-Kuhlen and Selting, 2001; Ford, 1993; Ochs, Schegloff, and Thompson, 1996), in the current study, we explore the formal and functional aspects of CS and CM as communication devices in naturally occurring conversations in Parsi Gujarati. We check for inter-generational differences, as well as urban/rural variation between Gujarat Parsis and those of Maharashtra. And lastly, we try to identify the attitudes Gujarat Parsis have towards PG compared to the Parsis of Maharashtra and how that has led to the critical endangerment of the variety. The existing literature on Parsi Gujarati (Gajendragadkar, 1974; Modi, 2011; Zykov, 2021) is minimal, and the variety has not been studied from the socio-psycholinguistic and pragmatic approach. Thus, through this study, efforts are being made to describe Parsi Gujarati from the lens of socio-psycholinguistic and pragmatic features comprehensively.