SavedAdd your journal

Journals / Alman Dili ve Edebiyatı Dergisi / 2025 / Issue: 54

Code-switching in German rap: An analysis of Turkish language elements in selected texts

Code-Switching im deutschen Rap: Eine Analyse türkischer Sprachelemente in ausgewählten Texten

Ebru Üstün(Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli Üniversitesi)0000-0001-8820-8129
Pages
—
Publication Date
2025-12-12
🏛️Bibliographic metadata and full text access for this article are provided via DergiPark.
DergiPark Record ↗
✨

AI Summary & Key Takeaways

AI Insight
⚡ TL;DR(Too Long; Didn't Read)

The results show that intra-sentential switching occurs most frequently.

📌 3 Key Takeaways

🎯
Objective & Hypothesis:This study examines Turkish language elements in German-language rap lyrics, with particular focus on their formal structures and communicative functions.
📊
Key Findings & Data:Based on five selected rap songs, a qualitative content analysis demonstrates how Turkish words, phrases, and sentences are embedded within the German linguistic context.
💡
Conclusion & Impact:The results show that intra-sentential switching occurs most frequently.
🔬Design:Research Article
📍Scope:Comprehensive Sample
⚙️Variables:Code-switching · rap music · Turkish in German song lyrics

Abstract

This study examines Turkish language elements in German-language rap lyrics, with particular focus on their formal structures and communicative functions. The core of the analysis is the process of code-switching as an expression of multilingualism, cultural hybridity, and identity construction. Based on five selected rap songs, a qualitative content analysis demonstrates how Turkish words, phrases, and sentences are embedded within the German linguistic context. The types of code-switching are categorized into inter-sentential, intra-sentential, intra-word, inter-word, and extra-sentential (tag-switching) switching. The identified Turkish elements were classified according to their word class and analysed in terms of their communicative functions. The results show that intra-sentential switching occurs most frequently. Furthermore, nouns dominate among the inserted Turkish elements. The functions of these units range from expressing cultural identity and reinforcing group affiliation to emphasizing authenticity and social distinction. The study concludes that code-switching in German-language rap is not merely a linguistic phenomenon but constitutes an important socio-cultural means of expression. It highlights how multilingualism is used within youth culture as a creative strategy to communicate belonging, resistance, and individuality.

🔖

Cite This Article

Üstün, E. (2025). Code-switching in German rap: An analysis of Turkish language elements in selected texts. Alman Dili ve Edebiyatı Dergisi, Issue: 54. https://doi.org/10.26650/sdsl2025-1683838

📄 Full Text PDF Viewer

📄

PDF görüntüleyici hazırlanıyor...

References (21)

  1. Astuti, M. (2007). An analysis of code switching performed by the staffs and the foreigner guests of istana griya homestay in Surakarta sociolinguistic study [Universitas Sebelas Maret]. https://digilib.uns.ac.id/dokumen/download/6913/MTgwMTY=/An-analYsis-of-code-switching-performed-bY-the-staffs-and-the-foreigner-guests-of-istana-griYa-homestaY-in-Surakarta-Soci olinguistic-StudY-abstrak.pdf google scholar
  2. AtasoY, I. (2022). Foreign Language Use in German and Turkish Magazine Advertisements: A Comparative AnalYsis. Alman Dili ve Edebiyatı Dergisi - Studien zur deutschen Sprache und Literatur, 47, 135-163. https://doi.org/10.26650/sdsl2022-1087784 google scholar
  3. Auer, P. (2013). Code-switching in conversation: Language, interaction and identity. Routledge. https:// doi.org/10.4324/9780203017883 google scholar
  4. Çetinoğlu, Ö. (2016). A code-switching corpus of Turkish-German conversations. In European Language Resources Association (ELRA) (Hrsg.), Proceedings of the Tenth International Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (S. 4215-4220). Association for ComputationaL Linguistics. google scholar
  5. Çetinoğlu, Ö. (2017). A code-switching corpus of Turkish-German conversations. In N. Schneider & N. Xue (Hrsg.), Proceedings of the 11th Linguistic Annotation Workshop (S. 34-40). Association for Computational Linguistics. google scholar
  6. Çetinoğlu, Ö., & Çöltekin, Ç. (2023). Two languages, one treebank: building a Turkish-German code-switching treebank and its challenges. Language Resources and Evaluation, 57(2), 545-579. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10579-021-09573-1 google scholar
  7. Ege, M., & Hurley, A. (2015). Survey essay 2. Periodizing and historicizing German Afro-Americanophilia: From counterculture to post-soul (1968-2005). Portal, 12(2). https://doi.org/10.5130/portal.v12i2. 4360 google scholar Hall, K., & Nilep, C. (2015). Code Switching, IdentitY, and Globalization. In D. Tannen, H. Hamilton, & D. Schiffrin (Hrsg.), HandbooK of Discourse Analysis (S. 597-619). BLackweLL. google scholar
  8. Jentsch, T. (1999). „Freundeskreise“: zur Entwicklung der deutschen HipHop-Szene: mit einer annotierten Mediographie für Öffentliche Bibliotheken [Fachhochschule Stuttgart - Hochschule für Bibliotheks- und Informationswesen ]. https://d-nb.info/1171156987/34 google scholar
  9. Muysken, P. (2000). Bilingual speech: A typology of code-mixing. Cambridge University Press. google scholar
  10. Myers-Scotton, C. (1993). Social motivations for codeswitching: Evidence from Africa. Oxford University Press. google scholar
  11. Pandza, N. (2023). Sprache İn Deutschen Hiphop-Liedtexten İm Kontext Des Sprachkontaktes. Mostariensia: journal of social sciences and humanities, 26(2), 23-62. https://doi.org/10.47960/ 2831-0322.2022.2.26.23 google scholar
  12. PopLack, S. (1980). Sometimes I’LL start a sentence in Spanish Y TERMINO EN ESPANOL: toward a tYpologY of code-switching1. Linguistics, 18(7-8). https://doi.org/10.1515/ling.1980.18.7-8.581 google scholar
  13. SeideL, F. (2009). Professionalisierung padagogischen Handelns unter dem Focus der Nutzung jugendspezifischer Musik: beispielhaft dargestellt im heutigen Sachsen [HOCHSCHULE MITTWEIDA ]. https://monami.hs-mittweida.de/files/805/Diplomarbeit_Frank_Seidel_Musik_als_Zugang_zu_Jugendlichen.pdf google scholar
  14. Tekin, Ö. & Sustam, N. (2023). Canım, Lass uns das step bY step besprechen: Deutsch-türkisch-englisches Codeswitching. RumeliDE Dil ve Edebiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi, Ö12, 441-459. https://doi.org/10.29000/rumelide.1330522 google scholar
  15. Treffers-Daller, J., & Çetinoğlu, O. (2022). TuGeBiC: A Turkish German bilingual code-switching corpus. In arXiv [cs.CL]. google scholar
  16. Türünz, A. (2016). Music as a resource for drawing sYmbolic boundaries within the Turkish diaspora in GermanY. Sociâlm studia, 13(4), 81-96. https://doi.org/l0.5817/soc2016-4-81 google scholar
  17. Wiedemann, F. (2014). Code-Switching im algerischen und tunesischen Rap. Eine vergleichende Analyse von Lotfi Double Kanons „Klemi“ und Baltis „L’album avant l. UniversitY of Bamberg Press. google scholar
  18. Yim, O. & CLement, R. (2021). AccuLturation and attitudes toward code-switching: A bidimensionaL framework. The International Journal of Bilingualism: Cross-Disciplinary, Cross-Linguistic Studies of Language Behavior, 25(5), 1369-1388. https://doi.org/10.1177/13670069211019466 google scholar
  19. Jentsch, T. (1999). „Freundeskreise“: zur Entwicklung der deutschen HipHop-Szene: mit einer annotierten Mediographie für Öffentliche Bibliotheken [Fachhochschule Stuttgart - Hochschule für Bibliotheks- und Informationswesen ]. https://d-nb.info/1171156987/34 google scholar
  20. Pandza, N. (2023). Sprache İn Deutschen Hiphop-Liedtexten İm Kontext Des Sprachkontaktes. Mostariensia: journal of social sciences and humanities, 26(2), 23-62. https://doi.org/10.47960/ 2831-0322.2022.2.26.23 google scholar
  21. SeideL, F. (2009). Professionalisierung padagogischen Handelns unter dem Focus der Nutzung jugendspezifischer Musik: beispielhaft dargestellt im heutigen Sachsen [HOCHSCHULE MITTWEIDA ]. https://monami.hs-mittweida.de/files/805/Diplomarbeit_Frank_Seidel_Musik_als_Zugang_zu_Jugendlichen.pdf google scholar