Bilingualism in Pop Songs BY JOBI

Bilingualism is commonly adopted in popular songs; within this type of language mixing, the second language phrases are usually relatively short, and are often arranged in the chorus to make it more ear-catching and easy to remember. Most of the time, the predominated language will take up majority of the songs, with only a sentence, or even a word of the subordinate language.

Here are some examples:

Rihanna - Te Amo (English, Spanish) 

Then she said te amo

 then she put her hand around me waist 

I told her no, She cried te amo 

I told her I'm not gonna run away 

but let me go 

My soul is awry, without asking why 

I said te amo, wish somebody'd tell me what she said? 

Don't it mean I love you 

Think it means I love you 

Don't it mean I love you

Westlife – Soledad (English - Spanish)

Soledad 

It's a keeping for the lonely 

Since the day that you were gone 

Why did you leave me 

Soledad 

In my heart you were the only 

And your memory lives on 

Why did you leave me 

Soledad

Avril Lavigne – Hello Kitty (English - Japanese) 

Kawaii 

Hello Kitty, hello Kitty 

Hello Kitty, you're so pretty 

Hello Kitty, hello Kitty 

Hello Kitty, you're so silly

Girls’ Generation – Mr. Mr. (Korean - English) 

더 당당하게 넌 Mr. Mr. (날 봐) 

Mr. Mr. (그래 바로 너 너 너) 

날 가슴 뛰게 한 Mr. Mr. (최고의 남자) 

Mr. Mr. (그게 바로 너) 

상처로 깨진 유리조각도 별이 되는 너 Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. 

나를 빛내줄 선택 받은 자!그게 바로 너 Mr. Mr.

Apink – No No No (Korean - English)

슬퍼하지마 No No No 혼자가 아냐 No No No

언제나나나 내게 항상 빛이 돼 준 그대

내 손을 잡아요 이제 지금 다가와 기대

언제나 힘이 돼 줄게

As you can see, subordinate languages used in all these five songs are extremely short. Besides, the words chosen is very easy to follow, e.g. “te amo”, “kawaii”, “Mr. Mr.”, and “no no no”; and the chorus is basically a loop of these words. It represents the commodified and minimal bilingualism, and perhaps, impersonal bilingualism.

BY JOBI