The present thesis delves into the intricate sociolinguistic situation in Gibraltar, a British Overseas Territory, focusing on the unique Gibraltarian linguistic variety called Yanito, characterized as a type of code-switching discourse with borrowings from different lexical sources. Firstly, the thesis centres on the sociohistorical background of the Rock, highlighting the events that were crucial in the establishment of the current linguistic situation. Secondly, the roles of the three linguistic varieties, English, Spanish and Yanito, are explored, focusing on the characteristics of Yanito and comparing it to Andalusian Spanish. Next, the thesis focuses on the language attitudes in Gibraltar and defines the Gibraltarian speech community in terms of bilingualism, multilingualism
and diglossia. Finally, the analysis of examples aims to provide insight into the characteristic of Yanito.
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