Code-Mixing in der Marathi-Übersetzung der deutschen Kurzgeschichte „Der hellgraue Frühjahrsmantel' / Code-Mixing in the Marathi Translation of the German Short Story 'Der hellgraue Frühjahrsmantel'

Code-switching or code-mixing in spoken language is quite common. Can code-mixing also occur in a written form of a language, such as in a newspaper article, in a short story, or in a translation? This paper examines the use of code-mixing in the translation of a German short story into Marathi. Marathi is an Indo-European language that is recognized as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India. The article analyses whether code-mixing is used in the Marathi translation of the German short story when no other equivalents are available in the target language i.e., in Marathi or is it more of a thoughtful choice even if equivalents exist in the target language. With relevant examples, this empirical analysis further investigates the role of code-mixing in the Marathi translation of the German short story, “Der hellgraue Frühjahrsmantel” written by Wolfgang Hildesheimer (1962). The title of the translated text reads “राखाडी स्प्रिंगजाकीट” (rākhādī springjākīṭ, 2017). With this analysis, the article presents some remarkable characteristics of both the Indian language Marathi, its linguistic context and culture. The analysis can stimulate interest in Marathi and could also be useful in further research in the areas of code mixing or code switching in translation.