Code-switching, word order and the lexical/functional category distinction

Aims and objectives/purpose/research questions: This study aims to improve our understanding of common switching patterns by examining determiner–noun–adjective complexes in code-switching (CS) in three language pairs (Welsh–English, Spanish–English and Papiamento–Dutch). The languages differ in gender and noun–adjective word order in the noun phrase (NP): (a) Spanish, Welsh, and Dutch have gender; English and Papiamento do not; (b) Spanish, Welsh, and Papiamento prefer post-nominal adjectives; Dutch and English, prenominal ones. We test predictions on determiner language and adjective order derived from generativist accounts and the Matrix Language Frame (MLF) approach. Design/methodology/approach: We draw on three publicly available spoken corpora. For the purposes of these analyses, we re-coded all three datasets identically. From the three re-coded corpora we extracted all monolingual and mixed simplex NPs (DetN) and complex NPs with determiners (determiner–adjective–noun (DetAN/NA)). We then examined the surrounding clause for each to determine the matrix language based on the finite verb. Data and analysis: We analysed the data using a linear regression model in R statistical software to examine the distribution of languages across word class and word order in the corpora. Findings/conclusions: Overall, the generativist predictions are borne out regarding adjective positions but not determiners and the MLF accounts for more of the data. We explore extra-linguistic explanations for the patterns observed. Originality: The current study has provided new empirical data on nominal CS from language pairs not previously considered. Significance/implications: This study has revealed robust patterns across three corpora and taken a step towards disentangling two theoretical accounts. Overall, the findings highlight the importance of comparing multiple language pairs using similar coding.

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Examining the Functional Category in Chinese–English Code-Switching: Evidence from the Eye-Movements

Journal of Psycholinguistic Research ◽

10.1007/s10936-017-9513-z ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 47 (1) ◽

pp. 1-28 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Rui Li ◽

Zhiyi Zhang ◽

Chuanbin Ni ◽

Wei Xiao ◽

Junyan Wei ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Eye Movements ◽

Code Switching ◽

Functional Category

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Adjective-noun order in Papiamento-Dutch code-switching

Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism ◽

10.1075/lab.17036.pab ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (4-5) ◽

pp. 710-735 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Leticia Pablos ◽

M. Carmen Parafita Couto ◽

Bastien Boutonnet ◽

Amy de Jong ◽

Marlou Perquin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Word Order ◽

Red Wine ◽

Code Switching ◽

The Other ◽

Potential Conflict ◽

Brain Potentials ◽

The Matrix

Abstract In Papiamento-Dutch bilingual speech, the nominal construction is a potential ‘conflict site’ if there is an adjective from one language and a noun from the other. Adjective position is pre-nominal in Dutch (cf. rode wijn ‘red wine’) but post-nominal in Papiamento (cf. biña kòrá ‘wine red’). We test predictions concerning the mechanisms underpinning word order in noun-adjective switches derived from three accounts: (i) the adjective determines word order (Cantone & MacSwan, 2009), (ii) the matrix language determines word order (Myers-Scotton, 1993, 2002), and (iii) either order is possible (Di Sciullo, 2014). An analysis of spontaneous Papiamento-Dutch code-switching production (Parafita Couto & Gullberg, 2017) could not distinguish between these predictions. We used event-related brain potentials (ERPs) to measure online comprehension of code-switched utterances. We discuss how our results inform the three theoretical accounts and we relate them to syntactic coactivation and the production-comprehension link.

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Sociolinguistics of Hindī An Analysis of TV-Mediated Spoken Hindī Features Through TV Programmes’ Language

Annali di Ca’ Foscari Serie orientale ◽

10.30687/annor/2385-3042/2021/01/011 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Giulia Ferro

Keyword(s):

Word Order ◽

Information Structure ◽

Spoken Language ◽

Code Switching ◽

Structure Theory ◽

The Social ◽

Hindi Language

This paper analyses varieties of Hindī language differentiated on the social ground, namely standard Hindī (the sanskritized language) and non-standard Hindī. The latter, which includes different varieties of spoken Hindī, was studied listening to two TV programs: Delhi Crime and Satyamev Jayate. Several features were observed on every level, but here the focus is on syntax (Hindī word order) and lexicon (code-switching). Information structure theory and pragmatics are used to analyse TV-mediated spoken Hindī word order. The comprehension of these special features can be helpful to predict the changes towards which Hindī tends to move and to give examples of the spoken language.

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Testing alternative theoretical accounts of code-switching: Insights from comparative judgments of adjective–noun order

International Journal of Bilingualism ◽

10.1177/1367006917728390 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 23 (1) ◽

pp. 200-220 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Hans Stadthagen-González ◽

M Carmen Parafita Couto ◽

C Alejandro Párraga ◽

Markus F Damian

Keyword(s):

Word Order ◽

Mixed Model ◽

Linear Mixed Model ◽

Language Model ◽

Comparative Judgment ◽

Convincing Evidence ◽

Code Switching ◽

Minimalist Program ◽

2Afc Task ◽

The Matrix

Objectives: Spanish and English contrast in adjective–noun word order: for example, brown dress (English) vs. vestido marrón (‘dress brown’, Spanish). According to the Matrix Language model ( MLF) word order in code-switched sentences must be compatible with the word order of the matrix language, but working within the minimalist program (MP), Cantone and MacSwan arrived at the descriptive generalization that the position of the noun phrase relative to the adjective is determined by the adjective’s language. Our aim is to evaluate the predictions derived from these two models regarding adjective–noun order in Spanish–English code-switched sentences. Methodology: We contrasted the predictions from both models regarding the acceptability of code-switched sentences with different adjective–noun orders that were compatible with the MP, the MLF, both, or none. Acceptability was assessed in Experiment 1 with a 5-point Likert and in Experiment 2 with a 2-Alternative Forced Choice (2AFC) task. Data and analysis: Data from both experiments were subjected to linear mixed model analyses. Results from the 2AFC task were also analyzed using Thurstone’s law of comparative judgment. Conclusions: We found an additive effect in which both the language of the verb and the language of the adjective determine word order. Originality: Both experiments examine adjective–noun word order in English–Spanish code-switched sentences. Experiment 2 represents a novel application of Thurstone’s law of comparative judgements to the study of linguistic acceptability which yielded clearer results than Likert scales. We found convincing evidence that neither the MLF nor the MP can fully account for the acceptability of adjective–noun switches. Implications: We suggest that advances in our understanding of grammaticality in code-switching will be achieved by combining the insights of the two frameworks instead of considering them in isolation, or by espousing a probabilistic model of code-switching.

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Gender in Unilingual and Mixed Speech of Spanish Heritage Speakers in The Netherlands

Languages ◽

10.3390/languages5040068 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 5 (4) ◽

pp. 68

Author(s):

Ivo Boers ◽

Bo Sterken ◽

Brechje van Osch ◽

M. Carmen Parafita Couto ◽

Janet Grijzenhout ◽

...

Keyword(s):

The Netherlands ◽

Word Order ◽

Age Of Onset ◽

Code Switching ◽

Gender Assignment ◽

Heritage Speakers ◽

Translation Equivalent ◽

Heritage Speakers Of Spanish ◽

Switching Mode ◽

Spanish Heritage Speakers

This study examines heritage speakers of Spanish in The Netherlands regarding their production of gender in both their languages (Spanish and Dutch) as well as their gender assignment strategies in code-switched constructions. A director-matcher task was used to elicit unilingual and mixed speech from 21 participants (aged 8 to 52, mean = 17). The nominal domain consisting of a determiner, noun, and adjective was targeted in three modes: (i) Unilingual Spanish mode, (ii) unilingual Dutch mode, and (iii) code-switched mode in both directions (Dutch to Spanish and Spanish to Dutch). The production of gender in both monolingual modes was deviant from the respective monolingual norms, especially in Dutch, the dominant language of the society. In the code-switching mode, evidence was found for the gender default strategy (common in Dutch, masculine in Spanish), the analogical gender strategy (i.e., the preference to assign the gender of the translation equivalent) as well as two thus far unattested strategies involving a combination of a default gender and the use of a non-prototypical word order. External factors such as age of onset of bilingualism, amount of exposure and use of both languages had an effect on both gender accuracy in the monolingual modes and assignment strategies in the code-switching modes.

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Syntax meets discourse: Locative and deictic (directional) inversion in English

Poznan Studies in Contemporary Linguistics ◽

10.1515/psicl-2020-0007 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 56 (2) ◽

pp. 251-276

Author(s):

Ana Ojea

Keyword(s):

Word Order ◽

Formal Analysis ◽

Functional Category ◽

Computational Requirement ◽

The Subject ◽

Locative Inversion ◽

Syntactic Derivation

AbstractThis paper offers a formal analysis of three constructions in English: locative inversion, central deictic inversion and directional inversion. These constructions constitute thetic statements with a locative intentional base which sets a scene that (re)introduces an entity in the discourse; syntactically, they display a non-canonical word order and have a number of unusual grammatical properties which make them particularly interesting to show how syntax connects, and adapts, to discourse. I propose that they all obtain from a language particular mechanism which involves a functional category LocP that adjusts the computational requirement to have a preverbal subject to the intentional need to have the subject post-verbally. As for the differences among them, they are approached in terms of the features that head LocP and the lexical properties of the verbs that head each of the structures. Ultimately, the paper also serves to discuss the role of certain informational features (the so-called core intentional features) in the syntactic derivation.

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Spanish in contact with Korean: New insights into language switching

Cuadernos de lingüística hispánica ◽

10.19053/0121053x.n36.2020.11301 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Silvia Kim

Keyword(s):

Word Order ◽

Code Switching ◽

Prior Work ◽

Clause Structure ◽

Language Switching ◽

Language Mixing ◽

Syntactic Constraints ◽

English I

‘Code-switching’ (CS) refers to language-mixing where individuals who speak two or more languages switch from one to another, often mid-sentence. Several morpho-syntactic constraints governing when switches happen have been proposed in prior work, mostly on Spanish-English CS (e.g. Timm, 1975; Pfaff, 1979; Poplack, 1980). However, what happens when the languages are typologically different? This is the case with Spanish-Korean CS, which has not been systematically investigated. Korean and Spanish differ in many respects, including clause structure/word order, absence/presence of articles, and morphology (Korean: agglutinative, Spanish: fusional) (Kwon, 2012; Bosque, Demonte, Lázaro, Pavón & Española, 1999). For the present study, balanced Spanish-Korean bilinguals were interviewed to obtain a naturalistic corpus of CS. Strikingly, we find that many constraints proposed for Spanish-English CS do not hold for Spanish-Korean. Specifically, there are three main ways that Spanish-Korean CS violates the constraints proposed for Spanish-English: (i) in contexts involving word order/clause structure, (ii) on the level of nouns and (iii) on the level of morphemes. Crucially, the violations are not random: We suggest that they stem from the typological differences between Korean and Spanish. This work highlights the empirical and theoretical benefits of including typologically diverse language pairs when investigating CS.

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