scholarly journals Embedded English verbs in Arabic-English code-switching in Egypt

2020 ◽  
pp. 136700692097690
Author(s):  
Małgorzata Kniaź ◽  
Magdalena Zawrotna
Keyword(s):  
Morphological Integration ◽  
Code Switching ◽  
Speech Community ◽  
American University ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Linguistic Convention ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Arabic And English ◽  
Recurrent Patterns ◽  
English Verb

Aims: This study provides new insights into Arabic-English code-switching with particular reference to verb insertion. It aims to identify (1) patterns of English verb insertion into Arabic; (2) factors affecting them. We offer an alternative to previous studies’ conclusions regarding a supposed lack of English verbs integrated morphologically into Arabic, which is claimed to result from incongruence between Arabic and English verb systems. Methodology: We employ the Matrix Language Frame (MLF) model and the 4-M model. Data and analysis: The data comprise 14,414 clauses obtained from interviews with students at the American University in Cairo. Data were analyzed quantitatively. Findings: Most (80.17%) of inserted verbs were inflected with Arabic tense, gender, and number prefixes showing morphological integration into Arabic. We distinguished four recurrent patterns in verb insertion: (1) complete morphological integration in the present tense; (2) incomplete assimilation of forms requiring the use of the plural suffix -u; (3) lack of morphological integration in the past tense; and (4) lack of suffixation of Arabic clitics to English verbs. Originality: This is the first study focusing on verb insertion in Arabic-English code-switching based on empirical data collected in Egypt. It offers different findings on verb patterns and their explanation compared with other quantitative studies based on the MLF model. We propose to look beyond incongruence between Arabic and English as a factor determining verb patterns to include linguistic convention. Thus, we hypothesize that verb insertion might be controlled by linguistic norms accepted and perpetuated in a given speech community. Significance: Contrary to previous claims, our results show that patterns of verb insertion in Arabic-English code-switching are consistent with the MLF model. Hence, the study contributes evidence for the MLF model and its explanatory value.

scholarly journals English lexical items in Egyptian Arabic. Code-switching or borrowing?

2017 ◽  
pp. 185
Author(s):  
Małgorzata Kniaź
Keyword(s):  
Arab World ◽  
Discourse Markers ◽  
Code Switching ◽  
Functional Variation ◽  
American University ◽  
Standard Arabic ◽  
Egyptian Arabic ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Arabic And English

The study aims to answer the question of whether lone English items that occur in Arabic-English code-switching are borrowings or code-switches. This is based on empirical data collected at the American University in Cairo. The data were analyzed within the framework of the Matrix Language Frame model. 3443 bilingual projections of complementizer (CP) were investigated. They were divided into two types: (1) CPs with Arabic as the Matrix Language (ML) and (2) CPs with English as the ML. The analysis shows a clear discrepancy between categories of items used in the two types. In Arabic CPs, the most frequently switched category concerns English nouns related to the field of study and academic life as well as Standard Arabic in monolingual discourse. The interviews conducted with the participants in the study revealed that they were mostly used due to the lack of Arabic equivalents at the speakers’ disposal. In English CPs, mainly Arabic conjunctions and discourse markers appear. We claim that this categorial and functional variation between Arabic and English results from the linguistic situation in the Arab world. For bilingual speakers in Arabic diglossic communities, educated in schools with instruction in English and non-proficient in Standard Arabic, English items are the only means to communicate in many fields. Such items become part of their mental lexicon and thus should be considered as borrowings even if they are not established loans.

scholarly journals A Systematic Comparison of Factors Affecting the Choice of Matrix Language in Three Bilingual Communities

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana Carter ◽  
Peredur Davies ◽  
Margaret Deuchar ◽  
María del Carmen Parafita Couto
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Social Situation ◽  
Speech Community ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Structural Relationships ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Bilingual Corpora ◽  
Bilingual Communities ◽  
The Impact

AbstractIn this paper we compare the code-switching (CS) patterns in three bilingual corpora collected in Wales, Miami and Patagonia, Argentina. Using the Matrix Language Framework to do a clause-based analysis of a sample of data, we consider the impact of structural relationships and extra-linguistic factors on CS patterns. We find that the Matrix Language (ML) is uniform where the language pairs have contrasting word orders, as in Welsh-English (VSO-SVO) and WelshSpanish (VSO-SVO) but diverse where the word order is similar as in Spanish-English (SVO-SVO). We find that the diversity of the ML in Miami is related to the diversity of degrees of proficiency, ethnic identities, and social networks amongst members of that community, while the uniformity of the ML in Wales is related to the uniformity of these factors. This is not so clear in Patagonia, however, where there is little CS produced in conversation. We suggest that the members of the speech community use Spanish or Welsh mostly in a monolingual mode, depending on the interlocutor and the social situation.

scholarly journals Language Interaction in Emergent Grammars: Morphology and Word Order in Bilingual Children’s Code-Switching

Languages ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 40
Author(s):  
Virve-Anneli Vihman
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Morphological Integration ◽  
Code Switching ◽  
Moving Target ◽  
Standard Order ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Constituent Order

This paper examines the morphological integration of nouns in bilingual children’s code-switching to investigate whether children adhere to constraints posited for adult code-switching. The changing nature of grammars in development makes the Matrix Language Frame a moving target; permeability between languages in bilinguals undermines the concept of a monolingual grammatical frame. The data analysed consist of 630 diary entries with code-switching and structural transfer from two children (aged 2;10–7;2 and 6;6–11;0) bilingual in Estonian and English, languages which differ in morphological richness and the inflectional role of stem changes. The data reveal code-switching with late system morphemes, variability in stem selection and word order incongruence. Constituent order is analysed in utterances with and without code-switching, and the frame is shown to draw sometimes on both languages, raising questions about the MLF, which is meant to derive from the grammar of one language. If clauses without code-switched elements display non-standard morpheme order, then there is no reason to expect code-switching to follow a standard order, nor is it reasonable to assume a monolingual target grammar. Complex morphological integration of code-switches and interaction between the two languages are discussed.

scholarly journals Code-switching within the noun phrase: Evidence from three corpora

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 695-714 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Carmen Parafita Couto ◽  
Marianne Gullberg
Keyword(s):  
Linear Regression ◽  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Code Switching ◽  
Word Class ◽  
Statistical Software ◽  
Switching Patterns ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Research Questions

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.

Constraints on Code-Switching: Evidence from Swedish and English

1986 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-82
Author(s):  
Beata Schmid
Keyword(s):  
Code Switching ◽  
Optimal Switching ◽  
Specific Point ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
Clear Sense ◽  
Closed Class ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Category Equivalence ◽  
Communicative Context

In this paper, I have shown that Joshi's (1982) framework of codeswitching constraints can largely be applied to Swedish-English code-switches. I feel qualified to conclude that Joshi's claims concerning the non-switchability of closed class items and matrix language and embedded languages are held up by the Swedish- English data. The need for corresponding categories proved to be less clear-cut than originally proposed by Woolford (1983) and others. It seems that optimal switching conditions are given if the categories, rules and metarules correspond in the two languages. Apparently, however, it is also possible to switch if the node admissibility conditions for the matrix language only are met, as was shown by code-switched sentences containing RPs. This requires that the speaker has a clear sense of which language is the host and which is embedded. Rules from the embedded language only are not acceptable. This calls for some sort of determination strategy by the parser. I found no evidence for determining Lm at any specific point in the sentence, except at the topmost S. Rather, the judgments by code-switchers that a sentence “comes from” one language seems to coincide with the fact that the resulting sentence is based on the rules from that language. Other than that, the matrix language is determined by the communicative context as a whole.The data involving RPs also seemed to indicate that RPs are not separate ategories, but are NPs, introduced by a “de-slashing” rule (Sells 1984). If they were separate categories, this would be evidence for there being no need for category equivalence. In this case, we would have to explicitly state all other cases which require category equivalence (the majority of cases), which is undesirable.

scholarly journals The Factors Affecting the Sociolinguistic and Strategic Competencies in English among Teachers in Higher Education Teachers in Lipa City

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Allan D. Tipan
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Demographic Characteristics ◽  
Code Switching ◽  
General Sense ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
School Year ◽  
Points Of View ◽  
Effective Use ◽  
Language Competencies ◽  
The Relationship

The study attempted to describe the factors affecting the sociolinguistic andstrategic competencies in English among teachers in Higher Education Institutionsin Lipa City and determine the relationship between the demographic characteristicsand their assessments. The study was done during the school year 2010-2011. ThreeHigher Education Institutions in Lipa City were selected as the research locale. Totalenumeration was used as sampling for the study. Both quantitative and qualitativeresearch methods were employed. The respondents agreed that the factors of contextof acquisition, accommodating speech norms and code switching, degree of contactwith second language users and level of confidence affect their sociolinguisticcompetence. Likewise, they also agreed that the factors of questioning skills and useof non-verbal communication affect their strategic competencies. Variations in termsof the relationships of different demographic characteristics and their sociolinguisticand strategic competencies were also established. A general sense, the teachers’diverse characteristics generated different points of view on how the factors affecttheir competencies. This led to the conclusion that they are the ones responsible why the factors influence their competencies. They should be the ones responsible for affecting culture and not culture to affect their language competencies. It is of greatimportance that teachers should take the initiative to study and systematically use thecompetencies which they can work on. HEI administrators should offer professionaldevelopment seminars as these are necessary for the effective use of the teachers’competencies.Keywords: competency, sociolinguistic competence, strategic competency,context of acquisition, code switching, confidence questioning skills, non-verbalcommunication

Prosody: A feature of languages or a feature of speakers?

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 462-474 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carmen Muñiz-Cachón
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Code Switching ◽  
The Other ◽  
Speech Community ◽  
Prosodic Features ◽  
Social Situations ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Linguistic Interference ◽  
The Individual

Abstract Social situations of language coexistence have resulted in linguistic manifestations of bilingualism and diglossia, including linguistic interference, lexical loans and code switching. What role does prosody play in social bilingualism? In other words, when contact between different languages is not restricted to the individual but affects an entire speech community, does a dominant prosody exist? Does prosody vary among different linguistic varieties? In order to find an answer to these questions, we hereby show the results of a research project on the prosodic features of Asturian and Castilian spoken in the centre of Asturias. This experimental study is based on the speech of four informants from Oviedo – two men and two women – two of which speak Castilian, while the other two speak Asturian.

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