scholarly journals Normprobleme bei der Pluralbildung fremder und nativer Substantive

2003 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Heide Wegener
Keyword(s):  
Regional Differences ◽  
Speech Community ◽  
Loan Words ◽  
Plural Form ◽  
Complementary Distribution ◽  
Phonological Structure ◽  
Phonological Constraints ◽  
Assimilation Process ◽  
Natural Change ◽  
Statistical Development

The paper takes the German noun plural formation as an example for different cases of doubt and shows in which circumstances German speakers can have problems to create the "normal" plural form corresponding to the standard. The paper distinguishes between native and non native plural forms. The cases of doubt within the former can be shown to result from either natural change which leads to a reduction of plural classes and explains the decline of the er- and the umlaut plural, or from a strategy of compensation which replaces the non iconic 0-plural by forms in -n or -s. The problems with the non native nouns varying between a plural form in -s and one ending in a schwa suffix are shown to be the consequence of the ongoing assimilation process. The -s is in complementary distribution with the native schwa suffixes of German and a means of integration: The non-syllabic -s allows for highly corresponding, "conservative" forms similar to the singular by adding only a segment, not a syllable to the stem. By contrast, a native plural with a syllabic suffix alters more or less severely the phonological shape of the base. The alterations yield a continuum of similarity that are demonstrated in a diagram. The paper shows that this distribution is functionally motivated. Loan words, nouns not yet fully established in the speech community, can only be altered in their phonological structure after they have gained a certain degree of familiarity. Only the established borrowings apply -en or -e because these allow "better" plural forms as to prosodic and phonological constraints, i.e. trochaic forms without consonant clusters and superheavy syllables. Finally, the paper discusses the consequences of this variation for the layers of the lexicon and for the grammar of German. Three appendixes indicate the statistical development of the plural classes during the last century, token frequencies of some examples and regional differences in the use of the variants.

scholarly journals Phonological Processes in Ekegusii Borrowing: A Constraint-based Approach

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 83-100
Author(s):  
Edinah Mose
Keyword(s):  
Doctoral Study ◽  
Phonological Process ◽  
Phonological Processes ◽  
Purposive Sampling ◽  
Loan Words ◽  
Source Language ◽  
Phonological Constraints ◽  
Sound Patterns ◽  
Constraint Approach

Phonological processes are at the heart of linguistic borrowing as it has varied phonological systems. It could be seen that the loan words entering the loan language from the source language can hardly be separated from the phonological process because they must be modified to suit the phonology of the loan language. This article analysed the phonological processes realized in Ekegusii borrowing from English using Optimality Theory’s constraint approach. Since this was a phonological study, descriptive linguistic fieldwork was used. The data used in this article was extracted from Mose’s doctoral study, whereby purposive sampling was used to obtain two hundred borrowed segments from the Ekegusii dictionary, then supplemented by introspection. Further, three adult native proficient Ekegusii speakers who were neither too young nor too old and had all their teeth were purposively sampled.  The two hundred tokens were then subjected to the sampled speakers through interviews to realize the sound patterns in the Ekegusii borrowing process overtly. The findings revealed that Ekegusii phonological constraints defined the well-formedness of the loanwords by repairing the illicit structures. To fix, various phonological processes were realized. They included: epenthesis, deletion, devoicing/strengthening, voicing/ weakening, re-syllabification, substitution, monophthongization, and lenition. The article concludes that borrowing across languages (related or unrelated) reports similar if not the same phonological processes only that the processes attested in one language are a subset of the universally exhibited phonological processes.

scholarly journals Aspects of Semantics of Standard British English and Nigerian English: A Contrastive Study

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adetuyi, Chris Ajibade ◽  
Adeniran, Adeola Adetomilayo
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Study ◽  
Speech Community ◽  
British English ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Loan Words ◽  
Contrastive Study ◽  
Semantic Extension ◽  
Bush Meat ◽  
Semantic Shift ◽  
Cultural Features

The concept of meaning is a complex one in language study when cultural features are added. This is mandatory because language cannot be completely separated from culture in which case language and culture complement each other. When there are two varieties of a language in a society, i.e. two varieties functioning side by side in a speech community, there is tendency for misconception. It is therefore imperative to make a linguistic comparative study of varieties of such languages. In this paper, a semantic contrastive study is made between Standard British English (SBE) and Nigerian English (NE). The semantic study is limited to aspects of semantics: semantic extension (Kinship terms, metaphors), semantic shift (lexical items considered are ‘drop’ ‘befriend’ ‘dowry’ and escort) acronyms (NEPA, JAMB, NTA) linguistic borrowing or loan words (Seriki, Agbada, Eba, Dodo, Iroko) coinages (long leg, bush meat; bottom power and juju). In the study of these aspects of semantics of SBE and NE lexical terms, conservative statements are made, problems areas and hierarchy of difficulties are highlighted with a view to bringing out areas of differences. The study will also serve as a guide in further contrastive studies in some other levels of languages.

Phonetics and phonology of soft ‘g’ in Turkish

2017 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Özlem Ünal-Logacev ◽  
Marzena Żygis ◽  
Susanne Fuchs
Keyword(s):  
Historical Development ◽  
Acoustic Properties ◽  
Phonological Processes ◽  
Loan Words ◽  
Complementary Distribution ◽  
Word Position

The present study aims to approach soft ‘g’, a highly disputable sound in Turkish phonetics and phonology, from a multidimensional perspective by (i) analysing its historical development, (ii) investigating its distribution in a dictionary of Modern Turkish, and (iii) studying its acoustic realization. In the Ottoman script soft ‘g’ was represented with two letters: <غ>, pronounced [ɣ], was used in the context of preceding back vowels Vback_(Vback, C); <گ>, pronounced [j], was used in the context of preceding front vowels Vfront_(Vfront, C). In 1928, due to a reform in orthography, these two vocalic contexts were obscured by replacing both <غ> and <گ> with <ğ>. Our investigation of the distribution of /ğ/ in the native vocabulary of Modern Turkish reveals that /ğ/ is in complementary distribution with /ɡ/: /ğ/ appears word-finally and word-medially (i.e. syllable-finally Vğ.C and intervocalically V.ğV), while /ɡ/ is found word-initially and word-medially (i.e. syllable-initially when following a consonant C.ğV). However, in loan words which are well assimilated into Turkish by means of phono-morphological rules the complementary distribution is not attested. Moreover, the behavior of soft ‘g’ in phonological processes strongly suggests that the sound is part of the phonemic inventory of Turkish. Finally, the results of our two acoustic experiments show that /ğ/ is phonetically manifested in the lengthening of the preceding vowel (/Vğ/ → [Vː]) independently of the surrounding vowel environment, word position, and participant age. In addition, the results indicate that speakers of Modern Turkish do not realize acoustic properties of a velar gesture.

Regional differences in low SES African-American children's speech in the school setting

2007 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 281-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne H. Charity
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
New Orleans ◽  
Regional Differences ◽  
School Setting ◽  
African American Children ◽  
Washington Dc ◽  
Speech Community ◽  
Standard American English ◽  
Vernacular English ◽  
American Children

AbstractComprehensive investigations of African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) have demonstrated that most features of AAVE reported in the sociolinguistic literature are consistently seen in nearly every African-American speech community in which vernacular speech has been documented. This article highlights quantitative regional differences in the speech produced by African-American children from three U.S. cities in an academic setting. In this analysis, 157 5- to 8-year-old African-American children in New Orleans, LA, Washington, DC, and Cleveland, OH imitated the sentences of a story presented in Standard American English (SAE) by teachers. The 15 sentences included many items that were possible mismatches between the child's vernacular and SAE. Afterwards, the children retold the story in their own words. Children's use of SAE and AAVE features in both tasks was analyzed. Higher rates of AAVE feature use occurred in New Orleans than in Cleveland or Washington, DC.

scholarly journals Revisiting the Acquisition of Onset Complexity: Affrication in Québec French

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Natália Brambatti GUZZO
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Data ◽  
Early Age ◽  
Complementary Distribution ◽  
Phonological Constraints ◽  
Quebec French

Abstract I investigate the acquisition of affrication in Québec French (QF), where affricates are in complementary distribution with coronal stops, being realized before high front vowels and glides. Previous research on other languages shows that affricates are acquired before branching onsets, which supports the idea that complexity at the level of the segment is acquired before complexity at the level of the syllable (Lleó & Prinz, 1997). In contrast, I hypothesize that affricates are acquired after branching onsets in QF, as learners are required to understand the constraints on their distribution. I examine longitudinal data from two QF-speaking children for whom the acquisition of branching onsets has been previously analyzed (Rose, 2000). Results show that affricates are indeed acquired after branching onsets, consistent with the hypothesis. Overapplication errors indicate that children make generalizations about the phonological constraints on affrication from an early age, which is expected for the acquisition of rules.

scholarly journals Linguistic Interference and Religious Identity: The Case of a Lebanese Speech Community

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Solimando
Keyword(s):  
Religious Identity ◽  
Code Switching ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Speech Community ◽  
Loan Words ◽  
Code Mixing ◽  
Language Study ◽  
Linguistic Interference

Multilingualism and multiculturalism are cornerstones of Lebanese society. There is a considerable amount of Arabic-French bilingualism, although English has been rapidly gaining ground in recent years. This situation has obviously affected the Lebanese dialect: loan words and even cases of phonological, morphological and syntactical change are widespread. Moreover, we constantly witness phenomena of code-switching and linguistic mixing between Lebanese/French and Lebanese/ English. This has become associated with a certain cultural and religious identity. The literature that investigates the role of foreign languages in Lebanon generally focuses on their use in Lebanese education and on the speakers’ perception of the foreign languages. The present study examines the role of foreign languages in authentic speech and explores the linguistic phenomena of code-switching and code-mixing as markers of speaker religious identity. Various extracts of authentic informal speech are analysed in order to define further the correspondence between language study and identity in the Lebanese context.

scholarly journals “Dobra polska mowa”: monoglot ideology, multilingual reality and Polish organisations in the UK

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (269) ◽  
pp. 73-98
Author(s):  
Kinga Kozminska ◽  
Zhu Hua
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Regional Differences ◽  
British Society ◽  
Nation State ◽  
Speech Community ◽  
Community Activities ◽  
Language Varieties ◽  
Ethnographic Fieldwork ◽  
European Nation ◽  
The Uk

Abstract This article examines the tension between multilingual reality of migrant life and monoglot standard ideology in Polish grassroots organisations in the UK. Drawing on linguistic ethnographic fieldwork from 2017 to 2019, we show that while flexible multilingual practices characterise the community’s multilingual reality, a preference for monolingual standard Polish exists in community activities and online profiles. We argue that, through common orientation to the denotational code and national identity, the organisations give preference to language rather than the speech community of the immediate surroundings and attempt to create a representation of a timeless unified Polish community in line with the static framework of the European nation-state that promotes linguistic, cultural and racial purity. While advocating sedentary, permanent and classed images of migration and integration into British society, the organisations marginalise uses of other language varieties and erase observed historical, class and regional differences within the community.

scholarly journals Luxembourgish

2013 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Gilles ◽  
Jürgen Trouvain
Keyword(s):  
First Language ◽  
Oral Communication ◽  
National Language ◽  
Speech Community ◽  
Local Language ◽  
Loan Words ◽  
West Germanic ◽  
The Status ◽  
Official Languages ◽  
Grand Duchy

Luxembourgish (local language name: Lëtzebuergesch [ˈlətsəbuəjəʃ], French name: Luxembourgeois, German name: Luxemburgisch) is a small West-Germanic language mainly spoken in the multilingual speech community of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, where it is one of the three official languages alongside German and French. Being the first language of most Luxembourgers it also has the status of the national language (since 1984). Although in its origin Luxembourgish has to be considered as a Central Franconian dialect, it is nowadays regarded by the speech community as a language of its own. As a consequence, German is considered a different language. An official orthographical system has been devised. Luxembourgish is used very frequently in day-to-day oral communication at all social levels; it is very common on local radio and television; it is the only language spoken in parliament sessions and it is also very often used at the workplace. Although the vocabulary of Luxembourgish has a substantial number of loan words from French and German, the morpho-syntax follows Germanic patterns. Luxembourgish today has approximately 400,000 speakers, including many L2 speakers (around 43% of the population does not have the Luxembourgish nationality).

scholarly journals Revisiting the Acquisition of Onset Complexity: Affrication in Québec French

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natália Brambatti Guzzo
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Data ◽  
Early Age ◽  
Complementary Distribution ◽  
Phonological Constraints ◽  
Quebec French

I investigate the acquisition of affrication in Québec French (QF), where affricates are in complementary distribution with coronal stops, being realized before high front vowels and glides. Previous research on other languages shows that affricates are acquired before branching onsets, which supports the idea that complexity at the level of the segment is acquired before complexity at the level of the syllable (Lleó &amp; Prinz, 1997). In contrast, I hypothesize that affricates are acquired after branching onsets in QF, as learners are required to understand the constraints on their distribution. I examine longitudinal data from two QF-speaking children for whom the acquisition of branching onsets has been previously analyzed (Rose, 2000). Results show that affricates are indeed acquired after branching onsets, consistent with the hypothesis. Overapplication errors indicate that children make generalizations about the phonological constraints on affrication from an early age, which is expected for the acquisition of rules.

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