Evidence against a link between learning phonotactics and learning phonological alternations

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Youngah Do ◽  
Ping Hei Yeung
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
First Language ◽  
Vowel Harmony ◽  
The Other ◽  
Artificial Languages ◽  
Single Mechanism ◽  
Do So

Abstract Phonological alternations often happen to conform to phonotactic regularities, from which a single mechanism for phonotactics and alternations has been claimed. We note, however, that empirical evidence supporting the link between phonotactics and alternations comes only from English native speakers whose first language (L1) does exhibit phonotactically motivated alternation patterns. This article examines whether the link between phonotactics and alternations is universally available. To do so, we test learning of phonotactics and alternations with Cantonese native speakers, whose L1 provides no evidence for or against the link. We address learning of a vowel harmony pattern through the use of three artificial languages; one with a harmony pattern both within and across stems, another with a harmony pattern only across stems; and the other with a disharmony pattern within stems but harmony across stems. Learners successfully acquired harmony phonotactics according to input patterns, but they showed no difference in learning alternation patterns across the three languages. Our results suggest that the link between phonotactics and alternations might be language-specific: Only upon receiving L1 evidence, learners can use a unified mechanism to encode phonotactics and alternations.

scholarly journals Response article Full transfer vs. developmentally moderated transfer: a reply to Bohnacker

2007 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 485-493 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manfred Pienemann ◽  
Gisela HÅkansson
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Language ◽  
First Language ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Verb Second ◽  
Initial State ◽  
L1 Transfer ◽  
Underlying Theory ◽  
Key Aspects

Ute Bohnacker's (2006) article on the acquisition of the verb second (V2) property in German by native speakers of Swedish (also a V2 language) is an attempted rebuttal of Håkansson et al.'s (2002) work on first language (L1) transfer and aspects of the underlying theory on which the work is based: Processability Theory (Pienemann, 1998). The article by Håkansson et al. presented empirical evidence from a similar population of learners (native language Swedish, target language German), showing that V2 is not transferred at the initial state. Unfortunately, Bohnacker misrepresents key aspects of our work on L1 transfer and, paradoxically, her own data constitute empirical evidence supporting our position, as we show in this response.

scholarly journals Within-type variation in Satellite-framed languages: The case of Serbian

2017 ◽  
Vol 70 (4) ◽  
pp. 637-660
Author(s):  
Benjamin Fagard ◽  
Dejan Stosic ◽  
Massimo Cerruti
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Good Deal ◽  
Interesting Case ◽  
The Other ◽  
European Language ◽  
Motion Event ◽  
Motion Event Descriptions ◽  
Do So

Abstract After a wealth of studies on motion event descriptions, it seems hard to say something new: the Verb-framed/Satellite-framed typology proposed by Talmy has spawned a long debate. Among other things, previous work has shown within-type variation for one of the two language types defined by Talmy, namely Verb-framed languages. In this paper, we address this debate, showing within-type variation for the other type, Satellite-framed languages, with new data elicited from native speakers of Serbian. In order to do so, we compare it with five other languages, from three Indo-European language families (Romance, Germanic and Slavic). Our data show that Serbian is a particularly interesting case, since it is structurally Satellite-framed, but behaves like Verb-framed languages in that speakers do not always express manner and path jointly (i.e. manner in the verb and path in the satellite), as expected on the basis of Talmy’s typology. The main result of our paper is thus that there is a good deal of within-type variation for both language types identified by Talmy.

Die Nativierung des Standarddeutschen

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Pröll
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Social History ◽  
Historical Perspective ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
First Language ◽  
First Century ◽  
Time Study ◽  
Present Stage ◽  
German System ◽  
Transitional Phase

Abstract Presently, Standard German is in the process of becoming a nativized variety of German after centuries without native speakers. Over the course of the twentieth and twenty-first century, an increasing number of speakers have acquired Standard German as a first language, marking an important transitional phase in its social history. The article first discusses this from a theoretical and socio-historical perspective before providing empirical evidence for this change: Drawing on data from an apparent time study (involving 142 participants aged 20 to 90) and an experimental elicitation (from 35 kindergartners), it documents that at the present stage two typologically distinct systems can be observed in Southern Germany: Both a non-standard suprasegmental system that allows stressed syllables to be light and the Standard German system that requires stressed syllables to be heavy exist and are used simultaneously. The analyses show an ongoing shift towards the Standard German syllable system, proving that the Standard German syllable system is indeed undergoing a nativization process. The article closes with implications for language teaching, variational linguistics and the typological assessment of German that arise from these findings.

scholarly journals Second language attainment and first language attrition: The case of VOT in immersed Dutch–German late bilinguals

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 483-518 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antje Stoehr ◽  
Titia Benders ◽  
Janet G van Hell ◽  
Paula Fikkert
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
First Language ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
The Other ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
L1 Attrition ◽  
At Home ◽  
Late Bilinguals

Speech of late bilinguals has frequently been described in terms of cross-linguistic influence (CLI) from the native language (L1) to the second language (L2), but CLI from the L2 to the L1 has received relatively little attention. This article addresses L2 attainment and L1 attrition in voicing systems through measures of voice onset time (VOT) in two groups of Dutch–German late bilinguals in the Netherlands. One group comprises native speakers of Dutch and the other group comprises native speakers of German, and the two groups further differ in their degree of L2 immersion. The L1-German–L2-Dutch bilinguals ( N = 23) are exposed to their L2 at home and outside the home, and the L1-Dutch–L2-German bilinguals ( N = 18) are only exposed to their L2 at home. We tested L2 attainment by comparing the bilinguals’ L2 to the other bilinguals’ L1, and L1 attrition by comparing the bilinguals’ L1 to Dutch monolinguals ( N = 29) and German monolinguals ( N = 27). Our findings indicate that complete L2 immersion may be advantageous in L2 acquisition, but at the same time it may cause L1 phonetic attrition. We discuss how the results match the predictions made by Flege’s Speech Learning Model and explore how far bilinguals’ success in acquiring L2 VOT and maintaining L1 VOT depends on the immersion context, articulatory constraints and the risk of sounding foreign accented.

Non-native Japanese learners’ perception of consonant length in Japanese and Italian

2017 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimiko Tsukada ◽  
Felicity Cox ◽  
John Hajek ◽  
Yukari Hirata
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
First Language ◽  
The Other ◽  
Identification Task ◽  
Two Stage ◽  
Linguistic Experience ◽  
Australian English ◽  
Japanese Learners

Learners of a foreign language (FL) typically have to learn to process sounds that do not exist in their first language (L1). As this is known to be difficult for adults, in particular, it is important for FL pedagogy to be informed by phonetic research. This study examined the role of FL learners’ previous linguistic experience in the processing of a contrast absent in the L1. The FLs under investigation are Japanese and Italian, which both use contrastive consonant length. Two groups of non-native Japanese (NNJ) learners – L1 Australian English (OZ) and L1 Korean – participated in the consonant length identification task. Neither OZ nor Korean has an underlying consonant length contrast, but Korean has non-contrastive lengthening of tense obstruents with corresponding shorter preceding vowels, which may be beneficial in perceiving consonant length in an FL. We have taken a novel, two-stage approach. First, we compared the perception of Japanese long/geminate and short/singleton consonants by the two groups of NNJ learners. Second, we investigated whether FL Japanese learning by the two groups transfers to the processing of consonant length in an unknown language, Italian. Native speakers of Japanese (NJ) and Italian (NI) were included as controls. They were familiar with contrastive consonant length in their L1, but were naïve to the other language. The NJ and NI groups accurately identified the consonant length category in their L1 but were slightly less accurate in the unknown language. The two NNJ groups were generally accurate (> 80%) in perceiving consonant length not only in Japanese, but also in Italian. However, the direction of NNJ learners’ misperception (i.e. singleton as geminate or geminate as singleton) varied, suggesting that some learners, according to their L1, may categorize length in Japanese and Italian differently rather than uniformly applying the concept of [±long].

scholarly journals ANALISIS SEMANTIK METAFORA WARNA BAHASA MINANGKABAU

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 117
Author(s):  
Yulino Indra
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
The Other ◽  
Metaphorical Expression ◽  
Negative Connotation ◽  
Do So

This paper tried to investigate the presence of the terms of colors and its connotationin the metaphors of Minangkabau Language. To do so, the data were collectedfrom the native speakers and from the books such as Minangkabau Language Dictionary,The Minangkabau Language of Proverb, text of randai, and the lyrics ofMinangkabau songs. The metaphorical color expressions were analysed by correlatingthem with their literal meanings and other factors such as physical, psychological,historical, and cultural. The findings of this research showed that there weresix colors found in metaphorical expression, i.e itam ’black’, putiah ‘white, kulabu’grey’, sirah ’red’, kunyiang ’yellow’, and ijau ’green’. Some colors such as black,white, red, and yellow, contained both negative and positive connotation. However,the other colors such as grey and green only contained negative connotation. Thesemethaporical color expressions were unique because they were mostly influenced bymany factors in Minangkabau language and culture.AbstrakMakalah ini mencoba meneliti keberadaan warna-warna dan makna yang dikandungdalam ekpresi metafora bahasa Minangkabau. Data diperoleh dari penutur aslidan beberapa buku di perpustakaan, seperti Kamus Bahasa Minangkabau, KamusUngkapan Bahasa Minangkabau, teks randai, dan lirik lagu. Konotasi ekpresimetafora warna tersebut dianalisis dengan cara menghubungkannya dengan maknaliteralnya. Selain itu, analisis juga dikaitkan dengan faktor-faktor lain, seperti keadaanfisik, psikologi, sejarah, dan budaya yang mempengaruhinya. Hasil penelitianmenunjukkan bahwa ada enam warna yang ditemukan dalam ekspresi metaforabahasa Minangkabau, yaitu itam ‘hitam, putiah ‘putih’, kulabu ‘abu-abu’, sirah‘merah’, kunyiang ‘kuning’, dan ijau ‘hijau’. Ekspresi metafora yang menggunakanwarna hitam, putih, merah, dan kuning memiliki konotasi positif dan negatif.Akan tetapi, ekpresi metafora yang menggunakan warna abu-abu dan hijau hanyamemiliki konotasi negatif. Setiap ekpresi metafora yang menggunakan kata warnadalam bahasa Minangkabau memiliki keunikan. Keunikan metafora warna tersebutsangat dipengaruhi oleh berbagai faktor dalam bahasa dan budaya Minangkabau.

scholarly journals Prison violence in Chilean facilities: A first overview

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 1-39
Author(s):  
Guillermo E. Sanhueza ◽  
Reuben J. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Total Population ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
The Other ◽  
Private Prisons ◽  
Prison Violence ◽  
Prison Life ◽  
Do So

Although prison violence has been studied in developed countries, there is little empirical evidence of the phenomenon in developing countries. This article analyzes violence within Chilean facilities, specifically two of its most common manifestations: inmate-inmate violence and guard-inmate. To do so, this study uses both administrative data from Gendarmeria de Chile as well as survey data from the First Survey on Inmates’ Perceptions of Prison Life (Espinoza, Martínez & Sanhueza, 2014). Results show that inmate-inmate violence is more likely to occur in prisons with higher concentrations of young inmates (IRR = 0.786), the proportion of inmates classified with high criminal contagion (IRR = 1.042) and a greater total population (IRR = 1.0008). On the other hand, violence from guard to inmates is more likely to affect men (OR = 3.37) and those who live in private prisons (OR = 1.64); on the contrary, having suffered physical mistreatment from guards is less likely when inmates are visited more often (OR = 0.77), when they knew how to fill out grievances (OR = 0.75), and when inmates had a better perception of prison infrastructure (OR = 0.68). Finally, implications for public policy and new questions are suggested

Whose? L2-English speakers' possessive pronoun gender errors

2010 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 318-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
INÉS ANTÓN-MÉNDEZ
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
First Language ◽  
The Other ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Automatic Processes ◽  
Possessive Pronoun ◽  
Other Hand

This article reports the results of an experiment on production of his/her in English as a second language (L2) by proficient native speakers of Italian, Spanish, and Dutch. In Dutch and English, 3rd person singular possessive pronouns agree in gender with their antecedents, in Italian and Spanish possessives in general agree with the noun they accompany (possessum). However, while in Italian the 3rd person singular possessives overtly agree in gender with the possessums, in Spanish they lack overt morphological gender marking. Dutch speakers were found to make very few possessive gender errors in any condition, Spanish and Italian speakers, on the other hand, behaved like Dutch speakers when the possessum was inanimate, but made more errors when it was animate (e.g., his mother). Thus, even proficient L2 speakers are susceptible to the influence of automatic processes that should apply in their first language alone. The pattern of results has implications for pronoun production and models of bilingual language production.

scholarly journals Selective transfer in the acquisition of English double object constructions by Brazilian learners

2013 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 519-544 ◽  
Author(s):  
Júlia Vidigal Zara ◽  
Fernando Luiz Pereira de Oliveira ◽  
Ricardo Augusto de Souza
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
First Language ◽  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Double Object ◽  
Advanced Level ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Acceptability Judgment ◽  
Do So

The present study investigates the acquisition of the English double object constructions (GOLDBERG, 1995) by Brazilian learners. We hypothesize that, due to first language (L1) influences, the prepositional ditransitive construction (John gave a book to Mary) will be acquired earlier, while the ditransitive construction (John gave Mary a book) will be part of the learner's interlanguages (SELINKER, 1972) only at the advanced level of proficiency. We also hypothesize that learners may transfer (ODLIN, 1989) the placement of the object pronoun in pre-verbal position from their L1 to their interlanguage in early stages of acquisition (João me deu um livro / *John me gave a book). We test our hypotheses by comparing the performance of three groups of learners (beginning, intermediate, and advanced) and native speakers of English on an acceptability judgment task used as a measure of learnability and generalization. Results confirm the order of acquisition of the English double object constructions predicted for native speakers of Brazilian Portuguese. Moreover, results suggest that, although mother tongue influences may have taken place, they do not do so pervasively, but rather selectively, corroborating the proposal by Kellerman (1983).

scholarly journals Vowel Harmony in Kui

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Govinda Chandra Penthoi
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Vowel Harmony ◽  
The Other ◽  
Vowel Sound ◽  
Tribal People ◽  
Forested Areas

<div><p><em>Kui (ISO639-3 Code ‘Kxu’) is a language spoken by Kondh or Kondha (/Kɔndhɔ/) tribe. Majority of the Kui-speaking Kondhs live in the hilly and forested areas of South and central Odisha especially in the undivided districts of Kondhamal, Koraput and Kalahandi. The other language spoken by Kondhs is Kuvi which is very similar to Kui. Kondh people being an underdeveloped tribal people, study of their language, society and culture draws a lot of attention of academics, administration and other philanthropic agencies. </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em>The objective of this study is to present the vowel sound </em><em>harmony </em><em>and phonology of Kui language. The approach is data oriented and uses in general. The structuralist methodology has been followed for the analysis of the data in the present work. Data was collected from the native speakers through field visit to various Kui speaking areas.</em></p></div>

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